Chapter :-62 Annals Of History

It's been a few years since the attack on [Kyoto]; the name Henrik Mikaelson terrified those outside the capital while the people of the city thought of him as their protector. It was a known fact that the Gerard family, along with the system, took care of the people living within [Kyoto]. Still, they were just the branch family; the Mikaelson family practically owned the city.

When a few [Shogunate] decided to come together and attack the capital, people were scared; it had been a few centuries since the last time [Kyoto] was engulfed within the flames of war. The "Police" managed to calm down the panicking people while the Gerard family head, Kiyohime…assured the people of their safety.

Just when the fear of war started sinking into their hearts, the mysterious Mikaelson clan for the first time since their emergence made a move and single-handedly wiped out a million soldiers. People of the capital were awed by the display of power while the other [Shogunate] entertaining the thought of domination whimpered in fear.

The day was recorded in the annals of history as the [Out-city Massacre], a single individual killed about a million warriors, and not even one person survived the out-slaughter. No fancy tactics, no betrayal, no assassination, no confrontation, just a one-sided battle.

After the battle, many people feared that now the Mikaelson family would surely try to take over the country, after establishing their strength but contradictory to everyone's expectations. There was no moment from the Mikaelson family's side as if they didn't even participate in these chaotic times.

But their attitude made it very clear, they don't want to rule the country and would avoid battles as much as possible, after all, why was the Gerard family even created if they themselves needed to do everything. Still, if anyone dared to attack and take over [Kyoto], then they should be prepared to face retaliation from the Mikaelson family.

After the alliance with Nobunaga, Kiyohime along with the rest of Gerard family forces declared war on different [Shogunate] to expand their territory and unite the country under a single banner.

Siege of Inabayama Castle

In Mino, Saitō Yoshitatsu died suddenly of illness in 1561 and was succeeded by his son, Saitō Tatsuoki. Tatsuoki, however, was young and much less active as a ruler and military strategist compared to his father and grandfather.

Taking advantage of this situation, Nobunaga moved her base to Komaki Castle and started her campaign in Mino at the 1561 Battle of Moribe. By convincing Saitō retainers to abandon their incompetent and foolish master, Nobunaga weakened the Saitō clan significantly, eventually mounting a final attack in 1567 when she captured Inabayama Castle.

After taking possession of the castle, Nobunaga changed the name of both the castle and the surrounding town to Gifu. Naming it after the legendary Mount Qi in China, on which the Zhou dynasty is fabled to have started, Nobunaga revealed her ambition to conquer the whole of Japan since having allied with the Gerard clan. She also started using a new personal seal that read Tenka Fubu, which means "All the world by force of arms" or "Rule the Empire by Force".

Battle of Anegawa

The Asakura clan was particularly disdainful of the Oda clan's increasing power. Furthermore, Asakura Yoshikage had also protected Ashikaga Yoshiaki but had not been willing to march toward Kyoto due to the presence of the Mikaelson clan within the capital.

When Nobunaga launched a campaign into the Asakura clan's domain, Azai Nagamasa, to whom Nobunaga's sister 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; the situation would have taken a heavy toll on the Oda clan if the Gerard family wasn't supporting them.

At the Battle of Anegawa, Tokugawa Ieyasu joined forces with Nobunaga and Kiyohime, defeated the combined forces of the Asakura and Azai clans.

The Enryaku-Ji monastery on Mt. Hiei, with its sōhei (warrior monks) of the Tendai school who aided the anti-Nobunaga group by helping Azai-Asakura alliance, was an issue for Nobunaga since the monastery was so close to her base of power. Nobunaga attacked Enryaku-Ji and razed it in October 1571, killing "monks, laymen, women and children" in the process. "The whole mountainside was a great slaughterhouse, and the sight was one of unbearable horror."

The moniker of "The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven" was hard-earned due to her acts of cruelty.

Siege of Nagashima and Ishiyama Hongan-Ji

During the siege of Nagashima, Nobunaga inflicted tremendous losses to the Ikkō-Ikki resistance who opposed samurai rule. The siege finally ended when Nobunaga surrounded the enemy complex and set fire to it, killing tens of thousands.

She later succeeded in taking their main stronghold at Ishiyama Hongan-Ji after an 11-year siege that ended with its surrender.

Battle of Nagashino

One of the most influential rulers in the anti-Nobunaga alliance was Takeda Shingen, despite his generally peaceful relationship and a formal alliance with the Oda clan. In 1572, at the urgings of the shōgun, Shingen decided to make a drive for the capital starting with invading Tokugawa territory. Tied down on the western front, Nobunaga asked Kiyohime to aid Ieyasu, who was suffering a defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573.

However, after the battle, Tokugawa's forces and Gerard family forces launched night raids and convinced Takeda of an imminent counter-attack, thus saving the vulnerable Tokugawa with the bluff. This would play a pivotal role in Tokugawa's philosophy of strategic patience in his campaigns with Oda Nobunaga. Shortly after that, the Takeda forces were neutralised after Shingen died from throat cancer in April 1573.

Battle of Nagashino in 1575

This was a relief for Nobunaga because she could now focus on Yoshiaki, who had openly declared hostility more than once, despite the imperial court's intervention. Nobunaga was able to defeat Yoshiaki's forces and send him into exile, bringing the Ashikaga Shogunate to an end in the same year. Also in 1573, Nobunaga successfully destroyed Asakura and Asai, driving them both to suicide.

At the decisive Battle of Nagashino, the combined forces of Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Kiyohime devastated the Takeda clan with the strategic use of arquebuses (Guns). Nobunaga compensated for the arquebus's slow reloading time by arranging the arquebusiers in three lines, firing in rotation. From there, Nobunaga continued her expansion, sending Akechi Mitsuhide to pacify Tanba Province before advancing upon the Mori.

Surrender of Ishiyama Hongan-Ji

In 1574 Nobunaga became Gondainagon and Ukon'etaishō. By 1576 she was given the title of Minister of the Right (Udaijin). The Oda clan's siege of Ishiyama Hongan-Ji in Osaka made some progress. Still, the Mori clan of the Chūgoku region broke the naval blockade and started sending supplies into the strongly fortified complex by sea. As a result, in 1577, Hashiba Hideyoshi was ordered to confront the warrior monks at Negoroji.

However, Uesugi Kenshin, the rival of Takeda Shingen and Oda, clashed with Oda during the Battle of Tedorigawa. The result was a decisive Uesugi victory. However, Kenshin's sudden death in 1578 ended his movement south.

Nobunaga forced the Ishiyama Hongan-Ji to surrender in 1580. Oda Destroyed the Takeda clan in 1582. Nobunaga's administration was at its height of power, and she was about to launch invasions into Echigo Province and Shikoku.

In the 1582 Battle of Tenmokuzan, Takeda Katsuyori committed suicide after his defeat at the hands of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Militarily, Nobunaga changed the way war was fought in Japan. Her matchlock armed foot soldiers displaced mounted soldiers armed with bow and sword. She built iron-plated warships and imported saltpetre and lead for manufacturing gunpowder and bullets respectively, while also producing artillery.

Her ashigaru foot soldiers were trained and disciplined for mass movements, which replaced hand-to-hand fighting tactics. They wore distinctive uniforms which fostered esprit de corps. She was ruthless and cruel in battle, pursuing fugitives without compassion. Through wanton slaughter, she became the ruler of 20 provinces.

After consolidating military power in provinces she came to dominate, starting with Owari and Mino, Nobunaga implemented a plan for economic development. This included the declaration of free markets (rakuichi), the breaking of trade monopolies, and providing for open guilds (rakuza). Nobunaga instituted rakuichi rakuza policies as a way to stimulate business and the overall economy through the use of a free market system.

These policies abolished and prohibited monopolies and opened once closed and privileged unions, associations and guilds, which she saw as impediments to commerce. Even though these policies provided a significant boost to the economy, it was still heavily dependent on daimyōs' support.

Nobunaga initiated policies for civil administration, which included currency regulations, construction of roads and bridges. This included setting standards for the road widths and planting trees along roadsides.

This was to ease the transport of soldiers and war material in addition to commerce. In general, Nobunaga thought in terms of "unifying factors," in the words of Kiyohime Gerard.

Nobunaga had initiated a period in Japanese art history known as Fushimi, or the Azuchi-Momoyama period, about the area south of Kyoto.

She built extensive gardens and castles which were themselves great works of art. Azuchi Castle included a seven-story Tenshukaku, which included a treasury filled with gold and precious objects. Works of art included paintings on movable screens (byōbu), sliding doors (fusuma), and walls by Kanō Eitoku.

During this time, Nobunaga's tea master Sen no Rikyū established vital elements of the Japanese tea ceremony. Nobunaga was also famous for her meibutsu-gari hunt-down and acquisition of famous objects by which she collected tea ceremony objects with famous poetic or historical lineages.

Additionally, Nobunaga was very interested in European culture, which was still very new to Japan. She collected pieces of Western art as well as arms and armour, and she was considered to be among the first Japanese people in recorded history to wear European clothes.

She also became the patron of the Jesuit missionaries in Japan. She supported the establishment of the first Christian church in Kyoto with Kiyohime's permission in 1576, although she never converted to Christianity.

Her bond with the Gerard family head grew more durable and more reliable until they finally became sworn sisters in everything but blood. Under the orders of her master, Kiyohime didn't leave behind much of a mark in the annals of history other than supporting Nobunaga in her battles.

The [70-years forgetting spell] could surely make everyone who ever saw Kiyohime forget about her, but it couldn't remove a historical figure from the annals of history.

As a sign of friendship, Kiyohime gifted her a beautiful blue necklace with the "Kirin" symbol imprinted behind its body. The chain itself was quite hard and shined brightly afternoon.

Kiyohime was asked to give this necklace to Nobunaga by Henrik Mikaelson, meaning that it was anything but ordinary.

After many years of war and conflict, the whole country was nearly united until "it" happened…..

Coup at Honnō-Ji

In 1582, Nobunaga's former sandal bearer Hashiba Hideyoshi invaded Bitchū Province, laying siege to Takamatsu Castle. The castle was vital to the Mori clan, and losing it would have left the Mori home domain vulnerable.

Led by Mōri Terumoto, reinforcements arrived, prompting Hideyoshi to ask for support from Nobunaga. Nobunaga promptly ordered her leading generals to prepare their armies, the overall expedition to be led by Nobunaga.

Nobunaga left Azuchi Castle for Honnō-Ji in Kyoto, where she was to hold a tea ceremony. Hence, she only had 30 pages with her, while her son Nobutada had brought 2000 of his cavalrymen.

Death by Seppuku

Mitsuhide chose that time to attack. On June 21, 1582, Mitsuhide took a unit of his men and surrounded the Honnō-Ji while sending another unit of Akechi troops to assault Myōkaku-Ji, initiating a full coup d'état.

At Honnō-Ji, Nobunaga's small entourage was soon overwhelmed and, as the Akechi troops closed in on the burning temple where Nobunaga had been residing, she decided to commit seppuku in one of the inner rooms. Her son Nobutada was then killed.

The cause of Mitsuhide's betrayal is controversial. It has been proposed that Mitsuhide may have heard a rumour that Nobunaga would transfer Mitsuhide's fief to the page, Mōri Ranmaru.

Often called "hara-kiri" in the West, "seppuku" is a form of ritual suicide that originated with Japan's ancient samurai warrior class. The horrible act typically involved stabbing oneself in the belly with a short sword, slicing open the stomach and then turning the blade upwards to ensure a fatal wound.

Blood poured out from her body as the last bit of life left her bleeding body, the burning temple collapsed. Her dead body buried deep inside the debris; others couldn't reach her dead body, but if they could, then they would see the blue necklace around her neck shinning with blueish light while the symbol of "Kirin" glowed brightly.