Tsugaru's visit seems to have put a lot of pressure on the other daimyo of Ou.

After learning of this, several forces sent additional envoys to visit with heavy gifts and humble gestures, and they also sent quite important retainers, but the head of the family was still alone.

It's kind of funny.

It stands to reason that the matter has come to this point, and most discerning people should be aware of the facts and will not have unrealistic illusions. But those daimyo who crawled out of the sword and sword shadows of the mountain of corpses and blood are still continuing their previous habits, fighting each other for disputes over territory and inheritance, and they are not in a hurry to hug their thighs.

Perhaps, some people don't have a long-term vision.

Perhaps, others have a long-term vision, but they cannot resist the temptation of immediate profits.

Or perhaps, I just feel that my blood has not yet been vented, and I subconsciously refuse to accept the rest of "the troubled times are coming to an end".

The ancients said that "it is better to leave people in chaos than to be peaceful dogs", which is for the common people who abide by the rules.

During the centuries of war, the samurai family was constantly instilled with the idea of "wealth and glory by the sword in their hands", and they were not afraid of death, but more afraid of poverty, humble and monotonous life.

Now, even if the world is pacified and the troubled times are ended, it will take at least twenty or thirty years, so that those old diehards who are full of old times are unwilling to lie in the coffin with regrets, and let the juniors born in the era of peace grow up, and the social atmosphere will fundamentally improve.

Extreme measures can't solve this problem, because at least half of the samurai in the world have some thoughts in their hearts, and they are not a minority. The will of the people cannot be resisted.

It is necessary to continue to divide the grades and treat them differently.

Some of them have become so accustomed to and even enjoying the killing and chaos that they can't bear the silence for a quarter of an hour. It's best to find a way to lure them out and catch them all in one go, and kill them to prevent future troubles.

What is not so deep is the object that can be fought for in unity.

With this in mind, Tsugaru was retained and introduced to Kanto daimyo such as Uesugi, Ashina, and Satake. Implicitly expressed the meaning of "compared to this person, you guys are not deferential and not positive enough".

and his son performed a red and white face, sang a double reed play, and effectively blocked the words of the Kanto people asking for merit and asking for rewards and bargaining back into their mouths.

Although some of them will be dissatisfied, passive and even secretly opposed, but the tie does not care.

If the generation that was born in troubled times and grew up in the Warring States period is not allowed to withdraw from the stage of history, Fuso will not really settle down. Rather than forcibly suppressing them and waiting for them to die, it is better to adopt a more aggressive strategy.

The issue of territory distribution, which everyone was most concerned about, did not reveal any rumors, and the only thing that was announced in advance was that the Hojo clan would be rewarded with tens of thousands of stones, inheriting the family and bloodline.

The corresponding Hojo clan and Hojo clan Shu (Uesugi Keitora) were not executed either, but were only punished with imprisonment.

Coupled with the generous burial of Hojo Tsunari, Hirate Hoshohide showed an ambiguous attitude, making it difficult to judge whether he was cold and harsh or noble.

After learning about this, Uesugi Keikatsu suddenly said that he wanted to send some food, clothing, and condolences to the Hojo clan, after all, there was a righteous brother. And Satake Yoshishige also made a small report without warning that this guy in the Hojo clan has always been a die-hard "hawk", and it will be a big disaster to keep it.

The two are in completely different directions, but both show that they are more perceptive than ordinary people.

Aizu's Ashina Mori clan has always been active in military and diplomatic occasions, and has gained some impression points from the second generation. However, when he finally met Heite Neifu himself, he suddenly contracted an illness and was bedridden. He immediately asked his only adopted son, Ashina Moritaka, to go to Yoshimitsu Hirate, who was the same age, and asked for a supernumerary close status before returning home to recuperate.

As a representative, the old Jin Shangshengbei of his family said frankly to Fanxiu: "Since the heir's bloodline comes from a foreign clan, there are already signs of division in the family. Coupled with the fact that the treasury has been empty for many years and has a lot of debts, the Ashina clan is in crisis, and this year's radical style is purely to divert attention. Now that the lord is seriously ill, we can only survive if we follow the peace of mind. ”

Jin Shang Shengbei is obviously famous for his martial arts, but he is brilliant and personable, and he is a Confucian general who is rare to see in Kanto.

And yet—

Ashina Shenglong's guy is tall and powerful, and his brain is not bad, and he seems to be a good waiter. Unexpectedly, this guy is obsessed with men in private, and he has no self-control, and he has only been here for a few days, and he actually confesses his courtship to the handsome Jing Yixiu, which makes people cry and laugh.

Therefore, it is difficult for Yoshimitsu Hirate to have a good impression of him.

Fortunately, this kind of episode does not affect the overall situation of the war.

You're in control.

Hachioji Castle was captured, Jade Rope Castle opened the door and surrendered, the defenders of Heyue Castle fled, Dadao Temple Masato was killed in battle, the Hojo clan was captured when he unloaded his armor, and the Ota clan was nowhere to be found.

In addition to Odawara Castle, only the Hojo clan is still desperately defending Ninja Castle.

At this time, the mistakes of the Hojo clan were manifested.

He concentrated his forces around him from beginning to end, and his support for the cities in various places was quite limited, and he sat back and watched the defeat of the clans, retainers, and subordinate forces one by one, and finally ushered in a situation of embattlement.

Odawara still had at least 40,000 troops in the city, and it had not suffered much attrition. But the long wait had already made the soldiers extremely tired and in a very low state.

At the same time, the besieging side inserted the important heads obtained in various places on wooden poles to display, and also showed off loudly to the city, further demoralizing. After the samurai and peasant soldiers recruited from all over the country learned that their hometown had been occupied or even looted, how could they have the heart to work for the lord who was high up but could not protect the territory and the people?

The full-scale assault on Odawara Castle began in late September, and in the face of a solid fortification, it was mainly dominated by intimidating fire from large barrels, iron cannons, and bows and arrows, and there were no conditions for a strong attack.

Despite this, Hirate continued to receive news that the guards of Odawara Castle had fled in droves, or simply surrendered, but there were no characters worth mentioning

But the coalition forces are also gradually encountering obstacles.

The Kanto anti-Hojo people have never been accustomed to fighting far from their homeland, and the stinking problem of disturbing the people is particularly serious, and by October or so it has become a plate of scattered sand, and even heroes such as Satake Yoshishige have no way to do it. Although he was brilliant and courageous, he did not have any ideas for military organization that transcended the times, and he did not possess the corresponding objective conditions.

Then there are the daimyo of the western country, although they all sent troops with a very low conscription ratio, but after all, it was a long journey across most of the main island of Honshu, and it cost a lot along the way. Even if the military food consumption was borne by the flat family, the poor ghosts still said that they had emptied their money bags and could not continue to support them.

The Shikoku and tribes were the only ones who had experienced more than two bitter battles and had to go home to recuperate due to excessive attrition, which is a valid reason. They always had a casualty ratio of about two to one, which consumed the few living forces of the Hojo family who dared to fight in the field, and the battle was not good-looking, but the credit was still there.

In better condition, in addition to the direct forces of the Hirate family, who have been accustomed to expeditions, the two closest forces, Takeda and Tokugawa.

In addition, after the Gokan Rebellion, Uesugi Keikatsu rebuilt the military with the Ueda Kuniren as the core, and the combat effectiveness was much inferior to the previous Echigo soldiers, but the discipline was very good, and it always maintained a relatively complete system.

There is also the Ise-kuni of Sasa Hidenari, as the son-in-law of the Uchifu, he may be more experienced in defeat, and his troops can always recover quickly after being attacked.

The mediocrity of the combat effectiveness of the relatively well-organized troops was not unthinkable in the sixteenth century.

By mid-November, Hirate had received more than 30 reports of soldiers raiding homes, deserting their posts, and even deserting.

And this is limited to events with more than twenty people in size.

I am afraid that there will be no examples of individual soldiers violating discipline at all.

The number of non-combat attrition is also rising, and the number of dead in the double digits every day does not seem to be much, and it is only when they are buried together that it turns out that it is already a big pit.

In short, the hearts of the people in the city were broken and unsustainable, and it was very uncomfortable outside the city.

In addition, the Kanto Plain is gradually showing signs of snowfall after the beginning of winter!

Obviously, if the snow is allowed to fall, the defenders, who have already consumed almost all the supplies, will face a catastrophe. Then the attackers stationed in the field will also suffer heavy losses, and eventually scatter.

It seems that this massive expedition will have to end in the form of a negotiated and open city.

Hojo was still pleading for his brothers, and Tokugawa Ieyasu and Kobayakawa Takakei could only accompany him as intermediaries to persuade him to surrender. Then, Oda Nobutada, Bessho Nagaji, Takeda Motoaki and other irrelevant people, who did not know whether they were persuaded or had any interests, also tended to negotiate early and forgive the practice of the general's life.

Later, even the attitude of Ji Yin, Bai Xiang Jiajia, Nagashu Masajia, and Kinoshita Hidecho was a little shaken.

As was the case, and for reasons of "wanting to go home for the New Year", Hirate agreed to negotiate on November 28.

The Hojo clan originally wanted to enter the city to persuade him to surrender, but he was sick with the cold that day, and it was inconvenient to go out. So he chose his retainer Surugato Asahina, and Suzuki Hidemoto of the Heite family to go to the front station.

Everyone thought that in the current situation, the two sides would definitely be able to reach an agreement.

It turned out that after I left, three or four days later, I saw a response from the city, but it was a sneaky ninja who sent a letter, and I didn't see Suzuki Hidemoto and Asahina Nobuei returning.

Only then did I learn that the envoy entered the city and was warmly welcomed by the Hojo heir, the Hojo clan, and the old Matsuda Kenhide of the pen family, but the Hojo clan was very cold and not very cooperative.

For this reason, Matsuda Kenhide proposed the practice of "forcing the lord to abdicate by the soldiers", but the filial son of the Hojo clan resolutely refused to face his biological father with a sword, and the matter reached an impasse.

Matsuda Kenhide's words had already been spoken, he couldn't take them back, he couldn't get support, and he had no choice but to decide to go it alone. However, his adult son Naoxiu doesn't seem to be so filial, or he attaches more importance to loyalty than filial piety, and reported his father in advance.

At this moment, the Hojo clan was in a hurry, and he hurriedly detained Matsuda Kenhide to prevent the occurrence of the "military admonition incident"; On the other hand, it is necessary to stabilize the Hojo clan, who was furious after knowing about it, to prevent the old man from doing something irreparable.

As for negotiating peace or something, where is the heart to talk about it?

Suzuki Hidemoto and Asahina Nobuei were in a rather awkward situation all of a sudden, and although they were messengers, they were like prisoners.

The Hojo clan had the intention to let them go back to report, but they couldn't resist their father's government, and they didn't dare to mention it again after being denied for fear of causing rebellion, so they had to write a letter privately, secretly asked Suzuki Hidemoto to sign it, and sent his cronies out of the city, informing Yu Heishou of the cause and effect before and after, and asking for a grace period.