ally, the Shishido clan in Aki, as part of an initial and concurrent operation of the larger Amago campaign into Aki. Amago Haruhisa, with 30,000 men, attacked Motonari's main base, Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle, which was defended by 8,000 men. The initial phase of the campaign began in June 1540. Amago Hisayuki, his son Amago Masahisa and his nephew Kunihisa led their troops to attack the domain of Motonari's ally, the Shishido clan. This foray had little effect except to deny Haruhisa of some of his most capable generals and soldiers for the attack on Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle. In August, Amago Haruhisa gathered a force of 30,000 and departed Izumo Province, moving into the vicinity of Motonari's Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle and establishing a headquarters nearby. Meanwhile, Motonari had evacuated over 5,000 of Yoshida's citizens inside the walls of Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle, which was defended by around 3,000 soldiers. By this time urgent requests for aid had been dispatched to the Ōuchi in Suo Province. Two days after arriving, the Amago launched an attack on Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle, which continued for several months. The Ōuchi relief army, consisting of 10,000 men led by Sue Takafusa, finally departed Suō Province in November, pausing on Miyajima to offer prayers for victory at the Itskushima Shrine before landing in Aki and marching towards Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle. They arrived outside Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle in December 1540, four months after the siege had begun. A series of skirmishes ensued between the opposing armies into the following month (January, 1541), which was largely to the detriment of the Amago. Motonari successfully defended his castle from an attack by Amago Haruhisa in the 1540–41 Siege of Koriyama. In the meantime, the other Amago force under Amago Hisayuki that had been dispatched to threaten the Shishido arrived. Its headquarters on Tenjinyama (天神山) were attacked by the Mōri and Ōuchi. In the ensuing action Amago Hisayuki was killed by an arrow and the Amago suffered heavy losses. In the wake of this fight, the Amago retainers, noting the army's dwindling supplies and poor morale, elected to retreat. The Mōri and Ōuchi duly pursued but were hindered by snow. The same year (1540), they attacked the Amago retainer Takeda Nobuzane (武田信実) who had been hiding with the Amago clan at Sato-Ginzan Castle. Nobuzane fled to Izumo Province and the Aki-Takeda clan was utterly annihilated. In addition, Motonari took over the Kawachi Keigoshu (川内警固衆), a pirate organization owned by the