Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 564 Confident North Korea

The victory of the Battle of Dalingh River brought joy to the entire Ming Dynasty.

Because this was the greatest victory the Ming Dynasty had achieved since the Jianlu Rebellion.

Although it still depends on defending the city, it gave many people confidence.

They believed that the court could build more fortresses and achieve more victories.

Northern Zhili, which had been in a state of panic after the imperial court mobilized troops, now stabilized.

Many scholars praised General He Kegang in the newspapers for winning the war.

It was his outstanding performance that prevented the Jianlu from taking a detour through the grassland and saved northern Zhili from a war.

Zhu Youjian was also ecstatic about this, because he did not have full confidence that the Great Wall Front Army could stop the Jianlu.

Now that the Jianlu failed to capture Dalinghhe and turned to Korea, he finally put his worries aside.

In order to commend He Kegang's achievements and to encourage the soldiers to fight bravely, he immediately signed an order to promote He Kegang from a lieutenant general to a general.

At the same time, the Dalinghe garrison was given the title of Iron Wall Battalion, allowing them to fight independently under the command of He Kegang. They were also given the number of the 36th Division, and Huo Weihua was allowed to continue recruiting soldiers from Dongning Island.

These soldiers recruited from Dongning Island have demonstrated their combat effectiveness through actual combat.

The Dongning soldiers also went from being unknown to becoming one of the elite troops along with the Guanning soldiers.

More princes who planned to establish vassal states set their sights on immigrants from Shaanxi.

Immigrants from Shaanxi became popular and they were scrambled to accept them.

These military and civilian households that were organized on the immigration route were very good soldiers.

Zhu Youjian therefore rewarded Zhang Mengjing, who was responsible for immigration, as well as Sun Chuanting, Zhu Tongmeng and others from Shaanxi.

The military and civilian households who immigrated from Shaanxi to Dongning Island were also willing to serve in the army.

Because of the defense of Dalinghhe, the Ming side did not lose many people.

All soldiers who participated in the battle received rewards. In addition to various rewards for confirmed kills, the emperor also awarded them three years of collective merit for their contributions in defending the city, and they were all eligible to become officers.

In the future, they will be the backbone of the 36th Division, responsible for building more fortresses in the Daling River area. They will firmly hold this area and eliminate the possibility of the Jianlu detouring through the grassland from here.

More materials for defending and building the city were also transported before the winter ice-covered area, regardless of the cost. The Dalinghe Fort, which had just experienced the war, was repaired, and more forts were built in the future.

The two people in charge of this matter, He Kegang and Huo Weihua, were also promoted to viscounts. As long as they were promoted to earls, they would have the power to open up their own vassal state.

This made many people envious, and they wished they could take their place and participate in the defense of Dalingh River.
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But compared to these two people, Cui Nanyi is more enviable. He is about to be conferred the title of earl just by killing Hauge.

If it weren't for the need for the approval of the King of Korea, the reward would have already been issued.

This made many soldiers in Dongjiang County envy Cui Nanyi for shooting and killing Hauge.

Many people also envy the snipers on the same team as Choi Nam-yi. Those people didn't even know what happened at the time. They just fired a few shots and were awarded the title by Choi Nam-yi.

This made Choi Nam-yi's reputation spread widely in Korea, and many Korean musketeers and archers defected to him.

Especially after Yangguli was shot and Xuanchuan City was relieved, Koreans from other places often came here.

Cui Nanyi selected the best from the best and chose the sharpshooter to join the sniper team——

Every sniper who joins the team must have the strength of a sharpshooter.

This is the confidence of the sniper team named the Sharpshooter Brigade by the emperor.

The original members of the sniper team were very supportive of Choi Nam-yi out of gratitude and had no objection to him acting as the captain.

That day, after Cui Nanyi finished training, he and Xie San were suddenly called over by Yang Yufan and heard a piece of unexpected news:
"Governor Hong, the Minister in Korea, has ordered the 4th Brigade of Dongjiang Town to return to Pi Island to receive rewards and rest."

"You will also return with my army and receive new weapons there."

Cui Nanyi frowned upon hearing this and said in confusion:

"Why return now?"

"There are still Jianlu in Dongjiang Territory."

"What does Governor Hong mean by letting them wreak havoc in Dongjiang Territory?"

Yang Yufan sighed and said:
"It's not that we want to go back, but Governor Hong was dismissed from his position as Grand Marshal by the King of Joseon."

"The new Marshal believes that the Korean army and civilians are capable of resisting the Jianlu, and we don't need to be here."

"Except for Marshal Mao's Dongjiang army and civilians, everyone else must evacuate."

"Otherwise, with the Jianlu outside, I would not want to leave the city!"

Cui Nanyi frowned even more tightly when he heard this, still a little bit unbelieving:

"Can North Korea resist the Jianlu on its own?"

“Who came to this conclusion?”

"I will write a petition to the emperor to drive out this treacherous minister!"

After hearing this, Yang Yufan's attitude towards Cui Nanyi changed slightly.

Because he remembered that Cui Nanyi had not yet obtained Ming nationality.

This made him look at Choi Nam-yi and ask:
"Is Major Choi going to serve the King of Joseon?"

"That way we can get away from the Ming army and continue to stay here."

He emphasized the word "major" to remind him that he now belonged to the Ming army. Cui Nanyi looked at Yang Yufan's eyes and the scrutiny of the people around him, and suddenly realized that he was about to face a choice.

This choice is not as evasive as before, but imminent.

If he is unwilling to withdraw with the troops, he will be removed from the list and left here.

Maybe the reward for killing Hauge will also change, and he won't get the title he deserves.

Xie San, who was conferred the title of baron together with Choi Nam-yi and whose territory still belonged to the vassal state of Count Choi Nam-yi, looked at him nervously and said:

"Nan Yi, are you still unwilling to join the Ming Dynasty?"

"What about our titles then?"

Yang Yufan and others also looked at him, wondering what decision he would make.

If Choi Nam-yi chooses to be loyal to the King of Joseon, they will admire him but will also laugh at him for being a fool.

Even the King of Korea had to accept the Ming Dynasty's enthronement, so why would he refuse the Ming Dynasty's reward?

Cui Nanyi's family used to belong to the Yangban nobility, how could he not know this. Looking at the expressions of Xie San and others, he smiled bitterly and said:
"Do you think I'm so unwise? I don't even want the title of Earl that I've already got!"

"Don't worry, I will accept the transfer order and withdraw with everyone else."

"I just don't know if there are people in the team who are unwilling to do so. Maybe someone will quit."

Xie San showed a happy expression when he heard this, and patted his shoulder and said:
"If you want to withdraw, then withdraw. Our Sharpshooter Squadron does not need people who are not loyal to His Majesty."

"With our old brothers here, there's no need to worry about the fighting power!"

Yang Yufan was also pleased:

"Once you get to Pi Island, you can also select people from each army."

"The Sharpshooter Squadron is equipped with the latest weapons. Who would be so foolish as to resist?"

Then he said to Cui Nanyi:

"Don't worry, Earl. Even if the King of Korea disagrees, His Majesty will accept you into the Ming Dynasty and grant you another fiefdom."

"Next time we meet, maybe I'll call you Uncle!"

This was also something he envied, because his family's hereditary title could only be converted to a viscount title after being promoted by the emperor. Compared with Cui Nanyi's earl, it was one level lower, and the difference was the territory and the vassal state.

This sometimes made him feel that Cui Nanyi was lucky.

But they actually killed Hauge, achieving the highest record since the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Jianlu, which made him convinced and made him more enthusiastic about making achievements.

Under his careful command, the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Brigade of Dongjiang Town withdrew safely from Xuanchuan.

Many Ming troops in Dongjiang Territory were retreating, including some people who belonged to Dongjiang Territory.

Most of those who stayed behind moved to the sturdy mountain cities or to the mountains and forests in the east.

Even the Jianlu were a little confused as to why the Ming army suddenly wanted to retreat when they were not in much danger.
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Chen Zizhuang also didn't understand why he was defending well, and why the Jianlu had recently withdrawn to Yizhou. Why was he suddenly ordered to leave Dongjiang County and take the soldiers, civilians and food with him?

This led him to cross the Cheongcheon River to Pyongyang and ask Hong Chengchou who had given the order:
"Why did Marshal Hong withdraw?"

"Do you think that Dongjiang can't be defended?"

Hong Chengchou smiled bitterly and said to Chen Zizhuang:
"Chen Changshi, please stop calling me Marshal Hong. I am no longer the Grand Marshal of Korea. I am only the Minister of State in Korea."

"The North Koreans copied the arrow-shaped bullet and used it to kill Yanguli."

"They believe that they can resist the Jianlu without the Ming Dynasty, and they don't need us here."

"I heard that the new commander-in-chief is planning to send troops to the north to help Ming Dynasty recover Liaodong!"

He felt it was really ridiculous to say such words.

The North Koreans are so ignorant that they can even come up with such thoughts.

Do they think that they can completely defeat the Jianlu with just arrow-shaped bombs?

Hong Chengchou was very angry and displeased about this. He wanted to go to Seoul immediately to ask the King of Korea what he wanted to do.

But the order from the court was for him not to interfere.

The Ming Dynasty had originally planned to lure the Jianlu to Korea. Now that the Jianlu were coming, Korea was willing to fight. Let them have a good fight, and the Ming Dynasty could rest and improve its army.

After several months of continuous fighting, the Ming army has accumulated a lot of experience. As long as they summarize and promote it, they can greatly improve their combat effectiveness.

The new generation of standard firearms is about to be finalized and put into mass production.

Next year, the strength of the Ming army will surely increase by leaps and bounds, and the army will no longer be afraid of the Jianlu taking a detour through the grassland to threaten the Great Wall defense.

Of course we have to delay the war as much as possible this year, and it would be best if the Jianlu were trapped in Korea.

If the Jianlu cannot even defeat North Korea, that would be even more cause for celebration.

However, the imperial court felt that this possibility was unlikely, and Zhou Yuji, who was sent to Seoul, still remains there.

The King of Korea had no intention of driving him away, and even asked him to help train the Korean army.

Zhou Yuji gladly accepted this and spread the hollow square array according to the court's order.

The Ming Dynasty needed to use the Korean army as an experiment to see whether the firearms-equipped phalanx had the strength to fight against the Jianlu in field battles.

At the same time, the purchase of Korean grain was still in progress. The Dongjiang leader also became more determined to fortify the city and clear the fields, and arranged troops to ambush in the mountains and forests, preparing to harass the logistics of the Jianlu when they moved south.

(End of this chapter)