Siege of Kawagoe Castle

Honmaru of Kawagoe Castle

Date	October 1545 - May 19, 1546
Location	Kawagoe Castle, Musashi Province (today, Saitama Prefecture)
Result	Hōjō victory; siege fails

Belligerents

Late Hōjō clan

Commanders and leaders

Hōjō Tsunashige (garrison commander)
Hōjō Ujiyasu (relief commander)

Uesugi Norimasa
Uesugi Tomosada
Ashikaga Haruuji (Kantō Kubō)
and others

Strength

garrison : 3,000
relief : 8,000

85,000 in total

Casualties and losses

Unclear, presumably minimal

13,000–16,000 killed or wounded

Campaigns of the Hōjō clan

Arai Edo Nashinokidaira Kamakura Ozawahara Musashi-Matsuyama 1537 Kawagoe (1537) Kōnodai 1538 Kawagoe (1545) Suruga-Sagami Odawara 1561 Musashi-Matsuyama 1563 Kōnodai 1564 Hachigata 1568 Odawara 1569 Mimasetoge Kanbara Nirayama Fukazawa Omosu Kanagawa Hachigata 1590 Odawara 1590 Shimoda Oshi

The 1545–1546 Siege of Kawagoe Castle (河越城の戦い, Kawagoe-jyō no tatakai) was part of a failed attempt by the Uesugi clan to regain Kawagoe Castle from the Late Hōjō clan in the Sengoku period of Japan. Uesugi Tomosada of the Ogigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan was joined by his more powerful relative Uesugi Norimasa, by Ashikaga Haruuji,^[1] the Kantō kubō in Koga, and by a host of anti-Hōjō daimyō from the Kantō region.

Despite an overwhelming attacking force, numbering around 85,000, the 3,000 men in Kawagoe Castle's garrison, led by Hōjō Tsunanari, held off the siege until the relief force arrived. That relief force, numbering only 8,000, was led by Tsunanari's brother, Hōjō Ujiyasu, and a single warrior was sent to sneak past the Uesugi siege lines to inform the garrison of the relief's arrival. Though still strongly outnumbered, ninja spies informed the Hōjō forces that the attackers, Ashikaga Haruuji in particular, had relaxed their vigilance due to their overconfidence in victory.

The Hōjō tried a risky tactic, coordinating a night attack between the garrison and the relieving force. Going against battlefield custom, the samurai were ordered to leave behind any heavy armor, which would slow them down and perhaps reveal their position, and to not bother taking the heads of their defeated enemies. This would deny the warriors much honor, as their triumphs would not be known or recorded, but the intense loyalty of the Hōjō samurai caused them to follow these orders.

The tactic succeeded, and the Hōjō foiled the siege. This defeat for the Uesugi would lead to the near-extinction of the family.

References

↑ Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. Cassell & Co. p. 211. ISBN 1854095234.

Siege of Kawagoe Castle

References

Further reading