III. Aggressive Actions

The Hattori Clan had never trusted the Ikko-Ikki movement, even though their ideaologies were not completely opposed to one another. Since their rise to power and unification of central Japan, the Hattori had made no secret of their intention to unite the nation under a new power, and do away with the old shogunate as it currently was. Their brave new order had won them few allies among the rising powers of the Isles, and they'd been forced to fight for their survival, much as the Ikko-Ikki had.

After his defeat at the Third battle of Anotsu, the Hattori Daimyo pulled his forces back to Osaka castle to rebuild and plan his next moves. Tokugawa Ieyasu was more than willing to allow the Hattori a rest, for he himself had not escaped the battle completely unscathed either. His forces had suffered such high losses he didn't exactly have the advantage. Even so, The Republic of the Ikko was feeling increasingly pressured by the war raging on their borders. Ieyasu wrote to Shonyo as he wintered in the south. Though not supporting their movement or their ideology, he extended an offer of friendship and trade to the Ikko. After the battles against the Asai, many of Japan had taken note of the fledgling power rising in the center of Honshu...

It was not an offer of an alliance, per say, as the Tokugawa were still beneath the vassalage of the Imagawa clan, Ieyasu could not make a public statement of friendship and support. But his private approval did much to reassure the Ikko administration of their position.


"Amongst a sea of chaos, a great example has been set for the rest of Japan. Your soldiers are honest, your people are happy, and your words true. Though I cannot call you friend, I hope I am never forced to call you 'enemy'." ~Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1552


Having dealt with the Asai, Suzuki Sadayu returned to Fukui, the newly established capitol of the republic, to explain his actions at the Battle of Omi. Though he'd disobeyed the directive to hold his position, Shonyo and the rest of the ruling body saw the wisdom in his actions once enlightened. More over, he was rewarded greatly for having defeated not one, not two, but now three powers personally on the field of battle. To say the people loved him is a complete inadequecy. There was the belief, at the time, that if Shonyo should pass unexpectently that it should be Sadayu, and not his partner in administration Jutsurai, who should succeed the beloved leader and lead the republic. The people loved him, the army supported him, it would almost be an afterthought. Such dreams of granduer would be put on permenant hold in the May of 1553.

For it was then that Tokugawa Ieyasu and his forces mounted an offensive into Yamato province, then controlled by the Hattori. The campaign lasted for nearly three months of small scale skirmishes before the two sides met at the First Battle of Yamato Fields. Ieyasu was crushed, his forces completely routed. Leading the Hattori clan at Yamato was Hattori Yasunaga, brother to the Hattori daimyo and famed warrior who took part in all three of the battles at Anotsu. Yasunaga was like an expert swordsman, slicing through the Tokugawa incredibly quickly, with little effort. He'd scattered their forces and restored the influence of his clan, which had been waning after their defeat a year before. With the Tokugawa threat dealt with, the Hattori turned north, intent on dealing with the Ikko-Ikki, just as they had so many other powers who had attempted to resist their march.

Sadayu returned to Omi and rallied together the armed forces of the Ikko. He set out in Autumn of that year, and completely shocked the Hattori clan. The veteren commander not only snuck into Iga province from the dense forests bordering Omi, but he captured the city after only a week's siege. The Hattori daimyo was furious, Yasunaga had been cought out of position due to rumors of a Tokugawa counter-attack that never came. He raced north, only to find Sadayu and his army camped at the borders of Iga - waiting, daring him to attempt a break trough.. Unwilling to assault the Ikko positions he returned to Yamato to winter until spring... Setting the stage for the greatest battle of the Ikko-Hattori war.

The Second Battle of Yamato Fields
March, 1554
Beligerents: Ikko Republic vs Hattori Clan
Commanders: Suzuki Sadayu | Hattori Yasunaga

Sadayu set out in late Febuary, 1554, intent on siezing Yamato province. Spy reports gathered from Ikko sympathizers had unfortunately painted the picture of an uphill struggle. Yasunaga had camped ten miles north of provincial capital and laid in wait for the Ikko forces in the fields, just a stone's throw from the very place he'd defeated Tokugawa Ieyasu a year prior.



Ikko-Ikki forces arrived on a chilly spring day, a cold breeze striking their face as they marched forward. Hattori battle-lines drawn in the distance. Sadayu was confident of his ability and of his men, but doubt lingered still. Yasunaga had chosen a flat area of ground to await his enemy, he was not a man known for fighting on even playing fields. Just as the though crossed his mind, whistling arrows slammed into the left side of his marching column...



An ambush! Two hundred bow samurai sprung from the trees, charging and ripping into his line. Sadayu deployed, sending his samurai loyal to the Ikko and his own limited cavalry force against them. But these were men, veterens of Anotsu - men who had united south-central Honshu beneath the Hattori banner. They did not go down easily, nor quietly. For every hattori man killed, the Ikko paid double in blood. All the while, the far off Hattori lines redeployed, heading for a mountainous treeline..



Yasunaga used his best men, his veterens of countless campaigns, as a delaying tactic. He withdrew, offering them no support, and set up his lines on the crest of the hilltop forest. Though outclassed, the Ikko easily outnumbered the delaying tactic and were able to cut through the samurai.. but Sadayu was chilled by the cold attitude shown by his adversary. He'd thrown away good soldiers simply to take the hilltop. He almost withdrew, then and there!



But he was Suzuki Sadayu, destroyer of the clans. Hero of the Ikko-Ikki! He could not retreat, not without a fight. He pushed forward, through the tree line as a rain of arrows came down upon his advance. Finally the Ikko burst from the trees and charged the Hattori line! The two sides, who had maneuvered, outmaneuvered and ambushed one another for an entire year now met in a full scale battle.



It was pure chaos. No battles he had fought properly prepared Sadayu for the hell of that forest. The main battle lines fell in the opening at the top of the hill, where the Hattori made their stand, but dozens more skirmishes dotted the treeline. Archers, spearmen, swordsmen, all clashed with one another, in groups as few as five or six. Orginization quickly broke down, but the Hattori were on their back heels. Despite being confused and disorganized, the Ikko-Ikki charge was as strong as ever. Sadayu was everywhere along the line of battle, trying to keep his men in the fight. Even leaping into the fray himself at one point.

At some point in the battle, the Hattori line was buckling, Sadayu was organizing his reserves, trying to get a second charge together that might've broke through.. when an arrow slammed into his chest. The hero of the Ikko-Ikki, the "commander of peasants", legendary figure in the war against the clans.. fell from his horse, and lay dying on the fields at Yamato. What had started as an effort to gather a second push against the enemy, turned into a desperate struggle to save a hero. The Ikko line folded in on itself in response to a hard Hattori counter push, breaking in half. Men fled for their lives in the chaos that followed, but few were able to escape. Sadayu himself was carried off the hilltop by his retainers, there, as the Hattori closed in on the hunt for survivors, he comitted seppuku. The man who had lead the Ikko movement on the field of battle for nearly ten years was dead.

The battle was a disaster for both sides. Yasunaga could take little comfort in the death of Suzuki Sadayu, mainly due to the fact he'd taken such heavy losses. Not even Tokugawa Ieyasu himself could inflict the damage that the Ikko did at Yamato Fields. Though he remained in firm control of Yamato, he could not hope to press on Iga. The following season he was called away, back to Osaka to deal with a new problem. The invasion of the western Hattori lands by the Amako... it was the perfect time for the Ikko to strike, an opportunity they would capitalize on in the coming years.