Battle of Mikatagahara The ( January 25 , 1573 ; Tōtōmi Province , Japan ) was one of the most famous battles of Takeda Shingen ' s campaigns , and one of the best demonstrations of his cavalry - based tactics . It was also one of Tokugawa Ieyasu ' s worst defeats , and complete disaster was only narrowly averted . According to the Japanese calendar , the battle was fought on the 22nd day , 12th month , the year Genki - 3 . Background . In October 1572 , after having concluded alliances with his rivals to the east ( the Late Hōjō clan of Odawara and the Satomi clan of Awa ) , and after waiting for the snow to close off the northern mountain passes against his northern rival , Uesugi Kenshin , Takeda Shingen led an army of 20 , 000 men south from his capital of Kofu into Tōtōmi Province , while one of his generals led a second force of 5 , 000 men into eastern Mikawa Province . Shingen was opposed by Tokugawa Ieyasu , based at Hamamatsu Castle with 8 , 000 men , plus an additional 3 , 000 reinforcements received from his ally , Oda Nobunaga . However , Takeda ’ s intent was not to attack Ieyasu nor to seize Hamamatsu ; rather , he wished to avoid conflict if possible to save his forces to destroy Nobunaga and to march on Kyoto . First attack . Against the advice provided by Sakuma Nobumori , Hiraide Norihide and Takigawa Kazumasu , who had been sent by Nobunaga , and by his own generals , Torii Motohiro , Ogasawara Nagayoshi , Matsudaira Ietada , Honda Tadakatsu and Ishikawa Kazumasa , Ieyasu refused to allow the Takeda army to pass through his territory unhindered , and drew up his forces on a high plain called Mikatagahara , just north of Hamamatsu . According to the " Kōyō Gunkan " , the contemporary Takeda military history , Shingen outnumbered Ieyasu three - to - one , and organized his men in the " gyorin " ( 魚鱗 , fish - scale ) formation , enticing his opponent to attack . Ieyasu ' s troops were arranged in a line , so they could make the best use of their arquebus iers . At around four in the afternoon , snow began to fall , and the arquebusiers opened fire , along with a number of peasant stone - throwers . Firearms , being new to Japanese warfare , were an unbalancing factor and Ieyasu may have expected his superior weaponry to defeat Shingen ' s tactical attempts . However , Shingen then let loose his famous cavalry charge ; his horsemen raced towards the gunners , and overran them . The Tokugawa forces stood firm on the left flank despite many casualties , the allies provided by Nobunaga were overwhelmed , with Hiraide killed , and Takigawa and Sakuma fleeing the battle . Second attack . Shingen then withdrew his forward troops , offering them an opportunity to rest , and brought forward a new set of horsemen initiated a new charge , led by Takeda Katsuyori and Obata Masamori . They were soon joined by the main body of the Takeda army , which drove the Tokugawa into full retreat . Ieyasu sent one of his commanders , Ōkubo Tadayo , to plant his giant golden fan standard ( " uma - jirushi " ) to serve as a rallying point at Saigadake , where the high plains began to drop off . He then sought to re - engage the Takeda army , to free his trapped generals , but was persuaded by Natsume Yoshinobu to retreat ; as head of the Tokugawa clan , Ieyasu ' s life was too important . Yoshinobu then led a charge into the Takeda line , and was killed . Retreat . When Tokugawa returned to Hamamatsu Castle , he was accompanied by only five men . The town was on verge of panic as rumor had already reached Hamamatsu that the battle had gone badly . Nevertheless , Ieyasu commanded that the castle gates remain open , and that braziers be lit to guide his retreating army back to safety . Sakai Tadatsugu beat a large war drum , seeking to add encouragement to the returning men of a noble , courageous retreat . This tactic is called the " empty fort strategy " . When the Takeda vanguard , led by Baba Nobuharu and Yamagata Masakage heard the drums , and saw the braziers and open gates , they assumed that Tokugawa was planning a trap , and so they stopped and made camp for the night . In the night , a small band of Tokugawa ninja led by Hattori Hanzo attacked the Takeda camp , throwing the vanguard of the Takeda army into confusion . Uncertain of the remaining strength of the Tokugawa forces , and worried that reinforcements from Oda Nobunaga and / or Uesugi Kenshin were on their way , Takeda Shingen decided to withdraw his forces back to his own territories and to try again the following year . However , for Takeda Shingen , there would be no following attack on Hamamatsu , as he would be fatally wounded in January 1573 at the Siege of Noda Castle .