By now, Lord Ueda's troops were formed up and ready to charge!  The monks had sent forward some peasants with bows to skirmish with Ueda's teppo-tai, but it was not long before the sharp firing of the handgunners caused the peasants to flee.
 
 
 
Head Abbott Babu, realizing the impending danger, ordered forward the monks of the temple, who can be seen surging forward near the middle left of the picture.  However, as it would turn out, it was too little, too late. . .
 
 
The Ueda samurai and ashigaru on the Tomada left flank had grown weary of the archery and arquebus duel taking place.  Their general ordered a charge, an order which the men were only too happy to oblige!
 
The charge was led by 500 ashigaru armed with long spears, who survived the blast of musketry presented by some 250 Tomada hand gunners.  They quickly overwhelmed these men and pushed them back, fleeing, from their position.  They then collided with some Tomada ashigaru armed with naginata.  Although the Tomada were outnumbered by almost two to one, they held their own and eventually pushed the spearmen back to their own lines.

Meanwhile, some an Ueda teppo tai maneuvered through the recently flooded rice paddies so that they could fire on the flank of the Tomada lines.  This kept the Tomada from capitalizing on the success of their ashigarus' counter charge and prevented them from organizing an effective defense in this area.

Seeing the example set by their troops on the right flank, the remaining Ueda generals ordered their men forward in a charge that would impact the whole of the Tomada battle line.
 
Some of the Ueda units took fearsome casualties, and several stalled in their tracks.  But Lord Ueda had planned wisely, and had organized his men into large units so that the sting of casualties would not be so easily felt.  The Tomada did not have enough gunners to effectively hamper this tactic, and so it was destined to succeed. . .

The Ueda cavalry hit first, picking out 500 ashigaru as their first target.  However, the ashigaru somehow resisted the impact of the charge, and a general melee ensued.

To the right of the cavalry, 1000 spearmen charged half as many Tomada hand gunners.  The gunners quickly dropped their guns and took up their swords, but it was soon apparent that the spearmen would sweep them away.

In the center of the line, Lord Tomada's son, Tomada Jiro, had organized an effective defense.

Realizing that he would soon be charged by overwhelming numbers, Jiro had ordered his arquebusiers to space themselves a little further apart, and then placed a 500 ashigaru and 600 samurai directly behind them.

When the Ueda ashigaru charged, 2,000 strong, Jiro's teppo tai opened fire, and as soon as the report of their guns had died, his ashigaru and samurai charged through them and into the stalled Ueda troops.

The Ueda general goaded his men on, but to no avail.  Jiro's men had stopped them in their tracks, and were definitely gaining the upper hand in the ensuing melee.

However, things were not going so well for the Tomada elsewhere.

The ronin who had so successfully fended off the Gomo samurai were now coming under the fire of Lord Gomo's ashigaru hand gunners.  The ronin withstood the fire long enough to catch their breath, and then charged.

They took appalling casualties during the charge, but somehow they closed with the ashigaru and put them to the sword.  Those ashigaru that escaped fled for the mountains, Lord Gomo shouting curses at them for their cowardice.

The ronin did not have long to savor their victory, however, as the rest of the Gomo cavalry came thundering down on them.  The impact of the charge alone was enough to break them, and the ronin fled for the comparative safety of the nearby monastery.

The rout of the ronin was the pebble that started the avalanche.

Seeing their right flank exposed, the peasant Ikko-Ikki fanatics reconsidered their choice of religion and turned tail, Lord Ueda's hatamoto hot on their heels.  The Ueda cavalry finally broke the Tomada ashigaru and then quickly routed the Tomada cavalry held in reserve.

The Tomada left flank was crumbling, and the whole line bowed in several spots, and then snapped.  The only one left holding the line was Tomada Jiro, and the monks of the Daifukuji, both of which attempted a rear guard action that at best would buy enough time for Lord Tomada to escape.

The Battle at Daifukuji was over.  The monks fell back into the monastery, only to have Lord Ueda burn it down around their ears.  Lord Tomada fell back to his home castle, but two weeks later Ueda marched his forces in and laid siege.  Tomada held out for two weeks, but was eventually betrayed by one of his hatamoto who opened the gates to the attackers.  Tomada locked himself in the highest room of his manor, and there took his own life.  His son, Jiro, took his father's head and plunged into the burning wreckage of their home so that it could not be claimed as a trophy by Ueda.