Chapter 7 Chapter 6 Blitz

Here it is necessary to briefly review the geography of North Korea.North Korea is a mountainous country. Eighty percent of the entire peninsula is covered by mountains and there are few plains.Under the limitations of the mountains, there are only a few fixed roads that can be passed, and they are built according to the mountains, and they are rarely thoroughfares. North Korea's administrative divisions are divided into eight provinces, from east to west: Pyongan, Hamgyong, Hwanghae, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, Gyeongsang, and Jeolla.Among them, Gyeongsang Road is located in the westernmost part of North Korea and is the closest road to Tsushima Island in Japan.

There are three roads from Gyeongsang-do to the capital Seoul in Gyeonggi-do.The northernmost one is from Busan and Dongnae to the northern coast, along Ulsan and Gyeongju, and finally arrives in Sangju.The distance is long, but the advantage is that the road is wide and supplies can be obtained from the sea.The official post road of Gyeongsang-do is located on this route. The road in the middle is from Dongnae to Miryang in the southwest direction, then to Daegu, and then to Sangju.This route is the shortest recorded in a straight line, but the road is narrow, the mountains are high and the water is deep along the way, not only there are many passes, but also plank roads are required in some places.The beacon tower route of Gyeongsang-do is set along this road.

These two roads start from Dongnae and meet in Sangju.Sangju is the seat of the entire Gyeongsang-do, and it is also an important key pass, because its west is the natural danger of Niaoling in Chungcheong-do.As long as this natural moat is crossed, Seoul is just around the corner.In fact, until now, the railway lines in this area of ​​South Korea are still built according to the trend of these two ancient roads - it can be seen that the geographical environment of the entire Gyeongsang-do has greatly restricted the passage. In addition to these two roads, there is also a mountain road to the south, going through Gimhae, Changning and Seongju, which is almost parallel to the middle road and goes west.However, this route is more difficult than the middle one. Basically, it is all over mountains and ridges, which is not suitable for marching by large corps.

There are too many mountains in North Korea, which cut the urban system into fragments, and many cities are not near the traffic roads at all.Gradually encroaching on these towns is a protracted task for the occupying army.But the Japanese couldn’t wait that long. In order to conquer North Korea as soon as possible, the Japanese army’s strategy before the war was to fight a quick war and rush directly along the avenue to several hub cities in North Korea, hoping to suppress it by destroying the enemy’s hub cities. resistance. This strategy made the Japanese army's gorgeous attack in the early stage, and also laid a deep foreshadowing for the later desperation.

According to the strategy formulated by the Japanese army before the launch.After Konishi takes Busan, he must immediately seize Busan and Dongnae, and completely control the starting point of the three important passages.After Kato Kiyomasa of the Second Legion and Kuroda Nagamasa of the Third Legion arrived, the three legions marched side by side along the aforementioned road.The three fists simultaneously used a move of "Black Tiger Pulling Out the Heart", pinching Li Chao's heart - Seoul in one fell swoop. After the successful fall of Busan and Dongrae, Ukita Hideka, the supreme front-line commander of the Japanese army, held a military meeting on Tsushima Island.Hideka was Hideyoshi's adopted son, with a noble status, but he is not very old and his qualifications are still inexperienced.So although he is the supreme commander in name, he actually discusses it with other legion commanders.

At the meeting, the Xiu family called together the legion leaders except President Xiaoxi, and asked them whether we should wait for Lord Taige to arrive in person before we fight, or do we fight on our own first? The reason why Hideyoshi asked this question was because he knew Hideyoshi's overjoyed temperament very well. The brilliant victory in Busan would definitely make Hideyoshi think of conquering North Korea himself, and he had to make early preparations.He wanted to discuss with several legion commanders what strategy to adopt next. The generals have different opinions, and two of them are the loudest, one is Kato Kiyomasa and the other is Fukushima Masanori.Both of them were raised by Hideyoshi's wife, Bei Zhengsuo, who are good at fighting and are both famous for their "Seven Guns of Chiyue".But at this time, the two people had completely opposite opinions. Qingzheng advocated fast progress, while Zhengzheng advocated prudence.

At this time, Tachibana Zongshige, the number one brave general of the Sixth Army, stood up and said to Xiu's family: "The general will not accept the order of the king outside. We are now on an expedition across the sea. If we wait for Taige to make up his mind, Day Lily will It’s cold. In my opinion, we should have a quick battle and take Seoul directly before North Korea is fully alert.” Kobayakawa Takakage, head of the Sixth Army Corps, asked him how do you know.Tachibana Zongshige said disdainfully: "We took Busan and Dongnae in half a day. If this kind of fortified city is placed in Japan, it will not be able to be taken down for several months. It can be seen that the security of the Koreans is deserted. If we don't fight quickly, we will wait for them." After realizing it, if you borrow soldiers from the Ming Dynasty, then there will be no drama."

These words made several legion commanders all nod in agreement.Xiujia finally made a decision, saying that he should tell President Xiaoxi about this decision quickly so that he can prepare for a quick attack. Not a day later, the messenger came back and told the Xiu family with a helpless face: "Don't rush him, he is more anxious than you, the First Legion has already left!" It turned out that Konishi's ambitions began to swell when he saw that Busan and Donglai were playing so smoothly.He is a businessman, and he has a small abacus.If the two legions of Kato and Kuroda landed together and arrived in Seoul, two-thirds of the credit would be taken away for nothing.Now that the North Koreans are so weak, my First Legion might as well go straight to Seoul before they cross the sea, and enjoy a great contribution all to themselves.

There are also deep-seated reasons for his thinking. Among the three legions, the relationship between Konishi Governor and Kuroda Nagamasa is not bad, but he has an indescribable disgust for Kato Kiyoshi with the bearded face.One of the two is a diplomat, the other is a soldier, and behind them is the struggle between Hideyoshi's Wenzhi and Arbitrary factions. Their relationship is like that of Wei Yan and Yang Yi in the Three Kingdoms period, with an almost natural sense of disgust. When they were entrusted, Hideyoshi did not know what motives they had, so they were entrusted to Feihou together, and they kept their heads down all day without seeing each other. The annoyance became so annoying that the relationship became even worse.

Now that President Konishi has finally landed in North Korea, he feels like sitting on pins and needles at the thought of sharing the fruits of victory with Kato's vulgar thing.So he couldn't wait for the order from Ukita Hide's family, leaving a little defender to guard Busan, and led the army alone to gallop towards Miryang, the important town in the middle of Gyeongsang-do. Gyeongsang-do was in a mess at this time.Pu Jin, the envoy of Miryang Prefecture, received the battle report of the fall of Busan, and personally led the army to Sushan, intending to rescue Dongnae City.He joined forces with Li Jue in Sushan, and told the latter to stick to it. Once Sushan was lost, the entire south of Gyeongsang would be ruined.

President Xiaoxi rushed to the foot of Su Shan aggressively, and Pu Jin led the troops to fight.But when Pu Jin fought with the Japanese army, Li Jue immediately turned around and ran away, his movements were extremely skillful.This move caused the North Korean army to be in chaos. Pu Jin could not control the situation, so he had to lead his soldiers to retreat. Li Jue's escape all the way led to the successive fall of Sushan, Liangshan and other dangerous mountain passes.In just one day on April 16, the First Army Corps of Chief Xiaoxi advanced more than a hundred miles and reached Magpie Bridge.Here they encountered Park Jin again. Magpie Bridge is located forty-one miles east of Miyang. There is no road here, only a Huangshan plank road connecting it, and the terrain is very dangerous.Pu Jin has a much more sense of responsibility than Li Jue. Although he was defeated for a while, his morale has not faded.He is determined to rely on natural dangers to hold on here to resist the enemy. On April 17, the Japanese and Korean armies met at Queqiao, and a bloody battle broke out. When we meet on a narrow road, the brave wins, but the brave is not necessarily the party of justice.The North Korean soldiers who have not been through the battle are trembling, and they are not the opponents of the Japanese army like a wolf and a tiger at all.After several contests, the North Korean army was completely defeated, and the two generals were killed on the spot.Even though Pu Jin had the power to reach the heavens, he was helpless, so he had to retreat to Miryang. After Xiaoxi Xingchang occupied Queqiao, he divided his troops into two groups and went all the way to Miyang City on Qingshang Middle Road. He also sent a partial division to attack Weicheng in the north to ensure the safety of his flank. After Pu Jin withdrew to Miryang City, he planned to gather his men to defend it, but he was shocked to find that almost everyone in the city had run away.After inquiring, it turned out that Li Jue did the file again!After the fleeing general evacuated from Sushan, he came to Miryang. After entering the city, he spread a panic speech, coerced a large number of people to follow him and continued to flee to the rear, and threw the mess to Pu Jin. Pu Jin didn't even have time to scold him, he just set fire to the weapons, food and grass in Miryang City, and hid in the nearby mountains with the remaining soldiers.Zong Yizhi, who arrived afterward, comfortably occupied Miryang City without firing a single shot. Gyeongsang Inspector Kim Joo was in Jinju at this time. When he heard that Dongnae City had fallen, he planned to come to the rescue. Halfway there, he found that Miryang had fallen. Knowing that there was nothing to be done, he sighed and dismissed his troops.Before he withdrew, he issued orders to all towns in Gyeongsang to evacuate the crowd immediately. This order caused extreme panic in Gyeongsang-do.In the past, North Koreans were arrogant toward Japan because of their ignorance, and now they are fearful because of their ignorance.For a time, there were refugees fleeing on all roads, and many cities collapsed without attacking, which made the Japanese army's attack more smooth. At the same time Konishi Konishi was stationed in Miryang, Kato Kiyomasa led the Second Army to Pusan. At this time, Busan City was empty, only some soldiers left behind.Kato Kiyomasa yelled angrily when he thought that that bastard President Konishi would run away without waiting for the referee to fire the starting gun, and that he hadn't been convicted of a foul.He is the number one brave general under Hideyoshi's command. If a lip-smack takes the lead, there is really no place for his face.Stimulated by feats and hatred, Kato Kiyoshi did not stop in Busan for a moment, and directly swung his army northward at a rapid pace. Konishi took the Gyeongsang Middle Road, Kato Kiyomasa weighed it and chose to take the Gyeongsang North Line.Although this road was tortuous and long, it was superior in that the road was flat and wide, which was an advantage over Xiao Nishi's marching in the middle.And because of Konishi's previous series of victories, Gyeongsang-do has fallen into chaos, and Kato Kiyomasa hardly needs to fight, just travel all the way. On April 19th, the Second Army entered the empty city of Ulsan; on the 21st, it entered the empty city of Gyeongju; then Yongcheon, Gunwi and other cities were also blown down.Kato Kiyomasa, holding high the banner of the Nichiren sect, advanced all the way along the Nakdong River, desperately trying to catch up with Konishi Yukyo-chan. Konishi Yukio who was in front of him heard that Kato Kiyomasa had started to speed up, and was extremely anxious.Although his middle road is the closest in a straight line, there are many big cities in front of him: Daegu and Sangju are important cities that are easy to defend and difficult to attack. It will take time to attack and pull out. Maybe Kato will take this opportunity to overtake. So he ordered to stop the sweep of the cities around the road, and the whole army speeded up.The First Army immediately gave up the plunder, even gave up flank protection, and went straight to Daegu.The red-eyed Xiaoxi exerted 120% of his combat power, captured Daegu in one go on the 23rd, and then captured Shanshan on the 24th, advancing towards the north in great strides. These two live treasures chased each other non-stop, and staged a speed of life and death in the sixteenth century in the high mountains of Gyeongsang-do. Behind them, Kuroda Nagamasa of the Third Army also landed in North Korea.However, Nagamasa followed the tradition of the Kuroda family and did not join in the fun with those two live treasures.When crossing the sea, he calculated the marching map, and he didn't even go to Busan. He took a small bend in the sea to the south, and landed at Angupo near Jeolla Province on April 18, and immediately attacked Gimhae Fortress. Drive steadily on South Gyeongsang Road. So far, the three armies have all arrived at Gyeongsang-do, and the march to Seoul has begun. The Japanese have already turned upside down, but the small court in Seoul is still as peaceful as Mount Tai.It's not that they are calm, but that they don't know the news of the enemy's invasion at all.It was not until April 17, when Miryang fell, that Seoul heard the news of the Japanese invasion for the first time.Ironically, this news did not come from anyone else, but from Pu Hong, who was also known as the escaped couple with Li Jue. The emperor and ministers of the Li Dynasty heard of the chaos and shouted for so many years that the wolf has come, and today the wolf has finally come.But how many wolves have come, how many troops have been divided, and how many cities in Gyeongsang-do have not fallen, they don't know anything about these issues. The situation of the enemy was unknown, and the imperial court did not dare to trust it. It specially invited a veteran Li Yi and appointed him as a patrol envoy to go to Gyeongsang-do to resist the Japanese pirates.Li Yi has been on the battlefield for a long time, and has been entangled with the Jurchens in the north for decades. He has full experience and is a trustworthy person.King Li Zan also specially gave Li Yi a Shangfang sword, from the frontier envoy down, he can kill whoever he wants. In addition to Li Yi, the imperial court also appointed several other generals to guard Zhuling and Niaoling on the borders of Zhongqing and Gyeongsang to prevent the enemy from sneaking in from these two routes.From a positive point of view, Li Chao’s court is quite sensible, and he estimated the Japanese army’s attack route exactly. The three Japanese army regiments attacked from these two directions; When Shangdao arrived in Seoul, there were only three paths in total, so there was no need to guess... Li Yi's official position is sealed, but he still needs soldiers. But the court couldn't do anything about it.After Wen Tianwu played for so long, the army was very weak.There are people who eat empty money and pay empty wages everywhere. They can eat, drink and have fun at ordinary times, but they all run away when they hear that there is going to be a war.The only one with a little fighting power is the imperial guards guarding the Gyeonggi Province.But this army is the life-saving talisman of the royal family, and it must not be moved lightly. Li Yi waited and waited, only waiting for the sentence "choose an officer to do it yourself." He spat out blood and wiped it off quietly, so he could only find a way from other places. Sangju is an important military town, with around 3,000 garrisons. The garrisons in Mungyeong and Sunju around the area can gather 3,000 to 4,000 troops. In this way, we can gather around 10,000 people. It should be a problem to stick to it not big.Even if you can't stick to it, there is a natural barrier behind Sangju, and there is only a narrow Caoliang Road in the middle that connects with the Chungju Plain.As long as the army retreats to Niaoling and sticks to the Caoliang Road, it will be a successful strategy. Good idea, but he miscalculated. The local military system in North Korea was originally controlled by towns. This system is similar to China's Jiedushi, which devolves military power to the local governments and belongs to the patrol envoys.But since the Yimaowa change, the Li Dynasty was afraid of the Taoist government's monopoly, so he took the command of the local army away from the Taoist government, and set up an independent system. The military power was broken up and belonged to the Taoist soldiers and water envoys. Go up one level to help the defense general, and then to the defense envoy, patrol envoy, and marshal, all levels of control, all ways are not allowed to interfere, nor can they command. To put it simply, in the eight provinces of North Korea, the administration and the army are divided into two management lines, parallel to each other, and no one has to listen to the other.If there is any enemy situation, the governor can discuss it with the commander of the military region. If the relationship between the two is good, they can cooperate with each other.If the commander of the military region ignores the governor, then he has nothing to do with it. The reason why generals like Li Jue and Pu Hong dared to retreat thousands of miles, ignoring the constraints of Song Xiangxian, Pu Jin and other government envoys, was precisely because of this kind of military and political dominance. The North Koreans think that this method is good, and it can effectively restrain the local government from expanding. It is euphemistically called "the winning strategy." To be honest, this kind of military-government separation system is indeed very advanced, but it is a bit too advanced and does not conform to the sixteenth century. The national conditions of North Korea in the century.Once a foreign enemy invades, there is no coordination between the military and the government, and it is easy to fall into chaos.There was little organized resistance in North Korea in the early days, which is inseparable from the chaos of this military and political system. Li Yi suffered a great loss from this system. President Konishi approached Daegu on April 23, and when the information reached Sangju, the Sangju government envoy hurriedly asked the local defenders to send reinforcements.The generals of the defending army were very cooperative, and quickly pulled out a troop and rushed to Daegu.But when they were halfway there, a notice came from the military, saying that Master Li Yi, the border envoy, was coming to Sangju to rectify the army and horses, and asked them to stand by on the spot.When the general of the Sangju army heard this, no matter how much the Sangju government envoy persuaded him, he refused to go forward—we are under the control of the patrol envoy, and his orders must be given top priority. If you have any opinions, go to Li Yi to negotiate. So this army stayed in the field between Sangju and Daegu, waiting for Li Yi's arrival.Unexpectedly, Li Yi didn't arrive, and the heavy rain came first.A heavy rainstorm fell, and someone in the rain yelled that the Japanese were coming, which caused a roar.This army actually broke up in a rush, and ran away completely. A few fishing boats can destroy a fleet; a heavy rain can crush an army. In the early days of the Imjin War, such miraculous battles were not uncommon.It is conceivable how corrupt these North Korean troops have been from top to bottom. The envoy of Shangzhou government saw that the army had run away, so he didn't have to do anything, he packed up and ran away.When Li Yi arrived in Sangju, there was only one judge left to greet him in such a large Sangju city. Li Yi looked up to the sky and sighed, he was not even interested in vomiting blood, so he could only roll up his sleeves and search door to door with the only remaining official, coaxing and scaring them, and gathered eight or nine hundred young men from nearby villages and mountains. There are continuous mountains to the west of Sangju. Li Yi believes that these mountains can block the Japanese for at least a few days.He planned to take advantage of these few days to train well, at least to make these strong men know how to use weapons. As a result, he underestimated the speed of the Japanese march.These strong men hadn't even finished distributing their weapons, when Captain Xiaoxi hurried over. President Konishi was in a hurry right now, for fear of being overtaken by Kiyomasa Kato, so he naturally refused to waste time in this ghostly place of Sangju.To buy time, he devised a desperate plan of attack. According to the plan, he himself and Matsuura Jinnobu led a team of 10,000 people to cross Jiazhang Mountain and attack the southern part of Sangju; Yamamune Yoshitomo, Goto Jungen, and Omura Kizen led a team of 6,700 people in total. People, from Byeongpung Mountain to the northeast of Sangju.These two legions are like a pair of big pincers, attacking from north to south, intending to accomplish their merits in one battle. It's a pity that this strategy is very gorgeous, but it's flirting to the blind.Because there are no enemies in Sangju city at all... On April 25th, Li Yi pulled all the troops to Xishan not far from the north of Sangju City, and drilled the army on the Beichuan Highlands. No one was left in the city.The location of Xishan was carefully selected: this is the commanding height of the entire Sangju City, overlooking the entire city, and it is very close to the natural danger of Niaoling, which is a position that can be attacked and defended. Li Yi trained his soldiers without haste, thinking about the training plan.At the same time, the two detachments of the Xiaoxi Corps had already broken through the mountains in the southern part of Sangju, advancing aggressively toward Sangju City from west to north. President Xiaonishi's team did not expect that Sangju City was not fortified, so they drove the army into the city and started setting fire and looting everywhere.When Li Yi saw the smoke rising in the city, he realized that the Japanese had already arrived, and hurriedly sent someone to check.Unexpectedly, at this time, Zong Yizhi's five thousand people had already turned around from the north, saw people in Xishan, and launched an attack unceremoniously. It was a textbook raid.The Japanese army first fired from a long distance with iron cannons, disrupting the formation of the Korean army.Those impromptu strongmen immediately fell into chaos when they heard the sound of the iron cannon, let alone counterattack.Li Yi's soldiers rushed to fight back with bows and arrows, but they all fell to the ground because of the lack of range.When the chaos of the Korean army reached a certain level, the Japanese ashigaru (infantry) divided into two wings and began to outflank the Koreans to the left and right, with the intention of encircling and annihilating them. This battle can be regarded as the standard style of fighting of the Japanese army: that is, to strike long-rangely with iron cannons first, and then to attack with two wings of ashigaru and samurai after the opponent's organizational system is chaotic, and bury themselves in close combat.This method of warfare is not only powerful and efficient, but also very economical. A single projectile from the Japanese army can penetrate three or four North Korean soldiers in thin armor. The Japanese army lost very little in the early days of the Korean War, thanks to this method of warfare. At the beginning, Li Yi tried to organize resistance, but when he saw the Japanese army flying with both wings and looting towards him, he knew that nothing could be done.He loosened his hair, took off his armor, and fled into the mountains like Cao Mengde who was being chased by Ma Chao, and retreated towards Niaoling.Poor those more than 800 strong men became the ghosts of the Japanese army in their ignorance. The fall of Sangju means that the entire Gyeongsang-do has completely fallen into the hands of the enemy.Between the Japanese army and Seoul, there is only a natural barrier of Niaoling and Chungju City. After the successful capture of Sangju, the morale of the First Army was even stronger.President Xiaoxi was so happy that he couldn't help but stay in Sangju City for one night.At 3 o'clock in the morning on April 26, regardless of his fatigue, he led the main army to continue westward. After a long journey of 16 hours, he finally arrived at Wenqing County at the foot of Niaoling Mountain at 7 o'clock in the evening.Wenqing's defenders collapsed without a fight, and Shen Yuanji, the county supervisor, was killed in battle. Standing in Wenqing County, the majestic peak of Niaoling can already be seen with the naked eye.Captain Xiaoxi breathed a sigh of relief, and ordered the exhausted troops to rest, preparing to seize the only passway - Caoliang Road the next day. He was about to go to bed when suddenly a large group of soldiers rushed in from outside Wenqing City, all of them were unkempt and dirty.Chief Xiaonishi was taken aback, thinking it was the North Korean army raiding at night, but after a closer look, the army flag of this team was painted with bellflowers, and on the horse seal was written "Nan Wu Miao Fa Hua Lian Sutra", and "Thousands of Thousands of Flowers". "Cheng Piao Tan" is flying high. President Konishi's eyes darkened, and that bastard Kato Kiyomasa caught up! Kikyo is the family crest of Kato Kiyomasa; Kato Kiyomasa believes in the Nichiren sect, so the horse seal will write the Nichiren sect's classic "Namohokaren Sutra", which is called the banner of the title; The banner of "Laotan" is the unique horse seal of Toyotomi's family, which was specially rewarded to Kato by Hideyoshi before he set off for the expedition. After Kato Kiyomasa landed on April 17, he ran all the way along the North Road for a full ten days, and finally caught up with Konishi Yukina before he entered Seoul.You said how much Kato hated Xiaoxi to burst out such a terrifying long-distance running ability. President Xiaoxi hated it in his heart. Although the road he walked was a straight line, he attacked cities and villages along the way, and he was actually killed.However, although Kato Kiyomasa's road was far away, the defenders along the way were intimidated by the soldiers of the First Army. The First Army did not fight any tough battles at all, and took advantage of this. By the way, while Konishi and Kato were running wildly day and night, the third player, Nagamasa Kuroda, laid down Gimhae without haste and marched westward along Changwon, Changnyeong, and Seongju.On the 26th, he just ran to Anton, and there was still a long way to go. President Xiaoxi hated it in his heart. Although the road he walked was a straight line, he attacked cities and villages along the way, and he was actually killed.Although Kato Kiyomasa's road was far away, the defenders along the way were intimidated by the soldiers of the First Army, and the Second Army didn't fight any tough battles at all, so they took advantage of this. Wrong again, ashamed On the night of the 26th, neither President Konishi nor Kiyomasa Kato slept well.Now that the two stand on the same starting line, it is not yet known who will win the game in the future. On the morning of the 27th, both of them got up early, urging their subordinates to get up and eat quickly, and there was a big battle to be fought in Niaoling.President Xiaonishi made another small calculation.Kato Kiyoshi just arrived, but he traveled so fast that many people fell behind, and the troops that barely reached Wenqing were at the end of their strength, far less complete than his own lineup.Calculated in this way, he will still have the upper hand if he waits a while to fight the grass. The Niaoling Passage in Wenqing began to be excavated during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Li Dynasty. It connected the Zhongqing and Gyeongsang Roads and was an extremely important communication passage.The main peak of Niaoling Mountain, Zhuyi Mountain, is more than 1,000 meters above sea level. The Caoliang Road Pass is located between the main peak and the valley. There is only one narrow mountain road with a slope of more than 30 degrees. The most standard one is easy to defend and difficult to attack.After crossing Choliang Road, there is the Zhongzhou Basin, which is a plain where you can run freely, and there is no danger to defend. The First Legion and the Second Legion rushed towards the Caoliang Road for fear of falling behind.After the two armies rushed under the city wall of the pass, they saw that the city gate was wide open, and there was no one on the wall, not even a banner. Konishi Governor and Kato Kiyoshi looked at each other, they were familiar with the nature of the North Korean army.Regarding this situation, they did not doubt whether this was an empty city plan by the North Koreans. They knew that this was really unguarded... Three days ago, Li Yi, who had retreated here, came to the Caoliangdao pass, and saw the same scene: the entire pass was empty.He was shocked, thinking that something happened in Seoul, and hurried over Niaoling to Zhongzhou in the west of the mountain range. There, he saw a large army ready to attack the Japanese. It turns out that since Li Yi left Seoul, reports about the Japanese army from all over the country have been sent to the imperial court, and the imperial court has gradually gained an understanding of the true strength of the Japanese army, knowing that relying on Li Yi's strength is not enough.So when Li Yi first arrived in Sangju, the court appointed another general, Shen Li, as the three border patrol envoys, Liu Chenlong as the inspection envoy, and Jin Yingnan, who had made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty, as the deputy envoy to defend against the enemy. King Li Yan was still worried about this lineup, so he invited Kim Ming-won, the oldest veteran in the Korean military, and appointed him Marshal of the capital to coordinate the overall situation.In addition, Li Yan played a dark game. He ordered the palace to secretly buy more ropes for straw sandals, and asked Si Pusi to prepare horses, so that he was ready to run away at any time... After Shen Li led the army to arrive in Zhongzhou, he gathered more than 8,000 stragglers who had fled from the front line, plus the local defenders in Zhongzhou. Once gathered, there were more than 10,000, and there was also a formation It can be said that the army is the most impressive since the start of the war. These cavalry units are Shenla's treasure. He felt that only the open plains in the Chungju Basin can display the combat power of the cavalry, so he ordered all the troops at the Niaoling Pass to withdraw to the Danyue Station on the east side of the plain, and waited wholeheartedly for the Japanese army. die. That's why when Li Yi, Konishi Xingchang and Kato Kiyomasa boarded the Caoliang Road, they saw that Guanshang was empty. Shen Li was full of ambition and prepared to fight a big battle.From his order to retreat, the people under him tasted the taste of defeat early on.Jin Ruyu, one of his staff officers, secretly wrote a suicide note to his son, saying that what Boss Shen did was purely a way to kill him. It seems that I am here to serve the country. Li Yi also felt that Shen Li's strategy was unreliable, but he was the defeated general and had no right to speak at all, so he could only follow behind silently. On April 27th, Governor Konishi and Kiyomasa Kato crossed Niaoling together. At first, the two were a little nervous, fearing that the North Koreans would set up an ambush on the left and right, but they walked all the way to the foot of the mountain in silence.Only then did the two long-distance runners feel relieved, and began to burn, kill and loot along the way, lest the imperial army would not know they were coming. An officer found the traces of the Japanese army and hurried back to Chungju to report the news. Everyone geared up and waited for the commander to order a counterattack.At this moment, Shen Li suddenly disappeared.This caused chaos in the army, and rumors spread that Shen Li ran away first, and morale became very low as a result.It was not until evening that Shen Li returned to Danyue Station mysteriously.When the officer reported the Japanese military information, Shen Li didn't believe it at all, saying that the reporter was talking nonsense, so he pushed it out and chopped it up. Now the morale of the army is even more fluctuating, which is hard to restrain.It is outrageous for a coach to leave without saying goodbye on the eve of the battle.What exactly Shen La did, no one knows.But we may be able to find a clue in his state of mind. Long before Shen Li set off from Seoul, the seeds of uneasiness had already been planted in his heart.When he was going to bid farewell to his colleagues, he turned around and was about to go down the steps when the black gauze hat fell to the ground with a thud, but Shen Li didn't say anything.In my heart, I felt that this was very unlucky, and I was burdened with a heavy psychological burden from then on. His troops went to Longren, and according to the rules, they had to write a letter to the court to report the situation, but in the report he submitted, he even forgot to write his own name.It can be seen that Shen Li's psychological endurance at this time is already somewhat overwhelmed. Since he arrived in Chungju, he has become even more impetuous, changing orders day and night, making his subordinates at a loss as to what to do.In particular, he also behaved extremely self-willed, refused to listen to anyone's words, and chopped off the head of anyone who raised objections.This is the third dangerous sign. When a person's psychology is on the verge of collapse, he will be very sensitive to the outside world and become very irritable. All the signs indicated that Shen Li's mentality had reached a dangerous state.He left without saying goodbye before the battle, maybe he was looking for some way to relieve the pressure, or maybe he was playing tricks to give his subordinates a calm and composed impression. No matter which one it is, it is not a good phenomenon for a military coach. On April 28, the Japanese army reached the Chungju Plain.After reconnaissance by scouts, the Japanese discovered that a strong Korean army had appeared near Chungju, which was unprecedented.Kato Kiyomasa rushed all the way, but the follow-up troops had not yet arrived, and they were all exhausted, and they had no strength to fight.He had no choice but to give up the opportunity to Xiao Xi, secretly cursing and hoping that he would lose more this time. President Xiaonishi was naturally happy to accept it, eager to show his hands in front of Kato Kiyoshi. In the initial scout report, the main force of the Korean army was stationed at Danyueyi.This place is located on the east side of the Chungju Basin. The plain stretches from the north to this place, and it tightens suddenly, like a human throat.Even if the enemy broke through the natural danger of Niaoling and set up an army here, the invading enemy would have to suffer a lot. President Xiaoxi thought to himself that the North Koreans were demonstrating against me. He waved his army fan unceremoniously, and wanted to fight the North Koreans to the death at Danyue Station.Unexpectedly, the scouts soon reported back, saying that the North Korean army had retreated dozens of miles. When Xiaoxi heard it, it turned out that the North Koreans planned to form an army with their backs at Chungju City.Fighting against the city, you can get support from the commanding heights at the top of the city, and you can retreat into the city when the battle situation is unfavorable, which is a good arrangement. The scout shook his head, saying it was wrong, the main force of the North Korean army ran to the Qintai. Xiaoxi looked at the map and was a little confused. The playing piano platform is located on Quanmen Mountain, about four kilometers southwest of Zhongzhou. It is a stone platform about 20 feet high.According to legend, this is the place where the ancient qin sage Yule played the piano. From the playing platform, you can overlook the confluence of the Dachuan River and the Han River.The turbulence of the river is truly spectacular.If Shen Li intends to play the piano here, it can be regarded as an elegant place; but if he wants to fight a war, this place is really not suitable. Niaoling is in the northeast of Chungju City, and the Japanese army must have come from the northeast.Shen Li placed his army in the southwest lineup, which could not cover Zhongzhou City at all, let alone retreat into Zhongzhou when the battle situation was unfavorable.What's more, Tanqintai is only a small place with a radius of several miles. It faces the turbulent Nanhan River to the west and the equally turbulent Dachuan River to the south. It is a veritable death place in terms of military tactics.If the battle is defeated, the east, south, north and west will be cut off, and there will be no way out. The North Korean army put the main force here. Any Chinese who sees it will blurt out: "Fight to the last stand." Shen Li wants to reenact the classic play of Han Xin, the god of war, under the city of Zhongzhou. In 204 BC, Han Xinbing went out of Jingxingkou in Taihang Mountain, and the Zhao army in front of him had an advantage in numbers, and the situation was very critical.So Han Xin turned his back to Nao Manshui to form an array, and started a confrontation with the enemy.In the end, the Han army was put to death and survived, defeated the Zhao army, and created a legendary battle of the last stand. Many people have a misunderstanding, thinking that the so-called "last stand" means to burst out courage in a desperate situation and defeat the opponent.In fact, the purpose of Han Xin's last stand was not to defeat the enemy, but to allow the Han army to maintain its front line so that it would not be defeated by the superior enemy.His real killer move was to send people to sneak into Zhao Jun's camp in a detour in advance, and suddenly put on the Han army's flag, making Zhao Jun mistakenly think that the rear camp was attacked and the situation was chaotic.This is the victory. Therefore, in order to reproduce the Last Stand, three basic conditions must be met: first, soldiers must have absolute trust in the commander; second, the strength of the two sides should not be too disparate.This disparity refers to both the number of troops and the weapons and equipment of both sides; third, there must be other supporting plans.Otherwise, relying on the courage bursting out of a desperate situation will not last at all. Shen Li did not have any of these three prerequisites.The general, who was not well-read, just mechanically drove the soldiers to death, and then waited for a miracle to happen.There is no follow-up plan, and he doesn't understand the difference in strength between the enemy and us - before he left, Liu Chenglong reminded him to be careful of the enemy's iron cannons, but Shen Li only thought that the spring breeze passed the donkey's ears. The Japanese were equally puzzled by the formation of the Korean army—could it be a trap? This is possible. If the Japanese army went deep into the vicinity of the piano platform and Zhongzhou killed a group of men and horses to attack them back and forth, it would be a troublesome situation. President Xiaonishi thought over and over again, and felt that although the IQ of the Koreans should not be overestimated, he should be cautious.He waited until night fell on the night of April 28 before slowly advancing. The First Legion was divided into two groups, one led by him and Zong Yizhi, with a total force of 12,000 troops, passed through Danyue Station, started from Dachuanli, walked westward along the Dachuan River, and approached the Tanqin Terrace; The other route was led by four lieutenant generals Matsuura, Goto, Omura, and Arishima, with a total strength of 6,700. It moved north along the Sobaek Mountains, and first attacked Chungju City to find out the enemy's real situation.如果忠州有伏兵，那这一路的任务就是缠住敌人，不让忠州支援弹琴台，如果没敌人，那就顺势占城，然后赶去弹琴台围攻。 日军分成两条锋锐的利剑，朝着弹琴台和忠州城气势汹汹地杀了过去。当他们快接近朝鲜军预设阵地的时候，日军突然大举火把，把四周照了一个透亮。朝鲜人黑暗中骤然见阵前升起这许多光亮，一时间陷入大乱。随即，这些不幸的朝鲜士兵又听到了奔蹄如雷，无数火球急速扑过来，更是骇破了胆，一路溃退而走。 他们万万没有想到，这些先锋军不是日本人，而是朝鲜牛。原来小西行长用兵非常谨慎，精打细算，他采取了松浦镇信的建议，从四周田地里拉来许多耕牛，在他们的头上绑好火把，驱赶到阵前充当前锋。这样即使朝鲜人有什么圈套，也有这些牛当滚地雷的炮灰。 背水一战与火牛阵。在忠州这块地方，朝鲜人和日本人不约而同地重现了中国古代著名战例。 在火牛阵的冲击下，朝鲜人大败而走。日军趁机掩杀，一路枪声震天，硝烟弥漫，沿途的朝鲜步兵几乎一触即溃，慢慢都向弹琴台撤去。 宗义智一马当先，率领麾下部曲几乎是一路赶着朝鲜溃兵的尾巴打。快接近弹琴台的时候，申砬终于把心爱的骑兵队撒了出去，希望他们能一举冲破敌军的阵势， 宗义智看到敌人骑兵冲过来，先惊后笑。惊的是，原来朝鲜人还藏着这么一支骑兵；笑的是，对阵的朝鲜大将竟没听过长筱合战么？ 长筱合战是发生在一五七五年五月二十一日日本长筱城的一场著名战役，参战双方是织田信长和武田信玄的继承人胜赖。在战役一开始，武田胜赖依仗自己的骑兵优势，试图突击信长的本阵。而信长调集了大批铁炮，藏身于拦马木栅之后。当武田骑兵开始突击时，铁炮队在木栅后拼命射击，结果导致武田军大败。 是役在日本产生了巨大的影响，铁炮手从这一役开始，彻底取代了骑兵的位置。从此日本进入了铁炮称雄的时代，再没出现过大规模的骑兵部队。这一次秀吉派来朝鲜的军队，干脆就没设骑兵编制。 现在朝鲜大将不光要背水一战，还要来一场长筱式的骑兵突击吗？那么就让我来重现长筱合战！宗义智那时候的心里，一定是这么想的。 其实，此时的宗义智和小西行长，表面上很镇定，心里还是小鼓乱打。 要知道，长筱合战虽然织田家的铁炮获得了胜利，但那是一场惨胜。武田骑兵的强大冲击力差一点就冲破了织田家的阵地——这还是织田家的铁炮手事先设置好了防御阵地。而现在的忠州盆地里，日军是进攻方，仓促间支不起来拦马栅，胜负还不好说。 但当朝鲜军的骑兵开始冲锋时，这两个人的担忧霎时烟消云散。 平原的确适宜骑兵驰骋不假，但还适宜做另外一件事情：种粮食。朝鲜的平原不多，不会空着作跑马场，都尽量开发出来用来种植作物。忠州盆地地势平坦，又靠着达川江，是难得的良田，种的都是进贡皇室的水稻。从忠州城到弹琴台之间，是分割成一块块的农舍稻田。田里一汪汪都是水，田埂上也长满了湿滑茂密的野草。 这种地形，骑兵别说站成一排冲锋，能让马跑起来都算是难得。朝鲜的骑兵们不得不小心翼翼地控制着缰绳，象杂技演员一样走在狭窄的田埂与小路上，生怕坐骑滑入水田里去。 虽然此时已是深夜，但在这种狭窄地形下，日军的铁炮队根本不用瞄准，齐排射击就是。一时间枪炮交错，弹丸齐飞，朝鲜的骑兵们纷纷惨呼着从马上跌下来，滚落到水田之中。侥幸未死的，很快也被日军白刃加身，砍作肉泥。 步兵们全仰仗着骑兵当主心骨，此时看到骑兵被打得人仰马翻，都吓得肝胆欲裂，一步步被日军压缩到弹琴台以西的狭窄地带。他们的背后，就是波涛汹涌的南汉江，已经退无可退。 如果这时候朝鲜军迸发出绝境下的勇气，说不定还有一战之机。可就在这时，惊慌失措的朝军另外一侧突然枪声大作，一股日军从北边冲了过来，让原本就一边倒的局势雪上加霜。 原来另外一路日军迫近忠州城之后，发现这座城池四门紧闭，城头却没有多少守军。日军旋即兵分两路，五岛队以下三千人监视忠州，松浦队三千人从弹琴台东北与北侧包抄敌军，恰好与宗义智队与小西本队形成包围网。 朝鲜军队在四面八方铁炮疯狂打击之下，士气彻底崩溃。哪里还能提起半分勇气，他们猬集在弹琴台四周，恐惧地大声叫喊起来。在密集的人群里，日军一颗子弹可以贯穿两、三个人，无数的血雾腾空而起，朝鲜士兵们一片片地死去，积尸如山。 穷途末路之下，终于开始人纵身跳入身后的汉江，开始是一两个，随即大批大批的士兵都跳了下去。所有谈及这段历史的史书，都不约而同地用了一个形容词：“尸蔽江而下。” 在一片混乱之中，申砬亲自上阵，试图杀出一条血路。可惜他越往外冲敌人越多。来回冲了几次都没办法，只能折回来，一脸仓皇地跑到江边，身边只剩下参谋金汝岉在侧。金汝岉本来身披甲胄冲在前头，申砬以为他要先逃跑，喊了一嗓子，金汝岉勒住马头笑了笑，说“吾岂惜死之人乎？”折返回来杀入敌阵，毙敌数十，又跑回主帅身边。 申砬知道事已不可为，长叹一声，与金汝岉一起投江而死——慷慨而壮烈，可惜再壮烈也是于事无补了。因为他的愚蠢与刚愎自用，忠州军团全军覆没。是役之后，汉城以东，朝廷再无可用之兵。 在如今的光州，有一大一小两块岩石，叫昆池岩。据说这块岩石旁本是申砬墓，每次有人骑着马走过，坐骑都迈不动腿。有一位将军听说了此事，专程跑过来指着申砬的墓骂道：你打仗打得这么烂，怎么死了还这么烦人。登时阴风大作，天降霹雳将昆池岩劈成两半，中有清泉流出。从此以后，无论什么人过去，都不会被阻碍了。 这个民间故事当然不是真的，不过也从一定程度上反映了老百姓对申砬的矛盾态度：你最后慷慨赴死是没壮烈没错啦，但你这一仗打得也太烂了吧？ . 忠州之战的胜利，让小西行长大大地露了一回脸，整个人趾高气扬，气焰无比嚣张。加藤清正满腹怨恨，可自己的军团还没集结，也只能忍气吞声，恨恨地心想看咱们谁先到汉城再说！ 第三军团黑田长政在忠州之战的同一天从星州出发，一路打到了金山，当晚进驻秋风驿。秋风驿位于秋风岭山麓，在忠州东南，跟第一、第二军团相隔一天的路程，正好错过这场热闹。黑田也不着急，一路稳扎稳打，很有大将风度。 在这三个军团身后，其他军团也陆续登陆釜山，展开兵力，给小西行长和加藤清正擦屁股——之所以这么说，是因为这两位军团长跑得实在是太快了，基本上是打一个城扔一个城，除了大路上的重要城镇以外，其他地区根本没来得及扫荡。别看日军猪突猛进杀过了忠州，所控制的地方，不过是几条古代高速公路和沿途的服务站，庆尚、忠清、全罗三道的绝大多数土地，仍旧掌握在朝鲜人手里。 各地官军和民众自发组织的义军，隐隐已有反攻的迹象。比如庆尚道的宜宁，已经有一个叫郭再佑的小贼，对日军的补给线构成了威胁；全罗道还有一个老贼，叫高敬命，也在四处骚扰。 这些虽是藓芥之患，但置之不理的话，会影响到日本未来在朝鲜的长治久安，必须要尽快安定才行。种种麻烦，都得靠后续部队来查阙补漏。比如小早川隆景的第六军团，甫一到朝鲜，就被安排扫荡庆尚道西部，为占领全罗道做准备。 小早川隆景还算好，他不是秀吉的嫡系，到朝鲜本来就是为了陪太子读书。象福岛正则、毛利吉成这样的新贵，一门心思要建功立业，心思根本就不在扫荡上。这些军团长听到前面一日千里，心里都馋得紧，一边骂着娘，一边安排扫荡，都有点心不在焉，只想早早北上，赶在第一、二、三军团后面捞点战功。 不过这些烦恼，都不是忠州两位日军指挥官的兴趣所在。小西行长和加藤清正此时，正在为另外一个话题争吵不休。 在忠州的西部，是波涛汹涌的南汉江。原本南下的南汉江在这里突然转向，朝着东南方向蜿蜒而去，与北汉江交汇之后，再折向正南方，与临津江、痢成江三水合流，进入黄海的江华湾。而汉城，正好位于汉江第二次南进的河道西畔。 只要能顺利渡过汉江，汉城就会象熟透了的苹果一样，自动落入手里。 渡江不是问题，问题是谁先渡。 两位军团长原本就看对方不顺眼，此时又涉及到自己切身利益，爆发了一场剧烈的争吵，几乎要拔出刀来互砍。最后还是清正的副手锅岛直茂眼疾手快，把自己的长官劝住，不然清正真有可能把行长直接剁了。 最后两个人勉强勉强达成了一个协议——各走各的。 小西行长的第一军团，将一路沿汉江南岸向西，走骊州；而加藤清正的第二军团，将走竹州、龙仁，最后抵达汉江东畔，与汉城隔江相望。 从这两条路线的选择，我们可以看出两位指挥官性格上的不同。 加藤清正是典型的猛将，他的思维直率，喜欢把问题简单化。这条行军路线贯穿竹州、龙仁、阳智、城南，差不多等于从忠州到汉城划了一道直线，充分显示了他的直性子和急不可耐的心态。这条路线全是旱路，避开了渡江的麻烦，要到他们过了城南，才会被二次南向的汉江阻挡在江南，与汉城隔江相望。加藤显然是打算快刀斩乱麻，把渡江问题与汉城一并解决。 相比之下，小西行长选择的路线是贴着汉江西进，表面看是兜了个大圈子，比加藤要走许多冤枉路，但却有一个好处，就是可以循江找到许多船只。从忠州到骊州这一段航路，是朝鲜重要的水路运输要道，沿途不怕找不到船。有了船，汉江就不成问题了。他挑选的这条路线心思缜密，滴水不漏，处处透着算计的味道。 两位选手各自揣着心思，就此别过，开始了第二阶段的竞速狂飙。 再看朝鲜这边。自从尚州之战后，汉城阖城已陷入大乱。两班大臣互相埋怨，市井小民人心惶惶，谣言四起。有埋怨柳成龙、李山海两位大臣是秦桧杨国忠的，有说国王已经微服偷偷从宣仁门跑了，还有的上表朝廷，说我约了十来个敢死的哥们儿，愿意去日本人营寨刺杀贼酋……总之是乱七八糟。 这期间朝廷唯一做成的一件事，就是把一直悬而未决的太子之位定了下来，册封光海君为世子，算是了结了一段旷日持久的争嗣之争。可惜光海君生不逢时，册封仪式上印章也没有，封敕更没备齐，文武百官都没来几个——国家都快完蛋了，谁还管你世子是谁啊。 李昖在这时候突然起意册封世子，其实就一个目的：跑路。世子是李朝合法的继承人，定下这个名位，他这个作国王的担子就轻多了，想去哪儿就去哪儿，大不了宣布退位，让王位让给世子就是。 这点小聪明瞒不过那些官场老油条。一群大臣和宗室坚决反对李昖跑路，认为国君弃都城而逃，有失体面，应该坚守汉城。 可怎么守？兵曹把汉城老百姓翻检了好几圈，才凑出七千老弱残兵。这七千人别说守城了，能不一哄而散就是天大的奇迹。 就在这时，左议政柳成龙站了出来。 柳成龙是汉城为数不多几个头脑清楚的官员，对于日本兵威的认识也最深刻。以往恪于东、西人党之争，他难以施展手脚，现在朝班大乱，无暇计较党阀，总算可以做点正经事了。 他知道汉城绝不可守，于是向李昖提了一个建议，让各位王子和大臣分别奔赴北方诸道，在当地招募勤王兵马，摆出打持久战的架势。这个建议暗藏玄机，一是充分动员朝鲜残余国土的战争潜力；二是为李昖离京打好舆论基础——国王殿下西狩不为逃命，而是为了整合诸道勤王之军，这个理由足可以堵上反对派的嘴。 柳成龙这个建议，既利国，又利君，显示出了高超的政治智慧。李昖大智慧缺乏，小聪明还是有的，听出此种玄妙，立刻把几位王子和一群陪臣撒去北方诸道，开始大造舆论。 这个建议不仅救了李昖一命，而且还救了朝鲜一命。正是因为这些人在诸道整饬兵力，才让朝鲜北部不致象战争初期一样一溃千里，为大明出兵争取了宝贵的时间。 到了四月三十日，忠州大败的消息传到汉城，朝廷彻底炸了营，也彻底为李昖解了套儿。李昖二话不说，留下都元帅金命元守汉江，右议政李阳元留都汉城，自己带了一干皇室宗亲与大臣们从敦义门仓皇而出，直奔开城而去。 本来柳成龙想留下来守城，但李昖知道现在朝中只能靠他周旋筹谋，不肯放人，让他跟随大驾一起后撤。负责整个撤退过程的人是曾经出使大明的金应南，他手里拿着兵符，却找不到可以指挥的士兵。一直到大驾临出发前，仪仗和护卫都没备好，只能仓皇离开。 离开汉城的一路是凄惨的。正赶上大雨，道路泥泞，气温骤降。这一支高贵的逃难队伍当真是苦不堪言，从未走得如此凄凉。往常那些唯唯诺诺的仆人和沿途百姓，此时都性情大变，毫不客气地抢夺他们随身携带的御供、粮食，甚至格杀随行的官员。在逃难路上，一个农妇进贡了几碗粟米饭，李昖抱着碗哇哇大哭，嘟囔着说：“这粟米饭真好吃过山珍海味，想不到竟贵重到了这地步。” 李昖走到汉城北部不远的小镇子，心中凄凉，回首望去，惊见汉城内烟雾滚滚。他初时以为是贼人攻入城中。一直到后来，他才知道，放火的不是倭寇，而是自己人。 原来自从国王撤了以后，汉城彻底失去了秩序，以往积聚的社会矛盾一古脑全爆发出来。一群奴隶身份的暴民闯进了掌隶院刑曹，把自己的隶籍文牒一把火全烧了，然后冲入内帑库抢光了金银财宝。另外一群乱民还把弘文馆的历代藏书档案付之一炬；景福宫、昌德宫、昌庆宫等几处宫殿更是被烧成了白地。 一时间汉城浓烟滚滚，火光冲天。后来日本人进入汉城，看到禁中满地都是焦土，愣愣地来了一句：“这不是项羽烧完的咸阳城吗？” 对此乱象，守城最高指挥官李元阳束手无策。他手底的人一半跟着皇室跑了，一半自己跑了，剩他一个光杆司令，什么都没法干。而都元帅金命元看到汉城如此混乱，干脆不在城里呆着了，眼不见心不烦。他身负守江之责，便把元帅营帐移到汉城附近的济川亭。这里可以俯瞰汉江东西，便于观察敌情。 金命元还收拢了一批退下来的残兵败将，重新编列，和自己的手下合兵之后，足有一千之数，勉强够一支军队的规模了。这些残兵败将中，恰好有三个熟人：巡边使李镒、庆尚左兵使李钰和庆尚右水使朴泓。 李镒是从忠州之战中逃回来的。这位老将的命实在是硬，当初弹琴台一战中，他只身一人，沿着汉江江畔的茂盛山林一路向北，硬生生躲过了追杀，赶回汉城来报信。 而李珏、朴泓两位更是不得了。他们从开战第一天就一路狂奔，跑得比小西行长还快。敌人在釜山的时候，他们已撤到了大邱。敌人在大邱的时候，他们已撤到了庆州。敌人到庆州的时候，他们已经跑到了忠州附近的竹岭关隘。等到敌人打下忠州，他们施施然撤回了汉城。 到了汉城就不用撤了，这里就是他们的终点。金命元觉得这两个逃命将军实在是不象话，一肚子怒气发泄到他们身上，直接抓起来，留待以后问斩。李镒是力战而退，所以保得一条性命。 他把忠州战场的情形汇报给了金命元，这让金命元心情愈加沉重，对守江的前景变得悲观起来。 五月初二，金命元登上济川亭，朝江东望去。他眼睛一下直了，只见远处一队队盔明甲亮、旌旗漫天的日本军队朝着汉江开来，杀气腾腾，不可一世。 这支部队，正是加藤清正的第二军团。 要说加藤清正的行军速度，实在是无比惊人。他在四月二十九日凌晨拔营，只用了三天时间，就切穿忠清北道和京畿南道的沿途诸城，来到了汉江边上，与汉城近在咫尺。 他也是没办法。谩说那个总跟自己较劲的药贩子小西，就是第三军团的黑田长政，看似不徐不疾，也已经兵至水原城，距离汉城也没多远了。 清正到了汉江江畔，往对岸一望，与金命元正好看了一个对眼。清正乐了，立刻吩咐铁炮队列阵，冲着济川亭方向一通乱轰。 铁炮的射程不过一百多米，而汉江光河面宽度就有两里地，弹丸根本伤不到对岸的人。但铁炮巨大的噪声却让对岸的守军不寒而栗。尤其是济川亭上的金命元，回想起李镒描述的弹琴台的惨剧，面色刷白。 他匆匆从亭子上下来，吩咐手下，所有带不走的火器、辎重、粮草，能砸就砸，能烧就烧，能沉江就沉江，然后卷起铺盖，北上护驾去者。 此时汉城已成为空城，负责留都的李元阳一听说金命元跑了，心想我别等死了，也跑了。于是汉城寂静无声，成了一座空荡荡的鬼城。 吓走了金命元，加藤清正不得不正视另外一个恼人的问题。 没船。 汉江在朝鲜只排名第四，长度才五百多公里，不算特别长，但是它的河道非常宽，尤其是汉城这一段，因为汇流了北汉江的水，流量极大，水面又宽。没船根本过不去。 金命元胆子虽小，却是个尽职的指挥官。他在三十日接任守汉江后，就连夜把汉城附近所有的船都拖到了江西。 清正在江边转悠了一天，居然一只都没找到，说明朝鲜人的坚壁清野相当成功。清正急得直跳脚，生怕在这里耽误时间，小西行长从后面赶上来。 最后还是他的一位部下解决了这个问题。这个人叫曾根孙六，越中人，游泳水平很高。他自告奋勇，只身一人横着游过了汉江，去江北寻找船只。 加藤清正是五月二日到汉江，金命元四月三十日才开始收缴船只，就算他有本事全运过江去，也不可能全部销毁。孙六过江之后，居然真被他找到一只小舢板，兴高采烈地独自划回东岸。 但一只小舢板运输能力实在有限，指望它把整个第二军团运过去太不现实。 加腾清正并不只是位勇将，他还是一位出色的工程技术人员，擅长筑城。日本许多名城如熊本、江户、名古屋，都是出自