From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1333 siege of Chihaya took place during the final year of Japan's Kamakura period. It was one of several battles of the Genkō War, in which Emperor Go-Daigo sought to eliminate the power of the Hōjō clan regents. Chihaya-jō (千早城, Chihaya fortress) was built atop Mt. Kongō, in Kawachi province, in 1332. Successfully defended the following year, by the Imperial forces led by Kusunoki Masashige, it would eventually fall to the Ashikaga shogunate in 1390.
Kusunoki Masashige's defense of this fotress became a very classic siege in Japanese history. This was due to the fact that both the Imperial garisson and the besieging force of the Hōjō demonstrated high levels of siegecraft. Kusunoki's success here made up for his loss two years earlier at the siege of Akasaka, where surrender was forced by the denial of water supplies. Unlike at Akasaka, however, Kusunoki made sure that Chihaya could stand effectively against many attacks, which included the Hōjō's usage of movable bridges and fire. Kusunoki also employed many strategies such as dummy troops, and surprise raids.
[edit] References
- Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
