Chapter 323 Inchon Landing
After nearly a month of sea voyage, Chen Cao finally arrived at Incheon Port at the end of July or early August. The first thing he did after landing was to lie on the ground and touch the earth affectionately.
"Didn't Li Zhu send someone?"
Facing Chen Cao's inquiry, Liu Xingzuo shook his head: "There are more than 3,000 Jiannu troops around Seoul. After the last general came ashore, he contacted the Jinyiwei spies in North Korea. According to reports, after Jiannu heard that a lone army entered North Korea, he immediately sent troops south. They want to eat us, 15,000 people are heading south, North Korean Governor Amin leads an army of 30,000 people following behind, counting the days, they should have arrived in Seoul."
Amin's army is on Ping'an Road. They can come from the north at least faster than Chen Cao can by boat.
As the commander of the Jin Yiwei, Zhao Xin urgently contacted the Jin Yiwei spies at court after landing. From time to time, he walked into the courtyard of the Protector's Mansion: "Your Majesty, Li Jie's brother, Lord Ayahara, Li Yan, sent someone here .”
"What a coincidence?" Chen Cao was a little curious, then waved his hand: "Bring people in."
Not long after, a man dressed as a Korean commoner with a white cloth on his head and coarse white clothes was brought into the yamen by Zhao Xin. The man immediately knelt down towards Chen Cao and spoke in Korean.
"There's something wrong with Li Ren. He knows that the people who came to contact him can't even speak Chinese."
After Chen Cao complained, he looked at Zhao Xin. Zhao Xin did not understand Korean, but there were many translators with the army, so he translated what the people said to Chen Cao.
It turned out that after Zhang Yingwu landed in Incheon, the Korean King Li Jie in Seoul and others got the news, and two situations formed in North Korea. One was the left and right factions headed by Li Jie, and the other was Ayahara Dai. The pro-Ming faction headed by Jun Li Er.
In the hearts of Koreans, the Ming Dynasty was indeed the supreme state of heaven. Even long after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Korean state still enshrined Emperor Chongzhen's spiritual throne and offered sacrifices on time.
After listening to the translation, Chen Cao looked at Xu Fuyuan beside him: "It seems that Li Zhu is still afraid of Jiannu."
Liu Xingzuo, who was familiar with the internal affairs of North Korea, said: "Back then, Amin went on a killing spree in Seoul and Li Zhu knelt down to Huang Taiji in Shenyang."
"It's the same old thing..." Chen Cao sighed. The Qing Dynasty's policy towards the Han people when they entered the customs was to 'kill' the Han people. Killing the Han people was convincing, and eventually they became the kind of wretched people without a national backbone in the late Qing Dynasty.
Moreover, Chen Cao thought from beginning to end that Jiannu's braided hair was really lifeless.
Chen Cao lowered his head and looked at the visitor: "Does Li Yan want to cooperate with our army internally and externally?"
After receiving the translated words, Chen Cao shook his head: "The king of North Korea, Li Zhu, disregarded the friendship between the emperor and the ministers of our great dynasty. He was greedy for life and feared death and knelt down to worship the slave-building thief chieftain. This must not be tolerated. The great king of Ayahara, Li Yan, understood the righteousness and sent people first. Come to contact him, you go back and tell him that after my army has wiped out the slave-building thieves in Korea, Li Jie will no longer be the king of Korea, and a capable person can be selected from among Li Jie's brothers to replace him."
The envoy was overjoyed when he heard this. Then he knelt down and saluted Chen Cao several times, said a few words of gratitude and left.
Since Zhou Lixun performed well last time, Chen Cao still took him with him when he went to North Korea this time.
"Your Majesty, Lord Ayara is a man who works hard."
Chen Cao glanced at the joyful envoy who was leaving, and then looked at Zhou Lixun with a smile: "The purpose of our trip to North Korea is very clear, so no matter who comes to power, North Korea will always be in my hands."
After saying that, Chen Cao turned to look at Zhao Xin: "Is Gao Chong back?"
Liao Yaowen was mainly responsible for Japanese intelligence, while Gao Chong was responsible for North Korea.
Xin Zhao shook his head: "Lao Gao is responsible for contacting all the spies in North Korea. After landing, he took people to sneak into Seoul. It was he who sent Li Yan's people to introduce him."
Chen Cao nodded thoughtfully, and then said: "The 52nd Division immediately went out of Shixing Mansion to lure Jiannu's soldiers and horses stationed around Han City to see if they could cross Luliang, and then divide the troops to eliminate Shixing. All the surrounding North Korean troops must surrender."
Zhang Yingwu saluted: "Yes..."
Chen Cao looked around the small Duhufu Yamen and couldn't help but shake his head. Later generations had no chance to go abroad due to work confidentiality reasons. He had only seen their ancient buildings in Bangzi movies. Looking back now, it was just like that.
In the temporary conference room in the middle room, Chen Cao walked into the room with his waist down. The height of the door really made him unworthy of compliments. Perhaps it was because he was inferior. Although North Korea's architecture was all copied from the Ming Dynasty, it was reduced by half.
"Your Majesty, this is the map of Gyeonggi Province sent by Li Yan, and there are also garrison maps of North Korean armies."
Gao Chong put the map on the table. He rushed back from Shixing Mansion in the evening, and brought several North Korean spies with him: "Li Jie was indeed forced to surrender. He sent envoys to negotiate peace several times. Amin He sent Dudu and Jierhalang to plunder Seoul for three days and robbed the people of their property. Even now, the people of Seoul and the princes and nobles have not been relieved;
In addition, according to news from Ping'an Road, Jiannu was gathering troops from the Eight Banners of Korea to return reinforcements, but there were no other troops. "
Chen Cao frowned, then looked at Liu Xingzuo who had not yet set off: "How much do you remember about the expedition to North Korea?"
Liu Xingzuo turned to look at Chen Cao: "Your Majesty, it is not very different from what Mr. Gao said. Back then, Li Zhu sent people to Pyongyang several times to seek peace. Jierharang and others agreed to return to the army, but Amin did not allow it, so he He sent his last general to Ganghwa Island to question Li Jie. However, after the last general arrived at Ganghwa Island, Amin's army arrived in Goyang County and besieged Li Jie in Bukhansan Fortress. After three days of fighting, Li Jie was forced to surrender. , and was taken to Shenyang."
After finishing speaking, Liu Xingzuo said: "There is one thing. At that time, Jierharang was discussing returning to the army, but Amin asked the general to stay in North Korea with Du Du. Du Du firmly opposed it, and Amin had no choice but to choose to return to the army, but he still controlled North Korea."
After hearing this, Xu Fuyuan said: "This Amin seems to have the intention of independent Korea."
"North Korea has excellent artillery and firearms. Some of the artillery in Liaodong even come from North Korea. They occupy the geographical advantage of Bukhan Mountain City, but they can't defeat it?"
Liu Xingzuo looked at Gao Chong: "At that time, the vanguard of the Jiannu was mainly composed of Han people from Liaodong and the soldiers of the surrendered Ming Guards. No matter how sharp the firearms were, the loading was not as good as ours now. The Jiannu cavalry arrived in one charge. Those Korean firearms The troops can only be massacred."
"By the way, the Seoul garrison is Amin's son, named Airli, who is also a slave-holding Duke..."
Chen Cao held the title of Jiannu. This title of Duke of Zhenguo was different from the title of Ming Dynasty. Duke of Zhenguo was only granted to members of the Aisin Gioro royal family.
"After the King's Division arrived in various parts of North Korea, the North Korean troops stationed in various places surrendered one after another. In some places, there were even no soldiers and horses. The North Korean officials in various places in the Incheon Protectorate were not disgusted with us. Instead, the local people knelt down and begged us for help."
It had only been less than thirty years since the Imjin Japanese Rebellion. Without the rescue of the Ming Dynasty, North Korea would have been gone long ago. Therefore, the local people were grateful to the Ming Dynasty army.
Chen Cao kept knocking on the table, and after a long time he said: "I didn't expect the Koreans to be so kind to our Ming Dynasty. In this case, there is no need to attack them one by one. After the 52nd Division captures Shixing Mansion, , the whole army moves forward, and goes straight to Seoul, hoping to fight a decisive battle with the Jiannu in Seoul;
By the way, where are the places to cross the river? "
Gao Chong clicked on the map: "There is no place to cross the river in the north of the Han River. There is one in the middle opposite Zhonglangfu, but it cannot pass the army. Only Guangjin Pass in the west of Guangzhou Prefecture can pass. If you go from Guangjin Pass, We must go through a big battle with Jiannu at Guangjing Pass."
"Where's Luliang?"
Chen Cao pointed to Luliang in Shixing Mansion.
Gao Chong added: "The land of Luliang is also feasible, but we can only choose to cross the river by boat. The terrain on the other side is flat. If Jiannu has been prepared, I am afraid our army will be in trouble."
Except for the 52nd Division, which did not have war horses, the other three divisions of the Dingwu Army had them. Chen Cao thought for a while, then looked at Feng Zhongping and said: "Let some of the war horses of your first division come out, and let the rest of the war horses of the second division come out." The Second Division also detached some of its war horses, all of which were handed over to Zhang Yingwu’s Fifty-second Division;”
Then he looked at Liu Xingzuo: "Your troops are going to Guangjing Pass to create a false impression for the Jiannu. If you can fight, fight them. If you can't fight, support them."
Liu Xingzuo nodded: "The general will understand..."
Gao Chong added: "It would take four days on foot to get to Guangjin Pass in Guangzhou Prefecture. If we travel on horseback, it would take at most two and a half days."
The territory of North Korea is mountainous, and the official roads are not organized, mostly small roads, and the road to Guangjin Pass has to be detoured. Even if the North Korean garrison does not resist, the time is not as economical as the roads of the Ming Dynasty.
"Okay..." Chen Cao clapped his hands: "Tomorrow morning, the 52nd Division will set off first."
.
Noryang Town, located in the south of the Han River, is not the same Noryang where Yi Sun-shin died in battle. That Noryang is in Gyeongsang Province. A long way away, to the north is the flat plain of the Han River. North Korean merchant ships and various ships sail on the Han River. They will rest at the plain port in the north.
Airli did many bad things when he was in Seoul, but he only targeted the princes and ministers of North Korea, and it was okay for the common people. It was not until he learned that the Ming army landed in Inchon that things changed dramatically.
Fortunately, his father Amin had already led his army to Gaoyang County. After learning that Li Zhu had not done anything extraordinary, he sent soldiers and horses to surround the Joseon Palace, and then mobilized the Korean puppet troops around Seoul to separate. They were stationed at Guangjinguan in the southwest and the plain north of Luliang, and even Mulangfu's crossing bridge was strictly defended.
"Master..."
Airli's servant quickly ran into his mansion southwest of the palace: "News from Luliang, a large number of Ming troops were found in the south."
Airli stood up and frowned: "Didn't I just report that the Ming army had gone to Guangjin Pass the day before yesterday?"
The servant shook his head: "I don't know, but the scouts reported that a large number of Ming troops did appear south of Luliang."
Airli paced back and forth: "Send my military order to Erlan and ask him to sit at the port. If the Ming army is found crossing the river, we must do our best to stop it."
The servant added: "The North Korean army has sharp firearms, why not let them assist in the battle."
Airli nodded: "That makes sense. I'll go to the palace right now."
