How Did a Trapped Samurai Escape by ATTACKING?

At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the Western army collapsed and its leaders fled into the mountains. Shimazu Yoshihiro, the 65-year-old lord of Satsuma, was left with about 1,500 men surrounded by the victorious Eastern army of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Instead of retreating, he charged forward, smashed through the enemy lines and rode right past Ieyasu's headquarters. The escape became famous as the "Shimazu no Nokiguchi" (the Shimazu retreat). Small groups of riflemen stayed behind on the road, kneeling to fire and fight to the death (the "sutegamari" tactic) to slow the pursuit. His retainer Chōju-in Moriatsu wore his lord's surcoat so the enemy would take him for Yoshihiro, and died in his place. His nephew Shimazu Toyohisa turned back into the pursuers and was killed. Of the 1,500, only about 80 reached Satsuma, but Yoshihiro was one of them. Ieyasu became shogun in 1603 and let the Shimazu keep their domain. Two hundred and sixty-eight years later, in 1868, Satsuma helped bring down the Tokugawa shogunate in the Boshin War. Sources: "Shimazu Yoshihiro" and "Battle of Sekigahara", English Wikipedia; "島津の退き口" (Shimazu no Nokiguchi), Japanese Wikipedia; "Boshin War", English Wikipedia. #history #samurai #japan #shorts