Although Naotaka Ii and the upper echelons of the shogunate already knew that Akito had intervened in the rebellion of His Highness Tadacho, they did not announce these matters to the retainers and soldiers below. The retainers of Jing Yi, who had just heard about this, were also furious.

These retainers were frightened because the Ming people were actually the commanders of the Osaka rebels, which reminded them of the experience of those Warring States daimyo who were beaten by the Ming army during the Battle of Bunroku Keichō. Their anger is that Japan is called a barbarian genus by this Ming man.

After learning from China's culture for thousands of years, the distinction between Huayi and Yi is also a form of political correctness in Japan. Just as China refers to the peoples outside its borders as the Siyi, Japan also regards the indigenous peoples outside the Japanese archipelago as barbarians and regards itself as China.

Although Japan is a relatively special existence in the clan system of East Asia, they admire Chinese culture, but they do not worship the Chinese like other peoples. To a certain extent, they feel that they are on an equal footing with China, and of course they only dare to talk about this kind of talk at home.

But the Japanese still know very well who is the boss in the East Asian feudal system. If China really called on the world to exclude Japan from the Chinese civilization, it would be a fatal blow to Japan's position among the East Asian nations, and the shogunate would lose its legitimacy to rule Japan.

While the retainers were whispering, Naotaka Ii woke up from his anger. He put away the letter and said calmly to the retainers: "For the sake of the reputation of the Jing family, I should have died here in battle.

However, the reputation of the Ii family is small, and the survival of the shogunate is big. Since this deputy envoy of the Ming Kingdom has delivered this letter to me, how dare I ignore the survival of the shogunate, it seems that we are indeed about to retreat. But we can't afford to leave the front armies alone..."

Although Naotaka Ii kept saying that he couldn't ignore the front army, his so-called disregard was just to ask people to inform Abe Masaji of the withdrawal. As for the retreat of the men and horses in the old camp, Naotaka Ii was also divided into two parts, with 3,000 red reserves acting with him, and the rest of the horses were led by Saigo Heavy Officers.

Naotaka Ii vetoed the idea of the frightened retainers to attack Hiraka and withdraw to Kyoto. Because this indicates that this expedition has been completely defeated, God knows how Tokugawa Yoshinao in the rear will deal with him.

Naotaka Ii, who had completely cleared his mind, set the destination of the retreat in Nara. There are not only some people and horses of Inagaki Shigenuna, but also mountains surrounding it as a natural defense. In addition, when he withdrew to this area, he was able to explain to the shogunate that although the expedition was not effective, he did not escape.

In the camp of the former army, watching the Osaka army on the opposite side of the army in front of him in a good time, the generals of the former army, such as Abe Masasa, were full of anxiety and waited for Naotaka Ii's instructions. They knew very well that once the other side lined up the formation, the attack on the former army camp would officially begin.

As an offensive camp, the front army camp was only surrounded by a shallow trench and three bamboo fences. Abe Masaji didn't think that these rudimentary defenses would be of little use, and once the opposing Osaka army began to attack, they lost even the chance to escape.

However, what Abe Masaji and his subordinates were waiting for was an order for them to withdraw to Hirakata's camp on their own. As for the request that the Red Reserve should cooperate with their retreat, which was expected by everyone, there was not a word in this order.

After listening to the messenger's command, there was silence in the tent. After a long time, one of the generals said in disbelief: "Jing Yidian is going to ignore us?" ”

Another soldier full of resentment replied indignantly: "What kind of dreams are you still having, Jing Yidian has already run away with his own red reserve team, is this still a plan?" ”

In just a moment, the tent sent their hatred to the Jing family, who had left them behind. Abe Masaji listened to the side for a long time, but he didn't hear any useful advice other than complaining, so he couldn't help but pull down his face and reprimand everyone.

After the tent was quiet again, Abe Masaji said, "This is the case, what are your plans?" ”

The generals in the tent made eye contact with each other for a moment, and someone couldn't wait to say loudly: "The Osaka army outside is lining up to attack, what is the difference between retreating and self-destruction at this time?" Whether we can see the shadow of Hirakatajukuba is a question, so why talk about returning to Kyoto? ”

Abe Masaji suddenly narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "So you want to stay and fight to the death with the Osaka army?" ”

There was silence in the tent again for a long time, and only then did someone weakly say: "Except for retreat and death fighting, is there no other way to go?" ”

As soon as these words came out, someone echoed: "Yes, can't we make peace with the Osaka Army?" I heard that many of the Osaka troops on the other side are former subordinates of Lord Abe, so why don't I ask Lord Abe to negotiate and let them let us go..."

Hearing the words of these generals, Abe Massaji's face suddenly turned pale, but this army was not recruited by him. Although Naotaka Ii made him the commander of the former army, the power was still in the hands of Ii's retainer Saigo. After the departure of Saigo's heavy troops, the generals of the former army naturally did not take him, the general of the defeated army, in their eyes. Because nominally, Abe Masaoji and them are both in the same position, and they are both under the command of Naotaka Ii.

Naturally, Abe Shoji would not accept the rude remarks of these generals, his territory was in Musashi Province, near the Edo region, and if he surrendered here, the entire family would be implicated. Therefore, he repeatedly refuted the claims of these generals, and rebuked them with the righteousness of loyalty to the shogunate, hoping that they would come to their senses.

Abe Masaji and the generals of the former army were at loggerheads for a while, and it was not until a messenger from the Osaka Army sent a messenger to interrupt the argument between them. Abe Masaji immediately wanted to drive the messenger away, but the others had to hear what the Osaka Army had to say to them.

Abe Shoji, who has no strength, can't stop these generals who hold military power at all, and the messenger sent by Xu Xinsu is actually here to write a war letter, and he threatens in front of everyone: "... His Royal Highness had complained to the Celestial Empire about what had happened to His Highness, so the Celestial Empire sent troops to mediate the conflict between His Highness and the shogunate.

… If you don't surrender quickly, you will be crushed by the combined forces of Osaka and the Celestial Empire. You can now decide where to go. ”

Abe Masaji stood up, pointed at the messenger and scolded: "You wait for these rebels, first disloyal to the shogunate, and now they want to collude with foreign people to plot against our country, they are really disloyal and unfilial rats. If it weren't for the fact that you were a messenger, I would have beheaded your sacrificial flag today..."

The generals in the tent immediately got up and separated the two of them, and pulled the messenger out of the way, and when the messenger was sent away, several of the generals sincerely apologized to him and begged him to leave a little more time when he returned, so that they could persuade Abe Masaji to change his mind and settle the current confrontation between the two armies peacefully.

Although he didn't understand what Abe Shoji and the generals were doing, the messenger kept his composure and said, "There is still a quarter of time before noon, and this is the last time we can give you. If you can't make a final decision within this time, then our army will not give you another chance to negotiate..."

After sending off the envoy of the Osaka Army, several generals discussed at the gate of the camp, and some people said worriedly: "Lord Abe Masaji is so tough, I'm afraid I won't be able to make him change his mind within a moment." Are we really going to die here today? ”

Hotta Toshizo said viciously: "We can't bury Abe Masaji, if he dies here, not only can he wash away the responsibility for the failure of the previous sneak attack, but the descendants of the family can also get the praise of the shogunate, what can we get by sacrificing here?" The shogunate may not even be able to remember our names.

Now the camp is full of soldiers from our countries, and what qualifications does he, a prince of Musashi Province, have to make decisions for us? I see that it is better to cut him down with a knife, and then we will surrender to the Osaka army ourselves. ”

Tsuchiya Hizen immediately objected: "No, Abe Masaji is the former Osaka Castle, and there are many of his subordinates opposite, if we cut him, we may be settled by his old department." I think it would be better to send troops to surround the tent and then gather the people to discuss surrender. As long as everyone is on the same page, and then surrender the Osaka Army in the name of Abe Masaji, maybe we can still be looked down upon by the other side, and we will not be treated as nobodies..."

Tsuchiya Hizen's remarks were immediately approved by several of his colleagues, and a mutiny soon broke out in the former military camp with the concatenation of these people. After several samurai leaders of the former friendly Abe Masaji were cut down, the front army of Naotaka Ii fell into the hands of the rebels.

Under the coercion of Hotta Toshizo, Tsuchiya Hizen and others, more than 30 generals of the former army finally approved the proposal of surrendering to the Osaka army. However, some people asked worriedly: "Now that we surrender to the Osaka Army, we can be temporarily saved, but our relatives are now under the control of the shogunate, what if the shogunate hears about this and settles accounts with our relatives?" ”

Tsuchiya Hizen immediately replied: "We will surrender in the name of Lord Abe Masaji, and the shogunate will also settle the account on his head, how can you find our head, don't you listen to the law and not blame the people?"

Besides, even Ii Naotaka-sama was defeated by the Osaka army, who else in the area is available except for the army of His Royal Highness Yoshinao? The shogunate may not even be able to protect Kyoto now, and where can it dare to arouse the disgust of the countries.

In my opinion, after this battle, the majesty of the shogunate will no longer be as intimidating as it once was. The princes of the Western Kingdom have become self-reliant, and we in the countries may no longer need to be subservient to the shogunate..."

Xu Xinsu, who was arranging his troops and preparing for a big battle, received a letter of surrender sent by Abe Masaji before giving the order to attack.

Xu Xinsu was naturally overjoyed, and he ordered the Osaka 1st and 2nd Divisions on the left and right flanks to approach the opponent's camp, and then sent people into the camp to surrender. The soldiers disarmed the former army of Naotaka Ii without blood, and Abe Masaji who was tied into a rice dumpling.

The armies of Naotaka Ii and Masaji Abe were defeated under Osaka Castle, and in addition to Naotaka Ii retreating to Nara with 3,000 Red Reserves, Abe Masaji even rebelled and surrendered to Osaka. After this news came out, it immediately shook the princes of the world.