This time the Japanese army's momentum was astonishing. Seeing that the Japanese army outside the city had completely surrounded Jinzhou, the North Korean generals once again gathered urgently to discuss the military situation. Cui Qingxian, the right-wing envoy of Gyeongsang Province, looked worried and said: "The Japanese pirates are coming with an astonishing force. Even if we fight to the bitter end, Jinzhou may not be able to be saved. Now that the Nanjiang River has been diverted and the moat has been widened, it should be able to withstand it for a while."
We have also tried our best to provide arms and food, but even so we are still not enough, not to mention tens of thousands of people who need to take care of the supply every day. After the Japanese pirates attack the city tomorrow, everyone will be in their respective positions, and their tactics can only be adapted to suit their needs. "
Jin Qian'ai, the envoy advocating for justice, asked: "Nowadays, everyone shares the same hatred. Tens of thousands of people can also become righteous soldiers. Compared with this, they are not far behind him. If Jinzhou can be defended once, it can be defended a second time. It is really not possible." It’s nothing more than sacrificing one’s life for the country and fighting the Japanese pirates until the last moment. But after all, there are too many Japanese pirates, and they have been fighting for a long time... I wonder if the Ming army and the imperial court will come to the rescue?”
Li Zongren, the envoy of Jinhai Mansion, replied: "As far as I know, not long after the imperial court returned the capital to Wangjing, the remaining troops of each province are still incomplete. Except for the troops guarding Wangjing, we are probably the only ones in Jinzhou now.
Oh, by the way, Quan Li and Li Ji are still in the Nanyuan area, but they retreated after being defeated, so they won't be able to support them for a while. Moreover, I heard that many generals in the imperial court believed that Jinzhou would definitely fall this time and opposed rescue. Liu Chenglong, the capital inspector, has gone to ask the Ming army for help, but he doesn't know if the Ming army will come again this time? "
The relationship between the Korean court and the Ming reinforcements is now very delicate, which of course they, as front-line generals, are aware of. Generally speaking, North Korea always hopes to maintain its independence, but the Ming army has always believed that North Korea does not have the ability to fight independently. It requires the North Korean army to obey the command of the Ming army on the one hand, and not always cause trouble to the Ming army on the other.
This situation is like the Ming army thinking that they are chess players, and North Korea can only be a chess piece. North Korea must not be allowed to be a chess piece like before, but instead they try every means to pull the Ming army to fight what they think they shouldn't fight at that time. battle.
Of course, North Korea could not recognize this situation. It felt that it was regarded as a drag bottle or even cannon fodder by the Ming army, and its self-esteem was severely hit. As a result, the two sides became deadlocked and each went his own way, losing the harmony that a "coalition" should have.
Originally, from the perspective of the vassal relationship between the two parties, the Ming army should naturally exercise command power in theory. However, in terms of the strength of both sides, the Ming army only dispatched about 50,000 troops. Although North Korea suffered consecutive defeats, it still had about 100,000 regular officers and soldiers, twice as many as the Ming army. As for North Korea's various rebels, monk soldiers, etc., once they are also added to the count, the number difference will be even greater.
The size of the fist is the size of the voice. Although most of the coalition's victories so far have been achieved by the smaller Ming army, based on the above total military strength, it is difficult for the Ming army to suppress the voices of all parties in North Korea. Therefore, this kind of command power There was no hope of breaking the stalemate for a while, so he said, "I don't know if the Ming army will come again this time."
Huang Jin, the Zhongqing Taoist envoy, suggested: "The Japanese pirates have arrived at the city. It would be best if the reinforcements can come. If they cannot come, we can only rely on ourselves. However, we still need to inform the army and the people that the reinforcements are coming, so as not to weaken their morale later." .
I thought that as long as the Jinju city wall still existed, Jinju would never fall. As long as it lasts a few days, reinforcements should still arrive. By the way, when defending the city, you should pay more attention to those wearing strange armor, because the armors of Japanese generals are different and not standard. If we can kill Japanese pirates every time in the future, we will be able to effectively drive them back and reduce the casualties of our army. "
The leader of the rebels, Gao Conghou, stood up and swore an oath: "My father and brother died at the hands of the Japanese army. I am leading the army now and am determined to avenge my father and brother. I don't know if the Japanese general Kobayakawa Takakage is outside the city. I swear to kill him at least every day." A general can always catch him. The volunteers I lead are all my father and brother's old troops. We will guard Jinzhou together this time. Our army will not retreat even an inch and will not stop until death."
Following his side, all the generals also stood up and swore an oath, expressing their loyalty to Jinzhou.
On the second day of the siege, the first batch of Japanese troops began to attack the city. At this time, North Korea had already diverted water from the Nanjiang River and poured it into the moat. The moat was more than ten feet wide, making it difficult for the Japanese army to advance lightly. Ukita Hideie ordered the Japanese army to dig dikes and divert the river water.
Later, the Japanese army filled the moat with earth clods and haystacks, and approached the Jinzhou city wall with bamboo shields. The Korean army's bows and crossbows were almost useless. The Japanese army dug a tunnel at the corner of the city under the cover of bamboo shields.
Unfortunately, the Japanese army's digging methods were somewhat shoddy. As they were digging, the corner of the wall suddenly collapsed, crushing the tunnel and causing the loss of some soldiers. The North Korean side did not watch. Li Zongren ordered the North Korean army to take the opportunity to pour hot oil and use fire arrows to fuel the fire. For a while, the fire outside the city was so intense that the Japanese army had no choice but to retreat.
A moment later, the second batch of Japanese troops began to storm the city, but the North Korean troops still resisted desperately. The two armies have been fighting like this for three whole days. The Japanese army has attacked the city no less than ten times, and the Korean army is exhausted physically and mentally. Jin Qianai led a group of Korean troops to prepare military rations day and night and deliver them one by one to boost morale. At this time, there were already dead bodies everywhere outside the city, mostly Japanese troops and many Korean troops.
Faced with this stalemate, Kuroda Nagamasa suggested: "We may build multiple high fortresses in the east of the city and rush into the city from a high position to avoid the bloody battle of ants climbing the city and reduce our army's casualties."
Ishida Mitsunari was quite skeptical about this plan. He believed that although the Korean army was at a disadvantage in terms of matchlock guns, it had some small and medium-sized artillery, as well as some other firearms that were suspected to be provided by the Ming army, such as a swarm of bees and a thunderbolt. Can it be successful to build a high barrier in front of long-range firearms?
Kuroda Nagamasa's answer was also very bachelor. He said: "Whether it succeeds or not, such a bloody battle is not a good idea at the moment. My suggestion is just to reduce the casualties of our army as much as possible. If this plan fails, then we will make another plan. And , Kato Kiyomasa’s masterpiece, the tortoise-shell chariot, is about to be completed. If our army still cannot conquer Jinzhou within two days, we will have no choice but to ask Kato to put this chariot into action.”
After talking for a long time, it turned out that there was no other way to do it. Not to mention seeking medical attention in a hurry, at least it was a casual try. After hearing this, Ukita Hideie felt that instead of having no response, it would be better to try the effect, so he agreed.
So on the fifth day, the Japanese army began to build a high fort in the east of the city and prepared to leap into the city. As expected, the Korean soldiers and civilians also fought against each other. They also built forts and continued to bombard the tops of the Japanese forts with artillery.
Although the Japanese army's matchlocks were superior in field battles, the range at this time was not as good as the artillery in the hands of the Korean army. After a few random bombardments, they could no longer bear it and had to give up.
On the sixth day, Jinzhou City was about to run out of arrows and stones. Jin Qianai, Cui Qinghui, Gao Conghou, Li Zongren, Huang Jin and others led the army and civilians to continue fighting against the Japanese army. The two armies fought fiercely until dawn the next day.
On the seventh day, Kato Kiyomasa ordered his Japanese troops to put ten newly built turtle-shell vehicles into battle. This turtle-shell vehicle was actually inspired by the Korean turtle-shell ship. Kato Kiyomasa was adding several layers of thick plates to the siege vehicle, and the overall It is strong and durable, the structure is exquisite, and the polishing is fine. It can be used to attack city gates and walls. The Japanese army can also use it to help them climb the city. However, this thing is too big and moves clumsily and slowly.
Cui Qing saw that although the turtle car was huge, it was all made of wood. Without saying a word, he ordered the turtle car to be poured with kerosene, and then fired rockets to ignite it. Several cars were burned down in a short time.
Kato Kiyomasa was shocked and ordered all the turtle-shell vehicles to be withdrawn. Then he imitated the practice of Chinese siege vehicles in previous dynasties and wrapped the turtle-shell vehicles with cowhide to prevent them from being burned by fire. At the same time, he rushed to build them again and shipped them to each team.
So on the eighth day, the Japanese army again invested dozens of tortoise-shell vehicles covered with thick cowhide, followed by a large number of Japanese troops, and launched another siege from all sides. The North Korean general Chungcheong Dao soldier Huang Jin was shot by Japanese iron artillery and was killed in battle. Date Masamune led his troops to the city.
Date came to Korea for the first time and wanted to show off his martial prowess. As expected, he was extremely brave and climbed the tower several times. Date Masamune himself was brightly armored, and he beheaded many people together with the soldiers around him. He immediately became the target of the North Korean army's fire. In order to avoid Date Masamune's loss, the Japanese army quickly stepped forward to cover his retreat.
When Jin Qian'ai heard that Huang Jin was killed in battle, he forced Xu Liyuan, the envoy of Jinzhou Prefecture, to supervise the formation. After Xu Liyuan ascended the city, he was so frightened that he saw the Japanese army firing missiles intensively. He fled down the city in embarrassment and disappeared without a trace.
Zhang Run, the deputy general of Zhongqing Dao, was so angry that he cursed and took the initiative to take over the formation. Unfortunately, he died in the battle two hours later. At this time, several Japanese troops had boarded Jinzhou City again. Li Zongren and Cui Qinghui once again called on the people to fight back at the city tower. Fortunately, it rained heavily at this time, and the Korean crossbows and Japanese matchlocks were both dampened, so they could only temporarily stop the troops.
At this point, the war situation seemed to be in a stalemate again, but in fact, under the continuous impact of the turtle vehicles for two days, parts of the wall had begun to loosen, and after heavy rains washed away, several walls were already on the verge of collapse.
At dawn on the ninth day, the Japanese army attacked the city again. Kato's army first broke through a corner of Jinzhou. Kato's samurai and Date Masamune took the lead in breaking into the city from this gap. A large group of Japanese troops swarmed into the city. Jinzhou soldiers and civilians were forced to turn to street fighting. Naturally, there is endless slaughter.
Jin Qianai, his son Jin Xiangqian, Cui Qinghui, Gao Conghou and others retreated to Shilou. Seeing that the situation was over, Jin Qianai said generously: "If I can join forces with you here to fight and defend our country, I will have no regrets in this life! But it has come to this. , I am afraid that there will be no chance of recovery, and this is the place where our generation will be buried.”
Gao Conghou felt deeply sad and angry, and said with emotion: "I feel incompetent, and I deeply regret that I could not personally behead Kobayakawa Takakage to comfort the souls of my father and brother in heaven. The words of my father and brother are still in my ears. There is no one in my Gao family who is greedy for life and afraid of death. Fortunately, we have killed countless Japanese pirates in the hard battle so far. I think I have no shame for my ancestors, and I have not embarrassed the rebels. Even if we are unable to recover today, our bodies will never fall into the hands of Japanese pirates and suffer the humiliation after death!"
Cui Qinghui was also full of emotions and said: "I admire your loyalty and heroic spirit. As the advocate said, I can fight side by side this time, and I will have no regrets even if I die. Even though we are in a desperate situation today, I still have the wish to be righteous with you!" We can die together today, and in the next life we can kill the enemy together to serve the country! I wonder what you guys think?"
Everyone was deeply moved and wanted to drink farewell wine, but unexpectedly the waiter had already escaped. Seeing that the Japanese army had chased them downstairs, Cui Qinghui led everyone to kneel to the north. Before his death, he became brothers and jumped into the Nanjiang River to die for his country.
Li Zongren, the envoy of Jinhai Mansion, was extremely brave and led his troops to fight in the four gates. He was gradually besieged and forced to Nanjiang. Seeing that death was inevitable, Li Zongren suddenly attacked, clamped two Japanese soldiers under his ribs, and shouted: "Li Zongren, the envoy of Jinhai Mansion, died here!" Then he turned around and jumped into the Nanjiang River with the Japanese soldiers wrapped around him.
Another general, Jin Junmin, fought on horseback in the streets, rushing back and forth to kill. Finally, he was shot off his horse with a matchlock gun because he was outnumbered, and was hacked to death with random knives. The city wall was broken, and the soldiers and people of Jinzhou were unable to resist the Japanese attack. Countless people died from iron cannons and swords. The rest of the people had no choice but to die in Nanjiang to avoid the butcher's knife.
The Japanese army slaughtered the city for half a day, burned houses, bulldozed city walls, dug wells and cut trees, leaving Jinzhou in ruins. Then the Japanese troops caroused all night long, and after taking some rest, they marched into various parts of Jeolla Province in batches. Without Jinju Fort, the North Korean troops were naturally difficult to stop.
After the fall of Jinzhou, Song Yingchang ordered Qi Jin to quickly march to Shaanxi and Chuan, and Wu Weizhong to march to Caoxi to set up defenses. The Japanese military adviser Kuroda Kanbei also received an order from Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Busan and transferred him back to the country to face charges.
After Kuroda Kanbei returned to Japan, he repeatedly apologized and shaved his head to become a monk in July.
As a fortified city that had won great victories, the news of the fall of Jinju shocked North Korea. More people realized that without the Ming army directly participating in the war, it would be extremely difficult for the North Korean army and the rebels to fight against the Japanese army.
Moreover, since the Ming army no longer supports North Korea, the material situation of the North Korean army has become increasingly difficult. Not to mention the replenishment of firearms, the North Korean army's gunpowder supply has only been cut off, and the combat effectiveness of the North Korean army has been greatly reduced. What is more fundamental and important is that there is a shortage of military rations.
Considering that North Korea's agricultural production mainly relies on the Han River Plain, which is currently either under the control of the Japanese army, or has been liberated but has delayed spring plowing due to the war, the food gap will expand sharply in the second half of this year. What will happen then? The human tragedy that no one dares to assume. As a result, the entire Korean court began to panic.
At this moment, Jinghua Trading Company suddenly came to visit, and through Jin Guiren's younger brother Jin Gongliang, he got the opportunity to meet Li Huo. Jinghua Trading Company proposed a solution to Li Huan. To put it simply, North Korea granted Jinghua the right to mine minerals in several places in North Korea and set up mining plants and iron plants at the same time. Jinghua Trading Company provided it to North Korea for a period of two years. A large amount of food was exchanged.
The agreement does not require permanent mining rights, but a "ninety-nine-year mineral mining rights." When Li Huo heard this, he was immediately moved.
If the mining rights demanded by Jinghua were permanent, then Li Huo would feel moral pressure to sell out his ancestral property. But now that Jinghua only asks for ninety-nine years, it is obviously not a betrayal, but a reasonable transaction. At this time of national crisis, it was a business that could be exchanged for food to provide emergency relief to North Korea. Neither the government nor the opposition could criticize this business, so the two sides began to hold emergency consultations on the location of specific mining areas and other matters.
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