In addition to the 900 Shimazu army led by Ijichi Shigejun, there were only more than 4,300 people left around Shimazu Tadashi, and in the face of Kato Kiyomasa's close pursuit, the Shimazu clan generals fought hard, and more than a dozen important ministers such as Akatsuka Shinken, Arima Junbo, Ikeda Hidehide and Isesei were killed in battle. Oriental Reading Network

Shimazu Tadashi was heartbroken after the report, and immediately asked Kuroda Rusui to send his retainers to resist. Rushui had two younger brothers and many people of the "Kuroda Twenty-Four Horsemen" killed earlier, and there were less than 50 retainers and samurai left around him, and in the face of Shimazu Tadashi's decision to almost send his retainers to death, Rushui finally made up his mind to lead his retainers to break away from Shimazu Tadashine, and turned around and surrendered to Kato Kiyomasa, who was red-eyed.

Kato Kiyomasa was angry about the death of Morimoto Kazuhisa Morimoto, one of the "Three Heroes of Kato", at the hands of Kuroda Toshinori earlier, although Kuroda Toshinori was later taken by Iida Naokei, the first general under Kiyomasa, but at the instigation of some important ministers, Kiyomasa still ordered Kuroda Rusui and others to be taken to Kumamoto Castle for detention, and then sent to Osaka Castle for questioning after the war.

Although Kuroda Rusui did not expect Kato Kiyomasa to be so unkind to him, it was better than being martyred for the Shimazu family, so he and his retainers gladly accepted this arrangement and were escorted back to Kumamoto by Kato Shigeji, one of the "Kato Sixteen Generals".

However, when this team of only more than 100 people traveled to Sanfeng Mountain, it happened to encounter the Ijichishigeshun Department that broke through from the front of the big friendly army, and the Kato army immediately started a fierce battle with it, but the enemy was outnumbered, the Kato army was scattered by the Shimazu army, and Kato Shigeji was defeated, and Kuroda Rusui saw that the situation was not good and also took the opportunity for his retainers to leave the battlefield, and then trekked all the way, and finally arrived at Bunzen Magaku Castle on the 29th, where Masuda Masakin, one of the "Kuroda Twenty-Four Horsemen", was responsible for the defense, and it was one of the few Kuroda castles that had not surrendered before Tachibana Muneshige went south.

On May 1, the same day that Mori Terumoto had departed from Osaka to return to his country, Rusui received a secret letter from Kuroda Nagamasa who had sent someone by water, and learned that the Toyotomi coalition had defeated the Tokugawa army eight days earlier, and although Tokugawa Ieyasu still intended to open a second battlefield and regroup. However, if the general situation is decided, it is only a matter of time before the Shimazu army is defeated, and although he can take refuge for a while in Mayue Castle, he will not be able to get rid of Kato Kiyomasa's liquidation in the end.

After thinking about it for a long time, Kuroda Rusui suddenly had an idea and decided to take advantage of Hide's gap in Kanto to save the Kuroda clan by taking advantage of his suspicion with Ishida Mitsunari. On the one hand, he refused to surrender to the Daimyo of the Owari faction such as Kato Kiyomasa, but directly contacted Ishida Mitsunari, who had just regained his freedom and presided over the affairs of Osaka, and informed him that he would conquer the territory of the Maori clan to avoid the hegemony of the Owari faction and Hideho, and the family would become bigger, hoping that he would be able to maneuver after Hideho returned to Beijing; On the other hand, he mobilized and mobilized about 1,200 peasants and soldiers from all the castles of the Kuroda clan in Toyozen, and on May 2, he set out from Mojiko and landed in Shimonosekiminato, where he began his conquest of the Mori domain.

Due to the requisition of almost all the troops in the territory by Mori Terumoto, and the news of the defeat of the Tokugawa army spread through the Kuroda clan's ninja to the country, the Kuroda army was like no one in the land for five days, and all the castles were opened and subdued, and in the process of advancing along the Sanyo Road, Katsuyama, Iwakuni, Ginzan, Itsukushima, and Jifei were conquered by the Kuroda army one after another; On May 7, the Kuroda army besieged Hiroshima Castle, the residence of the Mori clan, and Watanabe Hida Mori, the only remaining important minister of the Mori Yuan period and the only remaining important minister of the "Sixteen Mori Generals", led 300 men to defend the castle.

At this point, Kuroda Rusui completed the suppression of Zhou and Anyi, and in order to avoid a head-on conflict with Mori Terumoto, Kuroda's army stopped its march after arriving at Takayama Castle at the junction of Aki and Bigo, and the 20,000 Mori army led by Mori Terumoto also arrived at Bigo Mihara Castle, which was adjacent to Takayama Castle, on May 9. That night, Kuroda Rusui went to Mihara Castle to meet with Mori Terumoto and told the truth about the defeat of Kyushu, Mori Terumoto was shocked, and under the persuasion of Kuroda Rusui, he decided to stop the westward advance, and together with Rusui, he led only a few retainers back to Osaka Castle, and met with Ishida Mitsunari in one step, trying to rely on Ishida Mitsunari to alleviate the punishment he was about to face.

Turn your gaze back to Higo Yashiro Castle.

After defeating Kato Shigeji's 100-man team, Ichi Shigeshun continued south to chase Kato Kiyomasa, and finally encountered Kato's Empress's cavalry on the outskirts of Yatsushiro Castle. Under his command, the Shimazu army led by Shigeshun Ijichi failed to further threaten Kato's main team, and instead fell into a bitter battle under the siege of the Otomo army led by Tahara Shoshinobi, who arrived later. In particular, the veteran general of the Otomo clan, Soka Zhen, continued to participate in the battle after simply bandaging it, regardless of the pain of a broken arm, which stimulated the fighting spirit of the two armies of Kato and Otomo.

Towards the end of the evening, after the failure of Ijichi Shigeshun to lead his troops to break through, he was taken by the joint efforts of Akashi Shoshi and Tahara Shoshinobi, and the 800 Shimazu army was also wiped out. Shortly thereafter, Tachibana Muneshige led his troops to arrive, and the three families joined forces of 7,000 and quickly pursued Kato Kiyomasa south.

Although the Kato army fought many times when chasing Shimazu Tadashine, the Shimazu army relied on flexible tactics and understanding of the terrain to always get rid of Kato Kiyomasa's onslaught at a critical moment, and until the pursuit reached the castle town of Yashiro, the Kato army did not deal a fatal blow to the Shimazu army. In view of the late day, Kato Kiyomasa had to order the large army to withdraw from the castle town and camp outside the castle, while Shimazu Tadashi escaped death and led 3,700 men to Yatsushiro Castle.

With the arrival of the Tachibana and Otomo armies, the Toyotomi coalition army reached more than 15,000 people, and Kato Kiyomasa immediately decided to set fire to the castle town and besiege Yatsushiro Castle. Shimazu Tadashi, on the other hand, had an attitude of preferring death to surrender, trying to rely on the fortified fortress to resist the attack of the Toyotomi army, while waiting for news from Aizu.

However, on this night, a huge naval force of more than 300 warships bypassed Nagasaki, the southernmost point of Satsuma Province, and bombarded Mt. Uomidake, Hayashijima, and Matsuo Castle at the entrance to Kagoshima Bay. In less than half an hour, the Shimazu army of Hayashi Chijima announced its surrender, and then, a huge army of 10,000 people landed on the front line of Mt. Uomi and Sutachi Castle, and then with the cooperation of dozens of Nanban large tubes, they conquered Matsuo Castle, which was responsible for guarding Kagoshima Bay, and 300 Shimazu troops were killed, and the lord of the castle, Iji Chi Shigemasa (Iji Chi Shigejun's biological father), committed suicide by seppuku. The army marched north along the streets of Yingwa to Kagoshima Castle.

At the same time, the navy continued deep into Kagoshima Bay and reached Kinko Bay between Kagoshima Castle and Sakurajima. Under the cover of the ship's large cylinder, another 12,000 people landed in the port of Kagoshima. By 3 a.m., the two armies had met at Kagoshima Castle and had completely completed the encirclement of Kagoshima Castle.