As Kamitono Castle, Che Castle, Hariji Castle, Otsuka Castle and other places were successively breached by the Uesugi army, the two counties of Kikuta and Iwazen, which were mainly set off by the Iwaki family's retainers, were quickly suppressed. The only people who remained in the castle were Funao Takanao (Iwaki clan) from Funaster Castle, Mizuda Iemori (Iwaki Shigetaka's brother-in-law) from Kurata Castle, Noburi Iga from Heijo, Shirato Takatsuri (Iwaki clan) from Izumi Castle, Osato Kinyu from Kawabe Castle, Munehisa Ushita from Beruiseki, and Nikaido Moriyoshi from Yoshira Castle.

However, the four warehouse castles guarded by Nikaido Shengyi have become a lonely city at this moment. The surrounding Ogawa Castle, Otsuka Castle, and Hariji Castle were defeated by Kawada Nagakin's army, but they became the strongholds of the Uesugi army, and none of the envoys sent by Nikaido Moriyoshi to ask for help were captured by the Uesugi army. Kawada Naga also learned about the situation in Shikura Castle because of this.

On the fifteenth day of the first month of the second year of Eiroku, Soma Yoshiyin sent Kumagawa Takamitsu, the lord of Kumagawa Castle, to lead 400 troops south to join Kawada Nagajin and others.

"Report to the young master! Soma ······ The Soma family sent troops to help the Uesugi army! Just as Kumagawa Takamitsu led his army to merge with Kawada Nagaki and others, a samurai from the Nikaido family ran into the Ohiroma of Shikura Castle Honmaru in a panic.

"What?!" Originally, when he learned that the Uesugi army was coming in a big way, Nikaido Shengyi was in a state of fear all the time, but this time his face was even more bloodless.

"What a good thing this is!" The retainers of the Nikaido family in the Ohiro room were all anxious like ants on a hot pot.

"When the young lord and Date Gozen (Ananhime) escaped from Aizu, the old lord was still in Sannomaru in Wakamatsu Castle! The Fujiwara town government has now suppressed most of the seven counties of Xiandao, and the two families of Tamura and Soma are the only ones who are looking forward to the Fujiwara town government, and I am afraid that the Uesugi army will continue to enter the two counties of Iwazen and Kikuta. "As the head of the Nikaido family, Hodo Hara has the same thing as everyone else at this moment, and there is nothing to be done.

"Before we could set off a fight, the Uesugi army of the western expedition completely pacified Noto and Vietnam, and Kaga's Ichijomune was also defeated by Kakizaki and Izumi Mamoru without a defense. If the Aizu people return to Aizu, then we will have no chance of winning. Not to mention the revival of the Nikaido family. As one of the important ministers of the Nikaido family, Suda Hideyuki said helplessly.

"The Yada family of Dazato Castle is still holding on, but with the seven hundred city soldiers under the command of Yada no Tajima Shouden, I'm afraid it won't last long. What's more, Yadano Yukiyoshi and Yadano Yoshimasa father and son have already taken refuge in Fujiwara Town, even if Tajima Shouden surrenders in Kaicheng, Yadano Yukiyoshi and his son will not let him go easily. Yabe's lord Tasuke was also worried about the outcome of Yada's administration.

"Let's think about how to repel the fifteen hundred enemy troops outside the city! All the branch soldiers around Shikura Castle have fallen, and the follow-up strength of the Uesugi army will not be less than 3,000 ······" Hamao Yi, a member of the Nikaido family, was pacing back and forth at the door of the Ohiroma.

"Now the only way to do this is to find a way to go south to Satake to seek the protection of Dr. Satake Ukyo, or to surrender Kaejo." After thinking about it for a long time, he only came up with two plans. Although most people will not agree to either of these two proposals.

"Daisuke of the Arms Department······ Is there no other way? Nikaido Shengyi asked in a trembling voice.

"With enemies on all sides, our army has been cut off from the outside world. With the combat strength and number of the Uesugi army, I am afraid that most of the branch soldiers of the two counties of Kikuta and Banzen have been captured at this moment. Hodohara shook his head and said.

"Even if the young lord opens the castle and surrenders, then it is not necessarily that the Fujiwara town government will forgive the family." Suda Hideyuki was not in favor of the surrender plan.

"Is it possible to cage the city like this? There were only 500 soldiers in the city, and 1,500 enemy troops outside the city! How to keep?! "Do you want to stick to this lonely city.

"Can we stop fighting with the Uesugi Army? We'll hand over the castle and let us wait for Hitachi ······." Nikaido Shengyi asked a little naively.

"The Uesugi generals who went out of the Kikuta and Iwazen counties are all retainers of the Fujiwara town government, and I am afraid that they will take all of us and take them to Aizu to wait for the fall. If you don't know the retainers of Anqian Xingong, it's better. Suda Hideyuki shook his head and said.

At the same time that Nikaido Moriyoshi and others were hesitating, Yubi Yamazaki Hidesen solemnly wrote to the court, and he proposed a specific strategy to complete the Uesugi family to complete the hegemony - to replace the general of the town guard after the Kitabatake family, capture the fourteen prefectures of Rikuzen within one year, annex Kasai and Spo within three years, unify Okuwa within five years, and level the four seas within ten years!

As far as the heart is concerned, I still appreciate the courage of Yamazaki Hidesen's strategy to sweep away the various daimyo of Ou. If this is the case, then he is also a generation of heroes who have achieved the great cause of the Uesugi family through the ages. As soon as Chao Ding thought of this coveted glory, he had an instinctive impulse. But after careful consideration, Chao Ding always felt a little empty.

After all, the court had a long time of contemplating the situation of the Uesugi family at the time of the ordeal, and determined that although the Uesugi family, with the assistance of the Echigo Fuchu Nagao family, had captured six and a half of the eight countries in the Kanto region, the national power had once become the first of the daimyo in the world. But there is still a considerable distance from the strength that should be possessed by sweeping away the daimyo of the Eastern Kingdom. Based on this judgment, he really didn't have the idea of immediately rising up to fight a decisive battle with all the daimyo in the entire eastern country.

However, as a Confucian scholar and a strategist, Yamazaki Hidesen was by no means a rash person, and since he was able to put forward such a strategy, he should have a basis. Could it be that the authorities are obsessed with bystanders, and the Asadaki himself underestimated the power of the Uesugi family? Or are the great daimyo of the Eastern Kingdom already decaying and inactive, and they are indeed vulnerable, while the Uesugi family monarchs and ministers are closed and unknown? After much thought, the court could not make a decision.

In the end, Chaoding came up with a solution: he ordered the old Ota Shimasa of the Bitou family, the old Nanba Tian Kenji of the second seat family, and Tao Qingxian, the banner head of Aizu, to each write a book in a short period of time to judge Yamazaki Hidesen's strategy. The reason why the court decided not to convene a meeting and the important ministers to use the evaluation meeting to make a decision was because such a major policy of the economy was suddenly submitted to the evaluation council for discussion, and it was spread one after another, and when it was spread to the great masters of the eastern country, it would cause unnecessary trouble. Wouldn't it be too rash to let the daimyo of the eastern kingdom be prepared if this strategy was feasible? In addition, above the appraisal meeting, the retainers are easy to be induced and inspired, and many retainers will choose to echo the situation, so it is not easy to explain the stakes of the matter thoroughly. If the book is written alone, the person who reads the book must have deep thought, and he can avoid many scruples of face-to-face disputes, and the analysis of the interests and disadvantages must be thorough. If the content of the letter written by the three important ministers is consistent, then the public opinion at the evaluation meeting will make most of the retainers agree with the situation and avoid unnecessary trouble.

In fact, Asadachi still has a thought, that is, he wants to leave a certificate and test who can see things more thoroughly and have a more far-sighted vision at this confused and difficult intersection of differences, and can be used as the future pillar of the Uesugi family.

For several days, Chaoding was always nervous. After all, the stakes are very high, and it is also related to whether his life's work can be accomplished, which really makes him unable to relax. Although Chao Ding was as calm as ever on the surface, the people around him noticed his restlessness from his recent actions such as eating less and sleeping on his pillow. In the waiting of the years, the court vaguely hoped that his original judgment was wrong, and hoped to see the three important ministers agree with Yamazaki Hidesen's grand plan in unison, and then he could let go and make a big move, truly unify the world, and become a British lord on the same level as Minamoto Yoritomo, Ashikaga Yoshinori and others!

Before the uneasiness of the court lasted until the fifth day, a letter was sent to Sukagawa Castle, but it was a letter from Kenji Namba Da.

Namba Tanji's letter is very short and very concise, and his position is very clear: the authority of the shogunate has long been in decline, and the hegemony of the eastern kingdom is not proposed today, but has been planned as early as the time of Uesugi Zenhideko. What Yamazaki said is inevitable, and there is no need to talk about it. His Majesty is willing to lead his army to fight the Ise family and Hitachi generals of Odawara Castle for the first time, and make a name for the Uesugi family!

When Asadachi finished reading Nambata's letter, he felt that he didn't understand the point, and he couldn't help but sigh. Namba Kenji has been a rare fierce general in his family since more than ten years ago, and he has also learned to deal with some political affairs with Ota Zimasa over the years, and he also has a little political mind. If it weren't for his loyalty and support, how would he be able to rule over his family?

However, judging from the content of Namba Tian Kenji's letter, if he does what he says, it is enough to try to be a small tyrant, and it is enough to make the world worse. Starting from long-term planning, what the court needs is not a blind shouting echo like Namba Kenji. What he needs is insight into the world's course of action to decide whether or not the Uesugi family should fight at this moment.