As part of an ongoing effort to dominate Totomi, Takeda Shingen led an army south from [[Shinano province|Shinano]] and captured [[Futamata Castle|Futamata]]. A few months later he returned to Futamata and used it as a base in a move against [[Hamamatsu Castle|Hamamatsu]], Tokugawa Ieyasu's headquarters. Tokugawa Ieyasu, reinforced by troops sent by [[Oda Nobunaga]], rashly marched out to challenge the Takeda army on the Mikata Plain (Mikata ga hara). Shingen ordered a frontal assault that quickly broke the Oda contingent and allowed for Takeda horsemen to begin circling around the Tokugawa flanks. Ieyasu signaled a retreat and barely managed to make it back to Hamamatsu alive. He survived the event only due to Takeda reluctance to become involved in a siege. This battle is often recorded as the opening move of a Takeda advance on Kyoto, but it would appear that Shingen's primary goal was to weaken Ieyasu for local advantage. | As part of an ongoing effort to dominate Totomi, Takeda Shingen led an army south from [[Shinano province|Shinano]] and captured [[Futamata Castle|Futamata]]. A few months later he returned to Futamata and used it as a base in a move against [[Hamamatsu Castle|Hamamatsu]], Tokugawa Ieyasu's headquarters. Tokugawa Ieyasu, reinforced by troops sent by [[Oda Nobunaga]], rashly marched out to challenge the Takeda army on the Mikata Plain (Mikata ga hara). Shingen ordered a frontal assault that quickly broke the Oda contingent and allowed for Takeda horsemen to begin circling around the Tokugawa flanks. Ieyasu signaled a retreat and barely managed to make it back to Hamamatsu alive. He survived the event only due to Takeda reluctance to become involved in a siege. This battle is often recorded as the opening move of a Takeda advance on Kyoto, but it would appear that Shingen's primary goal was to weaken Ieyasu for local advantage. |