Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 243 Divine Soldier descends from heaven
However, it was also because the Mongol Tatar army did not attack, but only surrounded the Ming army, which made the Ming army feel wary. They only pursued it for a short distance, and after opening up the road to Liaoyang, they formed a defensive formation again. Chase again.

Otherwise, the Goryeo army would have been completely defeated or even annihilated.You know, the Ming army has cavalry here, and they are very good at chasing down defeated enemies.It was only because of the need to defend against the Mongolian Tatars that they did not pursue it.

Lan Yu's troops joined the Ming army coming from Liaoyang to support them. Under the watchful eyes of 10,000+ enemy troops, they once again cheered "Ten Thousand Victory"!They are showing off, demonstrating, and celebrating victory!

Watching the merged Ming army slowly retreat towards Liaoyang City, the morale of the Mongolian Tatars was low.You can see that everyone is frustrated.

The battle was fought with a force several times that of the Ming army, but the result was that the Ming army could come and go freely.After seeing the power of various firearms of the Ming army, many Tatars have doubts: The Ming army has so many powerful equipment, and even a small number of people can't help them. When the Ming Dynasty mobilizes a large army from the pass, how can they still fight?
Almost all the Ming troops were "escorted" all the way back into Liaoyang City, and the Mongolian Tatars were a little at a loss.

Of course, this is for the Mongol Tatar leaders.As for the lower-level soldiers, they didn't think so much and just wanted to escape from Liaoyang City.

But the leaders of the Mongolian Tatars are in a dilemma. They know very well that they cannot even retain the Ming army with fewer troops in the field. How can they fight against Liaoyang City now?There's no way it can be defeated!

However, if the troops were to withdraw like this, it would definitely be a very heavy blow to the military morale of the Yuan Empire.It will be very difficult to lead troops to fight the Ming army in the future!

How to do?
The leaders of the Mongolian Tatars were unable to leave, so they were "surrounding" outside Liaoyang City, but they could not come up with an effective next step plan. They could only waste their time until there was a turn of events or they came up with some solution?
Naturally, the messenger also flew to report Naha Chu, hoping that Na Ha Chu could come up with some solution!

On the side of the Jurchen tribe, they sneaked away a few more tribes, and if they stayed here, if they were forced to attack the city by the Mongols, it would be the end of the tribe.If you run away, at least there is still a way to survive.

The Jurchen tribe who did not run away did not want to run away, but were watched by the Mongols and could not run away.

As for the Goryeo army, it was very miserable.

During the blocking battle, they were shelled and then chased by the Ming army, resulting in heavy casualties. Of the 3 men and horses, only [-] came.The soldiers who survived had no morale at all and could not see the elite spirit they had before.

Obviously, the powerful artillery of the Ming army filled the hearts of the Goryeo soldiers who were under bombardment with fear.Even their commander-in-chief Li Chenggui could see that his army could no longer face the Ming army's attack, at least in the short term!

At this moment, he really felt a little regretful. He knew that the Mongols were already declining, but he still thought luckily that after all, the Mongols were more powerful in Liaodong, and he didn't want to offend the king and the powerful officials in the court. The result was good. , my men were beaten like this!

The road ahead, how to go, I really have to think about it seriously!
Different from the frustration of the enemies outside the city, there was joy and laughter inside Liaoyang City, and every Ming army soldier had a confident smile on his face.Those who were not on duty were all talking about the joy of this battle and the enemy's incompetence!Of course, the most shocking thing was the new muskets and artillery.

This battle made them all full of confidence, Daming, invincible!

The same is true even for the top ranks in the military.

Although some generals have seen demonstrations of new muskets and new artillery before, this is the first time they have been used in actual combat on the battlefield.They saw the power of new muskets and artillery, and they also saw the enemy's disastrous defeat!

Every lieutenant general in the army was full of praise for the new muskets and new artillery. At the same time, they also paid great respect to the prince-consort who invented these new firearms!

The great prince consort is truly a man of God, and he can actually invent such a powerful firearm!
Xu Da was the only one who was still calm. Although he also had a smile on his face, he still warned the generals: "There is no doubt about the power of new firearms. But you must remember that weapons are not the most important thing. If someone If you are against them, you will still be at a disadvantage. You must not blindly believe in weapons, and you cannot rely on weapons to win."

At this point, he saw that there were generals below who seemed a little dissatisfied, so he continued to explain: "This time, the enemy's strategy of digging out the road is actually very good. It's just because they have not seen the power of our firearms and underestimated our firearms. They were so powerful that they failed to succeed. Otherwise, if they really cut off the retreat route and the car camp could not cover the retreat, it would be impossible to retreat calmly under the pursuit and interception of the superior force. If it rains again, The losses are even more severe. There is also heavy fog, and the enemy can also use the cover of the fog to approach and fight..."

With Xu Da's ability, based on his understanding of new firearms, he pointed out the countermeasures one by one, which immediately calmed down many of the Ming army generals present.

That's right, the reason why they won such a great victory this time is that they came and went as they wanted among several times the enemy army, ignoring them as nothing. In the end, they were caught off guard.If you encounter an enemy who really knows how to use troops and knows your own details, it will definitely not be so easy.

As Wei Guogong said, firearms troops are still very dependent on logistics. If they are surrounded by superior enemies and run out of ammunition, the end will be very dangerous.

At this time, Xu Da looked at their expressions and had already heard it.While feeling pleased, he added: "But since we have superior weapons, we must use them and give full play to their strengths. In the future, more and more new firearms will be equipped in the army, and the tactics must be better. Changes. You might as well think about it, how should we fight in order to make full use of our own strengths in future wars?"

Having said this, he paused and added: "I have thought about a few points for your reference..."

Lan Yu has been listening carefully. Based on the battles he has commanded, he has gained even more insights and is more receptive to new tactics than other generals.After listening for a while and finding out that none of the other generals had anything new to say, his mind wandered.In my mind, I wonder what's going on with His Highness King Yan?They should be fighting already, right?
........................

He was right. Zhu Di led his men and horses, traveled day and night on a naval warship, and arrived at Jianghua Bay.

Jianghua Bay is centered on the mouth of the Han River, from Changshan Chuan in the north to Tai'an Peninsula in the south.It is about 125 kilometers wide, the coastline is 1 kilometers long, and the water depth is 415-5.3 meters.The islands are spread out, and Ganghwado, Daebudo, Yeongheungdo, Yongyudo, and Deokjeokdo are relatively large.The Han River, Imjin River, Yeseong River, etc. flow into it.

Among them, the Han River was called the Kaesong River in this era. It originated from the Mansu Mountains in the central part of the Korean Peninsula, flowed through Kaesong, and finally emptied into the Yellow Sea.

The Kaesong River is about 250 kilometers long and is one of the largest rivers on the west coast of the Korean Peninsula.The river is calm and has fertile plains and hilly terrain along its banks. It was also an important transportation route at that time, connecting the interior of the Korean Peninsula and the Yellow Sea, facilitating trade and personnel exchanges.

Kaesong, the capital of Goryeo, is located on the banks of the Kaesong River, only forty miles away from Ganghwa Bay.

Kaesong has a long history. It existed when it was still Baekje and has experienced Goguryeo and Goryeo.However, it was once captured by the Liao Kingdom and almost completely destroyed.Today's Kaesong was built by the King of Goryeo who recruited 30 people.

The new Kaesong has a city base of 22 steps and [-] gates. It can be said to be the largest and strongest city in Goryeo.

Even in later generations, this place is actually a very famous place.

There are Seoul, Incheon and Panmunjom nearby, and the very famous ginseng, Korean ginseng, is produced here in Kaesong.When Zhu Di led thousands of warships and suddenly appeared in Ganghwa Bay, the Koreans here, whether they were on Ganghwa Island or in the ships at sea, were all shocked.

Even last year when the Japanese pirates were at their most rampant, they were only in Jeolla Province and did not dare to come to Ganghwa Bay.

"This is not a Japanese pirate ship. What's going on?"

"The Japanese pirates must have come from the south. There is no reason to go around to the north. That's definitely not the case!"

"The Japanese pirate's ship is not like this at all. And coming from the north, it couldn't be a ship from the Yuan Empire, right?"

"Why are they here? Don't our kings surrender to them? Are they sending so many ships here to help us fight against Japanese pirates?"

"No, have you seen those flags? They don't look like it, they don't seem to be from the Great Yuan Empire!"

"I heard that ships were only available when the Yuan Empire wanted to attack Japan, but no ships have ever come since. Isn't this a ship from the Yuan Empire?"

"By the way, it seems that the Great Yuan Empire was driven out by a country called the Ming Dynasty. A few years ago, that country sent envoys over by boat, but they seemed to be killed by our king!"

"........."

Most of the Koreans here have never seen the world. Even if they saw that Zhu Di had already shown his banner, few of them guessed that this fleet came from the Ming Empire, let alone know what this navy is based on. Come here with purpose!
For them, this kind of relationship with foreign countries is not their concern, and most people even don't know the existence of the Ming Empire.In their perception, they are afraid of Japanese pirates, because Korea has always been attacked by Japanese pirates only at sea.

For the Ming Empire to be truly recognized by the Korean people, it still had to wait until the Joseon era.

At this time, Goryeo all submitted to the Meng Yuan, including their monarchs and ministers. They all wore the same clothes as the Meng Yuan and also used the reign name of the Meng Yuan.

Against this background, the Koreans here were more shocked than curious. They looked at the huge fleet in the distance and speculated. Many of them were even forced to make a living. What should they do? What else are you doing!
For them, all they need to do is distinguish whether they are Japanese pirates or not!
Of course, there are also people from the government here.After being shocked, he naturally sailed to meet him, wanting to ask about the situation.

However, Zhu Di didn't know how to deal with Koreans like him. He went on an expedition alone and had limited logistics.Therefore, when moving forward, he asked Ye Wang, who was familiar with Korea, to arrest the Koreans and verify the current situation.

Based on the map Zhang Yifan drew for Zhu Di, he interrogated the Korean people and after confirming the location of the entrance of the Kaicheng River, the entire army sailed into the Kaicheng River and continued towards the capital of Korea.

There are naturally many boats on this river. After all, it is the external channel for Goryeo's most prosperous capital.

However, when the Ming Navy sailed in, there was no need to say anything. Just looking at the number, no ship dared to block the front, and they all hurriedly avoided the shore.

It was only after the Ming Dynasty navy sailed into the Kaicheng River that the Koreans understood what this menacing fleet was probably going to do!

So, fast horses galloped along the official road along the Kaicheng River, and they immediately rushed to Kaicheng to report the news.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way..."

"Enemy attack, enemy attack..."

The messenger who reported the news looked at the people coming and going on the official road and shouted anxiously, trying to get them out of the way.

However, his shouting made pedestrians on the official road panic and even blocked the road.Especially since this place is close to the capital, the carriages and the like on board have the backgrounds of dignitaries.Without the banner of a dedicated messenger, how many people would know how to do it!
The political affairs of Goryeo at this time were actually filled with constant party struggles. The most powerful ones were Li Renren, Lin Jianwei and other Yuan-supporting factions.They were corrupt, formed cliques for personal gain, and appointed officials based on the amount of bribes and the extent of serving Li Renren, etc., resulting in a serious problem of redundant officials. They also used power for personal gain, annexed land, seized slaves, and so on.The last phases of all dynasties were present in Goryeo at this time.

Under such circumstances, one can easily imagine the chaos underneath.

With great difficulty, the messenger was only slightly faster than the Ming Dynasty Navy, and finally arrived at the capital.

The large-scale invasion of the Ming army is unprecedented.In the initial reaction, no one would believe it, and it was necessary to confirm it first.

No, when the news was reported to King Wang You of Goryeo, he didn't believe it at all.

"Your Majesty, the navy of the Ming Dynasty is already on the Kaicheng River and will arrive at Kaicheng soon. How can it be false?"

After the subsequent collection of information from various sources, it was finally confirmed that the Ming Dynasty navy was really coming to kill, and Wang Yu panicked and immediately summoned his important civil and military ministers to discuss the matter.

In terms of civil servants, it goes without saying that they are Li Renren, Lin Jianwei and others; in terms of military generals, Li Chenggui and Cao Minxiu are in Liaodong, but Cui Ying, another famous general from Goryeo, is there.

This Cui Ying was transferred to the Jianghuai area of ​​the Central Plains by the suzerain Yuan Dynasty when she was young, and participated in suppressing the peasant uprising in the late Yuan Dynasty.After returning to China the following year, he made great achievements in the battles such as attacking the Eight Stations in Liaodong, repelling the Japanese pirates and the Red Scarf Army, and escorting Lord Dexing's Yuan Army. He was regarded as a military general as famous as Li Chenggui.

However, in the original history, he fell into the hands of Li Chenggui, so his reputation in later generations was naturally not as good as that of Li Chenggui.

(End of this chapter)