Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Nobunaga personally received the Uesugi clan's envoys as before. The fighting prowess displayed by the Uesugi army was indeed worth Nobunaga's attention. As long as Kagetora was willing to surrender in disguise, negotiations were possible.

So what are Kagetora's current conditions?

Uesugi Dōmamaru can still be sent to Kyoto as a hostage, Kasugayama Castle can be surrendered, and Uesugi Kagetora can retire to serve only as Uesugi Dōmamaru's assistant. We still request that Uesugi Dōmamaru marry Oda no Michi and that Echigo province be preserved.

Thus, the Uesugi army was willing to serve as the vanguard of the Oda army and attack Hojo Odawara Castle.

That's it? Not only did Nobunaga not listen at all, but even Shichibei felt that Kagetora still hadn't grasped the situation. Admittedly, Uesugi Kagetora was essentially carrying...

Betraying allies and betraying one's brother. Diplomatic credibility is something some people don't care about at all, while others value it highly.

As Takeda Shingen fought, he ended up turning everyone around him into his nemesis, leaving him with a tense situation on all sides and no stable rear. He could only bring about 20,000 men to Kyoto.

Those who break their promises will certainly be looked down upon. Why is Tokugawa Ieyasu considered a loyal and honest person in history? Because he upheld the Kiyosu Alliance to the very end, until Oda Nobukatsu betrayed him and took the initiative to surrender to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, at which point the alliance completely collapsed.

Currently, Hojo Ujimasa's army is attacking Ueno-no-Masahashi Castle, and Takigawa Kazumasu has personally returned to defend it. This means that Hojo Ujimasa is still upholding the alliance and coming to help, while Uesugi Kagetora is actually willing to betray his own brother.

It will be shameful!

Perhaps in Uesugi Kagetora's eyes, his willingness to even serve as the vanguard in the attack on the Hojo was already a huge concession. But in Oda Nobunaga's eyes, it was nothing, utterly insignificant.

Nobunaga could command an army of 200,000 to besiege Odawara Castle, why would he need 20,000? That's ridiculous, there's no need for that at all. All this fancy talk just clings to Echigo.

What's with this talk of retiring and handing over the throne to Uesugi Dōmanmaru? The child is only eleven years old; how can someone that age rule the entire Echigo empire? In the end, it was still the so-called "Gomimee" Uesugi Kagetora who took over. Even if he had ruled for another ten years, and the child had passed away after turning twenty, it wouldn't have made much difference.

Uesugi Kagenobu clearly observed the reactions of everyone present; Nobunaga's face remained completely expressionless. Niwa Nagahide, Kawamura Nagayoshi, and the others to his left and right also wore completely indifferent expressions.

Despite the Uesugi army losing several fortresses and two to three thousand men in the past few days, the Oda army attacking the city has suffered similar losses, also numbering in the thousands.

If we really try to take Kasugayama head-on and lose tens of thousands of men, how will we fight Odawara next year?

Hey, this really comes down to perspective. For the Uesugi clan, the loss of ten thousand men is an absolutely devastating and terrifying loss; without ten thousand men, the Uesugi clan would be wiped out.

The best example is the Shimazu clan of Kyushu. In the Battle of Takagi, Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu cooperated miraculously, killing thousands of Shimazu cavalry and many senior retainers, completely crushing Shimazu Yoshihisa's morale. Upon returning to Ōsumi, he shaved his head, became a monk, took the name Ryūhaku, and surrendered to Oda Nobukatsu in white robes.

But for the Oda clan, what does 10,000 people mean? It's just five...

It's just a lot of money.

A good brother who costs five strings of cash can be used without hesitation.

Especially in the eyes of Nobunaga and his son Nobukatsu, they wouldn't say they loved their soldiers like sons, but they would definitely pay them well, and then they would use their troops like mud. "All of you, charge! If you win, you'll be richly rewarded; if you lose, you'll be beheaded."

So what if tens of thousands die in battle? They're dead, so be it. I'll just go back and recruit more. These days, if you raise a recruitment flag, people will come to eat. Foot soldiers and miscellaneous troops are essentially cannon fodder. As long as the core samurai group remains steadfast, it's no big deal for the Oda clan.

There are currently over 60,000 troops at the foot of Kasugayama Castle. If you include Takikawa Masushige and his men who are currently stationed at Sakado Castle, that makes over 70,000. So what if 10,000 die? It won't cripple them anyway.

Furthermore, if the Oda army suffered 10,000 casualties, the Uesugi army would essentially be wiped out. Historically, when the Uesugi clan transferred their fiefdom to Aizu-Yonezawa, they only took 6,000 men with them. From the chief retainer and the main branch to the regular foot soldiers, the core Uesugi force was only that large. The rest were all local lords and peasant soldiers; they were indeed unruly commoners, and while they could endure hardship, they weren't suited for prolonged battles.

When the war drags on, people start to miss their wives and children at home, worry about the damage the war has done to their fields and houses, and fret about the outcome of the battle, and so on.

Such peasant soldiers, when victorious, roar and advance with unstoppable ferocity. When defeated, they lower their flags and fall silent, fleeing with the wind. There are countless ready examples; if the core of the Uesugi clan of six thousand men were truly killed, these peasant soldiers would inevitably disintegrate and flee.

Now, if you calculate it, at least several hundred, maybe even a thousand, of the core members of the Uesugi clan have died. If he hadn't felt the pain, Uesugi Kagetora would definitely have decided to drag it out until heavy snow fell in Echigo, enough to bury people.

"Please, Your Excellency, clearly state the terms of surrender." Uesugi Kagenobu's presence here naturally indicated his hope for a successful peace negotiation.

"Summon the city and surrender. We will not discuss anything else." Without Nobunaga needing to speak, Niwa Nagahide, who was standing beside Nobunaga, immediately spoke.

"Ah, this..." These terms are too harsh; Uesugi Kagenobu can't bring them back.

"We can send Domanmaru-dono out first to show our sincerity," Shichibei added.

Send out your eldest son, who commands the Uesugi clan, first to show your willingness to negotiate and surrender. Furthermore, Shichibei, though not explicitly stated, can vouch for it. If you hand your son over to me, as long as you don't stubbornly resist the imperial army, I will guarantee his safety.

Even if the city falls in the end, there's a chance that all you'll need to do is become a monk, instead of having your entire family slaughtered according to their household registration after the city falls.

"How can we send it away when the peace treaty has not been reached?" Uesugi Kagenobu realized that the Oda clan truly only accepted unconditional surrender.

With such a significant advantage, having already reached the doorstep of the Uesugi clan and confident of capturing Kasugayama before winter, the Oda army was naturally in no hurry and would not offer Uesugi Kagetora any favorable terms.

They could only surrender like Ryūzōji Takanobu, sending their entire clan to Kyoto to eat cold tea and rice, receiving a paltry 5,000 koku of salary, barely enough to survive.

"There's nothing more to discuss. Let's call it a day." Niwa Nagahide and Nobunaga exchanged glances and announced directly.

Maeda Toshinaga and Niwa Nagashige have already exerted all their strength, each breaking through several fortresses. Oda Nobuhisa's forces have captured Uesugi Norimasa and destroyed the palace, so they can hold off for a while. Now, Kiso Yoshimasa, Sanada Masayuki, and Mori Hideyori, charge forward!

Even though Mōri Hideyori was a member of Nobunaga's Moi clan, he still had to charge forward when the time came. Mōri Hideyori was very willing; he came here to fight. Others had 100,000 or 150,000 men, all of whom were Moi clan members, so why should he only have 50,000?

Uesugi Kagenobu had barely retreated when the Oda army launched another massive attack. Everyone knew their side had a significant advantage, so who wouldn't fight with all their might? That very day, three fortified castles that had been subjected to fierce assaults were captured. Kasugayama Castle...

The defense system is further disintegrating and is finding it increasingly difficult to provide complete protection.

No one had any intention of staging a game of shooting arrows into the city or issuing repeated proclamations, taking advantage of their large army and numerous troops. They simply dismantled the city, demolishing all the outlying fortresses. With just one castle, Kasugayama Castle, you couldn't even feed so many people.

Historically, castles like Miki Castle, Tottori Castle, Arioka Castle, and Yagami Castle were besieged to the point of cannibalism. Often, castles with tens of thousands of families saw only a few hundred survivors when the besieged were finally opened to the public. Needless to say, these few hundred people must have eaten human flesh.

Seeing that Oda's army's offensive remained fierce, the morale within Kasugayama Castle was bound to waver. After all, you'd be encouraging everyone today, inspiring them tomorrow, and shouting that they would definitely win.

The battle lines are getting closer and closer!

What's the use of saying all those nice things or how powerful they are? If you look up and see that Oda no Papaya crest is about to penetrate the castle town, people will definitely doubt whether they can successfully resist.

So Horie Munechika sent someone out in the dead of night, saying that he was ordered by Kagetora to defend the Ninomaru of Kasugayama Castle. If the Oda army could push the castle down, he would set fire to the Ninomaru after a pre-arranged signal, causing a riot. He requested that Oda Nobunaga launch a fierce attack on Kasugayama.

With coordinated efforts from both inside and outside, we can surely capture the city.

See, this is what a smart person does. They don't set any conditions; they just state their value and plans first. As long as the value is sufficient, considering the later need to conquer Odawara, Horie Cōchin will definitely receive at least 10,000 koku, and 20,000 or 30,000 koku wouldn't be surprising.

Kimura Yoshikiyo, who had previously beheaded his lord Akechi Mitsuyoshi during the internal strife, received 15,000 koku. Now, having beheaded Uesugi Kagetora, he would likely receive a reward of around 50,000 koku. Everyone has a price to pay; Ishida Mitsunari, as the commander-in-chief of the Western Army, is worth 320,000 koku in Chikugo-Yanagawa.

It's a deal!

Nobunaga personally wrote a red-stamped document granting him a bonus of 10,000 koku of rice and sent it into the castle. He then continued his fierce attack on the fortresses, and in six days, he had almost completely destroyed all the outer fortresses.

Kasugayama Castle, built atop Mount Kasuga, is a series of interconnected mountain fortresses, rising in layers upon layers. Through four generations of additions and expansions, it has developed a remarkably strong defense. Unfortunately, the castle is now filled with wounded soldiers, their cries of agony echoing through the air, while outside, an army surrounds it ten times over. The Uesugi family's end is nigh.

Not to mention Horie Munechika's intention to rebel, people have been escaping from the castle in droves these past few days. Takeda Katsuyori's end was truly tragic.

Of the thousand-strong force that fled to Tianmu Mountain, only a few dozen remained; a small number died in battle, and the majority escaped.

Loyalty and righteousness are important, but I don't want to risk my life lightly.

Without a word, the various armies began a large-scale burning and looting spree outside the city. Previously, only the Uesugi army looted others; now, they were to show the Uesugi clan how to be robbed themselves.

Kasugayama Castle town was burned and looted in a short time. Of course, the more important town was Naoezu. The local community sent representatives to Shichibei, asking him to mediate. They were willing to pay 12,000 kan of arrows to buy Oda's army from attacking the town.

How to distribute the spoils is a matter for Lord Nobunaga and the other officials; they only seek peace and stability. Naoezu, who had made a fortune in the trade of Echigo ramie, gold dust, rice, and horses for so many years, is now trembling with fear.

In two months, the Echigo-kai will need to send representatives to Hochi to attend their trade fair, and Shichibei definitely has to give them face. However, Shichibei also made it very clear that they need to hand over the money, cash, right now. That's something to talk about, but expecting IOUs or empty promises won't work.

Twelve thousand kan of Tsuho coins and gold coins were transported to Nobunaga's residence.

With that, the matter was finally settled. Nobunaga personally issued the injunction, which was placed at the crossroads of Naoezu-cho, and he even assigned a few soldiers to guard it.

Another, and most important, point is that the rice in Echigo is ready for harvest. A large portion of the strong men and able-bodied men of Echigo are holed up inside Kasugayama Castle. "You won't open the castle, huh? Fine, then I'll just take whatever rice Echigo has to offer, whether it's 300,000 or 400,000 koku."

Even if we don't capture Kasugayama Castle this year, this trip will definitely not have been in vain. These hundreds of thousands of koku of rice alone will be enough to make everyone who came to participate in the war very rich.

Seeing the castle town being burned down and the rice fields on the plains being harvested, the local farmers who had been brought out of the castle fled, abandoning their defense altogether. They needed to go home immediately to harvest their rice; if they lost their year's harvest, even if they managed to hold out, they would starve to death in the winter.

As Oda's offensive began to be deployed, large-scale mutinies broke out among the peasant soldiers scattered throughout Kasugayama Castle. At the very start of the attack, Horie Munechika of the Ninomaru set fire to the castle, causing chaos. The peasant soldiers in each castle and its surrounding areas abandoned their resistance and fled in all directions, opening the gates of the castle.

Nobunaga ordered a siege with one side open, allowing these peasant soldiers to escape. Although this resulted in the loss of a ransom for capturing them, it would more quickly weaken the defenses of Kasugayama Castle. Besides, Naoezu had already sent 10,000 men...

Two thousand strings of cash.

In the blink of an eye, Kasugayama, the renowned fortified castle of the eastern lands, was reduced to a crumbling main keep and four or five thousand Uesugi soldiers crammed inside. As for the reinforcements sent by Ashina, Daihoji, Honma, and others, they had already been defeated in repeated engagements with Yamagata Masamitsu and retreated.

"Fire at the castle day and night without ceasing." Nobunaga did not launch a full-scale attack at this point. After all, it was better to avoid losing even one brother who cost five kanmon each, because they would still have to send more troops to Odawara next year.

They didn't expect the cannons to hit the Uesugi troops inside the citadel; their aim was to frighten and intimidate the defenders, keeping them constantly on edge and unable to rest.

If this fighting continues for just two or three days, the castle will collapse on its own. The Oda army won't even need to launch any actual attack to achieve victory easily.

592. Blazing Flames Soar into the Sky, City Falls

The collapse of the Uesugi army came earlier and later than expected.

After nightfall, Uesugi Kagetora beat the taiko drum, opened the castle gates, and divided his troops into two groups. One group went straight to Oda Nobunaga's main camp, while the other group took Oda's army's stockpiled provisions and supplies, as well as the small pack animals that had captured spoils of war.

Kagetora's wife was Haruhime (Seien-in), the adopted daughter of Kenshin and the daughter of Nagao Masakage. Although Kagetora and Kenshin were not related by blood, Uesugi Dōmanmaru did indeed have Nagao blood. After all, Seien-in's mother was Kenshin's older sister, Senmo-in, so the relationship was quite close.

The drums on the castle tower thundered like lightning as the Uesugi army launched a desperate attack. Kagetora himself wielded his katana on horseback, charging into the pass set up by the Oda army below the castle.

With Uesugi Kagetora and Yamamoto-ji Sadanaga as their leaders, the Uesugi army on both sides fought to the death. If they could not defeat the Oda army in front of them, the Uesugi clan would surely perish this year. Since it had come to a life-or-death moment, how could the defenders of Kasuga Yamamoto Maru, with the Uesugi clan retainers at their core, not be brave? They charged down the mountain like madmen.

Unfortunately, he encountered Oda Nobunaga.

Moreover, he was Oda Nobunaga, who had long since mastered the art of warfare and had spent fifty years mired in the quagmire of the Sengoku period. Although Nobunaga did not have any special defenses against night raids, he was very serious about besieging Kasugayama.

With its massive manpower, the Oda army set up ten layers of fortifications outside Kasugayama Castle, truly encircling the castle ten times.

When Nobunaga besieged Inabayama Castle, he built three layers of fortifications around it. Later, when attacking Ōkōchi Castle, he also built layers upon layers of fortifications. By creating strong defensive positions in the opposite direction, he effectively surrounded the enemy with fortifications, making it extremely difficult for them to come out and fight.

So Uesugi Kagetora and Yamamotoji Sadanaga, who had just left the city, saw the seemingly endless barricades. They had discovered that Oda's army was setting up barricades before they even left the city. This was not surprising, as barricades are essentially chevaux-de-frise or wooden fences, which are very common throughout history and across the world.

What's a couple of barricades blocking the way? Just cut them down and move them aside. Little did they expect that when they reached the plains below the city, they would find that the barricades were impossible to breach.

As the drums sounded from the city walls, the drums of the Oda army below also began to beat. Each unit lit its torches and prepared to meet the Uesugi army. Unlike the early Sengoku period armies, which were filled with peasant soldiers and ruffians, the Oda army before them was entirely composed of standing troops. Although their skill level wasn't particularly high...

Where to go, at least have the awareness that you are a soldier.

There was panic and helplessness, but many people instinctively checked the condition of the samurai leading the group. As regular soldiers, they were personally dependent on the government, and their wives and children lived outside the city. If they really tried to run away, they would be beheaded and their entire families killed.

This is shown in "Aoi: The Three Generations of Tokugawa". Hidetada failed to capture Ueda Castle and decided on the spot to arrest and behead the Tokugawa soldiers who had fled without permission.

Just kill them.

The Uesugi army's desperate charge came and went quickly. The Oda army, positioned along the various lines of the Kagaki fortress, unleashed a hail of arrows into the Kagaki, pinning the Uesugi soldiers down. After all, those inside the Kagaki were Uesugi bandits; what was there to fear? They could simply fire their guns and arrows relentlessly.

In the latter half of the night, the entire Kasugayama area was in unbelievable chaos. When dawn broke, the Uesugi army had already retreated back to the city, leaving behind a field of corpses.

Seeing this, it was clear that Oda Nobunaga didn't even need to give the order; all the generals and soldiers knew that the Uesugi clan's end was near. Just as they were debating who would be the first to attack Kasuga Yamamoto-maru, a massive explosion occurred.

Knowing they were doomed, Uesugi Kagetora, his wife Seien-in, and their three sons and one daughter ignited a large amount of gunpowder piled around the Kasugayama Palace, directly detonating the palace and burning themselves to death in the flames.

Seeing the Oda army below the castle, including Nobunaga, one couldn't help but sigh, "Truly the son of the war god Uesugi Kenshin." They fought to the very last moment, preferring death to becoming slaves and suffering humiliation and torture.

Although Uesugi Kagetora self-destructed, there are still many remnants of his army within this hamlet. They must be killed without exception. Only by killing them can Echigo be stabilized, and only by killing them can the hearts of the people be appeased.

It wasn't some kind of Uesugi hunt; it was just normal dealing with troublemakers in the local areas. How could the lords of Shinjuku quickly establish their rule if they didn't shave their heads?

Shichibei didn't know many people in Echigo, except for the group of merchants in Naoezu. Now that they were safe, he naturally wouldn't say anything more.

Seeing the Oda clan's hereditary leaders charging towards the already engulfed Kasuga Yamamoto Maru, Shichibei restrained the eager Oda Nobuhisa. "You've already killed Uesugi Norimasa, that's enough of a role. There's no need to fight for this credit. If Uesugi Kagetora weren't dead, I'd support you sending men. But he's already self-destructed; it's hard to say if his head is even there. What's the point of charging?"

Kagetora's head is worth at least 30,000 to 50,000 koku, but you still need to have a head. Without a head, how can you prove that you killed Uesugi Kagetora?