The war is about to begin. Set your goal first. Mudan Terrace in the north of Pyongyang City was identified as the first target of the Ming army early due to its dangerous terrain. The intention of the Ming army was to ensure that even if it was difficult to capture for a while, they could encircle this place to prevent the Japanese army from outflanking the Ming army at other city gates.
Faced with the roar of artillery from the Ming army's position in Pyongyang, a large number of long-range Jinghua No. 2 and No. 3 guns fired continuously at different strike ranges. Countless heavy solid bullets fell from the sky and landed on the city head or in the city, let alone on the spot. If you hit it, you will definitely die. Even if a ricochet or rolling bullet occurs, you will be injured if you hit it, and you will die if you hit it.
Under this kind of fierce bombardment that the Japanese army had never experienced before, the Japanese army naturally suffered many casualties, and the city gate and the foot of the city were full of ghosts and wolves howling. However, after all, the Japanese army was an army that had just finished a long civil war. Even after suffering such a blow, they still risked their lives to regroup under the command of samurai at all levels and persisted in defending the city.
The interval between Ming army's artillery attacks was not short. Since the cannon at this time not only needed to cool the barrel, but also needed to clean the barrel. In addition, the projectiles and gunpowder were very heavy. Therefore, it took nearly two minutes for the No. 2 cannon to fire one round, and the No. 3 cannon to fire one round. It takes almost a minute, so it cannot be regarded as a shelling without intervals. However, during several rounds of shelling, the Japanese troops frequently suffered nearly a hundred casualties in each round. The losses were not unbearable, but they still gathered together to hold on and fought back bravely until they fell to the ground.
As the official debut of the Ming Dynasty's army to aid Korea, the sound of the Ming army's artillery in this battle was earth-shattering, and the vibrations of the mountains and ground could be felt even ten miles away. Although the city wall of Pyongyang seemed solid, under this atmosphere, the Japanese army felt as if it was crumbling like a lonely boat in the sea.
The Japanese generals and middle- and low-level samurai had already become red-eyed. They tried their best to maintain military discipline, avoid collapse, and even organize counterattacks. They appeared to be very tenacious in the face of the powerful artillery fire of the Ming army.
They relied on the city tower bunkers to support each other and guard the city gates. Japanese generals also boarded the city gates one after another, risking artillery fire to boost morale, and intermittently fired back in small numbers. In the city, Governor Konishi heard the roar of artillery outside the city. It was far from what he had heard and seen in the past. He was deeply uneasy and repeatedly ordered the guards to stand firm and wait for reinforcements.
Among the Ming army's artillery, the No. 2 cannon had the ability to directly penetrate the city wall if used intensively. However, Li Rusong rejected Qi Jin's opinion and still deployed them dispersedly.
Li Rusong demanded that this battle must be full-scale, but it resulted in a situation where it was more than enough to suppress the city towers, but not enough to destroy the city walls. Qi Jin, who directed the artillery battle, was quite dissatisfied with this. However, since Gao Pragmatic and Li Chengliang had just reached a cooperation, Qi Jin did not dare to openly oppose Li Rusong's intention.
Fortunately, Li Rusong also knew the importance this time, and made a few simple explanations to Qi Jin before the battle. The meaning probably has two levels. First, there is no need to use heavy artillery to directly destroy the city wall in this battle, so as to avoid fully displaying the combat power in front of the Japanese army. To avoid losing the last trump card in the future in front of important cities such as Kaesong and Seoul;
The second is to increase the momentum of the army, which may make the Japanese army fearful when facing the Ming army in the future. Before the battle started, they remembered today's earth-shattering shelling, and their combat power was in vain.
Qi Jin did not completely agree with these two statements. In fact, he basically agreed with the second statement. The main reason was that he believed that it was not necessary to do so with the first statement. The strength of the Ming army's heavy artillery lies here. Whether it's Kaesong or Seoul, they are cities that have been built for countless years. It is impossible to suddenly strengthen them to the point where heavy artillery cannot hit them in the near future.
Since they can fight, what can the Japanese do if they see the gap? Maybe even more desperate. But in the final analysis, Li Rusong was the coach. Although Qi Jin was a little dissatisfied, he could only do as he was told.
When the entire bombardment was temporarily over and the gun body had to be cooled down, Li Rusong ordered the entire army to attack the city. There was something new in this attack. The Ming army took out all the various cluster rockets that had been eliminated in Liaodong, such as the Fire Dragon Arrow, Swarm of Bees, Flying Sickle Arrow, and Hundreds of Tigers Running, and used them without hesitation. Cover attack - but no matter how you look at it, it feels like you're clearing your inventory.
The Japanese troops from all branches concentrated their iron cannons to kill the Ming troops who were climbing the city. Rolling logs, stones, and baked jade were thrown down one after another. The ladders climbing the city were occasionally burned by kerosene. At this time, the fighting was extremely fierce. Although the Ming army's artillery and aircraft were shocking, it was still difficult to reach the city at this time, and there were many casualties.
After continuing to attack without success, the Ming army wavered and began to retreat. Ma Dong, the right-wing soldier at Qixing Gate, shouted curses and ordered the march, but it was difficult to stop the Ming army from retreating. In fact, Ma Dong knew what the problem was. The problem was that the troops were not led in a pragmatic manner and Li Rusong had strictly ordered in advance not to snatch heads, so most of the soldiers were unwilling to fight to the death.
Why does Li Rusong's refusal to seize heads make the soldiers unwilling to fight to the death, but Gao Rusong's pragmatic command of the troops does not? Because Gao's pragmatic military commanders valued fairness the most, they had a strict set of collective performance measurement standards and reward and punishment measures, and the Gao family's servants specifically supervised the implementation and actually undertook the accounting work. However, Li Rusong or Li Jiajun did not have these.
Although it is impossible to replicate high pragmatism in the system, the Li Jiajun also has the old methods of the Li Jiajun. Judging from the current results alone, it can be considered effective.
Just like this moment, when Li Rusong saw this, he personally led his cousin Li Ruwu and his general Fang Shichun to patrol the city with two hundred light cavalry. Seeing that morale was low, he killed several deserters with his own hands, raised his arms and shouted: "The first one to climb the city will be rewarded with silver." Five thousand taels!" And he personally made an appearance on the city to boost the morale of the troops.
The order was spread throughout the country, and the morale of the Ming army was greatly boosted. Not only did they quickly stabilize their position, but they also continued to attack the city at the risk of death.
Soon, Yang Yuan took the lead in ascending the city at Qixing Gate and was wounded by Japanese iron artillery. General Ding Jinglu was trying to cover Yang Yuan and was killed by several iron artillery fire. Ma Dong urgently ordered treatment and urged his troops to attack the city with all their strength.
Li Rubai was shot in the head by an iron cannon at the ordinary gate. Fortunately, he was fighting hard at the time and moved very quickly. As a result, only his helmet was shot off, while Li Fangchun was also injured and was shot through his right arm.
The supervising team led by Li Rusong was also attacked. His cousin Li Ruwu was first shot in the left arm by an iron cannon, but he gritted his teeth and tied up a piece of rag from the dead body, insisting on refusing to retreat to treat the injury;
Fang Shichun was burned on his back by a piece of baked jade that came from an unknown source. If his cronies hadn't extinguished it in time, he might have been burned alive as it was difficult for him to take off his armor alone;
Even Li Rusong himself was not spared. When he was supervising the battle, he was shot by the Japanese army. His horse was shot dead and he was knocked to the ground. Fortunately, he was experienced in the battlefield and hurriedly avoided the subsequent shooting of the Japanese iron artillery team. , changing horses and continuing to supervise the battle regardless of the danger.
At Mudantai, the Chinese and North Korean coalition forces gathered to attack the key fortress in northern Pyongyang. The place was defended by two thousand troops led by Japanese general Matsuura Jinnobu. Most of the soldiers under his command were not soldiers from his territory, but elites assigned to Governor Konishi by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. They were extremely brave.
The two armies first exchanged firepower, resulting in casualties on each other. During the break, the Ming army launched an assault, and the battle turned into a close combat. The southern troops led by the Ming general Wu Weizhong here were all trained by direct descendants of the Qi family army. Wu Weizhong himself fought with Qi Jiguang for a long time when he was fighting against the Japanese in the southeast, and later went north to train with him. He was rich in experience. After Qi Jiguang became the commander of the Imperial Guard, he Together with Luo Shangzhi, Mao Guoqi and Qi Jin, he was called the four generals of the Southern Army.
Wu Weizhong ordered the entire army to set up a mandarin duck formation, which was divided into large and small formations. At this time, Wu Weizhong set up a small formation, with eleven people as a team, using long cards and rattan plates to block the Japanese arrows, swords and guns, and using javelins, The waist knife protects and covers the rear team's advance. The two people in the rear team held a ten-foot-long wolf spear to block, and the next four people held long spears to advance. The last two people held boring palladium to provide warning and support. Each person had a clear division of labor, orders and prohibitions. The overall cooperation was tacit and flexible, the formation was changeable, the movement was convenient, and both offense and defense were possible. . The Qijiadao carried by the Nanbing soldiers was specially designed to target the katana and wild swords of the Japanese army. In addition, the Nanbing soldiers had a high level of marching ability and had always been extremely powerful in combat.
The Japanese army was indeed unable to defeat the Yuanyang Formation in close combat, and the North Korean monk soldiers also fought to the death. Wu Weizhong was actually shot by an iron cannon, and was shot in the chest and almost died. Fortunately, as a general, the armor he wore was strong enough. Although the bullet cracked his goggles and shocked his blood, he could still shout to fight to the death after recovering.
Mao Guoqi stepped forward to provide first aid. Wu Weizhong was actually shocked to the point that he could not scream, so he entrusted Mao Guoqi to continue leading his troops in the battle. However, he refused to retreat and still stood in front of the formation as an example. Mao Guoqi was extremely impressed and commanded harder. As a result, the Ming army became more courageous. The Japanese army finally began to show signs of being unable to withstand it, and its formation gradually became chaotic.
Another fierce general of the Liaodong Army, Zha Damou, was leading a cavalry, so he had only watched from the sidelines before. Seeing that the time had come, he immediately led all the Liaodong elite cavalry to attack without saying a word.
Either because of their short stature or because their country had fewer cavalry, the Japanese army was always extremely fearful of the Ming cavalry's tall horses and human-riding equipment. Where Zha Damhou's elite cavalry rushed through, the Japanese troops were scattered and unstoppable. They were no match for them. This Li family's elite cavalry was completely on the rampage.
Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi were both famous generals who had been fighting for half their lives. They had extremely rich battlefield experience. Upon seeing this, they did not need any higher-level command. They immediately led their troops to follow up and defeat the remaining enemies until they conquered the summit. More than half of the elite members of the Toyotomi family led by Matsuura Jinshinsuo were killed or wounded in a short period of time. No matter how tenacious this Japanese army was, their morale collapsed at this time and they could only fight and retreat into the city.
Zu Chengxun was ordered to violently attack the city at Hanzhimen. He was deeply ashamed after his previous defeat in Pyongyang. This time he not only attacked with hatred, but also repeatedly reminded himself that he must be cautious and think clearly, and never act recklessly out of anger. Husband’s actions.
So Zu Chengxun's Ming army first disguised itself as the Korean army and launched a seemingly weak attack. Because the offensive was very weak and it looked like the Korean army, it was naturally despised by the Japanese army. They even believed that their front line was definitely not the key offensive direction of the Ming army, and they were very relaxed mentally.
However, when they approached the tower, all the soldiers suddenly took off their Korean uniforms, revealing their mandarin duck jackets. Not only did their marching speed suddenly accelerate, but their formation also changed from loose and disorderly to neat and orderly in a very short period of time. Seeing the momentum of an elite from a hundred battles, the Japanese army was shocked and terrified. The top of the city immediately shook, and the city quickly divided its troops for reinforcements.
Among those who participated in the battle under Zu Chengxun were Luo Shangzhi, the commander of Shenji Battalion, who led the 600 Southern troops. They were the first to board the city gate. The Ming army's southern soldiers, as they are customarily called, are the soldiers trained by the Qi family's army. Needless to say, they have combat effectiveness. After boarding the city gate, they immediately start a mandarin duck formation to cooperate with each other. With a small number of enemies, they are unstoppable.
The commander-in-chief Luo Shangzhi was pragmatic but brave and good at fighting. His arm strength was extremely strong and he was said to be able to lift a thousand catties, so his military nickname was Luo Qianjin. Luo Shangzhi did not have a military background, nor was he a martial artist. He stood out purely by fighting hard. He was always admired and valued by Qi Jiguang, and he had served in the Imperial Guard four years ago.
This time, he was originally to be gilded in the Shenji Battalion that had retained its establishment. Since the Korean side saw this battle as an opportunity for military training, and more generals should be allowed to experience this war, he was temporarily blocked. A southern army that had been brought before was directly transferred to the Korean battlefield. Therefore, although he is officially affiliated with the Shenji Battalion at this moment, in fact, the soldiers under his command have nothing to do with the Shenji Battalion under the Production and Construction Corps.
Luo Shangzhi was still very brave this time and killed many enemies, but it was difficult to prevent stray bullets on the battlefield, and he was also shot and wounded. However, like the previous generals who were "slightly injured and could not leave the firing line", Luo Shangzhi also persisted in fighting despite his injuries. Under such encouragement, the Ming army indeed killed the Japanese troops one after another and captured the flag. The Japanese troops in Hanzhumen retreated.
A steady stream of Ming troops descended on the city, and soon the city gates were opened. Zu Chengxun viciously ordered an assault and captured Pyongyang's Hanzangmen. He looked left and right under the Hanzangmen, feeling a sense of elation, but at the same time he felt that it was not fun enough, and just wanted to continue killing, killing, and killing more and more. good.
Yang Yuan was a little annoyed when he saw that he could not attack Qixing Gate for a long time. Ma Dong asked for orders to load his No. 2 heavy artillery to bombard the city. This move actually violated Li Rusong's pre-war instructions to some extent, but he didn't care too much when the war situation was not going well. After all, Yang Yuan had a different identity. He was Li Chengliang's direct descendant, so it would not be a big problem if he slightly offended the young commander.
Therefore, Yang Yuan agreed to Ma Dong's request, and the Jinghua No. 2 heavy artillery began to focus on targeting. Under the continuous bombardment, the gate of Qixingmen was opened and the city wall was destroyed. The Ming army led the car camp led by Qi Jin to charge forward, with artillery cover, and massively attacked Qixingmen.
Since Qi Jiguang entered Beijing, Qi Jin's command can actually be regarded as a direct descendant of Gao Pragmatic. In terms of logistical support, it is definitely second to none in Liaodong. Therefore, this Ming army is indeed a strong force. The Japanese army will be defeated immediately. They were defeated steadily.
By this time, the Japanese army's city defense was gone and they could only retreat to the inner city. As a result, the Lumen and Ordinary Gates, which had been slightly slower to attack, were successively captured by the Ming army.
Governor Konishi nervously gathered the defeated troops and used his main force of 7,000 to defend the inner city. The streets in Pyongyang City are numerous and narrow. Japanese generals such as Konishi Yuzhang and Zong Yizhi made full use of the terrain and took advantage of the iron cannons. In fact, it felt like street fighting in the hot weapon era of later generations. The front troops of the Ming army were shot and fell to the ground. It was difficult to Advance.
After a day of fierce fighting, the Ming army's attack on the city was unstoppable in the morning. In the afternoon, the two armies were in a stalemate in the inner city. The Japanese army desperately defended the kilns and narrow rooms in various places in the city. The Ming army felt that the casualties were too great after the strong attack, and then turned to They were set on fire, but the two armies were still at war.
At dusk on the Western Mountain, Li Rusong ordered the troops to withdraw.
That night, Li Rusong was about to persuade the Japanese troops to abandon the city and flee. Liu Chenglong didn't understand why he wanted to let go of Governor Konishi. Marshal Kim Myung-won of North Korea also believed that he should not let a single Japanese pirate go.
Li Rusong explained: "The art of war says that a city must be besieged. Under a heavy siege, the enemy will be trapped and fighting. If we try to fight to the death, even though I can destroy it, it will also cause a lot of unnecessary casualties to our army."
On the contrary, if there is a way to survive, the enemy army can be wavered. Some in the army want to escape and others want to fight. Therefore, the fighting spirit is weakened, which will definitely reduce the casualties of our army. Then our army only needs to ambush the enemy when they flee.
As for the power of our cavalry, as you have seen with your own eyes today, it is definitely not something that the Japanese army can take advantage of. Therefore, if the enemy escapes and we pursue them, our army will definitely be able to defeat them easily. "Only then did the two important ministers of North Korea realize that Li Rusong did not intend to let the enemy go, but only wanted to eliminate them with the least casualties, so they expressed their understanding and agreement.
So Li Rusong sent a message to Commander Xiaoxi: "My troops are enough to annihilate you, but today we have killed too many people, and there is peace. I cannot bear to kill too much, so I will stay here temporarily and let you have a way to survive."
At this time, the reinforcements of the Japanese Third Army, Otomo Yoshitō, had witnessed the fierce and unusual fighting power of the Ming army during the day, and there was a lot of discussion in the army. They really did not dare to fight anymore, so they retreated without authorization.
Governor Konishi saw that his side had many casualties and that if the battle continued, there would be no First Army Corps tomorrow and it would be impossible to hold on to Pyongyang. He wrote back to Li Rusong and said: "If you are willing to withdraw, please do not stop it." Then Governor Konishi gathered his entire army and left the city overnight to retreat toward the Datong River.
After finding out that the Japanese troops had fled, Jin Mingyuan asked Li Rusong whether he should pursue him. Li Rusong said in surprise: "He asked me not to stop him, but why did I ever agree?" Jin Mingyuan was stunned.
Liu Chenglong hurriedly said to Jin Mingyuan: "Not to mention that soldiers are always tired of deceit, the Japanese army and we are life and death enemies. How can we tell them this? Admiral Li did not promise not to pursue! The so-called letting them live... ...This road is indeed open!" Jin Mingyuan could only smile bitterly.
Li Rusong said nothing and ordered the entire army to pursue them. In January, when the Datong River was frozen, a small group of Ming and Korean troops ambushing along the river immediately blocked the move and delayed the Japanese army's southward retreat. The main cavalry force of the Ming army pursued them to the Datong River and saw that the Japanese troops were retreating south. They originally planned to charge with cavalry, but after thinking about it, Li Rusong was worried that the large force of cavalry would collapse the ice, so he hesitated.
Qi Jin saw his thoughts and immediately suggested bombarding the ice. Li Rusong was indeed a man born for war. He immediately understood what Qi Jin meant and quickly ordered the bombardment of the river. Now the ice broke, and thousands of Japanese drowned.
With great difficulty, Governor Konishi climbed ashore with the help of his trusted aides. He could not care less about the ice water on his body and led the remaining troops to flee towards Kaicheng.
In the Battle of Pyongyang, the Ming army suffered 796 casualties and 1,492 wounded. The Japanese army suffered more than 10,000 casualties. The First Army Corps, which fought all the way from Busan to Pyongyang with almost no obstacles, was defeated and its backbone was broken.
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