Battle of Mikatagahara - First Attack

First Attack

Against the advice provided by Sakuma Nobumori, Hiraide Norihide and Takigawa Kazumasa, who had been sent by Nobunaga, and by his own generals, Torii Motohiro, Ogasawara Nagayoshi, Matsudaira Ietada, Honda Tadakatsu and Ishikawa Kazemasa, 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 arquebusiers.

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.