Touring the Sekigahara Battlefield (The Bystander Army Edition)

At the end of November, I went on a tour of the Sekigahara battlefield with my father. I would like to introduce it by dividing it into the Western Army, Eastern Army, Reactive Army, and Bystander Army. (Bystander Army Edition)

The nearest station to the Bystander Army's camp is Tarui Station, east of Sekigahara. Like Sekigahara, there are many information boards, and you can get maps at the tourist information center.👍

On the day of the Battle of Sekigahara, the forces on Mt. Nangū (Mōri➕and Chōsokabe armies) were held back by Kikkawa Hiroie and did not move at all, which became a factor in the Western Army's defeat.
Mt. Nangū is located to the southeast of Sekigahara, further southeast than Mt. Momokubari, where Ieyasu first set up his camp. If they had moved, they would have been in a position to catch the Eastern Army in a pincer attack.

It is often said that Mōri Terumoto was pushed into entering Osaka Castle and being set up as the commander-in-chief of the Western Army by the support of Ankokuji Ekei and others who were close to Mitsunari.

However, when Mitsunari and his allies issued the (Naifu Chikahi no Jōjō - Articles on the treachery of the Minister of the Interior), Terumoto entered Osaka Castle from Hiroshima in just2days, and his nephew Hidemoto also entered Osaka Castle with a massive army of60,000, so he was apparently super proactive.
This action was so aimed at expanding the Mōri territory in the western provinces by taking advantage of the war
(it is also said that he didn't want to clash with Ieyasu and wasn't thinking about taking over the country)
but
(well, that is exactly the kind of behavior that gets you set up as a commander-in-chief💦)

Terumoto, the grandson of Mōri Motonari, was long under the guardianship of his two uncles, Kikkawa Motoharu and Kobayakawa Takakage, because his father Takamoto died young. Kobayakawa Takakage was trusted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but Kikkawa Motoharu kept his distance from Hideyoshi. That Motoharu's son was Kikkawa Hiroie.

When Kikkawa Motoharu and Kobayakawa Takakage passed away, the political monk Ankokuji Ekei and Hiroie supported Terumoto in their place. While Ekei was close to Hideyoshi and Ishida Mitsunari, Hiroie, like his father, kept his distance from Hideyoshi and was apparently on bad terms with Ekei. Kuroda Nagamasa, an Ieyasu sympathizer, approached such a Hiroie💦

Nagamasa repeatedly urged Hiroie to have Terumoto side with Ieyasu for the sake of the Mōri family's future, and Hiroie in turn persuaded Terumoto.
Terumoto, who had no intention of clashing head-on with Ieyasu from the start, betrayed the Western Army generals despite being the commander-in-chief of the Western Army, and secretly made peace with Ieyasu on the condition that his territory would be guaranteed. That was on the day before the decisive battle of Sekigahara, the9th of14th💦

At that time, Hiroie was stationed on Mt. Nangū along with Mōri Hidemoto and Ankokuji Ekei, but it seems he did not inform Hidemoto or Ekei about Terumoto's peace agreement.

After the defeat, Ankokuji Ekei fled to Kyoto but was captured by the Eastern Army. Ankokuji Ekei, who had served the Mōri clan with loyalty, was beheaded.
In the end, the Mōri clan's guarantee of their territory was revoked due to their overly proactive actions before the main battle, and that too was said to be the responsibility of the (evil monk, Ankokuji Ekei!). Ekei is also said to have originally been from the Aki-Takeda clan, which was destroyed by the Mōri clan. It really is a thankless fate...

Further south of Mt. Nangū is the Chōsokabe Morichika camp. This place is also said to be the site of Takenaka Hanbei's retirement (there is also a legend that Hideyoshi persistently tried to scout him).

This is a camp site that utilizes the ruins of the Kurihara Tsukumo-bo, a monastery that was destroyed in the battles between the Ashikaga and Nitta clans.
The monastery site is incredibly vast, suggesting it was once very prosperous, but the sheer number of Buddhist statues and Jizo figures gathered in one place after it burned down is overwhelming and carries an incredible aura. (My personal impression)
It is a place where they did not stay for very long.💦

Chosokabe Morichika also retreated with his troops the moment he realized that the battle would be lost, as the Mori army, which was closer to Sekigahara, was not moving its forces.
However, it is said that he was harassed by Ieyasu over a family dispute, had his territory confiscated, and worked as a teacher at a temple school in Kyoto until the Siege of Osaka.🥹

People often talk about what might have happened if the Mori and Chosokabe had moved, but I wonder.
I start to feel like there is no way they could have beaten an Eastern Army capable of laying such strategic groundwork.

All that remains is the (Eastern Army Edition), but I am already starting to feel like the MVP might be Kuroda Nagamasa.