The Satomi Sea Forces (4)

      In 1523, Ise Ujitsuna (1487-1541), the son of Shinkuro (1432-1519), changed his surname to Hojo.  In 1532, as Ujitsuna was joining forces with Ashikaga Takamoto, Kanto Deputy Shogun in Koga, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Kanto Deputy Shogun in Oyumi, was becoming the only choice for Satomi Yoshitoyo (?-1534) to face the Hojo Clan.  In 1534, however, or as a result, Satomi Yoshitaka (1507?-1574), Yoshitoyo’s cousin, launched coup d’etat against Yoshitoyo with the help of Ujitsuna.

     However, Yoshitaka was always under the pressure of Oyumi Kanto Deputy Shogun, and went over to Yoshiaki’s side.  In 1538, Oyumi and Koga Kanto Deputy Shoguns clashed against each other in Konodai.  Yoshiaki was killed in the battle, and Koga’s side won.  The biggest winner in the battle was Ujitsuna.  He made Takamoto his puppet, and grabbed the hegemony over all the southern part of Kanto but Awa Province.  The minor second winner of the battle was, ironically enough, Yoshitaka, who belonged to the loser’s side.  He could secure Awa Province at least, and could get rid of Oyumi Kanto Deputy Shogun, who had been a pain in the neck.  In the aftermath of the battle, the Hojo Clan and the Satomi Clan were to fight against each other head-to-head.

     By that time, the Hojo Clan had destroyed the Miura Clan, and organized their own sea forces.  Some of the Miura Sea Forces fled to Awa Province, and got hired by the Satomi Clan’s vassals, such as Masaki Michitsuna (1492?-1533).  Or Michitsuna himself might have been a surviving retainer of Miura’s.  Anyway, from that time on, the Izu Sea Forces of the Hojo Clan and the Satomi Sea Forces were to face each other head-to-head across the Edo and Sagami Bays.