Battle of Nagashino
The Battle of Nagashino occurred in 1575 near the Nagashino Castle in the Mikawa Province. It began when Takeda Katsuyori attacked the castle. Takeda Katsuyori was the son of Takeda Shingen and was looking to make his own name for himself by expanding his territory. The lands to the south were owned by Tokugawa Ieyasu and if taken would give Takeda control of the main avenue of approach to the capital of Kyoto.
Tokugawa Ieyasu and Takeda had clashed before but allied with Tokugawa was Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga was the nominal hegemon of Japan and he was known as an innovator not only in military tactics but firearms as well. It was only because Takeda had received an offer from a high-ranking Tokugawa official to open the gates of Tokugawa’s capital to the Takeda army, that he decided to make a move. If Takeda could take the capital he would isolate Tokugawa from Nobunaga, and he would be able to defeat Tokugawa.
With 15,000 men, Takeda set out. Before he could reach the castle, the traitor was discovered and executed. With no way to get into the capital, Takeda and his army attacked Yoshida Castle instead. Tokugawa had anticipated the move and left 6,000 men to guard the castle. To avoid a siege against an armed garrison, Takeda headed for Nagashino Castle which only had 500 defenders. Takeda fought for several days but stood down after heavy casualties, deciding instead to starve out the defenders. Tokugawa and Nobunaga sent troops and an army totaling 38,000 reached the castle.
Takeda had brought his cavalry which was feared by both Tokugawa and Nobunaga who had suffered defeats against it. This time however, Nobunaga used firearms and was able to defeat the cavalry and the samurai were able to defeat the Takeda warriors in single combat. By the end of the battle Takeda had lost as many as 10,000 men as Nobunaga pursued his army even as they tried to flee.