There was no nail -
Horseshoe
Lost.
There was no horseshoe -
Horse
She limped.
The horse is limp -
Commander
Killed.
The cavalry is broken -
Army
Runs.
The enemy enters the city
Not sparing the prisoners, Because in the smithy
There was no nail.
(S. Ya. Marshak. Nail and horseshoe)
First introduction
The most amazing thing in our life is the cause-and-effect relationship and the fact that we know about them or … do not know! Let's say that, having gone to work by car, for some reason you turned not to the left, as usual, but to the right, thinking that it would be better that way. And nothing happened. Everything was ordinary. However, on the next street, on which you just did not go, a Kamaz ran into someone's car with a corresponding outcome. In time it happened at the same time when you usually passed this section of the path. And you would be under the "Kamaz", if not for … the case. And so on and so forth. I turned to the left - a brick fell on my head. To the right - I found a wallet with money. It is not for nothing that the book of the prophet Ecclesiastes says so: "But time and chance for all of them …" That is, the so-called chance plays a huge role in our life and history. Although in fact, an accident is only for us …
The grave of Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama Park.
Second introduction
One of my favorite things to do is watching … yes, television series. I got used to watching them since childhood, when the excellent series "Communal Apartment", "Green Monster", "At Every Kilometer", "Captain Tenkesh", "Stavka More Than Life", "Four Tankmen …" were on Soviet TV. True, the series must be very good and informative. Among those recently watched, these are Downe Abbey, Pater Brown, Elliot Sisters' House, With Swallows in Candelford, the classic of the genre - the English TV series Pride and Prejudice (there even such a trifle is shown as the fact that the officers they roll the carpet in the hall by dancing!) and Horblower. I really like the adaptation of Clavell's novel The Shogun, but now I’m watching the TV series Naotor, Mistress of the Castle. The translation of the title is not very successful, the English version is better, but in this case it is not important. The important thing is that this 50 episode film was shot by the Japanese and historically shot very accurately. In fact, this is an encyclopedic story about events, conveyed in artistic images. Excellent acting, beautiful costumes, the smallest details - all this allows you to very clearly get acquainted with the Japanese society of the Sengoku period - "the era of the warring provinces." It's great that there is no sex on the show. Not at all! There is no mass of ninja in black, and the blood splashes on the shoji very moderately. That is, this film can be watched with children, and it will teach them a lot. Although, of course, this film is not for everyone. I watch it with captions, that is, it has not been translated into Russian and the characters speak Japanese with their own voices. It's nice when you recognize familiar words and even catch the meaning in some way - after all, they studied Japanese with my granddaughter for almost a year - but sometimes it is distracting. Although the action does not develop as quickly as in American action films. It is very important, in my opinion, that after each episode there is a documentary showing how the place that the story was about looks like today, what memory has been preserved about the people of that time, and pieces of modern Japan are shown. We see temples that have survived since 1560, stone monuments - "lanterns" of the same years, preserved and not preserved castles, original documents, copies of which have just been shown in the film. That is, the film is very informative in all respects. Yes, and all his characters are not invented (many are very similar to their surviving portraits, for example - Takeda Shingen is just a copy!) And I learned a lot of interesting things about them. So for those of the VO site visitors who are interested in the history of Japan, I would advise you to watch this series. But there was a moment there, for people unfamiliar with her, which, in my opinion, needs a more detailed story than the one in this series. This is the story of the Battle of Okehazama, which played a key role in the history of the country along with the battles of Nagashino and Sekigahara!
Monument to Oda Nobunaga and Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama Park.
This battle, which took place between the troops of princes Imagawa Yoshimoto and Oda Nobunaga, took place on June 12, 1560 and ended with the defeat of Imagawa. Nobunaga defeated. And not just defeat. The latter lost his head in her. Such a serious defeat caused the decline of the Imagawa clan, and the authority of Oda Nobunaga certainly increased. However, this was not the only thing that mattered!
Here she is, Nyotora, the mistress of the castle. Real historical character. The adoptive mother of the famous commander Ieyasu Tokugawa is Ii Nayomasu, the commander of the famous "red demons of Ii".
TV series advertisement.
How did it all start?
And it so happened that the Imagawa clan, which owned the provinces of Suruga and Totomi (today the Shizuoka prefecture), wanted to expand their possessions to the west. He managed to subjugate the small samurai clan Matsudaira, who controlled the province of Mikawa (today Aichi Prefecture), and who were constantly at odds with their western neighbor, the Oda clan, who owned the Owari province (Aichi Prefecture). At all times, people wanted to look better than they really were, and cover their greed with high motives. Therefore, the Imagawa declared that they wanted to protect the weak Matsudaira clan from the encroachments of the strong Odo and declared war on them. According to the cruel custom of those years, Matsudaira gave Imagawa hostage to the young Matsudaira Motoyasu, who was none other than the future shogun - the unifier of Japan, Ieyasu Tokugawa. It's just that the Japanese had a habit of changing their names! It is clear that, living in constant fear for his life, he learned a lot. I learned endurance, patience, the ability to pretend, and most importantly, I harbored in my soul a fierce hatred for my benefactors - the Imagawa clan, I learned their strengths and weaknesses. Meanwhile, the Imagawa decided to finally put an end to Oda Nabunaga, gathered an army of 25 thousand soldiers and on June 5, 1560, set out on a campaign to the west. The army was led by the ninth head of the Imagawa clan, Imagawa Yoshimoto. Together with him, Matsudaira Motoyasu and the head of the Ii clan went on the campaign - which is exactly what is shown in the film.
Imagawa Yoshimoto. Uki-yo by Utagawa Yoshiiku.
The time was chosen very well: Oda Nobunaga is the head of the Odo clan, only shortly before that he managed to unite the lands of the Owari province, and in the battles with the opposition he lost many people. Therefore, against the Imagawa, he was able to put up only three thousand soldiers. The battle on the plain was ruled out, and the generals of the Oda clan decided to give battle to the aggressors at the walls of their castles.
Before the Battle of Okehazama. Uki-yo (triptych) Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
Two days before the battle
Already on June 10, 1560, the vanguard detachments of the Imagawa, led by the young Matsudaira Motoyasu, entered the Odaka castle, the ruler of which went over to the side of Imagawa. The next day, Matsudaira transferred all the provisions of his troops to the barns of this castle and made it the main stronghold of the troops of Suraga and Totomi. Meanwhile, the main Imagawa forces entered the territory of Owari province, and Imagawa Yoshimoto himself placed his headquarters on a low hill in a place called Okehazama. Then, on June 12, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, Matsudaira Motoyasu and the commander Asahina Yasutomo, on his order, led the troops to storm the border castles of Oda-Vasizu and Marune.
Battle of Okehazama. Uki-yo Utagawa Toyonobu.
Intelligence is the head
Meanwhile, the scouts reported to Nabunaga that Imagawa Yoshimoto was at headquarters with only a small guard, and most of his troops were sent to storm Vasizu and Marune. And Oda Nobunaga immediately realized that this fate gave him a chance, and, having collected about two thousand soldiers, set off on a swift march to Okehazama. At 10 o'clock in the morning, he already arrived at the fortified Zenzeji temple, his troops were replenished by the soldiers who were there. Here he received a message that the enemy had captured Vasizu and Marune and is now resting after the assault. He was also informed that the first victories were being celebrated at the headquarters of Imagawa Yoshimoto. And Oda decided to take advantage of it immediately.
Death of Imagawa Yoshimoto. Uki-yo Toyohara Chikanobu.
Battle
Suddenly, just after noon, it started raining heavily. And it was here, under his cover, Oda Nobunaga and led his three thousand soldiers straight to the headquarters of the Imagawa. Moreover, the downpour was so strong that the progress of their column was not visible and no one reported anything to Imagawa! Then the rain also suddenly stopped. It was only then that the sentries at the headquarters saw that the entire Nobunaga army was standing right in front of them. Confusion began and it was then that he struck with all his might at the camp and headquarters of Imagawa Yoshimoto. And confusion is the usual companion of any unexpected attack, meanwhile it spread to all his soldiers. Many abandoned their bows and spears, and began to hide in the bushes and in the forest. Imagawa himself tried to save his life, threw his beloved red palanquin, but … he did not manage to escape from the battlefield.
Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama. Triptych Toshihide, 1890
Odo's warriors killed all his guards, and then got to him. Imagawa drew his sword, and repulsed the attack of one of Odo's samurai, but then the second samurai ran up to him and chopped off his head with one blow!
Fighting samurai. Uki-yo Toyohara Chikanobu.
What happened next?
The death of the commander-in-chief and many commanders completely demoralized the forces of the Imagawa clan and forced them to leave the province of Owari. But the defeat suffered was not just terrible in itself, its consequences were such that the clan could no longer recover from it. Firstly, the deceased father was succeeded by his son Imagawa Ujizane, on which nature took it into its head to really relax. He was a lousy ruler and everyone knew it. Matsudaira Motoyasu also knew this, who decided that it was enough for him to be a vassal of such a nonentity and in 1561 betrayed him, going over to Oda's side. It was then that he changed his last name to Tokugawa and began to seize one castle after another from Imagawa! As a result, over the next ten years, the Imagawa clan was completely destroyed by the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Oda Nabunaga and Takeda Shingen, and they divided all its lands among themselves. And then Oda and Shingen died and Tokugawa Ieyasu was left alone. In the future, he steadily walked towards his goal, entered into alliances and broke them again, until he outlived all his opponents and became the sovereign ruler of Japan in 1600.
Tokugawa Ieyasu conducts a ceremony to inspect the severed heads after the capture of Osaka Castle. Uki-yo Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
Well, the battle of Okehadzama glorified the name of Oda Nobunaga throughout the country, strengthened his power, and facilitated the conquest of other lands, since both their own and other samurai primarily sought to fight under the flag of this new "god of war", and the princes-losers no one of them were not interested. But, it is worth noting that, although it was his determination in this battle that brought victory and glory to Oda, he never repeated such risky attacks again!
Portrait of Oda Nobunaga from the collection of the Chokoji Temple in Toyota City (Aichi Prefecture)
