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==The Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima ==

==The Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima ==

[[Image:Kenshin_4th_kawanakajima.jpg|thumb|left|Uesugi Kenshin at Fourth Kawanakajima]]

[[Image:Kenshin_4th_kawanakajima.jpg|thumb|left|Uesugi Kenshin at Fourth Kawanakajima]]

After returning from the [[Siege of Odawara|Siege of Odawara castle]], Kenshin, the newly-minted Kanto Kanrei, immediately began planning another campaign, this one aimed at Shinano Province. Takeda Shingen’s northernmost fort was Kaizu, presently garrisoned by [[Kosaka Masanobu]] and a token force of cavalry. Kenshin set out with some 13,000 men under his command, intending apparently to provoke a major battle with Shingen. Here one must pause to consider that our only real source for the course of the following campaign is the Koyo Gunkan, a rambling and at times disjointed record of the Takeda family under Shingen. This was composed by Takeda partisans (Kosaka Masanobu himself is sometimes given as the composer but the actual author appears to have been [[Obata Kagenori]], [[1570]]-[[1644]]) and its accuracy is often dubious. But that having been said, the battle the Koyo Gunkan describes is the one imprinted in the minds of generations of Japanese.  

After returning from the [[Siege of Odawara|Siege of Odawara castle]], Kenshin, the newly-minted Kanto Kanrei, immediately began planning another campaign, this one aimed at Shinano Province. Takeda Shingen’s northernmost fort was Kaizu, presently garrisoned by [[Kosaka Masanobu]] and a token force of cavalry. Kenshin set out with some 13,000 men under his command, intending apparently to provoke a major battle with Shingen. Here one must pause to consider that our only real source for the course of the following campaign is the [[Koyo Gunkan]], a rambling and at times disjointed record of the Takeda family under Shingen. This was composed by Takeda partisans (Kosaka Masanobu himself is sometimes given as the composer but the actual author appears to have been [[Obata Kagenori]], [[1570]]-[[1644]]) and its accuracy is often dubious. But that having been said, the battle the Koyo Gunkan describes is the one imprinted in the minds of generations of Japanese.  

Kenshin might easily have captured Kaizu; instead, he sat down to wait. Kosaka sent off a smoke signal that triggered a chain reaction all the way south to [[Kai province]]. When word reached Shingen of Kenshin’s intrusion, he mustered an army of perhaps 20,000 men and force-marched north. He arrived to find the Uesugi army camped on the top of Saijoyama, a height somewhat west of Kaizu (there is actually a number of Saijoyamas in the Kawanakajima area, prompting some to question whether or not even the traditional setting for these opening moves is accurate). Shingen camped at the Amenomiya Ford for a period of about a week before making his way to Kaizu. Kenshin had made no movement as yet and continued to remain inactive, apparently determined to let Shingen make the first move. The Takeda decided after another week of idleness that a battle would have to be forced, as it was unlikely that Kenshin would leave Kaizu alone if Shingen withdrew without bloodying him.

Kenshin might easily have captured Kaizu; instead, he sat down to wait. Kosaka sent off a smoke signal that triggered a chain reaction all the way south to [[Kai province]]. When word reached Shingen of Kenshin’s intrusion, he mustered an army of perhaps 20,000 men and force-marched north. He arrived to find the Uesugi army camped on the top of Saijoyama, a height somewhat west of Kaizu (there is actually a number of Saijoyamas in the Kawanakajima area, prompting some to question whether or not even the traditional setting for these opening moves is accurate). Shingen camped at the Amenomiya Ford for a period of about a week before making his way to Kaizu. Kenshin had made no movement as yet and continued to remain inactive, apparently determined to let Shingen make the first move. The Takeda decided after another week of idleness that a battle would have to be forced, as it was unlikely that Kenshin would leave Kaizu alone if Shingen withdrew without bloodying him.