When it was learned that the Tohoku coalition had arrived in Edo, the people inside and outside the castle behaved differently. Many of the retainers of the Tokugawa clan, who had sworn to defend Edo Castle the day before, were shaken at this moment, especially Matsudaira Yasumoto, who was ordered to garrison Sannomaru, and even supported the overseers sent by Tokugawa Hidetada, and discussed with his retainers at the Imperial Palace how to deal with it.

At the beginning, Matsudaira Yasumoto was ordered by Tokugawa Ieyasu to guard Sekijuku Castle, which was located at the junction of Shimoso, Hitachi, and Musashi, and because the lord of Furukawa Castle, Ogasawara Hidemasa, was appointed as the capital of Taijo Castle, Furukawa Castle was also handed over to Matsudaira Yasumoto. Not only that, but Tokugawa Ieyasu also gave him the important task of monitoring Yuki Hideyasu Castle - Yuki Castle.

It can be said that Tokugawa Ieyasu showed full trust in his half-brother, but this also caused dissatisfaction among some Tokugawa retainers.

The reason is very simple, Matsudaira Yasumoto's original Miao character was the Hisatsu clan, and he was given the Matsudaira clan when he was eight years old, so he was actually not a Matsudaira family, and he was not even a retainer of the Genealogy; In addition, Matsudaira Yasumoto had mediocre qualifications, but he had always been reused and treated favorably by Ieyasu, and after the Tokugawa clan became the ruler of Kanto, he was appointed as the jodai of Odawara Castle, and his status was far above that of many important ministers. Not only that, but when Tokugawa Ieyasu made the assessment, he even gave him 20,000 stone zhiyuki, which is higher than Matsudaira Iyohiro and Okubo Tadashi and other retainers who have made great contributions before.

As a result, many retainers, including Honda Tadakatsu, expressed concern about Tokugawa Ieyasu's arrangement, but Ieyasu did not take it seriously and did not change his previous appointment.

The reason for this is very simple, Tokugawa Ieyasu has no other siblings except for the half-sister of the market hime, so he has an inexplicable sense of closeness to the three brothers of the Kumatsu clan as his half-brothers. In addition, the Mission Institute has always hoped that Ieyasu can treat the three of them preferentially, and taking into account her emotions, Ieyasu gave them a fortune and status that did not match their intelligence.

In fact, Tokugawa Ieyasu felt that Matsudaira Yasumoto's responsibility seemed great, but in fact it was not. Musashi and Shimoji are both Ieyasu's territory, so there is no need to worry about changes; Yuki Hideyasu is the concubine of the Tokugawa family, and he has already led his troops to the expedition, and the retainers who stayed in Yuuki can't make any waves; Although the Satake clan controls Hitachi Ichikoku, since Satake Yoshishige made way for the Tokugawa army, it means that he is already in the same boat with him, and it is impossible to do anything out of the ordinary.

In this way, Matsudaira Yasumoto is likely to have to do nothing, and can still get a rich reward for the garrison after the war, which is undoubtedly a comfort to the deteriorating Dentong Academy, after all, before this, Matsudaira Yasutoshi died young, Matsudaira was determined to win the battle and died in Korea, and only Matsudaira Yasumoto was left among the three brothers.

Therefore, although Ieyasu still insisted on doing it knowing that Matsudaira Yasumoto's ability was mediocre, he never expected that his filial piety would eventually lead to the rapid rout of the lower general defense line and make the Northeast Coalition Army feel like no one on the way to Edo.

Matsudaira Yasumoto had always focused his defense on the Tokichi Satake clan, never expecting that the enemy would be killed from the sea. At noon on May 7, when it was learned that the Toyotomi army had conquered Sakura and Kokuto and encircled Kofutai, Matsudaira Yasumoto was shocked, and his indecisive character and mediocre qualifications were vividly reflected at this moment.

In the face of the request for help from Ogasawara Hidemasa, the representative of the national capital Taicheng Castle, Matsudaira Yasumoto did not immediately send troops, fearing that the Satake clan would take the opportunity to go south, so he hesitated.

The retainers around him were also divided into two factions, one faction demanded that Yasumoto send troops immediately, otherwise once Kokutodai was taken, Edo Castle would be attacked; On the other hand, the Satake clan would be in a disadvantageous position if the Satake clan took the opportunity to attack after the dispatch of troops, and they believed that the best way to do this was to ask Tokugawa Hidetada of Edo Castle to send troops instead of using the forces to defend the castle.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, under the indiscriminate bombardment of the Toyotomi naval army and the repeated attacks of the Toyotomi army, Ogasawara Hidemasa saw that the reinforcements were delayed, and finally Kaeki surrendered, and there was no more castle to defend east of Edo Castle.

Until this time, Matsudaira Yasumoto was still undecided. Thinking that Kawagoe Castle had been conquered a few days ago, that Gao Li Kiyonaga had died in Iwatsuke Castle, that there was no barrier north of Edo, that the four prefectures under his jurisdiction had become an island at this time, and that Yuki Hideyasu had defected to the Toyotomi army, and the Satake clan had also blocked the border, these unfavorable factors accumulated layer by layer, which made him even more timid.

Katsuyuki Sakabe, the old man, had followed Matsudaira Yasumoto for many years, and probably guessed what Yasumoto was thinking at this time, so he tentatively suggested that he take advantage of the fact that the hill streets had not yet been blocked, and lead the defenders in the area of Sekijuku to assist in the defense of Edo Castle: "The Toyotomi army is coming from three sides, and it is pointless to defend here, so the lord should go to Edo as soon as possible to assist in the defense; Moreover, a few days ago, Matsudaira Shimonomoru of Shinobi Castle was the first to abandon the castle and flee back to Edo, and there was a precedent for the lord to not have to worry about being punished by the main hall after the war. ”

As soon as Katsuyuki Sakabe's words came out, it immediately caused an uproar among the retainers, and although the two factions at that time were divided, neither of them was in favor of abandoning the city, and even the conservatives led by Matsudaira Yasumoto's son, Matsudaira Tadarashi, asked Yasumoto to jail Sakabe Katsu for the crime of confusing the army.

But Matsudaira Yasumoto's greed for life and fear of death saved Katsuichi Sakabe at this time. Kang Yuan had already had the intention of abandoning the city and fleeing in his heart, although Sakabe Katsuyuki's suggestion was collectively opposed by the retainers, but it was in line with his own wishes, so Yasumoto decided to "go down the slope and get off the donkey": on the one hand, he showed everyone that he did mean to hold on to the city, on the other hand, he said that Sakabe Katsuyuki's words were reasonable, and the matter had come to this point, and only by going to Edo could there be a glimmer of life.

The lord speaks, and the courtiers can only obey. Everyone immediately ordered the army to pack up and evacuate Sekijuku Castle before the arrival of the Toyotomi army. The hasty change caused the 1,000 people of Furukawa Castle to be blocked by the Yuki army that had sent troops after learning the news before they could catch up with the main force of Sekijuku Castle, and the entire army was almost wiped out; Matsudaira Yasumoto's main force was also attacked by a cavalry team led by the old Yuuki clan, Masayo Gojuku, and finally threw down a lot of baggage to get out.

The 1,300 troops of Sekijuku Castle arrived at about 4 p.m. to the east of Edo Castle and entered Edo through the Tachibana Gate. Unsurprisingly, Matsudaira Yasumoto was severely reprimanded by Tokugawa Hidetada and the Sakai brothers. However, due to the current situation in the city, Xiuzhong had to put the matter on hold for the time being, and ordered Yasumoto to lead 4,000 people, including the defeated army, to defend Sannomaru in an attempt to make him vindicate his credit.

However, Matsudaira Yasumoto did not appreciate it, he seemed to follow Tokugawa Hidetada's orders and threatened to defend Sannomaru, but in his heart he complained: the reason why he came to Edo was to save his life, but he was placed on the front line against the Toyotomi army, what is the difference between staying in Sekijuku Castle?

Especially when he learned that the Bamboo Bridge Gate, which had not been attacked before, was also included in the attack range of the Northeast Coalition Army, he was even more scared, from east to west - Inner Sakurada Gate, Otemen Gate, Pinghe Gate, and Bamboo Bridge Gate, Matsudaira Yasumoto needed to defend four city gates, in contrast, Matsudaira Tadashi only needed to defend two city gates, and faced much less Toyotomi troops than himself, this contrast and the previous rebuke made his dissatisfaction with Tokugawa Hidetada reach its peak, and a plan gradually brewed in his heart.