Chapter 23 Chapter 2 War and Peace

Li Rusong returned to Pyongyang, no matter how much the North Koreans begged, he remained motionless like a mountain and firmly guarded the front line of the Linjin River.The Japanese who were huddled in Seoul couldn't sit still. Although the Japanese army suffered more casualties than the Ming army in the battle of Bichiguan, it did not prevent them from boasting that it was a great victory.Now that the main force of the Ming army is retreating, Hideka Ukita of Seoul and several Fengxing decided to seize this opportunity to launch a counterattack, give an explanation to Master Taiko who is far away in Japan, and boost morale.

At this time, Seoul gathered five corps of the Japanese army, the first, second, third, sixth, and eighth, with a total strength of more than 60,000 troops.Among the five legions, Konishi's First Army and Kato Kiyomasa's Second Army were in a semi-disabled state, and Kobayakawa Takakage's Sixth Army also suffered a lot of casualties.However, a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and Kuroda Nagamasa's Third Army and Ukita Hideki's Eighth Army have a neat lineup, and they are completely capable of fighting. But where exactly? The main force of the Ming army was stationed in Pyongyang at this time, leaving 3,000 Liaodong Army and 2,000 Southern Army gunners in Kaesong.To the east of the Imjin River, there were only Cha Dashou's small reconnaissance team of the Ming army and the Korean rebel army in Paju.According to common sense, the Japanese army should march westward, occupy Paju, and then cross the river to attack Dongpoyi—even if they can’t defeat Kaesong, they must seize the natural danger of Linjin River and take the strategic initiative.

The Japanese were deeply impressed by the strong combat effectiveness and extraordinary military qualities displayed by the generals and soldiers of the Ming Army in Pyongyang, especially in front of the Bijo Hall.Of the three almost half-disabled corps in Seoul, one and a half was disabled by Li Rusong. Unless it was absolutely necessary, the Ukita Hide family really didn't want to have a direct conflict with this master. You must know that Paju is the only stronghold of the Ming army in Linjin Jiangdong. If the Japanese army touches Paju, Kaesong's 3,000 cavalry with strong mobility and 2,000 southern soldiers who are good at firearms and hand-to-hand combat will support them, and then the Ming army in Pyongyang If the main force of the army comes in full force, then there is bound to be a fierce battle between Kaesong and Paju.Moreover, this time the offensive and defensive situation changed, and the Japanese army, which had just lost almost an entire large army in Pyongyang and Pyokjekwan, never wanted to fight the Ming army in the wild again at this time.

Since the fierce tiger of the Ming army cannot be touched, the Japanese can only focus on some soft persimmons.A series of facts that followed and followed for a long period of time proved that the Japanese army at this time had completely lost the courage to fight the Ming army again, and was almost frightened. At that time, there were many Korean rebels active in the surrounding areas of Seoul, but their fighting will was much stronger than that of the Korean official army.These rebels specially attacked small groups of devils, and when the large Japanese army arrived, they immediately broke up and scattered into the mountains.There are many mountains in North Korea, and the Japanese army was harassed by them hitting a hammer in the east and a stick in the west.

But the number of these rebels is too small, as many as two or three hundred, and as few as seventy or eighty, even if they are all wiped out, it is not a big victory.What Ukita Hideka needs is a victory that is easy to fight and can be called a great victory. After thinking about it, he finally chose an excellent target: Xingzhou. Xingzhou is located in the lower reaches of the Han River, twenty-eight miles away from Seoul.Here, the Han River suddenly turns to the northwest, meets the Linjin River, and then flows into the sea.The geographical location here is very important. Its north is the Beekjewan Mountain and Changneungcheon, and it is also quite close to Seoul.

If this city is in the hands of the coalition forces of the Ming Dynasty and the DPRK, it can threaten the westward route of the Japanese army on land, and it can also allow the navy to go upstream along the Han River and directly attack Seoul. Gwan is the pharynx and trachea, and Haengju is the bronchi.Which one is broken, I can't breathe. At this time, there were only more than 2,000 Korean defenders in Xingzhou, and it was said that they were all rebels who had not undergone formal training.It seemed that with just a slight push from the Japanese army, this mountain city would collapse.

In order to win a solid victory, and at the same time to guard against a possible surprise attack by the Ming army, Ukita Hideka personally put on his clothes and led a mighty army to kill Haengju City. Compared with the North Korean team, the home team who often provided false information to the Ming army, the intelligence of the Japanese army as the visiting team was extremely accurate.The exact number of defenders in Haengju City at this time is 2,300, but they forgot to check the names of the North Korean commanders—in fact, in most cases, the North Korean generals are useless. Do you know their names? , harmless to the overall situation - but, only this commander of the Japanese army should not be ignored.

This person is called Quan Li. Kwon Yul was the only two famous generals in North Korea during the entire war. He and Yi sun-shin were one land and one sea, and they were called Imjin Shuangbi. Unlike Li Sun-shin, who was born as a poor child, Quan Li is a famous local family in Gwangju, the son of the former leader of the ruling regime, and the son of a high-ranking cadre.He has never been an official in his life, and he has never suffered any crimes. The people he associates with are high-ranking officials, and there is a good son-in-law who is an official in the court named Li Hengfu (I know why Quan Li is so powerful in his book) bar).If there was no war, Quan Li would probably spend his whole life in Gwangju leisurely.

After the Imjin War broke out, in order to resist the lightning offensive of the Japanese army, Yoo Seong-ryong recommended Quan Li as the pastor of Gwangju, hoping to use the prestige of the Quan family to recruit troops to help defend Seoul.This was Quan Li's first time entering the military, and he was fifty-five years old this year. Liu Rulong's level of insight and talent is definitely first-rate.During the Imjin War, he recommended a total of two people, Yi Sun-shin and Kwon Yul, and they both became the mainstay of Joseon. Liu Rulong's level of insight and talent is definitely first-rate.During the Imjin War, he recommended a total of two people, Yi Sun-shin and Kwon Yul, and they both became the mainstay of Joseon.

Unlike Yi Sun-shin, who is as sharp as a steel knife, Kwon Yul is characterized by defense.This old man is like a thick wall, standing firm and immovable like a mountain.As early as the 8th day of the seventh month of the Imjin year, Kwon Yul was outnumbered in the Lizhi area and forcibly blocked Kobayakawa Longjing from Jeolla-do. important task. Since then, Quan Li has been circling around Seoul, and has played against the Ukita Hide family many times, and also seized Suwon Tucheng in the east of Seoul.The Eighth Army tried its best to besiege Quan Li in Bald City for more than a month. In the end, they failed to attack and retreated to Seoul. The North Korean side claimed to have wiped out more than 3,000 enemy troops. This is a false report, but Quan Li's ability to defend well is unquestionable.

And the mountain city of Xingzhou that he was guarding at this time was not a good place either. Hangju Mountain Fortress is located on the top of Deyang Mountain, 125 meters above sea level. It is a double-structured castle.Its inner city faces the Han River on three sides, and uses the steep peaks of the Deyang Mountains to form a natural city defense.In the northwest of the inner city, there is a gently sloped valley with an angle of more than ten degrees. A high wall is built above the valley to form the appearance of the outer city - this is the only land route for the outside world to enter the mountain city of Hangju. A mountain city that is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and a famous defender of the city.When these two things are superimposed together, the fate of the attacker is already doomed. Quan Li knew that there was bound to be a big battle here. In addition to strengthening the city wall and hoarding firearms, bows and arrows, he also erected two wooden fences outside the city wall, and dug ditches in front and back of the fence.Near the mountain city, there were 1,800 people from his deputy Xuan Juyi, forming an array at Guangjiao Mountain in Jinchuan, forming horns with each other. What needs to be mentioned is that at this stage of the war, the Koreans have gradually deviated from their original combat mode.The iron artillery of the Japanese army and the artillery of the Ming army opened the eyes of the Korean army.The conscientious North Korean generals also began to consciously collect all kinds of firearms, and even tried to manufacture them themselves. This time when Quan Li came to Xingzhou City, he brought a lot of sharp firearms.The most precious of them are 300 Ming army trains.This kind of train is different from the trains in the future. Each car is equipped with a large rectangular box with forty shooting holes in the front end.There are guns in each hole, which are ignited from the back and shoot together, the sound is very amazing. In addition, Quan Li was also equipped with several waterwheels and stone cannons.This is a long-arm trebuchet that can throw stones weighing tens of kilograms. Its main power comes from the water wheel winch.The mountain city of Haengju is close to the Han River, and the water power needs to be as much as possible. It really complements this weapon. After everything was ready, Quan Li waited in full force and sent out scouts to wait for the arrival of the Japanese army.On February 11th, Kwon Yul's headquarters, which was going to investigate in the direction of Seoul, was suddenly attacked by a large Japanese army, causing more than 80 casualties, and only a small number fled back to Xingju in time.Quan Li knew that the Japanese had finally arrived. On February 12, the main force of the Japanese army arrived at the city of Hungju in mighty force.This time the Japanese army lineup is quite strong, and the designations involved include the first, third, sixth, seventh, and eighth legions. The North Korean side claimed that the total strength of the Japanese army mobilized this time was 30,000. However, the record of the North Korean Rebel Army has always been exaggerated and not credible.In fact, among the troops brought by Hideo Ukita's family, only his own Eighth Legion was dispatched, and the other legions only dispatched one part each. Therefore, the total number of troops participating in the attack was about 150,000 to 20,000. This figure is more reasonable.At that time, the total strength of Seoul was about 53,000, and it was always facing the pressure of the Ming army's eastward advance.No matter how important the mountain city of Xingzhou is, Ukita Hideo's family will not abandon Seoul and dispatch more than half of their troops to attack the city. The Ukita Hide family divided the siege troops into seven formations: the first formation was Konishi Yukyo; the second formation was Ishida Mitsunari, Otani Yoshitsugu, Masuda Nagamori, Kato Koyasu, and Maeno Nagayasu; the third formation was Kuroda Nagamasa The fourth team is Ukita Hide's team; the fifth team is Yoshikawa Hiroka; the sixth team is Mori Motoyasu and others; the seventh team is Kobayakawa Takakage. President Konishi and Mitsunari Ishida belong to the Wenzhi faction under Hideyoshi's command. One has just suffered the humiliation of Pyongyang's falling into the city, and the other has not made any achievements in North Korea. Both are eager to win a victory to prove themselves.The Xiu family simply ranked the two brothers in the first and second teams, and gave them a credit.Arranging this formation shows that Ukita Hideo's family did not take the mountain city of Haengju seriously. At around 6 o'clock in the morning on February 12th, before dawn, the first commander Xiaonishi took the lead in launching the attack. His troops were divided into two wings, and red and white military flags were raised along both sides of the valley, and they moved aggressively towards Xingzhou. The outer city rushed forward, trying to break through the city defense in one fell swoop.Looking down from the direction of the mountain city, you will find Japanese troops all over the mountains and plains.On the one hand, this shows that the Japanese army is strong; on the other hand, it proves that there is not much space in the front of the mountain city of Xingju, and the Japanese army can only gather into a group... When the Japanese army was five miles away from the mountain city, the whole army was a little panicked. After all, they had never faced an enemy of this scale before.At this time, Quan Li gave an order: eat. Quan Li is a good commander. He knows that morale is the most important thing in defending the city. The commander must remain extremely calm in order to give confidence to the soldiers.Sure enough, when the soldiers saw that Quan Li was still calm and did not forget to take care of everyone to eat breakfast, they all became quiet and made final preparations while eating. It was not until the Japanese army approached more than 30 steps away from the wooden fence under the city that Quan Li slowly stood up and gave the second order: fire! The Korean army's cannons, firecrackers, bows and arrows, catapults and other sharp weapons began to roar condescendingly at the same time, thousands of arrows were fired, and the flames rose to the sky.All kinds of murderous weapons slammed into the Japanese army with wind and thunder. It was already very difficult for the Japanese army to attack from above, and the battlefield was narrow, so everyone could only huddle together.At this time, the North Korean army suddenly spoke, and the carefully configured firearms and crossbows bombarded from different directions, leaving the Japanese army with nowhere to hide.Japanese soldiers are often half cooked by firearms first, then pierced by bows and arrows, and finally smashed into meat sauce by flying stones... In the chaos, the Japanese army also had fierce men who tried to charge forward despite their strength, killing a bloody path.But when they rushed to the fence, they couldn't go any further.Before they could split the wooden fence, the spearmen on the other side had already fallen to the ground one by one. President Xiaoxi soon couldn't resist, and retreated with shame on his face.His direct lineage had suffered heavy casualties in Pyongyang, and if another group were to be sacrificed here, the blood of the First Legion would be exhausted, and he couldn't bear it. Ukita Hide's family didn't expect the enemy to be so difficult, and they didn't make it difficult for Xiaoxi. With a wave of the flag, Wu Fengxing's direct troops rushed up again. The troops directly under Wu Fengxing had never participated in any large-scale battles, and had only watched Li Rusong in the Biju Pavilion, so they had no actual combat experience.Coach Ishida Mitsunari is not good at military strategy. The best tactic he could think of was to order Ashgaru to charge desperately, and the iron artillery troops to cover and shoot behind the formation, attacking the North Koreans behind the fence. The iron artillery of the Japanese army was invincible in the Korean battlefield, but this time it failed.Because the range of the iron cannon is limited, the angle of upward attack further shortens the range.In order to effectively attack the North Korean soldiers, the iron gunners must stay as close to the front of the formation as possible, so that they entered the attack range of the Korean army's firecrackers and catapults—what's worse, the iron gunners must be used intensively to be effective. Forced to stand in a group in the narrow area in front of the mountain city, the North Koreans' stones and rockets hit each other accurately. Quan Li has been directing the battle on the front line. In order to guard against the enemy's cold guns, he got a bronze helmet.When the enemy's iron cannon sounded, he put the copper helmet on his head; when the enemy's iron cannon sound stopped, he took off his helmet and gave the soldiers water to drink.Encouraged by the coach, the North Korean defenders have maintained a high morale. In just over an hour, the second team was also defeated by Quan Li's fierce attack, and the casualties were even higher than that of President Xiaoxi. Kuroda Nagamasa in the third formation has always used his troops prudently. He has long seen that the mountain city of Xingzhou is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it cannot be won by a simple hard attack.In the first two battles, the enemy's strength was almost tested. Kuroda Nagamasa was unwilling to make more sacrifices, so he made a hasty attack and then withdrew. Ukita Hideka was a little annoyed, and asked Kuroda Nagamasa why he didn't work hard.Kuroda Nagamasa replied that the enemy's defense was too stable, and a hard attack would be dead in vain, so it is better to find another way. Ukita Hideka's face was a bit ugly.The Xiu family was only in their twenties this year, just at the age when they wanted to save face. He brought tens of thousands of horses to attack a small town of 2,000 people, but he actually wanted to "find another way"? Make it up quickly, both of us have something to delay during the day, sorry... Ukita Hideka's face was a bit ugly.The Xiu family was only in their twenties this year, just at the age when they wanted to save face. He brought tens of thousands of horses to attack a small town of 2,000 people, but he actually wanted to "find another way"? But soon he had to accept Kuroda Nagamasa's suggestion. It turned out that not long after the retreat of the third formation, Zhongqing water envoy Ding Jie brought two boats of gunpowder with bows and arrows, floated down the Han River, and swaggered under the noses of the Japanese army to supply the mountain city.The Japanese army had no control over the Han River, so they could only stare blankly at the thunderous cheers of the mountain city of Xingzhou, and carried bundles of weapons back to the city. Ukita Hideka finally realized that the mountain city of Xingzhou could not die, and the North Koreans could continuously supply supplies from the Han River.He had to put down his posture and ask Kuroda Nagamasa for advice.Kuroda Nagamasa gave Hideka face-to-face tips, saying that as long as you do this, you will be successful. After eating at noon, Xiujia's team started the fourth attack.The Koreans discovered that the tactics of the Japanese army had changed: they were no longer rushing in a dense swarm, but each of them was holding a bundle of hay and approaching in a scattered manner.Whenever they got close to the wooden fence, the soldiers would throw hay over and then back away quickly. When a certain amount of dry grass had accumulated in front of the wooden fence, the Japanese army began to light it with rockets and iron cannons in the distance.In an instant, more than a dozen places on the wooden fence were ignited by the hay flames, and raging black smoke floated up, obscuring the sight of the defenders. The Japanese army suddenly rose up, and Hideo's team launched an extremely ferocious attack on the entire defense line. The North Korean army did not expect such a move from the Japanese, and suddenly fell into a panic.Seeing that the line of defense was about to be breached, Quan Li drew his sword and stepped forward, shouting loudly, telling the defenders to stick to their posts while ordering the reserve team to fetch water from the city to put out the fire.The officers around him all rushed to the front line of the wooden fence, desperately trying to stabilize the front line. Under the bloody battle of Quan Li and others, the fire on the wooden fence was brought under control, and the Japanese army's powerful offensive was also resolved.Before Quan Li could catch his breath, he suddenly heard gunshots and shouts from the northwest.To the northwest is a sub-city. A monk named Chuying and hundreds of monk soldiers are responsible for defending this section of the line of defense. Quan Li looked over there, and found thick smoke billowing, the monks and soldiers were routing all the way, and the small Japanese flag had broken through two fences. It turned out that this was the real trick of Kuroda Nagamasa.He suggested that the Xiu family should first use a large army to burn the wooden fence, and when the North Koreans could no longer look after each other, they would attack the weakest northwest area with a surprise army.Sure enough, it was a hit. The defense line of Haengju Mountain City is almost a straight line.As long as one point is broken, it will collapse.Seeing this, Quan Li knew that the city could no longer be defended, so he sighed, waved the flag, and ordered everyone to withdraw from the wooden fence, abandon the outer city, and shrink to the inner city on the top of the mountain. Ukita Hideka was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered the Japanese army to attack across the board.The fourth, fifth, and sixth formations of the Japanese army took turns to attack the inner city one wave after another. The North Korean army did not give an inch. Although they lost the outer city, the defensive area became smaller, which was more conducive to attacking the enemy. Moreover, the Han River was behind the defenders, and there was no escape, which aroused the courage to defend.Quan Li ran around with his sword in his hand, giving orders from time to time, and he would go to supervise the battle wherever the battle was fiercest.Under his command, the water wheel turned and the firecrackers fired furiously, unleashing an extremely tenacious fighting force within an inch of the top of Deyang Mountain.The defense line of the mountain city is full of beacons and swaying in all directions, but it can always stand firm. It is said that when the time of crisis came, all the women went to battle in person. They cut their skirts short and carried the cut cloth with stones to the guards.Later, this short skirt was handed down and became one of the local characteristics of Hangju. The tragic offensive and defensive battle lasted until seven o'clock in the evening. Both the Japanese army and the Korean army suffered heavy casualties and were exhausted.The situation of the war is changing to the disadvantage of the Korean army. Quan Li has no reserve team available, and the Japanese army still has Kobayakawa Takakage's seventh formation that did not participate in the battle. Quan Li was on the verge of despair, thinking that he would end up dying in the city.But at this moment, a miracle happened. Ukita Hideka suddenly ordered to retreat.Tens of thousands of Japanese troops packed up the corpses of their companions, burned them, and then slowly retreated down Deyang Mountain and hurriedly retreated towards Seoul.This great victory in the mountain city of Xingzhou, which was called one of the "Three Great Victories of Imjin" by the Koreans, finally came to an end.The record reported by the North Korean army was that they beheaded one hundred and eleven enemies, two left ears, and seven hundred and twenty-seven pieces of armor. Quan Li, who escaped from death, was both happy and surprised.He was delighted that the mountain city of Haengju was defended, and he was surprised that he didn't know why the Japanese army suddenly retreated when they were about to capture the city. Unbeknownst to Quan Li, just as he was stubbornly resisting the onslaught of the Xiu family, a small change occurred in the surrounding situation... Seoul was suddenly attacked by the Ming army! Seoul was suddenly attacked by the Ming army! Didn't it mean that Li Rusong had decided to retreat?Why would the Ming army attack Seoul? To be precise, the Ming army that participated in the attack this time was the Liaodong Army's Zhada Shou Department; more precisely, it was not Seoul that was attacked by Zhada, but the Longshan warehouse near Seoul. It turned out that before the Battle of Hungju City broke out, Li Rusong was stationed in Kaesong, thinking about how to maintain the defense lines of Pyongyang and Imjin River.Li Rusong is a commander with a keen sense of the battlefield. He knows that the Ming army's defense this time, even if the 50,000 to 60,000 Japanese troops in Seoul are silent, sooner or later they will add to the chaos.Therefore, he must keep the front line on the Linjin River in order to ensure the safety of Pyongyang.So we had to find a way to prevent the Japanese army from making major moves against the Linjin River defense line.Based on such strategic considerations, Li Rusong came up with a way to hold back the Japanese army. As we said before, the reason why the Ming army advanced rapidly after the Battle of Pyongyang, leading to the Battle of Bicheguan, was largely due to the fact that the Ming army was short of food. The army's logistics is insufficient. After the Ming army fought in Pyongyang and crossed the Imjin River, they captured many Japanese soldiers and North Korean prisoners. From their confessions, Li Rusong always knew that a considerable part of the Japanese army in Seoul had accumulated a considerable amount of food and grass in the Yongsan warehouse five miles away from Seoul.So Li Rusong recruited Shada Shou again, and ordered him to find an opportunity to advance in Jiangdong, so that all the actions of the little devil in the near future would be stopped. Zha Dashou was one of the most capable generals in the Liaodong Army. He dared to touch the city wall of Seoul with hundreds of people, which was as bold as a fight.After receiving Li Rusong's instruction, without saying a word, he led hundreds of cavalrymen under his command across the Linjin River, and went out day and night near Seoul, looking for opportunities everywhere. fight. Of course, the fact that the Ukita Hide family led the army to attack the mountain city of Xingzhou was not hidden from Cha Dashou's eyes and ears.He knew that the attention of both Japan and North Korea would soon be drawn there, and that would be an excellent opportunity.After Zha Dashou's plan was established, he quietly approached the Longshan warehouse with his troops, hid nearby, and watched the Japanese army's team heading for Deyang Mountain leave. The defender guarding the Longshan warehouse is the deputy general of the First Army and the owner of Tsushima Island, Soyoshitomo.The main force of the First Army was taken to the front line of Xingzhou by the governor of Konishi. Because of the high casualties, Zongyizhi's subordinates never recovered, so they stayed to guard the granary.Zong Yizhi thought it was an easy job.At this time, the Ming army was at a standstill in Kaesong, and the Korean army was besieged in Hungju. He couldn't imagine who would dare to approach Seoul to take advantage. He didn't expect that Zha Dashou was such a young, stupid and bold person. Almost at the same time as the battle in Hungju started, Comrade Zha Dashou, the commander of the Liaodong Group Army Special Forces of the Daming Anti-Japanese Aid Korea, led his troops to the Yongsan warehouse.The following story is similar to the sneak attack on Wuchao in the Battle of Guandu in the Three Kingdoms: Zong Yizhi got drunk after drinking, but was found out that the Qing army broke into Longshan, set fire everywhere, and burned the grain and grass in the warehouse. Then get out of the way.Zha Dashou is all motorized troops-cavalry, which cannot be caught up by the short-legged Japanese soldiers in Kyushu. Ukita Hideo's family was shocked when they received the news that Longshan was attacked.He didn't think that the Ming army would go deep alone. The attack on Longshan warehouse was probably a precursor to the enemy's counterattack. Maybe the main force of the 40,000 Ming army had already crossed the Linjin River and headed towards Seoul, which was empty of troops. The thought of this possibility made his scalp tingle.No, I can't get entangled with this broken mountain city anymore!The Xiu family can clearly distinguish between Seoul and Xingzhou.He immediately ordered the whole army to stop the attack and return to Seoul to prepare for the attack of the Ming army. After several days of fearful return to Seoul, and the scouting teams from all over the place came back to report, the Xiu family discovered that there was no Ming army at all.He was so angry that he almost killed Zong Yizhi.In the end, it was President Xiaoxi's desperate persuasion that he was barely saved. Since there is no Ming army, let's go back and fight Xingzhou again.Thinking this way, the Xiu family sent people to investigate, only to find that Quan Li had already set fire to the mountain city, and then retreated quietly - he had already won a tragic victory by luck, there was no need to hold on any longer . In any case, this strategic point finally did not fall into the hands of the North Koreans.Feeling slightly relieved, the Xiu family gave up the idea of ​​sending troops to garrison, but soon their hearts were clouded by another report. The five executives reported to him that the grain and grass in Longshan warehouse were found and burned, which was equivalent to more than one-third of the entire stock in Seoul.At this time, several legions gathered in Seoul, and the daily consumption was extremely high.The loss of the Longshan Warehouse did not have too much impact on the Japanese army's steadfastness, but there was no need for a large-scale counterattack—this was completely in line with Li Rusong's expectations. ("The Chronicles of the Late Ming Dynasty" said that Cha Dashou burned the Longshan warehouse in March, but the time is not accurate) The victory in the Battle of Hungju was not strategically significant, but it gave the North Koreans a shot in the arm.Quan Li's prestige of being good at keeping things spread like wildfire.Not only the North Koreans were full of praise, it is said that even the Ming army also admired it. The general situation is this: Zha Dashou, who wandered around the Linjin River all day long, heard that Quan Li carried 20,000 Japanese troops with 2,000 dead soldiers for a whole day after burning the Longshan warehouse. He was very impressed and sent a special general To investigate the battlefield situation.A few days later, he personally went to Quanli's camp to ask for details.After listening to Quan Li's words, Zha Dashou sighed and said, "I didn't expect that even outside of Ming Dynasty, there are real generals." Li Rusong was on his way back to Pyongyang when he heard the news of the victory in Xingju.After hearing this, he felt a little regretful, thinking that if the Ming army counterattacked at that time, it might not be impossible to win a big victory.He pointed to Li Rubai and Zhang Shijue and said: It's all because of your arguing to return to the army, which delayed the important event. However, these two stories are all from the records of the Koreans, so they may not be credible.Because the North Koreans will become particularly hysterical as long as the issue of Li Rusong's return to the army is involved.Moreover, in almost all Korean records, the retreat of the Japanese army in the Battle of Haengju has nothing to do with the Ming army, and even the Yongsancang raid is not mentioned. I don’t know if it was unintentional or not mentioned on purpose.In short, Quan Li's Xingzhou War, from the Korean side, not only had nothing to do with the Ming army, but also proved Li Rusong's cowardice. After the Battle of Haengju and the Battle of Yongsanchang, the Chinese and North Korean coalition forces and the Japanese army began to enter the stage of confrontation along the Imjin River.The Ming army had no food to fight eastward, and the Japanese army had no strength to move westward. Both sides were unable to launch a large-scale offensive.Interestingly, the actual control areas of the two armies almost completely coincide with the 38th parallel of later generations. The fighting between the two armies stopped, and the vicinity of Bidou Hall became a military buffer zone. One day in March—we didn't check the relevant information too carefully, so we couldn't be sure if it was a sunny day or not. But what we can be sure of is that an old man leisurely rode a donkey and appeared on the thoroughfare to Seoul that day. Shen Weijing, long time no see! Didn't it mean that Li Rusong had decided to retreat?Why would the Ming army attack Seoul? To be precise, the Ming army that participated in the attack this time was the Liaodong Army's Zhada Shou Department; more precisely, it was not Seoul that was attacked by Zhada, but the Longshan warehouse near Seoul. It turned out that before the Battle of Hungju City broke out, Li Rusong was stationed in Kaesong, thinking about how to maintain the defense lines of Pyongyang and Imjin River.Li Rusong is a commander with a keen sense of the battlefield. He knows that the Ming army's defense this time, even if the 50,000 to 60,000 Japanese troops in Seoul are silent, sooner or later they will add to the chaos.Therefore, he must keep the front line on the Linjin River in order to ensure the safety of Pyongyang.So we had to find a way to prevent the Japanese army from making major moves against the Linjin River defense line.Based on such strategic considerations, Li Rusong came up with a way to hold back the Japanese army. As we said before, the reason why the Ming army advanced rapidly after the Battle of Pyongyang, leading to the Battle of Bicheguan, was largely due to the fact that the Ming army was short of food. The army's logistics is insufficient. After the Ming army fought in Pyongyang and crossed the Imjin River, they captured many Japanese soldiers and North Korean prisoners. From their confessions, Li Rusong always knew that a considerable part of the Japanese army in Seoul had accumulated a considerable amount of food and grass in the Yongsan warehouse five miles away from Seoul.So Li Rusong recruited Shada Shou again, and ordered him to find an opportunity to advance in Jiangdong, so that all the actions of the little devil in the near future would be stopped. Zha Dashou was one of the most capable generals in the Liaodong Army. He dared to touch the city wall of Seoul with hundreds of people, which was as bold as a fight.After receiving Li Rusong's instruction, without saying a word, he led hundreds of cavalrymen under his command across the Linjin River, and went out day and night near Seoul, looking for opportunities everywhere. fight. Of course, the fact that the Ukita Hide family led the army to attack the mountain city of Xingzhou was not hidden from Cha Dashou's eyes and ears.He knew that the attention of both Japan and North Korea would soon be drawn there, and that would be an excellent opportunity.After Zha Dashou's plan was established, he quietly approached the Longshan warehouse with his troops, hid nearby, and watched the Japanese army's team heading for Deyang Mountain leave. The defender guarding the Longshan warehouse is the deputy general of the First Army and the owner of Tsushima Island, Soyoshitomo.The main force of the First Army was taken to the front line of Xingzhou by the governor of Konishi. Because of the high casualties, Zongyizhi's subordinates never recovered, so they stayed to guard the granary.Zong Yizhi thought it was an easy job.At this time, the Ming army was at a standstill in Kaesong, and the Korean army was besieged in Hungju. He couldn't imagine who would dare to approach Seoul to take advantage. He didn't expect that Zha Dashou was such a young, stupid and bold person. Almost at the same time as the battle in Hungju started, Comrade Zha Dashou, the commander of the Liaodong Group Army Special Forces of the Daming Anti-Japanese Aid Korea, led his troops to the Yongsan warehouse.The following story is similar to the sneak attack on Wuchao in the Battle of Guandu in the Three Kingdoms: Zong Yizhi got drunk after drinking, but was found out that the Qing army broke into Longshan, set fire everywhere, and burned the grain and grass in the warehouse. Then get out of the way.Zha Dashou is all motorized troops-cavalry, which cannot be caught up by the short-legged Japanese soldiers in Kyushu. Ukita Hideo's family was shocked when they received the news that Longshan was attacked.He didn't think that the Ming army would go deep alone. The attack on Longshan warehouse was probably a precursor to the enemy's counterattack. Maybe the main force of the 40,000 Ming army had already crossed the Linjin River and headed towards Seoul, which was empty of troops. The thought of this possibility made his scalp tingle.No, I can't get entangled with this broken mountain city anymore!The Xiu family can clearly distinguish between Seoul and Xingzhou.He immediately ordered the whole army to stop the attack and return to Seoul to prepare for the attack of the Ming army. After several days of fearful return to Seoul, and the scouting teams from all over the place came back to report, the Xiu family discovered that there was no Ming army at all.He was so angry that he almost killed Zong Yizhi.In the end, it was President Xiaoxi's desperate persuasion that he was barely saved. Since there is no Ming army, let's go back and fight Xingzhou again.Thinking this way, the Xiu family sent people to investigate, only to find that Quan Li had already set fire to the mountain city, and then retreated quietly - he had already won a tragic victory by luck, there was no need to hold on any longer . In any case, this strategic point finally did not fall into the hands of the North Koreans.Feeling slightly relieved, the Xiu family gave up the idea of ​​sending troops to garrison, but soon their hearts were clouded by another report. The five executives reported to him that the grain and grass in Longshan warehouse were found and burned, which was equivalent to more than one-third of the entire stock in Seoul.At this time, several legions gathered in Seoul, and the daily consumption was extremely high.The loss of the Longshan Warehouse did not have too much impact on the Japanese army's steadfastness, but there was no need for a large-scale counterattack—this was completely in line with Li Rusong's expectations. ("The Chronicles of the Late Ming Dynasty" said that Cha Dashou burned the Longshan warehouse in March, but the time is not accurate) The victory in the Battle of Hungju was not strategically significant, but it gave the North Koreans a shot in the arm.Quan Li's prestige of being good at keeping things spread like wildfire.Not only the North Koreans were full of praise, it is said that even the Ming army also admired it. The general situation is this: Zha Dashou, who wandered around the Linjin River all day long, heard that Quan Li carried 20,000 Japanese troops with 2,000 dead soldiers for a whole day after burning the Longshan warehouse. He was very impressed and sent a special general To investigate the battlefield situation.A few days later, he personally went to Quanli's camp to ask for details.After listening to Quan Li's words, Zha Dashou sighed and said, "I didn't expect that even outside of Ming Dynasty, there are real generals." Li Rusong was on his way back to Pyongyang when he heard the news of the victory in Xingju.After hearing this, he felt a little regretful, thinking that if the Ming army counterattacked at that time, it might not be impossible to win a big victory.He pointed to Li Rubai and Zhang Shijue and said: It's all because of your arguing to return to the army, which delayed the important event. However, these two stories are all from the records of the Koreans, so they may not be credible.Because the North Koreans will become particularly hysterical as long as the issue of Li Rusong's return to the army is involved.Moreover, in almost all Korean records, the retreat of the Japanese army in the Battle of Haengju has nothing to do with the Ming army, and even the Yongsancang raid is not mentioned. I don’t know if it was unintentional or not mentioned on purpose.In short, Quan Li's Xingzhou War, from the Korean side, not only had nothing to do with the Ming army, but also proved Li Rusong's cowardice. After the Battle of Haengju and the Battle of Yongsanchang, the Chinese and North Korean coalition forces and the Japanese army began to enter the stage of confrontation along the Imjin River.The Ming army had no food to fight eastward, and the Japanese army had no strength to move westward. Both sides were unable to launch a large-scale offensive.Interestingly, the actual control areas of the two armies almost completely coincide with the 38th parallel of later generations. The fighting between the two armies stopped, and the vicinity of Bidou Hall became a military buffer zone. One day in March—we didn't check the relevant information too carefully, so we couldn't be sure if it was a sunny day or not. But what we can be sure of is that an old man leisurely rode a donkey and appeared on the thoroughfare to Seoul that day.