Osprey Trade Editions : Nagashino 1575

When Portuguese traders took advantage of the constant violence in Japan to sell the Japanese their first firearms, Japanese warfare was dramatically altered. In 1575 the impetuous Takeda Katsuyori lay siege to Nagashino castle. An army was finally despatched to relieve Nagashino, after a messenger managed to slip through the besieging army. The two forces faced each other in the Toyo River valley. The Takeda samurai were brave, loyal and renowned for their cavalry charges, but Nobunaga, counting on Takeda's impetuosity, had three thousand musketeers waiting behind a parapet for their assault. This tale of transition tells of how, as the smoke from the muskets cleared the face of Japanese warfare changed forever. Text by Stephen Turnbull with illustrations by Howard Gerrard.