Oishi was in favor of surrendering the castle as a way to restore the clan; however, he thought it would not be accepted by many and therefore he supported the idea of besieging the castle at first and gained support from people such as Soemon HARA who were in favor of the besiegement.
大石は、内心では開城してのお家再興派だったが、これを主張すれば収まりがつかないと考え、最初は篭城を主張して原惣右衛門ら篭城派の支持を獲得した。