Blood from Daming

Chapter 423 Bitong
Xue Polu looked at the pontoon bridge and saw that the pontoon bridge near the east bank was also on fire, presumably Zuo Ming and the others had reached the east bank safely, Xue Polu asked: "Mr. Mao, what is the situation of Korea and our Liaodong Army now. "

Mao Yuanyi said: "Zhao Zongbing has now entered Bitong City, and the Liaodong Army is basically here. Now we are getting in touch with the Pyongyang Prefecture of North Korea's Pingan Road and the Ningbian Metropolitan Government to negotiate cooperation between our Ming Liaodong Army and the Joseon Dynasty. The specific matters of coordinated operations."

Xue Polu didn't answer Mao Yuanyi's topic, but just asked Yu Anxing, "Master Yu, how are the losses of our Liaodong Army crossing the river?"

Yu Anxing said: "According to statistics, 37 people fell into the water on the pontoon bridge, and 23 people were rescued. However, only two officers and soldiers of the Liaodong Army fell into the water and disappeared. The soldiers accounted for seven people, and more than 19 horses, as well as 70 carts and the supplies on the carts were lost.”

After hearing Yu Anxing's words, Xue Polu felt that the losses of the Liaodong army and civilians crossing the river were much less than what he expected, which made Xue Polu feel better, but seeing Mao Yuanyi in front of him felt uncomfortable again. Mao Yuanyi This person is hard where it shouldn't be hard, and very soft where it shouldn't be soft. Maybe most literati do things like this.

Xue Polu saw Sun Jian in the crowd, so Xue Polu shouted: "General Sun, how is the situation in Bitong City?"

Sun Jian hurriedly stepped forward and said to Xue Polu: "General Zhao has already taken control of Bitong City and arrested the sheriff and the shepherd. Now Mr. Mao asked the general to go back and let General Zhao release the sheriff and the shepherd. I don’t know what your opinion is, General Xue, those North Korean officials.”

Xue Polu thought for a while and said: "Mr. Mao, these North Korean officials in Bitong City cannot be released. They prevent my Ming army from crossing the Yalu River, and they will be punished. Maybe they have colluded with Jianlu."

Mao Yuanyi said: "Pulu, imprisoning Korean officials in North Korea is related to the relationship between our Ming Dynasty and North Korea. We are not full-time foreign affairs officials of the imperial court. If we are not careful, we may cause unnecessary troubles for foreign vassals."

Xue Polu said: "Mr. Mao, the small country of North Korea dares to kill the army of our celestial kingdom. Even if we destroy this dynasty, it will be self-inflicted disaster. General Sun, please tell Zhao in Bitong City. Commander-in-Chief, everything is in the interests of my Ming Dynasty, and I will bring Mr. Mao, Lord Yu, and Man Zongbing to Bitong City at the end of the day."

Sun Jian rejoiced and said: "Xue Jiajun, all I want is a word from you. I will leave at the end." Sun Jian disappeared from the crowd after speaking.

Mao Yuanyi shook his head and said: "Polu, if you do this, you will be given a handle in the court, which will be very detrimental to you and the Xue family."

Yu Anxing interrupted and said: "Zhisheng, let's talk about the North Korean affairs in Bitong City. Just now General Sun brought a message that our Liaodong-Eastern Route Army was attacked by Jiancapture while crossing the Shuangtaizi River. The West Route Army at Shuangtaizi River was defeated by Jianlu Zhenghuang Banner, Xiangbai Banner, and Xianglan Banner, and the East and West Route Army of Liao Dynasty on the east side of Shuangtaizi River suffered heavy losses, but General Sun did not know the specific situation."

Xue Polu sighed and said: "Yuan Ning can be said to have stolen chickens this time, but it's just a pity for those soldiers of the Eastern and Western Route Army."

Yu Anxing said: "Master Yuan was attacked by Azige, Du Du, and Amin's Zhenghuang Banner, Xiangbai Banner, and Xianglan Banner halfway across. I just don't know how the Liaodong Army on the west bank is doing."

Xue Polu said: "On the other side of the river, I met Abatai with Zhenglan Banner. I think Huang Taiji, Yuetuo's Zhengbai Banner, and Xianghong Banner have all crossed the Shuangtaizi River. .”

Mao Yuanyi said: "I don't know how many soldiers of the East and West Route Army of Liaodong who are living in Liaodong Bay are still resisting the Jian captives."

Xue Polu said: "Mr. Mao, Mr. Yu, Brother Man, let's go to Bitong City."

Mao Yuanyi said: "Polu, is our East Route Army sending troops to rescue the lost West Route Army soldiers?"

Xue Polu said: "Mr. Mao, now the soldiers and horses of the Jurchen Eight Banners have gathered on the west bank of the Yalu River. How do you want our East Route Army to rescue the scattered soldiers of the West Route Army?"

Mao Yuanyi sighed: "But if we don't save them, how can we be worthy of those Liaodong Army soldiers living in Liaodong Bay?"

Xue Polu said: "Mr. Mao, Liaodong Bay is close to the beach. I believe that General Mao in Dongjiang Town will not sit idly by. As long as the soldiers of the Liaodong Army walk towards the sea and meet Mao Zongbing's troops, there is still a great chance of survival."

Mao Yuanyi nodded and said, "I hope so."

Xue Polu ordered Lu Yaojin and Yan Laoyao to deal with the matter of renting and buying gold and silver salaries to North Korean fishermen and ship owners, and formed a temporary navy with ships and Liaodong Army boatmen, and also allowed Lu Yaojin and Yan Lao Yao recruited some North Korean fishermen who voluntarily joined, as to whether or not they could be recruited is another matter.

Only then did Xue Polu march towards Bitong City together with Mao Yuanyi, Yu Anxing, and Man Gui, and the Liaodong East Route Army, including Liao Min, followed behind and slowly walked towards Bitong City.

The city wall of Bitong City in North Korea is very high, but the city is very small. Xue Polu believes that the state capital of North Korea can only be compared to a larger town or a small county in the Ming Dynasty. The special status on the border of the Yalu River allowed it to obtain a relatively high-level prefecture status.

Zhao Ledjiao led the officers and soldiers to welcome Xue Polu, Mao Yuanyi, Yu Anxing, and the Liaodong Army brigade led by Man Gui at the gate of Bitong City. If a batch of ships arrive, I am afraid that brothers will not have a chance to see you."

Zhao Lengjiao said: "Brother Polu, you and I are brothers and sisters, so please don't say anything polite. It's the North Korean officials in Bitong City who put Brother Polu in danger."

Xue Polu said fiercely: "Our Liaodong Army came to help them with good intentions and good intentions, but these North Korean officials rejected our Liaodong Army. It is indeed a bit inexplicable."

Zhao Lijiao said: "Brother Polu, Mr. Mao, Mr. Yu, and Zongbing Man, this is not surprising at all, because the North Korean officials in Bitong City are in collusion."

Mao Yuanyi's expression changed and he asked, "General Zhao is a serious matter. What evidence do you have for saying this?"

Zhao Lengjiao said: "Why not? The officers and soldiers of our former garrison guards got reports from North Korean informants. They blocked seventeen Tatar messengers in a small courtyard arranged by the Bitong City government and killed five of them on the spot. The rest All 12 were captured."

Mao Yuanyi asked: "Did these envoys from Jianlu come to Bitong City to persuade them to surrender?"

Zhao led the way: "These Tartars didn't come to persuade them to surrender, but they meant the same thing. They wanted the North Korean officials in Bitong City to resist our Ming army from crossing the river. These North Korean officials were afraid of building captives, so they half-pushed and half-heartedly boycotted our Liaodong army. .”

Mao Yuanyi was furious: "These bastards who are greedy for life and afraid of death, the students will not let them go easily."

Yu Anxing said: "Let's go, let's go to the city and talk about it."

The government office in Bitong City is short and small, just like the house of a local rich man in Daming. Zhao Ledjiao led Xue Polu, Mao Yuanyi, Yu Anxing, Man Gui and others into the main entrance, and walked through the second hall to the The conference hall in the backyard, Xue Polu looked at the conference hall from the outside, it was still the same thing, but it was not the same after a few steps on the stone steps.

When the officials and generals of the Liaodong Army of the Ming Dynasty entered the meeting hall, they obviously felt that there was not enough space in the meeting room, and they were very worried about hitting the roof. Everyone couldn't help but shrink their necks into the hall. The meeting room of this government office is only larger than the main house of an ordinary family in Ming Dynasty A little bit, and all of them are a few short cushions. I saw that the officials and generals of the Liaodong Army would go to the countryside and sit on the floor.

After Mao Yuanyi, Yu Anxing, Man Gui, Zhao Liaojiao, and Xue Polu sat cross-legged in the main seat, the generals of the Liaodong Army crowded a room full of people around them, making the entire conference hall very dull and crowded. Some generals were not used to this way of sitting, and made a lot of jokes among each other.

Mao Yuanyi had no choice but to signal Zhao Ledjiao to report the situation of Bitong City as soon as possible. Zhao Ledjiao said: "My lords and colleagues, there are more than 1000 North Korean soldiers in Bitong City, and another [-] sailors. There are nearly [-] people in the city. It can arm [-] civilian troops. There are estimated to be [-] Koreans outside the city. There are only a few horses. The navy has two large warships and hundreds of small and medium-sized ships. The Liaodong Army surrendered."

(End of this chapter)