Battle of Nagashino

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Nagashino
Part of the Sengoku period

General launching his troops to attack the castle of Nagashino in 1575, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
DateJune 28, 1575
Location
Result Siege fails; Oda-Tokugawa victory
Belligerents
Takeda forces Combined forces of Oda and Tokugawa
Commanders and leaders
Takeda Katsuyori, Anayama Nobukimi, Takeda Nobukado, Takeda Nobutoyo Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Okudaira Sadamasa
Strength
15,000 38,000
Casualties and losses
Between 3,000 and 10,000 dead, incl. 54 samurai leaders
Takeda Nobuzane
Baba Nobufusa
Yamagata Masakage
Naito Masatoyo
Hara Masatane
Sanada Nobutsuna
Sanada Masateru
Kasai Mitsuhide
Wada Narishige
Yonekura Shigetsugu
6,000
Matsudaira Koretada

The Battle of Nagashino (長篠の戦い, Nagashino no Tatakai) was an armed conflict in 1575. The battle took place near Nagashino Castle (長篠城) on the plain of Shitaragahara (設楽原) in the Mikawa province (三河) of Japan.

Nagashino Castle[change | change source]

Forces under Takeda Katsuyori (武田勝頼) attacked the castle. The Takeda attacked the castle, because it threatened supply lines.[1]

Okudaira Sadamasa (奥平貞昌) commanded the 500 defenders of the castle. The defenders had 200 matchlocks and at least once cannon.[2]

Nagshino plain[change | change source]

Both Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康) and Oda Nobunaga (織田信長) sent troops to break the siege and their combined forces defeated the Takeda attack.

Nobunaga's use of firearms to defeat Takeda's cavalry is considered as a turning point in Japanese warfare. His tactical innovation was the wooden stockades and rotating volleys of fire which led to a decisive victory at Nagashino.

Popular culture[change | change source]

The Battle of Nagashino and the last years of the Takeda clan are dramatised in Akira Kurosawa's 1980 movie Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior).

References[change | change source]

Other websites[change | change source]