Honda Tadakatsu

Honda Tadakatsu was a Japanese general and later daimyo of the late 1500s and early 1600s. Tadakatsu was known as one of the greatest generals of the Tokugawa shogunate, and was well respected by many significant figures of the era, with Oda Nobunaga describing him as the "samurai among samurai". Tadakatsu fought in over 100 battles, but never suffered significant injury, and was never defeated in single combat by another samurai. Tadakatsu fought alongside Oda Nobunaga at the Battle of Nagashino, commanding a unit of musketeers, using the three-ranked formations, with each rank alternating between firing, cleaning the barrel, and reloading, so that there was always one rank firing. This lead to the decisive victory of the allied Tokugawa-Oda forces against Takeda Katsuyori's army. Tadakatsu was famous for his helmet, which was adorned with deer antlers, and his spear, named Tonbo-giri or "The Dragonfly Cutter", as it was said to be so sharp that a dragonfly that landed on the blade would be sliced in two.