Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1015

The elite Goryeo troops stationed in Haizhou were organized into the Right Shence Army.

The name sounds quite fierce.

The names of Goryeo's other armies are also quite intimidating. Not to mention the palace guards such as Konghe and Qianlong, their two major imperial guards are called Yingyang and Longhu respectively.

In addition, there are the Six Guards of the Capital, including the Jinwu Guard, the Qianniu Guard, and so on.

After a short battle outside the city, Zhe Yanzhi's general came back and reported: "General, according to the confession of the prisoners, the elite troops that just left the city were the Goryeo Right Shen Ce Army stationed in Haizhou. Their weapons and armor are inferior to those of the Ming garrison troops, but better than those of the Ming Canal Army. Their combat capability is probably about the same as that of the Ming Canal Army, but their morale is too poor, probably even worse than that of our Ming Canal Army."

Zhe Yanzhi muttered, "With their food and wages being withheld all the time, it's a miracle that their morale is not low."

"This kind of army with no morale can be defeated in one battle as long as we have siege equipment!"

"Fill the moat first, and fire a few cannons if necessary. Don't rush to attack the city, save it for siege and fighting the reinforcements. As long as the reinforcements are defeated, the defenders in the city will definitely surrender. Send the light cavalry and small boats to the east to find out the enemy's reinforcements, and then try to contact the local spies."

"Yes!"

Cui Daoxiu was organizing the people to defend the city and was distributing military equipment from the treasury.

Haizhou was once the seat of Goryeo's Protectorate, mainly to guard against the Liao Kingdom.

At that time, Anbei Protectorate (Anzhou) was the front line against the Liao Dynasty, and Anxi Protectorate (Haizhou) was upgraded to a large protectorate, which could quickly mobilize troops from half of Goryeo.

Therefore, regardless of how well the weapons are maintained, there is definitely no shortage of weapons in the treasury here.

The iron armor was rusted, the leather armor was moldy, the bowstrings were broken, the gun barrels were rotten... One piece of armor after another was carried out and distributed to the young and strong men who were temporarily organized. Most of these young and strong men were ordinary people in the city.

Half of the Right Shence Army did not have time to enter the city and had been dispersed by the Ming cavalry. Cui Daoxiu could only recruit militia for defense.

That's nonsense.

The invincible Ming army has been preparing for its march south.

However, Goryeo, which was in danger, had no defense at all and did not even bother to repair its military equipment.

The next day, the second batch of Ming troops arrived and landed in a swaggering manner. The total force here had reached 5,000 people.

Cui Daoxiu did not dare to send troops out of the city. He only sent a few light cavalry to request reinforcements when the Ming army first landed.

In the afternoon, the remnants of the army that escaped from Huangzhou were defeated by more than a hundred elite Ming cavalrymen before they even approached Haizhou City, and Huangzhou Governor Xin Jia was also captured on the spot.

"The Huangzhou defenders were defeated?" Zhe Yan asked.

Xin Jia was talking nonsense: "The Ming Dynasty soldiers were too powerful. I was planning to find a chance to surrender. But before I could surrender, the Ming Dynasty soldiers had already rushed in. Long live the Ming Dynasty! Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

After waiting for another half a day, Zhang Yi led his troops from Huangzhou.

He left three hundred soldiers and one thousand civilians to guard the city, and led two thousand seven hundred soldiers to join them.

There is nothing to fight around, just continue the siege, and give Zheng Zhongfu time to gather troops. The total strength of the Ming army is not large, and the more troops Goryeo gathers, the better, so as to avoid breaking through layers and fighting security battles.

Most of the county towns in Goryeo don’t even have city walls!

……

Zheng Zhongfu has led his army to the area between Kaizhou and Haizhou. Now it is just a small county town, which was upgraded to a county during the Joseon Dynasty.

Well, the name is...Yan'an County.

After Ming annexed Goryeo, it had to change the names one by one, otherwise there would be repeated place names everywhere. Not to mention Guangzhou and Huangzhou, there are also Kunming County, Wendeng County, and Jiangyin County.

"What? You said Haizhou was surrounded?"

Zheng Zhongfu was horrified.

He only gathered a few thousand elite soldiers and set off without stopping, just to rush to Haizhou. Then, relying on the strong defenses there, he could either defend to the death or look for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle.

What the hell is the siege of Haizhou?

The messenger crying for help said: "The Ming army came from the sea by boat, and we were completely unprepared. Even half of the Right Shence Army soldiers did not have time to bring their weapons into the city, and were killed by the Ming cavalry and fled in all directions."

Zheng Zhongfu was furious: "A month ago, a merchant brought back news that the Ming army on the north bank of the Taedong River was mobilizing food and grass. I have already gathered troops and rushed here, how could Haizhou be completely unprepared? Did the Cui family treason? "

The messenger seeking help stammered, "Protector Cui...he thought that the Ming army would not be able to reach Haizhou in a short time because of the Huangzhou city in the north. He never expected that the Ming army would come from the sea by boat."

"How could he not have expected it? Among the people doing maritime trade with the Ming Dynasty, the Cui family is the one that makes the most money!" Zheng Zhongfu was so angry that his lungs were about to explode.

While the two were talking, dozens of defeated soldiers came to surrender.

Those were the Right Shence Army that didn't have time to enter the city. After all, they were the elite troops of Goryeo, and some of them were unwilling to surrender. Hundreds of remnants of the army fled one after another, and some of them even brought their families with them.

Zheng Zhongfu sent out light cavalry to gather information, and they soon ran into the Ming cavalry - the two places were only seventy miles apart, and the road was flat with no terrain barriers.

The Goryeo light cavalry was defeated and had no idea of ​​the enemy's situation because they were stopped halfway.

Zheng Zhongfu called Li Junyi to discuss: "The Ming army has surrounded Haizhou. We don't know how many Ming troops have come, nor do we know whether Haizhou has been captured. What should we do next?"

Li Junyi was originally collecting treasures and beauties, planning to go out to sea before winter and go to Luoyang to bribe the emperor and his ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

As a result, before he set off, news came from the other side of the Taedong River that the Ming army was mobilizing food and fodder.

Li Junyi said: "Since Haizhou is surrounded, we can't fight in Haizhou, nor can we fight here."

"There is the sea to the south of Haizhou City and mountains to the north. We can only pass through the narrow coastal passage. The artillery of the Ming army's ships is powerful, and the shells can deter half of the coastal passage. Once we fight there, it is estimated that our army will be defeated by the artillery of the Ming army's ships before the two armies even engage in battle."

"And this place cannot be used as a battlefield. The county town is on a hill, and the terrain is flat on all sides. How long can a mountain town be defended? If the Ming army surrounds it but does not attack, they will drag our army here and send a small army to attack Kaifeng. Most of the nobles and civil servants in Kaifeng will take the opportunity to rebel and surrender the city."

Zheng Zhongfu said: "I understand what you said, but what should I do next?"

"Take His Majesty on a hunt southward." Li Junyi said.

Zheng Zhongfu was stunned: "Nan Shou?"

Li Junyi nodded and said, "Yes, let's go to Nanjing (Seoul). The Ming army's ships can reach the outer port of Kaijing directly, and it will be difficult for us to defend it. Although Nanjing has access to the sea through the Han River, large sea vessels cannot enter, so it is no problem to defend it until winter."

"Just winter?" Zheng Zhongfu was a little disappointed.

Li Junyi said: "It will be good if we can hold off until winter. We can buy time and wait for the Ming army to make mistakes. Then we can look for opportunities to counterattack."

Zheng Zhongfu said, "Can't we go east? There are more mountains and ridges over there."

Li Junyi shook his head: "If we take your majesty and hide in the mountains, the Ming army will be able to seize the two capitals and then march to subdue the local nobles. Goryeo has already lost Xijing (Pyongyang). If we lose Kaijing and Nanjing (Seoul), there will only be one Dongjing (Gyeongju) left. By that time, we will become bandits and your majesty will become a fake king. Will the only remaining Dongjing support us? No, we just massacred the Gyeongju nobles there!"

Zheng Zhongfu thought about it for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Then please let your majesty hunt in Hanyang!"

The Korean reinforcements immediately packed up their supplies and planned to withdraw in the dark after nightfall. Soldiers with night blindness could pull on their belts to keep going, as long as they did not get separated from the main army.

Just as the Goryeo army was about to retreat, someone in Li Junyi's camp took advantage of the chaos and led a horse westward.

In order to save his life not long ago, Li Junyi even worshipped Zheng Zhongfu as his godfather. How could he possibly accompany Zheng Zhongfu to die?

……

Li Junyi's cousin Zhou Pu ran more than 20 miles away from the camp and was captured by the Ming cavalry.

Seeing Zhe Yanzhi, Zhou Pu said, "Zheng Zhongfu wants to take the king to retreat to Nanjing Hanyang. Please send troops on the sea vessels to intercept them as soon as possible!"

Zhe Yanzhi couldn't believe it: "He didn't even save Haizhou, and he gave up Kaizhou?"

"He was scared to death." Zhou Pu said.

Zhe Yanzhi asked again: "How many reinforcements did he bring?"

Zhou Pu said, "More than 6,000 soldiers are the elites of the six guards in the two capitals, and there are also thousands of civilians following them. There are also some troops left in Kaifeng, and my cousin Li Yifang is responsible for gathering the troops. The troops from the capital and other places are gathering there one after another. As long as the general sends a thousand elite soldiers to arrive in Kaifeng before Zheng Zhongfu, my cousin will open the city to welcome the Ming soldiers and block the way back for Zheng Zhongfu's 6,000 elite soldiers!"

Zhang Yi warned, "General Zhe, beware of fraud."

Zhe Yanzhi smiled and said, "Are you Li family so kind?"

Zhou Pu said: "The Zhou family is a poor family, and the Li family is a military family. They have no future in Goryeo. If the Ming Dynasty soldiers had not come to attack us, we would have continued to rule the country with military men. But now that the Ming Dynasty soldiers have come, how can the weak Goryeo army defeat them? It was Zheng Zhongfu who deposed and enthroned the king, and our Zhou and Li families were bewitched and coerced by him. Zheng Zhongfu is arrogant and domineering. My two cousins ​​were afraid of being killed, so they were forced to accept Zheng Zhongfu as their adoptive father. This is a great hatred!"

Zhe Yan asked: "What do you want?"

Zhou Pu said: "Please forgive my two families for being forced to revolt!"

"You should go and rest first." Zhe Yanzhi said.

After the man left, Zhang Yi warned him, "General Zhe, we don't need to take risks. If he is here to pretend to surrender, there are many elite troops lying in ambush in Kaizhou, and the troops we send out will suffer heavy losses."

Zhe Yanzhi took out a map of Goryeo, pointed at the mouth of the Licheng River and said, "We don't have to go to Kaizhou, we can just land at the mouth of the Licheng River. If Zheng Zhongfu really wants to withdraw his troops, the elite troops we sent out can ambush near the ferry first. There are tens of thousands of enemy troops and civilians, and when they are halfway across the river, the ambushers will kill them in one fell swoop!"

"If Zheng Zhongfu doesn't withdraw his troops, we can use ships to transport food and send out elite troops to the rear of Zheng Zhongfu's army. Then we can attack from both sides!"

"No matter whether what Zhou Pu said is true or false, we will not suffer any loss if we send troops."

(End of this chapter)