 | |
| Battle of Anegawa | |
| Date | August, 1570 |
| Location | Ane River, near Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province |
| Result | Oda - Tokugawa victorious |
| Oda - Tokugawa | Azai - Asakura |
| Oda Nobunaga Tokugawa Ieyasu Inaba Ittetsu |
Azai Nagamasa Asakura Yoshikage |
| Honda Tadakatsu Hattori Hanzō Mori Yoshinari Maeda Toshiie Toyotomi Hideyoshi Sakikabara Yasumasa Takigawa Kazumasu |
Asakura Kagetake Atsuji Sadayuki Isono Kazumasu Miyabe Keijun |
The battle of Anegawa began in August 9th, 1570. It was fought between the allied armies of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu and the allied armies of Azai Nagamasa and Asakura Yoshikage.
Before the battle[]
Earlier in 1570, Oda Nobunaga, the master of Kyoto since 1568, had felt compelled to march against Asakura Yoshikage of Echizen province. The Azai, long-time allies of the Asakura broke their alliance with the Oda and threatened the Oda Clan from the rear. A skillful retreat minimized the immediate danger brought about by this surprise development and soon Nobunaga was ready to punish Nagamasa for this treachery.[1]
Oda's troops had advanced against the Azai's Odani castle and faced the allied forces across Anegawa, while some of his force laid siege to Yokoyama castle. The battle was effectively a huge hand to hand melee in the middle of the shallow river, fought in blazing sun.[2] Across this river, the Allied Forces 29,000 of the Oda Nobunaga and the Tokugawa Ieyasu forces stood face to face against on the south side, and the Allied Forces 18,000 of the Azai Nagamasa and the Asakura Yoshikage forces stood face to face against on the north side.[3]
Battle[]
At first it was almost as thought there were two separate battles being fought: the Tokugawa army against the Asakura army and the Oda army against the Azai army. The Tokugawa made better progress, but a samurai of the Azai, Endo Kizaemon had resolved to take Nobunaga's head, and was cut down by a samurai of the Oda, Takenaka Kyusaku, when he was very close to his target. Seeing the Oda's army in dire straits, the Tokugawa army, who were now relieved of the pressure from the Asakura, attacked the Azai's right flank. Inaba Ittetsu, who up until then had held in reserve, fell on to there left. Even the besiegers of Yokoyama castle left their lines to join in.[4]
Aftermath[]
The result was a victory to the Oda - Tokugawa forces.[5] Some 1,000 Azai and Asakura men had been killed, as well as a number of commanders. At the same time, Odani was for the time being saved, as Nobunaga withdrew his weary army from the area soon afterwards. A few months later the Azai and Asakura retaliated by defeating an Oda army near Otsu, an action that saw the deaths of Mori Yoshinari and Oda Nobuharu.[6]