to consent to it.

Of course this answer profoundly enraged the Osaka party. They
appreciated for the first time that they had been deceived
throughout, and that by a series of adroit manoeuvres they had been
removed from an almost impregnable position to a practically helpless
plight. Not a few turned their backs on the castle, but a great
majority determined to renew the conflict and to die at their posts.
The circumstances, however, had now undergone a radical change. The
castle had been converted from the strongest fortress in Japan into a
mere semblance of strength, and no garrison, however brave and
however resolute, could have defended it successfully against the
forces that the Tokugawa were able to marshal.

As for Ieyasu, he knew that his task had been immensely lightened. On
the 3rd of May, 1615, he started from Sumpu for Osaka at the head of
an army numbering scarcely one-third of the force previously led
against the castle. Nevertheless, one contingency presented itself in
a dangerous light. It was always possible that Hideyori himself
should make a sortie from the fortress, and, in that event, the
prestige attaching to the memory of his father, Hideyoshi, might have
demoralized a large section of the Tokugawa troops. To avert this
danger, Ieyasu had recourse to his wonted methods of deception. It
has been shown that he held Harunaga's son, as a hostage. This youth
was required to write a letter to his father stating that collusion
existed between parties within and without the fortress, and that the
traitors had plotted to induce Hideyori to make a sortie, whereupon
the castle would be given up and Hideyori would be delivered into the
hands of his enemies. Harunaga does not appear to have entertained
any doubt as to the trustworthiness of this letter. He carried it
hastily to Hideyori, who was in the act of preparing to sally out of
the castle and throw himself upon the beleaguering forces.

The receipt of the letter naturally led to a change of plan, and
although desperate fighting subsequently took place, the castle was
finally set on fire by traitors and its fate was seen to be hopeless.
Hideyori's wife, granddaughter of Ieyasu, repaired to the Tokugawa
headquarters to plead for the life of her husband and his mother. But
Ieyasu was inexorable. He granted asylum to his granddaughter, but
replied to her prayer by ordering a renewal of the attack upon the
castle. On June 4th, Hideyori committed suicid