Battle of Nagashino

battle_name=Battle of Nagashino

The Battle

Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu brought a force of 38,000 men combined, to relieve the siege on the castle by Takeda Katsuyori. Of Takeda's original 15,000 besiegers, only 12,000 faced the Oda-Tokugawa army in this 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 famous.

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Seeking to protect his arquebusiers, which he would later become famous for, Oda built a number of wooden stockades, setting up his gunmen to attack the Takeda cavalry in volleys. There were approximately three gunmen for each four Takeda mounted samurai. Of Oda's forces, an estimated 3,000 troops were arquebusiers, and they were placed under the command of his horo-shu, or elite bodyguards. Oda sent out small forces against Takeda to feint frontal attacks, which caused Ieyasu to move against Oda's forces.

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Takeda's men emerged from the forest and found themselves 200-400 meters from the Oda-Tokugawa stockades. The short distance, great power of the Takeda cavalry charge, and the heavy rain, which Takeda assumed would render the matchlock guns useless, encouraged him to order the charge. Takeda's cavalry was feared by Tokugawa's and Oda's troops, who had suffered a defeat at the Battle of Mikata ga Hara.

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The horses slowed to cross the stream, and were fired upon as they came within 50 meters of the enemy. This was considered the optimum distance to penetrate the armor of the cavalry. In typical military strategy, the success of any cavalry charge depends on the infantry breaking ranks so that the cavalry can mow them down. Between the ferocity of the arquebusiers? attack and the rigid control of the horo-shu, the arquebusiers stood their ground, and were able to fire multiple volleys at the charging cavalry. Ashigaru spearmen stabbed at any horses that made it past the initial volleys, and samurai, with shorter swords and with spears engaged in single combat with any Takeda warriors who made it past the wooden barricades. By mid-afternoon, the Takeda fled, and were pursued. Takeda suffered a loss of 10,000 men, two-thirds of his original sieging force. Eight of his famous 'Twenty-Four Generals' were killed in this battle.

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