英語訳
[Header] Toyohashi City Historical Discussions - (The Battle of Yoshida) - 76
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...this is clearly proven by the commendation documents that remain. Consequently, the facts from various sources are confused and there are many records that mix up the chronology, but in any case there were certainly battles in both instances. Therefore, some records state that Ujizane's establishment of fortresses at Hachiman Sawaki and Ieyasu's rear support at Ichinomiya were also events of this year. In the previous chapter, I discussed these matters based on the Matsudaira-ki and the Makino family documents, but since the Chōya Kyūbun Hōkō cites the Kanpon Mikawa-ki and other sources to support this theory, I mention it here for reference.
**The Battle of Goyu** Thus, in the third month of the same Eiroku 7, the Tokugawa forces dispatched troops to attack Goyu. The Imagawa forces took positions on the eastern heights of Goyu and fought against them, but at this time the Tokugawa forces were at a disadvantage, so Ieyasu personally took the field to support his allies.
**The Battle of Hachiman** The Imagawa forces then withdrew their troops to Hachiman, but Ieyasu advanced and attacked them. At that time, Itakura Danjo Shigesada was stationed at the Hachiman fortress, and he broke out of the castle to Akasaka and fought fiercely. Many soldiers of the Tokugawa vanguard under Sakai Saemon-no-jō Tadatsugu were killed in action, and they were temporarily defeated. However, at this moment, Watanabe Hanzō Moritsuna joined the Tokugawa side, served as rear guard, counterattacked, and fought bravely. The allies gained strength from this and finally killed Shigesada and captured the fortresses of Hachiman and Sawaki.
At this time, a resident monk of Saimyō-ji temple in Hachiman village named Kaiō cooked rice gruel to comfort the Tokugawa generals and retainers, and during the victory celebration, Ieyasu lodged at this temple. There is a story that after Ieyasu pacified the realm, he granted this temple a vermillion seal for twenty koku of rice.
Thereupon, Ieyasu was finally determined to capture Yoshida Castle, the enemy's stronghold. He first built fortresses facing Kosakai, Ushikubo, and Yoshida, then again dispatched troops from Okazaki and clashed with Yoshida castle troops at Kosakai. At this time, Watanabe Hanzō Moritsuna, Hachiya Hannosuke Sadatsugu and others first crossed spears, and Hiraiwa Shichinosuke Chikayoshi and others also fought hard, so the castle troops finally gained no advantage and withdrew.
Of course, these matters are recorded in detail in works such as the Mikawa Monogatari and Matsudaira-ki, so here I wish to limit myself to mentioning only the main points. From this point, Ieyasu established fortresses at Kasazuka and Kiken-ji to gradually close in on Yoshida Castle, and this is recorded in various documents. However, this Kasa-
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[Header] San'yō Newspaper No. 3,788 Supplement (Published June 20, Meiji 44)
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**Kasazuka** -zuka is located within Kosakai, but Kiken-ji is quite questionable. There is a temple called Kiken-ji in present-day Ōaza Shinzeni within Toyohashi city.
**Kiken-ji** This temple was traditionally a branch temple of Kenchō-ji in Kamakura and is said to have been quite grand in scale. There is a theory that when Ieyasu built his fortress, it was within these temple grounds, but this is not very reliable. Also, judging from the topography, I think there is room for doubt.
In any case, under these circumstances, Yoshida Castle became the target of Tokugawa forces' attacks. At that time, the Toda of Nirengi were in the time of Shigesada, son of Yoshimitsu. Shigesada was called Tonomo-no-suke and was sometimes written as Shōsha or Mitsunari.
**The Death Year of Toda Yoshimitsu** The death year of his father Yoshimitsu is unclear, and it is generally believed that he died in Eiroku 3, but there is evidence that he was certainly still alive in this year (Eiroku 7). Therefore, the Toda Kakei Kōsei Yoroku argues that he died in Eiroku 11. Consequently, I believe he was still alive at this time. The relationship between the Toda and Tokugawa clans was as I have repeatedly mentioned in previous chapters, so until now they had been reluctantly subordinated to the Imagawa, but they probably hoped to establish relations with the Tokugawa side when the opportunity arose.
However, one difficulty was that Shigesada's mother was being held as a hostage in Yoshida Castle. Generally, hostages are usually taken from subordinates, so taking one's mother as a hostage is extremely rare. This must have been done during Yoshimitsu's time.
**Toda Shigesada Rescues His Hostage** For Shigesada, recovering her was the immediate matter to be addressed. Therefore, Shigesada worked to get close to Shigezane, sought his favor, and showed that he harbored no disloyalty. On the twelfth day of the fifth month of this year (Eiroku 7), Shigesada visited Shigezane at Yoshida Castle as usual and played backgammon together. During this time, he had his retainers secretly help his mother escape and brought her back to Nirengi.
This has been a famous story since ancient times, so there are various legends, but the accounts in the Matsudaira-ki and Mikawa Monogatari are quite similar. At this time, Shigesada had his retainers carry a long wooden chest containing elegant implements, sweets, and such, and when entering the gate, he carefully informed the guards. Therefore, when leaving, they let it pass without suspicion. However, since Shigesada had planned this beforehand, his retainers met them on the way and safely...
[Header] Toyohashi City Historical Discussions - (The Battle of Yoshida) - 77