Siege of Yoshida

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Yoshida
partof=the Sengoku period


caption=
date=1575
place=Yoshida castle, Mikawa province
casus=
territory=
result=
combatant1=Takeda clan
combatant2=Tokugawa clan
commander1=Takeda Katsuyori
commander2=Sakai Tadatsugu
strength1=Unknown
strength2=6000
casualties1=
casualties2=
casualties3=
notes=The 1575 siege of Yoshida was undertaken by Takeda Katsuyori against the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu. This would be one of many battles fought by the Tokugawa and Takeda samurai clans during Japan's Sengoku period (1467-1603).

The siege was part of Takeda Katsuyori's raid through Mikawa province; Yoshida castle lay on the site of what is now part of Toyohashi city in Aichi Prefecture. Sakai Tadatsugu commanded the castle's garrison in service of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though the garrison normally numbered 1,000 men, Ieyasu anticipated the attack and reinforced Sakai's forces with 5,000 more warriors.

The battle consisted almost exclusively of spear combat outside the castle walls. Takeda Katsuyori soon became frustrated, and realized that Sakai had no intention of sending the remainder of his force out of the gates for a full-blown battle. Takeda withdrew and turned towards Nagashino, which would prove to be the decisive end for him and his clan.

References

*cite book|last=Turnbull|first=Stephen|authorlink=Stephen Turnbull (historian)|title=The Samurai Sourcebook|year=1998|publisher=Arms and Armour Press|location=London|id=ISBN 1-85409-371-1