[2] "Yoshinaka won by a clever strategy; under cover of nightfall his troops enveloped the main body of the Taira, demoralized them by a series of tactical surprises, and turned their confusion into a disastrous, headlong rout.

Shortly afterwards, Yoshinaka received news of Koremori's army, and moved to engage him, along with his uncle Minamoto no Yukiie, Tomoe Gozen, and his shitennō, Imai Kanehira, Higuchi Kanemitsu, Tate Chikatada and Nenoi Yukichika.

[3]: 16 He divided his own forces into three, sending one group to attack the Taira from the rear; a second beneath the Pass, as an ambush party; and the third he accompanied and held centrally.

In order to conceal these movements, Yoshinaka sought to distract his enemy with a highly formal battle, beginning with archery exchanges using whistling-bulb arrows.

Yoshinaka's central force, having gathered a herd of oxen, now released them down the pass directly into the Taira army, with lit torches tied to their horns, a strategy learned from the ancient Qi general Tian Dan.