Asano Nagamasa and Date Masamune have the same purpose, they both hope to make a fortune in Edo Castle, and they don't want to come from afar but come to nothing.

Therefore, as soon as Asano's words came out, Date Masamune and Satake Yoshinobu both echoed their words, and at the same time, Date Masamune also pretended to assure Ogasawara Tadakiyo that the battle of Sannomaru would be resolved quickly and would never cause him trouble.

Ogasawara Tadakiyo, as a retainer of Hidebo, took Hidebo's orders first, so he was reluctant to attack Sannomaru at first. However, in the face of the demands of Date and others, as well as his own expectations for the forced landing of Tokugawa Hidetada, he finally relented and allowed the 8,000 troops of the Tohoku Coalition Army and Shingu Yukitomo to attack Sanomaru, and he and Asano Nagamasa attacked Nishimaru.

In order to minimize losses, Chungcheong ordered dozens of Nanban cylinders on the warships to be moved to the position, and first carried out a large-scale artillery bombardment of Edo Castle, intending to destroy the fortifications of the Tokugawa army and break the psychological defense line of the defending sergeants.

The shells fired by these Nanban barrels weighed 60 pounds and weighed 12 pounds, and their range and destructive power were far above the "national collapse" that the Japanese daimyo were proud of, and the blow to the castle was beyond the imagination of Tokugawa Hidetada and others.

The cannonballs rained down on the seemingly sturdy castle of Edo Castle, and the stone walls and oars made of stone blocks could withstand the attacks of muskets and large barrels, but in front of the Nanban cannons, they were like wooden buildings, and it was not long before the walls collapsed, and the stones flew and wailed everywhere.

In particular, most of the buildings including the Sannomaru Palace and the Nishimaru Castle Tower, which were the focus of the attack, were destroyed by shelling, and many sergeants became unjust before they could confront the Toyotomi army, including Matsudaira Yoriyasu, who was appointed by Matsudaira Yasumoto as the commander of the Hirakawamon Gate.

Matsudaira Yoriyasu, formerly known as Okabe Motoyasu, was originally a wealthy family in Suruga, and later followed Matsudaira Yasumoto to the south and the north, and made great achievements, at that time someone once said that half of Matsudaira Yasumoto's military exploits came from Sakabe Katsuyuki, and the other half came from Matsudaira Yoriyasu, which shows its status in the family of the Kumatsu Matsudaira clan.

For Matsudaira Raiyasu's death, Matsudaira Yasugen was very sad, but there was a trace of happiness in the sadness. Just this morning after discovering that the Northeast Coalition Army had arrived in the east of Edo City, Matsudaira Yasumoto hurriedly summoned the important ministers of the family to conduct a military discussion in the Sannomaru Palace, Matsudaira Yasumoto still borrowed the previous trick, let Sakabe Katsuyuki stand up first, saying that Sannomaru is currently difficult to hold, and now at this time, there are only two ways for the whole army to return to Honmaru, or Kaejo to surrender to the Toyotomi army, but the former can only solve the urgent need, and in the end it still can't save the lives of the sergeants at home, which is really a policy; If Kaeki surrenders to the Toyotomi army, on the one hand, it can protect the lives of the soldiers under his command, and on the other hand, it can also test the water for Tokugawa Hidetada and others, and then persuade them to open the castle as soon as possible and preserve the bloodline for the Tokugawa family.

Matsudaira Yoriyasu has always been a representative of the main battle faction, when he was in Sekijuku Castle, he opposed retreating to Edo, now that Edo is besieged, Sakabe Katsuyuki and bewitched the army's heart, he can't bear it anymore, regardless of years of friendship, immediately stood up, against everyone at such a critical juncture, not want to hold on, but how to save their lives. In the end, Sakabe's proposal did not receive enough support, and the military council ended unhappily.

Although Matsudaira Yasumoto ostensibly played the role of a peacemaker, appeasing Matsudaira Yoriyasu and Sakabe Katsuyuki respectively, he was very dissatisfied with Raikang in his heart, and afterwards found a reason to transfer him to defend Pinghemen, which led to Raikang's final vain death.

At 3 p.m., the buildings inside Sannomaru were basically razed to the ground, and Matsudaira Yasumoto's eldest son was also injured in the leg by the collapsed stone coffin.

Someone suggested that Yasumoto send him to Honmaru for treatment, but he had another abacus in his heart: "At this time, sending it to Honmaru may become a lever for Xiuzhong to blackmail himself, rather than this, it is better to surrender directly to the Toyotomi army, so that Tadara can receive better treatment, and at the same time ensure the safety of everyone in the family." ”

Thinking of this, Matsudaira Yasumoto convened a military meeting again, but due to the destruction of the imperial palace, this time the military meeting could only be hastily held in a dilapidated warehouse.

"Matsudaira Beiqian was unfortunately killed, and the situation in Pinghemen is grim, I don't know who wants to go to command?" Matsudaira Yasumoto looked at the retainers beside him with a serious face and asked solemnly.

Most of these retainers of the Hisamatsu Matsudaira clan participated in the military conference with wounds, and some of them were either smashed by flying sand and rocks, or were wounded by stray bullets, and a few were shot by the feather arrows of the Toyotomi army when they tried to climb the arrow to investigate the enemy, and at this moment they rushed in pain despite the wounds that had not completely stopped the bleeding.

In the face of Matsudaira Yasumoto's inquiry, everyone present was silent, the Pinghe Gate and the stone bridge in front of the gate were the focus of the attack of the Northeast Coalition Army and the Shingu Dynasty, and the continuous shelling had made the fortifications there full of holes, and in the face of the attack of the Toyotomi army, a large number of soldiers had to be sacrificed for defense, and Matsudaira Yoriyasu was killed by a stray bullet when he led people to the bridgehead for reinforcements.

There were more than 800 dead and wounded in the area of Pinghemen, and it became a meat grinder in Edo Castle, and it was reasonable for the retainers to be reluctant to go, which was also in line with Matsudaira Yasumoto's intentions.

He sighed with regret: "The family has done their best to protect Edo Castle...... I also sent someone to investigate, and after half a day, there were more than 1,600 dead and wounded sergeants, and if this continues, by this evening at the latest, these three pills will not be saved. ”

"My lord, the guard of the Zhuqiao Gate reported that the tiger's mouth was blown up by the enemy, and it has been caught in a fierce battle, and I am afraid it won't last long, so please send someone to support ......" Katsuyuki Sakabe deliberately "untimely" reported.

"There are only three hundred people left around me, even if they are all sent to Zhuqiaomen, what is the use?" Matsudaira Yasumoto sighed: "My lords, you didn't believe that the Toyotomi army could conquer Sannomaru in one day, and now it's only half a day before the start of the war, and the Bamboo Bridge Gate is about to be lost, what do you think?" ”

There was still silence in the warehouse. Before, Matsudaira Raiyasu took the lead, and there were a few old ministers who were willing to echo the two sentences, but now that he is dead, and Sannomaru is about to be attacked, no one proposes to fight to the death.

Matsudaira Yasumoto waited for a while, and when he saw that no one dared to come forward, he was also snickering in his heart, but his face was still helpless: "Since that's the case, then listen to me." ”

"Listen to the Lord's instructions." All the retainers bowed.

"We have followed the main hall to conquer the north and the south, and it is not easy to have a huge territory of two million stones in the east, but we have no choice but to let the Toyotomi clan dominate the world, even if we do our best, it is still difficult to match. Now I don't know the safety of the main hall, Edo is not guaranteed, and the elite we brought out from Sekijuku has also been exhausted. I think that we in the Matsudaira clan of Hisamatsu have done our best. Matsudaira Yasumoto looked depressed, and after a slight pause, continued: "If you have no objections, I have decided to personally go to Takebashi Gate to negotiate peace with the Toyotomi army, and do my best to ensure that you and the Sannomaru soldiers retreat. ”