Due to the advantage of flying pigeons to send letters, Gao Jingshi first received Xiao Ruxun's statement on Zu Chengxun's defeat in Pyongyang. The Beijing Secretariat and the Ministry of Internal Affairs immediately held a small meeting under Gao Jingshi's call.
As the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the head of the intelligence system, Gao Mo first confirmed Xiao Ruxun's news and also explained some possible doubts.
Gao Mo said that judging from the intelligence available to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zu Chengxun’s complaints about being adversely affected by North Korea when he went south were obviously exaggerated. For example, he said that during this trip, “the men and horses were not allowed to be half full, and the combat power was limited.” This is very problematic.
In fact, although Zu Chengxun did even give some food to the several small-scale North Korean guide cavalry accompanying him, because North Korea ensured road safety, Zu Chengxun himself carried quite sufficient food and grass, and the hoarding did not count. Yizhou is too far away, so he is not short of food during this trip, and there is no reason to "not be half full".
In addition, he said that North Korea wanted command power and interfered with his deployment. This can only be said to be half-truth. North Korea has indeed always wanted to take command. However, neither Zu Chengxun nor the Ming generals who arrived earlier paid attention to North Korea's request. If it must be said that this is interference, it may only be psychological interference. It is difficult to say that the actual situation is caused interference.
But other than that, Zu Chengxun’s other statements are basically reasonable. For example, the intelligence provided by North Korea is seriously untrue; the North Korean army is not only incompetent but also collapses at the first touch, seriously affecting morale and even affecting deployment, etc. These are all facts. .
Finally, he accused the Japanese troops in Pyongyang of shooting North Korean standard arrows, which was proved to be true. Some North Korean troops did surrender and were used directly by the Japanese army, but the number of defectors is still unclear.
As for Zu Chengxun's speculation that there might be 100,000 or 200,000 Japanese troops in the DPRK, Gao Mo just mentioned this casually. After all, everyone here knows how many Japanese troops have entered the DPRK - Gao Pragmatic has said it a long time ago! Although he did not disclose the source of the information, since his information was never untrue, no one would have any doubts.
After the whole story was explained clearly, Gao Mo stopped speaking and remained absolutely silent as always, sitting aside as if he were invisible. As the secretary-general, the de facto chief of staff, Liu Xin naturally had to do a general analysis - by the way, she was the one in charge among the three military secretaries.
"Zu Chengxun's defeat in this battle, he himself said, was actually due to underestimation of the enemy." Liu Xin stood up and stood in front of the map of Northeast Asia hanging high, pointed with his pointer at the transportation line from Uiju to Pyongyang, and said : "Of course, the performance of Zu Chengxun's troops is still worthy of the word "elite". Not only did they pounce on Pyongyang without any delay under the heavy rain, they actually did not show that they were affected by the rain during the battle in Pyongyang after the weather cleared. .
From the detailed battle reports, we will find that Zu Chengxun actually only used more than a thousand people to invade Pyongyang City, while the Japanese army used about 10,000 troops to carry out encirclement and suppression - but in the end, Zu Chengxun even asked Zu Chengxun to leave. Just left. Judging from this, the previous judgment of the Marquis was very correct: our army has a huge cavalry advantage over the Japanese army. "
Cao Ke couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "This is really thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi. In the past many years, one of the most difficult problems in the military of the Ming Dynasty was the lack of cavalry. Every time he fought with the Mongols, he won. A small victory, a huge defeat, forcing the teacher to create a hollow bayonet square to control the cavalry with foot. Unexpectedly, when the Ming Dynasty defeated Mongolia, it suddenly discovered that its own cavalry had become a powerful force that other countries could not match. "
What he said sounded a bit excessive, but in fact, if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem wrong. At least among the opponents that the Ming army has a chance to fight, it seems that no one's cavalry is still better than the Ming army's cavalry - unless now Tumut and Ordos jumped back.
However, this is unlikely. Secondly, even if there is a real rebellion, the Tumut and Ordos coalition forces, which lack firearms like Chahar, may not be able to say that they can defeat the Ming army's cavalry today. From this point of view, although it is still an era of alternation of hot and cold weapons, the advancement of science and technology has begun to make the riding and archery that the nomads are proud of gradually lose their luster.
"Don't go too far." Gao Pragmatic waved his hand and interrupted: "What we want to discuss now is whether the situation in North Korea is still controllable."
"It has no impact." Liu Xin immediately responded: "Although he did not explicitly mention Zu Chengxun's losses, Xiao Ruxun has already said in his letter that he sent people to conduct a general inspection. Judging from the strength of Zu Chengxun's return to Liaodong, Zu The actual battle losses of the training department were not high, with only more than 200 people injured..."
As she was talking, there was an urgent report from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Gao Mo quickly went to get it at Gao Pragmatic's signal. Since Gao Pragmatic was present, Gao Mo even handed it to the former without even looking at it.
Gao Pingshi took the emergency report and was stunned as soon as he took a look at it, with a playful smile on his lips. This urgent letter was not a short one. Gao pragmatically read it carefully, but his expression remained unchanged as before, and he just handed it to Liu Xin silently.
Liu Xin took it and looked at it. She looked up and was a little surprised. She glanced at Gao Pragmatically and saw that he was calm, so she calmed down and looked at it carefully.
After a while, Liu Xin finished reading, smiled softly and said: "Zu Chengxun's battle report and Jinghua's intelligence report seem to be not as detailed as this one." The secretaries present were quite surprised, but they didn't know whether this urgent report was They have the right to see it, so it's hard for them to talk about it.
Fortunately, Gao Pragmatic waved his hand and said: "There is no need to hide it. This battle report was sent by Shimazu Yoshihiro through our liaison officer in his army. There is no doubt about the accuracy of his information - from Yu Yuxiduo showed off the generals of the family." Everyone then became curious, and Liu Xin handed the battle report to Military Secretary Ruan Fuyuan and asked him to read it in public.
This battle report is naturally expressed from the standpoint of the Japanese army. The general situation is different from the previous news. It is basically like this: before Zu Chengxun rushed outside Pyongyang, Konishi Yuzhang’s First Army only transferred some people Going to Zhonghe to build the city, there were still tens of thousands of people in Pyongyang. Zu Chengxun used the intelligence provided by North Korea and planned the Pyongyang battle based on the Japanese garrison strength of one to two thousand people.
In the process of going south, Zu Chengxun cleared the advanced domain of Mouri Huiyuan in the Shun'an area, which was the security agency at the transportation front, and then headed to Pyongyang with the cavalry at high speed, and then used the weather and time of rainy night and dawn to surprise the Japanese army. stronghold.
The Ming army's rapid actions indeed caught the Japanese army completely off guard. As a result, the Ming army easily broke through the city wall of Pyongyang, entered the city from Qixing Gate, and went straight to the Japanese stronghold of Datong Hall.
At that time, Matsuura Jinnobu and his son were stationed at the Datong Hall stronghold. Unprepared, the father and son led the guards and fought hand-to-hand with the Ming army with knives. Matsuura Jinnobu was hit by an arrow in the foot during the battle. According to the discussion of the Japanese army generals' formation relayed by Shimazu Yoshihiro, he believed that if the Japanese army at that time was really one or two thousand people as the Koreans said, or there were only three thousand people from the Songura Town Information Department, then Zu Chengxun's raid on Pyongyang would have been A big win.
However, after the Japanese troops in Pyongyang received the news that the Ming troops had entered the city, they immediately assembled quickly towards the Datong Hall battlefield. Military supervisor Onoki Shigemori led 700 troops to the battlefield first and used matchlocks to attack the Ming cavalry jamming the streets of Datong Hall.
Shi Ru did charge forward, but he was discovered by the Japanese army while directing archery from a high place on the city, and was shot and killed by a matchlock gun. Dai Chaobian and Qianzong Zhang Guozhong were also shot to death. Zu Chengxun and Ma Shilong were injured. On the way to lead the army to retreat, Ma Shilong fell off his horse and died. Immediately, the Ming troops behind the palace fell into the mud, and some of them who could not leave quickly were surrounded and killed by Konishi Yukino and Soyoshi Tomobu who came to surround them.
At this point, the truth has been basically restored. According to Gao's pragmatic view, Zu Chengxun's performance is not actually a big mistake. It is mainly because he believed North Korea's intelligence and made tactical arrangements based on wrong facts from the beginning. Otherwise, if the intelligence was true, Pyongyang would have already Change of ownership.
Tonight is destined to be very busy. Discussions are continuing at the meeting, and new news has arrived. This time it was even more interesting. The news came from Li Rusong through the Jinghua Flying Pigeon Station that had just been assigned to him a few days ago. In his report, he filled in the follow-up information that Shimazu Yoshihiro could not possibly know.
It turns out that Zu Chengxun retreated from Pyongyang, all the way from Shunan County, through Suchuan Duhufu, and arrived at Anzhou City. He called the Korean interpreter Pu Yijian on the horse and said: "I have killed many thieves today, but unfortunately I have been injured and killed by the guerrillas. The weather is unfavorable, it is raining heavily and muddy, and it is impossible to annihilate the thieves. We should add more troops and tell you that the prime minister will not move and the pontoon bridge cannot be evacuated." "
After saying this, he led his troops across the Qingchuan River and Dading River, and stationed at Kongjiang Pavilion in Bochuan County. At Kongjiang Pavilion, he counted the battle damage. Hundreds, and there are many who are chasing you."
At that time, Zu Chengxun stayed at Kongjiang Pavilion for two days. The wind and rain continued day and night, and the army was sleeping in the wild. Their clothes, armor and equipment were all wet. The soldiers were very dissatisfied. Zu Chengxun had no choice but to retreat to Liaodong. On the 20th of that month, the Korean soldier Cao Shenzhi Shen Xishou was ordered to go to Jiulian City and met with Xiao Ruxun to request that Zu Chengxun not be allowed to withdraw his troops. Xiao Ruxun said that he would ask Li Rusong for instructions on this matter, so Li Rusong quickly learned the news.
Li Rusong's statement is that after the war in Pyongyang, Zu Chengxun immediately reported to him North Korea's collaboration with the enemy, saying "a small battalion of North Korean soldiers surrendered." Moreover, the Japanese army in the formation was not what North Korea calls "Japanese slaves only using iron nine long swords. "There are no other skills", and it is definitely not the number of "one or two thousand", but "there are many thieves who are good at shooting" and "the number exceeds ten thousand". The Korean army did not cooperate with the Ming army in fighting, and the soldiers were afraid to move forward. .
Li Rusong also said that North Korea argued that "the shooter in Pyongyang may have fired someone who caused our people to be robbed." The number of Japanese soldiers was not known at all, and it refused to admit that any North Koreans had surrendered to the enemy. In addition, the Koreans were imitating matchlocks before the war, and they still claimed that they did not have them at this time. The Japanese troops were the first batch to land in Pusan, and the front line reported that there were ten thousand Japanese troops. At this time, Li Rusong still claimed that they knew nothing about it. .
When the North Korean army surrendered to the Japanese army, North Korea found out that it was when Shi Ru was killed and the former army retreated. At that time, Zu Chengxun withdrew from the city and when he was in formation at the west gate of Pyongyang, he saw that among the soldiers from the North Korean side, there was dialogue with the Japanese army, and the Japanese army retreated slightly because of this. Therefore, Zu Chengxun believed that the Korean army and the Japanese army were connected, and there was nothing they could do but retreat.
Li Rusong also sent some news that was not direct military information. For example, North Korea would naturally not admit that its people had surrendered to the enemy, and "our people and thieves are inseparable." However, it was soon discovered that people who were dissatisfied with the Li Dynasty government at that time were in Su. On the gatepost of the state government office, ten large characters were written, "The general will not go to Jiangjie, but to Uiju" to inform the Japanese army of the movements of the Korean court.
At this time, the Japanese army in Pyongyang issued name cards to North Korean people to show that they would live here permanently, and civilians across North Korea defected to Japan in large numbers. "Recently, the taxes and servitude have been heavy, the people have no means of living, and the punishments have become harsh. The soldiers and the people are full of resentment, with no way to complain, and their hearts have been separated for a long time." There are not many slaves, but they are half traitors to the people, which is extremely chilling."
And just the day before the Ming army attacked, North Korea also received reports from "village gangsters near Pyongyang's thieves' dens, or people who have been in and out of the country and received stamps and listened to their instigation. Kim Deok-bok and Liu Xizhi lived far away in Changcheng and went to receive stamps." Report.
So why did North Korea use various methods and means to let the Ming army enter the city? Based on the information he received, Li Rusong analyzed that after the news of the fall of Hamgyong Province reached the Joseon court, Li Huo discussed with the ministers and worried that the Japanese armies of Hamgyong and Ping'an would join forces to advance westward, so he decided to take the Konishi Gongchang The troops "must take advantage of Pyongyang's unpreparedness and attack it."
As for the surprise attack on Pyongyang, even Li Huo knew that "probably it would be difficult to gallop into the city", and the North Korean minister's suggestion was to "set fire at night to scare the thieves, and then attack them."
Li Huo immediately made a decision on this matter, which was close to death, and said, "Everything must be done by the heavenly soldiers." The reason why they kept urging the Ming army to rush into Pyongyang and did not hesitate to use false information to induce Zu Chengxun was "for fear that this thief (Kato Kiyomasa) would gather and then join forces with the Western thief (Konishi Yukinaga)."
In other words, before Zu Chengxun crossed the river, North Korea had already formulated a military plan for a night attack on Pyongyang. However, the raid was extremely difficult and "it was inconvenient to ride horses in the city." The North Korean army could not do it on its own, so North Korea The cavalry unit scheduled for Zu Chengxun came to do it.
The wishful thinking of the North Koreans is to leave the high-risk tasks to the sovereign state. If the night attack on Pyongyang is successful, they will follow the trend. If the Ming army in Pyongyang is defeated, it will be what Li Huo himself said, "Since we came with the imperial edict, if for some reason If we are defeated and our troops are withdrawn and sent away, our country's affairs will be incompetent, and the imperial power will be lost, so we cannot let the foreigners know about it."
As a result, the Battle of Pyongyang was deceived by the deliberate misleading of the North Koreans. The Ming Dynasty went to rescue the North Korean army, at the cost of the lives of its own generals and soldiers, and was dragged into a large-scale frontal military showdown between China and Japan by the North Koreans.
Li Rusong's anger can be seen through the paper. On the one hand, he thinks that the villains in the Korean court are in power, and even King Li Huo is completely selfish and shameless; on the other hand, he is extremely dissatisfied with Zu Chengxun's defeat. Reluctantly, he believed that he was simply tricked by "one of his own people", which resulted in him losing the face of the Ming Dynasty and the Liaodong Army.
In the end, Li Rusong summed it up in one sentence: If you lose face in Pyongyang, you will eventually regain it yourself!
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