Zen, I thought I'd pass along some information regarding the Battle of Norada, which was an important moment in the life of Asai Nagamasa.
This battle was also the high point of the long Asai-Rokkaku feud, which by this point had been ongoing for decades. The tide of their conflict ebbed and flowed, with the Asai allying with the Miyoshi and Asakura for support. Castles along the Asai-Rokkaku border in Omi changed hands numerous times, as did the allegiance of various minor clans in the area. By the early fall of 1552, the situation had begun to swing in the Rokkaku’s favor, and Asai Hisamasa at length thought it best to enter into negotiations. In the 1st month of 1559, Hisamasa offered to marry his son Katamasa to the daughter of a Rokkaku retainer, Hirai Sadataka. Katamasa was far from happy with the arrangement, and while he went through with the wedding, he divorced his new wife just three months later and returned to Odani Castle. Katamasa went one better by discarding the ‘Kata’ from his name (that having been from Rokkaku Yoshikata) and assumed a new tag, Nagamasa. Nagamasa may have been encouraged in his defiance by certain Asai retainers who believed that no good would come from treating with the Rokkaku, especially with Hisamasa (a decent enough administrator but no soldier) as the lord of the Asai.
Needless to say, the Rokkaku were none-too-pleased with these developments and moved to chastise the Asai for Yoshikata dispatched an army into the Asai domain and this laid siege to Sawayama Castle. In response, the Asai began fishing for support, approaching the Takamiya and Takanose clans. When Yoshikata learned that Takanose Nobuzumi had pledged his support to the Asai, he placed Nobuzumi’s Hida Castle under attack. Finding that the defenders could not be broken by an assault, Yoshikata attempted to flood them out, diverting two nearby rivers for that purpose. This endeavor failed, however, when the embankments his men constructed washed out. Frustrated, Rokkaku moved deeper into Asai territory in the 8th month, and thus came to clash with the Asai army near Norada.
The Rokkaku counted some 20,000-25,000 men in their army (at least according to the Asai San-ki), with Gamo Katahide and Nagahara Nagaoki in the vanguard and the Narazaki, Tanaka, Kido, Wada, and others in the second rank (followed by other Goto, Yamada, and Miura, ect…).
The Asai army numbered some 6,000, jointly led by Asai Hisamasa and Nagamasa. Under their command were contingents under Akao Kiyotsuna, Isono Kazumasa, Dodo Kuranosuke, the Hongo, Yuge, Imamura, and others.
The Dodo, who crossed a river that separated the armies and attacked troops under Gamo Katahide, opened the battle. The fight was ebbing and flowing when the Tanaka and other Rokkaku troops threw themselves against the Dodo’s flanks and caused the latter to retreat in some disorder. Much pleased by the work done thus far, Yoshikata ordered a general advance across the river, forcing the Asai to give ground before the Rokkaku army. Yoshikata soon reached Norada, by which time things looked bleak for the Asai. At this point, however, Nagamasa held a hasty conference with a number of his commanders, including Imai Ujinao, and worked out a stratagem. Despite the Asai’s numerical inferiority, Nagamasa decided to divide the army, sending a few contingents at the Rokkaku’s flanks on diversionary maneuvers. When this had been done to Nagamasa’s satisfaction, he hurled the remainder of his forces into the Rokkaku center. The desperate gamble succeeded – panic gripped the Rokkaku’s soldiers, and Yoshikata was swept along with his fleeing army south. 940 Rokkaku and 700 Asai men are said to have been killed.
Nagamasa emerged from this victory with his reputation much enhanced and his older retainers commenting that he was ‘Sukemasa reborn’ (Sukemasa being Nagamasa’s capable grandfather). Hyperbole aside, Nagamasa's showing at Norada had been very good indeed, especially given that he was only 15 years old. This proved the death of Hisamasa’s political career. Perceived as being too weak to protect the family from the Rokkaku, he was compelled by his retainers to step down in favor of his young son. Hisamasa went into retirement and would commit suicide when Odani fell in 1573.
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