reafter he escaped to the camp of the
Takeda army, pretending that the evil treatment he had undergone was
too much for his loyalty. Katsuyori, the Takeda commander, received
the fugitive with open arms, and acting in accordance with his
advice, disposed his troops in such a manner as to forfeit all the
advantages of the position. The battle that ensued is memorable as
the first historical instance of the use of firearms on any
considerable scale in a Japanese campaign. Nobunaga's men took
shelter themselves behind palisades and fusilladed the enemy so hotly
that the old-fashioned hand-to-hand fighting became almost
impossible. The losses of the Takeda men were enormous, and it may be
said that the tactics of the era underwent radical alteration from
that time, so that the fight at Takinosawa is memorable in Japanese
history. Hideyoshi urged the advisability of pushing on at once to
Katsuyori's capital, but Nobunaga hesitated to make such a call upon
the energies of his troops, and the final overthrow of the Takeda
chief was postponed.

MILITARY TACTICS

The Mongol invasion should have taught to the Japanese the great
advantages of co-operating military units, but individual prowess
continued to be the guiding factor of field tactics in Japan down to
the second half of the sixteenth century, when the introduction of
firearms inspired new methods. Japanese historians have not much to
say upon this subject. Indeed Rai Sanyo, in the Nihon-gwaishi, may
almost be said to be the sole authority. He writes as follows: "The
generalship of Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin was something quite
new in the country at their time. Prior to their day the art of
manoeuvring troops had been little studied. Armies met, but each
individual that composed them relied on his personal prowess and
strength for victory. These two barons, however, made a special study
of strategy and military tactics, with the result that they became
authorities on the various methods of handling troops. In reference
to the employment of cavalry, the Genji warriors and the first of the
Ashikaga shoguns made use of horses largely, but in later days the
Ashikaga did not move away from Kyoto and had no use for horses.
Nobunaga, being near Kyoto, and most of the wars in which he engaged
involving no very long marches, relied almost solely on infantry.
Both Takeda and Uesugi were well supplied with mounted troops, but
owing to the hilly nature of their territories,