Chapter 11 Chapter 10 The First Battle of Pyongyang: Behind the Scenes

Yang Shaoxun was originally in Yizhou, but it was not convenient for him to stay for a long time, so he returned to Jiulian City in Liaodong after staying for a few days.Shen Xishou arrived in Jiulian City, found Yang Shaoxun, and asked Zu Chengxun to stay in North Korea and attack Pyongyang. Unexpectedly, Yang Shaoxun didn't give him a good face at all, and immediately scolded North Korea, saying that our Daming is so loyal and mobilized so many troops for you from a long distance, how can you do such a low-level thing! Shen Xishou was stunned by the scolding, where did Master Yang get so angry?Tired of cursing, Yang Shaoxun took out a document to Shen Xishou, and said coldly that you should read it yourself.Shen Xishou took the document and looked at it, and immediately broke out in cold sweat.

This document was presented to Yang Shaoxun by Zu Chengxun after returning to Liaodong. It explained the failure of Pyongyang City. There are five main reasons: First, the logistics of the North Koreans are not strong enough. Second, the North Korean army did not cooperate. Third, in the city of Pyongyang, in addition to iron cannons, there are many North Korean archers as internal support for the Japanese army. Fourth, there is a problem with the intelligence. There are more than 10,000 Japanese troops in the city, not less than 1,000 as originally estimated. Fifth, when the coalition forces attacked the city, North Korean generals and troops blatantly defected to the Japanese.

Shen Xishou felt that these five points were unreliable, but he knew that if this matter was not made clear, it might lead to a complete breakdown of the relationship between Ming and North Korea, and he would no longer have to count on reinforcements. He desperately defended Yang Shaoxun, but unfortunately he had not personally experienced the battlefield, so he could only show his righteousness.After hearing this, Yang Shaoxun finally calmed down, saying that you are also a country of etiquette, and there should be no such thing as helping the Japanese.I have a personal soldier, Yang Degong, who is in your army. I will ask for details.

After Shen Xishou got this sentence, he felt a little more relaxed, and quickly said that I will report to the king when I go back and thoroughly investigate the matter. The North Korean monarchs and ministers in Yizhou heard the news of Shen Xishou's return, and immediately sat on pins and needles.The Japanese did not get rid of them before, but now Da Ming became suspicious again in the back.At this time, Zuo Yizheng Yin Doushou stood up and said with great emotion: "This matter is too big, and we must make it clear. Shen Xishou alone will definitely not work. We must send a powerful minister. I am willing to go to Liaodong in person to defend with General Yang .”

Zuo Yizheng and Yin Doushou's suggestion had his own motives.The reinforcement of the Ming Dynasty was facilitated by Liu Chenglong and Li Dexin of the Southern Party in the Eastern People's Party, which greatly increased the power of the Southern Party in the court.Now that the Ming army is defeated, Waitoruo slaps the Nanren Party severely.If he can turn around Daming's crisis of trust at this time, the Western People's Party will inevitably increase its score, and maybe regain its advantage. At this time, King Li Yan could no longer care about any party disputes. Seeing that Yin Doushou had volunteered, he hastily agreed.

So Yin Doushou brought a deputy, Hong Xiuyan, plus Shen Xishou, and the three went to Liaodong.Yin Doushou and Hong Xiuyan went directly to Yang Shaoxun, Shen Xi's life was relatively poor, his task was to confront Zu Chengxun, not to offend the deputy commander too much, and he had to change the report. Yin Doushou still had a hidden move in his hands.If Yang Shaoxun still insisted on believing what Zu Chengxun said, then they would sue to the Metropolitan Procuratorate.In the Ming Dynasty, the Metropolitan Procuratorate was the supervisory agency of governments at all levels, and it was the most appropriate way to appeal to them.

This is a very risky move. Once it is used, it will definitely anger Zu Chengxun, Yang Shaoxun and a large number of other Liaodong officers.The Ming court has never been very harsh on the punishment of Liaodong generals. Back then when Hao Jie was still the censor of Youqian Capital in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he impeached the Liaodong Army for similar actions. After many twists and turns, the result was almost nothing. The North Koreans wanted to impeach the Liaodong Army, and it ended like this, let alone these foreigners. Don't steal the chicken and lose the rice, and offend the Liaodong Army if you fail to file a lawsuit.This trick is the bottom of the box and should only be used as a last resort.

Yang Shaoxun is angry at this time, and Yin Doushou knows that the opening statement is very important.It is absolutely impossible to confront each other aggressively as soon as you come to the door. It would be a firefight, and you must find an entry point for everyone to have a calm dialogue. So when he saw Yang Shaoxun, he first greeted Yang Shaoxun respectfully, and then mentioned someone. who?Shi Ru. The North Koreans were very angry with Zu Chengxun's performance, but they respected Shi Ru who died in Pyongyang, thinking that he was a great internationalist fighter.Not only because he fought bravely, but also because Shi Ru's troops had the best military discipline among the Liaodong Army. The Ming troops who entered the court all had records of harassing localities, but his troops did not take the masses by a single needle.

Yin Doushou and Hong Xiuyan praised Shi Ru fiercely, saying that our North Korea was deeply saddened by his sacrifice, and then sublimated this great sacrifice to the level of Ming's meticulous care for the vassal state, crying and saying that this time Shi Ru Don't blame others for your sacrifice, only blame our own poor character. Everyone talked about this, Yang Shaoxun really couldn't swear at others with a black face anymore, so he had to follow Yin Doushou's words to climb up, and sighed that Shi Ru's death was a bit wronged. It's not enough, God doesn't give you convenience, and your subordinates don't live up to expectations.Although it was still an accusation, his tone was much more gentle than the day before when he spoke to Shen Xishou.

When Yin Doushou and Hong Xiuyan heard that Yang Shaoxun's anger was a little relieved, they hurriedly struck while the iron was hot, explaining that our people also lost a lot in the Pyongyang War.Yang Shaoxun asked bluntly: "You said that the total number of Japanese in Pyongyang is only one or two thousand, and the weapons in their hands are not a few samurai swords. As a result, many soldiers of our army died under bows and arrows, and the enemy was at least 10,000. After all? what's going on?" The Korean army is extremely weak in combat power, but it has one advantage, that is, its bows and arrows are particularly famous.At the beginning of the war, Korean archers were the only arms that could compete with the Japanese army, and their reputation spread far and wide.Liaodong also knew, so when Zu Chengxun reported that the enemy's arrows were raining down like rain, he naturally had to be suspicious.

Regarding these two questions, Hong Xiuyan explained that the Korean army had never seen the Japanese pirates use bows and arrows on a large scale. It may be that the Japanese pirates forced our prisoners to do it; Believe it.Yang Shaoxun asked about the evidence?Hong Xiuyan handed over the military report he had prepared long ago, Yang Shaoxun went through it, and silently accepted the explanation. But he quickly raised new questions, asking about Zu Chengxun's so-called accusation that "a part of the North Korean army surrendered to the enemy".This is actually the core issue today. If this matter is not clarified, the trust between the Ming and the Dynasties will disappear. At this time, the detailed battle report has not yet been sent back, and the North Koreans do not have much information in their hands.Hong Xiuyan didn't dare to talk nonsense, so he could only make a rough excuse, analyzing the impossibility of the Koreans defecting to the enemy from the common sense. After hearing this, Yang Shaoxun felt that it made some sense.This matter was too sensitive, and he didn't dare to draw conclusions, so he stated that he really couldn't trust Zu Chengxun's one-sided remarks, and it would not be too late to ask the Daming observers in the North Korean army when they returned. Yin Doushou and Hong Xiuyan worked all night, waiting for this sentence.Hearing what Zongbing Yang said, the two finally felt at ease. Hong Xiuyan hurriedly asked another question that the North Koreans were eager to know: whether Zu Chengxun would return to North Korea or not. Zu Chengxun did lose the battle, but he represented the presence of Ming on the peninsula.Whether he is in North Korea is of great strategic significance. To this, Yang Shaoxun's answer was that Zu Chengxun's troops had suffered too many casualties, and they were already weakened and unable to fight, and they would send two other troops to Yizhou.He also told Yin Doushou the good news that 5,000 anti-Japanese troops from the south had entered the customs and would arrive soon; but at the same time, he also reminded the North Koreans that the supplies for the Pyongan Road march into Pyongyang were very worrying, and if this problem was not resolved, The Ming army will not move on. With this promise, Yin Doushou and Hong Xiuyan went to report to the king contentedly. On the second day, the Koreans prepared a complete set of funeral utensils, funeral supplies and a series of funeral supplies, wrote Shi Ru's name on them, and carried them to Kuanmian Fort with great honor.King Li Yan also specially sent Li Cao officials to pay homage on behalf of the royal family, and donated fifty taels of silver in his own name.Tong Dagang's uncle Tong Yangzheng, Pyongyang War survivor Guo Mengzheng, and Shi Ru's younger brother Shi De were among those who greeted the body at Kuandianbao. Eight days ago, the North Koreans put on exactly the same guard of honor and brought the body of Tong Yangzheng's nephew Tong Dagang here. They did this because on the one hand, they really wanted to express their gratitude, and on the other hand, they also took the opportunity to buy people's hearts and please the Liaodong generals, so that the defeat in Pyongyang would not affect Ming's decision to send troops. At the same time, the official investigation officials of the Ming Dynasty also arrived in Yizhou, the same two: Jin Yiwei Commander Huang Yingyang and Xu Yiguan, both old acquaintances who came to investigate last time. Acquaintances speak easily.At this time, the North Koreans themselves have almost figured it out, and they are confident.As soon as Huang and Xu arrived, Li Youcheng, the admonisher, couldn't wait to explain the truth about the so-called "surrender to the enemy" before they could ask questions. He first played back Zu Chengxun's rhetoric: When the Ming army broke through the Seven Star Gate and entered the city, the general of the North Korean army, Li Xun, was placed at the end of the team.After Shiru Pioneer collapsed, Zu Chengxun quickly withdrew from the common gate to the west.At this time, Zu Chengxun saw Li Jie say a few words to the Japanese pirates, and then the Japanese pirates' troops began to retreat.He thought that Li Xuan had already taken refuge in the enemy, and there was nothing he could do, so he turned around and retreated.The Japanese pirates rushed out to chase him, Li Jue followed closely and killed dozens of enemies before the Japanese pirates retreated slowly. Li Youcheng said that there are huge contradictions in Zu Chengxun's rhetoric.If Li Xuan threw himself into the enemy, how could he turn around and kill many enemies as Zu Chengxun said? The more Li Youcheng said, the more angry he became, saying that we in North Korea are at peace with the Japanese pirates, and we would never talk to them in front of the battle, let alone seek refuge with them.After hearing this, Huang Yingyang and Xu Yiguan nodded their heads again and again, deeply moved.Huang Yingyang said excitedly, it is too much for you to suffer for the Ming Dynasty, and now you have to be given such a bad name. Don't worry, I will definitely defend you! Before leaving, Huang Yingyang said proudly to the North Koreans: "How is it? What did I say last time? The Liaodong cavalry is not enough to fight the Japanese pirates, but we have to rely on the gunners of our Zhejiang soldiers." The impression of a sentence is even more profound, and the arrival of Nan Bing is even more eager. With the reports of Huang Yingyang and Xu Yiguan, the attitude of the Ming court towards the defeat in Pyongyang gradually changed.As soon as North Korea saw that Yang Shaoxun and Huang Yingyang had accepted the explanation, they became more courageous and decided to take the route of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to nail this matter into an iron case. They sent Han Runfu, a translator named Han Runfu, to Liaodong and found Li Shidou, the imperial censor.Li Shiyi took out Zu Chengxun's report and questioned him again, and added another crime, saying that when Zu Chengxun withdrew his troops, the Koreans deliberately did not give horse beans, so that all the horses were damaged.Han Runfu explained calmly: "Zong Bing retreated three hundred miles a day and a night, and he couldn't hold it with any horse." Li Shiyu laughed and said that you were right. Li Shiyi synthesized various investigation opinions and reported the matter to his former colleague Hao Jie.The reason why he is said to be a former colleague is because Hao Jie happened to be promoted to the right servant of the Ministry of War, Governor Ji Liao Baoding Military Affairs on July 6th, and his power greatly increased. Hao Jie is a pawn arranged by Wanli in Liaodong to check and balance the military. He has been fighting openly and secretly with Li Chengliang's Liaodong soldiers, winning and losing.Now that he has been promoted to governor, it is natural that he will take measures to rectify the Liaodong Army. When he received reports from Huang Yingyang, Xu Yiguan, Li Shiyu and others, Hao Jie couldn't help but sneer.He knows better than anyone else the discipline of Liaodong soldiers. If they win, they will plunder wantonly, and if they lose, they will blame each other.Zu Chengxun's rhetoric of evading responsibility is new to the North Koreans, but he is familiar with it. So Hao Jie unceremoniously attributed the responsibility for Pyongyang's defeat to Zu Chengxun and reported it to the Beijing Ministry of War.During the Ministry of War affairs, Xu Honggang wrote to the emperor about the matter, saying that Zu Chengxun committed the crime of missing the opportunity because he was greedy for merit and failed.The imperial court quickly gave advice on how to deal with it, dismissed Zu Chengxun from his post, and Ren Xingxun asked questions according to the censor—that is to say, Zu Chengxun was "double-regulated", and he had to explain the problem at the specified place and within the specified time .Later, the court's resolution came out and he was sent to Phoenix City to be responsible for repairing the armor. The board will stop here, neither light nor heavy.Because Zu Chengxun is Li Chengliang's direct line, and also Li Rusong's direct line.Now that Li Rusong and other generals are in Ningxia, they have surrounded the city of Ningxia.At this time, there is really no need to offend him because of a small defeat. However, the Ministry of War did not forget to remind other Liaodong generals at the same time: "Don't be self-deterred by small defeats, and you don't have to take deep achievements", warning them not to follow the example of their ancestors and act rashly, and return to the strategic principles in the decree in June of Wanli Come up: drag. Interestingly, a few censors who were not very bright-minded checked and found that Zu Chengxun was actually sent to North Korea by Hao Jie’s idea. crime.But Hao Jie is not afraid at all.Because the decision to cross the river in June was fundamentally Wanli's own decision, and he just took the blame for Wanli.Sure enough, Wanli did not give any explanation for the impeachment, and specifically pardoned Hao Jie. Thus, the first Pyongyang offensive and defensive battle ended.The Ming Dynasty's war to aid Korea was tainted from the very beginning.However, Zu Chengxun's ugly face of self-willedness and evasion of merits became the shame of Ming Dynasty during the Renchen War. But is this really the final conclusion? not necessarily. Thus, the first Pyongyang offensive and defensive battle ended.The Ming Dynasty's war to aid Korea was tainted from the very beginning.However, Zu Chengxun's ugly face of self-willedness and evasion of merits became the shame of Ming Dynasty during the Renchen War. But is this really the final conclusion? not necessarily. Please note that Comrade Zu Chengxun made five accusations against North Korea in his report: insufficient food and fodder, inaccurate intelligence, lack of cooperation from the North Korean army, sharp archers, and the most critical defect of Li Yu.Let's analyze them one by one. As for the lack of food and fodder, Zu Chengxun's accusation seemed unreasonable.Despite the lack of food in North Korea, Liu Chenglong tried his best to collect a considerable amount of food for the Ming army.Especially during the march of Zu Chengxun, Liu Chenglong miraculously snatched 1,200 shibai rice from the Asan warehouse in Chungcheong Province, and transported it to various places in Dingzhou and Anzhou. Intelligence does not allow this one, yes, it is an iron fact, but the North Koreans believe that it is not a crime of war.The intelligence work of the North Koreans is indeed not very good, otherwise they would not have failed so miserably.This is a question of ability, not attitude. As for the sharpness of the archers—that's right, it's an undeniable fact, but the North Korean side believes that those traitors insist on serving as puppet soldiers for the Japanese, even if the court is unwilling, they can't stop them. It is true that the North Korean army did not cooperate. It is an iron fact.After Zu Chengxun arrived in Pyongyang, the North Korean guide battalion of Four Whistleblowers ran away.This was the responsibility of the North Korean army, but they managed to complete the guiding task and did not let the Ming army go astray. The accusation that Li Xuan defected to the enemy is ridiculous.After Li Yu himself was defeated in Pyongyang, he retreated to Shun'an and continued to stick to the front line. Later, he participated in the second and third Pyongyang battles, and followed Li Rusong in the Korean War for a long time without any record of defection. It seems that Zu Chengxun's accusation is completely random and not worth refuting. Wait a minute, let us review the basic theory of psychology: Jiangshan is easy to change, but nature is hard to change. Some things seem to be logical, but when we highlight the characters of the participants, we will find that there are many contradictions. For example, Li Xie's character is not very good. He was never a good general.When the Japanese army approached Pyongyang, the North Korean army deployed defenses on the front line of the Imjin River. The situation was good, but when Li Xie saw the Japanese army attacking aggressively, he turned around and ran away in fright, which led to the collapse of the entire front.Thanks to his good relationship with Marshal Jin Mingyuan, he was spared the punishment. For such a cowardly general, it is hard to believe that he would bravely fight and kill dozens of people when the Ming army was defeated, and then retreat completely. This kind of analysis is suspected of punishing one's heart.Then we might as well take a look at how other people who were contemporaries with Li Xuan commented on him. Huang Yingyang believed that Li Jie was innocent, but he didn't know North Korean generals at all, and he would believe whatever others said, which was not enough; Military relations have not been harmonious.The judgments made by these Ming officials are all based on the words of lobbyists from all walks of life in North Korea, as well as their own likes and dislikes and interests, and there will be a big gap with the truth. Only North Korean monarchs and ministers are the most credible parties.There should be the most objective and true information in their words. On July 26th, the king of Joseon, Li Yan, and Yin Doushou had a meaningful conversation in Dongxuan Palace in Uiju.Dedicated Korean historians fully recorded this conversation, let us look at the most important passage: Li Yan: It's a pity that the heavenly generals put the shit bowl on our heads after losing the battle. Yin Doushou: The officers in charge of the grain ships did not follow up in time to participate in the battle; the generals who led the troops also hesitated to move forward, no wonder they were angry. Li Yan: The leader of the army you are talking about is the Jiedu envoy? (referring to Li Wei) Yin Keunshou: In the battle of Pyongyang, Zu Chengxun divided our army into five teams and acted with them.But when they got to the city, all four teams had already run away. Li Yan: Damn, it seems Zu Zongbing's anger is justified.This stinky boy, Li Xie, cannot absolve himself of the blame. Yin Genshou: You can't punish Li Jue, but the officers who lead the four teams should be punished.One of them has been caught, named Jin Yingjin, and has been punished. Li Yan: Why didn't the supervisor tell me? Yin Geunsu: They don't know either. When Li Yan heard this, he didn't ask any more questions, and the two of them started talking about other things.Later, Li Yan sent an order to Bibian Division, saying that he would punish the North Korean general who had fled halfway through the four sentries. Replied: You say it makes sense, take your time, and there will be no more words from then on. From this dialogue between the monarch and his ministers, we can learn some truths that have been ignored intentionally or unintentionally in the past: It turned out that when Zu Chengxun entered the army, the North Korean troops who were in charge of supplying food and grass for the Ming army did not dare to approach at all, and all hid far away.Zu Chengxun’s accusations about grain and fodder in his report were not complaining about the shortage of grain and fodder at all, but criticizing the replenishment troops for not being able to keep up with the combat troops. Isn't it no different from running out of food if it doesn't reach the mouths of combat troops? The combat troops under Li Xuan's command were even more disappointing, and four-fifths of them ran away before the fight started.Such a high escape rate appeared in the regular army, which is really speechless. To be honest, this kind of style is like the real Li Xie—the Li Xie who got cold feet on the Linjin River.In contrast, the "Li Xie" who was not afraid to kill dozens of thieves in the face of danger seemed too hypocritical. So far, it has become obvious that Zu Chengxun's accusation of "the generals of Erguo don't think about it, and the officials in charge of soldiers, food, and arsenals are all behind and refuse to go into battle, driving our soldiers and committing thieves alone" is not an excuse. , but real words of resentment, which can match every point of the North Korean monarchs and ministers. Even Li Yan had to admit that Zu Chengxun should be angry, and his anger was justified. Another point.The reason why Zu Chengxun hurried to Pyongyang was because he got information that there were few soldiers in the city.The earliest source of this piece of information about "No Soldiers in Pyongyang" was Huang Yuan, governor of Shun'an County, according to the records in "Jizhai Shicao".And "Sunjo Records" recorded when Yin Geunshou and Yang Shaoxun confronted each other.Yang Shaoxun questioned the source of this information, and Yin Genshou's answer was: the specific figures were given by Jiedushi (Li Jie).Yang Shaoxun asked if there was any evidence, and Yin Genshou took out Li Xuan's report. At that time, Li Xuan was stationed near Shun'an as a Jiedu envoy, while Huang Yuan was just a local sheriff.For such a major military situation as the number of troops in Pyongyang, it must be handled by Li Xie on behalf of the military, and he will come forward to submit the report to the court. Li Xuan is a cowardly person who fears the enemy like a tiger.How credible the information on Pyongyang City he provided is really worrying. Facts have proved that this information is ridiculously wrong.The strength of Chief Xiaoxi in Pyongyang City is equal to that of Zu Chengxun's total strength, or even slightly higher.If Zu Chengxun had known the actual strength of the Japanese army one day earlier, he would not have rushed into Pyongyang so recklessly. As a result, we can see that the five responsibilities for defeat proposed by Zu Chengxun, "sharp archers" are real; , and they are all closely related to Li Xuan. The information leaked from this dialogue between North Korean monarchs and ministers is far more than that. When the Korean monarchs and ministers talked about Li Xuan, they seemed quite taboo.Yin Doushou dissuaded Li Xuan from punishing him, and even the generals of the four teams who fled were not blamed.The military law disposal of these people was carried out under extremely secret circumstances, even North Korea's own military supervisor did not know. This is too strange - punishing the defeated general is not a big deal.Just at the same time, the court of the Li Dynasty dealt with a group of incompetent people, such as Jiangdong guard Jin Yiqiu, Wangchengtan guard Wu Yingding, Pu Ximing, Shushuai (referring to local generals) Li Runde, etc., all because of The crimes of fleeing before a fight and being defeated before a battle were either imprisoned or punished. Li Xie's performance and charges were similar to these people.Why did he deal with them with a killer, but deal with Li Xie in such a secretive way? What's even more strange is that at the end of the process, Li Jie was safe and sound, and was promoted to be a patrol envoy, and continued to lead the troops on the front line. The other four lieutenants were also unharmed. After the defeat, there are only two possibilities for rising instead of falling: either the superior was deceived, or he was carrying some important secret, forcing the superior to use his official position to keep his mouth shut. Does this mean that for the truth under Pyongyang, the responsibility that Li Jie needs to bear is far from being as simple as "the four sentries will not miss the deadline"? From the confession of Zu Chengxun provided by Li Yicheng, it can be seen that what Zu Chengxun saw under the city of Pyongyang can be divided into four scenes: 1. Li Jue talked with the enemy; 2. The enemy retreated slightly; 3. The enemy pursued Zu Chengxun; (When Shi's guerrilla army was rushing back, Zu Zongbing formed an army at the west gate. When he saw Li Yu's army and horses, he seemed to be talking to the bandits, and the bandits retreated a little. The Zongbing thought that there was nothing he could do because he and the bandits were of the same mind. , and then retreated. The Japanese bandits chased after them, and Li Yu chased and killed more than ten bandits, and the bandits then retreated into the city ("Xuanzu Shilu" July 22nd, 25th year) These are four plots full of contradictions, and the North Korean envoy also used this to refute Zu Chengxun, saying that what he said was not true.Especially in the first paragraph, Li Jie firmly denied that he had talked with the enemy. This is a death certificate, and it is no longer possible to confront him. But from the perspective of Zu Chengxun, if he is trying to shirk responsibility to Li Kui, he only needs to write the part of the first scene "Li Kui talking with the enemy" in the report. What about a picture full of contradictions? Therefore, I think the four scenes written by Zu Chengxun faithfully and objectively describe what he saw at that time, and did not slightly modify or distort the facts because there seemed to be contradictions in them. Zu Chengxun was far away from Li Kui. He could see, but couldn't hear what Li Kuo was saying to the enemy.Moreover, the Ming army was being defeated at that time, and Zu Chengxun had no time to step forward to question him.He only remembered this scene in his mind, and then when he reflected afterwards, relying on his own experience, he arbitrarily determined that this was an act of defecting to the enemy. Zu Chengxun lacks evidence, but his guess, I think, is infinitely close to the truth. Don't forget, President Xiaoxi knew that Zu Chengxun was coming a long time ago.This is probably earlier than when Zu Chengxun got the information in Dingzhou.He even set a timetable—the Ming army arrived in Pyongyang on the 18th and 9th.It's a pity that Zu Chengxun came to a forced march, and he was killed in Pyongyang on the 17th, which was beyond his expectation, which directly led to the killing of Hyuga Gao. Recalling that the information about "No Soldiers in Pyongyang" came from Li Xie, a bold guess is: Li Xie got in touch with President Xiaonishi very early on. Ming army, trying to lure them to attack Pyongyang city. Li Xuan acted as a guide, and from the very beginning he had the intention of luring the enemy into depth. In this way, the dispersal of the guides of the four outposts can also be explained—the Ming army has been lured in, and there is no need to accompany them to die. The only miscalculation by Li Xuan was that he underestimated the speed of Zu Chengxun's advance.He didn't expect Zu Chengxun to rush all night and arrive in Pyongyang City in the early morning of the 17th. Li Jie didn't have the time to inform President Xiaoxi.As a result, Xiaoxi was caught off guard at the beginning of the war, and the important officials of the Matsuura family were killed. With such a big mess, Li Jie must give his master an explanation.So, here is the scene Zu Chengxun saw when he retreated.Li Xie and a general of the Japanese army talked for a while, and then the Japanese army retreated a little, preparing to let Li Xie go back to the North Korean barracks to continue serving as internal support. But Li Jie suddenly found that Zu Chengxun was looking at him directly beside him.This shock was no small matter, if he told others about it, he would be finished. Li Xuan made an extremely clever decision, he asked the Japanese army to play a play with him. First, the Japanese army frantically chased after Zu Chengxun, and then he, Li Kuan, rushed out diagonally and "slashed and killed" dozens of Japanese pirates who were chasing Zu Chengxun.The Japanese army returned to the city after the performance, while Li Xie "blazed a trail" and returned to the North Korean camp. In this way, Li Xuan gave Zu Chengxun kindness.Even if Zu Chengxun didn't appreciate it, he had no fear. His record of hacking and killing dozens of Japanese pirates was in full view. Who can say that such a hero is a traitor? As for the dozens of Japanese soldiers who died in vain, of course they don't have to really die.You only need to shout from the general when you see the Korean wielding a knife, and you will fall down. In such a chaotic situation, the Ming army and the Korean army have no way to confirm whether they are really dead or pretending to be dead, so soldiers with poor acting skills are also fine. .The enemy raises a knife and you fall to the ground, right?A fool would not. Zu Chengxun once mentioned that "the generals of Erguo are the queen, so our army can avoid casualties", and the latter is Li Xie.Just imagine that in such a collapsed situation, a general who is used to running away would take the initiative to retreat. Apart from his sudden change of temperament or collusion with the enemy, it is hard to imagine any other possibility. This doubt had already been raised at that time.The North Koreans once boasted that Li Jue "hit everything in the battle of Pyongyang, and the thieves dare not approach", but was retorted by a discerning person: "With such skills, why did you attract the thieves here?" One sentence punctured the contradiction. After Zu Chengxun was defeated, he ran away in a hurry.Li Xun returned to Shun'an, and soon the court sent someone over to ask him the truth about Zu Chengxun's report. After some investigation, the imperial court did not find out that Li Kuo was a traitor, but they noticed many things that Li Kuo did not cooperate with Zu Chengxun-such as the reluctance of the transportation and supplementary troops to approach, such as errors in intelligence, and the separation of the four whistlers for no reason. The imperial court was very afraid, because if these facts were confirmed, North Korea would inevitably suffer the wrath of Ming Dynasty, which they could not afford. So Li Jue's performance was ignored under the cover of caring people.When the North Korean envoys defended against Ming, they all pretended to be an innocent small country, and finally succeeded in greatly reducing the credibility of Zu Chengxun's report.The imperial court that escaped the catastrophe promoted Li Xuan to an official position, just to prevent him from speaking indiscriminately and destroying the stability of the friendship between China and North Korea. The above are speculations based on limited historical data and the inherent psychological patterns of human beings—but they are by no means pure imagination. Therefore, it is not the author who suspects that Lee Yeon is a traitor, but Lee Yeon himself, the king of Joseon. After the defeat of Pyongyang, Li Yan once murmured to the people around him: "I heard that on the 17th of last month, the Japanese army gathered in Pyongyang. This must be a reaction after knowing the movements of our army. The military plan has made people around Everyone knows that this won't work, you have to tell Jin Mingyuan and the supervisor, don't let the people under your hands know too much." It shows that Li Yan has already had doubts about many details of the Pyongyang Battle, but it is a pity that he just passed his head and didn't think much about it. Then something went wrong. Half a month after the failure of the first battle of Pyongyang, on August 1, the North Korean army independently organized a battle to recapture Pyongyang. This time the mobilization of the Korean army was quite large. In addition to the regular army under the control of the court, a large number of militiamen were recruited from Longgang, Sanhe, Jiangxi, Zengshan and other places. The total number was about 12,000, and there was also a navy Cooperate in the lower reaches of the Datong River. This army was divided into three groups and surrounded Pyongyang in a mighty way. The Japanese troops in Pyongyang dared not come out.Seeing the enemy shrink back, the North Korean army's morale was greatly boosted, and they rushed to the ordinary gate in the west of the city in one breath, preparing to take back Pyongyang in one go. But who would have thought that at this time, a large number of Japanese troops seemed to emerge from the ground, and suddenly appeared on the flank of the Korean Army, and they were all the main force of the First Army.When the North Korean army encountered this old opponent, it returned to its usual level and left in shock.Tens of thousands of troops were shocked for a while and suffered a huge defeat. In this battle, the Japanese army first showed that the enemy was weak, and then let the army ambushing on the flanks violently attack.Obviously, this tactic showed that the Japanese army had come prepared. They had known the North Korean army's battle plan for a long time, and even selected the ambush positions in advance. Too much analysis is no longer necessary, just one sentence is enough: the commander of this battle is the inspector Li Yuanyi, and his deputy is the border inspector Li Xie. Even more interesting.Half a year later, Li Rusong's Ming army attacked Pyongyang again.At this time, Li Xuan was still stationed in Shun'an, responsible for coordinating with the Ming army.But Liu Chenglong didn't know what kind of motive he didn't even give Marshal Jin Mingyuan face, so he suddenly personally ordered Li Xuan to be replaced and replaced by veteran Li Yi. The reason Liu Chenglong gave was that the Fujun Division had repeatedly complained that Li Yu was not good at governing the army. He was worried that it would affect the next battle in Pyongyang, so he changed his generals. Whether this is Liu Chenglong's real reason, whether he has discovered the truth and can't tell it, we don't know about these issues. The only thing we know is that since Li Jue was replaced, the governor Xiaonishi in Pyongyang city suddenly seemed to have become blind.The 50,000 Chinese and North Korean allied forces had already killed the city, and he still thought he was a canonized support team—this was a different person from the first time he dealt with Zu Chengxun. Later, Li Yi was dismissed because he fled the enemy during the Battle of Pyongyang.Li Jie took the opportunity to regain power and led the three thousand court troops to follow Li Rusong to continue the attack eastward. Then... Suddenly, the Japanese army became overwhelmed and surrounded Admiral Li in the Bi Ti Pavilion, causing the Ming army to attack. The offensive took a major turn. I don't know if this is a coincidence. Dedicating a chapter to examine the truth under Pyongyang is not to shirk the responsibility of Zu Chengxun—he is the first person responsible for the defeat, there is no doubt about it—our purpose is just to clarify some long-standing misunderstanding. There is no doubt that the first battle of Pyongyang was a defeat.The main reason for its defeat was that the coach Zu Chengxun lacked understanding of the enemy and chose the wrong tactics.The lack of cooperation of the North Korean army and the leakage of intelligence are also to blame. But it must be pointed out that the defeat in the first battle of Pyongyang was at the tactical level.From a strategic point of view, this war did not have much impact on the overall situation of the war. Asahi's actual control area is roughly similar to that before the war.After defeating the main force of the Ming army in the Ming Dynasty, Chief Xiaonishi still did not dare to advance aggressively, and continued to shrink his troops near Pyongyang City-this was actually what Ming wanted to see. At the beginning, Wanli sent troops to the DPRK to carry out the deterrent mission, a word "drag", to contain the enemy's attack at the border of Ping'an Road, and at the same time ensure the safety of the Korean royal family.As long as these two strategic goals are achieved, the task is considered complete. It wasn't Zu Chengxun or Yang Shaoxun who frightened them, but Daming's strong and terrifying national power. The meaning of Zu Chengxun to President Xiaonishi is not that he is defeated, but represents that a big country is about to start to attack Japan. This battle has another important significance for Ming Dynasty, that is, the imperial court finally began to face up to Japan as an opponent, and realized that this opponent was different from previous enemies, even very different from the Japanese pirates.Whether it is the bravery of close combat, or new weapons and new tactics, you must find another way to deal with it. Soon, Daming will return to North Korea with a brand new look.And this time, Daming will be stronger than ever.