April is coming to an end and the weather is getting warmer.

After Date Masamune captured Tochio Castle, which had been burned to the ground by Mori Nagaka, he did not take advantage of the victory to pursue it, but took advantage of the momentum of the great victory to move forward, but built a simple walled castle next to Tsugawa and stationed it.

Why not keep up the good work? It's very simple, there are less than two months of food and grass left in the army, and with only two months, it is completely foolish to want to capture Kasuga Mountain Castle.

Not to mention that Uesugi Keihoo has the help of wise Kogoro, even within the Uesugi family, where people's hearts are fluctuating, the generals' support for Uesugi Keihu has not completely dropped to the freezing point of distrust. Moreover, Uesugi Keitora is not Katsuyori Takeda, and the people of Echigo have not lost faith in him.

After dinner, Date Masamune set aside all his men, leaving only Date Terumune, the father, who was supplementing his son's study of the art of war.

And outside of this camp, the half-brothers of Ghost Court Tsunagen and Katakura Keizuna (Ghost Garden Zuoyue was originally married to Katakura Keizuna's mother, but because they didn't have a boy for a long time, the two divorced and remarried, Oni Ting Zuoyue gave birth to Ghost Court Tsunamoto, and his ex-wife married to the Katakura family and gave birth to Katakura Kojuro Keizuna, so ethically speaking, these two people are barely brothers, Khan ~), and discussed the war around the bonfire.

It was late at night, and the various battle reports only made them clear about one problem, that is, the position of the enemy and the enemy. Date Masamune yesterday buried the unpopular guy Yashiro Keiyori in the nearby Xiaoren Temple, but he has been slow to take further action.

[I heard that the lord did not agree to the plan proposed by the two adults, Shiraishi and Harada, to attack Kasuga Mountain Castle at night? 】

Katakura Keixuna lowered his voice, while Ghost Court Tsunagen nodded bluntly, stretched out his neck and asked:

[Not only did he not agree, but the lord didn't know why, he was in a very bad mood at that time, and he scolded these two adults with a split on his face...... By the way, what did Lord Regent say? 】

[What's this...... Wait a minute, before I tell you, I want to hear why the lord didn't agree to the night attack, haven't you been with the lord all this time? 】

Why are you asking me this question? Kojuro, can't you ask the lord's thoughts, so you won't tell me the regent's opinion? It's not enough of a friend. 】

[Don't don't, don't be, you misunderstood what I meant, if you listen to the lord's thoughts first, then the regent's opinion will be easy to state. 】

[It's really an old man, Lord Regent's mind is really complicated. 】

[The older generation is like this, and my father always says that people don't understand it, and by the way, so does my sister. 】

Katakura Keixuna's sister is Katakura Kita, the daughter of Oni Tsuka, and she has a blood relationship with Oni Tsunamoto.

So when I heard that Katakura Jinggang had fallen into his sister, Ghost Court Tsunagen was a little unhappy.

[Well, since you have to ask, then I'll tell you to hear it.] The lord told me privately that he must get the land of Echigo, but the previous offensive like a raging wind and fire will be temporarily stopped, and the subsequent use of troops must be very cautious. 】

[The next battle will definitely not be very easy to fight, but what does it mean to be cautious? 】

Katakura didn't seem to understand the meaning of this, and muttered.

[Yes, the lord said, now is the closest moment to victory, but it is also the closest moment to defeat, the situation of the Uesugi family is not optimistic, but our army is not much better...... Also, the lord said that his previous war only relied on force, and he was too eager for quick success, and this style should take a good rest, do you understand? 】

[I'm really sorry, I don't seem to understand. 】

Actually, what a smart character Katakura Keisuna is, how could he not understand? It's just that he always likes to intentionally or unintentionally act like a wise and foolish look, so that others can't understand it.

[As long as people are anxious for quick success, they will show flaws. It was the case when I attacked Xianbei and Aizu before, although I succeeded in destroying the enemy in the end, but I also lost a lot because of the relationship that was too impatient, and after the war, I had to relax the rhythm appropriately and consider many aspects. 】

[Oh, this really doesn't seem like the words of the lord. 】

[Don't interject! …… In the face of the two adults, the lord said, either be impatient or impatient. If I launch a night attack on the Uesugi family tonight, even if I win, it will be a small victory, and I won't gain much benefit. And if the attack is frustrated and I lose both of your generals, my losses will be great. I took such a big risk, but I got a small benefit. How cost-effective is this? 】

[Having said that, if you can get Kasuga Mountain Castle......]

[The certainty of being able to take the city is not great...... And just put all the problems on the lord and himself. Therefore, it is still not cost-effective. 】

The two lowered their voices and laughed,

[The lord also said that the rising sun cannot be suppressed. The Date family is here today, all because of the protection of the gods and Buddhas, don't expect the gods and Buddhas to suddenly change their attitudes. Even if we win, the Uesugi family will flee to Echichu, and we will not benefit, and if we fail, there will be a catastrophe, don't forget, in addition to the Uesugi family, there are also the Soma family and the Satake family, who have been eyeing the territory of the family, by the way, and the sinister old thing of Yoshimitsu Mogami...... You say, how can the lord agree to such an attack plan? 】

[Hehe, the lord has become very careful, so it's good. 】

[The two adults were not convinced, and also asked, lord, if we don't do it, we will be seized by Uesugi Jinghu, if the Uesugi family eases up, tomorrow morning will lead tens of thousands of troops to kill here, what should we do? 】

[This is very likely, what did the lord say? 】

[The lord hasn't made any decisions yet, by the way, don't always ask me, you haven't answered me yet, what does the Lord Regent think? 】

[Oh, you say this, hehe, Lord Regent means...... Fall back! 】

[Huh?! What do you say?! 】……

At this time, in the main formation, Date and his son tightened their faces and did not say a word, and the atmosphere was very depressing.

In the past, when I read military books, it always said that one general was incompetent and tired to death of the three armies. No matter how elite the soldiers, if they encounter an incompetent general to lead them, it will only make the three armies useless. However, at this time, Date Masamune was deeply convinced of this when he was studying the art of war with his teachers Kinobu Endo and Zen Master Sooti Toraya. However, today, he has a deeper understanding of this sentence. No matter how incompetent a general is, it is more terrible than the [general] standing behind the general.

This [general] here does not refer to others, but to himself!

This has to be said in detail, the vassal lords under Date are always obedient to the tune, and the most worthy of [naming and commending] are the lord of Kohama Castle, Ouchi Dingzuna, and the lord of Nihonmatsu Castle, Tayama Yoshitsugu.

Listening to the surname, you know that these two guys have extraordinary origins, one is the Ouchi clan, a descendant of the Tatara clan, and the other is even more remarkable, the Tayama clan is the bloodline of the Ashikaga family, ranking among the famous families of the explorer.

Of course, just the background is good for a P! As small lords, these two people don't act the same way as the big lord's face. However, these two people have a very good relationship, they are iron buddies, no matter what difficulties they encounter, they always advance and retreat together.

Back in the days when Date Terumune was in power, these two were oscillating between the Date family and the Soma family, acting as wall grass, and there was no way, the little lord could only survive in this way.

Soma father and son and Date Terumune understood this, but Date Masamune, who succeeded to the throne, was very unaccustomed to this kind of behavior, and when the [Sendo Expedition], he sent the country to be prosperous and the remaining political scene to crusade.

The attack of the Date army was very fierce, these two little lords couldn't bear it at all, there was no way, the city was about to be destroyed, these two had to announce their surrender and go to Yonezawa Castle to take the blame.

Because Date Masamune and Soma Yoshiyin killed in the dark at that time, they couldn't control them at all, so they let them go very much. As a result, these two brothers verbally expressed their loyalty to the revolution and the party, but as soon as they turned around, they immediately launched the non-violent non-cooperation movement.

And herein lies the problem.

Date Masamune received two letters, written by Shigenobu Suzuki of Aizu Wakamatsu Castle (strictly speaking, this place should still be called Kurokawa Castle at this time, and Aizu Wakamatsu Castle is the name given to the Gamo clan) and Date Minoto of Marumori Castle.

The two men were in different places, but the content of the letter was much the same -- a plea for help.

Suzuki Shigenobu said that he didn't know what was going on, but in the past few days, several [rebel armies] composed of Ashina's former ministers suddenly appeared in the Aizu territory, among which the most powerful group has exceeded 800 people, and they supported Ashina Morinobu, who was also a relative of the Ashina family, as the new family governor and announced the [revival] of the Ashina family. Not only that, but when the other [rebel army] saw this, they immediately took refuge as if they had found an organization, and Ashina Morinobu soon gathered 3,000 people.

Because Date Masamune had conquered Aizu for less than a year, and there were no effective pacification and management measures for the local area, many people still missed the Ashina family in their hearts, so riots were launched in various parts of Aizu, and there was turmoil for a while.

Because the army was outside, the Date garrison in Aizu consisted of only 2,000 people, and Suzuki Shigenobu, who was overwhelmed by this, immediately wrote to Date Masamune asking for support.

Another point is that Shigenobu Suzuki is also quite a clever guy, judging from the fact that the [rebel army] has abandoned the estrangement between each other in a short period of time and has also established a new governor, this is obviously a premeditated action.

And the Ashina family has long since perished, and it is completely unrealistic to expect these people to plot in private. Therefore, Suzuki Shigenobu faintly hinted in the letter that there must be some force in this [uprising].

Regarding Suzuki Shigenobu's speculation, Date and his son both said that they thought so, but who would be the force behind this? The Uesugi family is still the Soma family.