Daming talker

Chapter 699: The Situation on the East and West Fronts
After two days and one night of fierce fighting, on the second day of November in the twentieth year of the Wanli reign, the Ming army recaptured Hamheung, an important town in the northeast of the Joseon Kingdom. It could be considered a recovery, but it was a scorched earth and uninhabitable for the time being.

The Japanese Second Corps led by Naoshige Nabeshima was basically wiped out. Except for more than a thousand Japanese soldiers who escaped and dozens who were captured, the other more than ten thousand soldiers were killed.

The "Essentials of Strategy for Restoring the Country" of this time and space records: Tianshuai Lin Tailai pretended to underestimate the enemy, lured the Japanese soldiers to attack at night, and then counterattacked to the north gate.

The commander-in-chief could not bear to see his soldiers killed and wounded again, so he personally donned heavy armor and took the lead in climbing the city wall. He smashed the heads of dozens of Japanese pirates with caltrops, and then broke through the gates and broke into the city. Unfortunately, Taizu's palace in Hamxing was burned down in the war.

The Wanli Dichao Renchen Volume says: "At dawn, the governor Lin Tailai first attacked the gate, and the royal army entered the city. In total, more than 3,000 people were beheaded and more than 6,000 were burned to death. The Japanese pirate leader Naoshige Nabeshige and his son burned themselves to death.

In addition, within a month of entering Korea, Governor Lin Tailai killed, burned, or drowned 25,000 Japanese soldiers in two battles, and was thus called the Blood Demon King by the Japanese.

After conquering Hamheung Prefecture, the Third Battalion of the Ming Dynasty's Jinglüe Army and the Second Corps reunited and set up camp again at the upwind side.

Lin Tailai called Ma Gui and asked, "Old Ma, do you know how to write a battle report?"

Ma Gui answered confidently: "Two hundred and ninety-nine people died in this battle. In addition, due to Lin Junmen's negligence, he failed to protect the Hamheung Palace of the Joseon Dynasty's founder, which was burned down by the Japanese."

Lin Tailai was a little surprised. Are you, General Ma, so smart? Do you know how to write a battle report without my careful guidance?
If you have this kind of brains, wouldn't it be better for you to join the civil service circle?

Suddenly, Lin Tailai realized something and asked directly, "Did you plant an insider among Li Rusong's clerical staff?"

Ma Gui defended himself by saying, "How can it be called an insider? This is called sharing what we have and learning from each other.

In case Li Rusong writes a book to slander me, I can be prepared.

Also, there must be an insider of Li Rusong among the clerical staff around me!"

Lin Tailai: "."

If the two of you attack the city together, do you have to each allocate half of your forces to monitor the other?
Ma Gui sighed again: "Our army is now isolated. We have no way to send out the battle report."

Two or three hundred miles to the north is probably Kato Kiyomasa's army, to the south is Kangwon Province occupied by Japanese troops, and to the west are mountains with no mature transmission routes.

Now that the battle report has been written, which direction can it be sent?
Also, because the Ming Dynasty soldiers occupied Yongxing, they cut off the connection between the Japanese soldiers in Hamgyong Province and other regions. Hamgyong Province became a completely independent plate that was disconnected from the outside world.

After a little thought, Lin Jinglue said: "The report of the great victory can boost morale and deter the Japanese soldiers, so we should send it out and let the Koreans have a try.

A group of people followed the same route and crossed the mountain area again, delivering battle reports to the recaptured areas on the western front.

Another group of people carried the battle reports and went southwest to see if they could cross the Japanese-occupied area and find other Ming Dynasty troops.

All the deliveries will be made by Koreans, as they are more familiar with the geography and local conditions. Whoever can deliver the battle report will be rewarded handsomely. "

Ma Gui looked at the map and asked, "If we go southwest from Hamgyong Province and pass through the Japanese-occupied area, can we find the Ming army?"

Lin Tailai replied: "If Li Rusong's troops can move south fast enough, then they can!"

Hearing the name "Li Rusong", Ma Gui immediately came to his senses and couldn't help asking, "According to your estimation, how far has Li Rusong advanced on the western front?"

Lin Tailai replied: "After the great victory in Pyongyang, the Japanese pirates who were scattered around Hwanghae Province will surely be terrified and will take the initiative to retreat southward.

All of Konishi Yukinaga's 16,000 to 17,000 troops were wiped out. How could the Japanese pirates who were divided into different places have the courage to hold on?
Therefore, when Li Rusong's army marched southward, they won most of the battles without bloodshed, and the speed of their advance was only limited by the speed of food supply and the speed of taking over cities along the way.

Now, half a month has passed since the great victory in Pyongyang, and Li Rusong can advance five or six hundred miles southward.

If nothing unexpected happens, Li Rusong should have arrived in Kaesong, one of the three capitals of the Joseon Kingdom.

Kaesong is very close to the royal capital Seoul, and is of little significance to the Japanese pirates. Therefore, the Japanese pirates retreating south would definitely abandon Kaesong and focus on defending Seoul.

At this moment, it is estimated that Li Rusong is temporarily staying in Kaesong to scout and assess the situation in the royal capital, Seoul."

Ma Gui was stunned for a moment and then said unconvincedly: "Li Rusong actually got the credit for retaking Kaesong for nothing."

After all, Kaesong is nominally one of the "Three Capitals" and its political status is there.

Hamheung Prefecture was just a place where pythons flew and snakes flourished. Compared with Kaesong, it was like the difference between Fengyang and Nanjing.

Ma Gui said unhappily: "If Li Rusong takes down the capital city of Seoul in one fell swoop, what will we have to do in the future?"

Lin Jinglue said with a complicated expression: "I don't think he can defeat it."

Ma Gui was stunned. From Lin Jinglie's negative tone, it seemed that he didn't want Li Rusong to take Seoul in one go?
Lin Tailai explained: "Seoul is a place that the Japanese pirates must defend. There are already tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers gathered there, so it is not so easy to capture.

I suggested to Li Rusong that we should stop advancing southwards after arriving in Kaesong and wait for the army to assemble.

As for whether he obeys or not, it all depends on his own luck."

Ma Gui was even more confused. How could the word "creation" come out? Was Lin Junmen talking about metaphysics? What did he want to express?
Historically, it was in this context that Li Rusong, with his inner contempt for the Japanese soldiers and the pressure of food shortage, impatiently led thousands of cavalry to advance towards Seoul.

As a result, a few dozen miles north of Seoul, there was the Battle of Pyeongyang, and General Li was almost surrounded by the Japanese soldiers.

Of course, the Ming army's 5,000 soldiers were able to break out of the 30,000 to 40,000 Japanese soldiers, and their combat effectiveness was still very strong, but they did suffer a setback at the strategic level.

Another consequence was that General Li's personal guards and servants suffered heavy casualties, which dealt a huge psychological blow to General Li and made him lose his spirit.

It has to be said that General Li is actually a very emotional person.

At this moment, Lin Tailai's mood was complicated. First, he didn't want to capture Seoul at this time. He wanted to slow down the pace and fight for a longer time.

It was a bit too fast to capture Seoul just one month after entering North Korea, which was not conducive to the gradual layout and control of the northern region of North Korea.

In addition, if the Joseon court starts clamoring to return to the capital again, it will be even more difficult to find an excuse to stop it.

That's why he didn't go south to the western front because he didn't want to capture Seoul.

Second, he could not openly force Li Rusong not to attack Seoul and to bleed more Korea and Japan.

Otherwise, General Li would definitely think that he was unwilling to let him make any contribution, and the personal relationship would be broken.

Third, the Battle of Pyeongyang in history was still very dangerous. If General Li had been a little less lucky, he would have been in real danger of being killed.

If a similar situation occurs again in this time and space, who knows how General Li's luck will be this time?

In short, Lin Jinglue didn't want to take Seoul at this time, but he couldn't stop General Li from attacking Seoul; at the same time, he felt that General Li would not succeed, but he was more worried that General Li's luck would turn bad and he would be in danger and die. So this is a complex feeling that only time travelers have, and others can't understand it at all.

"Forget it, let's not talk about Li Rusong!" Lin Jinglue then asked Ma Gui, "How much military rations do we have left?"

Ma Gui replied, "We checked when we set up camp. We carried 30 days' worth of dry food when we set out from Shunan, and we have already consumed nearly half of it.

Fortunately, we have seized several hundred shi of grain from Yongxing. All in all, we can barely support the army for another twenty days."

Lin Jinglue felt a little pressure again. "That is to say, we must annihilate Kato Kiyomasa, recapture Hamgyong Province, and open up the supply line within 20 days."

Just as Lin Tailai had estimated, the greatest pressure in entering Korea to fight would always come from food and fodder supplies.

Due to technical limitations, no matter how well prepared you are, it will never feel enough.

Ma Gui said with some regret: "There should have been some food stored in Hamhung, but the fire burned down the city."

Lin Jinglue said: "There is no other way. Nothing can be done perfectly. There is always a loss if there is a gain. In order to annihilate the enemy as quickly as possible and reduce casualties, we have to pay this price."

Lin Tailai was unwilling to leave any survivors during his two sieges. In addition to wanting to save trouble, it was mainly due to considerations of military rations.

The heavenly soldiers were already short of food, and the various parts of Korea were so poor and dilapidated that nothing could be looted. How could they feed thousands of prisoners?
Rather than being forced to kill prisoners on a large scale in the end and bearing the stigma of killing surrendered prisoners, it is better not to take prisoners from the beginning.

There are dozens of living Japanese captives who can be used to interrogate for intelligence or for future ceremonies.

Speaking of prisoners, Lin Tailai remembered something and said:

"Let's study how to get rid of Kato Kiyomasa's troops as soon as possible! Only by getting rid of Kato Kiyomasa can we be completely free.

We have captured some traitors in Hamhung City. Bring them here. I want to interrogate them myself. I wonder if I can dig out some useful information."

During the previous cleanup in the city, although no Japanese soldiers were left alive, as many traitors as possible among them were captured alive.

Lin Tailai felt that these cowardly traitors were still useful and might even be more loyal than Liu Chenglong and Li Dexin.

When Ma Gui heard that Lin Jinglie wanted to personally review the intelligence, he said in surprise: "General, can't you just count with your fingers? Why are you asking about these traitors?"

Lin Tailai sighed, "If you try to spy on the secrets of heaven too much, you will be easily attacked. You can't use it often."

Not long after, the biggest traitor among the captured traitors, Ju Jingren, was pushed in.

At this time, there were two traitors in Hamgyong Province, "Wu" and "Wu". Wu was Han Kezhen, the former military commander of the Northern Hamgyong Province. After being defeated and captured, he surrendered to Kato Kiyomasa and gave his two daughters to Kato.

The person in the article is Ju Jingren. When Kato Masaharu's army was at the gate of the city, he directly kidnapped two Korean princes and presented them to Kato Masaharu. He was extremely greedy for life and afraid of death.

Looking at Ju Jingren, who looked like a dead dog, kneeling crookedly and couldn't even kneel straight, Lin Tailai said with disdain: "Can you kneel straight and answer me?"

Ju Jingren said weakly, "Does this little one still have a chance to survive?"

Lin Tailai said: "The king and his ministers of Korea are about to cut you into pieces, and the Japanese pirates probably won't spare you. The only one who can let you live is probably the headquarters."

Ju Jingren saw hope and slowly straightened his kneeling body.

Lin Tailai asked, "Is Kato Kiyomasa in Jizhou? What's the situation there?"

Ju Jingren replied: "Kato is indeed in Jizhou to clear out the volunteer soldiers. There are about 10,000 soldiers, and there are 2,000 to 3,000 Koreans to assist."

Lin Tailai was a little surprised that Kato Kiyomasa actually had two or three thousand "fake soldiers" on his side, which he had not calculated.

I couldn't help but sneer: "There are so many traitors in the Hamgyong Province, and they can even form an army!"

Ju Jingren replied indignantly: "The Joseon Dynasty regards Hamgyong Province as an inferior place. People from Hamgyong Province cannot go to the capital to serve as officials. In this time of national crisis, they still want to ask Hamgyong Province to work hard and be loyal. Isn't it ridiculous?
Fortunately, only two princes sought refuge in Hamgyeong Province. I heard that the king had considered seeking refuge in Hamgyeong Province before. If he had really come, I am afraid that the king would have been trapped by the bandits. "

Lin Tailai shook his head. It was hard to describe the ruling foundation of North Korea in Hamgyong Province, and many policies were even difficult to understand.

No matter how corrupt the Ming Dynasty was, it never prohibited scholars from Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Gansu, Liaodong and Hainan from serving as officials in the court.

Then Lin Tailai asked again: "You have surrendered to Kato Kiyomasa for several months, so you must have dealt with him frequently and have some understanding of his behavior.

Then the headquarters asks you, if Kato Kiyomasa knew that Pyongyang was defeated, the Japanese troops on the western front retreated 500 to 600 miles south, and at the same time that Hamhung on the eastern front had been conquered by our Ming Dynasty troops, and his southern retreat was cut off, what choice would he make? "

After thinking for a while, Ju Jingren replied: "Kato is a courageous man who dares to take risks.

If an ordinary general encountered such a situation with his retreat cut off, he would definitely try his best to break out to the south, fight for a chance of survival, and escape as much as possible.

But Kato will definitely try his best to collect all the food and grass nearby, and then defend Jizhou to the death, and will not rashly break out to the south. "

Lin Tailai frowned and asked, "Why?"

Ju Jingren replied: “Kato can definitely see that the heavenly soldiers must have come through the mountainous area, because they were restricted by the march and had limited food and grass to carry.

He only needs to defend Jizhou with all his might, and when the heavenly troops' food and fodder are exhausted, he can naturally seek a chance to survive."

Lin Tailai couldn't help but sigh. This was the situation he was most worried about.

Hamgyong Province is very long and narrow, about three hundred miles from Hamheung to Kilju.

Therefore, if we take the initiative to attack Kato Kiyomasa, we will have to drive three hundred miles to attack the city. After the battle line is extended, the uncertainty factors will be too great.

If Kato Kiyomasa took the initiative to break out to the south, he could easily intercept and fight against them. But judging from Ju Jingren's oral account, Kato Kiyomasa was not that stupid.

Things in the world don't always come in the simplest form. It seems we have no choice but to march to Jizhou.

Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to afford the twenty days' worth of food and fodder we have.

No wonder those famous generals have strong psychological stress resistance. Lin Tailai has experienced this today.

Ju Jingren probably racked his brains to provide information in order to save his life. "Also, Kato's Japanese soldiers have a lot of firearms, and almost 30% of them are musketeers. They are definitely the elite of the Japanese soldiers."

Lin Tailai slammed the table and said, "Our department is fighting against the elite!"

(End of this chapter)