Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1875 The Sword Points at Japan (卌二) Persuading
The next day, the king of Joseon, Li Zan, issued an order to order Quan Li to lead [-] Korean troops outside Wangjing City to advance eastward and intercept the Japanese Fourth Army Corps who had fled south from Hamhung.The decree clarified the command arrangement for this battle: Quan Li, as the Marshal of the North Korean capital, commanded the Korean Army and the Jurchen Allied Forces to aid North Korea. It was transferred to the command of Dong Yiyuan.

Since it involved the Jurchen coalition forces and even the Ming army itself, Ma Gui, the admiral of the Ming Dynasty, immediately issued an order to confirm Li Yan's statement regarding the issue of command power in this decree.

Quan Li was not aware of some political undercurrents at this time. Immediately after receiving the order, he personally went to the military camp outside the city to recruit troops and began to prepare for the conscript.

However, not long after he arrived at the barracks, a minister reported that Liu Chenglong, the former leader of the political council, had arrived and was waiting outside the gate.Quan Li was taken aback, and hurried out of the gate to meet him.

As soon as he saw Liu Chenglong, he asked, "Mr. Xiya, why are you here? What happened to Wang Jing?"

Liu Chenglong had a serious face, waved his hands but said nothing, Quan Li knew that the matter was of great importance, so he quickly asked Liu Chenglong to enter the account, and walked away from the left and right, and had an interview with Liu Chenglong alone.

Only Liu Chenglong and Quan Li were behind in the tent, Liu Chenglong sighed lightly, and said: "If Marshal Du is in Wangjing, Wangjing will have no major problems, but if Marshal Du is away from Wangjing, Wangjing will have great affairs."

Quan Li was taken aback, his eyes were uncertain, and he asked, "What does Mr. Xiya mean by that?"

Liu Chenglong said: "Marshal Du, Jackie Chan is already a commoner, so Marshal Du can just call me by my first name."

"How dare you be so impolite, but if you don't abandon my brother, you and I might as well call each other "Biaozi." Although Quan Li was eager to know why Liu Chenglong came to find him in person, both parties were from two top families, and etiquette still cannot be lost of.

"That's good, my little brother has the guts to call you Brother Yanshen." Although Quan Li "debuted" very late, but Liu Chenglong is actually five years younger than Quan Li, so there is a saying.

Quan Li clasped his hands and said, "Brother, you are being polite. If you have any advice, please speak up."

Liu Chenglong immediately sighed again, and asked in a deep voice: "Brother Yanshen, I dare to ask: If we look at today's North Korea from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, what are the benefits and what are the disadvantages?"

From the standpoint of Ming Dynasty, what good is it good for me to keep this North Korea, and what harm is there for me to annex it?
Quan Li's back lit up, he took a deep breath, resisted his uneasiness and said: "If you preserve it, the righteousness will be manifested, and the destiny will return; if you merge it, all the feudal clans will be separated, and the world will be different."

Liu Chenglong shook his head, and asked again: "Who are the vassals, who are the four seas?"

Quan Li was startled when he heard this, and frowned, "The Ming Dynasty has dozens of states, so isn't it the feudal clans? There are other countries besides the feudal clans, isn't it the four seas?"

Liu Chenglong shook his head and said: "There are dozens of vassals, and those who dare to fight for the 'Little China' are none other than Korea and Annan. Annan has long been attached, and the former king of Tiannan is now just a mere governor.

Among the other feudal vassals, those who once flourished were Siam, Burma, and San Buddha Qi, but where are these countries now?Whether it survives in name but dies in reality, it is all under the control of Daming.Since Annan, Siam, Myanmar and other countries all ended up in this way, how is North Korea different from them today, so that they are not coveted? "

Quan Li frowned, and it took a while before he said: "During the change of Renchen, the Ming Dynasty sent troops out of righteousness, and then did not interfere in the Korean government, and did not even agree to the request of the king, but only focused on helping North Korea restore the country. In this way, how can we do it for no reason? Doubt that Shangguo has the heart to annex a small country?

Furthermore, the reason why countries such as Annan, Siam, and Burma were suppressed by the heavenly soldiers was that they first had a heart of disobedience and raised unrighteous soldiers, which angered the upper country.

North Korea is not the case. Our country has been loyal to the vassal state for 200 years. When the envoys of various countries pay homage to the emperor, North Korea often ranks first. How can its loyalty and sincerity be compared with other countries?

What's more, North Korea is a country that is not subject to conquest listed by the ancestor of the previous country, and the ranking is even at the top of the list.Today, the Wanli emperor has inherited the great rule for many years, and he has added power to the world and besieged all nations. He is indeed a rare emperor since ancient times. How can he covet the forbidden land of his ancestors? "

Liu Chenglong smiled wryly and said: "Brother Yanshen, it's enough to tell others these words, can people like you and I trust you?"

Quan Li didn't answer, but asked instead: "Brother Jian, since you have said so, and Ming people don't speak secretly, why do you suspect that Daming already has the heart to covet North Korea?"

Liu Chenglong said: "First is Pyongyang, then Wangjing, the place where the king of Joseon resides, apart from a hundred palace guards, there is not even a single officer and soldier from our court, brother Yanshen, don't you think this is too much?"

Quan Li shook his head and said: "Admiral Ma's move is indeed a little over the top, but... After all, there is a reason for it. In the year of Renchen, we had some disputes that were unreasonable, especially because we were eager to regain the three capitals, so the heavenly soldiers suffered a lot. Loss. This time Admiral Ma made such a move, I think it is still reasonable."

When Liu Chenglong heard this, his complexion was a little ugly, because Quan Li's words actually involved one thing, which can be regarded as a stain to Liu Chenglong, but to Quan Li himself, it was brilliant.

At that time, just after the Battle of Bichi Pavilion, Liu Chenglong reported to Li Yan that he even said bad things about the Ming army: "The matter of hunting down the thieves and restoring the frontier is entrusted to all the generals, and the troops are withdrawn, and no one is the first to go up. "

Against this background, Liu Chenglong, who claimed that the Heavenly Soldiers were defeated and fled in the Battle of the Beetle Hall, planned to make some small moves by relying on the Battle of the Beetle Hall to lessen his guilt of lying about the military situation and being disadvantaged in logistics.

"And all of them observed that Liu Chenglong and others discussed that they wanted to rely on the power of heaven and unite the generals to attack the capital first." So there was the battle of Xingzhou mountain city, which was a military adventure.

Xingzhou Mountain Fortress is located in the southwest of Hanyang, about three miles away from Hanyang (about 11781 meters in Japan), on a hill about forty feet high beside the Han River.The hill is steep on three sides, facing water in the southeast and southwest, and there is only one road up the mountain in the southwest, which is very difficult and dangerous, and there is a well spring on the mountain.

At that time, Quan Li, who was the patrol envoy of Jeolla Province, led an army of 700 people. He was coming from the south to the north, and when he passed the bank of the Yangchuan River, Xuan Juyi, the envoy of Jiedu, led [-] people to defend the river bank. Three hundred, when the Japanese army strengthened the Hanyang city defense, they were transferred from Suwon Tucheng to Goyang's Haengju Mountain Fortress.

At the same time, he ordered the garrison general Zhao Jing to rush to repair the camp, reorganize the original old city into a one-foot-high stone wall, and build an antler gate in front of the city.After receiving the news that the North Korean army had arrived in Haengju, 1000 monks and soldiers near Hanyang came to assist in the defense under the leadership of the monk Chuying.

Quan Li's stationing this time, to be honest, was actually a military adventure without any follow-up cooperation.The mountain city of Haengju is "surrounded by more than [-] steps, and no large soldiers can be placed", which means that the mountain city of Haungju itself is too small to station heavy troops.

The 2300 men led by Kwon Yul at that time accounted for only about 1.334% of the total strength of the North Korean army, 9.2% of the total strength of the Jeolla Province, and about 4.3% of the Japanese defense forces in Hanyang.That is to say, whether it is for North Korea or for the Japanese army, the symbolic significance of the existence of the Hanju Mountain Fortress is far greater than its military significance.

At this time and here, Quan Li's solitary army, which was out of touch with the surrounding allied forces of the Ming and North Korea, was essentially powerless to pose a real threat to the Japanese army in Hanyang.However, due to the terrain restrictions of the Hanyang mountain city itself, as far as the recovery of Hanyang is concerned, the narrow Hanyang mountain city cannot hoard supplies, so it is impossible to gather heavy troops, which does not have much practical significance for the recovery of Hanyang.

However, regardless of whether it was practical or not, Quan Yubu’s sentry soon went to Wuyakhyeon, a suburb of Hanyang, and encountered a Japanese patrol. Eight or nine North Korean troops were killed. Then the Japanese army dispatched about 1200 people to block the land traffic in the mountain city of Haengju.

In the early morning of the next day, the Japanese army marched from Hanyang to Haengju Sanseong. The whole army consisted of about 3 people and was divided into seven teams: the first team was Konishi Yukio, the second team was Ishida Mitsunari, Masuda Nagamori, Otani Yoshitsugu, and Maeno Nagayasu. The third team Kuroda Nagamasa, the fourth team Ukita Hideke, the fifth team Yoshikawa Hiroka, the sixth team Mori Motoyasu, Kobayakawa Hideyoshi, the seventh team Kobayakawa Takakage, the whole army arrived in the early morning about five miles northwest of Hangju Mountain City on the plain.

In the early morning, due to the narrow roads in the mountain city of Haengju, the Japanese army took turns to attack the city. The Korean army used the British monk army to guard the outer gate and stabbed it with spears and swords. , mixed with large and small Sheng character gun barrels, and firearms such as Zhentianlei, Zhishen Cannon, and Dazhong Fahuo.

The Japanese army attacked in turn against the firepower of the defenders, and tried to burn down the wooden fence with fire attack, but was extinguished by the defenders with water.The Japanese war dead "dragged out one after another, but still advanced and could not retreat", and they charged eight or nine times repeatedly.

On the way, the three teams of Yoshikawa Hiroie, Mori Motoyasu, and Ukita Hideka's general Togawa Tatsuya once broke through the area defended by the monks in the outer city and arrived at Ishigaki Shigejo, which was defended by Gonuribe.Seeing the strength of the Japanese army, the monk army had to retreat to the inner city.

Seeing that the situation was urgent, Quan Li drew his sword himself, beheaded several retreating monk soldiers, and finally forced the Japanese army back again, and erected the outer city fence again.Fighting from early morning to evening, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties. Ukita Hideke, Yoshikawa Hiroie, Ishida Mitsunari, Maeno Nagayasu, etc. were all wounded, and the Korean army's gunpowder and arrows were also exhausted.

Ding Jie, envoy of Zhongqing soldiers, brought two ships of arrows and entered the city from the sea. Jeolla Province also had more than forty tank boats operating at Yangchuan Pukou. In this case, the Japanese army retreated to Hanyang that night in order to prevent reinforcements from coming to attack. .

However, the North Korean generals not far from the surrounding area did not have a single soldier to come for reinforcements, either during the war or after the war. Jingxi said: "Whoever hits many arrows, among the thieves there must be people from our country who will join in the battle."

In order to prevent the Japanese army from attacking again the next day, Kwon Yul, who knew he was powerless to resist, burned down the mountain city of Haengju, dismembered the corpses abandoned by the Japanese army to vent his anger, and then retreated to Paju.This is the Battle of Haengju Mountain City, and it is also the battle of Kwon Yul's fame.

Looking back, in fact, the Battle of Haengju Sanseong and the Battle of Byekjekwan can be regarded as the preliminary preparations for the planned Battle of Hanyang. The battlefields of the two battles are three days away from Hanyang.

The Battle of Byekjekwan was the last failure of the Ming army on the eve of the food shortage, and finally failed to pass through Toonseokhyeon. The Battle of Haengju Mountain Fortress was the Korean army who abandoned the city after the war. In fact, both armies failed in Hanyang. Establish a solid outpost in the suburbs.

Of course, in this battle, the Japanese army exposed its lack of ability to attack fortified positions and its weakness in heavy firepower; while the Korean army’s so-called great victory in burning the city and retreating, it once again exposed the chaos of its army, and it was difficult for various ministries to cooperate with each other. Refusal to cooperate abounds, and Quan Li deliberately placed the monks and soldiers in the most dangerous outer city, which also highlighted the embarrassing position of the North Korean rebels.

In the battle of the mountain city of Xingzhou, the later Koreans actually knew the real reason for this victory-"It's lucky for what happened today. The generals did not save each other, and there were also generals who relied on each other, so the heavenly soldiers have retreated , but the thief cannot know whether it exists or not. It is also a blessing that the thief will not come back the next day."
In other words, the Japanese army did not know that Xingzhou was just a lone army, and the North Koreans abandoned the city immediately after the Japanese army withdrew, which also reflected the fluke and symbolism of the so-called Xingzhou victory—and its irreproducibility.

Compared with the Battle of Byukjekwan, the Ming army was originally trying to achieve the goal of going forward to control the Maoling area. Referring to the topography of the Byokjekwan, Haengju Mountain Fortress and the city’s warehouses, it can be seen that the hoarding of materials and the ability to assemble troops around the Byokchikwan It is far beyond the mountain city of Hangju.

However, in fact, the Ming army at that time had exceeded its logistical limit. Even if the army retreated to Kaesong after the Battle of Bituguan, the Ming army was still in a state of food shortage.The military rations that Liu Chenglong promised to provide before may only be enough for general officers at the actual level.

As a result, Li Rusong felt sorry for the loss of his family and worried about running out of food and the morale of the army was turbulent, so he was finally forced to return the main force to Pyongyang.As for the performance of the North Korean army, there is no possibility of attacking Hanyang at all.

However, in any case, the cause of the Battle of Xingju Mountain City was that Liu Chenglong was not good at raising food, and he also hacked Li Rusong in front of Li Yan by the way. Back to the front with weak forces to repel the Japanese army far superior to its own forces.

Therefore, in any case, Quan Li became famous in the first battle, and has since become an important minister of North Korea who is named and actually more important than the navy commander Yi Sun-shin.After the war, the situation of all parties gradually became clear. Although Liu Chenglong was not blamed (after all, from the perspective of North Korea, they would not lose some military rations), but those who know the truth will naturally have a public opinion.

At this time, Liu Chenglong heard Quan Li's insinuating mention of this matter, not only his face was ugly, but he even wanted to leave, thinking: Although your background is not bad, Quan Li, the reason why you can become an official is because of that. Or is it because of my recommendation that you don't want to achieve something today and treat me like nothing, and you really think that Li Shanhai's comeback will last for a long time?

Annoyance turns into anger, anger turns into anger, but thinking about the current situation of the Southern People's Party, Liu Chenglong still had to hold back his anger and said in a gentle manner: "Although the country is strong, it is foreign; Bang. What's more, my two groups of children have been officials for generations. If they are merged into the Shang Kingdom, do you know that they will not decline for three generations? Brother Yanshen, do you think so?"
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(End of this chapter)