Nobunaga’s Ambition Realized: Dawn of a New Rising Sun

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 55: Keizan’s Conspiracy - The Beginning of the Furuwatari War​

The letter Ujinobu received in 1637 was from a 35 year old traveling Buddhist priest named Keizan (桂三), formerly Saito Norioki and son of the infamous Saito Yoshioki. It detailed the supposed illegitimacy of the main Oda line’s rule over Japan all the way back to Nobutada and revealed that in fact Nobutada was not the firstborn son of Nobunaga. Rather, an individual named Furuwatari Nobumasa (古渡信正) was born between Nobunaga and a low-ranking woman in 1554 [1]. Although this would all be later proven to be true, Nobutada was nevertheless the eldest legitimate child of Nobunaga, being born between the latter and Kitsuno (吉乃), daughter of Koori Castle (小折城) lord Ikoma Iemune (生駒家宗) and also the mother of Kitabatake Nobuoki and Ujinobu’s own mother Tokuhime. Nobumasa himself had lived in obscurity, becoming the lord of Furuwatari Castle (古渡城) before retiring in 1585 and moving to Kyoto, where he took the tonsure and took the name Kenshouken (見性軒). In fact, he was still alive, although considered too old to be part of any plot. Rather, his 63 year old son Nobuhira (古渡信衡) was Keizan’s focus. In addition to technically being Nobunaga’s senior male descendant, his mother was Nobunaga’s illegitimate older brother Nobuhiro (織田信広)’s daughter Uyahime (恭姫), theoretically strengthening Nobuhira’s claim as the rightful ruler of Japan. These facts, up until now, were unknown among almost everyone, including the daijo-daijin himself. Only certain Oda vessels deep in Gifu and Owari provinces knew but were steadfastly loyal to the legitimate line of Oda clan heads first determined by Oda Nobunaga’s father when he chose Nobunaga as his successor in 1551.​

Simplified Oda family tree​

In any case, in his letter Keizan proposed taking arms against Azuchi and installing Nobuhira as the new daijo-daijin in order to right the “wrongs” of Nobutomo’s government. Keizan himself hoped to gather daimyo and minor lords with grievances against Nobutomo under this banner to re-enter public life and become a prominent part of the government like his father once was. Ujinobu eagerly accepted Keizan’s proposal and around the same time, Nobuhira secretly agreed to take part as the head of the rebellion after pressure from both Keizan and Nohuhira’s own retainers. Over the next few months, Ujinobu and Keizan stealthy sent messengers to sympathetic lords in the Oshu and Kanto regions as well as descendants of former Takeda and Uesugi retainers in Kai, Shinano, and Echigo provinces. All either joined the plot or would be silently neutral. Knowing that Tokugawa Tadayasu would not partake and possibly alert Azuchi, Ujinobu managed to get his cousin Matsudaira Mitsutada (松平光忠) [2] and his brother Tadayuki (松平忠之) [3], who were on bad relations with Tadayasu, to join the conspiracy in return for supporting Mitsutada in overthrowing his cousin and becoming the new head of the Tokugawa clan. Keizan would even visit Ujinobu at Odawara Castle (小田原城) where they hatched a plan to take out both Kamakura Tandai Oda Toshimasa and the 15 year old Gifu Castle lord Oda Nobutsugu (織田信嗣), who was also Nobutomo’s eldest son, simultaneously. For the attack on Gifu, Nobuhira and Keizan would jointly lead an army of around 5,000 consisting of anti-Nobutomo ronin from Owari and Gifu provinces, Nobuhira’s personal retinue, and others. Upon the commencement of these attacks, the rest of the conspirators would rise. The stage was set for their rebellion.

On September 22nd, 1637, Ujinobu stood before an army of 10,000 at Odawara. He made a speech before his men describing his grievances against Nobutomo, including disrespect towards the Kanto samurai not rewarded for their military contributions in the past war, direct taxation of many daimyo, the Hojo left out of political affairs, and usurpation of “many powers” from the Emperor. He also elaborated on the culpability of the Kamakura Tandai in upholding the “immoral tyranny” of Azuchi over the samurai of the Kanto region. Ujinobu then unsheathed his katana and, pointing towards the direction of Kamakura, concluded with this line that would go down in history:​

“敵は鎌倉にあり!!” (Teki wa Kamakura ni ari!!/The enemy is at Kamakura!!) [4]​

That night, Toshimasa was staying at Komyo-ji (光明寺) in Kamakura. In his old age, he had become a devout Buddhist and patronized the fine arts, including sado, and thus had begun visiting various temples on a regular basis. With him were a few hundred men as well as his son and heir, Toshihide. Ujinobu was well-aware of his supposed master’s habits and exploited this knowledge to his advantage, finding out which temple he was staying in from spies. Around 9:00 pm, after a stealthy march where the Hojo army split into 2 contingents that entered Kamakura one at a time, with Oota Sukemune (太田資宗) leading the first contingent and initiating the attack on Komyo-ji. The Hojo army quickly surrounded the temple before sending in wave after wave of men armed with swords, spears, and arquebuses. Toshimasa and Toshihide led the Oda defense inside the temple, the latter striking Hojo ashigaru with a bow. Amidst the fighting, a barrage of arquebus fire mortally wounded Toshimasa and forced Toshihide into the temple, where he would commit seppuku. However, his body would not be recovered as Komyo-ji ultimately burnt down. The Hojo would face some resistance within Kamakura from minor Oda retainers and their retinues, although many samurai would flee Kamakura back to their fiefs.​

Sketch of the storming of Komyo-ji​

On the same day, Keizan and Nobuhira led their army of 5,000 to Gifu Castle along with a decent number of cannons to use against the fortifications. They encountered greater resistance in the streets of the city from Gifu magistrate Hayashi Masatoshi (林政利) [5] and other retainers, although Masatoshi was outnumbered and would be forced to retreat. Keizan and Nobuhira successfully reached the castle where they began to besiege Nobutsugu and his guardian Oda Hisanaga. Despite the usage of cannons and arquebus fire against the besieged, the young castle lord did not flee and with the support of his guardian provided resistance stiffer than expected, and the castle would not fall that night. The castle continued to hold out over the coming days despite Hisanaga getting killed while leading a charge against the Furuwatari rebels. Keizan and Nobuhira’s men struggled not only against the fierce resistance from Gifu Castle but also from hit-and-run attacks waged by retainers who remained in the city and had gone underground with the secret support of the townsfolk and merchants. Outside the city, the Gifu magistrate sent a messenger to Azuchi amidst his own efforts in gathering a force strong enough to oust the rebels, with the daijo-daijin receiving the news of the rebellion within days. Nobutomo resolved to personally lead an army against Keizan and quickly crush the rebellion. He gathered an army of 10,000 within a week and marched to Gifu in 5 days, coincidentally around the same time as Masatoshi’s gathered force of 5,000. By then, Keizan’s army had been weakened from unsuccessful assaults on the castle and skirmishes with Oda retainers in the streets. Within a few hours, the armies of Nobutomo and Masatoshi easily expelled Keizan and Nobuhira, both of whom fled south back to Furuwatari Castle in such a disorganized hurry that they left all of the cannons they possessed in the city.​

Modern day Gifu Castle​

Jubilant celebration and relief followed the liberation of Gifu Castle from the siege, but it would be cut short by news regarding the events in Kamakura. It would take longer for the two uprisings to be linked together by Nobutomo and his government. What was certain was that a long road lay ahead before internal peace could be restored again.

[1]: Two sources refer to the existence of “Oda Nobumasa”, one of which is the inspiration for this plot.

[2]: ITTL’s Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光)

[3]: ITTL’s Tokugawa Tadanaga (徳川忠長)

[4]: Total reference to Akechi Mitsuhide’s infamous words

[5]: ITTL’s Inaba Masatoshi (稲葉正利) as his father Inaba Masanari (稲葉正成) is never adopted by Inaba Shigemichi (稲葉重通)​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 56: Furuwatari War Part I - The Great Uprising and the End of Keizan​

The news of Ujinobu’s capture of Kamakura and killing of the Kamakura Tandai and his designated heir would trigger a wave of lords and samurai declaring themselves against Azuchi in the Kanto and Oshu regions, including Onodera Yoshimichi of Dewa Province, Shiba Akikuni and Ashina Morinori of Mutsu Province, and Oda Toshiharu (小田利治) of Hitachi Province. Takeda Nobumichi in Kai Province also rose up in arms, as did Matsudaira Mitsutada and Tadayuki from Okazaki Castle in Mikawa Province. Many others who had been contacted and held some sympathy, however, waited out, and ultimately the news from Gifu dissuaded many from joining the rebellion. Among these lords were Sakuma Moritora who supposedly ordered all letters from Keizan and Ujinobu to be burned and any evidence of his dissatisfaction towards Azuchi to be completely covered up, opting instead to raise an army against the rebels. In one specific case, Tsugaru Nobuyoshi (津軽信義), who had just risen up in arms, reversed course immediately upon hearing of Furuwatari Nobuhira’s defeat in Gifu and switched back to the Oda fold. Ultimately, this sudden reverse of betrayal would not save him as he would eventually be pressured to commit seppuku and allow his younger brother Nobuhide (津軽信英) to succeed as head of the Tsugaru clan. The betrayal would also deprive the rebels of a powerful ally in the Oshu region.​

Salmon=Loyalists, Maroon=Rebel lands, Orange=Tsugaru clan​

As news of the spreading rebellion poured into Gifu, Nobutomo was preparing to lead an army directly into Owari towards Furuwatari Castle, where Keizan and Nobuhira had fled, composed of his army from Azuchi and reinforcements from across Mino province. He also made preparations to crush the larger rebellion to the east, ordering daimyo from the Hokuriku and Chubu regions to raise men and gather at Gifu. As his youngest brother Tomoaki was overseas as the head of an embassy to Paris [1], he would assign Oda Kanetada (織田包忠) of Iga Province [2] to Gifu to guard Nobutomo’s young heir and oversee the gathering of forces in Gifu. Meanwhile, Miyoshi Yasutaka would oversee the gathering of men from across western and central Japan at Azuchi for an army to assist Nobutomo’s efforts.

With those plans in place, Nobutomo left Gifu at the head of an army of 13,000 in early January 1638. Despite January being outside the traditional campaigning season, the daijo-daijin was eager to crush Saito Yoshioki’s son and the usurper he backed as soon as possible. The latter two had retreated near the castle and were desperately attempting to recruit peasants as ashigaru and attract disgruntled ronin and local lords, as they had lost 3,000 out of the original 5,000 to desertion, disease, and combat. However, nearly all the other samurai in Owari Province remained loyal to Nobutomo. Only Nobuhira’s son Nobunao (古渡信直), who had stayed behind to head the 500-strong garrison of Furuwatari Castle, provided any meaningful support to the ailing field army through supplies and shelter. This didn’t prevent Nobutomo from intercepting the rebels on January 20th at the Battle of Chigusa (千種の戦い), where the Oda army easily overwhelmed Keizan and Nobuhira’s men. Nobuhira died in the fighting, with Keizan and the survivors fleeing back to the castle. The castle held out a week before the garrison turned on Keizan and killed him, surrendering to Nobutomo with the instigator’s head as an offering. Although Nobunao would be forced to commit seppuku, his retainers would be spared.​

Site of the now-demolished Furuwatari Castle​

From there, Nobutomo would leave matters at Furuwatari to Murai Sadamasa, who was left with 5,000 men from the Oda army and instructed to strike at Matsudaira Mitsutada and Tadayuki, who had begun to march eastwards towards Suruga Province, from behind and assist the Tokugawa Tadayasu in his efforts to crush his rebellious cousin. Back in Gifu, although heavy snowfall delayed the arrival of contingents from the Hokuriku region, an army of 40,000 had gathered by mid-March. The army planned on charting a course through Mino and Shinano provinces before reaching Kozuke province and reinforcing the forces of Mori Noriyoshi and Takigawa Kazutoshi, who were mobilizing rapidly in anticipation of an invasion from Hojo Ujinobu. Kozuke was also an ideal location for the daijo-daijin to send orders to the daimyo in the northern Kanto region and Echigo province. In Azuchi, Yasutaka and Takanaga would also raise a similarly sized army and depart in the early spring as well. Among those participating was the Imperial Regent and Nobutomo’s younger brother, Konoe Tomoshige, who would be accompanied by many younger sons of imperial nobility in service as cavalry. The army in Azuchi would depart shortly after Nobutomo did so from Gifu, with Kitabatake Takanaga [3] in charge of the defenses of Azuchi and Kyoto in the absence of both the daijo-daijin and the imperial regent.

Nobutomo would need all the men he could deploy against the rebellious daimyo for the latter were no pushovers. As the de facto hegemon of the Kanto region, Hojo Ujinobu could mobilize tens of thousands of men on his own with relative ease and did so throughout the winter months of late 1637 and early 1638. Not even news of the deaths of Keizan and Furuwatari Nobuhira slowed his efforts, as he was confident that his numerical strength, distance from Azuchi, and various allies in the Kanto and Oshu regions could win and gain some sort of independence from the Oda clan. Additionally, he had little to worry about on his western flank for the time being, for his allies in Mikawa and Kai provinces would largely preoccupy the energies of the Tokugawa clan, although his cousin Oota Nobufusa (太田信房) would hold down Odawara Castle for him with a sizeable garrison in case of an unexpected attack from Sunpu. By late February, the Hojo had gathered an army of 50,000 and prepared to make their move. 35,000, led by Ujinobu himself and his eldest son Ujitoshi (北条氏利) planned a march directly upon Kozuke province to drive out their traditional rivals, the Takigawa clan. A second division, led by Oota Sukemune, would be directed towards Shimoda, a heavily fortified port home to a squadron of the Azuchi navy headquartered there. The remaining 5,000 would assist efforts by pro-Hojo daimyo in fighting pro-Oda daimyo in Shimotsuke province as well as conquering Oda territories in Shimousa province. To the north, allied daimyo would also raise tens of thousands of men combined, resulting in the total strength of the rebel daimyo surpassing 100,000 men. Without the presence of armies from Azuchi and Gifu, pro-Azuchi daimyo and armies were largely on their own.

However, the loyalists in Oshu would quickly prove their might early on in the war. The Ashina and Nihonmatsu clans coordinated their raising of arms and planned a swift campaign meant to catch their historical rivals and one of the pro-Azuchi daimyo in the region, the Date now under the leadership of Date Norimune (伊達則宗) [4], by surprise with a combined army of 15,000. Unfortunately for them, fierce snowstorms slowed their incursion into Date territory, allowing Norimune to mobilize a sizable force quickly. In late January 1638, he attacked the Ashina-Nihonmatsu camp at the bottom of Sumomoyama (李山), a short distance away from the main Date castle of Yonezawa Castle (米沢城), with a numerically inferior force of 10,000. Despite stiff resistance and freezing conditions, Norimune successfully drove his foes out of the camp and a lack of supplies amidst the punishing weather forced the Ashina-Nihonmatsu out of Date territory completely. Their plan had been foiled and they would have to wait out the winter before they could attempt another campaign north. The Date victory meanwhile bought more time to prepare against the rebels before a more favorable outcome came about. Seasonal changes in general would commence a bloody period of campaigns and battles between two diverging visions of Japan: one more feudal and inward-looking, and another more centralized and cosmopolitan.​

Portrait of Date Norimune​

[1]: We will definitely get to this in a future chapter.

[2]: ITTL’s Oda Naomasa (織田直政), grandson of Oda Nobukane and head of the Nobukane cadet branch of the Oda clan

[3]: ITTL’s Oda Takanaga (織田高長), Kitabatake Norioki’s third son

[4]: ITTL’s Date Tadamune (伊達忠宗)

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 57: Furuwatari War Part II - The Hojo’s Opening Offensives​

​

At the cusp of spring, the first full season of battles in the war began, starting with the Battle of Karasugawa (烏川の戦い) at the border of Musashi and Kozuke provinces near the junction of the Karasu River (烏川) and the Kanna River (神流川). There, Hojo Ujinobu’s army of 35,000 met the Takigawa-Mori army of 18,000 led jointly by Takigawa Kazutoshi and Mori Noriyoshi, with the matter’s full force not present due to concerns over an attack from the north or east from other rebel daimyo including the Ashina clan. The 37 year old Noriyoshi led a vanguard of 5,000 men and crossed the Karasu River, setting up an encampment on the greens just south of it. By March 5th, the Hojo army arrived on the battlefield and set up in front of Noriyoshi. Ujinobu led the center of the army, while the left was commanded by Daidouji Shigehisa (大道寺繁久) and the right by the Hojo heir Ujitoshi. The battle began in the mid-morning when the Hojo center charged onto Noriyoshi’s position. However, the latter was well-entrenched and equipped with heavy cannons, inflicting heavy casualties on the Hojo army. Seeing this, Kazutoshi sent the majority of his forces across the river to support Noriyoshi and protect his men’s flanks, leaving only the reserves and the garrison of the nearby Kawai Castle (川井城) with him. Unlike the entrenched Noriyoshi, however, these reinforcements were out in the open and thus proved to be easy pickings for the Hojo wings. Thus, the Oda were routed and Kazutoshi was forced to retreat by mid-afternoon, forced to leave Noriyoshi to his fate. Noriyoshi himself sent many of his retainers and vassals northwards while he and 1,000 men stayed in the now-surrounded position, determined to delay the Hojo advance northwards for as long as possible. He would ultimately die in battle, and over the next few days the victorious Hojo would besiege and capture Kawai Castle. The loss at Karasugawa and the death of one of the two main generals significantly weakened the Oda enough that by the end of the month, Ujinobu had captured the Kozuke capital of Maebashi and its capital from Kazutoshi and the latter moved his headquarters to Numata Castle (沼田城) further north.​

Depiction of the frontline of Mori Noriyoshi against the Hojo army​

Very soon, however, the depleted pro-Oda forces in Kozuke would be reinforced by Nobutomo and his army of 40,000, who made camp near Matsuida Castle (松井田城) to the west of Maebashi. Learning of Nobutomo’s arrival, Ujinobu chose to halt his advance and consolidate his gains in the Joshu region (上州) [1], improving upon his defense in Maebashi while ordering the mobilization of more men from Izu and Sagami provinces to march towards his position. Over the next month, neither Nobutomo or Ujinobu embarked upon any major offensives. Instead, smaller engagements were fought in the region between Matsuida and Maebashi Castles. Ujinobu also unsuccessfully besieged Shiroi Castle (白井城), which lay between Maebashi and Numata Castles, around this time. Ultimately, Hojo strength in Kozuke would weaken as the Oda generally held the upper hand throughout a toned down but fierce struggle between the former and latter. As a result, when the army from Azuchi led by Miyoshi Yasutaka entered Kozuke in May, Ujinobu strategically abandoned Maebashi and retreated southwards to Tamamura (玉村), which wasn’t too far from where the recent Battle of Karasugawa had taken place. The Oda converged upon the Hojo abandonment of Maebashi, resulting in Ujinobu now facing a united opposing force outnumbering his own army by more than 2 to 1. The leading rebel wasn’t willing to cede any more progress to Nobutomo without a fight, and he began to set up in anticipation of battle. He believed that his position, with waterways flanking the front, rear, and left of his force would make an entrenchment relatively defensible. Indeed, Nobutomo and his unified army reached Tamamura on May 16th, and the Battle of Tamamura (玉村の戦い) would see the Oda struggle to cross the rivers without encountering showers of arquebus balls, cannonfire, and arrows coming from pre-constructed wooden palisades of the Hojo. However, the Oda army’s left wing under the joint command of Mizuno Katsutoshi (水野勝俊) and Maeda Noriyuki (前田則之) [2] nearly routed the Hojo through its more exposed right side, relatively unprotected beyond raw manpower. Realizing he could not win against tough numerical odds, especially with heavy losses on his side, Ujinobu would be forced to retreat from the battlefield early the next morning before the Oda could prepare to assault the position again. The Hojo retreated back across into Musashi province, ending their invasive venture into Kozuke province.

Meanwhile, another Hojo offensive was taking place against the port of Shimoda, still under the control of the Oda with the support of the Azuchi-attached naval squadron stationed there. Oota Sukemune, commanding the Hojo force of 10,000, would face Shimoda magistrate Hasegawa Hidemasa (長谷川秀昌). Although on paper the Hojo seemed likely to prevail through sheer numbers and predominance over nearby lands, the Oda controlled the seas and thus could readily supply Shimoda. Additionally, the port was itself heavily fortified due to it primarily being a port for the Azuchi navy. Initially, the Hojo were successful in taking over and extracting resources surrounding Shimoda. However, the port itself was protected by an outer moat　and multiple cannons on land and additionally surrounded by nearby forests. As a result, any attempts by the Hojo to approach Shimoda carelessly were met with the thunderous booms of cannonfire. Sukemune tried to circumvent this by launching the Hojo navy against the Azuchi naval squadron. Despite being outnumbered on the open seas, however, naval commander Kyogoku Takamichi (京極高通) oversaw a technologically superior fleet and therefore with some difficulty held their own against the Hojo ships. Back on land, Sukemune began to counter more intelligently by transporting and positioning his own artillery while also organizing night raids. Despite these efforts, the Azuchi navy’s ability to keep the city well-provisioned and aid it with extra manpower and munitions in times of need would prolong the siege.​

One of the cannons used by the Oda during the siege of Shimoda​

Hojo forces also took part in the fighting in Shimousa and Shimotsuke provinces, areas either under the control of the Oda or loyalist daimyo. Hojo Nobushige (北条信重)’s army of 5,000 would be assisted by Nasu Sukekage, Oda Toshiharu, and Satomi Toshiteru in invading the territories now controlled by the late Tandai’s second son, Tamemasa (織田為昌). The Kanto cadet branch of the Oda, reeling from the deaths of Toshimasa and Toshihide, had experienced internal turmoil and confusion and were thus still underprepared for external invasions. Fortunately, the Shimotsuke lords led by Utsunomiya Yoshitsuna would provide crucial support and eventually isolate and overwhelm Nasu Sukekage’s forces in northeastern Shimotsuke. Nevertheless, their aid as well as that of the Satake clan would be limited as they would also be tied up further north with the armies of the Ashina and Nihonmatsu clans. With what men he had, however, Oda Tamemasa would be successful in holding on through the spring of 1638, although his coastal territories would be lost to the rebel daimyo.

The Furuwatari War, despite initial hopes among the rebels, proved to be a much steeper fight from the get go. These patterns would also be witnessed in the Oshu region as well as Mikawa province during the same time period.​

[1]: Another name for Kozuke

[2]: ITTL’s Maeda Naoyuki (前田直之)

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

I wanted to post this yesterday but work has been busy lately. Timingwise, tomorrow will also be the 6 month anniversary since the start of the Nobunaga's Ambition Realized so it's actually almost perfect if anything.

Anyway, from the bottom of my heart I wanted to thank everyone who voted for my timeline and got me to a Turtledove. This was something I absolutely didn't expect and the community's support that led to this means so much. As someone who is half-Japanese, I've been consuming Japanese historical dramas and other related shows and movies since I was 10 and just have been really into all sorts of history from a young age, hence my passion towards this story. Obviously, Nobunaga here and irl was a very brutal figure like the infamous sacking of Enryaku-ji (延暦寺) in 1573 but I wanted to write about because his bold, open-minded personality and his drive to completely change Japan always struck a fascination in what could've been, compared to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu who are equally admirable and interesting in their own feats and very humble, difficult origins but in a more mainstream fashion. In addition to that, I wasn't exactly in the greatest state of mind or time in my life when I first took on this endeavor. However, partially through the development of the story and the attention and feedback it received and just being part of a great, larger community (but also other life factors), I was able to get to a better place. And all of you, without even casting votes, helped make that happen. I absolutely look forward to continuing this story and delivering for the readers and my own passion and just being part of this forum. All I will say right now is that I am committed to the end for this timeline, whenever that may be.

Before I conclude, however, I wanna mention a couple particular people although I wish I could mention everyone who has been supporting my work all these months:
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• My rivals and the honorable mentions for this year's Early Modern TL Turtledoves, @pandizzy and @Vinization, as well as regular Nobunaga's Ambition reader @Gabingston, whose timeline was also nominated to the category:I encourage everyone to check out their wonderful TLs as well as everyone else nominated.​

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• @John Fredrick Parker and @Username_REDACTED, for nominating me for the Turtledoves​

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• @Quinkana for literally replying more than me on my own TL lmaooooooo​

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• @PolishMagnet for voluntarily making a better 1587 daimyo map and giving me the deets on what software to use (I need to work on that lol)​

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• @BBadolato for giving me advice on the side as a Sengoku TL writer and also editing a Japan map for me​

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• @Gwrtheyrn Annwn for putting so much work into organizing the Turtledoves​

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• And finally to @The Congressman for your TL was the first one I ever checked out and hooked me onto this site, so you are literally the reason why I stayed on the site and ended up starting this TL.​

Thank you everyone!!​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 58: Furuwatari War Part III - Total Warfare in Oshu​

The spring season of battles in the Oshu region kicked off later than the Kanto campaigns due to the colder climate. However, this gave both sides even more time to prepare. In particular, Sakuma Moritora, who had at one point considered rising up against Azuchi, put much effort into organizing an army. He would receive reinforcements from the daimyo in Echigo and Sado provinces, although help would be limited as they were also sending men to support the Takigawa further south and suppressing potential rebel uprisings from among ex-Uesugi vassals and ronin. As soon as he was able to, Moritora deployed his army now numbering 10,000 and immediately marched towards the lands of Onodera Yoshimichi, one of the Oshu daimyo who had joined with Hojo Ujinobu and the now deceased Keizan. The ambitious commander he was, he strived towards engaging in a pitched battle with the enemy, directing a vanguard of a few hundred cavalry to scout ahead and report on the enemy’s movements. Luckily for him, Onodera Yoshimichi was beyond his best years at 72 and was obviously not prepared for an opponent as aggressive as Moritora. The former was encamped in Yuzawa (湯沢) to the east of the Omono River (雄物川) with several thousand men when Moritora caught him on March 25th, 1638. Moritora quickly overwhelmed the Onodera forces, especially with his vanguard of cavalry launching a flanking assault from the south. Yoshimichi fled back to Yokote Castle (横手城), which was swiftly surrounded by the Sakuma-led loyalist forces. After a month, during which Moritora also crushed a small army led by Yoshimichi’s son and heir Nobumichi (小野寺信道), the defenses of the castle were breached and it along with the lives of Yoshimichi and his grandson Norimichi (小野寺則道), who had committed seppuku. Remaining territories under the control of Onodera vassals would fall in quick succession as Moritora next targeted the lands of the Kasai and Shiba clans, while remnants of the core Onodera clan would flee eastwards.​

Modern-day Yokote Castle​

Simultaneously, loyalist daimyo in Mutsu province led by Nanbu Shigenao (南部重直) had begun fighting with the Kasai and Shiba rebel forces, albeit with much less success. To begin with, despite their switch back to the Azuchi side, Tsugaru Nobuyoshi’s punishment and subsequent seppuku caused chaos within the clan as many retainers and vassals feuded over their clan’s reversal. As a result, neighboring loyalist forces were stationed to secure the borders around the Tsugaru clan and enforce its return to the Azuchi fold without a reliable Oda presence. Therefore, Shigenao did not enjoy the luxury of reinforcements that Moritora had. With the men he had, Shigenao split his army into two contingents. One was sent towards capturing Yokota Castle (横田城) in the eastern forests, which they did relatively quickly. The second and main contingent, led by Shigenao himself, marched southwards towards Kooriyama Castle (郡山城), which was only a short distance from Shigenao’s home castle in Morioka (盛岡). Sometime on April 3rd, the advancing Nanbu halted as they caught sight of a larger Kasai-Shiba army on the Ainono Plain (間野々原). Shigenao commanded around 10,000 men compared to the 15,000 of his enemy. To make up for this disadvantage, he set up a defensive position and raised makeshift fences to line up yari ashigaru, arquebusiers, and the few cannons he possessed. His younger brother, Shigenobu (南部重信), commanded the main cavalry force on the right wing to the formation being flanked. Meanwhile, Shiba Akikuni’s contingent positioned itself on the left, while Kasai Kiyonobu’s larger force made up the center and right of the rebel army. The Kitakami River (北上川) bordered the east. The battle began on the west, with the Nanbu cavalry clashing with the Shiba army while Kiyonobu ordered a slow infantry towards the wooden palisade, exchanging arquebus fire. The Nanbu responded with their cannons, which caused significant losses. However, Kiyonobu would utilize an unconventional strategy usually reserved for sieges: fire arrows. He commanded a couple hundred experienced samurai to aim their bows towards the wooden palisades. When they were fired and hit the fencing and scattered men, they began to burn the Nanbu’s defenses and cause chaos on the frontline. A Kasai charge in the center and right followed up this move, and despite being bloodied would eventually overrun the defenses. At the same time, the Nanbu cavalry was pushed back and Shigenao was forced to retreat all the way back to Morioka. It seemed inevitable that Kiyonobu and Akikuni together would begin a siege upon Morioka Castle (盛岡城). However, news of a potential invasion from the south by Tooyama Noritomo would divert men and the victorious army would remain on the Ainono Plain.

Battle of Ainonohara (間野々原の戦い), Salmon=Nanbu, Blue=Kasai, Brown=Shiba​

The conflict was even bloodier in southern Oshu, where the ancestral rivalries between the various clans of southern Dewa, southern Oshu, and the northern Kanto flared and contributed the most to the composition of the loyalist and rebel sides as opposed to the more central but still broadly relevant causes of the war. This was seen the most with the Date on the one side and the Ashina and Nihonmatsu on the other. After his reversal of the Ashina-Nihonmatsu advance in late February, Date Norimune combined his forces with that of Souma Tomotane (相馬朝胤) [1] and prepared for a spring offensive against the Ashina-Nihonmatsu coalition. Satake Yoshitaka (佐竹義隆) would also fight the coalition despite previously scheming against the Date over control over the Ashina clan almost 40 years earlier, although he was primarily occupied with battles against the Hojo. The three loyalist daimyo powers decided to target Nihonmatsu first, catching their opponents by surprise who expected a Date offensive into the Aizu (会津) region. The Nihonmatsu army hurried back to Nihonmatsu before it could be taken by the cooperating loyalists. From the north marched an army of 10,000 led by Norimune and Tomotane jointly while from the south approached a Satake force of 2,000 led by Yoshitaka’s uncle Iwaki Nobutaka (岩城宣隆), encamping around Nihonmatsu by the time Nihonmatsu Yoshitsuna returned back with an army of 8,000 in mid-April. The numerical advantage his side in total possessed over the Nihonmatsu rebels encouraged Tagaya Nobuie to launch a night attack. However, they were rebuffed at the banks of the Abukuma River (阿武隈川), and Nobuie himself was killed. Fortunately for the loyalist daimyo, Yoshitsuna was severely wounded by one of Nobuie’s men, impairing his ability to lead his men and forcing his son Yoshitada (二本松義忠) to take over. Hearing of this, Norimune and Tomotane took the offensive against the weakened Nihonmatsu forces and at the Battle of Nihonmatsu (二本松の戦い) convincingly defeated the enemy army and forced them into the confines of the Nihonmatsu Castle (二本松城) and its immediate surroundings. Yoshitsuna died of his wounds not long after, and Ashina Morinori’s army that had been delayed by small, plundering raids into Aizu coming from Norimune’s lands remained Yoshitada’s only hope.

The war in Oshu would continue on, resulting in mounting losses on both sides and economic devastation across a region already less economically and commercially blessed compared to western Japan or even Ezo and the Kanto region. The outcome of the air in this part of Japan was destined to bring particular changes in the political balance and economic state of Oshu.

[1]: ITTL’s Souma Yoshitane (相馬義胤)​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 59: Gwanghaegun’s War Against the Jurchens​

Throughout his 31 year reign, King Gwanghaegun fundamentally reformed and modernized his formerly ultraconservative and isolationist realm. The power of the neo-Confucian bureaucracy was rolled back, with its factional infighting sufficiently suppressed, and relations with the outside world enabled advancements in military technology. He also served as a loyal tributary to the Ming Emperor, joining the latter against Nurhaci and maintaining good diplomatic relations with Beijing, while also effectively defending his realm against Jurchen invasions. His successful reign would be bookended by one last task: conquest. Witnessing the fracturing of the Jin Khanate, he saw an opportunity to invade and exact revenge for the Jurchens’ previous destructive campaigns of the countryside of northern Joseon. Gwanghaegun began to prepare for war.

At this stage, the Jin khanate was still in a state of civil war, with Abkai struggling to eliminate Amin and the remaining rebels. Amin by now had elevated the late Ajige’s firstborn son, Hedu, as the main pretender against Abkai, as Ajige’s younger brothers Dorgon and Dodo remained neutral in the conflict. The rebellion finally ended in 1632, with the death of Amin at the Battle of Ula and the subsequent executions of all captured rebel leaders and the 14 year old Hedu. However, the civil war had ruptured the tight Jurchen unity Nurhaci had first forged through strength and might, and Abkai became preoccupied with keeping his realm together and calming tribal tensions. He also dealt with an invasion by Ligdan Khan in 1634, whose realm had recovered from years of warfare and had finally stamped out disloyalty among the various Mongol tumens. However, the khan would succumb to smallpox during his campaign and his son and successor Ejei would sign a truce with Abkai while he set out to exert his authority among the tumens. Although the Mongol invasion proved to be brief and unsuccessful, it took away further resources from the Jin khanate’s much-needed recovery from the civil war. These events would set the stage for the 2nd Jin-Joseon War of 1636, as a watchful Gwanghaegun slowly built up military strength until he was ready to wage war on the destructive horsemen. Joining his army was Amin’s son Hongketai, who had fled to Hanseong after the Battle of Ula and commanded a small number of renegade Jurchen cavalry ready to exact revenge for Amin’s death.

At the outbreak of spring in 1636, King Gwanghaegun left Hanseong at the head of an army of 50,000, with the crown prince Yi Ji [1] staying behind to hold down the fort in his father’s absence. His objective was to expand the borders of Joseon beyond the Yalu River and create a greater buffer between the peninsula and the Jin. News of Gwanghaegun’s advance quickly reached the ears of the Jin khan, who mustered up his Eight Banners and marched towards Ningguta where the Joseon army had marched towards, not far from the homeland of the Yehe Jurchens, the Jurchen conglomerate most recently subdued by the Jin shortly after the death of Nurhaci. The Yehe would be mobilized by Abkai, although their loyalties were not solid. Abkai also ordered several smaller forces to attack vulnerable points along the peninsular border, although these secondary assaults and raids were completely rebuffed by the border garrisons and a detachment from the main Joseon army consisting of both Jurchen allies and elite Joseon cavalry led by Im Gyeong-eop. This diversion of forces, however, would mean that Gwanghaegun’s army would be outnumbered by Abkai’s main force. However, the Joseon army was equipped with greater numbers and higher qualities of gunpowder weapons and was more unified in spirit compared to the less cohesive Jurchens.​

Depiction of a Joseon musketeer from the early 17th century​

At Ningguta, Gwanghaegun arrayed the army in the standard formation of the infantry in the center and cavalry in the wings, with a cavalry reserve in the rear. Placed on the right wing were the Jurchen cavalry led by Hongketai while elite, more heavily armored Joseon cavalrymen made up the left wing led by Shin Gyeong-won, with the king himself in the back with the reserves. The frontlines of the infantry was entirely composed of musketeers, followed by a line of hwachas and a block of heavily-armored swordsmen. Between the infantry center and the reserve cavalry were several cannons. The Jin army, meanwhile, was completely fronted by cavalry with a mixture of swordsmen and arquebusiers making up the back ranks. However, Abkai’s army carried no cannons. Abatai, an older brother of Abkai, and Dorgon acted as Abkai’s deputy commanders.​

​

The battle started around at noon, with the cavalry on the wings exchanging blows first. The fighting between the Joseon right and the Jin left was noted for its ferocity stemming from rivalries from the Jurchen civil war, although the Jin’s numerical superiority gave them the edge and slowly pushed Hongketai’s men back. In contrast, the native cavalry on the left held their ground much better, and that front remained at a standstill. Meanwhile, Jurchen horse archers engaged with the Joseon musketeers in the center, riding back and forth to avoid the volleys of musket fire. Gwanghaegun held back the hwachas, cannons, and swordsmen a bit longer, although he sent part of the reserve cavalry to support his Jurchen allies. Then, he signaled for the rest of the reserve cavalry to gallop through the gaps towards the Jin center and charge briefly before retreating. The Jin fell for this unexpected feigned retreat, and this is when the Joseon musketeers and hwachas completely unloaded, delivering a heavy blow to Abkai’s men. At the same time, in an arrangement planned in advance, the Yehe Jurchens retreated from the battlefield and betrayed their Aisin Gioro overlord. In a desperate attempt to salvage any victory, Abkai ordered his reserves to advance only to be pummeled by charging swordsmen and cannonfire. In the ensuing chaos, Abatai was killed. By the end of the afternoon, Abkai was in full retreat and his army was in complete shambles. The khan had lost 30,000 men while Gwanghaegun had lost 9,000. Although the Joseon army had also suffered heavy losses, ultimately Ningguta was a loss the Aisin Gioro clan never recovered from. Gunpowder, not horsepower, prevailed even in the heartland of the nomads.

Despite the victory, Gwanghaegun did not try to chase down the retreating forces. However, Abkai’s army was harassed by the Yehe Jurchens who now were in full rebellion in alliance with Joseon and were further weakened. This allowed Joseon to completely drive out the remaining Jurchen forces from the premises of the Yalu River and occupy the southern portion of the realm. The Yehe Jurchens would become vassals of the king while Hongketai was granted a governorship in the kingdom’s new northern frontier. Abkai launched a concerted campaign against Joseon in 1639 in an attempt to retake the lost lands and devastate the core of the kingdom but failed to defeat an ever-rising Joseon. Gwanghaegun’s invasion and the failures of Abkai descended the khanate to a point of fragile unity, and it would not long last the khan’s death in 1643.​

Asia in the aftermath of the 2nd Jin-Joseon War​

Gwanghaegun himself would pass away shortly after the war in 1641 at the age of 66. His reign was one marked by the growth of direct royal power at the expense of the aristocracy and neo-Confucian bureaucracy for the better, with great strides towards a stronger, more modernized, and more interconnected kingdom. The 43 year old Crown Prince Yi Ji would succeed him as King Hyeonjo of Joseon. His reign would see the gradual approach of a new power even further to the north of Joseon, the Jurchens, and the Mongols: Russia.

[1]: Without the 1623 coup IOTL, Yi Ji lives on.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 60: Furuwatari War Part IV - The Tokugawa Civil War​

Many of the conflicts within the greater Furuwatari War were defined more by historic rivalries between different families and family members and opportunism rather than the general anti-Azuchi sentiment expressed by Keizan, Hojo Ujinobu, and other prominent rebels as well as those nearly took up arms against Nobutomo like Sakuma Moritora. None of these conflicts reflected this more than the events that took place in the lands of the Tokugawa clan through the internal rebellion of Matsudaira Mitsutada and Tadayuki against clan head Tokugawa Tadayasu. Tadayasu, in addition to being the head of the clan, was also the most senior descendant of the illustrious Tokugawa Ieyasu as his grandson through Ieyasu’s second son Nagayasu (徳川長康). However, Nagayasu, who died before his father, was not a favorite of Ieyasu despite the former becoming the heir following the seppuku of Ieyasu’s firstborn Nobuyasu (徳川信康) on Ieyasu’s own orders to appease Nobunaga. Rather, Ieyasu took a greater liking to his third son, Matsudaira Ietada (松平家忠), and granted him Okazaki Castle and Mikawa Province to govern as his deputy. This favoritism left an impact beyond Ieyasu’s own passing in 1616, as Ietada initially controlled political affairs on behalf of the young Tadayasu. Eventually, however, Tadayasu nudged Ietada aside from central power and the resentful Tokugawa head would sideline Ietada’s son Mitsutada from politics in Sunpu. This sowed the seeds for the eventual collaboration of Mitsutada and his younger brother with Ujinobu, Keizan, and the other anti-Azuchi rebels.​

Portrait of Tokugawa Tadayasu​

The brothers planned on rising up after Furuwatari Nobuhira and Keizan took Gifu, hoping to be able to focus on invading the neighboring province of Tootoumi without fear of a rear incursion from Owari province. When this didn’t happen, Mitsutada and Tadayuki nevertheless took up arms after seeing Hojo Ujinobu and various other daimyo taking up arms. Tadayuki, however, would stay behind in Okazaki Castle and prepare defenses against an expected invasion by the Oda after the fall of Furuwatari Castle and the deaths of Keizan and Nobuhira. Mitsutada himself would proceed with the original invasion plan in coordination with Takeda Nobumichi in Kai with the assistance of his uncle Matsudaira Tadateru (松平忠輝), who had joined their cause. Mitsutada and Tadateru marched into the province with an army of 7,000 in late February 1638, first targeting Mitake and Horikawa Castles (三岳城, 堀河城). These two fell in a matter of a few weeks. The next prize that was eyed was Hamamatsu Castle (浜松城), controlled by Tadayasu’s younger brother Tadamasa (徳川忠昌) and a garrison of 2,000. If this castle fell, the rest of the province was likely to follow. A brutal siege began on March 28th, with waves of ashigaru assaulting the castle and cannonfire utilized as well. However, Tadamasa possessed more cannons that were strategically placed in the castle and showered the besiegers with cannonballs, arrows, and arquebus fire. As a result, Hamamatsu Castle was able to hold on until Tadayasu arrived with an army of 11,000 a month later. Tadayasu forced the end of the siege and pushed back the rebel army, securing the castle and delivering much-needed supplies as the surrounding countryside had been plundered by Mitsutada’s men. Contrary to Mitsutada’s expectations, the main Tokugawa army was not tied down by the simultaneous invasion of Suruga province by Takeda Nobumichi, the latter facing a smaller army led by Tadayasu’s half-second cousin Tadatoshi (松平忠利) [1]. As a result, Mitsutada was forced to retreat near Horikawa Castle. Tadayasu pursued the rebels but the latter had set up in a defensible position and successfully held their ground against the numerically superior enemy.

Compared to the rebel offensive, however, the defense of Mikawa province from the east proved to be a losing battle. In early spring, Murai Sadamasa led an army of 6,000-7,000 consisting of his retinue and samurai from Mino and Owari provinces. In Sadamasa, Matsudaira Tadayuki faced a more experienced and superior counterpart, for the former was a veteran of the Iberian-Japanese War and had served under Oda Tadataka and Kanbe Tomoyoshi. Using his experience fighting Spanish-aligned indigenous forces and taking individual villages in the Luzon jungles and country, the Oda general instructed smaller contingents of several hundred men to split off from the main army to tactically replicate the enemy he had fought in Luzon, in this instance against Tadayuki in Mikawa province. These smaller forces proved effective in undermining supply lines and communications within Mikawa province, seizing key agricultural villages from the Tokugawa rebels, and weakening individual garrisons man by man through numerous skirmishes and hit-and-run raids. Meanwhile, Sadamasa’s main army entered the town of Toyota (豊田) [2] where they began to construct a new castle without embarking upon any sieges or offensives. After a month, an impatient Tadayuki already dealing with Sadamasa’s other forces poking holes in the rebel strength and defenses decided to drive out Sadamasa by force. This, however, played right into Sadamasa’s hands, who had expected such a move and had prepared defenses around the incomplete fortification. At the Battle of Toyota (豊田の戦い) on April 22nd and April 23rd, the two armies clashed but ultimately Tadayuki had too few men to crack Sadamasa’s defensive position and incurred heavy losses after two days of fighting before being forced to retreat. Afterwards, leaving a half-complete Toyota Castle (豊田城) in trusted hands, Sadamasa began to besiege nearby castles. They surprisingly fell quickly as the Oda’s guerrilla contingents had already sapped the surrounding country of resources and even captured several towns, and Tadayuki’s western defenses began to crumble with the rebel lord too weak to march against Sadamasa.​

Portrait of Murai Sadamasa​

By the late spring, the Mikawa rebels were surrounded on all sides, although Mitsutada and tTadayuki kept hope that they could reverse their fortunes with Tadayasu still dividing men between campaigns against Mitsutada and Takeda Nobumichi. Around this time, however, an army from the north led by Inaba Norimichi (稲葉紀通) crossed into Mikawa province. Tadayuki would march directly against Norimichi in an attempt to secure northern Mikawa but would subsequently die in the battle to follow, leaving Mikawa Province leaderless. Many of Mitsutada’s retainers, seeing the writing on the wall, began to surrender as the rebel leader rushed back from Horikawa Castle, leaving his uncle behind to deal with Tadayasu. It was too late, however. Sadamasa had begun to reunite pieces of his army back together when he decided to march on Okazaki Castle after the diversion northwards and subsequent defeat of Tadayuki’s main army, so Mitsutada intercepted him at the Battle of Yanagawase (柳川瀬の戦い) on June 17th. The Tokugawa rebel army, exhausted from the rushed march, were easily routed and Mitsutada barely escaped with his life. Accompanied now by only his most trusted retainers and guards, he tried to flee eastwards to the Hojo but was caught and killed along the way. The Mikawa rebellion completely collapsed in the absence of his two main leaders and after a long siege, Tadateru was forced to surrender and commit seppuku. Although it would take a few months before the rebellion was completely cleaned up in the province, it was effectively over by early July. By this time, Takeda Nobumichi had also been overwhelmed through the collaborative efforts of the Oda and Tokugawa. Nobumichi’s lands would eventually be awarded to Tadatoshi, whose former family name of Hisamatsu (久松) was also resurrected as he was made an independent daimyo, albeit one with direct blood relations with Tadayasu.​

Tokugawa Civil War (Salmon=Oda-Tokugawa forces, blue=rebel forces)​

Tadayasu would split his efforts between reintegrating Mikawa province and shifting men towards invading the Hojo from its most vulnerable western flank. At this stage, however, the war was very obviously going in the favor of one side across the board in both the Oshu and Kanto regions.

[1]: Tokugawa Ieyasu’s mother married Hisamatsu Toshikatsu (久松俊勝) after the assassination of Ieyasu’s father Matsudaira Hirotada (松平広忠) while Ieyasu was a hostage of the Oda clan and mother and son reunited only after the death of Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama before which Ieyasu had become a hostage of the Imagawa clan.

[2]: Same Toyota where the OTL car manufacturer came from.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 61: Furuwatari War Part V - Northern Breakthroughs​

The late spring and summer seasons of 1638 would prove momentous in the Furuwatari War, particularly in the Oshu region. After Nihonmatsu Yoshitada and his force were boxed into Nihonmatsu Castle, all they could rely on was the approaching Ashina army from the east, hoping that Norimune’s army could be defeated in a pincer move. However, this chain of events would not end up materializing, as the Date-Souma army would receive reinforcements from both their own lands and from smaller clans directly to the north of both clans, most prominently from the Mogami clan. This allowed the army to effectively designate a smaller force to preoccupy and besiege the Nihonmatsu Castle garrison while the main army prepared a defensive position on the Sugita River (杉田川) in anticipation of Ashina Morinori’s army’s approach. Indeed, in early May Morinori’s army reached Norimune’s position and set up camp across the river. For the next few weeks, both sides entrenched themselves and engaged in occasional skirmishes and raids against one another while Nihonmatsu Castle continued to hold out against its besiegers led by Souma Tomotane. Morinori nearly broke this stalemate when one night, he sent a few hundred men upstream on the Abukuma River to bypass the main army and attack the smaller force. His main army simultaneously charged the main Date camp but were rebuffed and forced to retreat. Meanwhile, from the top floor of Nihonmatsu Castle, Nihonmatsu Yoshitada surveyed the situation and ordered a sortie against Tomotane’s besieging force. This pincer move nearly overwhelmed the enemy, who were already dealing with a night assault of Morinori’s men, with only the timely arrival of reinforcements saving them.

After this, the stalemate continued until rumors of other loyalist daimyo from Echigo province and the northern Kanto region about to send in armies against the Ashina and Nihonmatsu clans. Realizing he and Yoshitada were running out of time, the Ashina lord decided to launch a full-scale offensive against Norimune’s army in the early morning of June 9th in what would be known as the Battle of Sugitagawa. (杉田川の戦い). To conceal their movements as much as possible until the last moment, Morinori decided against commencing the attack using arquebuses and so formed a frontline of yari ashigaru and dismounted samurai to rush the barely suspecting Date army, with the arquebusiers and cavalry kept further in the back. Caught by surprise, Norimune’s men initially struggled against the Ashina despite their small numerical advantage. However, Norimune possessed many cannons brought to the field during the month-long stalemate at Sugita River and unleashed cannonfire upon the Ashina infantry, it only took a couple barrages before the latter began to retreat. This was followed up by a Date cavalry charge from the right wing, although it was effectively countered by the Ashina’s own cavalry and arquebusiers. The battle ended in a strategic and tactical victory, for the losses Morinori incurred upon his army through his failed offensive left his army vulnerable to a follow-up attack by the Date. A few days after the battle, the Ashina lord retreated back to Aizu to rebuild his forces and prepare for invasions from other corners. His retreat was followed by the flight of Yoshitada from Nihonmatsu Castle, as he could foresee the inevitable fall of his castle but remained determined to fight another day. Most of his men were not so lucky, for some died attempting to follow their lord while others either surrendered or chose death in their lord’s castle. Nihonmatsu Castle had fallen, although the Date-Souma army would need time to consolidate their gains in the region and recuperate from their losses on the field before moving onwards in the campaign. The rest of the summer saw little significant change in the balance of power between loyalist and rebel forces in that particular theater, at least between the Date and Ashina-Nihonmatsu.​

Battle of Sugitagawa, salmon= Date/loyalist, blue=Ashina/rebel​

Events further north, however, were moving faster. The energetic Moritora wasted no time in the aftermath of his victory over the Onodera clan and moved to assist Nanbu Shigenao in Morioka in late May. Ever since the Battle of Ainonohara, the Nanbu and Shiba clans had engaged in skirmishes between Ainono Plain and Morioka Castle. Additionally, the Nanbu force that had captured Yokota Castle consolidated their win and cut off the supply lines of the recently constructed Hayachine Castle (早池峰城) on Mt. Hayachine (早池峰山) in an effort to force their submission without losing much manpower. This grinding stalemate would be broken by the Sakuma lord, who led his army straight towards the unsuspecting Shiba force still encamped at Ainono Plain in a night battle. Shiba Akikuni’s force were routed and fled to Kooriyama Castle (郡山城). Afterwards, Moritora and an admittingly jealous Shigenao coalesced their forces and marched straight towards the enemy. Outnumbered 4 to 1 and lacking enough supplies to weather a siege, the Shiba did not last long and within two weeks Akikuni along with most of his vassals either fought to their deaths or committed seppuku after the Sakuma-Nanbu army broke through.

It did not take long for news of the fall of the Shiba clan to reach Kasai Kiyonobu, who was preoccupied in a military campaign against Tooyama Noritomo. Upon hearing about what had occurred, Kiyonobu immediately halted his fighting against the Tooyama and marched back north to meet the larger of the two loyalist armies, reasoning that his success in the south had convincingly beaten back Noritomo for the time being. Although Kiyonobu’s assessment was correct, the defeats of the Shiba and Onodera clans had eliminated all of his nearby allies outside of surviving members of the clans’ respective retinue who joined the Kasai army on its return northwards. At the same time, Shigenao and Moritora’s forces increased in number through both reinforcements from their territories and the newly arrived army of Tozawa Masamori. Thus, the loyalist army now numbered 20,000 versus the Kasai army of 11,000. The two armies met at Esashi (江刺) on July 15th on a day with intermittent rains. Hoping to make up for his army’s numerical disadvantage, Kiyonobu led an aggressive frontal cavalry charge and nearly broke the frontline of Sakuma-Nanbu ashigaru spearmen and arquebusiers through pure shock and the ineffectiveness of rained gunpowder. Sensing the danger the army faced, both Moritora and Shigenao personally led contingents from the wings, wheeling around their side’s flanks before pincering the Kasai frontal assault. Although Kiyonobu threw the rest of his army at his enemy, his men felt pressured on all sides and the numbers added to it. Eventually, after a grinding battle for both sides, the Kasai army broke and retreated, with many stragglers picked off. Kiyonobu’s defeat was so devastating that he retreated all the way back to his home castle, Teraike Castle (寺池城), tio rebuild his forces. Although he would continue to resist the loyalists through the rest of the year, Kiyonobu and the greater clan’s fate was sealed.​

Depiction of Kiyonobu’s frontal charge at the Battle of Esashi​

Although the progress of the war was initially slow in Oshu due to the cold weather and the inability of Azuchi to directly send reinforcements to the region while already bogged down against the Hojo clan and their allies in the Kanto region, by the end of the summer it became clear that one side had come out on top for good. A lot of this was due to the bravery and decisiveness of Sakuma Moritora, only 19 in 1638. His successes in the Furuwatari War would earn him the moniker, “Tiger of the North” [1], and marked the beginning of an illustrious record as a talented general and influential lord. However, the war would ultimately be decided not on the frostier forests and mountains of the north but across the plains of the Kanto, the birthplace of the samurai.

[1]: This is due to his name, with the kanji 虎 meaning tiger.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 62: Furuwatari War Part VI - Showdown in Musashi​

The Azuchi victory at the Battle of Tamamura in May 1638 theoretically opened the floodgates of Musashi Province, with well over 80,000 men under the command of the daijo-daijin stationed on the northern side of the Kozuke-Musashi province. However, more men meant more provisions, more preparations, and more time needed, and for the moment it was logistically impossible for Nobutomo to immediately ride the momentum of their victory. Knowing this, he sent a messenger to mobilize a third army to be led by Ukita Nobuie to have more men ready against Ujinobu. The following month, Nobutomo was finally able to move troops into Musashi province and would target Hachigata and Oshi Castles (鉢形城, 忍城) in northern Musashi. Meanwhile, Hojo Ujinobu had retreated to Kawagoe Castle (川越城) where he began to levy fresh men and recover from his army’s losses. The Azuchi armies’ advance into northern Musashi, however, didn’t give him enough time for Ujinobu to accomplish this in time. Instead, he led a division of 20,000 northwards while Ujitoshi stayed behind in Kawagoe with the rest of the army. Ujinobu’s hope was to launch a surprise attack with the aid of a castle’s garrison upon one of the besieging armies once they became extensively enmeshed in their siege. The Hojo lord would choose to attack the besiegers at Oshi Castle, as its garrison was smaller compared to Hachigata Castle’s. Narita Fusanaga (成田房長) served as the castle’s lord, directly commanding a garrison of nearly 4,000 men. The combined Hojo forces of 24,000 faced the Oda numbering 35,000, led directly by Nobutomo himself. The other 35,000 were at Hachigata Castle and led by Miyoshi Yasutaka. When the Hojo army arrived nearby, they launched a surprise assault upon the besiegers but were unable to break through Nobutomo’s sturdy defenses. Ujinobu set up camp nearby and over the next week engaged with the Oda in a series of smaller skirmishes. Meanwhile, as a way to simultaneously take the castle and block further Hojo attacks, Nobutomo devised a plan to flood the surroundings of the castle through dikes and seasonal rains [1]. This was implemented despite Ujinobu’s men continuously disrupting the construction process through back-to-back raids and regular armed assaults upon his camp. Despite difficulties, with the strength of his army and 5,000 reinforcements from Kozuke province, construction was completed and by early July torrential rains had successfully flooded the castle. Ujinobu was forced to withdraw his army from the area after Nobutomo’s successful strategy made continuous harassment of the Oda more difficult and news of Hachigata Castle’s fall came to be known, with Miyoshi Yasutaka now free to help repel the Hojo completely.​

Depiction of Oshi Castle submerged at the Siege of Oshi Castle in 1638​

However, his efforts had not been for naught, for he had forced the daijo daijin’s hand in entrenching himself in the siege to the point of immovability and prolonged the siege. Oshi Castle itself proved to be resilient and would not fall anytime soon despite overwhelming odds. Additionally, Ujitoshi had completed the task of mobilization, and the Hojo field army now consisted of 50,000 men just in Musashi province when combined. The timing of this could not come at a more crucial time, for Ukita Nobuie’s army of yet another 40,000 men was about to arrive from the west. Meanwhile, the situation on the other fronts was not good. The siege of Shimoda had ended in failure after the unsuccessful Hojo besiegers retreated to reinforce the Izu-Suruga province and protect Odawara Castle from a possible response to the pro-Azuchi victory in the Tokugawa civil war. This gave the Shimoda squadron of the Azuchi navy freedom to concentrate on securing the seas and it would go on to destroy the Hojo navy shortly after the end of the siege. The eastern front in Shimousa and Kazusa provinces was hardly better. Over the past few months, the pro-Azuchi daimyo of Shimotsuke province and the Satake in Hitachi province had both defeated Oda Toshiharu and Nasu Sukekage and assisted in Oda Toshinao’s defense against the Hojo from the west and Satomi-Hojo forces from the south. Although the Hojo and Satomi in the south at one point besieged Toshinao's home castle, Koga Castle (古河城), the direct intervention of Satake Yoshitaka (佐竹義隆) broke the siege. The Hojo similarly found no success invading from the west, being unable to launch major offensives with their other allies spread out and under attack by loyalist daimyo. By midsummer, the small overall gains the Hojo and their allies had made in the Kanto-Oda lands would begin to be lost as the Shimotsuke daimyo and the Satake together with Toshinao’s forces concentrated their efforts against the Hojo.

Amidst the tightening odds, Ujinobu decided on a bold course of action. In mid July, he led his army through northern Musashi towards Kozuke province and Ukita Nobuie’s army as well as the men of Takigawa Kazutoshi. Worried that the Hojo would once again cause havoc in Kozuke, Nobutomo ordered Miyoshi Yasutaka to leave Oshi Castle and lead a force of 45,000 towards Ujinobu, with 20,000 remaining to besiege Oshi Castle. Nobutomo, however, had played right into Ujinobu’s hands, for the Hojo immediately reversed course and marched straight towards this army. The Hojo lord hoped to defeat a surprised Yasutaka in a pitched battle before pouncing upon Nobutomo who would be in an inflexible, numerically disadvantaged position. A cavalry vanguard, however, alerted Yasutaka to the change in the Hojo army’s movements and prepared accordingly. The two armies would meet at Fukaya in northern Musashi province on July 25th.

Yasutaka divided his army into 5 contingents, with 4 numbering 10,000 men each manning the front and a 5th grouping of 5,000 men acting as the reserve and directly commanded by Yasutaka. The four frontal contingents were led from left to right Maeda Noriyuki, Konoe Tomoshige, Akechi Mitsutada, and Yasutaka’s brother Yasukata (三好康賢). Mirroring their formation were the Hojo, albeit with slightly greater numbers (11,000 for each frontal contingent, 6,000 in the reserves). Ujinobu oversaw the army from the back amongst the reserves while the front end of his army was commanded from left to right Hojo Ujinaga (北条氏長), Daidouji Shigehisa, Mishuku Masahide (御宿政秀), and the heir Ujitoshi. Each side had varying advantages. While the Oda army had slightly less men, it overall contained more veterans, including those who had fought in the Iberian-Japanese War, and was better versed in gunpowder-based warfare. The Hojo, by contrast, had more raw recruits but had a superior cavalry as well, the old traditions of the “Bandou musha” (坂東武者) [2] seeped into many of the proud, hereditary vassals of the Hojo with deep ties to the Kanto plain.​

Battle of Fukaya, Salmon=Oda-Azuchi, Blue=Hojo​

The battle began at noon with a salvo of cannonfire on both sides, which inflicted some casualties on the frontlines. This was followed by a steady infantry charge on the Oda side. Parts of the Hojo cavalry, which were situated further in the back, galloped through the gaps to assault the flanks of the arquebusiers and yari ashigaru, but were repelled for the most part and gave way for the Hojo’s own infantry charge. Through volleys of gunfire and wielding of swords and spears, the battle continued through the afternoon with the varying advantages of each side balancing each other out. However, the rightmost Hojo contingent led by Ujitoshi eventually pushed back the far left of the Oda-Azuchi army, with the presence of the heir himself boosting Hojo morale. Maeda Noriyuki’s men began to break and lose discipline, exposing the left flank of Konoe Tomoshige’s contingent. Seeing that the Oda right was making no headways, Tomoshige decided to take bold action personally. Taking in reserves and transferring command to Ikeda Yoshinari, he led 1,000 samurai cavalry around the Oda left flank and directly confronted the Hojo right. In the most famous part of the battle, he ended up dueling Ujitoshi himself amidst the chaos. Surrounded by enemy cavalry everywhere and unhorsed at one point, he eventually took down the Hojo heir. When Tomoshige raised Ujitoshi’s head and proudly announced his feat, Hojo morale dropped and the Hojo right wing began to fall apart. Seeing this, Yasutaka ordered a barrage of cannonfire, initiating a Hojo rout on the right and tipping the balance on the Hojo left. By the end of the afternoon, half of the Hojo army was in full flight and Ujinobu was unable to restore order, forcing a chaotic retreat. In total, Ujinobu had suffered 18,000 casualties in comparison to the Oda’s 6,000. Amidst the Hojo retreat, however, Konoe Tomoshige was mortally wounded by a vengeful retainer of Ujinobu who was killed afterwards. Hearing of the news of the battle but also of his brother’s injuries, the daijo daijin rode to Fukaya and was by Tomoshige’s bedside when the latter finally succumbed to his injuries. The following year, Nobutomo’s second son would receive his manhood rites and succeed the Konoe clan as Konoe Toshishige (近衛俊重).

The Battle of Fukaya decided the ultimate course of the Furuwatari War. After the battle, Ujinobu lacked the manpower to directly challenge the Oda again, and Oshi Castle finally fell in August 1638. By then, the Hojo lord had retreated all the way to Hachioji Castle (八王子城) in southern Musashi province. Across the board, the Hojo clan was in full retreat as were their allies in the Oshu region. The end of the war was near.

[1]: Mirrors the Oshi Castle siege of OTL in 1590 when Toyotomi Hideyoshi campaigned against the Hojo.

[2]: "Bandou" (坂東) is the old name of the Kanto region, and "bando musha" is a name of the samurai warriors from the region in the Heian and Kamakura eras, as the samurai first attained prominence in that region.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 63: Domestic Disruptions under the Zhenchun Emperor​

The reign of the Ming Emperor Zhenchun was one of trials and tribulations both externally and internally. The first half of his reign witnessed the sunset and inevitable decline of Jurchen power, particularly after the death of Nurhaci. This meant that throughout his tenure as emperor, Zhenchun was never worried about the northern frontier unlike so many of his predecessors. At the same time, Ming foreign policy began to shift attention to the east and south due largely to Japanese activity in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea, through both its trade expansionism and its war against the Spanish and Portuguese. At one point, through the return of Macau, Japan took complete control over all trade interactions between Europe and Ming China. Japanese merchants began to charge higher prices for European goods and constricted silver imports from the Spanish. Although Japan had been the predominant source of silver for Ming China in the 16th century, the supply began to deplete heavily at the dawn of the 17th century and Spanish silver from the Americas took over as the primary source of the prized metal. Because the stability of China’s currency relied so much on these imports, the constriction of Spanish silver negatively affected the Ming economy.

The constriction of the silver flow in 1633 compounded the domestic troubles of the Ming imperial court. Emperor Zhenchun’s reign was marked by serious challenges at home despite his relative competence. Shortly after his ascension, Zhenchun immediately faced opposition in the form of the Donglin movement. Formed around the revival of the Confucian Donglin Academy by Grand Secretary Gu Xianchang in 1604, the movement included many former bureaucrats who were in favor of Emperor Wanli’s eldest son, Zhu Changluo succeeding his father before the prince was executed during Consort Gong’s attempted coup in 1605. They had viewed Wanli as an irresponsible ruler and sought the elevation of a “Confucian gentleman” to the throne. However, when Zhenchun quickly proved to be a skilled, attentive sovereign, the Donglin movement began to fray as many switched sides and accepted the emperor as the “correct” ruler. Those remaining, including the activist Yang Lian, became implicated in a rumored plot to install Zhu Changluo’s surviving 19 year old son, Zhu Youxiao [1], to the throne and were executed in 1624. The Donglin scholars who had chosen in the beginning to work in the new emperor’s bureaucracy would go on to influence certain policies, including the decrease of arbitrary taxation of merchants [2].

Even with competent governance, however, Ming China would experience internal turmoil made inevitable by both the poor legacy of the previous emperor and climate change brought upon by the “Little Ice Age”. An early sign of this was the She-An Rebellion, sparked by heavy taxation in Sichuan province in response to Jurchen incursions from the north. When aboriginal chieftain She Chongming’s soldiers and non-grain supplies in place of the grain tax was presented at Chongqing and refused, the former rebelled and proclaimed the Kingdom of Shu. Another chieftain, An Bangyan, followed suit and soon Sichuan and Guizhou were being occupied by 300,000 tribal warriors. Despite the size of the rebellion, Ming victories against Nurhaci allowed Emperor Zhenchun to divert 200,000 well-supplied soldiers from the north to deal with the rebellion and both chieftains were summarily defeated by 1625, although bands of rebels continued to harass the Ming for years to come [3]. The war, however, would ultimately drain the imperial treasury of 17.5 million taels of silver. The troubles continued when in 1627, a severe drought afflicted the province of Shaanxi so badly some turned to cannibalism, with the provinces of Shanxi and Henan also badly hit by natural disasters and famines. These events would trigger multiple peasant rebellions in Shaanxi and despite the best efforts of the emperor, there wasn’t enough in the treasury to address everything quickly, and by 1631 well more than 100,000 rebels were operating in the area. These rebels were led by bandit leaders like Wang Jiayin, Zhang Xianzhong, and Gao Yingxiang. Initially, veteran anti-rebel leader Yang He was appointed to take charge of the situation, but his policy of amnesty for peasants who surrendered failed and was eventually dismissed over his ineffectiveness. The next imperial commander, Hong Chengchou, swung to the other extreme of the pendulum and acted too indiscriminately, killing civilians and rebels alike. It took a third individual, Chen Qiyu, to get the situation under control even as the uprisings spread to Sichuan but eventually in 1633, the rebel leaders surrendered and were allowed to go home with supervision [4]. Despite the end to the massive rebellions, portions of China were devastated and depopulated with pockets of dissent still burning hot and the imperial treasury was nearly empty.​

Picture of rebel leader Zhang Xianzhong​

As if the realm hadn’t undergone enough suffering, 1633 marked the beginning of 2 new troubles in Ming China. In addition to the aforementioned constriction of the silver supply by the Japanese, a plague swept through northern China starting that year, originating in the devastated Shanxi province. The disease, nicknamed the “pimple plague” or the “vomit blood plague”, was probably a form of bubonic plague. Emperor Zhenchun reopened Macau to the outside world as a free port in order to alleviate the former issue as it began to nearly empty out the imperial treasury, also breaking the Japanese monopoly on trade between Europe and the Ming. However, he would not live to see the end of the latter for when the plague spread throughout Beijing in 1641, the Emperor was among its victims.

At first glance, the reign of Emperor Zhenchun could be considered a failure for the widespread destruction and chaos witnessed in the realm during his time. However, it was his capacity as a competent, well-regarded sovereign that ultimately allowed China to survive the 1620s and 1630s. Unlike his father, he had a good relationship with the scholarly bureaucrats and the army which prevented intrigue from getting in the way for the most part. In particular, Donglin scholar Qian Qianyi [5] rose to become the Grand Secretary and did much to prevent the administration from collapsing under all the external pressure and financial troubles without resorting to draconian measures. Under his reign, the northern frontier was relatively stable through the neutralization of Nurhaci’s Jurchens early on and the support for the Northern Yuan as a way to counterbalance the Jurchens. Although parts of the countryside were economically devastated and destabilized and would not recover for a few decades, the 1620s and 1630s saw an uptick in trade relations and mercantile activity in the coastal regions thanks to decreased taxes on merchants. Despite the rapid expansion of Japanese power abroad, the authority of the Ming emperor remained strong and legitimate enough for it to warrant respect, tribute, and even concessions from the “Oda kings” [6], as many in China referred to the hereditary Oda chancellors. All things considered, Emperor Zhenchun did the best he could with the bad hand he was given.​

Portrait of Grand Secretary Qian Qianyi​

After the death of his father, Prince Zhu Yousong succeeded his father and ascended to the throne as Emperor Hongguang [7]. Fortunately for the new sovereign, his reign would be significantly calmer than the Zhenchun Emperor’s was and Ming China would have an opportunity to recover from the chaos of the 1620s and 1630s.

[1]: OTL’s Tianqi Emperor

[2]: IOTL, due to the poor governance of the Taichang and Tianqi Emperors, the Donglin movement clashed head on with the pre-eminent eunuch faction and were purged in 1624. Although rehabilitated in 1627, they never fully recovered. ITTL, the movement has lasting influence not seen in OTL.

[3]: IOTL, the rebellion lasts until 1629 due to Ming resources much more strained IOTL.

[4]: IOTL, the rebellions continued on and combined with the Qing invasion, led directly to the fall of the Ming in 1644.

[5]: IOTL, due to court intrigue, is imprisoned by the Chongzhen Emperor in the early 1630s. Upon release, he is demoted in status to that of a commoner and never enters public service again.

[6]: Based on the fact that Ashikaga Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利義満) is given the title “King of Japan” by the Ming court.

[7]: The Hongguang Emperor is around IOTL, just as head of the nascent Southern Ming.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 64: Furuwatari War Part VII -The Flames of Defiance Extinguished​

As the seasons changed from summer to fall in 1638, Azuchi was closing in on the Hojo. On the western front, Tokugawa Tadayasu was mobilizing an army in Sunpu set to march directly towards Odawara Castle while Kawajiri Shigenori was making similar preparations in Kai province after both fighting Takeda Nobumichi directly and contributing to Nobutomo’s armies. To the north, northern Musashi had been conquered by Oda-Azuchi forces, and to the east the Hojo had been completely ousted out of Shimousa province. Furthermore, just before the Battle of Fukaya, Satomi Toshiteru switched sides and would help defeat the Hojo in Kazusa province. Back in Hachioji Castle, Ujinobu hatched a final plan to somehow topple the Oda-Azuchi regime. Leaving 10,000 in and around Hachioji Castle with Hojo Ujinaga, he left for Odawara Castle with the rest of his remaining army in the hopes of punching through the Kawajiri and Tokugawa armies eyeing the Hojo home castle before marching along the Tokaido straight towards Gifu. The goal was to cause enough chaos to gather ex-rebels in Mikawa province, cut off Nobutomo from Azuchi, and force him to leave the Kanto region. By the time he arrived in the vicinity of Odawara Castle in September 1638, Ujinobu had an army of 22,000. However, many of his men were exhausted from the unrelenting marches. Nevertheless, the Hojo army remained committed to their lord and Ujinobu continued on, entering Suruga province and encamping in Gotemba (御殿場). There, he would rest and awaited intelligence on the movements of the nearby Tokugawa and Kawajiri armies. However, the seemingly inevitable battle would never come even as Tadayasu and Shigenori prepared to assault the Hojo army from the north and west with a total of 17,000 men. News came to Ujinobu of the collapse of Hojo presence in Musashi province as Nobutomo’s armies overwhelmed the rest of the province, including the army of 10,000 left to hold out near Hachioji Castle. Additionally, Ujinobu’s final gamble was viewed by many of his men in Musashi as the abandonment of the province, causing many to desert or defect and shaking the loyalties of the remainder of the Hojo military. The Hojo lord, disheartened by the situation in Musashi and realizing his end as inevitable, would commit seppuku in shame after reaching out to the Tokugawa, asking that his men be spared. His final wish was granted, although some of his men would choose instead to split off and continue to fight rather than surrender. These would be the exceptions, for Odawara would also unconditionally surrender and the rest of the Hojo would soon follow.

After the Hojo surrender, only the Ashina, Nihonmatsu, and Kasai clans in Mutsu province remained in arms against Azuchi. After the Battle of Esashi, Sakuma Noritora and Nanbu Shigenao received even more reinforcements from other clans as Kasai Kiyonobu retreated completely. Possessing too few men, the Kasai clan was limited to defending its remaining castles. By the end of October, the main castle of Teraike Castle (寺池城) had fallen as well, and Kiyonobu, who by now was on the run, was captured a few weeks later. With the final fall of the Kasai, the last hurrah of the war would take place in the lands of the Ashina clan. The latter had retreated together with the surviving elements of the Nihonmatsu clan, whose castle had fallen to the Date earlier, back to Aizu. By then, rumors of invasions by other clans had been confirmed, with a 15,000 strong army of the Echigo lords led by Irobe Mitsunaga having crossed into Ashina territory and Utsunomiya Yoshitsuna mobilizing an army himself in Shimotsuke province. Although Mitsunaga’s army theoretically outnumbered the Ashina-Nihonmatsu field army, the former faced local resistance and could not move decisively towards Kurokawa Castle (黒川城) [1], allowing Ashina Morinori to strengthen his numbers and eastern defenses. Finally, at the beginning of September, Nihonmatsu Yoshitada left the castle at the head of the 11,000-strong main army, and faced off against Mitsunaga a week later at Aizubange (会津坂下). Yoshitada placed his own retinue numbering 2,500 at the front end of the army jutting out somewhat, with the Ashina men in the reserves and wings, while the Echigo army was more uniform in its formation. The Nihonmatsu lord would lead his personal vanguard, significantly raising the morale of his men. The battle commenced at the crack of light, the Nihonmatsu contingent sprinting ahead of the rest of the army and crashing straight into the unsuspecting enemy. Although this charge came close to breaking through and overrunning Mitsunaga’s personal position, the rest of Yoshitada’s army had not caught up with his vanguard and parts of the Echigo army’s wings surrounded the front contingent. Before the wings could wholly arrive and aid the Nihonmatsu vanguard, Yoshitada was killed while rallying his men to form a more defensive formation. News of his death quickly spread throughout the Ashina-Nihonmatsu ranks and the Ashina majority of the army quickly retreated, leaving the vanguard to fight to the last man over their lord’s body. The Nihonmatsu clan had ceased to exist.​

Battle of Aizubange (Salmon=Echigo, Brown=Nihonmatsu, Blue=Ashina)​

The remnants of the army retreated back to Kurokawa Castle where they entrenched themselves on the western side of the castle in anticipation of the Echigo army’s advance. They engaged with Mitsunaga in various engagements throughout the fall, with the Ashina’s number slowly being whittled down. Eventually, the armies of Utsunomiya Yoshitsuna and Date Norimune arrived in the vicinity of the castle and surrounded it. Nevertheless, the Ashina men held on through the relentless attacks by 3 different armies until December, until the cold finally compromised their provisions and exposed their battered position. Morinori, offering his head in return for his remaining men to be spared, finally surrendered. Although scattered forces throughout the Oshu, Kanto, and Chubu regions would intermittently resist into the early spring of 1639, the war was officially over.

The Furuwatari War, although a victory for the Oda Chancellorate, took a heavy toll on the realm. Large tracts of the east, particularly Musashi, Mikawa, and Mutsu provinces, were left devastated and depopulated and would not fully recover for a few decades. Some of this was attributable to the unprecedented usage of gunpowder weapons, particularly cannons, Im battles, skirmishes, and sieges. The downfall of so many clans and lords also chaotically ended existing social orders and hierarchies. The biggest example of this was the Hojo clan, who as one of the biggest landholders in Japan were nearly wiped out in the conflict. Notably, the Furuwatari War was the last large scale feudal war to take place in Japan, where often old rivalries between different clans superseded the greater objectives of the war in influencing loyalties and conduct.

The victory of Nobutomo and the Oda government in Azuchi, however, would decisively move Japan towards greater centralization. This trend would begin with Nobutomo’s postwar actions in regards to the affected areas. Although as before, land belonging to rebel clans would be redistributed to feudal lords who had remained loyal to Azuchi as well as Nobutomo’s own relatives, the Kamakura-fu was abolished. Henceforth, the Kanto region would be directly governed from Azuchi like the rest of the home islands. Oda Toshinao, however, would be compensated by being given the entirety of Musashi province, which while devastated was geographically still key in controlling the entire Kanto region, although his landholdings would be redistributed to native Kanto lords who had fought for Azuchi in the war. Nobutomo stayed in Kamakura until February 1639 to oversee the aftermath of the war and assigned Takigawa Kazutoshi and Toshinao's uncle Tamemasa (織田為昌) to finish the work, for he received word of the arrival in Sakai of someone he had eagerly waited for.

His youngest brother, Oda Tomoaki, had come home from Europe together with the rest of the embassy that had left 4 years earlier, and the chief representative had much to share with Nobutomo, from stories to gifts.​

Redistribution of lands:

Kanto region

Salmon= Oda Toshinao (織田利直) 1618-
Orange= Satake Yoshitaka (佐竹義隆) 1609-
Light orange= Takigawa Kazutoshi (滝川一利) 1583-
Forest green= Utsunomiya Yoshitsuna (宇都宮義綱) 1598-
Lime green= Sano Hisatsuna (佐野久綱) 1600-
Emerald green= Oyama Toshiyasu (小山利泰) 1595-
Dark grey= Minagawa Takatsune (皆川隆庸) 1581-
Light grey=Hasegawa Hidemasa (長谷川秀昌) 1600-
Purple= Murai Sadamasa (村井貞昌) 1586- [2]
Cobalt= Uesugi Noritoshi (上杉憲俊) 1579-
Brown=Ikoma Takatoshi (生駒高俊) 1611-
Maroon=Date Norimune (伊達則宗) [3] 1600-
Pink= Satomi Toshiteru (里見利輝) 1614-
Beige=minor castle lords

(Izu Province not shown) [4]

Oshu region

Purple= Nanbu Shigenao (南部重直) 1606-
Light purple= Kyogoku Takahiro (京極高広) 1599-
Maroon= Endou Yoshitoshi (遠藤慶利) 1609-
Yellow= Mōri Tadakatsu (毛利忠勝) 1594-
Orange= Tooyama Noritomo (遠山則友) 1609-
Light orange= Satake Yoshitaka (佐竹義隆) 1609-
Light grey= Mogami Yoshitoshi (最上義智) 1631-
Dark grey= Date Tadamune (伊達忠宗) 1591-
Red= Souma Tomotane (相馬朝胤) 1619-
Green= Sakuma Moritora (佐久間盛虎) 1619-
Lime green= Tsugaru Nobuhide (津軽信英) 1620-
Emerald green= Tozawa Masamori (戸沢政盛) 1585-
Pink= Akita Sanesue (秋田実季) 1576-
Brown= Shirakawa Yoshitsuna (白川義綱) 1592-
Beige=Minor castle lords​

[1]: Old name of Aizu Castle (会津城) which doesn’t change in 1592 ITTL like it did IOTL.

[2]: Murai Sadamasa was relocated and given more land from the province of Izumi.

[3]: ITTL’s Date Hidemune [5]

[4]: Oota Nobufusa (太田信房) allotted Izu province, preserving the Hojo bloodline.

[5]: Yes, the Date Tadamunes of OTL and TTL are brothers but due to naming conventions have different names.

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 65: The Oda Meet The Bourbons​

​

News of Japan’s victory over the Spanish Empire, particularly of its naval victories, in the Iberian-Japanese War spread like wildfire and festered especially throughout its royal courts. Curiosity and praise towards the rising Eastern power quickly arose among the anti-Habsburg nations in particular, with countries like Sweden and Denmark beginning to even take an interest in trade relations with Asia. To many Protestants, the Japanese victory demonstrated Catholic weakness and shined hope upon their fortunes against the Habsburgs in the Imperial Liberties’ War, the latter which was eventually won by the Protestant side in 1635. The Dutch also basked in praise for their own successes in the war, although given the facts of the war they perhaps were over-credited. No country, however, took a greater interest in the outcome of the war in Europe than France. Although a Catholic nation, the French had a history of collaborating with non-Catholic nations against the Habsburgs from the reign of Francis I in the early 16th century onwards, from the Ottoman Empire to the Netherlands. Additionally, the Bourbon monarchy practiced religious tolerance towards its Huguenot subjects and were thus not as politically Catholic as inquisitorial Spain or Austria. That being said, the French would be entering new territory for unlike the Iberians, Dutch, or the English, the former possessed no maritime reach into Asia. This fact did not deter Cardinal Richelieu, France’s chief minister, from taking the first step towards establishing diplomatic relations with Japan, including an invitation to Paris by any representatives potentially sent by Azuchi. He worked with the Dutch, his wartime ally, to arrange a voyage to Japan due to the latter’s close relations with the Japanese and maritime power in Asia.

In March 1635, the Franco-Dutch delegation, led by bureaucrat Philippe Segura, arrived in Sakai and within days were permitted audience to the daijo-daijin, who was eager to meet the Frenchmen in particular and learn more about France, a country he had only heard of. With the aid of translators, the French representative delivered the warm words of King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu inviting the forging of official relations between the two realms to Nobutomo and presented him with a rapier and other various gifts. Accustomed to entertaining merchants and colonial officials, Nobutomo was intrigued at the fact that now European royalty had directly sent someone to Azuchi all the way from the home country. Seeing an opportunity, he resolved not just to send a delegation to Europe and learn more about a continent Japan already had many connections to but to dispatch a group representing the best of the realm in the hopes of captivating the awe of Europe. He would select his youngest brother Tomoaki to lead the embassy, with the young noble Nakanoin Michizumi (中院通純) and Ikeda Nobutora (池田信虎) [1] acting as deputies and the Sakai merchant Kurata Yasubee (倉田保兵衛) [2] also accompanying them. Although there were concerns of interacting with yet another Catholic nation among some in the government, French religious tolerance and lack of any presence in Asia that could threaten Japan would assuage these fears.

Oda Tomoaki was the perfect person to lead the embassy, for among Nobutomo’s brothers, Tomoaki was the closest to the chancellor. While Tomoaki’s older brothers Konoe Tomoshige and Kanbe Tomoyoshi became young heirs of different families and had already left Gifu even before Nobutomo ousted Saito Yoshioki in 1619, Tomoaki had had stayed by his brother’s side in Gifu until Nobutomo’s ascension to the chancellorship in 1630. He had gone on to assist his older brother in administrative matters, even briefly joining Kanbe Tomoyoshi’s army in Bireitō during the Iberian-Japanese War before returning to Azuchi after falling ill. Like Nobutomo, Tomoaki was fluent in Chinese and had experience speaking and dealing with foreign merchants, even picking up some Spanish in the process.​

Portrait of Oda Tomoaki​

While the small Franco-Dutch delegation would remain a bit longer in Japan, the Kanei Embassy (寛永の使節), as Azuchi’s first ever diplomatic mission would be referred to, strove ahead and departed Sakai in June 1635, consisting of 2 galleons and carrying a few hundred men. The voyage would be a long and arduous one, with multiple stops along the way that exposed the group to the wider world between Europe and Japan. Aside from an overnight stay in Aparri, these stops would include Malacca and Pulicat, all of whom were Dutch possessions. Although a few daring Japanese merchants had visited Indian ports, the entourage were nevertheless still breaking into new ground and received firsthand exposure to Hinduism, which Michizumi noted as having certain similarities to their own faiths. After Pulicat would come a much longer stretch of time until the embassy landed in Bordeaux in March 1636. The French, who had been expecting them, greeted them cordially and gave them special quarters for them to rest in. After spending a few days recuperating in the French port, the embassy began a days-long march through the countryside towards Paris, where a curious and excited crowd awaited the guests.

The entourage entered the French capital in splendor, with Tomoaki leading at the front on horseback. Donning a bright blue hitatare (直垂) and flanked by elite Oda guards armed with arquebuses and spears, he captured the imagination and excitement of the Parisian people, and the rest of the embassy was no less impressive. Descriptions of the Japanese entry quickly spread and captivated the minds of many in Europe, including the Spanish and Portuguese who despaired at the opportunity they could’ve had had the war not occurred. Tomoaki, however, wasn’t done impressing the French. At his and his entourage’s greeting of King Louis XIII before a host of aristocrats and ministers, including Cardinal Richelieu, he spoke a few sentences in French that he had practiced beforehand to the king before continuing on in Spanish with the assistance of a Dutch translator, declaring Azuchi’s interest in establishing a mutual agreement of friendship between the two realms. The various gifts to the king were also presented, from the feathers of the red-crowned crane to silver from the Iwami silver mines. In response to the gift of the rapier to Nobutomo back in Azuchi, Tomoaki also personally presented a katana to Louis XIII. The king thanked him and eagerly accepted the promise of diplomatic friendship before assigning the hospitality of the entourage to the household of Henri, the Prince of Conde.​

Oda Tomoaki’s hitatare​

The impression the Japanese, particularly Tomoaki, left on Paris would not be forgotten. Richelieu especially was fascinated with the Japanese “samurai prince”, as he came to be known, and was interested in conversing with him. After the fateful day, Tomoaki would be invited to Richelieu’s palace every so often, where they spoke about the politics and culture of the two countries. Tomoaki learned much about France from Richelieu, who throughout his tenure as Louis XIII’s chief minister had consolidated royal power and weakened the influence of the nobility, centralizing the French state, and took note of the cardinal’s political reforms and accomplishments. The “samurai prince” also received many invitations from various nobles and to their parties, often receiving the flirtations of the daughters. Though he never had any affairs in Paris and remained loyal to his wife back home, Tomoaki nevertheless was very popular among the Parisian women. He however, became good friends and even an indirect mentor to the Prince of Conde’s son, Louis. 13 years his junior, Louis was a student at the Royal Academy in Paris when Tomoaki entered the city and almost immediately idolized the guest of his household. The Conde heir was fascinated with the traditions of the samurai especially when it came to the traditions of samurai cavalry and during Tomoaki’s stay would ask him about them in his free time. On numerous occasions, the two even rode together around the countryside surrounding Paris on their steeds. Tomoaki’s time with him would leave a long-lasting impression on the young Bourbon prince, who would go on to be one of France’s finest generals, and the future Prince of Conde would even incorporate some samurai cavalry traditions into his combat style and tactics as a commander.​

Portrait of Louis, duke of Enghiens and the future Prince of Conde, in his youth​

The Oda brother would also get a firsthand opportunity to witness the tactics and technology of European warfare when he traveled to the Low Countries in 1637 to witness the Battle of Arras. By then, the Franco-Dutch alliance had begun to gain the upper hand against the Spanish Empire after Portugal had risen up against the Habsburg monarchy and declared independence. The Portuguese regiments in the Army of Flanders had mutinied upon the raising of Braganza’s banner in Lisbon, forcing the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand to divert Spanish troops towards defeating the rebel regiments. Although largely successful, a few thousand Portuguese soldiers managed to slip away and join the French against their former overlords. These events enabled Frederick Henry, the Prince of Orange, to reinvigorate the spirits of his countrymen and convince the Dutch States’ General to increase war expenditures for a new offensive again into the Spanish Netherlands. It was in this situation did Oda Tomoaki witness the French army contend with the might of the Spanish tercios and triumph over, resulting in the eventual conquest of the whole of Artois. Although he wanted to participate himself directly, his retainers strongly advised not to so as to avoid a diplomatic breach in the Treaty of Gapan and the risk of renewed war between Spain and Japan.​

Depiction of the 1637 Battle of Arras​

In addition to their activities in France, Tomoaki and the others also visited London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and the Hague throughout 1637 to greet King Charles I of England and Scotland, the Dutch States General, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and King Christian IV of Denmark. These trips would be fruitful in furthering commercial and diplomatic relations with England and the Netherlands, especially the English whose presence in Southeast Asia was disparate and tenuous. That being said, Tomoaki in his writings would admit his distaste for the English monarch because of his self-righteous pride and refusal to work with his subjects through Parliament. Meanwhile, the visits to Stockholm and Copenhagen would do much to spark the 2 countries’ mercantile and colonial ventures in Asia, with the former already eyeing opportunities in North America, although no agreements were signed with Sweden or Denmark by the Japanese. The embassy, however, was witness to a Swedish military exercise by Gustavus Adolphus’ professional standing army, and the Japanese were blown away by the discipline and effectiveness of the Swedes and their line infantry.

The embassy’s stay would be cut short when in mid-1638, they received news of the beginning of the Furuwatari War. Tomoaki, wanting to be by his brother’s side at that critical moment, immediately made preparations to depart for his homeland along with Michizumi. Yasubee and Nobutora would stay for another year and complete unfinished business, including a trip to Brandenburg-Prussia before leaving Europe in 1639. Bidding farewell to the king and the many friends he had made during his stay in Paris, he set sail in late July 1638, arriving back in Sakai in late February 1639. By the time the Oda representative was home, the war was over with a victory for Azuchi, albeit costing the life of his older brother Konoe Tomoshige. Despite his absence, Tomoaki was welcomed home and celebrated for his brave journey to Europe and dignified conduct and commitment to duty while so far off. What he had brought home, however, was incalculably more significant. From the embassy’s cargo came gifts and other items, from wine and a set of a doublet and breeches specifically for the daijo-daijin to several flintlock muskets only recently invented in France as well as an ornate Malay kris dagger for the emperor. The ships also carried detailed records and writings of the journey itself as well as everything seen and experienced in Europe. From Tomoaki and Michizumi came stories and vivid descriptions of what they had seen and experienced. The return of Nobutora and Yasubee the following year would bring even more tales and goods to Azuchi.

Though cut short, the Kanei Embassy proved to be one of significant consequence. It provided Europe with its first direct impression of Japan and what they saw captivated their interest, establishing Japan’s reputation as a heathen power that nevertheless commanded their respect and could even be trusted at times, unlike the Ottomans. The embassy would especially spark friendly and altruistic relations between France and Japan and incentivize the former to invest more in its mercantile interests in the East from the impetus of the Franco-Japanese mutual agreements over trade and friendship drafted and signed by both parties during the embassy’s stay. As for Japan, the embassy gave them a much wider view of the world and a wealth of knowledge on the customs, traditions, and technologies of Europe, and its success would lead to future embassies. In particular, the politics of the visited countries interested Nobutomo, who would derive inspiration from them in his planned reforms for the realm. Finally, the Kanei Embassy provided one particular empire in Eastern Europe a glimpse of who they would be encountering once they inevitably reached the Pacific coast.

[1]: Son of the former foreign affairs magistrate, Ikeda Masatora.

[2]: No connection to OTL.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 66: The Kanei Reforms​

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In September 1639, Oda Nobutomo summoned the various daimyo lords and their representatives to Azuchi Castle in an unprecedented grand meeting. In this moment, the chancellor of the realm would lay down governmental edicts that would forever change the nature of the Japanese state. Although the Furuwatari War was partially triggered by the economic and political burdens of the Iberian-Japanese War many had endured as well as the last vestiges of a bygone political usurpation, its roots lay in the flawed structure of the Oda administration. While for the 4th generation, the Oda lords had imposed their will upon the rising sun through the authority of the highest imperial position, much of the political institutions and bureaucracy of the Azuchi daijo-fu lay outside the imperial sphere and instead were elaborations of samurai and feudal-based systems and hierarchies molded into one central government. Although perfectly held together at first glance, changing circumstances exposed its weaknesses and inflexibility, including the structural favoritism and overrepresentation of fudai, or hereditary vassals, in central politics. The Kamakura-fu led by the Kamakura Tandais was perhaps the biggest aberration, ultimately proving to be Oda Nobunaga’s band-aid of convenience rather than a long-term solution. Realizing all this, Nobutomo strived to change this.

In advance of his many edicts, the daijo-daijin would sort out the rule within his own house. Nobutomo established that only those from a male line traced back to his grandfather Oda Nobutada could succeed as head of the Oda clan and inherit the positions of daijo-daijin, additionally excluding those becoming part of lines of nobility. This established the order of succession as follows:

-Oda Nobutsugu (織田信嗣, b.1622), heir-apparent and lord of Gifu Castle
-Kanbe Tomoyoshi (神戸朝吉, b. 1605), governor of Luson province
-Kanbe Toomaru (神戸遠丸, b. 1635)
-Oda Tomoaki (織田朝昭, b. 1608)
-Oda Yukimatsu (織田幸松, b. 1640)​

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Additionally, Nobutomo would decree that only those in the line of succession could use the surname “Oda”, which led to the change of names by multiple cadet branches of the greater Oda clan. The changes were as follows:

-Line of Oda Nobukane - Kudō clan (工藤氏)
-Line of Oda Nagamasu - Urakusai clan (有楽斎氏) [1]
-Line of Oda Nagatoshi- Musashino clan (武蔵野氏)
-Line of Oda Nobuhide the Younger- Wakamatsu clan (若松氏)
-Line of Oda Nobutaka- Tarui clan (垂井氏) [2]

When the day of the great meeting finally came, Nobutomo decreed a series of reforms with the goal of strengthening the central government in Azuchi and rectifying the flaws of the status quo. He first formally abolished the distinction between fudai and tozama vassals, placing all daimyo and minor lords on the same level on paper and allowing tozama samurai to potentially be appointed to administrative positions in the Azuchi daijo-fu. In return, a system of long-term taxation would be imposed upon all daimyo, albeit at low rates. Granted, it came with the promise of direct investment of Azuchi revenue back into their lands but the daimyos’ autonomy would nevertheless be reduced in favor of greater centralization. Finally, to quell dissent among unhappy samurai, he would establish a grand council of all the daimyo and lords as well as the court nobility called the Shinka-in (臣下院), of which he was the head of as the daijo-daijin. Its role was to be summoned by the daijo-daijin, imperial regent, or the emperor whenever a great matter of state necessitated broad opinion to be resolved with the body making the decisions. The stated goal was to give all samurai and nobility a greater say in the biggest political matters, although in practice it would often be used as a rubber stamp or method of coercion for decades to come since its activation was completely up to the discretion of the Oda clan. Nevertheless, it represented Japan’s first broad legislative body even if it really lacked de facto power and its existence would prove significant down the line.

Nobutomo also issued reforms to the military organization of the realm. Nobutomo would revive the various shogunal positions and establish the positions of Kyushu Tandai (九州探題) and Shikoku Tandai (四国探題) in order to centralize the mobilization and organization of the realm’s military. Above the new Tandai positions was the Seisei-shogun (征西将軍), or the western Shogun. The Seitou-shogun (征東将軍), or eastern shogun, was in charge of the Kanto and Chubu regions while the Chinjufu-shogun (鎮守府将軍) was in charge of the Oshu region and Ezo. Finally, at the very top was the position of Seii-tai-shogun (征夷大将軍), a position Oda Nobutomo himself would assume as the commander-in-chief of all of Japan. The new military hierarchy enabled Japan to mobilize for wars and respond to rebellions more quickly rather than always waiting for the daijo-daijin to appoint someone to gather the armies of various lords. Over time, this hierarchy would be utilized to facilitate the development of Japan’s first professional standing armies. From the outset of the reforms, Nobutomo would even establish a 1,000 strong elite cavalry unit called the Konoe cavalry (近衛騎馬隊), named after his late brother and composed of young nobles and retainers. The first appointees to the new military positions were the following:

Chinjufu shogun: Date Norimune (伊達則宗)
Eastern shogun: Tokugawa Tadayoshi (徳川忠康)
Western shogun: Kitabatake Takanaga (北畠高長)
Shikoku Tandai: Miyoshi Yasukata (三好康賢)
Kyushu Tandai: Shimazu Norihisa (島津則久)

He would also formally elevate the admiralty of the Azuchi Navy to a courtly title to be known as “Seisui-shogun” (征水将軍) rather than a magistracy, with naval magistrate Wakizaka Yasumoto becoming its first titleholder. This merely strengthened the status of an already well-organized central Japanese navy and gave it greater authority and precedence over other daimyo navies.​

Portrait of Wakizaka Yasumoto​

With regards to Japanese territories outside of the home islands, Nobutomo would incorporate Bireitō’s samurai into his reforms, with Zheng Zhilong becoming a member of the Shinka-in himself. However, the province of Luson would be excluded and be designated as a militarized frontier region too important to loosen central authority over in any shape or form. Additionally, the aboriginal tribes in Bireitō were largely left out of these reforms as well, even as much of their elite increasingly intermarried with the Japanese and became more culturally Japanese. This would plant the seeds of tension and feelings of sentiment from the aboriginal elite towards the non-native Japanese on the island.

The announcements of these political edicts came with some protest from among the minor fudai retainers of the Oda clan who made up the majority of the Azuchi bureaucracy and quiet whispers of concern from among some of the tozama daimyo clans over the autonomy from the central government they so cherished. Nevertheless, Nobutomo’s mandate of authority from the recent victory in the Furuwatari War, sheer will, and the delicate balance of interests established by the reforms ensured that these reforms would not be seriously challenged. To some extent, this was because formerly fudai-designated retainers continued to wield disproportionate influence through the bureaucracy and some favoritism towards them would linger on. Nobutomo, however, would begin to incorporate the court nobility to a greater degree in his government, increasing their numbers in the Sangi-shu. Over the next few years, he would also recognize various urban councils of merchants and craftsmen in the cities and towns Azuchi governed in an effort to incorporate them in the governance of the realm and secure their goodwill as supporters of the government. His efforts to solidify his authority would even extend to the imperial court itself, when in 1641 he forced Emperor Go-Mizunoo to retire and arranged the accession of his tenth son, Prince Teruhito (照仁親王), Nobutomo’s nephew via his sister Takahime , as Emperor Tensho (天正天皇). Through the new 16 year old emperor, the daijo-daijin would control all court affairs.​

Portrait of Emperor Tensho​

These edicts and reforms would come to be collectively known as the Kanei Reforms (寛永の改革) and would progress the Azuchi daijo-fu to an unprecedented stage of political centralization and integration of samurai affairs with the imperial court. They would prove to be so influential and significant that the modern political structure of Japan can be traced back to the norms and institutions set by Nobutomo in the early 1640s. The Kanei Reforms would also prove to be essential for Japan to recover from the financial and human costs of war that had been increasing over the past decade, a recovery that the daijo-daijin would focus on for the rest of the decade.

[1]: Named after Oda Nagamasu's Buddhist/tea master name.

[2]: Named after Tarui district in Gifu province that Oda Nobutaka was formerly granted.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 67: A Survey of the Greater Oda Clan​

After nearly 60 years of continuous rule of Japan by the Oda clan, the latter’s position was utterly unshakeable. A contributing factor was the loyalty and distribution of the clan’s blood relatives that had either founded cadet branches on their own or had become heirs to various families. The most prominent of these could be found in the main branch of the Oda line, including the Konoe imperial regents and the Kanbe clan line. However, many others stemmed not only from the bloodlines of Oda Nobunaga’s many many sons but beyond.
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Kitabatake clan (北畠家)​

A noble family, the Kitabatake originally became prominent when Kitabatake Chikafusa (北畠親房) and his son Akiie (北畠顕家) came to wield political influence in the court of Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇) during the earlier Kenmu Restoration (建武の新政) of 1333-1336, and Chikafusa’s descendants continued to hold key positions in the Southern Court (南朝) during the Nanboku-cho period (南北朝時代). They eventually came to control the province of Ise province as its governors even into the Sengoku Period. In 1569, after surrendering to Nobunaga, Kitabatake Tomonori (北畠具教) adopted the former’s second son as one of the terms. After fully succeeding the family, Kitabatake Nobuoki continued to govern Ise province and even added a part of Kii province to his domain. As a family of nobility, Nobuoki and his sons were crucial bridges between Azuchi and Kyoto. After Nobuoki’s death in 1630, his 5 year old grandson through his second son Kitabatake Tomonobu (北畠具信), Tomotoyo, would take over as the head of the family but clan affairs were run by Nobuoki’s third son, Takanaga.

Kitabatake Nobuoki (北畠信意): 1576-1630 (l. 1558-1630)
Kitabatake Tomotoyo (北畠具豊): 1630- (l. 1625-)
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Miyoshi clan (三好氏)

Portrait of Miyoshi Yasutaka​

The Miyoshi clan started off as a cadet branch of the Ogasawara clan (小笠原氏) based in Awa province, siding with the Southern Court during the Nanboku-cho period. They came to become key retainers of the Hosokawa clan after the final triumph of the Northern Court and the Ashikaga shogunate in 1392. Their power would begin to grow outside of Awa Province in the late 15th and early 16th centuries through a series of marriage alliances and backing the victors in Hosokawa succession disputes. The Miyoshi would eventually eclipse their overlords and become major daimyo in their own right under Miyoshi Nagayoshi (三好長慶), at one point even pulling the strings behind the Ashikaga shogunate during the tenure of Ashikaga Yoshiteru (足利義輝). However, after Nagayoshi’s death, his retainers in turn would usurp power from within and instigated the overthrow of Yoshiteru in favor of his cousin Yoshihide (足利義栄), weakening the clan and its control over political affairs and leaving it unable to effectively resist Nobunaga’s armies. Eventually, surviving members of the clan became Oda vassals, one of whom would lead the clan’s comeback. Miyoshi Yasunaga, a younger brother of Nagayoshi, participated in the Oda subjugation of Shikoku in 1582 and as a reward was not only restored in Awa province but also adopted Nobunaga’s third son, Kanbe Nobutaka, as his heir. From there, through Nobutaka, the Miyoshi clan became the pre-eminent daimyo in Shikoku, with his sons Yasutaka and Yasukata seeing success as military commanders in both the Iberian-Japanese and Furuwatari Wars.

Miyoshi Nobutaka (三好信孝): 1585-1621 (l. 1558-1621)
Miyoshi Yasutaka (三好康孝): 1621-1639 (l. 1583-1639)
Miyoshi Yasunori (三好康則): 1639- (l. 1606-)​

Shimazu clan (島津氏)
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The origins of the Shimazu clan are shrouded in mystery, with various sources either identifying the clan founder Shimazu Tadahisa (島津忠久) as either the true son of minor noble Koremune Hirokoto (惟宗広言) or the latter’s adopted son, with Tadahisa’s true father being Minamoto no Yoritomo (源頼朝), the first shogun and founder of the Kamakura shogunate (鎌倉幕府), himself. In any case, Tadahisa became the steward of the Shimazu Estate (島津荘) in southern Kyushu and subsequently became the constables of Hyuga, Satsuma, and Oosumi provinces, establishing him and his descendants as the lords of southern Kyushu. Through the centuries, the Shimazu clan was able to maintain power and status despite the emergence of other clans in southern Kyushu and by the time of Shimazu Yoshihisa, the family had become one of the powerful clans in all of Kyushu. In the Treaty of Takamatsu in 1582, the childless Yoshihisa adopted Nobunaga’s 4th son, Katsunaga.1 Katsunaga, who changed his name to Shimazu Nagahisa upon his adoption, became one of the most influential members of the Azuchi government in the early 17th century, often the strongest voice for trade expansionism and facilitating the forging of the Dutch-Japanese alliance. Under him, the Shimazu would also acquire several coastal possessions dotting Bireitō. His grandson, Norihisa, would continue the Shimazu’s new role as the Oda bedrock in Kyushu.

Shimazu Nagahisa (島津長久): 1602-1631 (l. 1561-1631)
Shimazu Norihisa (島津則久): 1631- (l. 1613-)​

Iyo-Saionji clan (伊予西園寺氏)

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Portrait of Saionji Kinsada

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A cadet branch of the greater Saionji noble family, the Iyo-Saionji clan split off during the Nanboku-cho period and came to control western Iyo province. They continued into the Sengoku period and when its 10th clan head, Kinhiro, was left with no heir, Nobunaga had him adopt one of his younger sons, Nobusada, with Nobusada changing his name to Kinsada. After Kinsada passed away in 1624, his eldest son Kinnori would succeed him.

Saionji Kinsada (西園寺公貞): 1587-1624 (l. 1574-1624)
Saionji Kinnori (西園寺公則): 1624- (l. 1613-)​

Wakamatsu and Tarui clans (若松氏, 垂井氏)
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The Wakamatsu and Tarui cadet branches of the Oda clan represented the bloodlines of Oda Nobuhide the Younger and Nobutaka, the first two governors of Bireitō. After their early deaths, their sons would be adopted by Oda Tadataka and would succeed him after his death in 1633 while leading Japanese armies in Luzon. Wakamatsu Tadahide (若松忠秀) governed the northern half, Bireizen, while Tarui Norishige (垂井則重) governed the southern half, Bireigo.

Oda Nobuhide (織田信秀): 1571-1597
Wakamatsu Tadahide (若松忠秀): 1591-

Oda Nobutaka (織田信高): 1576-1603
Tarui Norishige (垂井則重): 1602-​

Tsuda clan (津田氏)
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The Tsuda clan was descended from Nobunaga’s younger brother Nobuyuki. Despite the treacherous behavior of the latter and his murder at the hands of Nobunaga himself, his sons were allowed to live on. His eldest son in particular, Tsuda Nobuzumi, was able to overcome the shame of his father through great feats in battle throughout his life. In 1582, he even served as one of the commanders of Kanbe Nobutaka’s [1] invasion of Shikoku but was killed in battle at the Battle of Kawashima. This unfortunately stagnated the Tsuda clan’s rise in the ranks and his son, Masazumi, remained a minor castle lord at Oomizo Castle (大溝城) in Oumi province. The Iberian-Japanese War, however, provided opportunity and Masazumi was among those who found success on the battlefield, eventually carving out a new domain for the Tsuda clan in Luson province.

Tsuda Nobuzumi (津田信澄): 1555-1582
Tsuda Masazumi (津田昌澄): 1582- (l. 1582-)​

Kudō clan (工藤氏)
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The progenitor of what became the Kudō cadet branch of the Oda clan was Nobunaga’s younger brother, Oda Nobukane. The latter came to be granted the province of Iga as his domain, from where he emerged as a key player within the Azuchi daijo-fu. He notably was the guardian of Oda Nobunori, who happened to be his great-nephew, and also helped promote the political rise of Saito Yoshioki. After Nobukane’s death in 1614, however, his bloodline would not see anyone else attain such prominent power and would continue on simply as the lords of Iga province, although his grandson Kanetada would serve as the guardian of Oda Nobutsugu after the siege of Gifu.

Oda Nobukane (織田信包): 1546-1614
Oda Kanenaga (織田包長): 1614-1615 (l. 1571-1615)
Kudō Kanetada (工藤包忠): 1615- (l. 1597-)​

Urakusai clan (有楽斎氏)

Portrait of Oda Nagamasu​

Coined after the Buddhist/tea master name of Oda Nagamasu, the Urakusai clan was granted land in western Izumo province. Under the lordship of Urakusai, the city of Izumo would quickly develop an active tea culture that disseminated down to the commoners but especially among the merchants and retainers [2]. After he retired and passed on the lordship to his senior grandson Naganori (織田長則), he would go on to become Oda Nobutomo’s guardian at Gifu. Some of his sons and retainers would stick around in Gifu, including Hisanaga who would go on to become the guardian of Oda Nobutsugu. As a result, the Urakusai clan was scattered in both Izumo and Mino provinces. In 1631, Naganori’s younger brother Nagaie (有楽斎長家) after the former passed away without any natural sons.

Oda Nagamasu (織田長益): 1547-1622
Oda Naganori (織田長則): 1622-1631 (l. 1602-1631)
Urakusai Nagaie (有楽斎長家): 1631- (l. 1604-)​

Musashino clan (武蔵野氏)
​

Descended from Nobunaga’s youngest brother, Nagatoshi, this line produced the two Kamakura Tandais that ruled over the Kanto region for 54 years from Kamakura. They also possessed landholdings in Shimousa province seized from the Ashikaga rebels in the area. After the deaths of Tandai Toshimasa and his heir Toshihide in the Komyo-ji Incident that kicked off the Furuwatari War, the lordship of the family fell to Toshihide’s son Toshinao who was immediately forced to defend the clan’s territories from the Hojo and their allies. With the support of pro-Azuchi lords and his uncle Tamemasa, he was able to fend off the invasion and contributed to the ultimate defeat of the Hojo clan. Afterwards, the family was given all of Musashi province for strategic purposes in exchange for the redistribution of their lands in Shimousa province to other castle lords and daimyos. From Musashi, the Musashino clan would begin to recover themselves and their new domain from the destruction and destabilization caused by the Furuwatari War.

Oda Nagatoshi (織田長利): 1551-1596
Oda Toshimasa (織田利昌): 1596-1637 (1575-1637)
Musashino Toshinao (武蔵野利直): 1637- (l. 1618- )​

Other branches
​

Other branches of the Oda clan more distantly related to Nobunaga continued to exist, though they had been forced to discard the family name long ago and existed as relatively minor castle lords. These bloodlines were the remnants of the various Oda branches that controlled various tracts of Owari province prior to its unification by Nobunaga in 1559. Some of these included the Otai clan (小田井氏), who were the castle lords of Otai Castle, (小田井城) and the Iinoo clan (飯尾氏) who held various magistrate positions. Notably, Otai Tomonobu led forces in Luzon during the Iberian-Japanese War but died in battle near Cape Bojeador.

[1]: Miyoshi Nobutaka’s name before his adoption by Miyoshi Yasunaga

[2]: The reverse of OTL, where under Matsudaira Harusato (松平治郷), better known as Fumai (不昧), the neighboring city of Matsue (松江), became a center of tea culture and drinking in the 1700s.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 68: Dutch Sovereignty At Last​

The Spanish Empire in the mid and late 1630s was in deep trouble. It had lost a portion of the Philippines to the Japanese along with access to Ming goods and 10% of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade revenue. In Europe, it was in a stalemate with the French and Dutch over control of the Low Countries. Then, in 1635, the Duke of Braganza declared himself the new king of Portugal as John IV amidst Portuguese discontent over Madrid’s failure to protect their overseas possessions and interference in domestic affairs. This forced Spain to dedicate men towards retaking Portugal, draining resources from efforts against France and the Netherlands, only for the campaign to spiral into a stalemate of skirmishes on the border. Even worse, the mutiny and defection of the Portuguese regiments in the Army of Flanders disrupted Spanish defenses, enabling France to take over the province of Artois after their victory after the Battle of Arras in 1637. The turn of events would even encourage the Dutch to resume funding for offensive campaigns against the Spanish, with the forts of Venlo and Roermond taken by the Dutch once again.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t over for the Habsburg hegemon. The Army of Flanders had recovered from the chaos of the Portuguese mutiny and it still possessed their talented general, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand. Despite the loss of Artois, the Spanish would remind their enemies of the lethal effectiveness and professionalism of their tercios when a large Dutch army led by Count William of Nassau-Siegen marched deep into Spanish territory and clashed with Ferdinand near the village of Neerwinden on April 22nd, 1638. Ferdinand led an army of 13,000 towards the advancing Dutch, accompanied by the Marquis of Lede, the governor of Limburg, and artillery commander Andrea Cantelmo. Although the Dutch army was a larger 20,000, half of it lagged behind due to bad weather and only 10,000 were nearby under the direct command of Count William. After learning this, the Spanish took advantage of this and Lede led a swift charge of German and Italian tercios on the army’s right wing against the Dutch, quickly joined by the center. Count William’s men were taken by surprise and were pushed back, although the commander quickly rallied his men and steadied the frontline. After a few hours, both sides were suffering high casualties. It looked like the Spanish would lose again as soon as the Dutch reinforcements, led by Count Henry of Nassau-Siegen, arrived and tipped the balance. In this critical moment, some of Cantelmo’s tercios as well as his cuirassiers broke through the Dutch and overran the States’ army’s artillery position. While his tercios began to encircle the Dutch, Cantelmo rotated the captured artillery in the direction of the reinforcements, who had begun to emerge from the horizon, and unleashed a barrage of cannonfire. This spooked the unsuspecting reinforcements and Count Henry of Nassau-Siegen, unaware his brother desperately needed him, halted while sending a cavalry contingent to aid and examine the situation. Henry’s inaction sealed Count William’s fate as his surrounded army fell man by man. The general himself would be killed, the surviving men surrendering shortly afterwards with only his son Maurice Frederick [1] and his companions escaping. Henry would learn of the Dutch defeat in detail from Maurice Frederick and would retreat out of the area. While the Dutch had lost nearly half of their army, the Army of Flanders had suffered 1,500 casualties. This victory would dent the Franco-Dutch momentum and bought the Spanish more time and options in the Low Countries.​

Depiction of the Battle of Neerwinden​

In fact, the next few years saw the frontlines stabilize as the Dutch and French were boxed out of further offensives, although Ferdinand failed to rollback territorial losses in Artois and Limburg and the Spanish navy’s attempts at retaking control of the English Channel on the Flemish coast, notably at the Battle of the Downs in 1639. Nor did the situation alter significantly against Portugal on the Iberia Peninsula. Nevertheless, a few developments promised future success. First, the French-allied Savoyard duchy became embroiled in a civil war over the regency of Charles Emmanuel II between the duke’s mother, Christine de Bourbon, and the Savoyard princes Maurice and Thomas Francis. Spain was also able to knock the Duchy of Parma and its sovereign, Odoardo Farnese, out of the war after the latter's army was defeated by the forces of Francesco I d'Este in 1637. Then, in 1639, King Philip IV signed the Treaty of Naples with King Wladyslaw IV of Poland-Lithuania, who had recently signed a Family Pact with the Austrian Habsburgs through his marriage with Cecilia Renata of Austria, where a Polish army of 13,000 [2] including a few thousand winged hussars would be paid by Spain and sent to aid the Army of Flanders. These developments, however, concealed Spanish financial difficulties, affected both by the costs of its wars and the income loss in the Philippines, as well as internal dissent exacerbated by the failures of the crown and the forced implementation of the Union of Arms in 1631 upon the constituent realms. These undercurrents would rear their heads with the official beginning of the Catalan Revolt in 1640, caused by heavy taxation, conscription of Catalan men against the Portuguese, and the presence of Spanish royal troops in the region to guard against the French. Already, Catalonia was ridden with scattered local rebellions by peasants forced to quarter Spanish soldiers, but it wouldn’t be until the assassination of the Count of St. Coloma, the viceroy of Catalonia, in the streets of Barcelona by an angry mob when it truly began. Pau Claris, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, would subsequently engage in diplomacy with the French and call a general court in September to establish revolutionary measures in preparation against Madrid. Secession was official by the end of the year, and in January 1641 Louis XIII of France was declared the count of Barcelona, opening up another front in the war and straining the resources of the Spanish Crown even more.​

Portrait of Pau Claris, President of the Generalitat of Catalonia​

Even worse, however, was the death of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1641 from war fatigue and illness. The talented general and brother of the king was the main factor that ensured the success and survival of the Army of Flanders, whose men adored their leader. With his passing ended unity in the Spanish Netherlands, for the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs began to dispute Ferdinand’s successor in the former’s capacity as the governor of the Spanish Netherlands between the Emperor’s brother Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and John Joseph, the illegitimate son of King Philip IV. Amidst the chaos, the main Dutch army, which had begun besieging Breda again, was able to break through and capture the city, this time for good. Leopold Wilhelm eventually emerged as the new governor of the Spanish Netherlands on the agreement that Austria would contribute men to the struggling effort against the French and Dutch [3]. Andrea Cantelmo took over command of the Army of Flanders in the Archduke’s absence and would attain a victory at the Battle of La Marfee inside the Principality of Sedan against the French with the defection of the anti-Richelieu princes, the Comte de Soissons and Duc de Bouillon in March 6th, 1642 [4]. However, the Spanish were unable to follow up on this victory and soon, the approach of the Army of Champagne from French-occupied Artois forced a retreat. This, along with the absence of a unifying figure as significant and talented as the Cardinal-Infante would give credence to the idea that ultimate Habsburg victory was impossible and that an acceptable end to the war could be salvaged but only through sacrifices.

Upon his arrival in Brussels in 1642, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm concluded that recognizing the independence of the Netherlands, already a functional regional power and maritime empire, would be the sacrifice. This conclusion came to be accepted in Madrid after rumors of the Dutch attempting to negotiate the resumption of war in the East between Spain and Japan circulated the royal court. Whispers of rebellion in southern Brabant and Flanders proved to be the final nail in the coffin, and in that year the Spanish would begin negotiations with the Dutch, who themselves were eager for peace talks as the war had proved expensive for the republic. This would conclude with the Peace of Antwerp in 1644, where the Spanish formally recognized the independence of the Netherlands and ceded Upper Guelders, Brabant north of the Scheldt, Rupel, and Dyle Rivers, and northern Flanders north of Ghent. In accordance with the wishes of Emperor Ferdinand III, however, the Netherlands would remain a part of the Holy Roman Empire.​

Low Countries after the Peace of Antwerp, 1644​

The Peace of Antwerp ended the Dutch War of Independence [5], leaving France, Portugal, and Catalonia against the Spanish Crown with indirect Austrian intervention. Events seemed to suggest that a state of stalemate would solidify and a Habsburg reversal looking even possible, especially with the passing of Cardinal Richelieu in 1642 and King Louis XIII in 1643. However, a new conflict on the other side of Europe was on the horizon and when it arrived, it would shake up the balance of power in western Europe once again.

[1]: ITTL, Maurice Frederick does not die in battle like he did in 1638 at the Battle of Kallo IOTL.

[2]: The OTL treaty called for 17,000 men, with a renegotiated treaty reducing that number to 13,000. ITTL, Spain is in more dire financial straits so can’t afford as much.

[3]: IOTL, John Joseph was favored but his inauguration was delayed and eventually canceled, with Francisco de Melo becoming the interim governor.

[4]: Took place on July 6th, 1641 IOTL.

[5]: The Eighty Years’ War is just called the Dutch War of Independence ITTL.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 69: Azuchi’s Recovery Agenda and Foreign Policy in the 1640s​

After the implementation of most of the Kanei reforms, Nobutomo would focus on the recovery process from the two wars that despite expanding the realm’s borders and eliminating Azuchi’s internal enemies also sapped Japan of manpower and finances. The unassumingly precarious state of the realm would be further weakened by the occurrence of the Kanei Great Famine [1] in the early 1640s. The wartime destruction of patches of the countryside in the Kanto and Oshu regions and the province of Mikawa province reduced agricultural productivity, setting up these regions for future famine. What would break the dam were a series of geological and weather events, including the eruption of the Ezo Komagatake (蝦夷駒ヶ岳) and abnormal bouts of drought. The home islands as a whole would suffer, especially the Kanto and Oshu regions. The resulting famine would see a surge of migrants flooding into urban centers like Yonezawa (米沢) and waves of peasant rebellions break out. Many of these rebellions also involved unemployed ronin and ashigaru left displaced from the Furuwatari War. The Chinjufu and Western shoguns, Date Tadamune and Tokugawa Tadayasu, would support local daimyo in suppressing these rebellions in their new capacities.

In the meantime, Nobutomo would begin subsidizing the development and in many cases redevelopment of the Japanese East using Azuchi’s vast revenue from the daimyo and overseas trade. These subsidies went towards not only rebuilding devastated villages and structures and expanding old and new farmland but also towards funding new public works, particularly dams and dikes that could redirect floods and better use rivers for irrigating rice and other crops. This subsidized aid aimed not only at recovery but also long-term economic and political integration with the more prosperous, trade-centric west, as Azuchi’s financial support of the Oshu and Kanto regions planted the seeds for local industry in the countryside, particularly cash crops and handicrafts. Nobutomo’s subsidization agenda during this time also altered the relationship between the Oda clan and the various lords and daimyo throughout Japan, particularly in the recently rebellious regions, and assuaged many of the fears of the latter after the political centralization achieved by Nobutomo’s Kanei Reforms. The success of subsidization would lead to its greater implementation across the realm in select situations.

Because of Azuchi’s focused investment in the Oshu and Kanto countryside, certain technological advancements in agriculture would proliferate there faster than it would with the west. This included both the Archimedes screw pump and the windmill. The former had been introduced in 1618 and would spread to different places through the 1630s to address persistent flooding and drain wetlands to convert to rice paddies, with it being used specifically in Sado’s gold mines to drain water from the underground tunnels. This technology would begin to proliferate even more as the expertise required to incorporate the pumps for various purposes, which mostly was with Azuchi, spread with the subsidization and support provided to the Oshu and Kanto regions. The latter, on the other hand, was an innovation present only in Satsuma province at the beginning of the 1640s. The Dutch, who always had a close relationship with the Shimazu clan from the port of Kagoshima, gifted him the construction of a tower mill for Shimazu Norihisa. This technology would gain the attention of Azuchi as Norihisa would brag about the “gift” during one of his mandated stays in Azuchi. From there, enough interest came about that Nobutomo would receive assistance from the Dutch in helping build windmills. The first tower mills outside of Satsuma in Japan would be built in Musashi province on the Kanto plain, the perfect landscape for such technology. These mills interestingly were not used for the farmers’ primary crop of rice but rather would be used to grind both grains like barley and buckwheat and other crops like soybeans, all of which played a larger role in the diet of the average peasant. Japanese tower mills specifically would be a game changer for buckwheat and soybeans, and gradually windmills and not water wheels would be favored for their milling.​

Depiction of the Sado gold mines around 1637, with the far right demonstrating the usage of Archimedean screw pumps​

On foreign policy, Nobutomo would also prioritize peace over confrontation for the time being. Upon the accession of the Hongguang Emperor in 1641, he would send a delegation to Beijing and renew the realm’s tributary relationship with Ming China which would do much to ease the tension built up by temporary Japanese control over the flow of European goods into the Middle Kingdom. To the south, the daijo-daijin would take advantage of Spain’s ongoing strife to extend the Treaty of Gapan and the truce for another 10 years in late 1643, although Japan would only take 5% of the Manila-Acapulco trade revenue after renegotiations occurred. Azuchi, however, would rebuff Spanish diplomatic overtures to handicap the Portuguese in Japan in their favor. Trade relations with France would gradually become realized as well, with the Company of the Moluccas superseded by the French East India Company in 1642 [2] and its operations expanded beyond Pondicherry and Middle Eastern waters to Japan.

Beyond the east, the Kanei Embassy had sparked interest among the Mughals and Ottomans, rulers of vast empires with varying degrees of diplomatic and economic relations with European powers Japan interacted with like the French and Portuguese. Japanese merchants themselves had begun to build a small but steady presence on the eastern coast of the Indian subcontinent, presenting promising economic prospects to its badshah Shah Jahan. Meanwhile, the Ottomans saw common ground with Azuchi as they had both fought the Spanish and Portuguese in the past while also maintaining friendly relations with the French and the various sultanates in Southeast Asia. The latter fact would springboard the Japanese embassy to Constantinople in 1641, headed once again by the daijo-daijin’s brother Tomoaki and partially facilitated by the French. This embassy would see Tomoaki sail through the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea before arriving in Cairo where he spent a week. From there, the embassy would travel to the Ottoman capital from Alexandria via the Mediterranean Sea where much like he did before in Paris Tomoaki rode at the front of the embassy’s procession before greeting Ibrahim, the Ottoman padishah. Tomoaki would stay for a few months exploring the sights of the world’s largest city and making a few excursions to its surroundings including Galata, home to a permanent French embassy while also overseeing the signing of a tentative treaty of friendship and exploring other diplomatic opportunities. However, not much else would be accomplished and ultimately the embassy would to one extent be yet another opportunity for the French and Japanese to communicate as it became clear that the Ottomans and Japanese actually didn’t share many overlapping objectives and interests. During his time in Constantinople, Tomoaki would receive a letter from his old friend Louis of Conde, now a rising general in the French army. Tomoaki would write back, expressing hope that they would be able to meet in person sometime in the future, although unfortunately this opportunity would never arise.

The Japanese embassy to Agra of 1643 proved to be more fruitful than expected. This embassy was led by Kajuuji Tsunehiro (勧修寺経広) and Ikeda Nobutora and was composed of a large number of Japanese merchants, including Tenjiku Tokubei (天竺徳兵衛), a veteran merchant in Indian Ocean waters who had recently published a popular account of his travels in the Tenjiku Tokai Monogatari (天竺渡海物語). In fact, he had even been given an audience with Nobutomo, and it is speculated by modern-day historians that Tokubei had been the one to recommend the Agra embassy to the daijo-daijin. The embassy’s land journey to Agra was filled with exotic sights and displays of the empire’s wealth and prosperity, although in his journal Yasubee would express his dislike for the subcontinent’s caste system. The 1644 embassy, like the previous ones to Europe and Constantinople, was greeted cordially by the ruler. Unlike previous diplomatic missions, however, the Japanese embassy to Agra would have personal interactions frequently with the badshah himself. A great patron of architecture, Shah Jahan would lead tours of many of his projects in Agra, Delhi, and Lahore, from the Naulakha Pavilion to the Taj Mahal. The Mughal badshah along with grand vizier Sa’adullah Khan would also oversee preliminary trade negotiations as well as the signing of a formal declaration of friendship between the Mughals and the Japanese. Upon the return of the embassy in 1645, the glowing reports of Tsunehiro, Nobutora, and Yasubee as well as letters penned by Shah Jahan himself to both Emperor Tensho and Oda Nobutomo that in 1647 Azuchi would initiate the process of permanent embassies between Japan and the Mughals, Japan’s only such interaction aside from its tributary embassy in Beijing established in 1642.​

Shah Jahan, the Mughal badshah (left), and Ibrahim, the Ottoman padishah (right)​

The success of the 1641 and 1644 embassies to Agra and Constantinople respectively would over time also lead to greater relations between Japan and the various sultanates of Southeast Asia, particularly the Aceh and Maguindanao sultanates. Additionally, the 1644 Mughal-Japanese diplomatic breakthrough would lead to greater trade relations between the Indian subcontinent and the Japanese realm and within a few decades markets would see the exchange of otters furs from the far north for spices like saffron and tamarind. In this way along with many others, Azuchi’s policies in the 1640s under the direction of daijo-daijin Oda Nobutomo forged new connections and laid the currents for the realm’s economic and mercantile development through the rest of the 17th century.

[1]: Differences to OTL are that western Japan is better off and the Oshu and Kanto regions are worse off.

[2]: The Compagnie d’Orient was formed in 1642, with it being succeeded by OTL’s French East India Company in 1664 and having a less Indo-centric scope compared to OTL.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 70: The Ruins of Habsburg Hegemony​

With the Peace of Antwerp, the Dutch left the war and now the Army of Flanders could focus all its might upon the French with the aid of their Austrian brethren. Nevertheless, the Spanish Crown was still pressed on all sides. After the victory of the pro-French Savoyard regent, Christine of France, in the Piedmontese Civil War in 1642, the duchy rejoined the war effort and once again presented a threat to King Philip IV’s Milanese holdings. In Catalonia, the Franco-Catalan forces held the upper hand, winning a string of victories early on in the Catalan Revolt at Montjuic, Montmelo, and Perpignan. Finally, the Portuguese and Franche-Comte fronts remained at a standstill with both sides engaging in small engagements of little consequence. From the Spanish perspective, however, the death of Chief Minister Richelieu in 1642 and King Louis XIII the following year would cause disarray at the top in France enough for them to reverse their losses for good. At first glance, the ascendance of the 5 year old Dauphin as King Louis XIV gave credence to this conclusion. However, Richelieu had been followed by his protege, the Italian cardinal Mazarin, who would prove to be as capable as his wily and thunderous predecessor and would guide France for the next 18 years on behalf of the new king.

While the Spanish-Dutch negotiations were going on, France began renewed offensives into the Spanish Netherlands. The Army of Champagne, commanded by the Comte de Guiche Antoine III de Gramont, was tasked by Louis XIII to take and secure Spanish Flanders and the count would begin besieging the ports of Gravelines and Dunkirk. The French sieges would be interrupted by Andrea Cantelmo’s surprise offensive into French-occupied Artois with the absence of the Army of Champagne and the diversion of most other French forces in Catalonia. The Army of Flanders, if successful, would also isolate the French in Flanders and with Dutch withdrawal from the war looking likely in 1642-1643, Franco-Dutch naval dominance in the English Channel could be broken by the Spanish. So, Guiche abandoned the sieges and intercepted Cantelmo and the Army of Flanders on November 13th, 1642 at St. Omer. The Habsburgs, bolstered by key Austrian reinforcements, scored another victory against the French, with Guiche’s surviving men barely making it back into Artois. The Army of Flanders proceeded to enter Artois and began besieging Arras, only for the siege to be cut short by the arrival of fresh French reinforcements, led by Tomoaki’s good friend Louis of Conde, now a rising commander. After Cantelmo’s retreat, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm would take over command of the Army of Flanders. Over the next 2 years, the Spanish and French engaged in a series of skirmishes and sieges in Artois, Hainaut, and Flanders and eventually the French were able to capture Dunkirk and Gravelines. Soon, however, the ultimate conclusion of the struggle would be decided in a decisive battle.

A small force led by Josias von Rantzau had begun to besiege the town of Furnes in Flanders in spring 1645 but was quickly alerted to the impending approach of the Army of Flanders led by the Archduke-Governor himself. Before his men could be crushed, he ended the siege and retreated south while sending a letter to Gaston, the Duke of Orleans and the commander of the Army of Champagne, requesting assistance. The supreme general would act quickly and after combining on April 6th, the French would meet Leopold Wilhelm’s army at Houthulst. Both sides were of similar size of around 20,000, although the Spanish had significantly more gunnery than the French. The Duke of Orleans commanded the infantry-heavy center with Rantzau manning the reserves and artillery. The French wings, consisting mostly of cavalry, were led by Louis of Conde on the right and the Comte de Guiche on the left. On the Spanish side, which nearly mirrored the French army, the Archduke himself commanded the center while Cantelmo led the right wing and Count Ernest von Isenberg-Grenzau the left.​

Blue=French, Yellow=Spanish​

When the battle started at dawn, the superior Spanish artillery pierced through the morning fog and dealt heavy losses upon the French infantry. Cantelmo followed up this bombardment with a charge on the Spanish right and pushed back Guiche’s men while the Spanish tercios in the center advanced. However, the French line infantry proved to be more effective in its musket fire and was able to keep the Archduke’s men at bay. The surprise of the battle was Conde’s daring offensive upon the Spanish left, easily crushing von Isenberg-Grenzau and proceeding to scatter that side. The French right then wheeled around and captured much of the Spanish artillery. While Conde’s infantry secured the position behind the Army of Flanders, his cavalry attacked the Spanish tercios from behind with himself at the helm. Seeing his comrades in the center get enveloped, Cantelmo took a contingent to assist the Archduke. At this moment, however, the French-captured artillery opened fire, killing the commander instantly. This caused his remaining men to retreat from the battlefield, leaving the Spanish tercios to their fate as they were showered with bullets and cannonballs and cut down by cuirassiers. A wounded Leopold Wilhelm managed to escape along with a few companions but the survivors were forced to surrender. This battle proved devastating for the Spanish and it would be a loss they would unfortunately not recover from, for events from beyond would guarantee no help would come from the Austrians any longer.

In September 1644, several Maltese galleys attacked an Ottoman convoy carrying pilgrims bound for Mecca. In the ensuing battle, over 200 men were killed and the rest were to be sold into slavery. On their way back, these ships docked in Crete, which was under the dominion of Venice, and unloaded some of the captives. This incident would spiral into conflict between the Venetians and the Ottomans, the Sublime Porte accusing Venice of colluding with the Knights of Malta in assaulting the convoy. Venice immediately sent letters to the various rulers across Europe and pleaded for funds and military support against the Turks. Although realms like Austria and Saxony would immediately agree to send monetary aid to the Venetians, direct military intervention from anyone seemed unlikely until King Wladyslaw IV of Poland-Lithuania decided to take charge. Having itched for war with the Ottoman Empire for years, the king persuaded the Sejm to support a war against the Ottomans to relieve the Venetians, citing the need to stop the border raids of the Crimean Tatars and diffuse tension between the dissatisfied Cossacks and Warsaw [1]. He was quickly joined by the dukes of Lower and Upper Silesia, George III and George Rudolf, and soon Ferdinand III would declare war on the Turks, not wanting to be beaten to the chase by the Vasa monarch and hoping to restore prestige lost in the Imperial Liberties’ War. These events would herald the beginning of what would be known as the War of the Cretan Coalition.​

1640 portrait of King Wladyslaw IV by Frans Lucyx​

This new war, however, ended Austrian assistance of their Habsburg cousins for the Emperor would need every man at his disposal on the Hungarian border, particularly areas adjacent to pro-Ottoman Transylvania ruled by its Calvinist prince, George Rakoczi. The war also officially nullified the Treaty of Naples, already effectively abandoned by Wladyslaw without its timely implementation. These developments left the Army of Flanders in its shattered state, a shell of Cardinal Infante Ferdinand’s once-personal powerhouse. As a result, the French had free reign in the Low Countries as they toppled Spanish stronghold after stronghold in Flanders and Hainaut. Only in 1647 were the Spanish able to limit French gains but even then Leopold Wilhelm would be unable to reverse the French gains. In the same year, the Spanish Road was cut after so long in Lorraine when at the Battle of Tuttlingen, the French led by Henri the Vicomte de Turenne defeated the Spanish-Lorrainian army, even killing its general the duke of Lorraine himself. Seeing the writing on the wall and lacking substantive support from anyone including the Austrian Habsburgs, Spain sued for peace in 1648. In the following Treaty of the Pyrenees, Spain ceded Spanish Flanders, Artois, and Hainaut in the Low Countries. On the Catalonian front, in return for renouncing the title of count of Barcelona Louis XIV would add Roussillon and northern Cerdanya to his kingdom. France would also annex Lorrainian lands west of the Meuse River while the Duchy of Modena-Reggio was awarded Correggio in northern Italy as they had switched sides towards the end of the war. As part of the peace settlement, Maria Theresa of Spain would be married to the boy king of France. After the signing of the treaty, Madrid would solely focus on suppressing the Catalan rebels and retaking Portugal.​

The Low Countries after the Treaty of the Pyreenees, orange=Spain, cobalt=France, brown=Netherlands, purple= Prince-bishopric of Liege, blue=Prince-bishopric of Cambresis, pink=Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy​

The end of the Franco-Spanish War ended 15 years of Habsburg humiliation on its Spanish side from internal rebellions in the Iberian Peninsula to global losses by rival realms like Japan and France. The nearly uninterrupted stream of wars strained the finances of the global Spanish Empire and left the crown bankrupt and bloodied. 1648 also signified the final end of Habsburg hegemony in western and central Europe, particularly as Habsburg unity frayed with Philip IV of Spain resentful of Austria’s failure to adequately support his armies in the Low Countries and Lorraine. What was left was a deeply weakened Spain and a Imperial-Danubian realm mired in a stalemate against the Ottoman Empire and still reeling from its losses in the Imperial Liberties’ War. Filling the vacated power vacuum would be powers like France, the Netherlands, and Sweden, all opportunistic victors over the Habsburgs who would flourish over the next few decades.

[1]: Without the Thirty Years’ War and the spillover of destruction into Polish lands, the Sejm is more open to the prospect of war.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 71: The Apogee of Nobutomo’s Japan​

​

The rest of the 1640s saw Nobutomo largely build upon the policies and reforms he had instituted in Japan and further consolidate his personal authority and the power of the Oda clan. In particular, he would start to incorporate the tactics of Dutch-Swedish line infantry in the standing regional armies of the realm, a gradual process set to eventually retire the once-uniform masses of yari ashigaru. Flintlock muskets would begin to replace the outdated technology of Japanese matchlock arquebuses. Nevertheless, for decades to come those same blade and spear-wielding samurai would play a pivotal role together with the might of musketeers, an infantry combination that had already begun to emerge in the Iberian-Japanese and Furuwatari Wars. Internally, he dealt with the sudden death of the 21 year old Emperor Tensho in 1646 by facilitating the ascension of a half brother, Prince Nagahito (良仁親王), to the throne as Emperor Hachijou (八条天皇).

Also, in 1647, an expedition sponsored and funded by Azuchi and the Kakizaki clan in Ezo circumnavigated the island of Karafuto (樺太). Its southern part had already been discovered by local explorers and fishermen in the early 1640s. The sizable Ainu population and prospects of further expansion of territory and the fur trade enticed the Japanese who had already earlier explored and begun to interact with the Chishima Islands. However, it was not a pure coincidence that in the same year the Russian Tsardom, whose cavalry and explorers had continuously barreled eastwards towards the Pacific Ocean, founded the port of Okhotsk. Nobutomo, however, had been reading Joseon’s reports of Russian interactions with the northern Jurchens as well as details about the homeland of the Muscovites from European merchants and diplomats, and so felt it necessary to prepare for the future.​

Map of Karafuto​

Aside from daijo-daijin Oda Nobutomo, the daimyo were implementing their own agendas and reforms within their own regions and domains to maintain political stability and . In Kaga and Echizen provinces, the Shibata clan introduced the realm’s local scrip, or paper currency, in 1646 [1]. Headed by Shibata Katsuoki (柴田勝興), the family ruled over one of the most prosperous domains thanks to possessing over 1 million in kokudaka (石高) and the bustling commercialism of the city of Kanazawa, which was the 4th largest city in the realm at 125,000 inhabitants. With the growth of handicraft industries in the outskirts and countryside around Kanazawa, the domain experienced an economic boom, facilitating the financial innovation. The scrip of the Shibata clan would only be the first and over the next few decades, other clans would begin to create their own unique versions. Meanwhile, in Musashi province Musashino Toshinao employed ex-Hojo retainers and ronin in his service and sought to reconcile the formerly warring sides, hoping to strengthen the loyalties of his new non-samurai subjects through them and rebuild political stability in the devastated province. As a result, on the local level they made up an indispensable portion of magistrates, enforcers, guards, and other position-holders, with hereditary Oda retainers making up the upper echelon in the province. Toshinao also committed to restoring the prosperity of the city of Musashino, which had been one of the Kanto region’s rising urban centers but was hurt by the Furuwatari War’s destruction and chaos. These measures would aid Musashi in going down the path of becoming the vibrant heart and core of the Kanto region.​

Scrip used in Echizen and Kaga provinces​

The overseas governors in Luson and Bireitō were also doing similar things. On Bireitō, Tarui Norishige of Bireigo province established a Kunishuu-in (国衆院) composed of the province’s samurai lords as well as the indigenous chieftains in order to bring all sides to the table similar to how the realm-wide Shinka-in did so with the court nobility and samurai lords. This institution would also be created shortly afterwards in Bireizen province, which was now governed by Wakamatsu Tadahide’s heir Tomohide (若松朝秀) after the former had died in 1640. This was particularly helpful as many aboriginal tribes felt dissatisfaction over being left out completely in the realm’s Shinka-in. The Kunishuu-ins on Bireitō would end up serving a bigger purpose compared to its national equivalent due to its more local nature and the greater need to manage the interethnic relations between the different vassals on the island. Meanwhile, on the next island over, Luson governor Kanbe Tomoyoshi continued his efforts in establishing long-term Japanese rule in the recently acquired region. As the Japanese were a small minority on the island, he focused on introducing institutions and standards from the home islands like the kokudaka system with local integration in mind. Many Lusonese natives were conscripted as ashigaru with unique elements like lighter armor to fit the tropical, forested landscape. Finally, Tomoyoshi heavily patronized non-Catholic religions to suppress the Spanish faith in the province, from Zen Buddhism (禅宗) to the Church of Yamato. Yamato Christianity along with traditional animism would find the most success among the natives while Buddhism began to establish a foothold through the samurai class. Sunni Islam, through the presence of Malay and Maguindanaon merchants, would also find many adherents especially in Pangasinan where anti-Japanese sentiments among the de-Catholicized populace limited the entrenchment of Buddhism and Yamato Christianity in the area. Unlike his contemporaries in Bireitō, however, Tomoyoshi did not pursue the political integration of the natives and focused more on their military integration to serve his primary focus on establishing the province as a sturdy buffer between the realm and Manila.

One trend that did not slow down with the sociopolitical evolution of the Japanese realm was urbanization, facilitated by a population boom aided by both the political reforms and continuous economic expansion. By this time, Kyoto, Sakai, and Azuchi contained well over 300,000 inhabitants each, with Azuchi topping the charts at over 400,000. These three cities were thus also some of the biggest cities in the world. They were followed by Kanazawa, Kamakura, and Gifu, the latter two of whom were recovering well from the Furuwatari War and sat just above 100,000. Rounding out the top 10 were Kagoshima, Iriebashi, Shimonoseki, and Yonezawa.

Halfway through the 17th century, the Japanese realm had reached unprecedented levels of global importance, population growth, and economic prosperity due to its successes overseas and peace and stability at home despite some hiccups. Despite this, many events and challenges awaited the Oda chancellorate and the remainder of the century would see Japan continue to be affected by events within and outside their own borders for better or for worse. However, the man responsible for many of Japan’s recent successes and changes would no longer steer it, for on November 15th, 1649 daijo-daijin Oda Nobutomo would succumb to illness at the age of just 48. He would be succeeded by his heir and lord of Gifu Castle, Oda Nobutsugu.

For the amount of time he commanded the powers and influence of the daijo-daijin and the Oda clan, Nobutomo had accomplished so much. Throughout his reign, he sought to continue and build upon the vision and ambitions laid out by his great-grandfather, Oda Nobunaga: a united Japan at peace interconnected with the wider world and holding power and prosperity rivaling that of the European powers Japan interacted with so much. Through the pursuit of this vision, however, Nobutomo exceeded his idol in many ways. During his 19 year rule, Japan defeated the world’s pre-eminent global empire, resolved a devastating civil war, implemented reforms that strengthened the central government and the Japanese economy, and embarked upon its most expansive string of embassies and diplomatic outreach in its entire history. When Nobutomo was born, Japan was an important and prosperous regional power only recently united and beginning to extend its limbs outwards. By the time he was taking his last breath, Japan was a globally known Eastern power with contacts all over Asia and Europe, some of the biggest urban centers in the world, and tributary power over the Spanish Crown through the Philippines. His passing was received with much sorrow and worthy respect by contemporaries who recognized the legacy he had left. Most famously, Cardinal Mazarin commented on his effect on the European balance of power:
​

“France is great, and it is through our strength that we triumphed. But a heathen as he may be, it was the bloody slash upon the Spaniards by the late chancellor that the Iberian Crown first shook and trembled”.​

Every ruler following Oda Nobutomo would be striving in his shadows as the wheels of history continued to spin.
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Promotional photo from the 2020 movie Furuwatari
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Members of the Sangi-shu 1630-1649

Date Masamune (伊達政宗): 1599-1636
Shimazu Nagahisa (島津長久): 1602-1631
Nagaoka Tadaoki (長岡忠興): 1614-1633
Sassa Katsuyuki (佐々勝之): 1616-1634
Oda Tadataka (織田忠高): 1620-1633
Oda Toshimasa (織田利昌): 1620-1637
Satake Yoshinobu (佐竹義宣): 1621-1633
Kuki Moritaka (九鬼守隆): 1623-1632
Sanjonishi Saneeda (三条西実条): 1623-1640
Ukita Nobuie (宇喜多信家): 1625-
Inaba Michikatsu (稲葉通勝): 1627-1635
Niwa Nagashige (丹羽長重): 1629-1637
Miyoshi Yasutaka (三好康孝): 1630-1639
Oda Hisanaga (織田久長): 1630-1637
Horiuchi Ujihiro (堀内氏弘): 1630-1645
Tokugawa Tadayasu (徳川忠康): 1630-
Miyabe Nagafusa (宮部長房): 1632-1635
Kakizaki Kinhiro (柿崎公広): 1633-1641
Akechi Mitsutada (明智光忠): 1633-
Kanbe Tomoyoshi (神戸朝吉): 1633-
Oda Tomoaki (織田朝昭): 1633-
Mizuno Katsunari (水野勝成): 1634-1639
Takigawa Kazutoshi (滝川一利): 1635-
Mori Chikayoshi (堀親良): 1635-1637
Nanbu Shigenao (南部重直): 1636-
Murai Sadamasa (村井貞昌): 1637-1646
Ban Tomoharu (塙友治): 1637-
Kitabatake Takanaga (北畠高長): 1637-
Maeda Toshinori (前田則之): 1639-
Oda Nobutsugu (織田信嗣): 1640-
Imadegawa Tsunesue (今出川経季): 1640-
Date Norimune (伊達則宗): 1641-
Asukai Masanobu (飛鳥井雅信): 1641-
Kajuuji Tsunehiro (勧修寺経広): 1641-
Mōri Tadamoto (毛利忠元): 1645-
Ikeda Yoshinori (池田由則): 1646-

Kyoto Shoshidai:
Hijikata Okiuji (土方意氏): 1619-1635
Mori Michiuji (森通氏): 1635-1644
Hosokawa Yoshimoto (細川義元): 1644-

Azuchi bugyo (magistrates):
Sugaya Katsuyori (菅屋勝頼): 1629-1634
Sakuma Moriyoshi (佐久間盛郎): 1634-1641
Tsumaki Yoritoshi (妻木頼利): 1641-

Oometsu-shoku (inspector general):
Hori Chikayoshi (堀親良): 1619-1635
Inaba Kazumichi (稲葉一通): 1635-1641
Sakuma Moriyoshi (佐久間盛郎): 1641-

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[1]: The Fukui domain (福井藩) issued scrip in 1661 IOTL.

Orange=Oda clan members, Blue=Court nobility​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Map of Daimyo 1649​

1. Kakizaki Takahiro (柿崎高広): 1643-​
2. Tsugaru Nobuhide (津軽信英): 1620-​
3. Nanbu Shigenao (南部重直): 1606-​
4. Akita Toshisue (秋田俊季): 1598-​
5. Mōri Tadakatsu (毛利忠勝): 1594-​
6. Tozawa Masanobu (戸沢正誠): 1640-​
7. Endou Tsunetomo (遠藤常友): 1628-​
8. Kyogoku Takahiro (京極高広): 1599-​
9. Sakuma Moritora (佐久間盛虎): 1619-​
10. Tooyama Tomosada (遠山友貞): 1641-​
11. Date Norimune (伊達則宗): 1600-​
12. Souma Tomotane (相馬朝胤): 1619-​
13. Shirakawa Yoshizane (白河義実): 1617-​
14. Mogami Yoshisato (最上義智): 1631-​
15. Satake Yoshitaka (佐竹義隆): 1609-​
16. Utsunomiya Yoshitsuna (宇都宮義綱): 1598-​
17. Sano Hisatsuna (佐野久綱): 1600-​
18. Oyama Toshitsune (小山利恒) 1595-​
19. Minagawa Hidetaka (皆川秀隆): 1626-​
20. Hasegawa Hidemasa (長谷川秀昌): 1600-​
21. Ikoma Takatoshi (生駒高俊): 1611-​
22. Date Tadamune (伊達忠宗): 1591-​
23. Uesugi Norikuni (上杉憲国): 1589-​
24. Satomi Yoshiyasu (里見義安): 1643-​
25. Musashino Toshinao (武蔵野利直): 1618-​
26. Takigawa Kazutoshi (滝川一利): 1583-​
27. Murai Sadayoshi (村井貞能): 1611-​
28. Oota Nobufusa (太田資房): 1623-​
29. Tokugawa Tadayasu (徳川忠康): 1595-​
30. Hisamatsu Tadatoshi (久松忠利): 1605-​
31. Kawajiri Shigenori (河尻鎮則): 1607-​
32. Inaba Nobumichi (稲葉信通): 1608-​
33. Mizuno Katsutoshi (水野勝俊): 1598-​
34. Kiso Yoshihiro (木曾義廣): 1621-​
35. Mori Tomoyoshi (森朝可): 1626-​
36. Oda Tomoaki (織田朝昭): 1608-​
37. Gamou Noriharu (蒲生則治): 1614-​
38. Nagao Kagemitsu (長尾景光): 1608-​
39. Sassa Katsutoyo (佐々勝豊): 1635-​
40. Maeda Noriyuki (前田則之): 1604-​
41. Shibata Katsuoki (柴田勝興): 1612-​
42. Anekouji Noritsuna (姉小路則綱): 1608-​
43. Oda Nobutsugu (織田信嗣): 1622-​
44. Kudō Kanetada (工藤包忠): 1597-​
45. Kitabatake Tomotoyo (北畠具豊): 1625-​
46. Kuki Takasue (九鬼隆季): 1608-​
47. Seki Naritsugu (関成次): 1582-​
48. Mori Tadamine (森忠峯) 1596-​
49. Asano Noriakira (浅野則晟): 1617-​
50. Nagaoka Tomotoshi (長岡朝利): 1619-​
51. Niwa Tomoshige (丹羽朝重): 1622-​
52. Akechi Mitsutada (明智光忠): 1591-​
53. Ikeda Yoshinori (池田由則): 1605-​
54. Takayama Norifusa (高山則房): 1610-​
55. Nakagawa Hisamori (中川久盛): 1594-​
56. Hashiba Hidemitsu (羽柴秀三): 1610-​
57. Miyabe Nagayuki (宮部長之): 1607-​
58. Ukita Nobuie (宇喜多信家): 1572-​
59. Nanjou Muneharu (南条宗晴): 1608-​
60. Horio Yasunaga (堀尾泰長): 1610-​
61. Ban Tomoharu (塙友治): 1592-​
62. Amago Norihisa (尼子則久): 1618-​
63. Urakusai Nagaie (有楽斎長家): 1604-​
64. Hachisuka Noriteru (蜂須賀則英): 1611-​
65. Itou Sukehisa (伊東祐久): 1609-​
66. Kuroda Noriyuki (黒田則之): 1602-​
67. Mōri Tadamoto (毛利忠元): 1595-​
68. Miyoshi Yasunori (三好康則): 1606-​
69. Sogo Masanori (十河存則): 1608-​
70. Kawano Michitsugu (河野通続): 1598-​
71. Chosokabe Tadachika (長宗我部忠親): 1591-​
72. Saionji Kinnori (西園寺公則): 1613-​
73. Otomo Yoshitaka (大友義孝): 1641-​
74. Ryuzōji Noriie (龍造寺則家) 1605-​
75. Matsura Shigenobu (松浦重信): 1622-​
76. Sou Yoshinari (宗義成): 1604-​
77. Hori Chikamasa (堀親昌): 1606-​
78. Tachibana Tanenaga (立花種長): 1625-​
79. Horiuchi Ujihisa (堀内氏久): 1597-​
80. Shimazu Norihisa (島津則久): 1613-​

[1]: The entirety of Kawachi province was annexed as Oda-Azuchi land after Murai Sadamasa’s fief was switched to Sagami province.

Bolded orange= Oda clan members

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 72: New Sweden and New Holland​

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After the Peace of Prague in 1635, Sweden was at its greatest apex seen yet in terms of power, territory, and prestige. Not only had King Gustavus Adolphus triumphed as the champion of the Protestant cause but he had also become a direct player in imperial affairs as both the holder of northern German lands and as a guarantor of the treaty. An exhausted but proud Gustavus returned to Stockholm to be greeted by jubilant crowds and his own family, whom he had been away from for years. The next few years would see a period of unassuming calm in the realm, the king finally resolving his lack of a legitimate male heir with the birth of John Sigismund in 1637, the future John IV Sigismund.

Shortly after his birth, however, the Swedish king would endeavor upon his reign’s other big legacy: the beginning of Swedish colonial and maritime expansion. In 1635, right after the finalization of the Peace of Prague, the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf was signed to extend the 1629 Truce of Altmark despite Polish king Wladyslaw IV’s desire to renew conflict with the Scandinavian power, which saw the continuation of Sweden’s right to collect tariffs from Poland in the Baltic Sea and the retention of Swedish-occupied towns in Baltic Prussia [1]. This extended source of revenue would provide the monarchy more funding for the Swedish South Company, which had been founded in 1626 with a mandate to establish settlements between English Newfoundland and Spanish Florida. Up until now, the company had seen little activity due to difficulties in its establishment. Peace and revenue, however, would enable it to send its first expedition to the mouth of the Vasa River in early 1638 [2]. There, expeditionary leader Peter Minuit, the ex-governor of New Netherlands, would lead the establishment of Fort Maria Eleonora [3] and ultimately New Sweden. During its construction, the new colonial governor would gather the local sachems of the Lenape and Susquehannock tribes and use the same skills that had brokered the Dutch purchase of Manhattan Island back in 1626 to formally purchase lands around the Vasa River for the Swedish. These negotiations with the local tribes also served to override historical Dutch claims over the region.​

Dramatized depiction of Peter Minuit’s meeting with the Lenape and Susquehannock sachems​

Although on the voyage back Peter Minuit would perish at sea while making a detour to the Caribbean, his accomplishments at Fort Maria Eleonora would secure the region for Sweden. Over the next few years, Finns and Swedes would come to settle in the new colony in small numbers and the Swedish South Company would rename itself the Company of New Sweden. To compensate for the small Swedish and Finnish populations at home, the new governor Peter Hollander Ridder would open the doors for prospective Livonian and German settlers and advertised the colony as the Lutheran star of the eastern seaboard in contrast to the Calvinists in New England and New Netherlands, the Catholics in Maryland, and the Anglicans in Virginia. This helped with population growth and by 1650, the colony boasted a total of 1,500 settlers [4] and was slowly expanding around the mouth of the Vasa River with the founding of outposts like Swedesboro. One notable aspect of the colony was the proliferation of log cabins from home as the primary architectural feature of New Sweden.

Further south, another nation had recently established a new foothold in the New World albeit through more forceful means. In its fight for independence and growing interest in the sugar plantations of Portuguese Brazil, the Dutch successfully invaded and captured Pernambunco, the richest sugar-producing region in the world, and other parts of northeastern Brazil. The Dutch West India Company, the counterpart of the VOC in the Americas, would further capitalize on their success and conquer the captaincies of Maranham, Rio Grande, Ceara, and Sergipi by 1637 [5]. Dutch Brazil, later to become New Holland, would subsequently conclude a truce that year with the Portuguese after the latter declared independence from Spain in 1635 and Cardinal Richelieu of France urged the Dutch to make peace with Lisbon. The peace would allow New Holland to consolidate its conquests and integrate the population into its institutions. The latter was particularly important as the Dutch represented only a small ruling minority in the colony and Dutch emigration to New Holland was matched by the emigration of many Portuguese settlers from Portuguese Brazil. Under the governance of John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, a member of the House of Orange-Nassau, religious tolerance was granted to the Catholic-majority population and previously ostracized Portuguese Jews were given protection. Municipal and rural councils were also established to facilitate local government and it was through them that infrastructural improvements were conducted in the colony. It was through these measures and John Maurice’s personal dedication and love for Brazil that the colony thrived.​

Harbor of Recife in 1640​

However, John Maurice was recalled to the Netherlands in 1642 when peace negotiations with the Spanish began and the Dutch felt the need to reduce military expenditures. Seeing an opportunity, disgruntled Portuguese planters rebelled the following year after years of resentment over the high interest rates they were charged to rebuild their plantations. They won at the Battle of Tabocas and within a year had retaken most of New Holland. In response, the Dutch sent an expeditionary force of 6,000 men and 41 ships to stamp out the rebellion and ensure the retention of key toeholds like Recife on the Brazilian coast. Despite some reversals, they were defeated at the 1st Battle of Guararapes in 1646. The Dutch would win the second clash in 1647, however, thanks to the timely arrival of a few thousand reinforcements including many Catholic Brabantines eager for new opportunities in a religiously tolerant, Catholic-majority Dutch colony [6]. The victors were able to regain most of their lost lands but at a very high cost: the constant infighting had significantly decreased the profitability of New Holland’s sugar plantations. Even as the process of redistributing plantations into the hands of Dutch-Flemish owners, the colony was dealt an ultimately fatal blow when the Portuguese retook Angola in 1648. As a result, New Holland now lacked their main slave market and in Amsterdam, New Holland came to be referred to as the “South American tumor”. In 1654, in the Treaty of the Hague, the Netherlands gave back their Brazilian possessions to Lisbon in return for an indemnity of 2 million guelders.

The treaty, however, proved to be a pyrrhic victory for Portugal for the Brazilian conflict permanently depressed the sugar industry in Pernambuco and Brazil's share in the sugar trade would precipitously decline for the rest of the century due to the rise of various plantations in the Caribbean. The biggest legacy of Dutch Brazil, however, would be the small number of Catholic Brabantine settlers who had come just after the Dutch Republic gained Flemish and Brabantine lands. They would stay for religious reasons and eventually would turn Recife into a Brabantine enclave within Portuguese Brazil.

[1]: TTL’s treaty is more favorable for Sweden compared to OTL because of the Protestant victory in the Imperial Liberties’ War putting Sweden in the superior position over the Commonwealth.

[2]: TTL’s name for the Delaware River

[3]: TTL’s name for Fort Christina

[4]: New Sweden’s population is much larger than OTL due to TTL’s changes.

[5]: The outright Dutch victory at Abrolhos paved the way for greater Dutch conquests ITTL.

[6]: Portuguese victory IOTL​