Battle of Kawanakajima

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The Battle of Kawanakajima (川中島の戦い, Kawanakajima no Tatakai) refers to the military conflicts between Shingen and Kenshin in the northern Shinano Province. Both warlords fought for their right to rule the piece of land though neither completely gained an advantage over the other.

The games focus on their oft romanticized fourth battle at Hachimanbara, Nagano Prefecture, also known as The Battle of Hachimanbara (八幡原の戦い). In the first Samurai Warriors, it is followed by an imaginary fifth confrontation.

Role in GamesEdit

Samurai WarriorsEdit

This battle acts as the beginning for several Takeda or Uesugi related generals. In Samurai Warriors, the main focus at the start of the battle is Shingen's pincer attack. The Takeda army separates into two parties, one distracts the Uesugi army and the other circles from the east to attack Kenshin's rear. The ambush party is lead by Yukimura and Kunoichi while the defensive unit is composed of Shingen and the rest of his vassals. As the secondary unit draws closer to their objective, a heavy fog descends upon the battlefield. The visibility on the map improves once the secondary unit reaches their target. Kenshin, however, has already abandoned the position and charges the Takeda main camp. After the rivals clash their weapons, Shingen continues to defend his position. Yukimura's party hurry to their lord's aid by rushing back to Hachimanbara. Once they arrive, they can continue their pincer and surround Kenshin as he flees towards Zenkoji.

During Kenshin's scenario, he has the option to quickly dispatch both the central units as well as Yukimura, thus foiling Shingen's plan. He can also occupy Shingen's escape point, Kaizu Castle, and defend his own from being fallen to the enemy. When he defeats one of Shingen's valued generals, Kansuke Yamamoto, enemy morale plummets and Kenshin gains a winning edge. Choosing to charge towards his rival's position also gives the same effect.

The rivals meet here once more in Kenshin's upper path scenario and Shingen's lower path scenario. Their tactics focus on quickly taking their enemy's respective castle on the field. Both men must also defeat Hanzō to protect their main camp; Shingen must additionally defeat Keiji for a similar reason. If the young warriors for either side (Kanetsugu and Yukimura) are defeated, both warlords commence a lone charge for a one-on-one showdown.

The stage serves a similar purpose in Samurai Warriors 2. As opposed to centering on one particular plan, the battle is filled with several complementary tactics. Both warlords scheme to ambush the enemy main camp once the generals in the center are routed. In Kenshin's case, he has to additionally prevent the Takeda pincer formation. Once he defends his position and marches towards Shingen's base, the strategist moves his position and triggers an ambush on the Uesugi troops. An ambush troop will also await in the battlefield's foggy area. When Kenshin rescues his men, he can proceed to Shingen's position.

Unlike the first title, Shingen is the only playable character on the Takeda side who can experience this battle during his story (though this changes in the Xtreme Legends expansion with Yoshimoto's introduction). Kenshin also moves once his nemesis reaches his camp and orders his men to attack the southern Takeda garrisons at once. Kanetsugu heads with his army to siege the northern position. More hidden troops appear from the southern part of the map and need to be defeated quickly to defend the southeastern garrison. Once Shingen trumps over his rival, Kenshin grants him a final chance to face him by moving himself to the center of the field.

Kawanakajima also serves as the stage for Kanetsugu and Ieyasu's dream mode. Their scenario occurs when the Uesugi army begins their march before the Battle of Sekigahara. Though Ieyasu anticipated that Kanetsugu would be blocked by Masamune's army, the Uesugi vassal changes course straight for the Tokugawa army.

The battles of Kawanakajima (川中島の戦い, Kawanakajima no tatakai^?) were fought in the Sengoku Period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province in the plain of Kawanakajima, in the north of Shinano Province. The location is in the southern part of the present-day city of Nagano.

The five major battles took place in 1553, 1555, 1557, 1561 and 1564. The best known and severest among them was fought on September 10, 1561.

The battles started after Shingen conquered Shinano Province, expelling Murakami Yoshiharu and Ogasawara Nagatoki, who subsequently turned to Kenshin for help.

[[[Battles of Kawanakajima|edit]]] The first battle

In the First Battle of Kawanakajima, in June 1553, Takeda Shingen penetrated far into the Kawanakajima plain, his vanguard encountering the forces of Uesugi Kenshin at a shrine to Hachiman. They disengaged, and met up again a few kilometers away, but no decisive battle was fought.

[[[Battles of Kawanakajima|edit]]] The second battle

In 1555, the second battle of Kawanakajima, also known as the Battle of Saigawa, began when Takeda Shingen returned to Kawanakajima, advancing up to the Sai River. He made camp on a hill to the south of the river, while Uesugi Kenshin was camped just east of the Zenko-ji temple, which provided him an excellent view of the plain. However, the Kurita clan, allies of the Takeda, held Asahiyama fortress a few kilometers to the west; they menaced the Uesugi right flank. Kurita Kakuju's defenses were bolstered by 3000 Takeda warriors.

Kenshin launched a number of attacks against the Asahiyama fortress, but all were repulsed. Eventually he moved his army onto the plain, redirecting his attention on Takeda's main force. However, rather than attacking, both armies waited, for months, for the other to make a move. Finally, battle was avoided as both leaders retired to deal with domestic affairs in their home provinces.

[[[Battles of Kawanakajima|edit]]] The third battle

The third battle took place in 1557 when Takeda Shingen captured a fortress called Katsurayama, overlooking the Zenkoji temple from the north-west. He then attempted to take Iiyama castle, but withdrew after Uesugi Kenshin led an army out of Zenkoji.

[[[Battles of Kawanakajima|edit]]] The fourth battle

[[]]EnlargeKawanakajima (center) is where the Sai River (right) joins the Chikuma River (left).The fourth battle resulted in greater casualties for both sides, as a percentage of total forces, than any other battle in the Sengoku Period, and is one of the most tactically interesting battles of the period as well. In September 1561, Uesugi Kenshin left his Kasugayama fortress with 18,000 warriors, determined to destroy Takeda Shingen. He left some of his forces at Zenkoji, but took up a position on Saijoyama, a mountain to the west of, and looking down upon, Shingen's Kaizu castle. To Kenshin's ignorance, the Kaizu castle contained no more than 150 samurai, and their followers, and he had taken them completely by surprise. However, the general in command of the castle, Kosaka Danjo Masanobu, through a system of signal fires, informed his lord, in Tsutsujigasaki fortress, 130 km away in Kōfu, of Kenshin's move.

Shingen left Kōfu with 16,000 men, acquiring 4,000 more as he traveled through Shinano Province, approaching Kawanakajima on the west bank of the Chikumagawa (Chikuma River), keeping the river between him and Saijoyama. Neither army made a move, knowing that victory would require the essential element of surprise. Shingen was thus allowed into his fortress at Kaizu along with his gun-bugyō (army commissioner), Yamamoto Kansuke. At that time, Kansuke formed a strategy that he believed would prove effective against Kenshin. [[]]EnlargeThe death of Yamamoto Kansuke. Wounded and believing his strategy had failed, Kansuke retired to a nearby hill and committed suicide.Kōsaka Danjo Masanobu left Kaizu with 8,000 men, advancing up Saijoyama under cover of night, intending to drive Kenshin's army down to the plain where Takeda Shingen would be waiting with another 8,000 men in kakuyoku, or "crane's wing", formation. However, whether via spies in Kaizu or scouts looking down from Saijoyama, Kenshin guessed Shingen's intentions, and led his own men down to the plain. Kenshin descended from Saijoyama by its western flanks. Instead of fleeing Kosaka's dawn attack, Uesugi Kenshin's army crept down the mountain, quietly using bits of cloth to deaden the noise of the horse's hooves. With the beginning of dawn, Shingen's men found Kenshin's army ready to charge at them—as opposed to fleeing from the mountain, as expected.

Uesugi's forces attacked in waves, in a "Kuruma Gakari" formation, in which every unit is replaced by another as it becomes weary or destroyed. Leading the Uesugi vangaurd was one of Uesugi's Twenty-Eight Generals, Kakizaki Kageie. Kakizaki's unit of mounted samurai clashed into Takeda Nobushige's unit, resulting in the unfortunate loss of Nobushige. While the Kakuyoku formation held surprisingly well, the Takeda commanders eventually fell, one by one. Seeing that his pincer plan had failed, Yamamoto Kansuke charged alone into the mass of Uesugi samurai, suffering upwards of 80 bullet wounds before retiring to a nearby hill and committing seppuku.

Eventually, the Uesugi forces reached the Takeda command post, and one of the most famous single combats in Japanese history ensued. Uesugi Kenshin himself burst into the headquarters, attacking Takeda Shingen who, unprepared for such an event, parried with his signalling fan as best as he could, and held Kenshin off long enough for one of his retainers, Hara Osumi-no-Kami, to spear Kenshin's mount and drive him off.

The Takeda main body held firm, despite fierce rotating attacks by the Uesugi. Obu Saburohei fought back against Kakizaki's samurai. Anayama Nobukumi destroyed Shibata of Echigo, and forced the Uesugi main force back to the Chikumigawa.

Meanwhile, Kosaka's stealth force reached the top of Saijoyama and, finding the Uesugi position deserted, hurried down the mountain to the ford, taking the same path they had expected the fleeing Uesugi to take. After desperate fighting, they punched their way through the 3000 Uesugi warriors defending the ford (under the command of Uesugi general, Amakazu Kagemochi), and pressed on to aid Takeda's main force. The Kosaka force then attacked the retreating Uesugi from the rear. Takeda Shingen's many great generals, including his younger brother Takeda Nobushige and great uncle Murozumi Torasada were killed in the field.

In the end, the Uesugi army suffered around 3000 losses, while the Takeda had about 4000 casualties. The chronicles seem to indicate that the Takeda made no effort to stop the Uesugi from retreating after the battle, burning the encampment at Saijoyama, returning to Zenkoji, and then to Echigo Province.

[[[Battles of Kawanakajima|edit]]] The fifth battle

In 1564, Shingen and Kenshin met for the fifth and final time on the plain of Kawanakajima. Their forces skirmished for 60 days, and then both withdrew.