Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1016 1011 [Rebellious Son]

The straight-line distance from where Zheng Zhongfu withdrew his troops to Kaesong, the capital of Goryeo, was only 70 miles.

But if you are marching with a lot of baggage, you need to go north along a small river first. Then turn east to reach a county town. After passing this town, continue east along the river valley. The two sides of the river valley are mostly hilly terrain. Then cross the Yeseong River and meander through the hilly area for nearly 100 miles before reaching Kaesong.

One thousand elite Ming cavalrymen landed by boat on the east bank of the Licheng River estuary.

After a detailed discussion with the guide, they decided not to attack the enemy halfway across the river as planned, because that would require them to travel 20 to 30 miles north along the river.

Moreover, every place they passed was either rice fields or hills, which was not convenient for cavalry to charge and fight.

They chose to go north along a tributary of the Licheng River, leading their horses and marching quickly for about fifteen miles on the winding and narrow road.

It was impossible to ride a horse at full speed because it was night and the roadside was full of rice fields that had just been harvested. Due to conscription for war, many farmers were conscripted to go to Kaesong and had not had time to plant other crops.

There were many Korean people along the way, and they all heard the noise of them marching on horseback.

But no one dared to go out to check, for fear of encountering the defeated Goryeo soldiers. They hid in their homes and trembled. Only the dogs in the village kept barking.

At dawn, the guide pointed ahead and said, "That's Kaifeng Post. The surrounding mountains are rich in Korean ginseng. The wealthy families often send people here to buy it and then transport it to Kaizhou Outer Port to sell to Ming merchants."

This shabby place in front of us is the hometown of Yi Sun-sin, the cosmic god of war of the Joseon Dynasty!

Du Ruohai, the Ming cavalry general, asked, "Is the terrain ahead open?"

The guide said, "It is the most open place within a radius of 20 miles. Going east along a river valley, you can reach Kaijing directly. Whether Zheng Zhongfu is leading his troops to withdraw, or Kaizhou is sending reinforcements to the front line, they will definitely pass by the Kaifeng Posthouse in front."

"How many postmen are there at Kaifeng Post?" Du Ruohai asked again.

The guide replied, "There are not many postmen, and a cavalry raid should be able to capture them all. But there are still many farmers around, and there is a manor of a large family to the east of Kaifeng Post. If we rush out rashly, we will definitely not be able to hide our tracks."

Du Ruohai continued to inquire about the terrain, and then took his cavalry and hid in a nearby valley.

Du Ruohai is an old subordinate of Chen Ziyi. He is from Hebei and currently commands a cavalry unit in Liaoning. He is also a graduate of the first batch of the Ming Military Academy - he attended the crash course of the military academy as an officer at that time.

He and his brave cavalrymen waited in the valley, taking turns to sleep and rest.

Some cavalry were sent to the valley entrance to capture or kill any Korean people who approached the valley. Some cavalry were on guard inside the valley to capture or kill any Korean people who tried to approach the valley.

Several others climbed to the top of the mountain and observed the enemy with binoculars.

Around noon, the lookout on the mountain came running down the mountain: "General, two or three hundred Korean light cavalry have arrived at Kaifeng Post. They are probably the vanguard troops sent by Zheng Zhongfu to clear the way."

"Continue to observe." Du Ruohai said.

After another hour, Zheng Zhongfu's main forces arrived one after another.

From last night till now, if we only count the straight-line distance, Zheng Zhongfu has only walked less than 50 miles. But he crossed two rivers, one of which is the main stream of Licheng River.

There was a large amount of baggage that needed to be carried across the river, and their marching speed was already very fast.

The malnourished laborers could not bear it at all, so they lay down and fell asleep near Kaifeng Posthouse.

Many laborers were awakened by the soldiers and forced with sticks to go to the mountains to collect firewood, while others buried the pots and washed rice in preparation for cooking.

As for Zheng Zhongfu's 6,000 elite soldiers, only a few of them were fully equipped with armor, and they were responsible for guarding and patrolling.

Most soldiers took off their armor and let the laborers or animals carry it. No one would march while wearing armor.

These guys had been traveling for half a day and a night, and were extremely tired. They gathered together in groups of three or four, closing their eyes to rest.

We didn’t set up camp and had to continue on our journey after eating!

"Boom!"

A thousand Ming Dynasty cavalrymen rushed out of the valley, making the sound of rumbling horse hooves.

This valley is several miles away from Kaifeng Post Station.

Zheng Zhongfu was shocked when he heard the sound of horse hooves: "The whole army is in armor and fighting!"

The six thousand elite Goryeo soldiers were in chaos and hurriedly ran to find their armor.

They were from the two armies and six guards of Kaesong, with a 100% armor rate, and were the elite among the elite in Goryeo.

Moreover, after Zheng Zhongfu seized power, he used the excuse of suppressing the rebellion to massacre the Jin family in Gyeongju, and robbed a lot of money and food to reward the soldiers. The two armies and six guards were the main recipients of the rewards, and they all ate a lot, and their morale was unprecedentedly high.

With the current combat effectiveness of these guys, it is estimated that they can easily defeat the Ming Dynasty’s grain army.

While the soldiers were looking for armor to wear, Zheng Zhongfu ordered the civilians to carry the baggage and build a simple fortification with grain bags, grain carts and livestock.

"kill!"

A thousand Ming cavalrymen rushed closer and closer, and the Korean civilians who were building fortifications were frightened and scattered.

When the Ming cavalry rushed through the messy and unstructured fortifications, less than half of the 6,000 elite Goryeo soldiers had put on their armor. Most of the soldiers had just put on their armor and had no time to tie all the leather ropes, let alone form any formation to resist the enemy.

They raised their weapons in panic, while the general was still giving orders to form a battle formation, and the officers' throats were shouting until they were smoking.

"Come on!"

Li Junyi was the first to react and fled with dozens of his personal soldiers.

He asked his cousin to tip off the Ming army and guide them to occupy Kaifeng, so that his younger brother Li Yifang could take the opportunity to surrender the city and gain merit.

The contribution of presenting the capital of Goryeo to the Ming Dynasty was enough for the Li family to gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty. However, the Ming army did not try to seize Kaesong, but instead set up an ambush halfway, which was completely beyond Li Junyi's expectations!

If he didn't run away at this moment, he would most likely be killed by mistake in the chaos.

Li Junyi fled with his personal soldiers, marking the beginning of the Goryeo soldiers' rout.

I have to escape.

Half of the soldiers didn't put on their armor and didn't have time to form a military formation. How could they fight against the cavalry attack?
The Korean soldiers dropped their weapons and tore off their armor. They did not dare to flee along the main road because they would not be able to outrun the cavalry, so they all ran towards the nearby mountains.

"General, hurry up!"

Zheng Zhongfu won honor for the military, so his prestige in the army was extremely high. A group of hundreds of top elite soldiers actually took the initiative to stay behind to cover his retreat.

Zheng Zhongfu was so frightened that he ran away on his horse. After escaping for a distance, he turned back to check, only to see that the rear guard troops had been defeated.

No matter how elite they are, they can only wear Korean armor.

Most of their bodies were covered in leather armor. They barely formed a formation and were hit by arrows one after another before they even started fighting.

The first team of Ming cavalrymen shot arrows and then swept through the battle formation. They no longer cared about these people and chased after Zheng Zhongfu.

The second team of Ming cavalry shot arrows and swept through the formation to chase and kill the fleeing Goryeo soldiers on the other side.

The third team...

The fourth team...

Elite Goryeo soldiers were shot by arrows and fell continuously. Some soldiers began to flee out of fear, and the barely formed army formation was on the verge of collapse.

The seventh team of Ming cavalry charged straight into the scattered enemy formation.

It was like a sledgehammer hitting a watermelon, instantly destroying the Goryeo army's formation.

At this point, these 6,000 elite Goryeo troops no longer had any organized troops, and all they saw were defeated soldiers.

Li Junyi, who had already fled several miles on horseback, suddenly stopped and said to his guards: "More than half of the elite troops of Goryeo are here. They are bound to be annihilated. Can we still defeat the Ming army?"

The guards were at a loss.

Li Junyi said: "If you want to survive, you can only surrender to the Ming Dynasty. Maybe you will be rich in the future. We will stay here. If Zheng Zhongfu can escape, we will use his head to ask for a reward from the Ming army."

Zheng Zhongfu ended the rule of civilians and allowed the military to rise up and live a good life, so his prestige in the army was terrifyingly high.

This is also the reason why Li Yifang stayed in Kaijing but did not dare to act rashly. He had to wait for the Ming Dynasty to send troops there before he dared to cooperate in capturing the city.

These people in front of us are all Li Junyi’s personal soldiers.

But when Li Junyi said he wanted to kill Zheng Zhongfu, his personal soldiers actually hesitated.

Li Junyi cried and wiped his tears, "Do you know why I worship Zheng Zhongfu as my foster father? Because he wants to kill my brothers. Zheng Zhongfu is only two or three years older than me. If it wasn't for his life, why would he suffer such a great humiliation? He did make the military men live a good life, but he actually looked down on them. In the past two months, he has often entertained civil officials."

The bodyguards stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do.

Li Junyi added: "If I am killed by Zheng Zhongfu, you are all my personal soldiers. Will he really treat you well? If you don't want to fight, just leave on your own."

The guards looked at each other and none of them left.

No matter how high Zheng Zhongfu's prestige is, Li Junyi is their "lord", and they still have to listen to their "lord" at critical moments.

The sound of horse hooves is getting closer.

Zheng Zhongfu had kept leaving behind personal soldiers to cover his retreat, but they had all been killed, leaving him alone to flee.

More than twenty brave cavalrymen from the Ming Dynasty chased Zheng Zhongfu relentlessly.

Seeing Li Junyi leading his troops to block the front, Zheng Zhongfu shouted from a distance: "Help me stop the pursuers!"

Li Junyi smiled grimly: "Don't panic, father. I will come to help you fight off the enemy. Kill!"

Zheng Zhongfu was immediately overjoyed: "If you can return to Kaijing, I will immediately promote you and make you a marquis... rebellious son!"

Li Junyi stepped forward with his spear, and when he crossed his horse, he stabbed towards Zheng Zhongfu.

Zheng Zhongfu was completely unprepared and was hit hard by a bullet. Then, Li Junyi's personal soldiers stabbed Zheng Zhongfu twice, knocking him off his horse and seriously injured.

Li Junyi reined in his horse, drew his sword, ran to cut off Zheng Zhongfu's head, then led his troops to kneel in the road and said in fluent Chinese: "Here is the head of the villain Zheng Zhongfu. Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

This team of Ming Dynasty cavalry slowed down their horses and took Li Junyi back to report.

Seeing Du Ruohai, Li Junyi said: "General, please lead your troops to Kaifeng as soon as possible. There have been troops gathering there, and it is estimated that there are tens of thousands of troops gathered now, and many local garrisons are still on their way to Kaifeng. But the commander there is my half-brother. As long as the Ming army is at the gates of the city and brings Zheng Zhongfu's head, my brother can convince the soldiers defending the city to surrender!"

Du Ruohai sneered: "Your methods of selling out your country are quite skillful."

Li Junyi said: "I am originally a descendant of Yan and Huang, and now I am just returning to the embrace of my motherland."

At this time in Goryeo, there were many people with the spirit of the Ming Dynasty, especially those scholars who came from humble families.

They considered themselves to be descendants of Yan and Huang, and spread this idea secretly. Even generals like Li Junyi had heard of it.

(End of this chapter)