The 1575 Battle of Nagashino resulted in the evntual end of the Takenda clan during the sengoku jidai in Japan. In the movie Kagemusha the Takeda cavalry charges guns and is devastated. The wikipedia article claims a similar scenario. However, I read (I don't recall where) that the actual battle involved Takeda sending sappers in "penny packets" against prepared positions looking for a nonexistent weakness in the Oda defenses. After frittering away their sappers Takeda could not overcome the prepared positions and was defeated. Is there a definitive account of the battle or any strong evidence for how the actual battle occurred?

The 1575 Battle of Nagashino resulted in the eventual end of the Takenda clan during the sengoku jidai in Japan. In the movie "Kagemusha", the Takeda cavalry charges guns and is devastated. The wikipedia article claims a similar scenario. However, I read (I don't recall where) that the actual battle involved Takeda sending sappers in "penny packets" against prepared positions looking for a non-existent weakness in the Oda defenses. After frittering away their sappers, Takeda could not overcome the prepared positions and was defeated. Is there a definitive account of the battle or any strong evidence for how the actual battle occurred?