YOSHITOSHI TSUKIOKA: Exploits of the Tokugawa Clan:
Torii Sune'emon Standing by the Moat - 1876
In June, 1575, the Takeda army besieged Nagashino Castle, a small fort held by only 500 Tokugawa soldiers. Torii
Sune'emon escaped the siege by swimming the moat, carrying a message to Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga, who immediately
sent an army to relieve the siege. Torii was captured by the Takeda on his way back to Nagashino. Takeda Katsuyori
offered to spare him if he would shout across the moat that no relief was coming. Torii agreed, but then used the
opportunity to tell his comrades that help was on its way and not to surrender. The Takeda forces cut him down.
Despite the objections of his generals, Katsuyori attacked the Oda-Tokugawa army on June 28th. The attack was crushed
and most of the Takeda generals killed, eliminating the Takeda as a threat.