In the 1582 siege of Takamatsu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

 laid siege to Takamatsu Castle

Takamatsu Castle (Bitchu)

Takamatsu Castle of Bitchu Province was a Japanese castle located in what is today the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture. Like most Japanese castles, it was built in the late 16th century, during the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history.The castle, of the hirajō type, was built very...

, which was controlled by the Mōri clan

Mori clan

The Mōri clan was a family of daimyō, descended from Ōe no Hiromoto and established themselves in Aki Province. Their name was derived from a shōen in Mōri, Aikō District, Sagami Province. The generation of Hiromoto began to name themselves Mōri.After the Jōkyū War, Mōri was appointed to the jitō...

. He diverted a nearby river with dikes to surround and flood the castle, leading to a relatively speedy surrender. He also constructed towers on barges from which his arquebusiers could keep up a constant rate of fire and be unhindered themselves by the flooding. As the battle grew more intense, the garrison received reinforcements from the Mōri, Kikkawa

Kikkawa family

The Kikkawa family was a samurai clan of Japan's Sengoku period. The most famous member of the clan is likely Kikkawa Motoharu , one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's generals, who was adopted into the family...

 and Kobayakawa clans, and Hideyoshi sent for aid from his lord Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

. In response, Nobunaga sent a contingent of men west, to make their way to Takamatsu, while he himself stopped at the Honnō-ji

Honno-ji

is a temple of the Nichiren branch of Buddhism located in Kyoto, Japan. Its honzon is mandara-honzon from Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.-History:...

 for a time; during this stay, he would be betrayed and killed.

Hideyoshi soon learned of the death

Incident at Honnoji

The ' refers to the forced suicide on June 21, 1582 of Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at the hands of his samurai general Akechi Mitsuhide. This occurred in Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto, ending Nobunaga's quest to consolidate centralized power in Japan under his authority.-Context:Oda Nobunaga was at...

 of his lord, which encouraged him to hurry the arrangement of surrender terms. Shimizu Muneharu

Shimizu Muneharu

, also known as , was a military commander during the Sengoku period. He served the Mōri clan as a retainer to Kobayakawa Takakage and took part in the expedition to unify the Chūgoku region. He was lord of Shimizu castle at Bitchu Province, and became the lord of the Bitchu Takamatsu Castle after...

, the castle's commander, was forced to commit suicide in a boat on the artificial lake created by the flooding, in full view.