If you look at the history of Japan, there are many battles, and you can imagine the spectacular battle between the two armies, whether they live or die. However, the battle between Heian and Kamakura was very clean and easy to understand.
What is the method of the battle ...
One-on-one combat is.
From the Heian period to the Kamakura period, one-on-one combat is basic
The samurai of the Kamakura period were horse warriors Then, there was an ashigaru servant who had a naginata around the warrior. The protagonist of the battle was a cavalry warrior, and his servants were auxiliary forces.
First of all, the beginning of the battle is arrow matching Kabura-ya that makes a sound called To inform you of the start of the war.
There, the warriors find a suitable opponent and give their name to each other, and the battle begins. The way to fight is to run each horse and shoot an arrow at the opponent like a Yabusame . .. However, the armor at that time weighed 30 to 40 kilograms, and the arrows rarely penetrated, so many of them ended up running out of arrows.
If this happens, it will be a one-on-one fight with a sword, but this too will not be settled. Eventually, the enemy will be laid down and the end will be stabbed.
On the other hand, when it comes to ashigaru infantry, it seems that they sometimes helped their masters when they were about to lose. At that time, it seems that there was a turbulent battle that is common in dramas.
As mentioned above, the battle of the samurai in the Heian-Kamakura period started from a long-distance battle with arrows and horses, and if it was still undecided, it was a style of single combat like professional wrestling.
The social background at that time establishes a single combat
Such a way of fighting is natural considering the social background at that time.
After all, the other person had a familiar face, and even if they didn't know it, they had a sense of distance so that they could identify each other. Because they are Japanese in the same society, the enemy was not an unknown race like ancient Greece and Rome.
In other words, in Japan, the method is regarded as a problem for both winners and losers. Therefore, the attack of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who is not a horse or a combatant, and a rower of a ship is evacuated as an act of destroying the formation of society. This is proof that the battles of this era have more than just a mere meaning.
When the era reached the world of the Warring States, samurai were professionals in battle but also had one side of bureaucracy, but the samurai in the Kamakura period emphasized land . So, they were both samurai and peasants.
It is Mongol invasion that it is clear that this one-on-one fighting spirit was established because they share the same society. is. This Mongol invasion In, Kamakura samurai's single combat spirit does not work at all I was forced to struggle. Therefore, the Kamakura samurai also used group battles . It is said that he greeted the former.
This Mongol invasion Even though the spirit of single combat was not understood, it will be inherited in the Muromachi period. However, in the Warring States period, the scale of the war will gradually increase and the number of soldiers participating will increase. Long-range battle mainly for missiles such as bows and arrows Is still the main character, but gradually group battles and walking battles Has increased. Along with that, the weapon is also Naginata From spear Ashigaru is the main force suitable for group battles in the Warring States period. It has become.
The basis of the battle between Heian and Kamakura is one-on-one combat, which seems to be inefficient, but it can be said that it is a natural result considering the appearance of samurai and the social background at that time. However, in the Muromachi period, the scale of the battle became larger, and as the number of soldiers increased, the single combat spirit disappeared.
Let's write about the battle and military during the Muromachi period and the Warring States period at another time.