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Baba NobuharuSanada Masayuki
Yamagata Masakage
Vanguard of the Red Cavalry

Yamagata Masakage

Kai and Shinano
Yamagata Masakage
Life 1529–1575 (aged 47)
Title Vanguard of the Red Cavalry
Faction Kai and Shinano
Places associated with this character Kai (1544–1575)
Voice and speech A terse Kai warrior’s speech, sharp in youth; even a dispatch is delivered one clear word at a time.
Family One of the Takeda Four Generals. He inherited the red armor from Shingen and led the Takeda army’s vanguard, striking fear into enemy ranks.
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Small in stature but the sharpest blade in Takeda’s ranks, he led the red cavalry in crimson. Fight at his side and share the work of command, and he will treat you as one of his own.

Life

Leader of the Takeda Red Cavalry

Ambition

Break enemy lines with the red cavalry’s speed and force, and make the Takeda army’s name feared above all.

He exposed his elder brother Obu Toramasa’s plot and saved the Takeda house from danger, then inherited his brother’s red cavalry. Though small in stature, he became a demon on the battlefield and opened the way for Lord Shingen.

If the vanguard breaks, the Takeda army loses its striking power and its path to victory collapses.

Obstacles of the era
  • The loss of strategic unity within the house after Shingen’s death
  • A coordinated volley from 3,000 firearms fielded by the Oda–Tokugawa alliance
  • The muddy ground at Shitaragahara and palisades that blunted cavalry charges

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

The assault tactics taught by Lord Shingen and the crimson armor of the Red Cavalry that made enemies tremble.

Turning point

The lifelong wound of reporting his own brother Obu Toramasa’s treason to protect the house, driving him to suicide.

How he treats others

The soldiers and commanders who wore red armor and entrusted their lives to him in mud and blood.

Principle he will not yield

Letting the Takeda Red Cavalry flee in disgrace with its back to the enemy.

Historical path

1544 - 1560
A young warrior called Iitomi Genshirō who rose as Shingen’s messenger
A terse Kai warrior’s speech, sharp in youth; each dispatch is clear and precise.
1561 - 1565
A commander who reported his elder brother and received the Yamagata name and red armor
His terse manner grows subdued; when his brother is mentioned, he falls silent.
1566 - 1573
The Takeda blade whose red cavalry broke enemy lines and defeated Ieyasu at Mikatagahara
He gives only necessary commands at the front, his voice cold and steady.
1574 - 1575
An aging commander whose counsel against battle was rejected, charging the palisades into certain death
His warning is brief and grave; before the charge, he gives only one order.

Final chapter

1582 (aged 49)

At the Battle of Nagashino, he urged Katsuyori to reconsider, but his counsel was rejected. Resolved to die, he charged repeatedly at the palisades and was struck by concentrated gunfire, falling from his horse. He died in battle, aged 52.

Though felled by gunfire, he pointed forward and shouted, “Charge!” gripping his war fan as he breathed his last.
The Takeda’s famed Red Cavalry, hailed as the strongest in the land, was shattered by Nobunaga’s new “three volleys of gunfire” tactic. His death became a symbol of the sunset of the old mounted-warrior order.