uld march southward through Settsu, and, having crushed
Akamatsu Norimura, who occupied that province, should advance through
Harima and Mimasaka into Hoki; while Takauji, moving northward at
first by the Tamba highway, should ultimately turn westward and reach
Hoki by the littoral road of the Japan Sea. In addition to these two
armies, the Hojo had a powerful force engaged in beleaguering the
fortress of Chihaya, in Yamato, where Kusunoki Masashige commanded in
person.

It will thus be seen that, at this time (May, 1333), the Imperialists
were everywhere standing on the defensive, and the Bakufu armies were
attacking on the southeast, south, and north of Kyoto. Nothing seemed
less probable than that the Imperial capital itself should become the
object of an assault by the partisans of Go-Daigo. But the unexpected
took place. Hojo Takaiye was killed and his force shattered in the
first collision with Norimura, who immediately set his troops in
motion towards Kyoto, intending to take advantage of Rokuhara's
denuded condition. Meanwhile, Takauji, whose march into Tamba had
been very deliberate, learned the course events had taken in Settsu,
and immediately proclaiming his allegiance to the Imperial cause,
countermarched for Kyoto, his army receiving constant accessions of
strength as it approached the city. Rokuhara, though taken by
surprise, fought stoutly. Attacked simultaneously from three
directions by the armies of Norimura, Takauji, and Minamoto Tadaaki,
and in spite of the death of their commandant, Hojo Tokimasu, they
held out until the evening, when Hojo Nakatoki escaped under cover of
darkness, escorting the titular sovereign, Kogon, and the two
ex-Emperors. Their idea was to flee to Kamakura, but taking an escort
too large for rapid movement, they were overtaken; the three leaders
together with four hundred men killed, and Kogon together with the
two ex-Emperors seized and carried back to Kyoto.

THE FALL OF KAMAKURA

These things happened at the close of June, 1333, and immediately
after the fall of Rokuhara, Nitta Yoshisada raised the Imperial
standard in the province of Kotsuke. Yoshisada represented the tenth
generation of the great Yoshiiye's family. Like Ashikaga Takauji he
was of pure Minamoto blood, though Takauji belonged to a junior
branch. The Nitta estates were in the district of that name in the
province of Kotsuke; that is to say, in the very heart of the Kwanto.
Hitherto, the whole of the eas