When Ma Gui received the news of the Yongxing defeat, the Ming army suffered heavy losses in this battle. Even excluding the losses caused by the explosion of the powder magazine, 1,132 people were killed in the night attack alone (including those who were killed on the spot). died and died of serious injuries after the war), 647 people were seriously injured and disabled, and 4,963 people were slightly injured. Dong Yiyuan's remaining troops dispersed all the way, and finally gathered in Yuanshan.
Although the above losses were huge, the losses during the collapse were not much less than the losses on the spot, because after Dong Yiyuan fled back to Yuanshan to conduct a troop count, he found that the remaining troops were only 20,000. In other words, the troops he lost this time heading north were no less than the total strength of Nabeshima Katsushige's command.
What a shame!
When Ma Gui saw Dong Yiyuan's letter of apology, he was so angry that one Buddha ascended to heaven and two Buddhas entered nirvana. The eponymous general, who had been undefeated for 20 years since becoming Gao Pangshi's sect, suddenly clenched his fist and punched the yellow pear tree in front of him into pieces, causing sawdust to fly everywhere, frightening all the generals in the tent. One trembled, and everyone was silent, not even daring to breathe out.
At this time, almost all the generals of the Northern Army in the tent were old subordinates that Ma Gui had commanded in the past. Seeing that the admiral was so angry, no one dared to persuade him. Therefore, Qi Jin, who was born in the Southern Army, had no choice but to stand up and say to Ma Gui: "Admiral, calm down. Although Dong Zongrong should not have been defeated in this battle, the matter has reached this point and it is useless to talk about it. It is the court's duty to hold people accountable. We, the generals, can only do our best to deal with the subsequent changes."
"What you said is correct. It's just that Tianxuan has been leading the army for many years, and yet he could make such a big mistake. I... am so angry!" Ma Gui really couldn't bear to direct his anger at Qi Jin, so he had to hold back his anger. said.
[Note: "Tianxuan" here should be the epitome of Dong Yiyuan, but this is a fabrication. The reason is that I found a lot of relevant information but there is no record of Dong Yiyuan's name, only the name of his brother Dong Yikui.
Dong Yikui's word "Tiansu" obviously takes "Kui" as the meaning of the twenty-eight places. Based on this character selection style, it can be deduced that Dong Yiyuan, as the younger brother, may also have the character "天" in his character. However, "Yuan" has several meanings, including "Chu", "Shou", etc., and it also refers to the word "Xuan".
The Dong family was a family of generals. If Dong Yiyuan had the words "Tianchu", "Tianshi", "Tianshou", etc., it would be too arrogant in the feudal dynasty, and might even be regarded as having ulterior motives.
Furthermore, considering that the father of the Dong Yiyuan brothers, Dong Yang, was a general in Datong before his death in the battle, as a military general, it would be unrealistic to give his son such a name in the Jiajing Dynasty, when the civil service group was extremely powerful, so the fictional name here is " Tianxuan". ]
Ma Gui and Dong Yiyuan were actually old acquaintances, and even had a good friendship. It was not surprising that he was so angry that he refused to argue. I have said many times before that Xuanda and Shaanxi's three factions have been married to each other for many years. The relationship network and in-law network are so broken that they cannot be treated as a family.
This is just like when the Jin Party joined the Practical School, the Shaanxi Party followed almost at the same time. It is not an exaggeration to compare the relationship between Zhang Siwei and Ma Ziqiang to that of Ma Gui and Dong Yiyuan.
Therefore, Ma Gui's anger at this time was not only because of a major defeat on the battlefield, but also because Dong Yiyuan's defeat may be counted as a deduction for Xuanda and the Trilateral Faction at the court level—— These two families are both direct descendants of Gao Pragmatic. Although in terms of closeness, they are closer to each other and slightly farther apart, but they are still "one family" no matter what.
So in other words: Dong Yiyuan's points deduction is equal to Ma Gui's points deduction, and Ma Gui's points deduction is equal to Gao Pragmatic's points deduction. The impact is very bad.
Of course, after all, the battle was fought by Dong Yiyuan, and this battle was obviously a battle between the strong and the weak. He could defeat it. The final punishment should at most be punished to him, and nothing would happen to Ma Gui, let alone There will be no such thing as high pragmatism. The so-called "point reduction" above is mainly at the political level and refers to a "momentum".
Ma Gui said that he was angry and refused to fight. Qi Jin naturally couldn't interrupt, so he could only change the topic and said: "The battle report said that Nurhachi was also there at the time, but he took advantage of the Japanese pirates' night attack and killed him out, and returned successfully. The place where its garrison is located is emerging. The general always feels that this matter is a little strange..."
Ma Gui pondered: "Dong Yiyuan accused Nurhachi of being arrogant and disobeying orders in his confession report. What do you think about this?"
Qi Jin frowned and said: "Nurhachi seems to be respectful, but in fact he is arrogant. He may have the heart to dominate Manchuria. The generals in Liaodong have a consensus on this. However, Dong Zongrong said that Nurhaci does not listen to orders... This point The last general has some doubts. With Nurhachi's cunning, he really shouldn't disobey orders in person, so the last general suspects that there is something hidden."
Ma Gui frowned upon hearing this, but remained silent. Seeing this, Qi Jin suddenly realized: If the responsibility was put on Nurhachi for not obeying the order, wouldn't Dong Yiyuan's crime for this defeat be much lighter?
There is no psychological burden for Ming generals to shift the blame to Nurhaci. Although Qi Jin has always been upright, he had faced off with Nurhaci at Fushun Pass a few years ago, so naturally he would not stand up for Nurhaci. What, so he immediately added: "Of course, it is also possible that Nurhaci was awarded the title of General Longhu and led the Jurchen coalition to aid the DPRK. It is possible that he is arrogant."
Ma Gui nodded and said: "It makes sense. I will use this argument to plead guilty to the imperial court. As for what attitude the imperial court will take after learning about it, that is beyond my ability to comment."
When he said this, he waved his hand and said: "Let's talk about what happened on the battlefield first. The latest current situation is that Dong Zongrong has retreated to Yuanshan, and the Japanese pirate Nabeshima Katsushige's troops followed immediately, so it was empty. After leaving Xianxing City, Nurhachi and other Jurchen coalition forces took advantage of the situation and occupied it.
In terms of recovering the lost territory of Korea, the northern border of Korea has been fully recovered, but we have to pay attention to the next movements of Nabeshima Katsushige's Japanese army. What do the generals think about this? "
Lieutenant General Yansui said: "It stands to reason that this group of Japanese pirates originally only had 5,000 people. Although the night attack on Yongxing was successful, it could not be without losses. And after the war, they gave up on Xianxing and pursued them. Dong Zongrong arrived near Yuanshan, which meant that it was difficult for the wounded soldiers in their army to be properly placed, and it would also become a reason for the loss of soldiers.
If these wounded soldiers had been in their army, it would have delayed their advance. From this point of view, it is unlikely that they will continue to attack Wonsan. If they want to bypass Wonsan and go south, their advance will be slow. If our army can separate a cavalry or a strong force without artillery, The army should be able to catch up or intercept them. "
Mao Guoqi didn't seem to agree with this statement. He said: "This statement is certainly reasonable, but as far as I know, the Japanese pirates have always been cruel, not only to the enemy, but also to their own people. Now they are facing a desperate situation where they are surrounded on all sides. They give up the treatment of the wounded I’m afraid it’s not something they can’t do.”
As one of the famous generals of the Southern Army, Mao Guoqi fought under Qi Jiguang many years ago, so he naturally had enough say in the cruelty of Japanese pirates. When he said this, others immediately agreed.
Ye Bangrong, the commander-in-chief of Baoding who also came from the Qi Army but was recently transferred to Korea, said: "We and the Southern Army fought many fierce battles with Japanese pirates in the past. At that time, most of the real Japanese were rogues, but all parties in the Japanese country were defeated in a melee." Running warriors, these warriors...are roughly equivalent to the servants of our court.
Everyone, there is something I have to mention. Just as the most elite members of our army are servants, a thousand servants are enough to defeat an army of 10,000 or 20,000. The combat power of the Japanese army does not depend on its army, but on its warriors.
Among the Japanese army, ordinary soldiers, whether wounded or disabled, could be discarded like worn-out shoes. Only samurai soldiers could not discard them. Therefore, Xie Fu Rong said that the Japanese army may have slowed down their march due to wounded soldiers. I think it is unlikely. Therefore, I agree with the theory that the Japanese pirates will detour southwards through Yuanshan, and troops should be sent to intercept them. "
The generals discussed each other for a while, and the more Ma Gui listened, the more headache he got, because in the end everyone believed that Nabeshima Katsushige's Japanese army must send troops to pursue them, and because Nurhaci's loyalty was very questionable, they must also Give more strength to Dong Yiyuan, who has just suffered a big loss, so as to prevent Nurhachi from causing trouble and making it difficult to explain.
But the number of troops in Ma Gui's hands only seemed to be large. Among them, he had no intention of moving the 30,000 people who had originally stayed with the Korean royal family. But in this way, the number of troops was not enough. It was impossible for him to lead his troops south to help. But Sichuan only brought a small force, right?
Even a military commander, at his position, has to consider political issues at a higher level. But if political issues are considered first, it means that the troops going south are indispensable, the troops in Hanyang cannot be adjusted, and the troops to shock Nurhaci must be dispatched. Only the part that goes to Wonsan to intercept Nabeshima Katsushige can be relatively small.
There are only 60,000 people in total. How can we divide it among so many things to do? Ma Gui couldn't help but pace and ponder.
At this moment, Qi Jin seemed to have some idea, and suddenly said: "Admiral Ma, do you think this will work: let Nurhachi chase Nabeshima Katsushige."
Ma Gui's eyes lit up, but he soon frowned and hesitated, and asked: "But the North Koreans are extremely wary of the Jurchens. If the Jurchen coalition forces are allowed to pursue the Japanese pirates from north to south, will the North Koreans worry about the towns along the way being attacked?" Are the Jurchens harmful? Especially, if something like that really happens, will the Koreans hate us as well?"
Qi Jin had always been dissatisfied with North Korea's previous struggle for command. After hearing what Ma Gui said, he immediately said: "My heavenly soldiers saved North Korea from certain death. If they don't even have this awareness, then let them hate it - Even if they hate me, what can they do to me?"
"That's not what you say..." In fact, Ma Gui was just concerned about the political influence. He was not worried about what the North Koreans thought, otherwise he would not have protected the North Korean royal family under a pseudonym but actually placed him under house arrest. But the scene still needs to be said, so he still said: "Joseon is a loyal vassal after all, and the King of Joseon is also loyal to the emperor. Since he came to the throne, he has been receiving tributes and greetings constantly, so his face should be taken care of."
"But..." At this point, Ma Gui changed the subject and said: "What you said is not unreasonable. It is true that our heavenly soldiers rescued the vassal country, but the vassal country should also repay its kindness, and even more so. Understand the difficulties faced by the heavenly soldiers coming from afar.
Nowadays, the heavenly troops are in short supply, and the Jurchen coalition army under Nurhaci has suddenly become the largest army in the northern border of North Korea. How can it be abandoned?
Of course, considering that North Korea and the Jurchens have been entangled for two hundred years, and there are constant disputes at the border, this has to be considered. I think this way, let Marshal Quan Li of North Korea lead his army eastward to intercept the Japanese pirates Nabedao Shengmao Division, and at the same time mobilize Nurhaci to go south. I will issue a military order to Nurhaci and let him temporarily obey Quan Li. "
Mao Guoqi was shocked when he listened. He had helped the Koreans train the army for a period of time before, so he was familiar with some Korean generals and knew that the relationship between the Koreans and the Jurchens was quite tense.
One of the important reasons for this is that the Gaima Plateau in the northeast of North Korea's Hamgyong Province was originally Jurchen territory. North Korea used various methods to swallow it up in the early years, and later it became an important horse farm for the North Koreans. As a result, the two sides have continued to conflict on that front, with no trust in each other.
Under such circumstances, Ma Gui delegated power to Quan Li and directed Nurhachi. Can these two people really cooperate?
Mao Guoqi quickly told Ma Gui about these situations, and then added: "As far as the general knows, although Quan Li is the marshal of North Korea, the Korean army is almost completely useless at the moment. I am afraid that the manpower Quan Li can mobilize is It is still very limited. The general predicts that even if Quan Li is willing to send troops eastward, he can only mobilize 20,000 to 30,000 people at most...
Oh, Admiral Ma, the general is not saying how powerful the force is really needed to deal with that band of Japanese pirates, but he is saying that if Quan Li doesn't have enough troops when he sends out troops, he may not be able to suppress Nurhaci at all. By then, they would dislike each other, and even if their military strength was ten times that of the Japanese pirates, they might not be able to block Nabeshima Katsushige's escape to the south, which would only delay the business. "
But at this moment, Ma Gui figured out something, raised his eyebrows and asked: "If this Japanese pirates really succeed in escaping south, let me ask you: so what?"
Mao Guoqi was startled, then suddenly came to his senses and said, "Admiral Ma is saying... intercepting this Japanese bandit is not the main intention of mobilizing Quan Li's troops to advance eastward?"
"Hahahaha, not bad." Ma Gui's thoughts were clear at this time, and he said with a smile: "Let Quan Lidong enter in order to give the King of Joseon a face and let his most trusted generals go to see the Jurchens in person, so that the Jurchens cannot Recklessly.
At the same time, as long as the 30,000 North Korean troops in Quan Li's hands leave Hanyang, then I no longer need to leave 30,000 troops in Hanyang - the people still have to stay, but the number can be greatly reduced. In this way, our military strength will be fully distributed. "
All the generals knew the significance of the 30,000 troops staying with the Korean royal family, so everyone understood when Ma Gui explained it.
Yes, once the 30,000 Korean troops in Quan Li's hands left, why did the Ming army keep 30,000 troops in Hanyang? Although the North Korean army still has some scattered troops near Hanyang, they have been ordered to prepare to go south to recover Chungcheong Province, Jeolla Province and other places, and they must leave.
Once they leave, how many North Korean troops will be left near Hanyang? Isn't it enough to "protect the Korean royal family" if my heavenly soldiers leave three to five thousand men in Hanyang?
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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward support and monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: I was confused when I checked Dong Yiyuan’s handwriting today, and it took me a long time. Gan, it's obviously not a very important thing, but I don't want Ma Gui's words to be inconsistent with his identity...
