Sieges of Nagashima - Second Siege of Nagashima (1573)

Second Siege of Nagashima (1573)

Nobunaga returned to the matter of Nagashima in July 1573 with a sizable force, largely recruited from Ise province and containing a good number of arquebusiers. His fervor had been renewed by a successful campaign against the warrior monks of Mount Hiei. His commanders Sakuma Nobumori and Hashiba Hideyoshi (later to be known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) led a diversionary force attacking from the west, while Nobunaga hoped for his own force to charge forward behind the gunners.

Unfortunately, despite the fame Nobunaga would later receive for his expert firearms tactics, this battle would turn out to be one of his more famous failures in that field. A rainstorm hit just as he was about to open the battle. The rain rendered 90% of the arquebuses useless and left his men in a terribly weak defensive position. The Ikkō-ikki troops immediately counter-attacked. They too are now known for their expertise with firearms, and their arquebuses were covered during the storm. The Ikki began firing as soon as the rain let up, and even came quite close to killing Nobunaga. He fell back, attempting to bring his own gunners to bear once more, but was forced to retreat.

The diversionary force, meanwhile, captured Yata castle, at the southern tip of the Nagashima complex, but they too were forced to withdraw after a successful Ikki counterattack.