10 Amazing Rarely Mentioned Battles Of Japan's Civil War Era

Oda Nobunaga's expansion had been troubled by warrior monks though most of his life and the Nagashima-monto were just one of the many rabble-rousing Buddhist sects to cause him trouble. So, in 1571 he sent two of his generals, Sakuma Nobumori and Shibata Katsuie, to destroy the sect.

The Nagashima-monto was actually comprised of a wooden stockade originally built by the Ito clan some decades earlier and a fortified monastery called Gansho Temple. Surrounding these two fortifications were numerous fortified island communities that Nobunaga's troops would have to fight through, known as waju.

Capturing the waju were the key to success and so the Oda forces marched their troops down a shallow, but broad, river which ran through the area to attack said communities. Unfortunately for them the ground was soft and their cavalry got stuck in the mud. Under constant gun and archery barrages Shibata managed to get a small force into the defender's territory. They were then met by ingenious traps comprised of thin ropes tied to stakes, set in the mud, which tripped up the horses further.

Just as the Oda forces managed to get a foothold through all the mud and traps, the defenders opened a series of dikes which flooded the region and waged a counter attack.

The Oda army was forced to retreat and Shibata was badly wounded and taken out of action for some time afterward. The defeat was so disastrous that Nobunaga would be forced to personally lead the next attack on Nagashima two years later – though it also met in a terrible defeat at the defender's hands.