WTFM-GzZ
05-28-2007, 00:21
Oda Nobunaga
https://img400.imageshack.us/img400/3590/tspcwjsrm540pl4.jpg
https://img117.imageshack.us/img117/3376/nobunagahouijo7.png
Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長 , June 23, 1534–June 21, 1582) was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was the son of Oda Nobuhide, a minor warlord with meager land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering most of Japan before his untimely death in 1582
In 1551, Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly, and during his funeral, Nobunaga was said to have acted outrageously, throwing the ceremonial incense at the altar. This act further alienated many Oda retainers, convincing them of Nobunaga's supposed mediocrity and lack of discipline, and they began to side with his more soft-spoken and well-mannered brother, Nobuyuki.
Ashamed for Nobunaga's behavior, Hirate Masahide committed seppuku. This came as a huge blow to Nobunaga, who lost a mentor and a valuable retainer. He later built a temple to honor Hirate.
Though Nobunaga was recognized as Nobuhide's legitimate successor, the Oda clan was divided into many factions, and even then, the entire clan was technically under Owari's true kanrei, Shiba Yoshimune. Thus, Oda Nobutomo, brother to the deceased Oda Nobuhide, and being Owari's deputy shugo with the powerless Shiba as his puppet, was able to challenge Nobunaga's place as Owari's new master. Nobutomo murdered Yoshimune when it was clear he supported and attempted to aid Nobunaga.
Nobunaga successfully persuaded Oda Nobumitsu, a younger brother of Nobuhide, to join his side, however, and with Nobumitsu's help, Nobutomo was slain in Kiyosu Castle, which later became Nobunaga's place of residence for over ten years. Taking advantage of Yoshimune's son Shiba Yoshikane's position as the rightful kanrei, Nobunaga forged an alliance with the Imagawa clan of Suruga province and the Kira clan of Mikawa province, as both clans were also kanrei and would have no excuse to decline. In effect, this ensured the Imagawa would have to stop attacking Owari's borders.
https://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9208/sca18dbq7.jpg
Even though Nobuyuki and his supporters were still at large, Nobunaga led an army to Mino province to aid Saito Dosan, when his son, Saito Yoshitatsu, turned against him. The campaign failed, however, as Dosan was killed and Yoshitatsu became the new master of Mino in 1556.
A few months later, Nobuyuki, with the support of Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada, rebelled against Nobunaga. They were defeated at the Battle of Inō. The three were pardoned with the intervention of the birth mother of Nobunaga and Nobuyuki. However, the next year, Nobuyuki again planned to rebel. Informed by Shibata Katsuie, Nobunaga faked illness and assassinated Nobuyuki in Kiyosu Castle.
By 1559, Nobunaga had eliminated all opposition within the clan as well as Owari province. He continued to use Shiba Yoshikane as an excuse to make peace with other daimyo, although it was later discovered that Yoshikane had secretly corresponded with the Kira and Imagawa clans, trying to oust Nobunaga and restore the Shiba clan's place. Nobunaga cast him out, and alliances made in the Shiba clan's name thus became void.
In 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto gathered an army of 25,000 men and started his march toward Kyoto, with the excuse of aiding the frail Ashikaga shogunate. The Matsudaira clan of Mikawa was also to join Yoshimoto's forces.
In comparison, the Oda clan could rally an army of only 3,000, and the forces would also have to be split up to defend various forts at the border. Under such dire circumstances, Nobunaga was said to have performed his favorite Atsumori dance, before riding off with only a few attendants to pray in a shrine.
The Oda Generals didn't believe that they would win this impossible war. Only the night before Shibata Katsuie had tried in vain to change Oda Nobunaga's mind about a frontal combat; he kept reminding Oda of the joint army's gaping lack of manpower against the Imagawa soldiers that numbered 40,000 according to the rumors. Hayashi Sado, the remaining advisor from Oda Nobuhide's days, even argued for surrender without fighting, basing his opinion on the same math as Shibata's. Upon this, according to the clan's chronicler
Oda Nobunaga was right; Imagawa Yoshimoto deliberately leaked the highly exaggerated number of his soldiers out to scare the Oda clan, and the official chronicler of the Imagawas put it down as was usual in medieval battle records to exaggerate numbers.
Aided by a sudden thunderstorm, smugness, and fatigue, Oda Nobunaga rode fast out the castle early in the morning, to meet Imagawa's army en route.
He found them having a break at a gorge named Okehazama. There Oda waited for his army to gather, and told them to lay an ambush right there and then while a storm was coming . Nobunaga assaulted the Imagawa camp and slew Yoshimoto, resulting in a victory that stunned the entire country. This was known as the Battle of Okehazama, and brought Nobunaga's name to national prominence.
Rapidly weakening, the Imagawa clan no longer exerted control over the Matsudaira clan. In 1561, an alliance was forged between Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu (later Tokugawa Ieyasu), despite the decades-old hostility between the two clans.
In 1564, Nobunaga had his sister, Oichi marry Azai Nagamasa, a daimyo in northern Omi province. This would later help pave the way to Kyoto.
In 1568, the last Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki went to Gifu, requesting that Nobunaga start a campaign toward Kyoto. Yoshiaki was the brother of the murdered 13th Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiteru. The killers of Yoshiteru had already set up a puppet shogun, Ashikaga Yoshihide.
Nobunaga agreed to Yoshiaki's request, grasping the opportunity to enter Kyoto, and started his campaign. An obstacle in the southern Omi province, however, was the Rokkaku clan. Led by Rokkaku Yoshikata, the clan refused to recognize Yoshiaki as shogun and was ready to go to war. Nobunaga launched a rapid attack, driving the Rokkaku clan out of their castles.
Within a short amount of time, Nobunaga had reached Kyoto and driven the Miyoshi clan out of the city. Yoshiaki was made the 15th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I67fdId6QY&mode=related&search=
Nobunaga refused the post of Kanrei, and eventually began to restrict the powers of the shogun, making it clear that he intended to use him as a puppet to justify his future conquests. Yoshiaki, however, was not pleased about being a puppet, and thus, he secretly corresponded with various daimyo, forging an anti-Nobunaga alliance.
The Asakura clan, in particular, was disdainful of the Oda clan's rising power. Historically, the Oda clan had been subordinate to the Asakura clan, and Asakura Yoshikage also temporarily protected Ashikaga Yoshiaki but was not willing enough to march toward Kyoto; thus, the Asakura clan despised Nobunaga the most for his success.
https://img103.imageshack.us/img103/953/oda20camp20groupuu5.jpg
When Nobunaga launched a campaign into the Asakura clan's domain, Azai Nagamasa, to whom Oichi was married, broke the alliance with Oda to honour the Azai-Asakura alliance which had lasted for generations. With the help of Ikko rebels, the anti-Nobunaga alliance sprang into full force, taking a heavy toll on the Oda clan.
At the Battle of Anegawa, Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the combined forces of the Asakura and Azai clans.
Nobunaga waged war even against Buddhists when they did not obey him. The Enryakuji monastery on Mt. Hiei, with its Tendai warrior monks, was a particular thorn in his side, residing as it did so close to his residence at the old capital city of Kyoto. Nobunaga attacked Enryakuji and burnt it to the ground in 1571, even though it had been admired as a significant cultural symbol at the time, killing between 20,000 and 30,000 men, women, and children in the process.
Through the years, Nobunaga was able to consolidate his position and conquer his enemies through brutality. In Nagashima, for example, Nobunaga suffered tremendous losses to the Ikko resistance, including a couple of his brothers. Nobunaga finally surrounded the enemy complex and set fire to it, again killing tens of thousands of non-combatants, mostly women and children.
One of the strongest forces in the anti-Nobunaga alliance, Takeda Shingen, was a competitor with the Oda-Tokugawa alliance (which was established mainly to guard the two factions against Takeda and its former ally, Imagawa) despite a generally peaceful relationship so far as well as a nominal alliance with Oda. In 1572, at the urgings of the Shogun he decided to make a drive for the capital. Tied down on the Western front, Nobunaga sent lacklustre aid to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who suffered defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1572.
However, after the battle, the Takeda forces retreated as Shingen died in 1573. This was a relief for Nobunaga, who could now focus on Yoshiaki, who had openly declared hostility more than once, despite the imperial court's intervention.
Nobunaga defeated Yoshiaki's weak forces and sent him into exile, bringing the Ashikaga shogunate to an end in the same year.
Still in the same year, Nobunaga successfully destroyed the Asakura and Azai clans, and Azai Nagamasa sent Oichi back to Nobunaga as he committed suicide. With Nagashima's destruction in 1574, the only threat to Nobunaga was the Takeda clan, now led by Takeda Katsuyori.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdSn5nK30vE
At the decisive Battle of Nagashino, the combined forces of Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu devastated the Takeda clan with the strategic use of arquebuses. Nobunaga compensated for the arquebus' slow reloading time by arranging the arquebusiers in three lines. After each line fired, it would duck and reload as the next line fired. The bullets were able to pierce the Takeda cavalry armor. This caused chaos among the Takeda cavalry who were pushed back and killed by incoming fire.
Nobunaga continued his expansion, sending Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie to the north and Akechi Mitsuhide to Tamba province.
The Oda clan's siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka made little progress, but the Mori clan of Chūgoku region started sending supplies into the strongly-fortified complex by sea, breaking the naval blockade.
In 1577, Hashiba Hideyoshi was ordered to expand west to confront the Mori clan.
In 1578, the Azuchi Castle in the Omi province was completed, an impressive and extravagantly decorated castle that shocked European missionaries and ordinary courtiers alike.
However, Uesugi Kenshin, said to be the greatest general of his time since the demise of Takeda Shingen, took part in the second anti-Nobunaga alliance. Following his conquest of neighbouring forces, the two sides clashed during the Battle of Tedorigawa which resulted in a decisive Uesugi victory. It was around this time that Uesugi forces began preparations to march on Kyoto.
Due to his defeat, Oda Nobunaga harboured clear fears of Uesugi, and according to one account, told the messenger that brought news of Uesugi Kenshin's orders of general mobilisation that, if Kenshin did in fact lead his armies to the capital, he would have no choice but to surrender and cede his eastern domains in the hopes of being granted mercy. Uesugi Kenshin, however, died from what was possibly a stroke before moving his armies.
https://img103.imageshack.us/img103/9154/oda20castle20smalltq6.jpg
Nobunaga forced the Ishiyama Hongan-ji to surrender in 1580 and destroyed the Takeda clan in 1582. Nobunaga's administration was at its height of power, and was about to launch invasions into Echigo province and Shikoku.
In 1582, Hashiba Hideyoshi (one of Nobunaga's most trusted retainers) invaded *****u province, laying siege to Takamatsu Castle. However, the castle was vital to the Mori clan, and losing it would leave the Mori home domain vulnerable. Led by Mori Terumoto, reinforcements arrived outside Takamatsu Castle, and the two sides came to a standstill. Hashiba asked for reinforcements from Oda Nobunaga.
It has often been argued that Hideyoshi in fact had no need for reinforcements, but asked Nobunaga anyway for various reasons. Some believe that Hideyoshi, envied and hated by fellow generals for his swift rise from a lowly footman to a top general under Oda Nobunaga, wanted to give the credit for taking Takamatsu to Nobunaga so as to humble himself in front of other Oda vassals. Some also speculate that Hashiba or his retainers in fact wanted to put Nobunaga in a vulnerable position in the front where he might be more easily assassinated. Others believe that Hashiba in fact was the mastermind behind Akechi Mitsuhide's treachery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LAUlPVZ2yY
(Akechi Mitsuhide begin Honnōji rebel attack)
敵は本能寺にあり
In any case, Nobunaga ordered Niwa Nagahide to prepare for an invasion of Shikoku and Akechi Mitsuhide to assist Hideyoshi. En route to Chūgoku region, Nobunaga stayed at Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto. Since Nobunaga would not expect an attack in the middle of his firmly-controlled territories, he was guarded by only a few dozen personal servants and bodyguards.
Nevertheless, Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly had Honnōji surrounded in a coup, forcing Oda Nobunaga to fight him. Nobunaga lost and was force to commit seppuku. At the same time, Akechi forces assaulted Nijo Castle. Together with him died his young page (o-kosho), Mori Ranmaru, who had served him faithfully for many years and was still in his teens at the time. Ranmaru's loyalty and devotion to his lord were widely known and praised at the time.
Just eleven days after the coup at Honnōji, Mitsuhide was killed at the Battle of Yamazaki.
(From Wikipedia)
https://img465.imageshack.us/img465/1779/naname3os0.jpg
https://img253.imageshack.us/img253/2336/honnohji03jd0ie2.gif
Incident at Honnōji 本能寺の変
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aAFC2oMK0o
https://img400.imageshack.us/img400/3590/tspcwjsrm540pl4.jpg
https://img117.imageshack.us/img117/3376/nobunagahouijo7.png
Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長 , June 23, 1534–June 21, 1582) was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was the son of Oda Nobuhide, a minor warlord with meager land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering most of Japan before his untimely death in 1582
In 1551, Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly, and during his funeral, Nobunaga was said to have acted outrageously, throwing the ceremonial incense at the altar. This act further alienated many Oda retainers, convincing them of Nobunaga's supposed mediocrity and lack of discipline, and they began to side with his more soft-spoken and well-mannered brother, Nobuyuki.
Ashamed for Nobunaga's behavior, Hirate Masahide committed seppuku. This came as a huge blow to Nobunaga, who lost a mentor and a valuable retainer. He later built a temple to honor Hirate.
Though Nobunaga was recognized as Nobuhide's legitimate successor, the Oda clan was divided into many factions, and even then, the entire clan was technically under Owari's true kanrei, Shiba Yoshimune. Thus, Oda Nobutomo, brother to the deceased Oda Nobuhide, and being Owari's deputy shugo with the powerless Shiba as his puppet, was able to challenge Nobunaga's place as Owari's new master. Nobutomo murdered Yoshimune when it was clear he supported and attempted to aid Nobunaga.
Nobunaga successfully persuaded Oda Nobumitsu, a younger brother of Nobuhide, to join his side, however, and with Nobumitsu's help, Nobutomo was slain in Kiyosu Castle, which later became Nobunaga's place of residence for over ten years. Taking advantage of Yoshimune's son Shiba Yoshikane's position as the rightful kanrei, Nobunaga forged an alliance with the Imagawa clan of Suruga province and the Kira clan of Mikawa province, as both clans were also kanrei and would have no excuse to decline. In effect, this ensured the Imagawa would have to stop attacking Owari's borders.
https://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9208/sca18dbq7.jpg
Even though Nobuyuki and his supporters were still at large, Nobunaga led an army to Mino province to aid Saito Dosan, when his son, Saito Yoshitatsu, turned against him. The campaign failed, however, as Dosan was killed and Yoshitatsu became the new master of Mino in 1556.
A few months later, Nobuyuki, with the support of Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada, rebelled against Nobunaga. They were defeated at the Battle of Inō. The three were pardoned with the intervention of the birth mother of Nobunaga and Nobuyuki. However, the next year, Nobuyuki again planned to rebel. Informed by Shibata Katsuie, Nobunaga faked illness and assassinated Nobuyuki in Kiyosu Castle.
By 1559, Nobunaga had eliminated all opposition within the clan as well as Owari province. He continued to use Shiba Yoshikane as an excuse to make peace with other daimyo, although it was later discovered that Yoshikane had secretly corresponded with the Kira and Imagawa clans, trying to oust Nobunaga and restore the Shiba clan's place. Nobunaga cast him out, and alliances made in the Shiba clan's name thus became void.
In 1560, Imagawa Yoshimoto gathered an army of 25,000 men and started his march toward Kyoto, with the excuse of aiding the frail Ashikaga shogunate. The Matsudaira clan of Mikawa was also to join Yoshimoto's forces.
In comparison, the Oda clan could rally an army of only 3,000, and the forces would also have to be split up to defend various forts at the border. Under such dire circumstances, Nobunaga was said to have performed his favorite Atsumori dance, before riding off with only a few attendants to pray in a shrine.
The Oda Generals didn't believe that they would win this impossible war. Only the night before Shibata Katsuie had tried in vain to change Oda Nobunaga's mind about a frontal combat; he kept reminding Oda of the joint army's gaping lack of manpower against the Imagawa soldiers that numbered 40,000 according to the rumors. Hayashi Sado, the remaining advisor from Oda Nobuhide's days, even argued for surrender without fighting, basing his opinion on the same math as Shibata's. Upon this, according to the clan's chronicler
Oda Nobunaga was right; Imagawa Yoshimoto deliberately leaked the highly exaggerated number of his soldiers out to scare the Oda clan, and the official chronicler of the Imagawas put it down as was usual in medieval battle records to exaggerate numbers.
Aided by a sudden thunderstorm, smugness, and fatigue, Oda Nobunaga rode fast out the castle early in the morning, to meet Imagawa's army en route.
He found them having a break at a gorge named Okehazama. There Oda waited for his army to gather, and told them to lay an ambush right there and then while a storm was coming . Nobunaga assaulted the Imagawa camp and slew Yoshimoto, resulting in a victory that stunned the entire country. This was known as the Battle of Okehazama, and brought Nobunaga's name to national prominence.
Rapidly weakening, the Imagawa clan no longer exerted control over the Matsudaira clan. In 1561, an alliance was forged between Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu (later Tokugawa Ieyasu), despite the decades-old hostility between the two clans.
In 1564, Nobunaga had his sister, Oichi marry Azai Nagamasa, a daimyo in northern Omi province. This would later help pave the way to Kyoto.
In 1568, the last Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki went to Gifu, requesting that Nobunaga start a campaign toward Kyoto. Yoshiaki was the brother of the murdered 13th Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiteru. The killers of Yoshiteru had already set up a puppet shogun, Ashikaga Yoshihide.
Nobunaga agreed to Yoshiaki's request, grasping the opportunity to enter Kyoto, and started his campaign. An obstacle in the southern Omi province, however, was the Rokkaku clan. Led by Rokkaku Yoshikata, the clan refused to recognize Yoshiaki as shogun and was ready to go to war. Nobunaga launched a rapid attack, driving the Rokkaku clan out of their castles.
Within a short amount of time, Nobunaga had reached Kyoto and driven the Miyoshi clan out of the city. Yoshiaki was made the 15th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I67fdId6QY&mode=related&search=
Nobunaga refused the post of Kanrei, and eventually began to restrict the powers of the shogun, making it clear that he intended to use him as a puppet to justify his future conquests. Yoshiaki, however, was not pleased about being a puppet, and thus, he secretly corresponded with various daimyo, forging an anti-Nobunaga alliance.
The Asakura clan, in particular, was disdainful of the Oda clan's rising power. Historically, the Oda clan had been subordinate to the Asakura clan, and Asakura Yoshikage also temporarily protected Ashikaga Yoshiaki but was not willing enough to march toward Kyoto; thus, the Asakura clan despised Nobunaga the most for his success.
https://img103.imageshack.us/img103/953/oda20camp20groupuu5.jpg
When Nobunaga launched a campaign into the Asakura clan's domain, Azai Nagamasa, to whom Oichi was married, broke the alliance with Oda to honour the Azai-Asakura alliance which had lasted for generations. With the help of Ikko rebels, the anti-Nobunaga alliance sprang into full force, taking a heavy toll on the Oda clan.
At the Battle of Anegawa, Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the combined forces of the Asakura and Azai clans.
Nobunaga waged war even against Buddhists when they did not obey him. The Enryakuji monastery on Mt. Hiei, with its Tendai warrior monks, was a particular thorn in his side, residing as it did so close to his residence at the old capital city of Kyoto. Nobunaga attacked Enryakuji and burnt it to the ground in 1571, even though it had been admired as a significant cultural symbol at the time, killing between 20,000 and 30,000 men, women, and children in the process.
Through the years, Nobunaga was able to consolidate his position and conquer his enemies through brutality. In Nagashima, for example, Nobunaga suffered tremendous losses to the Ikko resistance, including a couple of his brothers. Nobunaga finally surrounded the enemy complex and set fire to it, again killing tens of thousands of non-combatants, mostly women and children.
One of the strongest forces in the anti-Nobunaga alliance, Takeda Shingen, was a competitor with the Oda-Tokugawa alliance (which was established mainly to guard the two factions against Takeda and its former ally, Imagawa) despite a generally peaceful relationship so far as well as a nominal alliance with Oda. In 1572, at the urgings of the Shogun he decided to make a drive for the capital. Tied down on the Western front, Nobunaga sent lacklustre aid to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who suffered defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1572.
However, after the battle, the Takeda forces retreated as Shingen died in 1573. This was a relief for Nobunaga, who could now focus on Yoshiaki, who had openly declared hostility more than once, despite the imperial court's intervention.
Nobunaga defeated Yoshiaki's weak forces and sent him into exile, bringing the Ashikaga shogunate to an end in the same year.
Still in the same year, Nobunaga successfully destroyed the Asakura and Azai clans, and Azai Nagamasa sent Oichi back to Nobunaga as he committed suicide. With Nagashima's destruction in 1574, the only threat to Nobunaga was the Takeda clan, now led by Takeda Katsuyori.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdSn5nK30vE
At the decisive Battle of Nagashino, the combined forces of Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu devastated the Takeda clan with the strategic use of arquebuses. Nobunaga compensated for the arquebus' slow reloading time by arranging the arquebusiers in three lines. After each line fired, it would duck and reload as the next line fired. The bullets were able to pierce the Takeda cavalry armor. This caused chaos among the Takeda cavalry who were pushed back and killed by incoming fire.
Nobunaga continued his expansion, sending Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie to the north and Akechi Mitsuhide to Tamba province.
The Oda clan's siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka made little progress, but the Mori clan of Chūgoku region started sending supplies into the strongly-fortified complex by sea, breaking the naval blockade.
In 1577, Hashiba Hideyoshi was ordered to expand west to confront the Mori clan.
In 1578, the Azuchi Castle in the Omi province was completed, an impressive and extravagantly decorated castle that shocked European missionaries and ordinary courtiers alike.
However, Uesugi Kenshin, said to be the greatest general of his time since the demise of Takeda Shingen, took part in the second anti-Nobunaga alliance. Following his conquest of neighbouring forces, the two sides clashed during the Battle of Tedorigawa which resulted in a decisive Uesugi victory. It was around this time that Uesugi forces began preparations to march on Kyoto.
Due to his defeat, Oda Nobunaga harboured clear fears of Uesugi, and according to one account, told the messenger that brought news of Uesugi Kenshin's orders of general mobilisation that, if Kenshin did in fact lead his armies to the capital, he would have no choice but to surrender and cede his eastern domains in the hopes of being granted mercy. Uesugi Kenshin, however, died from what was possibly a stroke before moving his armies.
https://img103.imageshack.us/img103/9154/oda20castle20smalltq6.jpg
Nobunaga forced the Ishiyama Hongan-ji to surrender in 1580 and destroyed the Takeda clan in 1582. Nobunaga's administration was at its height of power, and was about to launch invasions into Echigo province and Shikoku.
In 1582, Hashiba Hideyoshi (one of Nobunaga's most trusted retainers) invaded *****u province, laying siege to Takamatsu Castle. However, the castle was vital to the Mori clan, and losing it would leave the Mori home domain vulnerable. Led by Mori Terumoto, reinforcements arrived outside Takamatsu Castle, and the two sides came to a standstill. Hashiba asked for reinforcements from Oda Nobunaga.
It has often been argued that Hideyoshi in fact had no need for reinforcements, but asked Nobunaga anyway for various reasons. Some believe that Hideyoshi, envied and hated by fellow generals for his swift rise from a lowly footman to a top general under Oda Nobunaga, wanted to give the credit for taking Takamatsu to Nobunaga so as to humble himself in front of other Oda vassals. Some also speculate that Hashiba or his retainers in fact wanted to put Nobunaga in a vulnerable position in the front where he might be more easily assassinated. Others believe that Hashiba in fact was the mastermind behind Akechi Mitsuhide's treachery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LAUlPVZ2yY
(Akechi Mitsuhide begin Honnōji rebel attack)
敵は本能寺にあり
In any case, Nobunaga ordered Niwa Nagahide to prepare for an invasion of Shikoku and Akechi Mitsuhide to assist Hideyoshi. En route to Chūgoku region, Nobunaga stayed at Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto. Since Nobunaga would not expect an attack in the middle of his firmly-controlled territories, he was guarded by only a few dozen personal servants and bodyguards.
Nevertheless, Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly had Honnōji surrounded in a coup, forcing Oda Nobunaga to fight him. Nobunaga lost and was force to commit seppuku. At the same time, Akechi forces assaulted Nijo Castle. Together with him died his young page (o-kosho), Mori Ranmaru, who had served him faithfully for many years and was still in his teens at the time. Ranmaru's loyalty and devotion to his lord were widely known and praised at the time.
Just eleven days after the coup at Honnōji, Mitsuhide was killed at the Battle of Yamazaki.
(From Wikipedia)
https://img465.imageshack.us/img465/1779/naname3os0.jpg
https://img253.imageshack.us/img253/2336/honnohji03jd0ie2.gif
Incident at Honnōji 本能寺の変
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aAFC2oMK0o