Shinuesugi Senki 3 / Rekishi Gunzo Shinsho 224-3

[Machine Translation] Uesugi Kagakatsu, who had buried Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was plotting to usurp the shogunate, in Bushu's Bunbekawara, was advancing his army to capture Edo. His successor Hidetada, Sakakibara Yasumasa, Honda Tadakatsu, and others remained in Edo, while Fukushima Masanori, Kuroda Nagamasa, and other warlords were looking for an opportunity to avenge their disgrace. The movements of Maeda Toshinaga in Hokuriku and Kuroda Josui in Kyushu should not be underestimated. However, the Tokugawa forces had no general to unite the lords, although they had the same military strength as the combined forces of the Uesugi forces and their allies in the west, such as Mitsunari Ishida. Therefore, the strategist Kuroda Josui, who was secretly feared by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was chosen to lead the Tokugawa forces.

武州分倍河原で、天下簒奪を目論む徳川家康を葬り去った上杉景勝は、江戸を落とすべく兵を進めていた。江戸には後継者の秀忠以下、榊原康政、本多忠勝らが残存し、福島正則、黒田長政ら武断派大名が雪辱を晴らす機会をうかがっている。北陸の前田利長、九州の黒田如水の動きも侮れない。しかし、上杉勢に、それと手を組む石田三成ら西国の武将たちを併せた勢力と変わりない兵力を持ちながら、徳川勢には諸侯を束ねる総帥がいなかった。そこで太閤秀吉が密かに畏れたという策師・黒田如水に白羽の矢が立てられた。