However, soon after the Funai-jo Castle was attacked by the Toyotomi's army, Yoshihiro SHIMAZU realized that the enemy's forces and supplies far exceeded his own, so he escaped Funai-jo Castle by sea in the midst of a midnight storm on April 22 and retreated to Matsuo-jo Castle where his younger brother Iehisa was on guard.
しかし豊臣秀長率いる豊臣軍によって府内城が攻められるや、圧倒的な兵力・物量の差を悟った島津義弘は3月15日の夜半に風雨にまぎれて海路で府内城を脱出し、弟の家久が守る松尾城に退却した。