Collage of scenes from the battle
The Battle of Nakanojo (1572) was a large battle of the Sengoku Jidai between the Date-Tokugawa alliance and the alliance of the Takeda, Uesugi, and Hojo. The 7,800-strong Date and Tokugawa beat the 5,235-strong Takeda, Uesugi, and Hojo army, winning a great victory. This battle was later overshadowed by the Takeda victory over the Tokugawa at the Battle of Mikatagahara in January 1573.
Background[]
The Date army at Nakanojo
In 1572, Shingen Takeda, Kenshin Uesugi, and Ujiyasu Hojo decided to form an alliance to march on Kyoto and take on the Ashikaga Shoguante (then under the protection of Nobunaga Oda). The three Kanto warlords formed a large army, threatening the Oda clan. Ieyasu Tokugawa, an ally of the Oda, allied with the northern warlord Masamune Date against the Kanto alliance, with Masamune ambitiously hoping to gain land in central Japan. They met at Nakanojo in Kozuke Province (present-day Gunma Prefecture), fighting a battle at night. Ieyasu and Masamune gathered an army of 7,800 troops, while the Kanto alliance had 5,235 troops. Ieyasu and Masamune personally led their forces as did Shingen and Ujiyasu, while Kenshin sent Sugimoto Mochizuki to command his forces. The stage was set for a great battle of the Sengoku Jidai.
Battle[]
Masamune in the battle
Masamune Date began the battle by giving a speech to his soldiers that insulted his enemies (saying that although he did not know who commanded the Takeda army, it didn't matter, as all of them were fools; he also said that Hojo pride overcame Hojo common sense) and thanked his allies (saying that he was grateful for the brawny Tokugawa soldiers). However, it would be the Date that would conduct the majority of the attacks by the Tokugawa-Date army, as Ieyasu withheld his forces from major battle. The Date engaged the smaller enemy forces in combat, with the enemy generals gathering at the rear of the battlefield together. The melee included the Uesugi riflemen firing on the Date forces, but the Date riflemen returned fire and helped to rout several Uesugi units. Masamune himself accompanied his forces as they advanced, helping to spur them on to victory. The Tokugawa provided token assistance, but it was really the resolve and bravery of the Date army that won the day. 3,525 of the Takeda-Hojo-Uesugi Army were killed, while 1,551 Date-Tokugawa Army troops were killed in the battle.
Aftermath[]
The battle of Nakanojo was a decisive Tokugawa-Date victory, halting the Kanto alliance's plans to march on Kyoto and endanger the status quo. However, it was not a lasting triumph; in January 1573 Shingen Takeda's horsemen rode down the Tokugawa at the Battle of Mikatagahara and inflicted a major defeat on Ieyasu. In addition, the Hojo continued to thrive in Sagami Province until 1590, while the Uesugi continued to have a strong army under the brave Kenshin.