"Negotiation?!"

There was a commotion in the hall immediately, and there were sighs and sighs, but in the face of reality, none of the ministers present spoke out against it, and even Matsudaira Yoriyasu's eldest son, Matsudaira Tadayasu, sat with his head bowed, without the fortitude and loyalty of his father.

Matsudaira Yasumoto looked around, saw that no one objected, nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Since this is the case, then it is decided, Katsuyuki, you will follow me to Zhuqiaomen, and you must negotiate with the Toyotomi army before attacking the city." ”

Katsuyuki Sakabe nodded solemnly, but still expressed some doubts: "My lord, the sergeants outside the hall are not all from my Hisamatsu Matsudaira clan, and the ministers are worried that they will not be willing to surrender. ”

"After a few battles, those guys also suffered heavy casualties, I'm thinking about them, how can I be unwilling?" Matsudaira Yasumoto was puzzled.

"My lord, don't forget, the nearly 2,000 troops in the area of the Uchi-Sakurada Gate and the Shimo-Chengqiao are nominally under your command, but in fact they are in the hands of Inabi." The Ina Bizen Guard mentioned in the mouth of Katsuyuki Sakabe is the lord of the Komuro area of Musashi-Adachi-gun, and the retainer of the Tokugawa clan, Ina Tadaji, who knows 10,000 stones.

The Ina clan, where Ina Tadaji belongs, was originally a native of Kojima Castle in Hato-gun, Mikawa Province, and his father, the Ina Tadashi family, fled for a time after the suppression of Mikawa Ichikoichi, and was allowed to return to Ieyasu for his exploits in the Battle of Nagashino. However, the good times did not last long, and as Matsudaira Nobuyasu's retainers, the father and son of the Ina Tadashi family were suspected of having a relationship with the Takeda clan after Nobuyasu's death, and had to embark on the road of escape again, so they went to the Sakai Port area to wander.

The Honnoji Rebellion in the tenth year of Tensho gave the two a chance to return to the Tokugawa clan. By chance, Ina Tadaji and Oguri Yoshitada successfully helped Tokugawa Ieyasu escape from, and thus gained Ieyasu's reuse. Since then, Ina Tadaji was first appointed as the commissioner of Junensan, responsible for the land inspection of Suruga, Enoe, and Mikawa, and then after Ieyasu transferred to Kanto, he became the head of the Kanto region along with Okubo Changan, Hikosaka Motomasa, and Hasegawa Nagatoma.

In order to improve the surrounding environment of Edo Castle, Ieyasu also entrusted Ina Tadaji with full responsibility for the construction of water conservancy projects in the Edo area, the general application of the surrounding area, and the management of temples. As a result, Ina Tadaji was also called by Ieyasu as one of the important builders of Edo Castle, and thus obtained the Chiyuki of Komuro 10,000 stones.

Although he obtained a fief, because the construction of Edo Castle was not yet completed, Ina Tadaji basically never left the main castle of the Tokugawa clan, and after the Toyotomi army attacked, he was entrusted by Tokugawa Hidetada with the important task of defending the castle, leading 2,700 men, nominally assigned to Matsudaira Yasumoto, participating in the defense of Sannomaru, but in fact he was in a big rivalry with Matsudaira Yasumoto.

In particular, after the death of Matsudaira Yoriyasu, Ina Tadaji focused his defense on the Uchisakurada Gate in the western part of Sannomaru and the Shimojobashi connecting Honmaru, and as for Otemon, he sent 900 men to defend with Matsudaira Yasumoto's sergeants, but still avoided letting Matsudaira Yasumoto dictate his military situation and deployment.

Matsudaira Yasumoto had also tested Ina Tadaji before, but his attitude was extremely resolute and he had no intention of surrendering, which made Yasumoto very tricky. But he thought about it, as long as his sergeants and retainers could get out of danger smoothly, what did Ina Tadaji do? Let him shed the last drop of blood for the Tokugawa clan in the torrent of the Toyotomi clan, and it can be regarded as a well-deserved death.

Thinking of this, Matsudaira Yasumoto said to Sakabe Katsuyuki: "I also know about this matter, but you have also seen that the 900 troops planted in Otemon by Bizen are nearly seventy percent killed and wounded, and our army is also suffering heavy casualties. ”

"What the lord said is very true," Katsuyuki Sakabe nodded and said, "Dare to say something disrespectful, Bizen Mamoru and the main family have never been in the same trench, this time it was only by following the orders of His Royal Highness Honmaru that he reluctantly fought with our army, but what he thought in his heart, we are all clear." ”

"So, don't inform them about this, and when our army escapes, they will ask for more blessings." With that, Matsudaira Yasumoto got up and said to Katsuichi Sakabe, braving the rumbling sound of cannons, and walked towards the Bamboo Bridge Gate, which was filled with gunsmoke and noise.

In charge of commanding the attack on Takebashi Gate was the first important minister under Date Munemasa, Katakura Kojuro Keitsuna, who received an order from Date Masamune to take Takebashi Gate before evening and conquer Sannomaru in one fell swoop, becoming the first army to attack Edo Inner Castle.

But at this moment, he received a report from the envoy, saying that Matsudaira Yasumoto had come to ask for surrender. After some thought, Katakura Keitsuna decided to suspend the offensive and receive Matsudaira Yasumoto in the makeshift camp outside the Takebashi Gate.

When Matsudaira Yasumoto arrived at the Bamboo Bridge Gate, he was really shocked by the scene in front of him: the previous stone-built food tiger's mouth was basically bombarded by the big barrel at this moment; The bamboo bridge in front of the bamboo bridge gate has also been occupied by the Northeast Coalition Army, and the "Five Seven Trees" of the Toyotomi clan and the military flags of the three northeastern families flutter in the wind at the bridgehead; A large number of Tokugawa sergeants' corpses were piled up in front of the Takebashi Gate, and the blood flowed down the slope into the Hirakawa, and the entire trench was stained red with the red blood.

Kneeling on both sides of the gate were the warriors of the Hisamatsu Matsudaira clan who defended the Takebashi Gate on the orders of Matsudaira Yasumoto, from the previous 900 to more than 100 in front of them, these sergeants who had been ridiculed as cowards by Tokugawa Banner in Edo Castle defended the honor of the Hisamatsu Matsudaira clan and the dignity of Matsudaira Yasumoto as the ruler with their lives and blood.

Matsudaira Yasumoto endured his grief, helped the wounded samurai at the head of the group, straightened his feet covered with dust and blood, and said heavily: "It's really hard for you this time. ”

"Serve the lord, and the ministers will never give up." The samurai bowed his head respectfully, but when he raised his head, his eyes showed a little unwillingness: "I heard that the lord wants to ask for surrender, but the minister really doesn't want you to be humiliated by the enemy......

"Buying time? How long? Matsudaira Yasumoto patted the samurai on the shoulder, and said earnestly: "Look at the Toyotomi army in front of you, the military appearance is prosperous, the morale is strong, except for the Odawara expedition, I have never seen it again." Who would have thought that such an army would be trapped in Edo Castle, and you have done a good job until now, so let me put an end to this. ”

After hearing this, the samurai did not dare to say much, and he immediately stepped aside and watched Matsudaira Yasumoto and Sakabe Katsuyuki go to the temporary headquarters of the Northeast Coalition Army.