Numata Castle

Numata Castle (沼田城) is a castle that has a long history with the daimyo in Kantō before it fell to the hands of the Uesugi. The Uesugi's grip, however, weakened with their civil war, and the Sanada, Hōjō, Tokugawa, and Oda all sought to control this strategic chokepoint.

The games, however, mainly focus on Ina's defiance against Masayuki and Yukimura.

Role in Games
Within the Samurai Warriors series, the historical basis for the battle is exaggerated and is blown into a full scale battle. It shares the same map as Ueda Castle in the second game but uses Okehazama's map in the third game.

Numata Castle is first featured in the series as a battle that only occurs in Ina's storyline. In Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends and the second title, Ina is the leader of the castle defenders, although Ieyasu acts as commander in the first appearance. Her army is low in numbers, but she keeps the spirits high by driving the enemy generals away from the castle gates. In every version of the stage, she is given the task of defending Tadashige Suzuki to help bolster morale. Mitsunari and his army also assist Masayuki's charge in the second game, allowing Ina the chance to simultaneously end the Western Army.

The third title has Ina defend the castle alongside her husband and substitutes as the second Ueda Castle siege. She acts regretful of her callous refusal to Masayuki, but her will to defy him remains the same. She fights against Kai and Kunoichi and needs to defeat Yukimura multiple times before the Sanada advance weakens.

Yukimura's story mode offers the Sanada side of the conflict. He acts as a decoy for Masayuki to approach the castle's main gate. Hanzō, Tadakatsu, Masanobu Honda, and others act on Ina's request to bolster the castle's protection. Yukimura is given the task of breaking into the castle's main keep in order to be victorious.

In either scenario, the battle ends with a report of Mitsunari's defeat at Sekigahara. Both Tadakatsu and Ina, who are impressed by the youth's resolve, plead to their lord to spare Yukimura from being executed with other Western generals.

During Spirit of Sanada, Numata acts as a key outpost within Shinano province, giving access to both Echigo and Kantō. Numata acts as Katsuyori's last great success, where Masayuki seizes the castle from the Hōjō through causing its defending officers to defect.

When the Takeda are destroyed and the Sanada surrender to Nobunaga, Shinano is placed under the Oda's direct rule, but Nobunaga's untimely death causes chaos within the former Takeda holdings, including Shinano. Using this chaos, Ujinao Hōjō sieges the castle, but Masayuki makes use of the chaos and defeats Masushige Takigawa, the castle's guardian. Not wishing to incur the wrath of the Hōjō, Masayuki agrees to serve them to hold on to Numata.

Later, when the Tokugawa enter the Tenshō-Jingo conflict, Masayuki betrays the Hōjō to join Ieyasu. As a result, Ujimasa personally leads an army to attack Numata, now being held by Masayuki's uncle, Yoritsuna Yazawa. Thanks to Yukimura and Nobuyuki's reinforcements, the castle survives and Ujimasa is pushed back to Kantō.

The castle's ownership is once again held in debate when the Tokugawa and the Hōjō enter an alliance, and Ieyasu agrees to give the Sanada-owned Numata to Ujimasa, but also providing a larger parcel of land to the Sanada in exchange. Masayuki, however, outright rejects the agreement and forms an alliance with the Uesugi, leading to the first battle at Ueda. The Hōjō attempt to siege the castle themselves afterwards, but are repelled. Numata is later mentioned by the narration to have been attacked once again by the Hōjō in a seeming plot by Masayuki. The attack on the Toyotomi-aligned Sanada gives Hideyoshi to launch his invasion on Kantō.

After Hideyoshi's death and the split between the Sanada's vassals over supporting Mitsunari or Ieyasu, the officers that decided to support Nobuyuki and Ieyasu opted to move to Numata.

Historical Information
It once belonged to the Numata clan, but, after their defeat by Kenshin, it became Uesugi property. When Kenshin died, and a civil war erupted, the Uesugi's allies and neighbors, the Takeda and the Hōjō were split with Katsuyori Takeda supporting Kagekatsu Uesugi and the Hōjō supporting Kagetora Uesugi, who was the brother of Ujimasa Hōjō. Though Kagekatsu granted the rights of Numata to the Takeda, it was already in the hands of the Hōjō due to it having been under Kagetora's jurisdiction. As a result, Katsuyori ordered for Masayuki Sanada to siege the castle. Masayuki successfully took the castle with his uncle, Yoritsuna Yazawa. This would be the last great achievement that the Takeda would make before they were destroyed by Nobunaga Oda only two years later.

After the destruction of the Takeda, the castle fell under the hands of Oda retainer Kazumasu Takigawa, who defended the castle against the Hōjō, who were eager to exploit Nobunaga's death at Honnōji. During this time, the Sanada, who had surrendered to the Oda following Katsuyori's demise, switched sides and joined the Hōjō in expelling Takigawa the area. As the Tenshō-Jingo later saw the inclusion of the Tokugawa, the Sanada later switched sides again, turning against the Hōjō and siding with Ieyasu Tokugawa. Unexpectedly, Ieyasu formed an alliance with the Hōjō and ordered for his new Sanada vassals to relinquish the castle, and that a second, larger plot of land would be given as compensation. Masayuki flatly rejected this deal, and switched sides for a third time, forming an alliance with the Uesugi against the Tokugawa and the Hōjō. This resulted in the Hōjō sieging the castle again, but were unable to take the castle.

In 1589, Hideyoshi arbitrated the negotiations between the Sanada and the Hōjō, eventually granting the castle to the Hōjō, but giving the Sanada Nagurumi Castle, which was strategically positioned against Numata. When the Hōjō were destroyed following the Odawara campaign, Numata was returned to the Sanada.

When the Sanada family were undecided over who to support between Mitsunari or Ieyasu, it is said that Masayuki met with his sons, Nobuyuki and Nobushige to determine their clan's future. He wanted to ensure the safety of their clan in either situation, splitting his sons to join both sides simultaneously. It's argued that Nobuyuki's marriage to Komatsuhime was the deciding factor for his allegiance to the Eastern Army.

The night before the main battle at Sekigahara, Masayuki and Nobushige were traveling to Ueda Castle along the Kiryu road. Near the vicinity of Numata Castle, which was owned by Nobuyuki by this time, Masayuki decided to make a detour for it. Stating that he wished to see his grandchildren, he announced himself at the castle's front gate. Nobuyuki was absent at the time, his troops having already departed for Sekigahara. Therefore, Komatsuhime confronted her father-in-law in the castle lord's absence. Weary of a possible plot by her father-in-law, she cited Masayuki as her enemy and barred his entry.

Depending on the source, Komatsuhime could have dressed herself in armor. She shouted and glared at him from behind the gates while arming herself with a sword in one hand. Others state that she shot a warning shot from her bow as Sanada soldiers tried to step closer. Yet another interpretation was that she answered the elder whilst escorted by heavily armed castle defenders. Another tale insists that Masayuki wanted to take the castle for the Western Army, his plea for his grandchildren being an excuse to lower the defenders' guard. Komatsuhime supposedly saw through the ruse and thwarted his plot with her refusal.

Whatever the case, most stories state that the Sanada troops were impressed by her bold spirit. Masayuki was obedient to her wishes and withdrew his army from the castle gates. Komatsuhime then met with him and Nobushige in private at a nearby temple, Shōkakuji. She brought with them her children and the Sanada commander was extremely grateful.