Imagawa Yoshimoto, the third son of the Imagawa clan, the guardian daimyo of Suruga Kingdom, was born in the 16th year of Eisho (1519). His childhood name was Yoshikumaru. He went to Zentoku Temple in the outskirts of Sunfu to practice since he was a child. His Buddhist name was Meitake Seiyoshi. . In the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), Imagawa family governor Uji Teru suddenly died, and Yoshitoshi succeeded to the throne. Afterwards, he formed an alliance with Takeda and Hojo respectively, and quickly unified Suruga, Enji, and Mikawa. In the third year of Yonglu (1560), on the way to Luo, he was attacked and killed in Tongzhajian. Okehazama's careless attack almost wiped out Yoshimoto's achievements in the first half of his life, so that when later generations mentioned Yoshimoto, they thought of Nobunaga's defeat. Some friends who were new to the Warring States period even thought he was one of the stupid and incompetent daimyo. In actual history, Yoshimoto had outstanding performance in martial arts, culture, domestic affairs, and diplomacy, and the Battle of Okehama also had its accidents and coincidences.
Martial courage - (Hanakura Rebellion, Battle of Shodozaka) In the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), the eighth generation family governor Uji Teru died mysteriously, and the two heirs, the third son Yoshimoto and the second son Etan, who was born as a concubine, were inevitable There were fierce conflicts. Yoshimoto, who was only seventeen years old, showed superhuman judgment and decisiveness in this battle. On June 10, he surrounded Huacang City where Huitan was located. He broke into the city within a few days and Huitan killed himself. In the fifteenth year of Tenmon (1546), there was a conflict between Owari's Oda Nobuhide and Mikawa's Matsudaira Hirotada. Matsudaira Hirotada asked Yoshimoto for help, and Yoshimoto happily sent troops. In the 17th year of Tenmon (1548), the main forces of the Oda and Imagawa armies faced off at Shodozaka. Yoshimoto personally led the army, defeated Oda, and captured Nobuhiro's son Nobuhiro. This battle was fast and fierce, and was a typical example of the forward attack method. It was included in the book "Japan's Joint Battle".
Literature and Art——Yi Yuan is not only outstanding in martial arts, but also good at singing and poetry. He can be called a Confucian general. When he was young, he went to Shande Temple to worship Elder Longchong (Taiyuan Xuezhai) of Chang'an of Huguoyuan as his teacher, and he practiced Buddhism intensively. I also like Chinese poetry and Japanese songs. According to "Xucong Shu Lei Cong", he "loved to read Song Jinglian's Fuji poems" and left behind many poems. For example, in the second year of Tianwen, he wrote a poem with Xuezhai and three people to welcome Renhe Temple to Zunhai: Flowers are waiting for spring and plum blossoms are staying - Xibu (Zunhai); Yousan talks about the cold year - Jiuying (Xuezhai); Water tea and fried moon - Chengfang (Yiyuan).
Domestic Affairs—Yoshimoto did not forget the importance of internal affairs while expanding externally. After he succeeded to the throne, he immediately dispatched territorial inspections to various places and carried out arduous inspection work, which strengthened the territorial foundation. In the 21st year of Tenmon (1552), Yoshimoto launched the "Imagawa Kana Catalog and Supplements" based on his father's clan regulations, which would be of great significance to the entire feudal society in the future. In it, the system of retainers and retainers were formulated in detail.
Relationships and a series of feudal systems. According to research, the "Ieyasu Hundred Instructions" followed by the Tokugawa Shogunate for a hundred years was partly based on this "Imagawa Kana Catalog" when formulating it. Yoshimoto’s contribution can be described as huge.
Diplomacy-Yoshimoto has demonstrated superb diplomatic skills during his forty years of career. Before succeeding to the throne, the Imagawa family was fighting fiercely with Kai Takeda, and the Hojo family was also watching. After Yoshimoto succeeded to the throne, he married Takeda Nobutora's daughter in the sixth year of Tenbun (1537), and formed an alliance with Kensei Yamauchi Uesugi, the commander of Kantō, which caused Hojo to retreat on the border of Izu, and Yoshimoto successfully dominated Shutō and Fuji counties. In the 18th year of Tenmon (1549), Matsudaira Hirotada died in Okazaki Castle, and Yoshimoto took Takechiyo (Tokugawa Ieyasu) as a pledge and annexed Mikawa.
Finally, let’s talk about the Battle of Okehama.
In May of the third year of Eiroku (1560), Yoshimoto sent troops to Kyoto, hoping to replace the declining Ashikaga family as a general. At that time, he was already the million-koku lord of Shun, Toto, and Sansan, and Takeda and Hojo in the rear were allied; there were several powerful daimyo in the central and western parts of the country, Mori was far away in China, Chosouga was in Shikoku Island, and the Shimazu family Even in Kyushu, which is far away, the Imagawa family is also a famous family of the Kamakura Silla Hachiro Minamoto no Yoshi family, with many supporters. Without the appearance of Nobunaga, it would be just around the corner for Yoshitsune to become the general who conquered the barbarians. It can be said that if Yi Yuan is born, why should Nobunaga be born!
The Battle of Okehazama is one of the famous battles in the Warring States Period in which the weak defeated the strong. Therefore, most historical records record the number of Oda troops as very small, but the number of Sichuan troops today is extremely large to show that " Conquer more with less." Ota Ushiichi's "Nobunaga Kōki" recorded the Imagawa army as 45,000 and the Oda army as 2,000. "Hojo Five Generations Chronicle" records that Imagawa's army was 25,000, and Oda's army was between 600 and 700. It seems that the "History of Japan's War" compiled by the Japanese General Staff Headquarters says that Imagawa's "number of soldiers totaled 25,000, known as 40,000", which is closest to the truth. Based on the system of sending relatives and soldiers at that time, a branch city gathered 400 to 500 people. In the heyday of the Imagawa family, there were about 30 branch cities. Including the direct army and temporary recruitment, the number of 25,000 people was indeed about the same. And in fact, of the 25,000 people, only 2,000 to 3,000 were warriors who received Lumi, and the remaining 23,000 or so were farmers who had just put down their hoes and picked up their spears.
The Senjin Ii Naomori set off on May 10th. Yoshimoto's main team set off from Sunfu on the 12th, arrived at Kakegawa on the 13th, arrived at Hikima on the 14th, and arrived at Yoshida on the 15th. On the 16th, we arrived at Okazaki, on the 17th we arrived at Chiying, on the 18th we arrived at Takake, and on the 19th the advanced formation had captured Marune and Washizu. Yoshimoto's main force marched towards Odaka and took a nap at Okezama Tenraku at noon. It was these few hours of rest that cost Yiyuan his life.
According to the description in "Matsudaira": "...at two o'clock in the afternoon, Nobunaga's two thousand elites came from the trail...directly attacked the main formation and killed the iron cannon, and more than a hundred people clashed and fell... Hattori Taiyun Kodaira's spear suddenly hit Yoshimoto. Yoshimoto cut off the spear with his sword and injured Kodaira's knee... Mouri Shinsuke, a close minister of Nobunaga, attacked Yoshimoto and fell down, biting his fingers. Shinsuke cut off his second sword with his sword. The head of Yiyuan, the left finger is still in Yiyuan's mouth...". At that time, heavy rain poured down, covering up the shouts of killing, and there were only more than a thousand soldiers in Yoshitoshi's main formation at that time. Therefore, Imagawa Yoshimoto actually fought with a small number against a large number, and was defeated and died.
In fact, although they were caught off guard, with Imagawa's ability, it shouldn't be difficult to break through. As long as they took a breath, the main force could arrive. According to Edo's work "Jiran Tsubo Enmaki", Yoshimoto "...went out into battle, stepped on the equipment...mounted the horse, and fell off the horse." : "Imagawa Yoshimoto, who has short legs and long body, drinks and eats at Linji Temple." It can be seen that during the breakout, Yoshimoto Yasei was short of feet and length, and his horse was frightened and fell off the horse, which gave Hattori and Mori an opportunity to take advantage of him. Even so, at the last moment of Yiyuan's life, he still severely wounded several people, bit the enemy's finger, and died with hatred. His bravery should not be doubted.
The reasons for the victory in the Battle of Okehazama are generally summarized in three points: 1. Accurate intelligence. Nobunaga's army came from a hundred miles away and accurately attacked Yoshimoto's army in the military camp that stretched for several miles. There were no communication tools there and only a few ninjas reported back and forth. The era is simply incredible. The reasonable explanation is that there is a traitor in the Imagawa army! "Matsudaira Chronicles" records that, in addition to several people seeking death from Yoshimoto Kinsei, there were also missing persons such as Sasa Oujin Masaru, Ichinomiya Zaemon and others. Perhaps these people were the traitors who surrendered to Nobunaga, and in some way accurately provided the movements of the Imagawa army. The second was the timely heavy rain. The heavy rain not only obscured the sound of horse hooves and shouts of death, preventing the rescue troops from arriving in time, but also prevented the defenders from firing muskets and making an effective counterattack.
The third is the controversial Oda Nobunaga's wild samurai fighting method. At that time, Japan's war was mainly based on the forward offensive method, that is, the two armies gathered at an agreed location, and then you attacked and I defended according to the types of troops and formations. It was very structured and required the generals to have extremely high command capabilities. For example, the famous general Kusunoki Masashige in the 12th century was famous in Japan for his condescending "Kusu tactics"; the famous Kaibi general Takeda Shingen was famous for his "Fenglin Volcano" maneuver tactics. During the battle, the soldiers of both sides were upright, wore battle flags with their family crests on their backs, shouted their master's slogans, and took the lead bravely. War at that time was a very sacred thing. Imagawa Yoshimoto is a general who grew up under the influence of such a traditional tactical strategy. The battle was carried out step by step and steadily, completely in accordance with the conventions of war at that time. If this battle was compared to a game of Go, then Yiyuan played it exactly according to the formula, with no faults at all. As for Oda Nobunaga, as we all know, he has been unruly since he was a child and has been called an "idiot and madman". As the eldest son of a daimyo, he must have learned these traditional tactical theories, but based on his personality, he would never take them to heart. This may also be related to the short history of the rise of the Oda family. Unlike Yoshimoto Imagawa, who follows the rules, acts steadily, and takes it as his responsibility to maintain the ancient honor of the Imagawa family, he only uses his innate intuition to look for opportunities. Therefore, when the Imagawa army arrived, he led his elite troops, removed the battle flags and other encumbrances, wrapped the horses' hooves with cloth, and climbed over the mountains and ridges to steal the attack. Although it was difficult and embarrassing, he finally succeeded in killing Imagawa Yoshimoto. Such actions were unprecedented in previous wars. Such a sneak attack, if the number of people is smaller, is simply an assassination. The use of ninja assassinations was a despicable act that was extremely despised in Japan at that time, and was completely contrary to the Bushido that promoted bravery and fearlessness. As a result, Oda Nobunaga created a method of warfare that was later called the "wild samurai", which was to win victory by any means necessary without any particular style. Imagawa Yoshimoto also unfortunately became the stepping stone for Nobunaga to unify the world by any means.
However, given Yoshimoto's personality and being in the same place as Nobunaga, there was a good opportunity for a sneak attack. Asking him to pull off his family crest and wrap the horse's hoof in cloth to make a sneak attack was like asking him to cover his face with a cloth and steal things from someone's house. I would rather die than do it!
Woohoo! Finally, a Yogimoto waka is written to commemorate this famous Warring States general who has not received a fair evaluation from history:
My heart is like the red leaves dyeing the sacred pavilion and the autumn colors of Joban - "Imagawa clan and Kansenji Temple"