Daming talker

Chapter 694 Seven Days March
After sending Liu Chenglong away, Lin Jinglie couldn't help but sigh inwardly that this world is indeed a huge makeshift team.

Although Lin Tailai had no interest in the ancient history of Korea in his previous life and paid little attention to it, he did not know much about the officials of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea that he had met.

But he was sure of one thing: the Joseon officials who were currently able to contact him were at least figures who could leave "biographies" in the history of Korea, but their actual abilities and character were nothing special.

The Ly Dynasty, a small makeshift dynasty, actually lasted for 520 years in history.

What is even more coincidental is that the Li Dynasty was born during the reign of Hongwu, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and died during the reign of Xuantong, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, which seems to be very meaningful.

Not only did it last twice as long as the Ming Dynasty, it also almost outlasted the Qing Dynasty, and its length of time exceeded that of most dynasties in Chinese history.

Before embarking on the journey, Lin Jinglie ordered the setting up of an incense table, the slaughter of "three animals", and then silently prayed to God.

Lin Tailai's actions left those close to him stunned.

Because they all knew that maybe Lin Jiuyuan himself was a god who had descended to earth, so he didn't usually worship any gods or Buddhas, and sometimes even said disrespectful words.

But I didn’t expect that today I saw with my own eyes the Immortal Jiuyuan actually burning incense and praying to the sky. This was the first time in many years.

Others did not dare to ask, but Zhang Wen, the left protector who had been with the temple for many years, was less cautious and asked, "What are you praying for?"

Lin Tailai sighed, "It's really helpless, I can't control the wind, snow, rain and other natural phenomena.

So we can only pray to God that it won’t snow in the next few days, otherwise how can we march in the mountainous area?”

Everyone was stunned. What did this mean? Was it just that they couldn't control the natural phenomena? Was everything else under control?
This is probably what Lin Jinglie is most worried about at the moment. With the organizational strength and logistical capabilities of this era, once it snows heavily, it will be difficult for the army to successfully complete a march of hundreds of miles through unfamiliar mountainous areas.

Just as Lin Tailai finished speaking, nine consecutive solemn bell sounds suddenly came from the Faxing Temple not far away.

Then Lin Jinglie asked the packaged "Master Wei Zheng" to go on stage to preach as a high monk from the East.

“Now there is the evil ghost Kato causing chaos in the world and slaughtering the people, so Tianshuai Jiuyuan Zhenxian led the army to the East China Sea to eliminate the evil ghost!

But before defeating the evil spirit Kato, we must accept the test of the gods and Buddhas and undergo a seven-day arduous march!
This kind of tempering is also a kind of practice, which can eliminate sins. Just like participating in the crusade against Kato's evil spirit, it can accumulate merits and good results, and bless descendants and protect the next life! "

Regardless of the effectiveness of the master's spiritual indoctrination or how many people would believe it, Lin Jinglie really used every trick he could think of.

In the absence of more advanced ideas, they could only temporarily resort to superstitious means to deceive the morale of the army, and liken the arduous marches in the mountains to practices and tests to eliminate sins.

Then, following Lin Jinglüe's order, the army, with 10,000 men of Dong Yiyuan's Third Corps as the vanguard, 6,000 men of Jinglüe's battalion in the middle, and 17,000 men of Ma Gui's Second Corps in the rear, plunged into the vast mountains.

Four-fifths of the northern part of North Korea is plateaus and mountainous areas. This time, Lin Tailai will cross the mountains from east to west, and the estimated distance is between 400 and 500 miles.

It was also late October and winter had already begun, making the process even more difficult.

The meals are fine. I brought a 30-day supply of dry food such as steamed buns, which is barely enough to fill my stomach. If I want to eat more, it is enough for the time being.

Everyone was guaranteed to have a cotton-padded jacket. In the two or three months since Lin Tailai took over North Korean affairs, his biggest concerns, apart from military rations, were cotton-padded jackets.

After two days of marching, they found that the biggest difficulty they encountered was firewood.

Although the northern part of Korea is mountainous, they are all rocky mountains and the forests are not very dense. It is winter now, so there is even less wood available for burning.

The amount of firewood used by more than 30,000 troops to camp and stay every night was not a small amount, and the firewood cut nearby was often not enough.

In the evening of that day, Lin Tailai was discussing with Master Wei Zheng through Cui Wukui's translation how to send Korean spies to inquire about military intelligence.

However, the vanguard general Dong Yiyuan came to the main camp of the central army and reported to Lin Jinglue:

"The commander had previously ordered us to do our best to maintain military discipline. Just now, because the army was running low on firewood, a soldier from the baggage camp took the initiative to tear down several houses in a nearby village and used them as firewood for the fire."

Under normal circumstances of that era, when a large army passed through a border, even if a soldier committed a crime, it would not alarm someone of Lin Tailai's rank.

However, on the one hand, Lin Jinglie had emphasized military discipline before, and on the other hand, the firewood problem was really a headache. If the firewood problem was not solved, it would likely cause a lot of non-combat casualties.

So Dong Yiyuan reported to Lin Jinglie to see what Lin Jinglie's attitude was.

Lin Tailai looked into the distance and saw the bare mountains, feeling helpless.

Of course he understood that Dong Yiyuan's report meant to ask whether he could continue to do so.

In this season, if houses are demolished for firewood, how will the residents survive?
But if even the survival of the army itself is threatened, can we still have more moral demands on the soldiers?
An army that could lie in the snow and freeze to death without breaking the rules did not belong to the late sixteenth century.

After thinking about it, Lin Jinglue ordered: "If the soldiers really have no firewood to use, let them do as they please!"

In any case, we should first ensure the morale and survival of the army, otherwise what can we use to fight the Japanese soldiers?

Since we started planning our eastward expansion, we have overcome so many difficulties. We can’t let all our efforts go to waste just because of a firewood problem, right?

Then Lin Jinglue said compassionately: "If there is any damage to the houses in the mountain villages along the way, I will use my own pocket to compensate!
I have some silver with me, and for every house I damage, I will personally pay five cents of silver as compensation, as a small token of my apology to the people."

Dong Yiyuan: “.”

I heard that Koreans don’t recognize silver at all, silver is not a currency, let alone the villagers in the mountain villages.

Besides, the house was demolished in the middle of winter, and it was impossible to survive in the mountains with silver that could not be used as money.

So, Lin Tianshuai, isn't this five cents of silver from you a bit redundant?

"If you have nothing else to say, get out!" Lin Jinglue shouted at Dong Yiyuan. You are a military commander without any political acumen. Do you know what a show is?
Politicians never put on a show for the sake of the people they are showing off to, but for others to see.

Now that things have to be done, we should try to salvage the impact as much as possible.

After driving Dong Yiyuan away, Lin Tailai seemed to notice that there was still an "outsider" nearby, Master Wei Zheng from the Kingdom of Korea, who had not left.

Cui Wukui asked in a low voice, "Master Wei Zheng just asked what happened. Should we tell him?"

Lin Jinglue instructed: "This kind of thing cannot be concealed after all, just tell him the truth."

After listening to Cui Wukui's translation, Master Wei Zheng lowered his head and remained silent.

Lin Tailai asked tentatively: "Is this department harmful to the harmony of heaven?"

Master Wei Zheng bowed his head and recited a few verses before he began to speak, while Cui Wukui translated simultaneously. "Buddhism also has a corresponding allusion, that is, 'one killing, many lives', killing one person can save many people.

Although killing is a sinful act, if killing one person can save many lives, it is a merit.

The 41st chapter of the Yoga Sutras says: If a bodhisattva sees a thief committing robbery out of greed for money, or who wishes to harm a great sravaka or pratyekabuddha, or who wishes to commit many avici karmas, I would rather kill him and cause him to fall into nirvana than let him suffer the avici pain.

Lin Tianshuai thought in this way, and demolished the house out of compassion, in order to conquer the Japanese devils. Because of this cause and condition, he did not violate the Bodhisattva precepts and gained many merits.

Lin Jinglie finally experienced for himself what it meant to have a great scholar debate the scriptures for me.

However, he still looked at Cui Wukui in confusion and asked, "Did Master Wei Zheng say this long paragraph, or did you make it up yourself because you couldn't understand Master Wei Zheng's Korean?"

Cui Wukui: “.”

Lord Jinglüe, do you overestimate him or underestimate him?

After staying in the mountains for seven days, the army led by Lin Jinglue finally walked out of the mountains one after another, and the east coast was already in sight.

What is even more gratifying is that there were very few non-combat casualties and the seven-day arduous march was successfully completed!

On the one hand, it benefited from the thorough preparations, and on the other hand, we also have to thank the good weather for not having heavy snow.

In addition, the Ming border troops had accumulated a strong financial foundation over the years and had abundant livestock power, which greatly reduced the burden of marching.

The Ming army that rushed to Korea to participate in the war had a ratio of soldiers to horses that was basically one to one, with cavalry accounting for 50%.

This is almost unimaginable national strength for both Korea and the Japanese pirates.

Seeing that the terrain in the direction of advance was gradually becoming flatter and there was no obstruction, Lin Jinglue could not suppress his excitement!
This means that two-thirds of his plan has been successful, and only one-third remains to be completed!

At the same time, they did not suffer any harassment or ambushes, which showed that the Japanese pirates had not yet realized that the Ming soldiers dared to cross hundreds of miles of mountains in the winter and move on a large scale from the west coast to the east coast.

At this time, Lin Jinglue did not have more time to be excited. After leaving the mountainous area, he immediately ordered to drive dozens of miles according to the plan to Yongxing, the southernmost tip of Hamgyong Province.

The sudden appearance of the Ming army was like a force dropped from the sky. They easily wiped out hundreds of unsuspecting Japanese garrison troops and successfully captured Yongxing.

Only then did Lin Tailai finally breathe a sigh of relief and be able to sleep peacefully.

The entire Hamgyong Province is long and narrow in shape. Due to the terrain, almost all cities are distributed along the coast, completely in a line.

Yongxing is to Hamgyong Province as Jinzhou is to the Northeast. By taking Yongxing, the retreat route of the main force of the Japanese army in Hamgyong Province will be cut off, and they can calmly "close the door and fight the dog".

What was even more surprising was that hundreds of stones of rice were found in Yongxing. Although it was not a lot, it could give the army deep behind enemy lines a little more sense of security.

Lin Jinglue ordered the army to rest temporarily in Yongxing and improve their meals for the day, while waiting for Korean spies to report information about the Japanese army.

Earlier, some Korean volunteer soldiers and monks were organized to march ahead for a few days to gather military intelligence in various places ahead of the main army.

The next day, Lin Jinglue summoned the two generals Ma Gui and Dong Yiyuan to inquire about the physical recovery status of each column.

While the three were talking by the fire, Cui Wukui led a few Korean spies into the tent.

"It seems that there is some military intelligence. Let's listen to it together." Lin Tailai said to Ma Gui and Dong Yiyuan.

The spy said something, and Cui Wukui translated it, "There are currently two major groups of Japanese troops in Hamgyong Province. One is stationed in Hamheung Prefecture, and the other is in Gilju, further north, to deal with the rebels."

More than a hundred miles north of Yongxing is Hamheung Prefecture, the core city of Hamgyong Province.

As mentioned above, the names of the eight provinces of Korea are often a combination of the two most important names of the original provinces. The "Ham" in Hamgyong Province comes from Hamheung.

It is not surprising that such a place is heavily guarded by Japanese pirates.

Jizhou is 300 miles further north of Hamheung. Although it is not among the top three in Hamheung Province, it is located in the middle of the entire Hamheung Province. The Korean rebel army is very active around it, so it is normal for the Japanese pirates to have heavy troops in Jizhou.

In the conversation just now, Lin Jinglue has revealed the next arrangement to the two generals - Dong Yiyuan will be stationed in Yongxing to guard against the Japanese army from Gangwon Province in the south, while Ma Gui Corps will take the initiative to march north to seek to eliminate the Japanese pirates' active forces.

Therefore, Ma Gui was very concerned about the military information. He looked at the map on the table and asked the Korean spy: "How many troops do the Japanese pirates have in Hamhung? How many troops do they have in Jizhou?"

The North Korean spy shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

Ma Gui frowned and asked, "Who are the commanders of Hamxing Prefecture and Jizhou respectively?"

The North Korean spy shook his head again, indicating that he didn't know.

Ma Gui could not help but get angry and said, "I don't know this, I don't know that, what on earth are you trying to find out?"

Cui Wukui helped explain: "After all, the Koreans and the Japanese do not speak the same language, so communication is not smooth, so it is understandable that they could not figure it out for a while."

Lin Jinglie waved his hand and asked Cui Wukui to take the volunteer spy from Korea away.

Ma Gui sighed and calculated, "According to previous intelligence, the total number of Japanese soldiers in Hamgyong Province is about 22,000. If the troops are divided, the number of Japanese soldiers in Hamheung Prefecture will be at most about 10,000.

Our corps has 17,000 men, plus the 6,000 men from the Third Battalion of the Military Gate, so we are not incapable of fighting.

But the difficulty is quite great, so I suggest that we hold on to Yongxing, wait for the enemy to attack us?"

Lin Tailai asked in return: "If we don't take the initiative to attack, can the small city of Yongxing accommodate more than 30,000 troops to hold out for a long time?

There are enemies everywhere here, and there is no reinforcement. What is the point of holding on? How long can our food and grass last?"

Ma Gui complained angrily again, "These local rubbish can't even provide detailed intelligence. We have to rely on guesswork to fight the war!"

Lin Jinglue said calmly: "Don't worry, old man. Once our headquarters calculates, we will know the details and movements of the Japanese army, as well as the status of the commander."

Ma Gui: “.”

Mr. Jinglüe, you have read too many storytelling books and want to imitate the style of Xu Maogong, Liu Bowen and others?
I heard that this is very popular in Suzhou, but you can’t use storytelling books as military teaching materials, even the most military-looking "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"!

(End of this chapter)