The Defense of Echizen (越前防衛戦 rōmaji: Echizen Bōeisen) is a battle between the Asakura clan and the Awaya clan. The battle is also associated with the decade long siege of Kuniyoshi Castle (国吉城籠城記). The Awaya clan was a clan under the service of the Wakasa Takeda clan, but they rose up in rebellion after a succession war within the Wakasa Takeda went badly for the Awaya clan. Yoshinori Takeda, the new head of the Wakasa Takeda, asked Yoshikage Asakura for help suppressing the Awaya. Yoshikage besieged the Awaya at Kuniyoshi Castle every year for five years, able to defeat the Awaya and capture most of Echizen, but not drive them out of their final, mountainous castle.
Role in Games
Echizen serves as one of the battlegrounds unique to Magoichi Saika's story mode in Samurai Warriors. Magoichi fights the Oda forces to safeguard his Honganji Ikko Ikki allies. However, he also wants to avoid too much attention in order for a chance to shoot Nobunaga and avenge the many peasants the warlord had slain. His first mission is to clear out the Oda forces, led by Katsuie Shibata and Nobumori Sakuma. They are attacking the Honganji's peasants outside the fortifications and Magoichi defeats them to clear a path of retreat.
As further forces of the Oda arrive, led by Toshiie Maeda and Narimasa Sassa, Magoichi looks for an opportunity to snipe Mitsuhide Akechi to confuse the Oda forces and buy the peasants more time. However, if Mitsuhide or Hanzō Hattori spot Magoichi, they will warn Nobunaga and he will avoid the battle. After ambushing Mitsuhide, Magoichi tries to rescue the remaining peasant leaders, who need rescuing for the many Oda officers hunting them down. Once all of the Honganji peasants have fled and if Magoichi has evaded being spotted, Magoichi will take his shot on Nobunaga and flee through the fort he secured at the beginning of the fight.
In Samurai Warriors 5, the battle begins with Mitsuhide stumbling upon Yoshikage Asakura's forces in pitched combat with the Awaya clan. Mitsuhide and Toshimitsu Saitō join in the conflict, fighting to protect peasants from Awaya officers like Yoshitada Ōshio. When the Awaya launch a fire attack, however, Mitsuhide hesitates, still feeling the emotional sting of watching many of his clan members die in a fire. When several soldiers of the Awaya move to attack the distraught Mitsuhide, all hope appears lost until the sudden arrival of Nagamasa Azai. The young warlord swiftly rescues Mitsuhide and helps put out the flames engulfing the surrounding defenses.
Mitsuhide and Nagamasa decide to work together and rescue Yoshikage, who has engaged the Awaya forces outside of his castle to protect his officers within. Both Katsuhisa Awaya and Kojirō Awaya need to be defeated to rescue Yoshikage. With the leader of the Awaya driven off, their reinforcements from the Miyoshi arrive, led by Hisahide Matsunaga. Hisahide isn't bothered by learning the Awaya are already on the ropes, as he hopes they've bloodied the Asakura enough to allow him to finish them off. To this end, he orders an all out assault on Ichijōdani. The local peasants, having been saved from the Awaya, now try to stand up to the Miyoshi and will also require rescuing once more, as they are no match for the soldiers of the Miyoshi. Hisahide himself must be defeated for the battle to be won. After the battle, Mitsuhide requests to join Yoshikage, and the Asakura lord accepts his offer.
Historical Information
The conflict begins with the Wakasa Takeda clan asking the Asakura clan for help in ending the rebellion of several retainer families in 1561. Before this battle, Asakura Yoshikage had already successfully sent Asakura Kagenori into Wakasa and defeated the rebellious Izumi clan at Takahama Castle. Awaya Katsuhisa did not like seeing his lord rely on an outside power and also entered into rebellion against Wakasa Takeda. Takeda Yoshinori, the Wakasa Takeda clan leader, once again turned to Yoshikage to help him subdue another rebellion. Katsuhisa took up positions at Kuniyoshi Castle, on the mountain range between Echizen and Wakasa. He controlled the major areas around the smaller castle, threatening Yoshikage’s control over Echizen.
As the conflict drew near the Asakura clan clearly held the numerical advantage, which Awaya Katsuhisa seemed to consider when he said, "I would never have thought of joining Yoshikage even if I were to be an enemy of Takeda" (A quote taken from Kuniyoshi Kagojo-ki or Record of Siege of Kuniyoshi). The opening conflict saw Asakura Kagenori leading a thousand horsemen against Katsuhisa's forces around the castle. As the Asakura forces climbed the Seki-toge pass, they found themselves ambushed by 200 archers and riflemen, which pushed them back down the pass. The following day, the Asakura forces climbed right up to Kuniyoshi Castle's gate, where they began shouting challenges, only to be met by a rush of rocks, logs, and other impromptu siege defense weapons upon their heads, causing extra damage due to the steep slope the tossed objects crashed down.
This stanch defense of the Awaya forced the Asakura to settle in for a siege for the rest of the year, returning the following to try and take the castle once more. This time the Asakura forces attempted to attack the castle from the four paths that led to the fortification all at once. However, the Awaya were once again able to drive them back, this time due to the narrow nature of the passes mitigating their lower numbers. Once more the Asakura had to resort to constructing fortifications, such as Nakayamanotsuke Castle, to pressure Kuniyoshi Castle's fields and supplies. Other Awaya holdings in Echizen did not fare as well as the mountainous border castle, and they fell to the Asakura, including Ichijōdani Castle.
By 1565 the Awaya were feeling the pressure of losing important harvests each year to Asakura raids. Katsuhisa decided to risk a daring night raid on Nakayamanotsuke Castle, attacking from three sides all at once with fire. While the Asakura forces raced to get water to quell the flames, Katsuhisa and his men made off with large stores of grain the Asakura had stockpiled at the fortress. In response, the Asakura worked to cut the Awaya off, building more fortifications and ensuring no easy way to strike into Echizen. A sort of stalemate settled in after this event, with neither the Asakura nor Awaya gaining any major victories for the next half decade. The standoff was only defeated when the Oda invaded Echizen themselves and destroyed the Asakura, with the Awaya gladly allying with Nobunaga.
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