Battle of Suemori Castle (2/2)Toshiie Maeda is in a big pinch! Confronted Narimasa Sassa in Hokuriku

While desperately enduring the attacks of Seimei's army, Eifuku thought of seppuku. At this time, Eifuku was saved by his wife, Tsune. He cited the example of Masashige Kusunoki, who defended Chihaya Castle against 1 million Kamakura Shogunate troops, saying, ``It's just that we were surrounded by Narimasa Sasa's army. “Will you do it?” she encouraged her husband. Furthermore, there is a story that despite his frail health, he went around the castle armed with his specialty, a naginata, cheering up the soldiers, bringing them food, and caring for the injured.

Battle of Suemori Castle ② Toshiie Maeda rushes to the rescue

News of the battle at Suemori Castle reached Toshiie Maeda at Kanazawa Castle in the afternoon of September 10th (there are various theories). Suemori Castle is a transportation hub located on the border of Kaga, Noto, and Etchu. For Toshiie, if Suemori Castle was taken by Narimasa Sasa, Kaga and Noto would be divided, and Kanazawa Castle, his stronghold, was located to the south of the castle. For this reason, Suemori Castle is an important base that must be protected at all costs. Toshiie becomes very anxious.

Toshiie quickly decided to send reinforcements. At this time, Toshiie faced opposition from his vassals, as Toshiie had been told by Hideyoshi to ``concentrate on defending the castle in Kanazawa,'' but Toshiie decided to lead his army himself and go to war.

At this time, Toshiie was unsure whether to go to war or not, and his wife Matsu sarcastically said, ``If it's important to save so much money, why not give gold and silver a spear?'' There is an episode in which Toshiie gave him a bag containing the gold and silver he had hoarded. Toshiie was famous for being stingy. Matsu told Toshiie, ``Now is the time to spend the money you've saved!'' Toshiie was enraged and inspired by Matsu's actions and decided to go to war, which seems to be the case with Matsu, who is famous for being a solid wife.

Now, Toshiie's army enters Tsubata Castle on the way to Suemori Castle and joins up with his son's Maeda Toshinaga army. The total number of troops was 2,500. By the way, Keiji Maeda, who is famous as an eccentric, also participates in this army.

Toshiie held a military council within the castle, interviewed surrounding residents about the formation of the Seisei army, and ascertained the current situation. When Toshiie discovers that Narimasa's subordinate Jimbo Ujihari has stationed 4,000 soldiers in Kitagawajiri to ambush Toshiie, he worries about the route he should take. Here Saburozaemon Sakurai, a farmer from Takamatsu village near the castle, suggested Toshiie a back road along the coast that would allow him to get closer to the rear of Seimasa's army. Toshiie accepts this and leaves the castle that evening. They headed north along the coast in the rain, followed the rear of the Seisei army, and launched a surprise attack at dawn on September 11th.

Eifuku Okumura, who was holed up at Suemori Castle, responded to the reinforcements and launched an attack on the Narimasa army, which was unable to respond to a sudden surprise attack. In the end, Narimasa gave up on Suemori Castle and retreated to Etchu. Thus ended the battle of Suemori Castle. It is said that there were approximately 750 casualties from each army, which shows how fierce the battle was. In particular, the losses suffered by Toshiie and Eifuku's army were considerable.

Sassa Narimasa, who won't go home for free, occupies Torigoe Castle

Sassa Narimasa gave up on Suemori Castle, but he did not return to Etchu without a souvenir. On the way back, they occupied Torigoe Castle. In fact, Mataemon Megata and Genjuro Niwa, who were defending Torigoe Castle, abandoned the castle believing in a false report that ``Suemori Castle had been taken by Narimasa Sasa'' (also false information spread by Narimasa). is. When Narimasa learned of this, he easily captured Torigoe Castle. He installed his subordinate Kuze Tajima and returned to Toyama Castle.

When Toshiie Maeda found out about this, he was furious. On October 14th, he led his troops to attack Torigoe Castle, but he encountered fierce resistance from the Sasa army led by Tajima, and in the end gave up on recapturing it. In 1585, he attacked again, but was unable to recapture it.

Afterwards, Mataemon Megata fled from Torigoe Castle and desperately begged Toshiie for forgiveness, but of course Toshiie would not forgive him, and in the end he was expelled from the Maeda family. Afterwards, Mataemon asked Ujisato Gamo, who was also a vassal of the Rokkaku clan, to intercede so that he could return to the Maeda family, but Toshiie refused. In the end, Mataemon was not allowed to return.

Narimasa Sassa persists even after the end of the “Battle of Komaki and Nagakute”

Even after the Battle of Suemori Castle ended, the conflict between Maeda Toshiie and Sassa Narimasa continued. Meanwhile, in November 1584, the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute came to an end. Oda Nobuo concluded a peace agreement with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had no reason to fight anymore, called for a truce.

Dissatisfied with this, Narimasa hurriedly headed to Hamamatsu in Mikawa Province (Shizuoka Prefecture) in December, where Ieyasu was located. The time is winter. Ieyasu desperately traversed the frigid Northern Alps, but Ieyasu refused to restart the war. In the first place, Ieyasu's reason for being on the side of Oda Nobunaga, the second son of his master, Oda Nobunaga, has disappeared, so there is no benefit for Ieyasu if he rises again. In fact, after this, Ieyasu made peace with Hideyoshi.

Unable to give up, Narimasa appeals to Nobuo and Kazumasu Takigawa, but they do not agree. In the end, I returned to Etchu without achieving any results.

Later Narimasa Sassa and Toshiie Maeda

Even after the Battle of Suemori Castle, the battle between Maeda Toshiie and Sassa Narimasa continued. Toshiie attacked Ecchu with the cooperation of Kagekatsu Uesugi. Narimasa remained on the defensive for a while. Meanwhile, in August 1585, Toyotomi Hideyoshi finally made his move. Even after the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, they attacked Toyama Castle in order to subjugate Narimasa, who remained anti-Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi surrounds Toyama Castle, where Narimasa is located, with a large army of approximately 100,000 soldiers. Perhaps thinking that there was no way out, Narimasa surrendered to Hideyoshi through the mediation of Nobuo Oda. Hideyoshi confiscated all the territory except Shinkawa County. Of course, Toshiie also participated in this battle, known as the ``Toyama Campaign,'' as part of Hideyoshi's army. He led 10,000 soldiers and fought against the Seisei Army as an advance force before the main army arrived.

After that, Narimasa spent his time as a general under Hideyoshi, but due to his success in the Kyushu conquest in 1587, he was given control of Higo Province (Kumamoto Prefecture). Finally back on stage! Narimasa must have been very happy. However, Higo was plagued by the Kokujin uprising. As a result of his failure to suppress the uprising, Hideyoshi ordered him to commit seppuku, and in July 1588, he committed seppuku in Amagasaki.

On the other hand, as a result of the Toyama War, Toshiie's son Toshinaga Maeda was given the responsibility of three of the four districts of Etshu. After that, due to the death of Niwa Nagahide, who had been ruling Echizen Province, a change of country occurred, and he came to rule Echizen Province as well, becoming the daimyo of ``Kaga Hyakumangoku.''

Toshiie continued to play an active role in the Kyushu conquest and the Odawara conquest, supporting Hideyoshi's takeover of the country. Eventually, he rose to the rank of Five Elders under Hideyoshi. After Hideyoshi's death, he served as the guardian of his successor, Toyotomi Hideyori, and worked hard to bring the divided Toyotomi family together. However, on the way, Toshiie fell ill. It appears that Toshiie had cancer of his internal organs, and he is gradually weakening. In April 1599, he died of illness at his home in Osaka. This was eight months after Hideyoshi's death.