Volume 1 – Chapter 6

The Battle of Kayazu and the Downfall of Shogudai Nobutomo

On the sixteenth day of the eighth month of Tenbun 21 (1552), as summer waned and autumn approached, the Battle of Kayazu took place.

It struck me that it had taken an unexpectedly long time.

Spending so much time on coordination and subversion—holding off on the battle until after the rice harvest—was a foolish strategy.

If I were Nobutomo, I would have issued the call to arms and gone on the attack the very next day.

Instead of marching all the way to Nagoya, I would have captured a few outlying castles to strongly assert my presence.

Local lords and landed samurai naturally side with whoever appears most reliable.

It was necessary to tip the scales—currently tilted toward Nobuhide—back toward Nobutomo, even just a little, to create an opening for subversion.

However, they shied away from that effort.

Sakai Daizen, the deputy administrator, holds the real