@dorkos replied to your post:Sometimes I wonder if Nobu’s popularity is because...
@daeva-agas: Oh yeah, I remember there was a tv show about Honnoji and there was a theory that it was a miracle by Hide to reach Kyoto from Takamatsu in a few days even with forced march, also the quick peace-pact was “suspicious”, well according to the “experts”. Mind me, most of the theories (even the Mitshuhide’s ones) were brow-knitting ..
Seriously, yeah, there’s a LOT of holes to be poked in there, as well as other counter-arguments proposed. I’ve just not really seen the full interaction, so maybe somewhere out there someone has answered this. But a lot of pop TV shows and books are all about sensation and making money, not serious discussion :/
My suggestion is that... who said that the entire troops got there in that short period of time? It’s entirely possible that it was just Hide himself and some higher-rank officers on horseback, allowing them faster travel, and then they go round up troops by contacting lords who are on standby in the nearby area.
After all, the whole mess happened when reinforcements were supposed to be deployed to the Mouri’s place. There has to be some Oda troops already on guard ready to move out. Supporting this, there’s some letters that Hideyoshi sent around, convincing the recipients that Nobunaga is fine and seeking cooperation. And a bunch of vassals who weren’t too far away managed to pull back, like Shibata and Niwa, and they also participate in battle.
The precedent for this is that one time Nobunaga flew out from Kyoto/Azuchi all the way to Osaka because the Honganji warriors are really beating down his men. He was stuck unable to do anything for a few days because he only got his horseback officers, and the bulk of the troops couldn’t catch up.
If Hide can send out a call to arms that are responded to quickly enough, the issue of “oops we got no men” wouldn’t hinder them. In fact, one of the more recent articles I’ve seen actually point out that “there are men on standby in the area” is precisely what makes it “suspicious”. Like, there’s some commanders, who are either Hideyoshi’s underlings or just people who are closely affiliated to him, who happens to be stationed in “strategic” locations. Thus enabling them to immediately come in and help out.
This explanation cancelled out the “how come he got there so fast?” objection, but then it becomes suspicious for completely different reasons, and then it really just boils down to what you want to believe.
