Battle of Kawagoe - Sengoku Shogun Map
Follow the 1546 Battle of Kawagoe phase by phase on the map, with the commanders involved and the sources behind each step.
April 1546 河越城周辺
Hōjō Ujiyasu's relief force defeated the allied Uesugi and Koga Ashikaga army besieging Kawagoe Castle, and Ōgigayatsu Uesugi Tomosada was killed.
Major events
- April 1546: Battle of Kawagoe — Hōjō Ujiyasu's relief force defeated the allied Uesugi and Koga Ashikaga army besieging Kawagoe Castle, and Ōgigayatsu Uesugi Tomosada was killed. Whether there was a night attack, the numbers on each side, and the details of a feigned truce all differ between records. Kawagoe City is re-examining whether it was a night battle at all.
背景
After Hojo Ujitsuna took Kawagoe Castle in 1537, Ogigayatsu Uesugi Tomosada allied with the Yamanouchi Uesugi and the Koga kubo to retake it. Kawagoe commanded the Iruma river basin and northern Musashi, and its possession shaped the balance of power in the Kanto. For Ujiyasu the question was whether he could hold the forward position his father had built.
結末
The besieging Uesugi and Ashikaga coalition was broken by Ujiyasu's relief force together with the Hojo defenders inside the castle. Ogigayatsu Uesugi Tomosada fell in the fighting and his house was destroyed; the Yamanouchi Uesugi and the Koga kubo also lost ground.
歴史的な位置づけ
It marks the point at which the Hojo displaced the powers that had upheld the old Kanto order and became a central contender in its politics. It did not unify the Kanto: conflicts with the Satomi of Boso, Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo and the Takeda of Kai continued.
Commanders
- 北条氏康 （後北条氏・Hojo commander-in-chief） — Led the relief force and broke the coalition in concert with the defenders inside the castle.
- 上杉朝定 （扇谷上杉氏・Head of the Ogigayatsu Uesugi） — Sought to retake Kawagoe Castle, was defeated and killed; his house was destroyed by the defeat.
- 上杉憲政 （山内上杉氏・Head of the Kanto kanrei house） — Joined Tomosada in besieging Kawagoe Castle.
- 足利晴氏 （古河公方・The Koga kubo） — Joined the siege in alliance with the Uesugi.
- 北条綱成 （後北条氏・Defender of Kawagoe Castle） — Is recorded as having held the besieged Kawagoe Castle.