In the second year of Yonglu, March 24.

Tao Qingxian led 8,000 Uesugi troops and combined with 1,000 Soma troops led by Soma Yoshiyin did not stop after capturing the three important towns of Natori County, and the 9,000 army went straight to Sendai Castle in Miyagi County.

After entering Natori Prefecture with an army of 1,000 troops, Mori Keihiro and Mori Takatsune, who had been garrisoning Shibata Prefecture for a long time, were busy receiving various places and encountered almost no resistance.

When Date Harumune learned that the Uesugi army was about to attack, he hurriedly led his army back to Rifu Castle. At this moment, Date Haruzong is desperate and has no master. He simply did not have the strength and ability to resist the invasion of tens of thousands of Uesugi troops. Natori-gun has been lost, and such a loss is very heavy for the Date family, and the natural danger of the western mountain range has been lost. Most of the three counties of Kurokawa-gun, Miyagi-gun, and Shida-gun are plains, and there is no danger to defend at all.

After Date Harumune entered Rifu Castle, news of the Uesugi family's army attacking in large numbers also spread to the castle. Soon, the city of Lifu was in chaos. Date Harumune immediately approached the retainer Harada Nagasei, hoping that he would come up with an idea.

Who knew that Harada Nagashi said a sentence to Date Harumune: "It is impossible to negotiate peace now, and the name of the Date family will still be said after the war." ”

Date Harumun did not give up, and found the top family of the important minister's family to guard the building. But the advisor of Yoshimitsu was silent. In desperation, Date Harumun could only go to the house of the Date family and the family. Although Ojo (Oeda) Muenao is a member of the Date family, his military exploits are not lagging behind anyone in the Date family, so Date Harumunu wants to hear his thoughts. Although Naoto Ojo didn't care about the political affairs of the Date family, he still gave Date Harumune a few practical ideas at this time of crisis: the first was to immediately arrest all the retainers of the Mogami family who had fled into Date and send them to the Uesugi army, and let Tao Qingxian, the general of the Uesugi army, go to the country, and express his determination to break with the Mogami family at this time of crisis; The second is to immediately cede the land of Miyagi-gun and Kurokawa-gun to the Uesugi family to make amends; The third is to take the initiative to serve as the vanguard of the Uesugi army and attack the Osaki family.

After saying three things, Ojo finally said to Date Harumune: "If the lord can do this, then the Date family will be safe." Otherwise, the old minister is powerless. ”

Date Harumun was helpless when he thought about it, so he stomped his feet and left with a long sigh.

Back to Honmaru, Date Harumunu didn't know where to start with these three things?

Send the retainers of the Mogami family who defected to the Uesugi army, and then they will only have one end - beheading. So will anyone dare to defect to the Date family in the future? If the Date family is defeated, who will dare to accept the people of the Date family. whereas

It was also not advisable to cede the land of Miyagi-gun and Kurokawa-gun, and most of the retainers in the family would not agree. The last one - let the Date family send troops to be the vanguard of the Uesugi army to attack the Osaki family, no matter how stupid Date Harumuni is, he knows the truth of the cold lips and teeth, if the Osaki family is destroyed, then the Date family is far from destruction?

In the middle of the night, several important officials of the Date family suddenly rushed to the city of Rifu and demanded to enter the city. Since it was an eventful time for the Date family at this time, Date Harumun made an exception to let them enter the city.

"Brother, the ministers are worried about the survival of the Date family, so you should hurry up and negotiate a truce with the Uesugi family!" As soon as Sugime Naomune entered the Ohiroma, he knelt down in front of Date Harumune and pleaded.

"Sixth brother, what do you mean by this? Hikotaro died tragically at the hands of the Uesugi army, do you think I will make peace with the Uesugi family? Date Harumun thought that something big had happened, but he didn't expect that it was a group of old ministers who persuaded his sixth brother Sugime Naomune to be a lobbyist.

"Brother, how many defenders are there on the front line of Sendai Castle, Shiro Maru Castle, Chiyo Castle, Daimonji Castle, and Imaizumi Castle? Can you compete with the nearly 10,000 Uesugi army? Brother, wake up quickly! In the many years of war between the main family and the Uesugi family, there were many defeats and few victories. A large number of retainers and lords died on the battlefield, and the Uesugi army fought more and more, and the family became thinner and thinner! Sugime Naomune's words made Date Harumune, who was originally sleepy-eyed, suddenly sober up a lot.

"I have long ordered Daisuke of the Furukawa Criminal Department of Kurokawa County to lead 500 troops south, and now I should have arrived in the area of Damanji Castle······" Before Date Harumune could finish speaking, Ojo Mune interrupted him.

"My lord, Daisuke of the Furukawa Criminal Department did not move his troops. Former retainers of the Kurokawa family, such as Fujihachiro Kurokawa of Hachiya Castle, Fukuda Wakasa Mamoru Hiroshige of Ogua Castle, Hosokawa Shigetari of Nakadate, Hosokawa Yajiro of Okudakan, and Daisuke Somune of Daiheng Castle did not appear to lead their troops south to help the family on the grounds of guarding against the Kasai family. "Ojo Muneao hopes that Date Harumun will make a suitable decision immediately.

"How can that be?!" Date Harumune realized at this moment that he no longer had the capital to continue fighting with the Uesugi family. If these former retainers of the Kurokawa family can maintain neutrality, it would be fine, but if they fall to the Uesugi family, then the Date family will be attacked from both sides.

"My lord, if all the generals of Kurokawa surrender to the enemy, then the family will suffer from the enemy!" Genshin Endo (brother of Sonobu Endo) has begun to worry about the future of the Date family.

"Order the four protectors Danma Shou Zongyi to immediately go to Kurokawa County to question the Kurokawa people, and you all return to your respective territories to prepare for war." Date Harumuni staggered away from Ohiroma under the eyes of everyone. And Harada Nagasei, who was behind the important ministers, sneered on the side.

March 26. In just two days, Tao Qingxian led his army to capture Damanji Castle, Matsumori Castle, and Chiyo Castle, and there was almost no resistance wherever he went. After Soma Yoshiyin captured Masuda Castle, Imaizumi Castle, Sendai Castle, and Shiro Maru Castle, he burned Sendai Castle. Taga Castle, a branch city in the southern part of Rifu Castle, immediately surrendered to the Uesugi army, and the lord Harada Naganari also volunteered to serve as the vanguard of the Uesugi army.

27th, morning. Tao Qingxian and Soma Yoshiyin began to attack Iwakiri Castle after they merged under Iwakiri Castle. Although there were 600 defenders in Iwakiri Castle, they still could not hold out for two hours. After the castle was captured, the defenders Yume Ise Mamoru and Sato Keigaka were captured and beheaded.

As the news of the loss of Miyagi County spread like snowflakes to Rifu Castle, Date Harumune gradually began to lose his breath. Because the 600 defenders in Iwakiri Castle were the troops that the Date family had recruited with great difficulty, but with the loss of Iwakiri Castle, they were all gone. At this time, even the important minister Harada Naganari surrendered to the Uesugi army, which made Date Harumune gradually lose his fighting spirit. However, fortunately, under the operation of Ojo Zongzhi, the Kurokawa people still sent a hundred troops into Rifu City to assist in the defense, and Date Harumun also had a little confidence.

At the same time, the Kasai army had already captured most of Kurihara and Tome, and began to attack the territories of the clan Takakatsugu and Ichikuri herding cattle in Tamakuri County. However, the Kasai Army in the east failed to capture any of Toda Prefecture because the main force went to Shizugawa Castle to quell the rebellion of the Motoyoshi family. It was precisely because of the invasion of the Osaki family by the Kasai Army that the Osaki family could not draw a single soldier to go south to support the Date family. This saved Tao Qingxian and others a lot of trouble with the Date family's strategy.

On the 28th, 8,900 Uesugi troops arrived at the foot of the castle. The defenders of Lifu were only 200 men, and most of them were old, weak, sick and disabled. Tao Qingxian didn't have any mercy, and directly ordered a storming of Lifu City. Soon, in less than an hour, the city of Lifu was captured. The defenders were all killed, and Date Harumune, Ojo Muenao, Endo Genshin, Shiho Soyoshi and others committed suicide in Honmaru, and the Date family, which had been entrenched in Nanjiku for nearly two hundred years, was cut off.

The Kurokawa people of Kurokawa Prefecture were also destroyed by the subsequent invasion of the Uesugi army, and none of the former ministers of the Kurokawa family, such as Kurokawa Fujihachiro of Hachiya Castle, Fukuda Wakasa Mamoru Hiroshige of Ogua Castle, Hosokawa Shigetari of Nakadate, Hosokawa Yajiro of Okudakan, and Daisuke Mune of Daiheng Castle of Daheng Castle, survived. And Endo Mitsusada of the Sengokukan in Shida Prefecture gave up resistance after learning the news of Date Harumune's death, and Kaeki surrendered to the Uesugi army.

After Tao Qingxian destroyed the Date family, he stopped the pace of the attack. He knew very well that this was already the limit. Subsequently, Tao Qingxian handed over the task of defending the four counties of Kurokawa-gun, Miyagi-gun, Shida-gun, and Natori-gun to Soma Yoshiyin and Mori Keihiro, and then withdrew his troops and returned to the seven counties of Sendo.

On the other hand, Asadari also guessed that the Kasai family would take advantage of the fact that he would send troops to attack the Mogami family and the Date family. Immediately, he ordered Yanzawa Manyan and Tiantong Yorizhen to lead an army of 2,000 out of Kami County, and captured Miyazaki Castle, Yonesen Castle, Yagisawa Castle, Yagi Mori Castle, Nakashinta Castle and other places, and the important ministers of the Osaki family, Miyazaki Ryuji, Yagisawa Naohiro, Yoneizumi Naoyuki, and Tani Mori Naokei were killed.