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The Battle of Shizugatake (賤ヶ岳の戦い, Shizugatake no Tatakai?) was a battle in Sengoku period Japan between supporters of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobutaka. In May, 1583, a former general of Nobunaga's named Shibata Katsuie coordinated a number of simultaneous attacks on Shizugatake was held by Hideyoshi's general Nakagawa Kiyohide. Sakuma Morimasa attacked on orders from Shibata Katsuie, and Nakagawa was killed, but the fortress' defenses held. Hearing that Hideyoshi was coming with reinforcements, Sakuma ordered his men to break the siege lines and prepare to defend themselves.
Hideyoshi's army pushed Sakuma's forces into a rout and pursued them back to Shibata Katsuie's fortress at Kitanosho Castle (Fukui) in Echizen province. They seized the castle but not before Shibata lit the keep on fire, killed his family and committed seppuku.
Hideyoshi's chief seven generals in this battle earned a great degree of fame and honor, and came to be known as the shichi-hon yari or 'Seven Spears' of Shizugatake.
[edit] References
- Sansom, George (1961). "A History of Japan: 1334-1615." Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
