Daming talker

Chapter 691: Comparison between Heavenly Soldiers and Japanese Soldiers

Li Rusong originally thought that the Minister of Strategy Lin would always follow the First Corps and that he would always be overshadowed by the Minister of Strategy.

After all, the First Corps has the largest number of troops and the strongest strength, so it is definitely safest to follow the First Corps.

Moreover, the First Corps is obviously the main force, and the direction of attack is along the west coast to recover Pyongyang, Kaesong, and Seoul, the three capitals of Korea.

Even in terms of political influence, the Shogunate should follow the First Corps.

So Li Rusong really didn't expect that Lin Tailai would take the initiative to let go and give him the opportunity to "lead independently."

Then Lin Tailai said, "But there are too many people talking now, so after we finish summarizing the battle of Pyongyang, we can discuss this alone."

Li Rusong felt very itchy, but he didn't dare to continue asking, otherwise it would seem that he had low emotional intelligence, as if he was hoping that Lin Jinglie would leave as soon as possible.

After temporarily sending Li Rusong away and settling the old scores from the previous night, Lin Tailai said to the generals:

"After this formal battle with the Japanese soldiers, please share your thoughts and experiences one by one.

If you have any questions, this department can also answer them for you. When you face the Japanese soldiers next time, you will have a better idea of ​​what to do. "

However, the atmosphere was still dull. The generals and officers of the First Corps looked at each other and no one spoke.

After all, he had just been scolded in a sarcastic tone by the Minister of Strategy, and he already felt a little fear in his heart.

Lin Jinglie was not in a hurry. He asked his servants to boil water. He tasted the tea that Konishi Yukinaga left in Fengyue Tower. Then he said "Puh" and cursed it as "rubbish".

"No way? After fighting with the Japanese soldiers for a whole day and a night, you don't have any feelings at all?" Lin Jinglue asked in surprise.

Li Rusong wanted to end the "summary meeting" as soon as possible, and then asked about his "individual leadership", so he quickly took the lead and said:
“According to past experience, once the city gate is breached, the siege is basically over and there will generally be no more organized resistance.

But this time in Pyongyang, our army had already entered the city, but the Japanese soldiers actually relied on several earthen ramparts in the city and still maintained an organized resistance. This was really different from the situation in China.

If we hadn’t set fire to the fort at all costs, killing thousands of Japanese soldiers in the earthen fort, it wouldn’t have been so easy to completely capture Pyongyang.”

Lin Tailai nodded and said, "Your conclusion is correct. The Japanese soldiers' habit of defending the city is indeed different from that of our Chinese.

As far as I can guess, it is because Japan is limited by technology and resources and materials. Their city-building level is poor, the cities are not large, and the city gates are very fragile.

Therefore, in the Japanese civil war, breaking the city gate was not a difficult task. The key points were the street fighting and the battle for the castle tower after breaking the city gate. This was their habit of defending the city. "

Li Rusong suddenly realized. He didn't expect that Lin Jinglie could actually answer the question he just casually brought up.

Regardless of whether it is fabricated or not, it sounds plausible.

Li Rubai also said boldly: "When Konishi Yukinaga and his 10,000 remaining soldiers escaped from the east gate, my column of 2,000 cavalry took the lead in pursuing them.

The Japanese soldiers also lined up to counterattack at one point. Although their formation seemed to be in good order, they seemed to be in a daze after firing a few shots, and were then defeated by our cavalry.

From this point of view, the Japanese soldiers do not seem to be strong. It seems that 10,000 Japanese soldiers can be defeated with only a thousand elite cavalry."

After a brief thought, Lin Tailai responded, "You are not wrong. The combat effectiveness of the Japanese soldiers today is definitely not as good as that of our Ming border troops."

No matter how much the Japanese boasted about it in later generations, the fact is that the Ming army participating in the war in Korea often dared to attack thousands or tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers with only a few hundred cavalry. After a long period of fighting, the overall casualty ratio of the two sides was about one to four, one for the Ming Dynasty and four for the Japanese.

Although some battles failed, it was often due to reasons other than combat effectiveness, such as haste, lack of military rations, explosion of arsenal, etc.

Li Rumei, who joined the war in Korea, commented that the combat effectiveness of 100,000 Japanese soldiers was only equivalent to that of 7,000 elite Jurchen soldiers.

Then Lin Tailai explained in detail: "First, the Japanese soldiers are not used to the fighting style of our Ming border cavalry and heavy artillery. They have never seen so many cavalry and so many heavy artillery.

Second, the Japanese soldiers lacked cavalry, and were at an inherent disadvantage in field battles away from city walls and fortresses.

Third, due to technical limitations, the interval between firing of firearms was long. Although the Japanese soldiers invented tactics such as three-stage attack, it was more effective against infantry in the Japanese civil war.

Facing the Ming cavalry charge, they could only fire three shots at most. After three shots, they would be attacked by our cavalry.

And the Japanese soldiers had another problem. They were not used to using shields and had no awareness of covering the musketeers, so they were easily defeated by cavalry.

In short, these are the tactical habits that the Japanese soldiers developed during the civil war. When they suddenly encountered our Ming cavalry and heavy artillery, their originally effective infantry formations could not withstand it.

That's why, in the early hours of this morning, a pursuit of one or two thousand cavalrymen was enough to crush Konishi Yukinaga's remaining 10,000 troops."

The generals were convinced by Lin Jinglüe's meticulous analysis.

In the early hours of this morning, another general, Yang Shaoxian, who personally led the cavalry to attack the Japanese soldiers, recalled his own experience and asked, "When I was charging into the battle, I was confused about one thing. I would like to ask the general to help me solve this puzzle."

Lin Jinglue's attitude was much more amiable at this time, and he encouraged her by saying, "I'm not afraid that you may have questions, I'm just afraid that you may be confused. Just ask."

Yang Shaoxian then said: "When I charged at the Japanese soldiers, the one or two hundred men in the front row were often extremely fierce, and they fought to the death even when facing our armored cavalry.

But the behavior of other Japanese soldiers was completely different. As long as the first one or two hundred Japanese soldiers in the front row were killed, the other Japanese soldiers behind them would often scatter.

I am very confused, why are the elite Japanese soldiers so different from the ordinary soldiers? They seem to be so divided?"

Lin Tailai replied: “I can guess a little about this situation.

Japan had a professional class of warriors called samurai. These people received salaries from the monarch for generations and served the monarch with their martial arts and their lives.

The elite front line of the Japanese army you mentioned may be the so-called samurai, and the other ordinary soldiers are just recruited militia.

In the civil wars in Japan, samurai often fought in the vanguard, followed by militiamen.

That’s why you can see that the elite Japanese troops are often in the front row, which can also be considered a characteristic.

Therefore, when fighting against Japanese soldiers in the field, as long as you survive three gunshots and chop down the front-line warriors, the other Japanese soldiers in the same formation will most likely collapse. "

All the generals were once again full of admiration. Lin Jinglue's understanding of Japan was so deep that it was simply terrifying!
Although they are unable to tell whether it is fabricated or not, they can really justify it.

Cha Dashou, a veteran general of the Liaodong Army and a loyal servant of the Li family, also expressed his thoughts:
"If the Japanese soldiers take advantage of the terrain to build layers of fortifications and link them together, and use their sharp fire guns for defense, it will be very difficult to attack.

I even have a feeling that the Japanese soldiers protected by earthworks and the Japanese soldiers fighting in the field are two completely different things. "

In the mission to attack Pyongyang, Cha Dasu was responsible for attacking Moranbong Peak north of the city.

On the top of Mudan Peak, there were not only 2,000 Japanese soldiers defending the fortress, but also a strong fortress built according to the terrain. The difficult process of attacking the Japanese earthen fortress from bottom to top left a deep impression on Cha Dashou. In particular, due to the terrain, artillery could not be used in many places.

Lin Tailai sighed, "This is a strength and habit of the Japanese soldiers, and it started from the Japanese civil war. They are used to building camps and fortifications in their garrisons.

This time, the Moran Peak in the north of Pyongyang is just a small test, and more troublesome things are yet to come."

In the original time and space, in the later stages of the war, all the Japanese soldiers had been squeezed into the southern coastal areas of Korea, but relying on dozens of "Japanese castles" that were often built on the mountains to defend themselves, they did make it difficult for the Ming army to deal with them.

Why is it so difficult? Imagine a mountain with cliffs on three sides and a muddy swamp or tidal flat on the other side, and a fortress with layers of defense built on the mountain.

Moreover, the fortress was built without any consideration for comfort and convenience of life, and only considered its defensive function. It was also equipped with a large number of advanced muskets.

At that time, I'm afraid that every Ming general standing under the Japanese castle on the southern coast would have a question in his soul: "Why should we spare the lives of Ming soldiers to fill the fortress for the sake of Korea, which can't even afford to supply food and wages?"

However, Lin Jinglie does not need to worry about this for the time being, as it has not reached that stage yet.

Besides, in this time and space, if the Japanese pirates advance fast enough, they may not have time to build Japanese cities on the southern coast.

As for whether the advancement speed can be strong or not, the key lies in whether the food and grass can keep up.

Not only do they need food for people, they also need to feed the horses! The proportion of cavalry in the Ming Dynasty official army entering the court is over 50%, which puts even greater pressure on logistics.

When he thought of this, Lin Jinglue wanted to curse. This broken country on the peninsula really couldn't help at all! How could they say that they could only provide 80,000 shi a year at most?
A few more generals expressed their ideas, and then the scene became quiet again. Everything that needed to be said had been said.

Lin Jinglue gave his final speech: "Commanders! Today's summary meeting went very well!
When facing an unfamiliar enemy, not only should such summary meetings be held, but they should be held more often!

You must study it carefully, ponder it repeatedly, and implement it!
The headquarters is about to leave Pyongyang and return to Sunan in the north, so I won’t go into details here!

Please take a short break in Pyongyang, and then continue to march forward bravely! Now I declare the meeting adjourned!"

Upon hearing the adjournment of the meeting, the generals and officers dispersed in twos and threes, and only Li Rusong stayed where he was.

"Do you have anything else to say?" Lin Jinglue asked in surprise.

Li Rusong replied somewhat speechlessly: "General, you haven't explained in detail about my leading the army alone."

Lin Jinglie patted his forehead and said, "I'm so tired, I almost forgot to say it!"

Then Lin Tailai asked everyone around to retreat to a distance, and then he told Li Rusong:
"The following deployment is top secret. As the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expedition, you have the right to know, but you must not disclose it to anyone."

Li Rusong also became serious, "General, just keep talking."

Lin Tailai said: "You lead the 27 columns of the First Corps and continue to move south. The first stage of the mission is to advance to Kaesong, which will take about half a month."

Li Rusong said, "Kaesong is very close to the Joseon capital, Seoul. We can recapture Seoul as well in one fell swoop."

After actual combat, General Li felt that a thousand elite cavalrymen combined with heavy artillery could defeat ten thousand Japanese pirates.

With this combat capability, wouldn't it be great to directly capture Seoul?
Lin Tailai: "."

As a time traveler, I really don’t know what to say?

In history, General Li thought so, and at the same time he was anxious because of the shortage of food and grass, resulting in the Battle of Pyeongyang in the north of Seoul.

But General Lin could not force General Li to stop advancing after reaching Kaesong.

What if a fighter opportunity really arises due to the butterfly effect, but General Li misses it because he was ordered not to take off? Whose fault is it then?

Now we don't have the technical conditions to enable instant communication even across hundreds of miles. If we don't give General Li free command, the war cannot be fought.

Finally, Lin Tailai sighed and said, "The Japanese pirates will definitely retreat to Seoul. My opinion is that you should lead the First Corps to advance to Kaesong first, then carefully survey the enemy situation and wait for the arrival of friendly forces."

That’s all I have to say. I have reminded you of everything that needs to be said. From now on, it all depends on your luck, Li Rusong.

General Li felt that there was nothing more to say about his mission, so he asked, "General, if you don't go south with the army, where are you going?"

From every angle, Lin Tailai doesn't look like the kind of civil servant who would hide in the back.

Lin Tailai replied: "I will lead the Third Battalion, Ma Gui's Second Corps, and Dong Yiyuan's Third Corps, totaling 33,000 troops, from Shun'an, across hundreds of miles of mountainous areas, straight to the east coast, and cut off the retreat of the Japanese pirate Kato Kiyomasa Corps."

Li Rusong was shocked. He also knew about Lin Tailai's idea of ​​sending troops to the east coast.

But he didn't expect that Lin Tailai would want to lead the team himself, so he immediately advised: "Going deep into the mountains of a foreign country is too risky. The military should be cautious!"

Lin Tailai explained: "With so many troops moving and fighting across a large area, and with the troops belonging to different departments, it is necessary to have a strong superior in person to take charge.

If I don't go, who else will? Can I let you go?"

Li Rusong repeatedly advised: "The troops can go, but you should not go to the military headquarters! Ma Gui's prestige should be enough to command this large army."

Lin Tailai said firmly: "Don't persuade me anymore. In order to increase the chances of success, I must go out myself."

Li Rusong still wanted to persuade him, but he was a little at a loss for words.

Lin Tailai, in turn, comforted General Li by saying, "Don't worry about taking risks. The military strategy says that before you think about victory, you must think about defeat first. I have also considered the consequences of failure.

If our plan fails and we are defeated, a large number of our troops can escape thanks to their strong horsepower.

Then he took the northern part of Hamgyong Province, took a detour into the Jurchen territory, and escaped back to Ming Liaodong from there.

If this situation really happens, I will flee back to my country and confess my crime, and the outcome of the Korean War will depend entirely on you.

With the 38,000 troops in your corps, it will not be a problem to maintain the front line, and then you can wait for reinforcements to be sent from the country.

With the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, there will be no problem in winning in the end! At the same time, according to my thinking, we can plunder the Korean Kingdom to supplement the military losses.

Since the consequences are affordable, the risk is worth taking! "

Li Rusong: "."

The spirit of Jiuyuan Zhenxian is truly extraordinary. No wonder the Korean monk called Lin Jinglie "Heavenly Marshal" while he himself is just a heavenly general.

(End of this chapter)