Kantō

The Great Kantō Defence
Date Aug, 1560 - June, 1561 Location Odawara Castle, Sagami Province Odawara; Kozuke Province; Musashi Province Result Hōjō victory
Forces
Uesugi	Hōjō
Commanders
Norimasa Uesugi Kenshin Uesugi	Ujiyasu Hōjō Ujimasa Hōjō

The Great Kantō Defence (小田原城の戦い rōmaji: Odawarajō no Tatakai) is a campaign that took place between the Uesugi clan, now under the control of Kenshin Uesugi, and the Hōjō clan. Kenshin captured much of the lands in Kantō in an act of revenge against Ujiyasu Hōjō's earlier campaigns. Despite great success at first, Kenshin was unable to break through Odawara Castle, where the climactic showdown of the campaign ended ingloriously, as Kenshin rushed home due to low supplies and the threat of invasion from the Takeda under Shingen Takeda.

Role in Games

This battle first appears in Samurai Warriors 3, for both Ujiyasu Hōjō and Kenshin Uesugi's story modes. In Ujiyasu's tale, the battle begins with the Uesugi forces already pressing on the walls of Odawara Castle itself. The frontline officers, Sukemasa Ōta, Tsunahide Mita, and Nagayasu Narita, are the first target to push the Uesugi back. Aya leads the second assault, and after her defeat, three peasant captains appear and need an escort into Odawara Castle. After being rescued, the Takeda arrive as reinforcements even as Kenshin launches his final assault. When Kenshin is defeated, the Uesugi retreat and the battle is won.

In Kenshin's story, the Hōjō still hold all of Odawara Castle and its castle town. Kenshin has to defeat Kagemune Kajiwara and Masashige Daidōji to open the first gate and enter Odawara. Upon entering, Kotarō Fūma leads a ninja raid against the Uesugi, overwhelming their forces until Kenshin can force him to flee. Shingen eventually shows up as reinforcements, and upon his defeat, only Tsunashige Hōjō still bars the way to the inside of Odawara Castle and Ujiyasu himself.

Samurai Warriors 4 begins the Hōjō side of the battle with the outer defences of Odawara already penetrated by the Uesugi. Kenshin leads the charge, breaking out ahead of his army. Once driven back, Saburō Hōjō pushes forwards into the defensive ward and requires rescuing. Ujiyasu orders the recapture of the lotus pond in the east (under control of Uesugi Onmyōji) and re-establishment of control on the supply ward. The supply ward is currently under attack by Yatarō Onikojima and Saneyori Honjō. Norimasa Uesugi and Yoshishige Satake launch a western attack on Kamine Ward as well. Once these attacks are thwarted, Kanetsugu Naoe leads a second wave against Odawara, with Kenshin reappearing at the end of the push for one final attack.

On the Uesugi side of the battle, the fight begins with securing the surrounding outside area around Odawara castle to lure the Hōjō into conflict. The lotus pond is taken and Norimasa Uesugi's ill conceived attack rescued. The capture of the defensive ward by Takahiro Kitajō finally pushes Saburō over the edge. He sallies forth with his brothers, Ujiteru Hōjō and Ujikuni Hōjō. Kenshin uses this opening to get into the second ward, which is reinforced by Lady Hayakawa and Kai. Around this time the Imagawa arrive as reinforcements, but once they've been defeated, only the main keep of Odawara remains, guarded by Ujiyasu.

Historical Information

In 1551, Uesugi Norimasa was defeated at Hirai Castle, officially being driven out of the Kantō region and forced to flee north to Echigo region, where his retainers remained strong. Norimasa beseeched his lead retainer, Nagao Kagatora (later Uesugi Kenshin), to help him retake his lost lands. Kagetora agreed upon a few conditions, including adopting him as Norimasa's heir. The future Uesugi leader could not yet lead such a large campaign, forcing Normasa to wait almost a decade until he could march north in revenge.  

Kenshin attacked from Echigo into Kantō with over 8,000 men in response to a plea for aid from Satomi Yoshitaka, who was under siege from Hōjō Ujiyasu. It was in August, 1560 that the campaign began, with Kenshin swiftly overwhelming the Hōjō defences at Numata, Iwashita, and Kabashi Castles. The dragon of Echigo used Kabashi as his base to take Naba and Hanyu Castles, smaller castles under the control of minor clans the Hōjō held sway over.

When Hōjō Ujiyasu heard of Kenshin's invasion, he immediately broke off his attack on the Satomi and rushed north, taking up a defensive position at Matsuyama Castle. He sent word to the Takeda for support, or at the very least to pressure the Uesugi in the north so Kenshin would have to keep his attention split. Ujiyasu also reached out to the Imagawa, who surprisingly sent aid, as Imagawa Yoshimoto had only recently died at Okehazama. As the Hōjō scrambled to meet this new threat, Kenshin pressured the surrounding clans into recognizing his newly self appointed position as the protector of Kantō. Most of the clans submitted, but a few, like the Chiba and Hara maintained their support of the Hōjō.

Ujiyasu recognized he was outmanned and adopted a defensive strategy and fell back to Odawara Castle. Kenshin responded by pushing forward in his campaign, placing Kawagoe Castle (defended by Hōjō Ujitaka), Kogajo Palace (defended by Ashikaga Yoshiuji), Tamawanashiro Castle (defended by Hōjō Ujishige), and Takiyama Castle (defended by Hōjō Ujiteru) under siege. When further reinforcements arrived from Echigo, Kenshin was able to capture Kogajo, and prepare for his big push to finish the Hōjō.

Between his reinforcements and the surrounding clans being drawn into his forces, Uesugi Kenshin had a force the Kanhachishu war record claims numbered over 100,000 men. This number is doubted, but it is generally understood the force was much larger then what the Hōjō could ever hope to field. The dragon of Echigo began the siege of Odawara in March of 1561 and easily secured the area around the castle, as the Hōjō did not try to defend it. Records are a bit spotty on the exact nature of the conflict at Odawara, with the previously mentioned record claiming Ota Sukemasa attempted to break the Lotus Pond gate, only to be repelled by a stout defence by the Hōjō defenders. Other records make no mention of fighting, even when the Uesugi burnt down Odawara's castle town to try and provoke a sally. With no way to end the siege quickly, Kenshin settled down to engage in a drawn out siege.

The united front that Uesugi Kenshin had formed soon began to crumble. The Oda (Hitashi branch), Utsunomiya, and Satake clans all formally bowed out of the coalition as their supplies ran out. Kenshin's own supplies ran low as well, as Kantō was currently experiencing a famine. Adding to the troubles, the Imagawa reinforcements finally arrived and Takeda Shingen began pressuring the southwestern region of Echigo. With momentum lost and new pressing concerns, Kenshin broke off his sieges, settling for taking Matsuyama Castle, leaving it under the command of Uesugi Norikatsu (which the Hōjō took back again within a year). Kenshin also placed Konoe Sakihisa in Yoshiuji's palace, Kogajo, as Sakihisa was still technically the Kampaku of the emperor.

Gallery

Samurai Warriors 3 stage image