Battle of Nagashino The took place in 1575 near Nagashino Castle ( 長篠城 ) on the plain of Shitaragahara ( 設楽原 ) in the Mikawa province ( 三河 ) of Japan . Forces under Takeda Katsuyori ( 武田勝頼 ) had besieged the castle since the 17 June ; Okudaira Sadamasa ( 奥平貞昌 ) , a Tokugawa vassal , commanded the defending force . The Takeda forces attacked the castle because it threatened Takeda ' s supply lines . 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 Takeda Katsuyori ( 武田勝頼 ) . Nobunaga ' s skillful use of firearms to defeat Takeda ' s cavalry tactics is often cited as a turning point in Japanese warfare ; many cite it as the first ' modern ' Japanese battle . In fact , the cavalry charge had been introduced only a generation earlier by Katsuyori ' s father , Takeda Shingen ( 武田信玄 ) . Furthermore , firearms had already been used in other battles . Oda Nobunaga ' s innovation was the wooden stockades and rotating volleys of fire which led to a decisive victory at Nagashino . The battle . According to the " Shinchō kōki " Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu brought a total force of 38 , 000 men to relieve the siege on the castle by Takeda Katsuyori . Of Takeda ' s original 15 , 000 besiegers , only 12 , 000 faced the Oda - Tokugawa army in this battle . Oda and Tokugawa positioned their men across the plain from the castle , behind the Rengogawa ( 連吾川 ) , a small stream whose steep banks would slow down the cavalry charges for which the Takeda clan was known . Seeking to protect his arquebus iers , which he would later become famous for , Nobunaga built a number of wooden stockades , setting up his gunners to attack the Takeda cavalry in volleys . The stockades served to blunt the force of charging cavalry , provide protection from sword blows and spear thrusts , and provide limited protection from arrows . Ports or gates in the staggered and overlapping stockades were positioned to channel the cavalry charges into lanes where they would be vulnerable to further gunfire , arrows , and sword and spear thrusts from the stockade ' s defenders . There were also approximately three gunmen for every four Takeda mounted samurai . Of Oda ' s forces , an estimated 3 , 000 troops were samurai arquebusiers , and they were placed under the command of his " horo - shu " ( 母衣衆 ) , or elite bodyguards . Oda sent out small forces against Takeda to feign frontal attacks , which caused Katsuyori to move against Oda ' s forces . The Takeda army emerged from the forest and found themselves 200 – 400 meters from the Oda - Tokugawa stockades . The short distance , the great power of the Takeda cavalry charge , and the heavy rain , which Katsuyori assumed would render the matchlock guns useless , encouraged Takeda to order the charge . Takeda ' s cavalry was feared by both the Oda and Tokugawa forces , who had suffered a defeat at the Battle of Mikatagahara ( 三方原の戦い ) . The horses slowed to cross the stream and were fired upon as they crested the streambed within 50 meters of the enemy . This was considered the optimum distance to penetrate the armor of the cavalry . In typical military strategy , the success of a cavalry charge depends on the infantry breaking ranks so that the cavalry can mow them down . If the infantry does " not " break , however , cavalry charges will often fail — with even trained warhorses refusing to advance into the solid ranks of opponents . Between the continuous fire of the arquebusiers ’ volleys and the rigid control of the " horo - shu " , the Oda forces stood their ground and were able to repel every charge . Ashigaru spearmen stabbed through or over the stockades at horses that made it past the initial volleys , and " samurai " , with swords and shorter spears , engaged in single combat with Takeda warriors who made it past the wooden barricades . Strong defenses on the ends of the lines prevented Takeda forces from flanking the stockades . By mid - afternoon , the Takeda broke and fled , and the Oda forces vigorously pursued . According to " Shinchō kōki " , Takeda suffered a loss of 10 , 000 men , two - thirds of his original besieging force . However this figure is excessively high and is most likely an exaggeration . Other contemporary sources gives a number of 1000 killed in battle and another 2000 during the rout , though this is likely excessively low . Eight of his famous ' Twenty - Four Generals ' were killed in this battle , including Baba Nobuharu ( 馬場信春 ) , Yamagata Masakage ( 山県昌景 ) , and Naito Masatoyo ( 内藤昌豊 ) . Modern adaptations . Film . The Battle of Nagashino and the last years of the Takeda clan are dramatised in Akira Kurosawa ' s 1980 film " Kagemusha " ( Shadow Warrior ) . In the film , a wayward thief is recruited to impersonate the dead Takeda Shingen in the years preceding Takeda Katsuyori ' s defeat at Nagashino . At the end of the film , the thief witnesses the battle and at its end he is the last one to hold up the Takeda banner . Video games . The Battle of Nagashino is a significant part of many PlayStation 2 games , predominantly Koei ' s " Kessen III " and " Samurai Warriors " . If Shingen is the playable character in " Samurai Warriors " , there is a ' what - if ' situation which examines what would have happened if he had not died : Shingen successfully reads the feint , and does not charge . It then starts raining , rendering the arquebuses worthless except as clubs . Only then would the Takeda cavalry charge , completely routing the Oda - Tokugawa combined forces . Likewise , this can be done in Uesugi Kenshin ' s Story in " Samurai Warriors 2 " where due to a historical tangent , Kenshin joins the living Shingen at Nagashino . ( Although perhaps ironically or humorously , in at least one version of SW2 ' s raining at Nagashino , Nobunaga responds by ordering his arquebusiers : " Simply use your rifles to beat them to death . " )