The took place in 1575 near

Nagashino Castle was a Sengoku period Japanese castle located in what is now Shinshiro, eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is noteworthy as the site of the crucial Battle of Nagashino between the combined forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga against Takeda ...

on the plain of Shitaragahara in the Mikawa Province of Japan.

Takeda Katsuyori was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen. He was son in law of Hojo Ujiyasu. Early life He was the son of Shingen by the daughte ...

attacked the castle when Okudaira Sadamasa rejoined the Tokugawa, and when his original plot with Oga Yashiro for taking

Okazaki Castle is a Japanese castle located in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Okazaki Castle was home to the Honda clan, ''daimyō'' of Okazaki Domain, but the castle is better known for its association with Tokugawa Ieyasu an ...

, the capital of Mikawa, was discovered. The Oda arquebusiers decisively defeated the cavalry tactics of the Takeda, who lost two-thirds of their army. The battle is often cited as a turning point in Japanese warfare and the first "modern" Japanese battle.

Background

Takeda Katsuyori attacked the castle on 16 June, using Takeda gold miners to tunnel under the walls, rafts to ferry samurai across the rivers, and siege towers. On 22 June the siege became a blockade, complete with palisades and cables strewn across the river. Sadamasa's wife,

Kamehime Kamehime (, 27 July 1560 – 1 August 1625) was a Japanese woman from the Sengoku period. She was the eldest daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu with his first wife, Lady Tsukiyama. She married Okudaira Nobumasa. The marriage was arranged as a reward fo ...

, was the daughter of

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

. She helped to defend the castle by sending a letter with

Torii Suneemon was an ashigaru (low class footman) who served the Okudaira family, retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He became famous for his bravery and incredible exploit at the siege of Nagashino. He was a retainer of Okudaira Sadamasa and member of the Nag ...

which asked her father for reinforcements. Torii reached Okazaki, where Ieyasu and Nobunaga promised help. Later, both

and Oda Nobunaga sent troops to assist Sadamasa to break the siege and defeat Katsuyori. Returning that message back to the castle, Torii was captured and hung on a cross before the castle walls. However, he was still able to shout out that relief was on the way before he was killed. Okudaira Sadamasa led the castle garrison and held firm, repelling the Takeda siege until an allied Tokugawa-Oda relief force arrived.

Battle

According to the ''

Shinchō kōki is a Japanese literary magazine published monthly by Shinchosha. Since its launch in 1904 it has published the works of many of Japan's leading writers. Along with '' Bungakukai'', '' Gunzo'', '' Bungei'' and ''Subaru'', it is one of the five ...

'', in 28 June 1575, Nobunaga and Ieyasu brought a total of 38,000 men to relieve the siege on the castle by Katsuyori. Of Takeda's original 15,000 besiegers, only 12,000 faced the Oda–Tokugawa army in this battle. The remaining 3,000 continued the siege to prevent the garrison in the castle from sallying forth and joining the battle. Oda and Tokugawa positioned their men across the plain from the castle, behind the Rengogawa, a small stream whose steep banks would slow down the cavalry charges for which the Takeda clan was known. Seeking to protect his

arquebusiers An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

, which he would later become famous for, Nobunaga built a number of wooden palisades in a zig-zag pattern, setting up his gunners to attack the Takeda cavalry in volleys. The stockades served to blunt the force of charging cavalry. Of Oda-Tokugawa's forces, an estimated 10,000

Ashigaru were infantry employed by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The first known reference to ''ashigaru'' was in the 14th century, but it was during the Ashikaga shogunate ( Muromachi period) that the use of ''ashigaru'' became prevalent by various ...

arquebusiers with 3,000 of the best shots, they were placed in three ranks under the command of

Sassa Narimasa , also known as Kura-no-suke (内蔵助), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi–Momoyama period.Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi–Momoyama period. His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" (槍の又左), Matazaemon (又� ...

, and

Honda Tadakatsu , also called Honda Heihachirō (本多平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings along with Ii N ...

Ōkubo Tadayo was a samurai general in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Azuchi–Momoyama period, subsequently becoming a ''Daimyō'' of Odawara Domain in early Edo period, Japan. Biography Ōkubo Tadayo was the eldest son of Ōkubo Tadakazu, a her ...

was stationed outside the palisade, as was

Sakuma Nobumori was a retainer for the Oda clan. He was thus treated as Nobunaga's most important retainer and would come to fight in every important battle under Nobunaga's command such as the 1567 Siege of Inabayama Castle, the 1571 and 1573 Siege of Nagash ...

, who feigned a retreat.

Shibata Katsuie or was a Japanese samurai and military commander during the Sengoku period. He served Oda Nobunaga as one of his trusted generals, was severely wounded in the 1571 first siege of Nagashima, but then fought in the 1575 Battle of Nagashino an ...

and

Hashiba Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

protected the left flank. Takeda Katsuyori arranged his forces in five groups of 3,000, with

Baba Nobuharu , also known as , was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. He was known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". When Takeda Shingen took Fukashi castle (now Matsumoto Castle) in 1550, he entrusted it to Baba. War Experie ...

on his right,

Takeda Nobukado was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He was known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". He is also well known as a painter. It has been said that Nobukado and Shingen were as like as two peas therefore he serv ...

in the center,

Yamagata Masakage also known as Obu Masakage was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He is known as one of the " Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". He was famous for his red armour and skill in battlefield, and was a personal friend of Taked ...

on the left, Katsuyori in reserve and the final group under

Takeda Nobuzane Nobuzane (武田信実) more commonly known as Kawakubo Nobuzane (河窪信実) (died 29 June 1575) was a younger half-brother of Takeda Shingen, a preeminent ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) who vied for the control of Japan in the late stage of Se ...

continuing the siege. The Takeda army emerged from the forest and found themselves from the Oda–Tokugawa stockades. The short distance, the great power of the Takeda cavalry charge, and the heavy rain, which Katsuyori assumed would render the matchlock guns useless, encouraged Takeda to order the charge. His cavalry was feared by both the Oda and Tokugawa forces, who had suffered a defeat at Mikatagahara. The horses slowed to cross the stream and were fired upon as they crested the stream bed within of the enemy. This was considered the optimum distance to penetrate the armor of the cavalry. In typical military strategy, the success of a cavalry charge depends on the infantry breaking ranks so that the cavalry can mow them down. If the infantry does ''not'' break, however, cavalry charges will often fail, with even trained warhorses refusing to advance into the solid ranks of opponents. During the pitched battle that followed, between the continuous fire of the arquebusiers' volleys and the rigid control of the '' horo-shū'' (; elite messengers), the Oda forces stood their ground and were able to repel every charge.

spearmen stabbed through or over the stockades at horses that made it past the initial volleys and samurai, with swords and shorter spears, engaged in single combat with Takeda warriors. Strong defenses on the ends of the lines prevented Takeda forces from flanking the stockades. By mid-day the Takeda broke and fled, and the Oda forces vigorously pursued the routed army. A night attack on the eve of the battle by Sakai Tadatsugu and

Kanamori Nagachika was a Japanese samurai who lived from the Sengoku period into the early Edo period. He was the first ruler of the Kanamori clan and served as a retainer of the Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa clans. Later in his life, he also became a ''daimyō' ...

, killed Takeda Nobuzane, a younger brother of Shingen.

Aftermath

Nobunaga's skillful use of firearms to defeat Takeda's cavalry tactics is often cited as a turning point in Japanese warfare; many cite it as the first "modern" Japanese battle. In fact, the cavalry charge had been introduced only a generation earlier by Katsuyori's father,

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

. Furthermore, firearms had already been used in other battles. Compounding this, Takeda Katsuyori wrongly assumed that the gunpowder used by Nobunaga's forces had been ruined by recent rain. Nobunaga's innovation was the wooden stockades and rotating volleys of fire, which led to a decisive victory at Nagashino. However, there has been much debate as to the validity of the assertion that Nobunaga used rotating volleys due to soldiers usually fighting in small groups under their liege lords. This is in addition to the fact that most of the troops would have to have been taken from under the command of their landlords, an extremely rare practice for the time. According to ''

'', Takeda suffered a loss of 10,000 men, two-thirds of his original besieging force. Several of the

Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen 24 (twenty-four) is the natural number following 23 and preceding 25. The SI prefix for 1024 is yotta (Y), and for 10−24 (i.e., the reciprocal of 1024) yocto (y). These numbers are the largest and smallest number to receive an SI prefix to ...

were killed in this battle, including

Hara Masatane was a senior retainer of the Takeda clan during the late Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was known as one of the 'Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen'.Turnbull, Stephen. (2013)''Samurai Armies 1467-1649,'' p. 62 Masatane was a relati ...

Sanada Nobutsuna was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. He is known as one of the " Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". He was the eldest son of Sanada Yukitaka, a castle lord in Shinano Province, who by the time of his son's coming-of-age, had pled ...

with his younger brother Sanada Masateru,

Saegusa Moritomo was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He was known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". Moritomo was the son-in-law of the famed Takeda retainer Yamagata Masakage. Moritomo served Takeda clan during the Bat ...

Tsuchiya Masatsugu was Japanese samurai warrior in the Sengoku period. he is known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". In 1573, he fought at Battle of Mikatagahara againts Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1575, he was killed at the Battle of Nagashino a ...

, and Naitō Masatoyo.

Obata Masamori , also known as Obata Nobusada, was a Japanese samurai warrior. He is known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". He was the son of Obata Toramori, and came from western Kozuke province. He fled Kozuke and joined the Takeda ar ...

received a mortal wound.

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading