Although Asakura and Azai troops were understrength, Azai's elite troops led by its top Kazumasa ISONO broke through those of Oda's top Masahisa SAKAI, Tsuneoki IKEDA, Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI and Katsuie SHIBATA one after another, and in fact, they launched fierce attacks to knock down eleven out of thirteen layers of military reserves.
兵力的には劣る朝倉・浅井両軍であったが、浅井側先鋒磯野員昌率いる浅井家精鋭部隊が織田方先鋒坂井政尚、続いて池田恒興、豊臣秀吉、柴田勝家の陣を次々に突破し13段の備えのうち実に11段までを打ち破る猛攻を見せた。