Date's misery was put to an end. The courageus Date shogun was defeated by a veteran Bushi.
Sorry for eliminating you so early in the game, akots. But I was really squeezed between you, the mountains and the AI (wich also built it's cities very close to my borders) . I had to clear some space in order to expand.
Like you said, without iron there was no way that you could manage to offer much resistance.
I was aware of the fact that you didn't had iron from the begining, so I thought that you would try to attack me right in the begining with an ashigaru rush. That's why I eliminated your ashigaru when he aproached my borders, earlier.