Siege of Miki – Wikipedia

The Battle of Miki ( Miki battle Mici gas ^? ) , O siege of Miki , it took place between 1578 and 1580 between the Bessho clan and the Oda after Bessho Nagaharu rebelled to Oda Nobunaga. ^[first]

The Shuggo (governors) of the province of Harima were originally the members of the Akamatsu clan, of which the Bessho and Kodera clans act like Shugodai (deputies to the government of the Province by Shugo). The Akamatsu clan was one of the most powerful Shuggo of the Ashikaga shogunate having, at the height of their influence, the control of four provinces. However, the Akamatsu quickly lost their power during the beginning of the Sengoku period and the clans that were previously the servants began to become more and more independent.

When Hashiba Hideyoshi invaded the province on Oda Nobunaga’s order at the end of 1576, Akamatsu Norifusa simply decided to submit to the Oda clan together with the Bessho and Kodera clans.

Having apparently conquered the whole province of Harima without bloodshed, Hideyoshi moved its operational base to Himeji, the former residential castle of the Akamatsu family, and began to prepare to clash against the Mōri clan. However, during this period, it is said that Bessho Nagaharu’s uncle, Yoshichika, felt insulted for submission to Hideyoshi, who was born as a common citizen. He then managed to convince his nephew to rebel and established a secret alliance with the Mōri clan. Shortly after his rebellion, the Kodera clan joined them.

Once the first shot was shot, Hideyoshi suddenly found himself in a dangerous position, trapped between the powerful Mōri clan in front of him and the rebel clan behind. He therefore decided to put Miki’s Castle under siege, a stronghold of the Bessho family, hoping to destroy the source of rebellion.

Hideyoshi was surrounded between the Mōri army, which attacked the Kōzuki castle, on the one hand and the Bessho clan on the other, and found himself in a dangerous situation. He abandoned Kōzuki Castle and the attack on Miki’s Castle was gave himself as a priority. He then built lock positions and long fences around the castle and tried to prevent any refueling, but to worsen the situation, in October 1578, it was Araki Murashige, a support general of Hideyoshi, who in turn turned from his castle of Itemi.

Hideyoshi therefore found himself surrounded by many enemies and in a dangerous situation, but supported by other generals of the Oda army, he managed to keep the siege for a long time at Miki’s castle. Although he lost Takenaka Shigeharu of illness during this siege, Hideyoshi gradually increased the pressure on the castle and totally closed the refueling lines. At this point the Mōri clan struggled to get supplies to Miki Castle, and after the severe defeat of the Mōri navy in the naval battle of the Kizugawa river in November 1578, all supplies were closed.

Mōri and Bessho attacked Hideyoshi to open a refueling line, but they were defeated and Bessho Harusada, the younger brother of Nagaharu, was killed. In October 1579 the Ukita clan of the province of Bizen sided with Hideyoshi. Now there were no more support opportunities from the Mōri, and in that same year both the Haano clan and the Araki clan were defeated by Nobunaga.

In January 1580, being completely hungry after more than two years of siege, Nagaharu decided to open the castle under the condition of his suicide and salvation for his people. Nagaharu killed his family and himself and in his farewell poem he said that “I have no grudge now in dying to save my people” ^[2] .

His uncle Bessho Yoshichika, instigator of this rebellion, was killed by his own soldiers.

• ( IN ) Stephen Turnbull, TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI , OXFORD: OSPREY Publishing, 2010, p. 18-19, ISBN 1-84603-960-6
• ( IN ) Cery The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga , Brill. <