Battle of Shizugatake

Natsu no yo no / yumeji hakanaki / ato no na wo / kumoi ni ageyo / yama hototogisu "Brief as the path of dreams on a summer night: lift my name, after I am gone, above the clouds, O mountain cuckoo." (Shibata Katsuie's death poem at Kitanoshō castle, three days after Shizugatake; tradition) Can he get back out of the fort he took? At dawn on the 20th day of the 4th month of Tenshō 11, Sakuma Morimasa has circled in the night along the ridge west of Lake Yogo and is now at the walls of Nakagawa Kiyohide's fort on Ōiwayama, east of the lake. Hashiba Hideyoshi has strung a chain of forts across the hills east and south of Lake Yogo, but he himself is at Ōgaki in Mino and not here. Take one fort and the Hashiba line has a hole in it. But beyond the hole lies the road by which Hideyoshi will come back. [How the Shibata win] You may activate 11 units per turn. The Hashiba may activate 9, rising by 7 on turn 8 (20:00) when Hideyoshi's main body arrives. The Hashiba begin holding Ōiwayama (15 points), Iwasakiyama (10), Shizugatake (25), Kinomoto (20) and Tagamiyama (10); the Shibata hold Katsuie's headquarters at Kitsunezuka (25), Morimasa's camp on Gyōichiyama (15) and Yanagase, the way back to Echizen (15). The victory line is +2: if the score margin seen from the Shibata side exceeds +2, you have done better than history. Katsuie's main body at Kitsunezuka (Shibata Katsuie and eleven others) are standby units, held in check by Hori Hidemasa on Higashinoyama. They rouse if the Hashiba combat strength within 4 hexes falls below 8, or if they are attacked. Maeda Toshiie, Toshinaga, Kanamori Nagachika and Fuwa Katsumitsu on Shigeyama (five units) are also standby units, and these never rouse of their own accord. [How the Hashiba win] Hold the forts and wait for Hideyoshi. On turn 4 (noon), Niwa Nagahide (Niwa Nagahide) crosses Lake Biwa by boat and lands on the shore west of Shizugatake (the west edge). On turns 8 to 10, the 26 units of Hideyoshi's main body enter from the south edge on the Kinomoto road. Turns 8 to 10 are night, with no combat. From turn 11 (2:00 on the 21st), go and take back the forts you lost. [Commanders] Shibata: Shibata Katsuie; Menju Katsuteru, who took up Katsuie's standard and died in his place; Sakuma Morimasa, "Demon Genba", and his brother Yasumasa; Shibata Katsumasa, another brother, who held the rearguard; Haigō Ieyoshi; Hara Nagayori; Yamaji Masakuni, who went over to the Shibata from Dōkiyama and guided the raid; Maeda Toshiie and Toshinaga; Kanamori Nagachika; Fuwa Katsumitsu. Hashiba: Hashiba Hideyoshi; his brother Hidenaga; Nakagawa Kiyohide on Ōiwayama; Takayama Ukon on Iwasakiyama; Kuwayama Shigeharu on Shizugatake; Niwa Nagahide; Hori Hidemasa on Higashinoyama; Kimura Shigekore and Kinoshita Kazumoto on Dōkiyama; Fukushima Masanori, Katō Kiyomasa, Katō Yoshiaki, Wakisaka Yasuharu, Hirano Nagayasu, Katagiri Katsumoto and Kasuya Takenori, later called the Seven Spears; Ishida Mitsunari and Ōtani Yoshitsugu. [Decisions to try on this board] - (Shibata) Once Ōiwayama falls, sit in it, or turn back at once to Gyōichiyama? Hideyoshi comes on turn 8. - (Shibata) How long must Katsumasa's rearguard west of Lake Yogo hold? - (Hashiba) Add Niwa to the defence of Shizugatake, or send him to cut Morimasa's way back? - (Hashiba) Deploy from Kinomoto in the night, and strike from where at dawn? [Outcome] Nakagawa Kiyohide was killed on Ōiwayama, and Takayama Ukon abandoned Iwasakiyama and fell back. Katsuie ordered Morimasa again and again to withdraw, but Morimasa stayed on Ōiwayama. Hideyoshi heard the news at Ōgaki and raced the 52 kilometres back to Kinomoto in five hours. Before dawn on the 21st, Morimasa began to withdraw, and Hideyoshi's guards broke the rearguard of Shibata Katsumasa below Shizugatake. On Shigeyama, Maeda Toshiie struck camp and withdrew without fighting, leaving Morimasa's back open. Katsuie's headquarters at Kitsunezuka also gave way; Menju Katsuteru took Katsuie's standard and was killed in his stead. Katsuie escaped to Kitanoshō, and three days later he set fire to the castle and took his own life together with Oichi. Morimasa was captured and later beheaded in Kyoto. The young guardsmen who won renown that day came to be called the Seven Spears of Shizugatake. The last war over the succession to the Oda house was over, and the course of the realm passed into Hideyoshi's hands. In the night, they went round west of the lake The fort fell, and the Demon sat down in it Fifty-two kilometres, covered in five hours The camp on Shigeyama emptied without a fight The mountain cuckoo sang along the path of a summer night's dream and it was the winners who lifted a name above the clouds The month-long standoff before the 20th, and Hideyoshi's movements at Ōgaki, are left off the board; his main body enters at the end of the dash back. Unit suffixes (Band I, Ashigaru II and so on) are names given by the designer, not unit names from the sources. 1 hex = 400 m, 1 turn = 2 hours, 1 CS ≈ 300 men. T1 = 4th month 20th day, 6:00; T4 = 12:00 (Niwa lands); T8 = 20:00 (Hideyoshi arrives, night); T11 = 21st day, 2:00 (the dawn attack); T15 = 10:00.