Sanada Nobushige, commonly referred to as Sanada Yukimura by his deceased close friend, he was a ronin of the Sengoku period, he was a mere boy compared the the veterans the Takeda army, maybe only 28, they had encountered many battle, but this was one of the first times he had seen a force this large fall so quick, it was more of a massacre than a battle. It was June 28th, 1575, the heavy rain beating down on the troops, making the once sturdy ground turn to mud, the rain mixed with sweat was disrupting the vision of the Takeda Calvary, but Takeda Katsuyori, confidant that the rain would render the matchbox muskets of the Oda army useless, sent his calvary forward, going slow across the water, unknowingly appraoching their own deaths. They had been assaulting the castle since the 17th of June, due to a threat by the Tokugawa forces aimed at the Takeda supply lines. The recent intel was good, but it could help them in no way. Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu had arrived earlier that week bringing with him a band of around 38,000 troops combined, to relieve the siege on the castle by, Takeda Katsuyori. Of the Takeda's original 15,00 besiegers, only 12,000 would enter battle with the Oda-Tokugawa armies.
Oda and Tokugawa positioned their men across the plain from the castle, behind the Rengogawa, a small stream whose steep banks would slow down the cavalry charges for which the Takeda clan was known. Seeking to protect his arquebusiers, Nobunaga built a number of wooden stockades, setting up his gunmen to attack the Takeda cavalry in volleys. The stockades served to brunt the force of charging cavalry, provide protection from sword and spear thrusts, and provide limited protection from arrows. Ports or gates in the staggered and overlapping stockades were positioned to channel the calvary charges into lanes where they would be at a disadvantage to further gunfire, arrows, and sword and spear thrusts from the stockade's defenders. There were approximately three gunmen for each four Takeda mounted samurai. Of Oda's forces, an estimated 1,000-1,5000 troops were arquebusiers and they were placed under the command of his horo-shu, or elite bodyguards. Oda sent out small forces against Takeda to feint frontal attacks, which caused Katsuyori to move against Oda's forces.
Takeda's men emerged from the forest and found themselves 200-400 meters from the Oda-Tokugawa stockades. The short distance, great power of the Takeda cavalry charge, and the heavy rain, which Katsuyori assumed would render the matchlock guns useless, encouraged him to order the charge. Takeda's cavalry was feared by both the Oda and Tokugawa, who had suffered a defeat at the Battle of Mikata ga Hara.
The horses slowed to cross the stream, and were fired upon as they came 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 any cavalry charge depends on the infantry breaking ranks so that the cavalry can mow them down. Between the ferocity of the arquebusiers' attack and the rigid control of the horo-shu, the arquebusiers stood their ground, and were able to fire multiple volleys at the charging cavalry. Ashigaru spearmen stabbed through or over the stockades at any horses that made it past the initial volleys, and samurai, with shorter swords and with spears engaged in single combat with any Takeda warriors who made it past the wooden barricades. Strong forces on the ends prevented the Takeda forces from flanking the stockades. By mid-afternoon, the Takeda broke, most of the calvary had been annihilated in the first few hours of the fight, but in the piles of the dead bodies there was one voice that called out.
"Is this it? Is this the end...?"
Said a lone warrior on the field littered with countless beseigers, horses bleeding, only to be shot as they tried to stand up. This was truly humiliation, before their enemy even came within range of close combat the Takeda army was obliterated, the constand sound of metal ricketing off armour, shattering bone, piercing flesh. What a horrific nightmare, but never the less Sanada Yukimura would not allow himself to die, he would fight until he was struck to the ground.
"...I won't...I won't just lay on the ground and wait for the vultures, I will fight, I will show them the power of the Sanada."
The warrior struggled to his hands and knees, earning him the attention of the Oda gunamen, he was one soldier, and instead of killing him with their bullets they sent a lieutenant to taunt him, the man walked proudly over to the wounded Sanada, who was aparently reaching for his spear, the man laughed and kicked Yukimura in the face, but the man wasn't just going to kill him, instead he bellowed out laughter and tossed Yukimura's red spear to him, he felt it smal against his heavy armour, and flinched as he grasped the shaft of the spear, the soldier took out his sword and got into his stance, awaiting the Sanada warrior. He was silent, but his thoughts seemed to scream out, he rose slowly, using his spear as support, behind him the Takeda calvary that survived the volleys were begining to move, but as there was a duel going on the gunmen waited. Yukimura took his spear, allowed the tail to press against his hip, and he saw the lieutenant flinch, the man ran forward, there was only a few meters or so between them, but the Sanada ran too, he held his spear with the tip dragging in the ground, but as he was within 5 feet of the man he pulled his spear in a forward arc, going vertically between his legs straight through the top of his head, there was a spray of blood, and the Oda troops cheered, but seconds later the lieutenant's body was torn in two straight down the center, half going left, half right. The Oda troops gasped and raised their guns, but behing him the remaining Takeda troops stood, Yukimura smiled and swung his spear in a circular motion in front of him, he swung it once and the air in front of him seemed to be split in half. He raised the spear above his head and let out a war cry, the warcry was one, and then became a thousand. The footsteps shook the earth as the remainign Takeda troops began to charge, they wewre broken, without the slightest chance of victory, yet they still rushed forward.
"For the Takeda!"