arons whose
strongholds lay on the confines of Omi and Mino. This was gradually
accomplished, and after an unsuccessful attempt upon the part of
Sasaki Shotei of Omi to capture a castle (Choko-ji) which was under
the command of Nobunaga's chief general, Katsuiye, the Owari forces
were put in motion against Nagamasa's principal strongholds, Otani
and Yoko-yama. The former was attacked first, Nobunaga being assisted
by a contingent of five thousand men under the command of Ieyasu.
Three days of repeated assaults failed to reduce the castle, and
during that interval Nagamasa and Yoshikage were able to enter the
field at the head of a force which greatly outnumbered the Owari
army.

In midsummer, 1570, there was fought, on the banks of the Ane-gawa,
one of the great battles of Japanese history. It resulted in the
complete discomfiture of the Echizen chieftains. The records say that
three thousand of their followers were killed and that among them
were ten general officers. The castle of Otani, however, remained in
Nagamasa's hands. Nobunaga now retired to his headquarters in Gifu to
rest his forces.

But he was quickly summoned again to the field by a revolt on the
part of the Buddhist priests in the province of Settsu, under the
banner of Miyoshi Yoshitsugu and Saito Tatsuoki. Nobunaga's attempt
to quell this insurrection was unsuccessful, and immediately Nagamasa
and Yoshikage seized the occasion to march upon Kyoto. The priests of
Hiei-zan received them with open arms, and they occupied on the
monastery's commanding site, a position well-nigh impregnable, from
which they constantly menaced the capital. It was now the
commencement of winter. For the invading troops to hold their own
upon Hiei-zan throughout the winter would have been even more
difficult than for Nobunaga's army to cut off their avenues of
retreat and supply.

In these circumstances peace presented itself to both sides as the
most feasible plan, and the forces of Nagamasa and Yoshikage were
allowed to march away unmolested to Omi and Echizen, respectively.
This result was intensely mortifying to Hideyoshi, who had devoted
his whole energies to the destruction of these dangerous enemies. But
the final issue was only postponed. By contrivances, which need not
be related in detail, Nagamasa was again induced to take the field,
and, in 1573, the Owari forces found themselves once more confronted
by the allied armies of Echizen and Omi. By clever strategy