October 21, 1600 · Mino Province Theater
October 21, 1600
Two years after Hideyoshi's death, his regime split between Ieyasu, the most powerful of the regents left to guard Hideyoshi's young son, and Ishida Mitsunari, a loyalist determined to preserve Toyotomi authority. Roughly 160,000 men met in fog at Sekigahara. The battle hinged on treachery: Kobayakawa Hideaki, commanding a large Western Army contingent on a hill overlooking the field, had been secretly negotiating with Ieyasu for weeks and switched sides mid-battle, folding the Western Army's flank and turning a close fight into a rout within hours.
Commanders