View source for Siege of Takamatsu

{{Short description|1582 event during Japan's Sengoku period}}
{{Infobox Military Conflict
| conflict          = Siege of Takamatsu
| partof            = the [[Sengoku period]]
| image             = Takamatsumizuseme2.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = [[Edo period]] portrait of Takamatsu submerged in water
| date              = April – June 1582
| place             = [[Takamatsu Castle (Bitchū)|Takamatsu Castle]], [[Bitchū Province]]
| coordinates       = {{WikidataCoord|display=it}}
| map_type          = Japan Okayama Prefecture#Japan
| map_relief        = y
| map_size          = 
| map_marksize      = 
| map_caption       = 
| map_label         = 
| map_mark          = 
| casus             = 
| result            = [[Hideyoshi]] victory
| combatant1        = Forces of [[Oda Nobunaga]]
| combatant2        = Forces of [[Mōri Terumoto]]
| commander1        = [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Hashiba Hideyoshi]]<br>[[Ukita Tadaie]]<br>[[Hachisuka Koroku]]<br>[[Kuroda Kanbei]]<br>[[Horio Yoshiharu]]<br>[[Asano Nagamasa]]<br>[[Konishi Yukinaga]]<br>[[Kato Kiyomasa]]<br>[[Ishida Mitsunari]]<br>[[Otani Yoshitsugu]]
| commander2        = Castle Garrison :<br>[[Shimizu Muneharu]]{{executed|suicide}}<br>[[Nanba Denbe]]<br>[[Suechika Saemon]]<br>Mori Reinforcement :<br>[[Kikkawa Motoharu]]<br>[[Kobayakawa Takakage]]<br>[[Ankokuji Ekei]]
| strength1         = 20,000 Oda troops<br>10,000 Ukita troops<br>'''total''': 30,000 men
| strength2         = castle garrison:<br>5,000 men<br>Mori reinforcement:<br>40,000 men<br>'''total''': 45,000 men
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = 
}}

{{Campaignbox Campaigns of Oda Nobunaga}}
{{Campaignbox Campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi}}
{{Campaignbox Campaigns of the Mori clan}}

In the 1582 {{nihongo|'''siege of Takamatsu'''|備中高松城の戦い|Bitchū Takamatsu-jō no tatakai}}, [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] laid siege to [[Takamatsu Castle (Bitchu)|Takamatsu Castle]], which was controlled by the [[Mōri clan]]. He diverted a nearby river with dikes to surround and flood the castle. He also constructed towers on barges from which his gunmen could keep up a constant rate of fire and be unhindered themselves by the flooding.<ref name=Sansom2>{{Cite book |last=Sansom |first=George |title=A History of Japan, 1334–1615 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1961 |isbn=0804705259 |page=306-307}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Turnbull|first1=S.R.|title=The Samurai|date=1977|publisher=MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.|location=New York|isbn=9780026205405|page=162-163}}</ref>

==Background==
On the order of [[Oda Nobunaga]], [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Hashiba Hideyoshi]] conquered [[Chūgoku region]], and besieged [[Takamatsu Castle (Bitchū)|Takamatsu  Castle]], defended by Mori's vassal, [[Shimizu Muneharu]], in Bitchu Province in the territory of the Mori clan.

==Prelude==
On April 17, 1582, Hideyoshi at last left Himeji Castle for Bitchu in his departure for the front with his 20,000 soldiers. On the way, he watched for the movement of the [[Ukita clan]] in [[Kameyama Castle (Okayama)|Kameyama Castle]], where the Ukita clan had resided, making sure that the Ukita clan would take sides with the Oda forces, and entered into Bitchu with 30,000-strong troops, with the addition of Ukita's 10,000 soldiers.

==Siege==
On May 17, the Hideyoshi forces besieged the Takamatsu castle with an army of as many as 30,000 troops, led by the Ukita forces. Though they attacked the castle two times, they lost in the face of counterattacks by castle garrisons.

As the battle grew more intense, the Takamatsu garrison received reinforcements from [[Mōri Terumoto]], who brought an army two times larger than Hideyoshi's. Additionally, with the 40,000 support troops led by "[[Mori Terumoto#Mōri's "Two Rivers"|Mori's Two Rivers]]" approaching, Hideyoshi dispatched a messenger to request aid from [[Oda Nobunaga]], who had just defeated the Takeda clan in Kai Province, to send over support troops. In response, Nobunaga mobilized six of his commanders including [[Akechi Mitsuhide]], whom he planned to lead the resultant army.<ref name="Sato">{{cite book|last1=Sato|first1=Hiroaki|title=Legends of the Samurai|date=1995|publisher=Overlook Duckworth|location=New York|isbn=9780715643631|page=241}}</ref> But Nobunaga gave Hideyoshi  strict orders to conquer Takamatsu Castle as soon as possible. Later, [[Kuroda Yoshitaka]] offered an idea of using inundation tactics.

Adopting this tactic, Hideyoshi immediately started building an embankment, under the direction of Kuroda Yoshitaka, with support from [[Hachisuka Masakatsu]], [[Ukita Tadaie]], [[Horio Yoshiharu]], [[Ikoma Chikamasa]], [[Kuwayama Shigeharu]], and [[Toda Masaharu]]. Meanwhile [[Asano Nagamasa]] and [[Konishi Yukinaga]] assembled boats and boatmen to make preparations for attacking the castle when it would be floating on a lake.<ref name="Petrucci">{{Cite thesis |last=Petrucci |first=Maria Grazia |date=2005 |title=In the name of the father, the son and the islands of the Gods : a reappraisal of Konishi Ryusa, a merchant, and of Konishi Yukinaga, a Christian samurai, in sixteenth-century Japan |publisher=University of British Columbia |url=https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0092484 |language=en |doi=10.14288/1.0092484}}</ref>

On June 8, which happened to be in the rainy season, the long-lasting rain swelled the [[Ashimori river]], developing a lake and rendered Takamatsu Castle a solitary island. Takamatsu Castle was flooded by Hideyoshi and nearly fell. This made the provisions of rice for the garrison army decline by cutting their supply lines, and Mori's support troops were unable to move. In addition, [[Asano Nagamasa]] and [[Konishi Yukinaga]] were in charge of naval bombardment on the north side of the castle.<ref name="Petrucci"></ref>

Mori decided to make peace with Hideyoshi. They sent [[Ankokuji Ekei]], for [[Kuroda Yoshitaka]] to offer peace negotiations.

==Aftermath==
Hideyoshi soon learned of the [[Incident at Honnōji]] and the death of Nobunaga, which encouraged him to end the siege. Hideyoshi made peace overtures with Mori's forces, on the condition that Muneharu commit [[seppuku]]. Later, [[Shimizu Muneharu]], the castle's commander, was forced to commit suicide in a boat on the artificial lake created by the flooding, in full view of both sides.<ref name="Cassell">{{cite book|last1=Turnbull|first1=Stephen|title=The Samurai Sourcebook|date=2000|publisher=Cassell & C0|location=London|isbn=1854095234|page=231-232}}</ref>
[[Image:Kawazugahana Embankment base.jpg|thumb|Part of the excavated levee formed by Hideyoshi to flood the castle]]

==Cultural references==
The siege is described and dramatized in the novel ''Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan'', written by [[Eiji Yoshikawa]] and translated to English by William Scott Wilson.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*Turnbull, Stephen (2010). ''Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Command)''. Osprey Publishing.

==Literature==
*{{cite book |title=An Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles | last=De Lange |first=William |year=2021 |pages=600 pages|publisher=Toyo Press |location=Groningen |isbn=978-9492722300}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takamatsu 1582}}
[[Category:1582 in Japan]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1582]]
[[Category:Mōri clan]]
[[Category:Sieges of the Sengoku period]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the Sengoku period]]
[[Category:Naval bombing operations and battles]]
[[Category:Attacks on castles in Japan]]
[[Category:Riverine warfare]]
[[Category:Floods in Japan]]
[[Category:Bitchū Province]]
[[Category:Military history of Okayama Prefecture]]
[[Category:16th-century military history of Japan]]
[[Category:Okayama]]