Introduction to Samurai
Samurai was the warrior class of Japan, or a participant of that class. He was used to protect the emperor and serve his local lord, called a Daimyo. After his local lord, he served the supreme military dictator or ruler of Japan, called a Shogun. Samurai wore two swords, one long, and the other short. These were used to symbolize their class. The long sword was used for fighting in a battle and was called Katana. The short sword was called wakizashi, it was worn for protection in everyday life.
A Samurai was an individual warrior. To him �personal honor and prowess were of the utmost importance� (Turnbull, Samurai Armies 1550-1615, p.3). The individualism was starting to be extinct when the armies started growing to huge sizes. The traditional samurai warfare finally ended with arrival of the new killing machine, the musket.
As the individualism declined, so did the concept of a samurai. That individual warrior was turning into a tiny pinprick of a huge army. �The great generals thought in terms not of a samurai but of samurai armies, where individual prowess was valued in terms of its contribution to a carefully planned strategy�(Turnbull, Samurai Armies 1550-1615 p.3).
PART 2
Early Samurai Warfare
Before the arrival of the muskets, Samurai warfare during 8th to 16th century was based on individualism. Tactics were very simple, to destroy the enemy. In early battles formations weren�t widely used. Usually, �both sides would line up a few hundred yards from one another. The silence would be broken by a signaling arrow, the one samurai would go forward, fire an arrow and proclaim his name, challenging the enemy for a duel. After they fight the process would continue, but there would be increasing number of participants. Eventually the field will be swarming with chaotic melee�(�Samurai Warfare�, Brian Bradford).
The Ashigaru, or peasant soldiers were distrusted by most of the Samurai. They were usually kept reserve and never committed to battle. This was because Samurai thought that Ashigaru weren�t loyal enough. Samurai thought they would run in the heat of the battle. A man called Oda Nobunaga would notice this mistake of ignoring the Ashigaru later in 16th Century.
Another addition to early Samurai warfare is that the armies were smaller in size compared to the armies in later centuries. Records of a Samurai clan, called Shimazu show that only 3,000 soldiers were fielded in the army in 1411, this amount is really small compared to the number of soldiers that were fielded in 1576, which is 115,000 men (Turnbull, Samurai Armies 1550-1615 p.7).
PART 3
Arrival of the Musket
�In the year of 1542, a Chinese vessel carrying three Portuguese traders was shipwrecked on the island of Tanegashima. The lord of the isle saw the device carried by these strange men and grew excited:
��In their hands they carried something two or three feet long, straight on the outside with a passage inside, and made of a heavy substance�Its shape defies comparison with anything I know. To use it, fill it with powder and small lead pellets�Grip the object in your hand�and apply fire to the aperture. Then the pellet hits the target squarely��(Bradford �Samurai Warfare�). Japanese quickly bought these weapons and learned how to make their own. There were 60,000 arquebuses in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.(Exchange Mag.)
They were called Arquebusiers. They were the first types of muskets ever made. The only difference between a musket and an arquebus was that the musket had a longer range (Oman, A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century p.249-50).
The reason arquebuses were so popular in the samurai armies was that they were very simple to learn. It took years to become skilled with bow, but even a peasant could learn how to fire an arquebus in a short matter of time. Another reason why it was so popular was that it had a superior range than the bow. This is why arquebus marked the starting of the decline of archers.
PART 4
Nagashino
Battle of Nagashino was one of the most important battles in Japanese history because of the tactical innovations that were made in this battle.
After a long siege to the town of Nagashino by Takeda Katsuyori reinforcements by Oda Nobunaga come to help the defenders. Splitting his forces in two, Oda raids the Takeda camp to get their attention and the other part of his forces create a palisade wall while waiting for the retaliatory attack from Takeda. After the raid, Takeda Katsuyori orders 10,000 of his cavalry men to attack Oda Nobunaga�s men behind the palisade. Seeing the power of the arquebus, Oda ordered 3,000 of his arquebusiers to make three lines behind the palisade. He also orders them �to shoot at close range and shoot the horses first�(Bradford �Samurai Warfare�)
Soon Takeda cavalrymen attack with great speed towards the palisades. When the enemy is close enough, the first line of arquebusiers fire all at once. While they are reloading, the second line opens fire and the third. �Many of the mounted men were shot down or had their horses killed under them, but the most effective result was to cause chaos and confusion among a formerly disciplined force, leaving them prey to sharp swords and spears of the samurai�(Turnbull, Samurai Warfare, p.77).
The result was a famous victory for Oda Nobunaga but a bigger victory for the arquebus for it has proven to be effective in volley fire.
PART 5
Changes in Tactics
With the arrival of the arquebuses came new tactics in the battlefield. Men with arquebuses were positioned in the front of the army in offensive tactics as well as defensive tactics too. Since arquebuses had a power to soften up defenses, many generals put them in the front to open gaps in the enemy for the main assault through the gaps. Defending generals also noticed the value of arquebuses to the defense of the army and therefore positioned them in the front of the defending army to soften up the attacking forces. Archers who were formerly used to soften up the enemy were now used as skirmishers.
The second innovation was the use of ashigaru or peasant soldiers. For the first time in Japan, peasants were given a place on the battlefield and trusted upon. As a result army sizes grew as more and more peasants were made into soldiers.
New formations were made using the firepower of the arquebus. �Lines of arquebusiers took up position in front of the army, supported by lines of pikemen�(Bradford, �Samurai Warfare�).