The Battle of Nagashino

Oda Nobunaga, the first of Japan's great unifiers, was considered your typical country samurai, rough and provincial. This was a fatal mistake made by his enemies. Behind the simpleton facade, stood a very innovative and cunning leader.

The battle of Nagashino showed his tactical genius for combat. The Takeda army was laying siege to Nagashino castle when Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu sent reinforcements to support the embattled defenders. The Oda/Tokugawa forces now numbered 38,000 troops, while the Takeda only had 12,000. Still, Takeda Katsuyori decided to send a cavalry charge against the Oda defensive line because he felt they would break under a massive charge. The Takeda were known for their horsemanship and cavalry. Every army in Japan feared the Takeda mounted samurai. They never lost.

Oda Nobunaga constructed a massive defensive line of wooden stockades and stationed 1500 arquebusiers with matchlock guns to man this position. He also had pike men and samurai stationed behind the gunners to cut down any cavalry that made it through the defensive works.

It had been raining earlier, so Katsuyori decided the matchlock guns would be useless. The distance between the two opposing forces totaled only 200-400 meters. The Takeda always won. There was no way the enemy could reload that quickly. He ordered the charge.

The bold offensive strike was doomed from the start. Not only did they have to cross a stream, but they had to climb a steep embankment before they could charge. As the cavalry made it over the rise, the gunners fired into their ranks (the rain had no effect). Nobunaga also set up a system of rotating volleys that continually poured rounds of fire into the attacking force without a break. He also strenghthened his flanks so the cavalry couldn't roll up his defensive position from the sides.

At the end of the day, the famed horsemen from Kai were repulsed and soundly defeated. Over one thousand cavalry men were shot down and two thousand more killed during the ensuing retreat. The Takeda never rose again from this massacre. The Battle of Nagashino was a turning point in samurai battlefield strategy as well as in the whole course of a nation. The old guard was giving way to the new.

War always sets the stage for the proud to fall. The Bible states, "Pride goes before the fall." Even with the numbers and terrain stacked against him, Katsuyori stilled ordered the attack. Most military strategists counsel that you need three times the size of the defending force to even think of mounting an assault.

The ranks of many Christians are falling in droves to the sin of pride. They launch out impetuously without taking stock of their strengths or if God is leading them in their pursuit of misguided goals. Boldness is good, but disciplined obedience is better.

The Takeda clan was finally exterminated at the battle of Temmokuzan. You could say pride destroyed them.