The Battle of Nagashino – Battle Map

On the left is the Oda-Tokugawa allied army, and on the right is the Takeda army. Lord Ieyasu’s main camp is marked as [1], with Nobunaga’s main camp positioned slightly behind to the left at [2]. Takeda Katsuyori’s main camp is placed at [3]. The battle is said to have begun between the left flank of the Takeda army, led by Yamagata Masakage, and the Tokugawa army’s Okubo Tadayoshi, at [4].

The Takeda cavalry charged with full force ahead, but a volley of matchlock gunfire was unleashed. The cavalrymen fell one after another. Despite this, the Takeda troops did not falter, as they knew that the matches could not fire rapidly and assumed they could outpace them.

Climbing over the fallen bodies of their comrades, new cavalry forces pressed forward. Again, the matchlocks fired, causing confusion among the Takeda officers. With 3,000 matchlocks divided into three ranks, a relentless barrage of gunfire was unleashed, and the Takeda cavalry was powerless against the scale of the nslaught.

Yamagata Masakage suggested to Takeda Katsuyori that they should reevaluate their tactics, but his advice was ignored. Masakage then charged into the enemy ranks and was shot, losing his life. After the battle, the field was strewn with the bodies of Takeda’s renowned cavalry warriors.

This victory by the Oda-Tokugawa alliance was a decisive one, signaling the beginning of the end for the Takeda clan.