Japanese war before the introduction of guns ( Ikusa ) Was generally defeated with a spear or bow, and according to one theory, one-on-one combat is also the basis.
However, in the 16th century, guns, which were much more powerful than bows, were introduced.
This time, such gun introduction I would like to delve into.
When and where did the guns come?
The introduction of guns was 1543 A matchlock was transmitted to Tanegashima.
Taking this opportunity, the war in Japan will change drastically.
A Portuguese merchant was aboard a Chinese ship and sailing in the East China Sea. However, storms are likely to occur in this sea, and Chinese ships are washed away and washed ashore in Tanegashima, a part of Satsuma Province.
The people of Tanegashima were surprised by the Portuguese who came out of the Chinese ship, but it was not that they had no interaction with the Chinese, so I decided to listen to the situation via the Chinese.
According to the story, the Portuguese were found to be merchants and even possess unknown weapons and guns.
This unknown weapon / gun seems to be a weapon that can easily reach places that cannot be reached with a bow and can easily defeat the target. Tanegashima lord, Tanegashima Tokitaka Purchased two guns for 2000 cars. The money at that time was a huge amount of 200 million yen.
This is the moment when the Japanese first picked up the gun It is said that.
Manufacture of guns
I bought a gun, but I knew that no matter how powerful the weapon was, it wouldn't make sense to just have two. So, Tanegashima Tokitaka Asked a local swordsmith to make the gun he bought.
From the blacksmith's point of view, I received a request from the lord to make a weapon that I had never seen or heard of as a gun, but since it is a manufacturing powerhouse Japan, I struggle while struggling. Domestic production of guns in just one year Was successful.
Gun = Tanegashima It is said that the land that was domestically produced for the first time was called Tanegashima.
To mass production by Negoro-ji Temple ...
Information on the domestic production of guns spread to various parts of Japan in a blink of an eye, and merchants and others began to pay attention to this new weapon. Meanwhile, at Negoro-ji Temple in Kishu, we negotiated with Tanegashima Tokitaka and succeeded in obtaining a gun.
Negoro-ji is a temple from the Heian period, and at that time, it was an armed group that actually ruled Kishu with 20,000 monks. Speaking of gun professionals of this era, Saika Ikki is famous for games, but they were one of the armed groups of Negoro-ji and used guns from Negoro-ji.
This Negoro-ji Temple is Tanegashima Tokitaka Similarly, I asked the swordsmith to make a gun, and I made it easily. Three years after the introduction of guns, Negoro became famous as a major production area for guns, such as receiving orders for production from Sakai.
In addition, blacksmiths in the Omi region all produced guns, and Kunitomo Then, it became a major production area to support the Oda clan's gun corps.
The influence of the introduction of guns that changed the war in Japan
So far in Japan, spears and swords Defeat the opponent directly with hand-to-hand combat Is the main, and when it comes to missiles, bows or stones It was about the same. However, with the introduction of guns, the battle changed to those using guns.
Since hand-to-hand combat so far is easily preyed on by guns, enemies and allies no longer fight directly on the battlefield. Also, since the attack power of the gun is so great, it is important to march carefully so as not to be attacked by the gun when attacking the castle or fighting, and the battle has become longer.
In such a long-term battle, it was necessary to secure a large amount of financial resources and supply routes, and it was necessary to separate soldiers and farmers so that they would not return to the farming season. Therefore, a daimyo with good conditions like the Oda clan came to win the battle.
An easy-to-understand example of the old and new battles is the Battle of Nagashino of the Oda-Tokugawa Allied Forces VS Takeda family in 1575.
For the first time in Japan, in the Battle of Nagashino, where guns are known as the leading battle, the Oda army is a method of devastating damage to the Takeda clan's strongest cavalry corps in front of a gun corps with 3000 guns. There wasn't.
A gun that had a weak point even with the strongest attack power
It is a gun that boasts the strongest attack power and has changed the mechanism of the battle itself, but it seems that it had an unexpected weakness.
The price was high and it was difficult to introduce.
1543 [ Introducing guns that cost a budget (1543) As I remembered, guns were very high-class and expensive, and the price was about 750,000 to 2.5 million per gun. Even if you buy it at the lowest price of 750,000 yen, it will cost more than 2.2 billion yen for 3000 pieces.
In addition, guns do not work without gunpowder. In Japan, the niter, which is the raw material for this gunpowder, cannot be obtained at all, and in a state where we have to rely on Nanban trade, the gunpowder for shooting one gun is 30,000 yen . It is said that it will take about a long time.
Therefore, ordinary soldiers did not shoot guns, only soldiers trained in guns were allowed to handle them.
It took a long time to shoot
The gun that was introduced to Japan is called a matchlock gun, and the fire attached to the matchlock was attached to gunpowder and the bullet was shot in reaction to the explosion.
It seems easy to look at this, but it takes a tremendous amount of preparation to get there ...
- First, stuff the gunpowder into the gun
- Packing bullets He pushes in with a stick at this time
- Open the fire lid and put the gunpowder
- Aim and hold and shoot
I was able to fire one shot for the first time after finishing this work.
It seems that this series of work took about 1 minute.
If the cavalry attacked before the preparations were completed, it would be a good idea to have a gun corps.
In addition, I couldn't use it on rainy days because I handle fire. However, daily research was conducted to cover these weaknesses, such as by striking three steps and installing horse fences, and the weaknesses of guns gradually disappeared.