The Japanese Shogunate

I am going down to brazil for 2 weeks, the group will still get its construction done and for sure will have some work done, but Im limited to my phone. Sorry as this may be a rather big annoyance to everyone and I hate to cause it as well.

Anyway Ill talk with Wilhelm and try and see if he can't get some of the work done as instructed and maybe try and have Rudo If he is able as a few friends to mass invite! Though I am rather happy to have the number of people we do have and hope that we get meny to sign-up.

If you have any question about how the group will work please contact Wilhelm, or If It is about the history of this era, please read the history below to get a small idea what happened in the end.

If we accept that the number of soldiers depends from a daimyo’s wealth, with 2.5M koku of a total country wealth of 26M koku, Tokugawa and his direct retainer’s could only muster 10% of Japan’s soldiers in 1600. Well that can mean only one thing, Ieyasu convinced other clans to fight for him and/or convinced others not to fight against him. To be honest with his skills, he was so successful that (if we take away Ii Naomasa and Honda Tadakatsu) most Tokugawa retainers did not even have to fight during the campaign !

When Hideyoshi died in 1598, he left the power to his 5 wealthiest retainers, the Tairo: Tokugawa, Mori, Ukita, Maeda and Uesugi.
If any of these five would have tried to take the power, the four others would have united against him. That was the safeguard of Toyotomi’s family. But the one that was nominated chief of government and replaced Hideyoshi in his Fushimi castle was Tokugawa Ieyasu. It gave him plenty of opportunity to take decisions in the name of the Toyotomi and to ask allegiance to him as head of the Toyotomi government. Even if this infuriated many, including the chief of the Toyotomi administration Ishida Mitsunari, it ensured him the allegiance of many Toyotomi smaller retainers, without him claiming the power for himself.

The death of Maeda Toshiie in 1599 changed the balance of power among the Tairo. Challenged by heritage claims, his son Maeda Toshinaga was in a difficult position. Advised by the Hosokawa, he decided to get under Tokugawa’s protection. From this point on, the other Tairo had to decide whether they submit also to Tokugawa or challenge him.

Uesugi Kagekatsu moved first and challenged Tokugawa’s authority as chief of Japanese government. Tokugawa Ieyasu responded by an appeal to all of Japanese retainers of Toyotomi to fight against this rebel ! Most of the smaller daimyo responded positively to his request (even the Shimazu or the Otani for instance). Many smaller Toyotomi retainers came along Tokugawa to the East, among which old retainers of the Oda (Ikeda, Hosokawa, Hori …), historical retainers of the Toyotomi (Nakamura, Asano, Kuroda, Fukushima,… ), joined by some opportunist (Date,…), and a few that really hated the Toyotomi (Mogami,…). Tokugawa troops and their allies departed from the Toyotomi capital, Osaka, and left hostages inside the Toyotomi fortress, as should be done by Toyotomi retainers.

Ukita and Mori did not show up. They had to take a decision, either support Uesugi or also join Tokugawa. That’s where Ishida Mitsunari intervenes. With the vacuum created by the departure of Tokugawa from Osaka, he launches a counter-appeal against Tokugawa, stating that Ieyasu is the rebel against Toyotomi’s government. He then frenetically convinces any daimyo that has not yet departed to the East, the Otani, the Shimazu, the Chosokabe, the Oda and also… Kobayakawa Hideaki. Where does Kobayakawa fit in this story ? Well he is technically a Mori. Effectively Kobayakawa Takagake, his adoption father is the uncle of Mori Terumoto. He is also a nephew and adopted son of Hideyoshi, which gives him more opportunities than others inside the Toyotomi family.

The fight between the Tairo now engages all of Japan and everybody has to choose his side. The initial fights are long and difficult for the now called Western Army with troops sent all around the capital area to conquer the fortresses controlled by the East (Fushimi, Anotsu, Tanabe). On the contrary, the first move from the East results in just a couple of days to the fall of the strong Gifu and Inuyama castles. That first Eastern success creates a series of turncoats in favor of the East (Kyogoku in Otsu, most of the daimios around Gifu) Still even with these betrayals, the troops supporting and fighting Tokugawa are almost equal.

So who decides Tokugawa’s victory ?
In fact, the result of Sekigahara is entirely in the hands of the Mori. By not intervening and betraying, the Mori/Kobayakawa troops have decided the day. When someone looks at the Sekigahara battle map, one can only be surprised how risky the position of Tokugawa was. He was outflanked by the Mori/Kobayakawa, but they did not join the Western Army. Even after the battle the numerous troops from Mori Terumoto have abandoned Osaka castle without a fight.

Unfortunately after the war, they discovered that Tokugawa is not as generous as Toyotomi was. Kobayakawa dies and loses his lands in 1602 and the Mori are stripped from 2/3 of their domain immediately after the war.
* the information above was copied from this link below to conserve me time to pack. Thank you paying attation to the groups messages and I'm glad to see people taking an interest in history of the Sengoku era at its most important peek.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1053822/how-could-tokugawa-win-sekigahara-campaign-only-10