User blog comment:123chaseyoung/Knights Hospitaller vs Sohei Monks/@comment-422690-20171101042159/@comment-17814994-20171101173229

Infantry aint gonna waste their time trying to reload a crossbow in a fight and give it to a horseman, especially in a tight 5 vs 5 skirmish.they would rather just fire it themselves. In fact, mounted crossbowmen typically discard their crossbows after the first volley at point blank (which the yumi doesnt hav any oroblems shooting at ranges farther than that), so unless their fellow knights are carrying a lot of preloaded crossbows or have the time to pick ip and reload crossbows as a battle rages on, it aint going to be practical.

The yabusame might hav been a training rxercise but that training exercise existed even before the invetion of the katana. It certainly proved effective against Mongol archers during their invasion. And it still proves that a guy with a yumi can fire multiple shots better than a cumbersome mounted crossboeman firing a one shot weapon at point blank. It certainly can be done in a small skirmish like this.

Not saying that this should change the outcome of the battle. But the notion that a guy carrying a latge heavy crossbow on horseback is better than a guy with a lighter yumi is just dumb.