Fushimi Castle

Fushimi Castle (伏見城) was a fortress located near Kyoto. It is most famous for being the last stand of Mototada Torii, who sacrificed his life and held out for 10 days against Mitsunari Ishida's western army. This delay of the Western army allowed Ieyasu Tokugawa to gather his forces and crush them at Sekigahara. Some historians believe that Mototada's valorous actions were the deciding factor that ultimately let the eastern army victory in their campaign.

Role in games
Fushimi Castle appears in Samurai Warriors 3 in Ginchiyo Tachibana and Yoshihiro Shimazu's stories. The western army leads an offensive against the undermanned castle, initially the Shimazu want to side with the Eastern Army but are rebuked by Mototada, leading Yoshihiro and his men to side with the Western Army out of spite. Once the castle is occupied, the Eastern Army led by Tadakatsu Honda and Kanbei Kuroda appear to attack the western army from behind. Defeating generals such as Masanori Fukushima and protecting Hideaki Kobayakawa is imperative into allowing the western army to counterattack and make progress. As the eastern army retreat as Kanbei solemnly declares that Sekigahara has already been decided.

In Samurai Warriors Chronicles, the siege of Fushimi Castle can be fought on both the Western and Eastern sides. On the western side, Mitsunari leads the effort to break Fushimi castle while Ieyasu's main forces were distracted. They first capture the outlying garrisons and then resort to siege machines and defeating the defending officers. If every objective is achieved, the castle will be ablaze and nearly defeated when reinforcements arrive. These new eastern soldiers will attempt to rush the western base in a pincer attack, led by Tadakatsu. On the Eastern side, Takakatsu, Masanori, and Hanzo race to break through the western forces besieging Fushimi and rescue Mototada. If they terry too long, Fushimi will fall and the battle lost.

Historical Information
With the death of both Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Maeda Toshiie, Ieyasu decided to finally respond to the goading of the Uesugi, intending to crush them in the name of suppressing rebellion to the Toyotomi. At the same time, Toyotomi loyalists at Osaka, including men like Maeda Gen'i, issued a document calling for Ieyasu's resignation for treachery. They acted under the belief that Ieyasu had fallen for the ruse that the Uesugi had planned, drawing the Tokugawa away from the captial to give them time to gather forces and catch Ieyasu in a pincer.

However, Ieyasu saw through the plan and left Torii Mototada behind in command of Fushimi Castle to keep pressure on the burgeoning western army. Those who stayed behind understood the likelihood of not receiving aid in time, but chose to stay to help their lord win the coming conflict. Legendarily, it is believed the Shimazu and Kobayakawa both approached the castle before other western forces, offing to join in the defense Mototada was prepared to give. However, this legend claims Mototada saw through their ruse as an attempt to infiltrate the castle for Mitsunari.

During the battle itself, the western army kept up a constant barrage of gunfire on the castle, trying to pressure its 2,300 defenders into surrendering. The first night the former residents of Maeda Gen'i and Nagasuka Masaie caught fire, but the defenders were able to put them out before the flames did too much damage. The western army filled in Fushimi's moat and built siege hills to increase their rain of fire upon the eastern defenders, but the men of Tokugawa refused to yield. It took ten days for the castle to fall, Torii Mototada falling at the last to Suzuki Shigetomo. Other noted defenders like Matsudaira Ietada, Naito Ienaga, and Kanbayashi Chikuan fell in the final assault as well, only 10 men being taken alive.

Several historians believe the long delay taken in trying to secure Fushimi castle gave Ieyasu the time he needed to return and assemble his army to face the western army under the control of Mitsunari.