Battle of Kōnodai (1564)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Kōnodai
partof=the Sengoku period


caption=
date=1564
place=Kōnodai, Shimosa province
result=Hōjō victory
combatant1=Hōjō clan
combatant2=forces of Satomi Yoshihiro
commander1=Hōjō Ujiyasu
commander2=Satomi Yoshihiro
strength1=20,000
strength2=8,000
casualties1=
casualties2=

In the second battle of Kōnodai, fought in 1564, Hōjō Ujiyasu led his men to victory against Satomi Yoshihiro. Interestingly, both Ujiyasu and Yoshihiro were the sons of the commanders at the first battle of Kōnodai, in which Hōjō Ujitsuna defeated the combined forces of Satomi Yoshitaka and Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Outnumbered 20,000 to 8,000, Satomi fell back when the Hōjō vanguard advanced. But this was a feint, and an attempt to draw his enemy into a trap. However, Hōjō Ujiyasu expected a trap of this sort, and had sent his son Ujimasa with a small force to attack the Satomi rear, surrounding him. In the ensuing battle, Satomi saw his son Chokuro killed by Matsuda Yasuyoshi, a Hōjō retainer; after the battle, feeling remorse at killing such a young boy, Matsuda entered the clergy.

Hōjō Ujiyasu celebrated his victory with a poem::: "Conquering the foe":: "As I wished at Kōnodai":: "Now do I behold":: "The evening sunshine of Katsuura"

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
*Turnbull, Stephen (2002). 'War in Japan: 1467-1615'. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.