WHO WANTS A HISTORY LESSON

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1534 - 1559

Born the first daughter, second child of Oda Nobuhide. At the time of her birth, not only was her father engaged with the samurai of Mikawa and Mino, but had enemies on the homefront as well, as the Oda clan were divided in two and vying for control of Owari's eight districts. Following the conflict between the Oda, the Matsudaira and Imagawa clan, a party accompanying the Matsudaira's six year old heir was intercepted by Oda loyalists, allowing Nobuhide to capture him as a hostage. Although he threatened to harm the boy unless Okazaki was given up in exchange for his life, his father refused and it was revealed to be a bluff, leaving the child, Takechiyo, unharmed (who grew up to be Tokugawa Ieyasu).

The Oda and Imagawa clan clashed later in 1548, with the Imagawa victorious, and no more than a year later Nobuhide perished. Imagawa capitalized on the death of his enemy and immediately laid siege against Anjo castle to take Nobuhiro hostage - Nobunaga then received word of her elder brother's predicament, and she could either return the young Takechiyo or have her elder brother forced to commit suicide. She ended up returning the child, sparing her brother's life.

When she was younger, Nobunaga was said to be a rude, brash woman whose behaviour borderlined on the disgraceful. It's said that she even acted out during her own father's funeral showing him very little respect. It was only through the actions of her retainer Hirate Kiyohide did she mend her ways; tasked with helping her rule as the head of her clan, he wrote her a letter urging her to become a better person and mend her ways, before committing Kanshi, remonstration through suicide. His death greatly effected her, and not only did she resolve to become a better person but built the Seisyu-ji in Owari to honor him.

By 1551, Nobunaga had become the head of her clan, and by 1558 had managed to mostly unify her clan, save for some treacherous acts. In 1556 her elder brother Nobuhiro sought to plot against Nobunaga with the new lord of Mino, but once she discovered this she simply pardoned him for it. The following year, her younger brother Nobuyuki conspired with Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Michikatsu and, if the legend is true, Nobunaga's own mother. Nobunaga learned of the treason and had Nobuyuki killed to ward off any of her remaining family from getting any bright ideas about treason against her.

1560

The Imagawa once again found themselves the enemy of the Oda, during their advance along the Tokaido coast to occupy Kyoto. With a number of 25,000 strong, the head of the Imagawa, Yoshimoto, went to conquer Kyoto while leaving his son to run things in his absence. With the Mikawa Samurai besieging the fort of Marune, the rest of the Imagawa host advanced on Washizu Castle, in Owari. The commanding officers of each fort could only send word to their lord Nobunaga that they were to fall, as a warning that the Imagawa were to come. While her retainers were unsure of how to deal with this threat, Nobunaga decided to take the most obvious solution to their problem; attack the advancing forces, rather than hold up and adopt more defensive tactics. They were out the very next morning, advancing on the Imagawa.

When they arrived at a fort near the Imagawa's camp in Dengakuhazama gorge, scouts reported that they were celebrating their victory, drinking and resting as Yoshimoto took in the sight of their conquered enemies at both Marune and Washizu. Deciding to play it smart, Nobunaga had her men set up flags on a hill nearby to give the appearance of their camp being there, when in reality she had taken her men elsewhere to sneak up on her unsuspecting enemies. Her victory there was owed to a bit of good luck, as a thunderstorm broke out and cause a torrential downpour of rain, allowing the Oda forces to sneak in even closer. The moment the rain broke out, the Oda forces launched a surprise attack, and it was so effective that Yoshimoto assumed a fight had broken out amongst his own men, noticing only as soon as the Oda Spearmen took his head that he had been duped.

It was a resounding success, removing the threat of the Imagawa (for now) and earning her national fame for her victory.

1561 - 1570

Come 1561, and Saito Yoshitatsu - who had resisted the Oda for some time - passes away, replaced by his son in leading the Saito. Taking advantage of his heir's weak character and poor reputation, Nobunaga bribes several of the more important Saito generals. The defenses of Mino were severely weakened, allowing the Oda to take Inabayama - the Saito's key headquarters - by 1567. Nobunaga moved her main headquarters there the following year, renaming it to Gifu castle; the name was taken from the castle of from which Wu Wang, ruler of the Chou, attempted to unify China in the 12th Century. The Emperor sent Nobunaga a congratulatory letter following this move, and from that point she took on the motto Tenka Fubu; a nation under one sword. The only opposition to this move came from the Asai clan, who believed Mino to partially belonged to them - Nobunaga quickly arranged peace and organized an alliance with the Asai by marrying off her sister, Oichi, to Nagamasa of the Asai clan.

Nobunaga's ambition was further stimulated by the arrival of Ashikaga Yoshiaki in 1567 to Gifu, seeking Nobunaga's help. Brother to the late Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, he abandoned the priesthood in fear of his own life, as the clans who had seen fit to assassinate Yoshiteru - the Miyoshi and Matsunaga - named the 2 year old Ashikaga Yoshihide as the shogun's successor, essentially claiming Kyoto for themselves. He began to search for an army that could help him put Kyoto back in the hands of the Ashikaga, and approached the Takeda of Wakasa, the Uesugi of Echigo, and the Asakura of Echizen along the way, even believing the Asakura to be the answer, but ultimately settling on Nobunaga. She jumped at the chance, as she had made a similar offer to him in 1565, but he had been hesitant to accept - compared to the likes of the Uesagi and Asakura, she was still fairly new and didn't hold quite as great a reputation.

In 1568, Nobunaga's forces advanced and swept aside any and all resistance; the head of the Matsunaga clan promptly surrendered, while the Miyoshi simply withdrew to Settu, unable to contend with Nobunaga's forces. During the ninth month of their campaign they entered Kyoto, and then within three weeks Yoshiaki had been placed as the fifteenth Ashikaga shogun, with the Emperor's approval. Although their alliance had been beneficial, Nobunaga soured her relationship with him by refusing the position of deputy shogun, even when the Emperor himself requested she take it. She seemed to have no interest in titles, even going so far as to refuse the title of Shogun itself, in time. Despite this, knowing that Yoshiaki had only come so far with Nobunaga's help, she was seen as the real ruler of Kyoto from then on as he had nothing without her support.

1570 - 1573

Around 1570, Nobunaga's reputation had grown so much that many of the Daimyo outside of her influence began to fear her. She was someone unlike the contenders for rule who had come before her, because while her desire to rule all of Japan was nothing new, her position in Kyoto was. Many of the lords who could have contended with her, Mori Motonari, Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, and Hojo Ujiyasu were all in unfavourable positions outside of the capital, and were unable to move too far due to their warring neighbours. This allowed Nobunaga to build considerable power by 1573, right in the very center of the land, and her reputation for cruelty (or in her eyes, efficiency) became more well known as she gained more power. She lost interest in negotiations and diplomacy, believing she could simply cut down any enemies who sought to oppose her.

Nobunaga's first real challenge arose in early 1570, when she ordered Yoshiaki to invite all of the local daimyo to the capital for a banquet, which in itself was only a means with which she could feel out any opposition. The leader of the Asakura clan, who Yoshiaki had almost considered asking for assistance before coming to Nobunaga prior, believed the banquet to be Nobunaga's idea and refused the invitation. Using it as proof of his disloyalty to Yoshiaki and the Emperor, she used this as a necessary pretext to invade Echizen and take the Asakura's land for herself. The Asakura were lackluster opposition and could hardly stop Nobunaga's advance, but total victory was suddenly taken from her grasp as the Asai clan suddenly betrayed her. The Asai and Asakura had been allied for a long time, and a single marriage did nothing to weaken that bond. She had no choice but to retreat back to Kyoto.

Of course, her retaliation to the Asai was swift and deadly. She mustered her forces again and marched on Odai castle, the Asai's stronghold. The Asai faced Nobunaga at the Anegawa River and, while the battle raged fiercely between both sides, Nobunaga found herself victorious, which only added to her fierce reputation. Even so, the Asai and Asakura were not so easily dissuaded, proving themselves to be equally determined. Later in 1570, they launched an attack against the Oda along the coast of Lake Biwa and defeated their forces near Otsu, slaying Nobunaga's brother Nobuharu. The warrior monks at Mt.Hiei also took up arms against the Oda alongside the Asai-Asakura alliance. In Kwatchi, the warrior-monks of the Ishiyama Honganji fortress, assisted the Miyoshi in their struggle against the Oda, bringing a considerable amount of firepower to their struggle against Nobunaga. In Ise, the Ikko-ikki of the Nagashima area also openly defied Nobunaga and caused her considerable difficulty, and things were not going well for the warlord.

Things had become frustrating for Nobunaga, as not only were the Asai and Asakura receiving considerable support from all around, but even the Shogun she placed in Kyoto had begun conspiring against her, dissatisfied with her heavy handed (cruel) methods. By 1571, much of Yoshiaski's administration was so regulated by Nobunaga's rule that the Shogun was no more than a puppet through which she ruled, another factor to Yoshiaki's grudge against her. He began sending out letters to to the Mori of Western Japan, and to the Takeda, Uesugi, and Hôjô of Eastern Japan in the hopes they would also assist in taking down the Oda.

It was during later 1571 that Nobunaga finally responded to the warrior monks of Mt.Hiei, in an act so violent that not only were her own generals shocked at the brutality, but it became one of the actions she was most remembered for. The Oda forces surrounded the mountain and were ordered to slowly work their way up the mountain, killing anyone they encountered. Once everyone had been killed, they then torched the mountain and the entire complex atop it was reduced to nothing but ash and thousands of corpses. Although she had been afforded some breathing room for this act, her attempt to repeat the brutality at Nagashima failed, due to the Takeda clan. In 1572, the Takeda clan advanced into Tokugawa's territory, and Nobunaga was forced to help, offering up a few thousand men as aide. It did little to help however, and the Takeda penetrated Mino and captured Imawura castle - embarrassing as it was, Nobunaga was furious.

However, by 1573 luck once again sided with the warlord - Takeda Shingen had died, and despite the attempts of the Takeda to hide this, Nobunaga intuited the truth and launched a counterattack with all of the confidence and cruelty she was known for. In May of that year, she surrounded Kyoto and caught Yoshiaki in the act of conspiring against her, forcing them to forge an uneasy truce neither party knew would last very long. But it lasted long enough for her to afford herself more room to maneuver. She moved to take down the Nagashima Ikko stronghold herself but was defeated despite her confidence, which convinced Yoshiaki to defy her once again. He barricaded himself in a fort by the Uji river, hoping to buy enough time for the Asai, Asakura, and Honganji to fall on Oda from behind. Unfortunately his position was not strong enough and she breached his defenses - bargaining for his life, she agreed to spare him and instead exiled him, removing the Ashikaga from Kyoto for good and making Nobunaga the defacto shogun until her death.

With no time wasted, she then immediately moved on to the Asai and Asakura clans to take care of their opposition as well. Threatening Odani castle, the Asakura were dispatched as a relief force to help defend the castle, but their forces were wiped out. What remained of the Asakura, including Yoshikage himself, fled the scene but were pursued fiercely by the Oda, allowing them to capture Ichijo-ga-tani along the way. Abandoning his castle, Yoshikage committed suicide in a temple in September. With the Asakura vanquished, she returned to Odani to threaten the Asai - Nagamasa first returned Oichi and their children to Nobunaga for their safety, then committed suicide as well in a more honourable display than the Asakura head had.

With the Asai and Asakura defeated and the Takeda unable to oppose her for the moment, Nobunaga decided to take revenge against the Ikko of Nagashima for opposing her. With the naval support of the Shima clan, she blockaded Nagashima and captured the forts surrounding it. By 1574 the Ikko had been forced to hide from the Oda within their main fortifications, effectively trapping them within their own home. Surrounded on all sides, Nobunaga ordered their complex set ablaze, and with nowhere to run as many as 20,000 men, women and children were killed in a single night. It was another act of cruelty she would be remembered for, although not as much as the burning of Mt.Hiei.

Within one year, Nobunaga's borders and military clout had grown substantially, enough to allow her to conduct three initiatives at once: the continued siege of the Honganji, a war of extermination aimed at the Ikko of Echizen and Kaga, and a showdown with the Takeda.

1575

By 1573, the heir to the Takeda clan had proved himself to be of great mettle and fierce spirited in continuing what his predecessor had started. The Takeda began to launch several attacks against Ieyasu, inevitably leading to Tokugawa requesting assistance from Nobunaga. Although hesitant, Tokugawa reaffirmed that the Tokugawa would simply join the Takeda in their siege against the Oda should they go without help, and so Nobunaga could hardly refuse, instead deciding to launch the full weight of her armies against this problem. With 30,000 men at her disposal, along with some of her greatest commanders, they bolstered the forces of Tokugawa with riflemen and wooden palisades. Outnumbered 3 to 1, and with their forces tired from weeks of battle, the Takeda were in no position to fight - but they did anyway. The Takeda bolstered their forces and rather foolishly charged the Oda-Tokugawa forces, and predictably the outcome was in the favour of Nobunaga and her allies. Although the head of the clan managed to escape, the Takeda had lost their position as a regional power. Nobunaga returned to Kyoto afterwards in preparation for her next battles.

1576 - 1580

Around this time, Nobunaga's ambition seemed more and more likely to succeed. Her initial enemy, the Honganji, were proving themselves formidable in fighting off her advances. She initially dispatched Harada Naomasa to conquer them, only for the invasion to be repelled and Harada to be executed. In response, she launched a personal attack against the Honganji which resulted in her being wounded. Seeing a full frontal assault as meaningless, she changed tactics and began to target the forces allied with them instead, crushing the Saiga monto of Kii and weakening the warrior monks of the Negoroji, yet the remaining support from the Mori and Uesagi clan proved incredibly formidable to their cause.

The Uesagi had initially been allied with Nobunaga but the clan head, Kenshin, had grown uneasy with their alliance which dissolved following Nagashino. Tension grew between the Oda and the Uesagi for two main reasons: the Oda's influence expanding into Hokuriku, which the Uesagi considered their territory, and her desire to make Azuchi Castle into her grandest stronghold of all, which would have denied Uesagi access to Horuriku which would have allowed the Oda to take it easily. When the Oda and Uesagi inevitably clashed, Kenshin proved himself a wily opponent, luring the Oda into a full frontal assault and annihilating the attacking Oda afterwards, forcing Nobunaga to retreat. Kenshin intended on pursuing the Oda in the coming Spring - when fortune smiled on Nobunaga yet again, and Kenshin passed away. The timing was so perfect that rumour spread of assassination organized by Nobunaga, but he simply died of natural causes. With his death, the Uesagi broke out into civil war, and Nobunaga's generals - Shibata Katsuie, Maeda Toshiie, and Sassa Narimasa - picked away at the holdings of the Uesagi until they reached the borders of Echigo.

The Mori clan, meanwhile, had opposed Nobunaga when it was headed by Motonari Mori, which didn't change following his death and succession by Terumoto Mori. In 1576 Nobunaga moved the naval forces of Kuki Yoshitaka to the waters off Settsu and proceeded with a naval blockade of the Honganji, assisted by the Atagi of Awaji Island. The Mori responded with their own naval forces, easily brushing aside the forces of Atagi and completely demolishing Nobunaga's attempts at blockading the land with her naval forces. In response, six great, heavily armed warships were developed and unleashed in 1578. Backed by their firepower, the naval forces launched a second attack and overwhelmed the Mori. Terumoto attempted to fight back a year following this, but failed once again, and realized that things were looking grim: Nobunaga's generals were advancing west, with Akechi Mitsuhide aiming to conquer Tamba and advance long the northern coast of the Chugoku. Totoyomi Hideyoshi meanwhile was moving to Harima in order to open the way to the Mori's hinterlands.

1580 opened with the Honganji completely isolated and now rapidly running low on supplies. Faced with Nobunaga's endless determination as well as starvation, the Honganji decided to aim for a peaceful solution. The court stepped in and requested that the forces opposing the Oda honorably surrender. In August the Honganji came to terms, and threw open their gates and surprisingly, despite her usual brutality, Nobunaga spared all of the surviving defenders. After over a decade of bloodshed, Nobunaga had subdued the last of the great ikko bastions and cleared the way for an eventual rise to national hegemony.

Amassing 100,000 of her men, supported by the Hojo and Tokugawa, she then launched an advance straight into Shinano and Kai in order to take down the Takeda once and for all. The men of the Takeda clan had lost faith in their lord, abandoning him - and seeing no chance of victory, the current head of the Takeda committed suicide. Having a particular loathing for the Takeda, it's said that Nobunaga gloated over his corpse following his death.

Death

Unfortunately, Nobunaga's demise was a result of her own behaviour. She was known for treating her retainers haughtily and with disrespect, and the most unfortunate of these happened to be Akechi Mitsuhide. Having been tasked with conquering Tamba, he managed to secure the surrender of Hatano Hideharu with no bloodshed. Bringing him before Nobunaga, she had Hideharu and his brother executed, and Hideharu's retainers accused Akechi of betrayal - in response, they had Akechi's mother murdered, which didn't sit well with him. While Hideyoshi was settled at Takamatsu castle, he sought reinforcements from Nobunaga as the main mori army was advancing upon his location. She sent her forces to bolster his own while she entertained nobles at Honnoji, but upon waking up the next morning found that Mitsuhide had raised an army to surround Honnoji and take her head, having gained the troops under the guise of going to Hideyoshi's side. With no other option, Nobunaga took her own life there and then, ending her ambition once and for all.