The pride of Shibata Katsuie, who underestimated Hideyoshi

Did the pride of the chief retainer get in the way?

Shibata Katsuie, a fierce general known as “Oni Shibata,” served from the time of Oda Nobuhide but also had a past where he opposed Nobunaga in the Oda family succession issue (the conflict between Nobunaga and his younger brother Nobukatsu). Later, he gained Nobunaga’s trust by achieving military achievements in battles such as the Rokkaku Shotei subjugation battle, Asai-Asakura attack, and Echizen Ikko-ikki sweep battle. Both his ability as an individual military commander and his ability as a corps commander were high.

In 1575 (Tensho 3), Katsuie was given Echizen Province and served as the “commander-in-chief of the Hokuriku region” with powerful military commanders such as Sassa Narimasa, Maeda Toshiie, and Fuwa Mitsuharu as his subordinates. He invaded Kaga, Noto, and Etchu, but in June 1582 (Tensho 10), just as he began to pressure the Uesugi forces after Kenshin’s death, the Honnoji Incident occurred. Katsuie, who was confronting Uesugi Kagekatsu, could not make it to Nobunaga’s funeral battle (Akechi Avenge) and had his greatest achievement of victory at Yamazaki stolen by Hashiba Hideyoshi (first failure). Still, Katsuie showed his pride by controlling the area around Nagahama.

However, in October of this year, he participated in the “Kiyosu Conference” (attended by Niwa Nagahide / Ikeida Tsuneoki / Hideyoshi / Katsuie) to discuss the future Oda regime as the head of the Oda family but ended without being able to take leadership. Against Hideyoshi who led the conference, Katsuie attended with a sense of inferiority. For the successor to the Oda family, Katsuie pushed for Nobunaga’s third son Nobutaka while Hideyoshi argued for Sanposhi (later Hidenobu), Nobunaga’s grandson (Nobutada / eldest son) based on heritage. Niwa and Ikeida who recognized Hideyoshi’s achievements turned to support Sanposhi.

Having confidence in his position as the chief retainer and underestimating Hideyoshi, as well as failing to make arrangements with Danbe and others (the second failure), led to him falling behind Hideyoshi. Furthermore, Katsuie’s arrogant personality also caused resentment. The Kiyosu Conference, including the allocation of territories, ended in an unsatisfactory outcome. Afterward, both Katsuie and Hideyoshi rushed headlong into a decisive battle.

In the 11th year of the Tensho era, in March, the Shibata army of 28,000 troops, after waiting for the snow to melt, faced off against Hideyoshi’s army of 25,000. Sakuma Morimasa, Katsuie’s nephew and the vanguard, attempted to seize control of Shizugatake while Hideyoshi was attacking Gifu Castle. However, Hideyoshi successfully executed a “counterattack from Gifu”. The surprised Shibata army retreated, but they were attacked by Hideyoshi’s forces. This became known as the Battle of Shizugatake, also referred to as the “Seven Spears of Shizugatake.”

At that time, Maeda Toshiie and Kanamori Nagachika, who were positioned behind Morimasa’s forces, withdrew due to a secret agreement with Hideyoshi, causing the Shibata army to collapse. Afterwards, Katsuie returned to Kitanojo Castle and took refuge but eventually committed suicide. Katsuie’s failures, including the Kiyosu Conference, were a result of his lack of information and his lack of effort to win over his colleagues and subordinates due to his self-esteem.

Supervised and Written by Emiya Takayuki

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