10 Amazing Rarely Mentioned Battles Of Japan's Civil War Era

Leading up to the climactic battle at Sekigahara – where Tokugawa dominance over the entire realm would begin – was the relatively minor battle to take a strategically important castle known as Otsu. In the grand scheme of things, Otsu was a blip on the radar defended by a minor warlord, Kyogoku Takatsugu.

Ishida Mitsunari, the de facto power behind the anti-Tokugawa 'Western Army', sent a force of over 15,000 troops to capture Otsu. They were led by a coalition of Mori, Tachibana, Tsukushi, and Mashita soldiers. Kyogoku had only 3,000 soldiers to defend with.

With the Mashita navy blockading the castle, the Mori and Tachibana forces found themselves unable to take the strongly fortified position when the siege began on 13 October. After a week the defenders had managed to sally forth and captured a bunch of flags belonging to the Mori clan. On 20 October, they raised these flags from within the castle and danced them about to taunt their besiegers. This caused an attack with renewed vigor and the following day the castle had been breached and Kyogoku surrendered, using his political influence to keep himself alive – his sister-in-law was the enemy leader's wife, after all.

In the end, the battle of Sekigahara occurred the same day that Kyogoku surrendered, depriving the 'Western Army' of 15,000 badly needed soldiers and contributing to their loss. For his stalwart defense, Tokugawa Ieyasu increased Kyogoku's land holdings significantly.