Who's in charge?

[FrederickII]

I was wondering, judging from this last show, where the japanese resolve to attack to chosun navy, Konishi and Kato seemed to be the ones in charge.

Who is in supreme command of the japanese army in korea?

[florel]

The chief commander of the Japanese army was Ukida Hideie. And Ishida Mitsunari was one of three administrative supervisors in Chosun. Both of them are not shown in the drama.


BTW, I remember I heard Ukida Hideie was very young (barely twenty or less than twenty?) in 1592. So it's doubtful if he could exercise a real influence on other Samurais.

Any Japanese history specialist who can explain more about Ukida Hideie and Ishida Mitsunari and about their relations with other Japanese commanders ?


* correction of an fault in English I found later. lol

[skinz]

florel said:

Any Japanese history specialist who can explain more about Ukida Hideie and Ishida Mitsunari and about their relations with other Japanese commanders ?

You knew I would be tempted to answer ;D


Ukita Hideie
(1572-1622)

As you can see, Ukita was 20 in 1592. (When I was 20 I had no such power. )

Ukita Hideie was born to a powerful clan that controlled Bizen and Mimasaka provinces. In 1581, he became the head of the clan. He was sent as a hostage
to Hideyoshi as part of a peace treaty. He fought with Hideyoshi during the Odawara and Kyushu campaigns. He was sent as the commanding officer during the invasion and made his base at Seoul. He suffered a major loss at Haengju.

He was one of the five councils that would take care of Hideyoshi son, Hideyori, when he passes away. The others were: Maeda Toshiie, Mori Terumoto, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Uesugi Kagekatsu.

Fought with the western army during the Sekigahara war. He was the one who suffered the sudden betrayal by Kobayakawa Hideaki that suddenly turn the war over to Togukawa side. Fled to the Shimazu clan after the war but was turned in and sent to exile.

I don't know how the other commanders felt about such a young man commanding them but I'm guessing he was merely a puppet that enforced Hideyoshi demands. And since he was close with Hideyoshi, any trouble to him would mean trouble for the commanders.







Ishida Mitsunari
(1560-1600)

Worked for Hideyoshi at the age of 15 thus was very loyal to him. Showed himself to be useful during the Odawara and Kysuhu campaigns. However, he was not a general but he was great at administrative affairs. During the Korean invasion in 1592, he along with Otani Yoshitsugu, Mashita Nagamori, and others, went to assist the commander Ukita Hideie as Chiefs of Staff.

Mitsunari was very unpopular with the generals during the war, Kato Kiyomasa and others hated him because he interfered too much with military actions. This bitterness actually was a sign of the battle at Sekigahara.

[florel]

skinz said:

You knew I would be tempted to answer ;D

I knew it, Skinz. ;D

Thank you for the informations.

Oh, Ukida the chief commander when he was only 20 years old in 1592 !

skinz said:

And since he was close with Hideyoshi, any trouble to him would mean trouble for the commanders.

Well, i guess you're right. ;D