In the early morning of 15 February, Date Masamune personally led an army of 10,000 troops to attack Shiraishi Castle, the northeastern gateway of the Uesugi family, and on the same day, an army of 3,000 troops, including 700 horsemen, led by Date Masamune's uncle Masakai and Mogami Yoshimitsu's son, Mogami Yoshiyasu, also crossed Sasaya Pass and rushed to reinforce Hasedo day and night.

Shiraishi Castle, also known as Ioka Castle, is located in Karita County, Mutsu Province, before Toyotomi Hideyoshi promulgated the Oshu Shizhi, including Karita-gun, the six counties of Senhoku and the four counties of Aizu are the territory of the Date family, and it is rumored that after the Battle of Uehara eliminated the Ashina clan, the Chiyuki of the Date family once reached 1.5 million koku, becoming the most powerful daimyo in the Tohoku. However, with the delay of Odawara's expedition, the territories including the four counties of Aizu, Senbei Iwase, and Azumi were confiscated, and the Date family's Zhiyuki plummeted to 720,000 koku in the thirteen prefectures of Mutsu.

Date Masamune, who was known for his ambition, was angry about this, so he added fuel to the fire in the following year's "Kasai Osaki Ichika", but as a result, his correspondence with the rebels was later discovered by the Gamo clan, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi was furious and reduced it again, and the remaining four counties of the six counties of Senhoku, as well as the three counties of Nagai, Tamura, and Karida, were transferred to the Gamo clan, making the Gamo family become the daimyo of 920,000 koku of Zhiyuki, while Date Masamune's Zhiyuki was reduced to 580,000 koku, which was only one-third of the heyday.

After the Gamo family was reduced to Shimono, the Karita Prefecture, the six Senbei Prefectures, and the Aizu area became the places of knowledge and action of Uesugi Keikatsu, and Shiraishi Castle was built into an iron wall blocking the Date family's southward movement, which became the first obstacle faced by Date Masamune, who was bent on unifying Oshu and then fighting for the Central Plains.

Knowing that the Uesugi family mobilized the whole country to attack Mogami Yoshimitsu, Date Masamune immediately mobilized within the territory, the purpose of which was to take advantage of the situation to attack Shiraishi Castle, as for aiding Mogami Yoshimitsu, it was just a gimmick to cover people's ears. In fact, before the Uesugi clan went to war, Tokugawa Ieyasu sent an envoy to Date Masamune to convey the meaning of "permission for the old domain to attack", implying that as long as he was willing to join the Tokugawa side, after the war, he would get 420,000 koku from Karida Prefecture, the six counties of Senhoku, and the two counties of the Southern Clan. This is the origin of the "Date Million Stones". Of course, this agreement was made behind the backs of the parties concerned, Uesugi Keikatsu, and the Uesugi family's opinion was not estimated. Although Date Masamune was noncommittal about Tokugawa Ieyasu's promise due to the surrounding circumstances, at the beginning of the battle, he launched an operation to regain the old land, as if to imply that he was willing to side with Tokugawa, and he sent troops to support Mogami Yoshimitsu, but he also courted Hideho in Osaka. One has to admire the strategy of the Oshu one-eyed dragon.

Hearing that Date Masamune's army was pressing the border, the castle was suddenly in chaos, and the reason for this was because the castle lord Kanya Keiji was in Wakamatsu Castle, and the city was empty, so it was difficult to resist Date Masamune's strong attack. At this moment, the remaining in the castle were the nephew of Kanya Keiki, Nobosaka Katsuno, and the former ministers of the Osaki Kasai clan represented by Nihonmatsu Ukyoyo Yoshitaka and the retainers of the Nihonmatsu clan, with less than 1,000 troops.

On the day of the breakthrough into the Uesugi Domain, Date Masamune placed the main array on the Jinba Mountain on the north side of the Shiraishi River, where you can fully see the whole of Shiraishi Castle. At this time, Date Masamune was hovering on horseback on the edge of the cliff. Standing in front of the golden sun and moon on his head, wearing five carcasses painted with shiny black lacquer, standing in the wind, full of spirit. The one-eyed one eye was as sharp as an eagle's eyes, watching every move under the mountain intently, and the sweaty horse under his crotch was also snorting excitedly at the moment, as if he was going to rush down the mountain to have a big fight.

Now. Known as the "two famous ministers in the world", Katakura Kojuro Jingzuna came to Date Masamune's side, knelt down on one knee and said, "Lord Kai, the villages and lands near Shiraishi have all surrendered to this family. White Rock City is now a lonely city. "Karida-gun was originally the old land of the Date family, and when the local people heard of the return of the king, they rushed to tell each other and greeted the Date army with a spoonful of syrup, leaving the Uesugi army in a completely isolated situation.

"The main road from Shiraishi to Yonezawa and Fukushima has also been blocked, and it is only necessary for the lord to give the order to launch an attack." Katakura Keixuna continued.

"Is the general still unwilling to surrender?" Date Masamune asked.

Katakura Keixuna shook his head: "The envoys sent seem to have been detained, and it seems that they are determined to defend the city." ”

"In that case, it will have to be fulfilled for them." After that, Date Masamune looked around, took a deep breath, and reprimanded loudly: "It has been ten years since Oshu Shizhi, and in the past ten years, my Date family has been obscure, swallowing his anger, fighting hard, and waiting for the day, finally, waiting for today!" The time is ripe to restore the first name of Ou, and today is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore the glory of your family and compete in the world! Would you like to go down the mountain with me, gamble on the honor of the samurai, and level the White Rock City in one fell swoop! ”

"We are willing to follow the lord to level the Uesugi family and dominate the world with Okuha!" Date Masamune's pre-war mobilization made the entire Date army excited, and all of them, whether samurai or ashigaru, held high their weapons and battle flags, and let out a roar that shook the heavens and the earth.

With Date Masamune's order, 10,000 troops launched an attack from three sides according to the established strategy, and at the beginning of the battle, the Uesugi army still completely resisted and launched a fierce offensive and defensive battle with the Date army. However, as time passed, the Uesugi army gradually fell into disarray, and the Date Commander Yashiro Keiyori successively captured Joshita-cho, Wajiwa, and Sannomaru.

In view of the Uesugi family's refusal to surrender, Date Masamune ordered a general attack, with Yashiro Keiyori attacking Oteguchi, Watari Tarumun attacking Ninomaru and Waikorin, Yamaoka Shigenaga attacking Jonan, and Katakura Keitsuna attacking Josai. On the same day, the Date army captured Minamimaru, Nakanomaru and Ninomaru, and more than 700 members of the Uesugi army were killed, and all but Honmaru fell into the hands of the Date army that night.

That night, Date Masamune sent a messenger to the castle for the third time, and the Uesugi family finally split into two factions at this moment: the surrender faction led by Katsuno Nobosaka, and the anti-Japanese faction led by Kagoko Uemon and Nihonmatsu Ukyo Yoshitaka, who had a vendetta against the Date family. Both factions have their own opinions, and it is difficult for them to convince the other. In the end, Nobosaka Katsuno launched a mutiny at night, killed Kagota Uemon and Nihonmatsu Ukyo Yoshitaka, and surrendered to Date Masamune in the early morning of the next day, just one day, Date Masamune opened the door to attack Aonan, and in the following days, the cities of Guchuan and Shiteto near Shiraishi fell one after another, as of February 20, Date Masamune completely suppressed Karita and Date counties with a devastating momentum, but he was still not satisfied, and led the army all the way south, pointing directly at Fukushima Castle, the important town of the six counties of Xianbei, There, Honjo Shiganaga, an important minister of the Kenshin Dynasty, led an army of 4,000 to the battle.

After capturing Habataya Castle, the Uesugi family joined forces on two routes and successively captured Nagasaki north of Yamagata Castle and two castles on the west side of Yamagata Castle. In order to realize the encirclement of Hasedo Castle, Yokota Toshitoshi and Shibe Mitsunaga jointly attacked Kamiyama Castle southeast of Hasedo, and Naoe Kanesuke also sent 5,000 troops to help.

Just when the Tohoku was in full swing, Yoshikiyoshi Shimizu finally arrived at Osaka Castle after a starry night. In the face of Mogami's crying for help, Hideho was not ready, but Tokugawa Ieyasu and Mori Terumoto quickly convened a joint meeting to force Hideho to send troops immediately. (To be continued.)