Battle of Yamazaki
Also called: Battle of Tennōzan
Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, hurrying back from the Chūgoku region, defeated Akechi Mitsuhide at Yamazaki. Having avenged Nobunaga, Hideyoshi became the foremost of the Oda vassals and stepped forward as Nobunaga’s successor.
Kanō Mitsunobu · Public domain · Source
Hideyoshi was besieging Takamatsu Castle in Bitchū by flooding it when he learned of Nobunaga’s death. He at once made peace with the Mōri and marched his army back some 200 km in about ten days (the “great return from Chūgoku”), joined by Nobunaga’s third son Nobutaka, Niwa Nagahide and others.
On 2 July 1582 the armies met at Yamazaki, a narrow strip between Mount Tennō and the Yodo River. Heavily outnumbered, Mitsuhide’s army broke within the day; he fell back to Shōryūji Castle and, slipping away at night, was killed by peasants at Ogurusu. “Tennōzan” became a byword for a decisive turning point. Hideyoshi took the lead at the Kiyosu conference and defeated Shibata Katsuie at Shizugatake in 1583.
