The Ming army faced a bunch of unfavorable factors and launched a strong attack again. In fact, the Japanese army in Daoshan was also extremely difficult.
The Japanese army lost a large amount of supplies due to the loss of the Ulsan position. After holding on in Dosan Castle for a period of time, the remaining supplies were at risk.
The Ming army was right in judging that the Japanese army could obtain supplies from the sea, but it was not completely right - the Japanese army did obtain supplies secretly transported from the sea, but the Ming army's pacification of the Japanese fleet was only caused by bad weather. There are loopholes in the blockade, but its overall strength still dominates the Japanese naval forces. Therefore, these supplies are intermittent, sometimes more and sometimes less, and are very unstable.
Before the Ming army launched another forceful attack, Asano Nagamasa discussed with Kato Kiyomasa. He said with a worried look on his face: "I have sent a message for help again. It is getting colder now. It is difficult for the Ming navy to completely block the entire coast. Our navy Although it is difficult for the soldiers, they still have the opportunity to find loopholes and sneak in. It is expected that reinforcements will arrive in a few days.
However, the war situation is critical, and a few days is short to say, but it is long to survive in it. Now casualties are increasing day by day, everyone is tired, military rations are in short supply, and drinking water is cut off. If the snow can not be melted and drank, the trouble will be really big... The top priority is to survive these days. "
Kato Kiyomasa asked Nabeshima Naoshima again. Nabeshima Naoshima bluntly said that although the entire army was hungry, they would persevere until the last moment. No matter how many casualties they incurred, they would rather die in battle. But Nabeshima Naoshima didn't know. How to manage to overcome.
Asano Nagamasa said: "The Cage Castle Warfare should only be carried out as a last resort. The first priority is to prepare enough weapons and food, and to boost morale. Only with the help of ingenious strategies can a victory be achieved. Kato Yongwu can defeat a hundred enemies with one, and once reinforcements are sent, Once rescued, the situation of the war can be reversed...I think we can send a messenger out to sea to urge Busan."
Kato Kiyomasa was silent and walked towards the horse, which was stunned for a long time. Suddenly he drew his sword and the horse was chopped down to the ground. Kato Kiyomasa ordered the entire army to slaughter the horse and ration the horse meat to satisfy their hunger. Horse blood should not be wasted, as it could not only quench thirst but also satisfy hunger.
Asano was surprised how he could drink horse blood and even satisfy his hunger. Unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, Kato Kiyomasa took a scoop and drank a large mouthful of horse blood himself. He looked so drunk, especially his teeth, which were bright red, which was intimidating.
Naoshima Naoshima was shocked at first, then took a sip, and then shouted that he was addicted to it. The Japanese soldiers were inspired by it, and they were full of energy for a while, and the killing sound was loud.
Asano Nagamasa sighed: "Kato is a true ghost. With His Majesty Taikaku having such a powerful general, even the gods and Buddhas will be shaken."
Because of Kato Kiyomasa's personal charisma, although the Japanese army reduced their daily rations to half of the normal amount, they still managed to do so in a very orderly manner and did not let the Ming army, which faced many disadvantages, take any advantage.
On the thirteenth day of the Ming army's battle, Japanese reinforcements finally landed at Kaiyunpu, and this time they were not entirely Japanese troops from Busan, but a combination of Japanese local reinforcements and Japanese troops from Busan.
This support army was led by Kobayakawa Hideaki as the general of the reinforcements. Hidemoto Mouri and Motochina Nagasogabu led 16,000 troops to help. Later, Shimazu Yoshihiro's nephew Shimazu Toyohisa and Yoshikawa Hiroie led the troops. Wan Youyu is also coming to the rescue.
According to the plan of the Japanese army, the reinforcements were densely covered with flags, and the fleet was filled with straw men wearing military uniforms to make them suspicious. At the same time, warning cannons were fired from time to time to facilitate the Ming army's exploration.
When Kobayakawa Hideaki landed, he shouted: "The merits of the world will be on Daoshan. Defeat the Ming army and show off the prestige of our army! Send an order to my general: The heads of Korean soldiers will be rewarded 50 mun, and the heads of miscellaneous soldiers from the Ming Dynasty will be rewarded 200 mun. The enemy general’s head will be worth fifty guan, and whoever takes the head of the enemy’s general, Ma Gui, will be rewarded 5,000 guan!”
As soon as this order was issued, the morale of the Japanese army was greatly boosted and they quickly advanced towards Daoshan.
At this time, the Ming army had not captured Daoshan Castle. Ma Gui was under great pressure these days, supervising the battles and studying how to use the advantages of artillery to attack Daoshan Japanese Castle. Unexpectedly, one day he felt cold.
Generals with a physique like his rarely get sick, but the more he gets sick, the more he gets sick. The wind and cold made Ma Gui weak and unbearable, so he could only go back to camp to rest and take the opportunity to think more carefully. Think about how to defeat the enemy.
Li Shanhai came to the south hoping to gain some military exploits so that he could gain authority in the court. Unexpectedly, after two or three months, he only won some victories at the beginning, and then he was blocked on the island mountain and couldn't move any further. It was inevitable that he had some feelings for Ma Gui. dissatisfied.
At this moment, he saw that Ma Gui seemed to be suspending the offensive under the pretext of illness, and immediately said to Ma Gui: "Admiral Ma, now is the time to compete in strength, and we must not relax. Although the Japanese pirates are stubbornly resisting, their army rations and water are not enough. There is not much left.
Especially these two days, the weather has been beautiful and even the snow has stopped. Even if they want to melt the snow into water, they will soon be unable to do so. As long as our coalition forces continue to attack, they will definitely win a complete victory. "
Ma Gui actually had a fever at this moment, had a splitting headache and was very tired. He steeled himself and said: "The Japanese pirates are already a turtle in the urn, and since we resumed the offensive this time, we have been attacking for thirteen consecutive days. The generals and I have supervised the battle day and night, and the soldiers have suffered casualties. As the day progresses, they are all exhausted.
In addition, it is the coldest when the weather clears and the snow melts, and even I can get frostbite, which shows the situation of the soldiers on the front line. I think it would be better to rest for a few days and then fight again. "
Li Dexin reminded from the side: "If we can't step up the attack on the Japanese city, once enemy reinforcements arrive, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult to attack the city."
Seeing that the two of them had been urging the war since they came to his army, Ma Gui finally became impatient and said in a cold tone: "So what? If the Japanese reinforcements come, it will be exactly what I want. They can kill the Japanese Gathering and annihilating people under this Daoshan City is the essence of encirclement and reinforcements!"
Sometimes when people are unlucky, their teeth are so choked even after drinking cold water. As soon as Ma Gui said this, an urgent report came that Japanese reinforcements had landed at Kaiyunpu. The number of troops was difficult to count for a while, and a rough estimate may be more than 50,000.
Ma Gui had already expected to encircle the point and call for reinforcements, but the 50,000 that came here seriously exceeded his expectations. Even Ma Gui was shocked when he heard this, and he was thinking about where the Japanese army could get so many reinforcements. Didn't Busan City plan to wanted?
At this moment, Magui obviously did not expect that although there were many Japanese generals who had already been in Busan to lead the troops in this supporting army, most of the troops they led were newly sent from Japan. They were the last step of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's madness. Fight.
However, the reactions of Li Shanhai and Li Dexin were very different from Ma Gui. The two urgently requested an immediate general offensive, believing that only by capturing Daoshan could they withstand the Japanese reinforcements.
Ma Gui strongly opposed this proposal: "This must not be the case. Even if we launch a general offensive, because there are very few suitable gun positions, our army's siege offensive cannot be carried out. Daoshan cannot be attacked immediately, and if we fail to reinforce the enemy, If you capture Daoshan before arriving, you will be surrounded by enemies from both sides and besieged on all sides. Acting so recklessly will only waste all your previous efforts!
Nowadays, the Japanese pirates have suffered unprecedented heavy losses, but the number of reinforcements this time is indeed larger than expected. In order to avoid being attacked by the enemy, it is still necessary to wait until they have regrouped before attacking Daoshan, and they must also be careful to observe whether the number of Japanese reinforcements is real. true.
I think it is not a big worry even if we let this Japanese reinforcements join up with the Dosan Japanese army. The island is not big, so how can the 60,000 to 70,000 Japanese troops huddle in the city for long? When their military supplies are exhausted, it will be easy for me to take the island.
If the number of Japanese reinforcements is insufficient and does not number 50,000, then our army can press back after a slight retreat. Although encirclement and reinforcements cannot be achieved, the worst situation of the war is not bad enough before the war begins. At least Ulsan is still in my hands. .
In this way, our army still poses a major threat to Dosan. Tens of thousands of Japanese troops are pinned here, which can also reduce the pressure on Yangshan. The cabinet will definitely understand the situation of our army. Immediately send an order to the entire army, asking all units to be prepared and retreat to Ulsan as soon as the enemy's situation is discovered! "
Li Shanhai and Li Dexin repeatedly requested to continue the attack, but Ma Gui insisted not to do so and ordered the troops to withdraw immediately. Although one of the two of them was the leader of North Korea and the other was the military commander (equivalent to the minister of the Ministry of War), they were not as senior as the admiral of the country, so they had no choice but to obey the orders.
Kato Kiyomasa and Asano Nagamasa were greatly excited when they learned that reinforcements had arrived. The morale of the Japanese army was high, and the firepower counterattack was more fierce than in the past.
Ma Gui had already fallen ill and returned to the front line to supervise the battle. At this time, he also noticed something unusual about the Japanese army. He knew that the Japanese army knew that reinforcements were coming, so he behaved like this.
His mind was groggy and his thinking was far less sharp than usual. Before he could figure out how to respond, he suddenly saw that the Ming army's rear troops were in a panic and were retreating northward. He couldn't help but frown.
At this time, Jie Sheng came to report: "It has been reported that the Japanese pirate army is coming to help. The North Korean leader and military commander have strictly ordered the troops to withdraw. When our army saw the North Korean army withdrawing first, the morale of our army dropped sharply and the chaos was uncontrollable."
At this time, Mao Guoqi also came in a hurry. Without saying a word, he asked for orders: "The army is in chaos and the admiral is ill. It is not suitable to fight for a long time. Please retreat quickly. We will be the rear."
Ma Gui was furious when he heard this: "I gave the order to retreat, but now we haven't found out the strength of the enemy's troops, how can we retreat in a hurry? Li Shanhai and Li Dexin usually look like they understand military affairs well, how could they continue to do so? You don’t know how the army should retreat? At the moment, the ordnance and equipment are still on the front line. You are waiting for me to send an order to the general, asking all ministries to improve military discipline and evacuate in an orderly manner. I will delay it after I stop it!"
As we all know, it is much easier for an army to attack than to retreat. Countless battle histories at home and abroad, both ancient and modern, show that once a retreat is poorly arranged, the probability of it turning into a rout is very high.
Ma Gui's order was originally "All ministries are preparing to retreat." In addition to his instructions to ascertain the reality of the Japanese reinforcements, there is also an implicit meaning, that is, each ministry should pack their luggage, arrange the rear, and finally arrange the rear. It's an orderly retreat.
Unexpectedly, Li Shanhai and Li Dexin, whether they didn't understand or did it on purpose, actually withdrew with the Korean army without saying a word. This, coupled with the news of the Japanese pirates' large reinforcements, naturally led to the collapse of the Ming army. No one in the various ministries wanted to be caught and beaten by a new force of Japanese pirates, so they all wanted to take the first step.
Li Shanhai and Li Dexin may not understand. How could Ma Gui not know the dangers despite having fought for half his life? Hence the above-mentioned denunciation.
Wu Weizhong advised: "I'm afraid it's too late to say this now. The Korean army has already withdrawn first, and there will be no troops to block the vacant position for a while. As the commander-in-chief, the admiral cannot stand in the midst of dangerous troops. If something goes wrong, , I am afraid that the morale of the army will be difficult to recover, and all the ministries will panic and lose their way, be defeated, and be massacred by the Japanese pirates.
The general thought that the admiral should evacuate the army immediately. The general and Mao Canrong's troops were mainly infantry, so they could lead their troops to break up the rear and resist the Japanese invasion. As long as the army retreated safely, the two of us would come to join them. "
Ma Gui broke out in a sweat at this time, and his mind was much clearer. He knew that although it seemed a bit tiring to follow his suggestion, it was the most correct choice at the moment. Therefore, he put aside the problem of dignity and gave two instructions again and again. People must save their lives, and never choose to fight to the end and make meaningless sacrifices under such circumstances.
The second general saw that although Admiral Ma was sick, his thinking was still clear, and he immediately accepted the order with clasped fists. So Ma Gui ordered Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi to lead five thousand troops to block the attack, and he personally supervised the evacuation of the troops and escorted the baggage at the same time.
Kobayakawa Hideaki's army quickly arrived on the battlefield, and then attacked the Ming army's position. Kato Kiyomasa saw clearly in the city, and did not hesitate to lead the attack. Fortunately, Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi were both famous generals from the Qi family army, and their troops have always been good at attacking and defending. , so after a hard fight they were still able to retreat in an orderly manner, but they finally managed to break out of the encirclement.
However, after all, this battle happened in a hurry, and various departments of the Ming army inevitably scrambled to seize the road. Although the road to Ulsan was not far away, the losses still exceeded expectations.
In the end, nearly 10,000 Japanese soldiers were killed, injured, and died of hunger and thirst; more than 1,000 Korean soldiers were killed and 3,000 wounded; the Ming army was over 3,000 killed and about 3,000 injured.
But what made Ma Gui angry the most was that the Ming army suffered only a thousand casualties in the early stage of the offensive. The reason why more than 3,000 people died in the final battle, two thousand of them were the result of retreat. Such heavy casualties were ultimately caused by the indiscriminate retreat of the North Korean army. Ma Gui was so angry that he immediately wrote a personal letter to complain to Gao Pragmatic.
Li Shanhai and Li Dexin also had something to say. They also wrote to Gao Pragmatic to complain. The general idea was that if Ma Gui had fought more resolutely earlier and stormed Daoshan with some casualties, these things would not have happened at all later.
As for some people saying that the North Korean army will withdraw first, that is mainly due to a misunderstanding of the language between the two parties, because if the North Korean military talks about withdrawing, it will withdraw immediately without any of the various preparations Ma Gui mentioned. and arrangements.
But I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. In this battle, the only one who escaped unscathed during the retreat was neither the main force of Ma Gui nor the Korean army. Of course, it was certainly not Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi’s troops, but Li Rumei. .
Because Li Rumei's troops were mainly cavalry, they did not have much room for siege warfare. Even the garrison was relatively outside, and they even had nothing to do on weekdays.
As a result, when he heard that the Japanese reinforcements were coming that day, he thought that Ma Gui would immediately send someone to convey the order for him to dispatch - whether it was to fight the Japanese army or to investigate the Japanese army, it is logically possible. It mainly depends on how Ma Gui plans to decide. All-military action.
However, to his surprise, the news he received was actually sent by Li Shanhai and Li Dexin, saying that Admiral Ma had ordered an immediate retreat.
Li Rumei intuitively felt that this order was not normal, and originally planned to send someone to verify it. Unexpectedly, the North Korean army had already withdrawn. When Li Rumei took a look through the binoculars, it turned out that the Ming army was also "retreating."
He also misunderstood this time and thought that Ma Gui had really given the order to retreat. Li Rumei knew Ma Gui's status under Gao Pingshi's command, and he was a senior general. Since he said he wanted to withdraw, there must have been unexpected circumstances that he was not aware of, so he followed the order to withdraw.
Unexpectedly, when asked afterwards, Ma Gui didn't mean that at all, and the reason why Li Shanhai and Li Dexin "fake military orders" was to show their kindness to him, General Li.
This made Li Rumei herself not sure whether she should be angry or appreciative. After much deliberation, she had no choice but to write a letter to Gao Pragmatic, admitting her mistake first.
----------
Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "lyle", "Yun Fuyue Yu", "Old West of Altay", "Cao Mianzi", and "Ling Qi Zhao Bi Xin" for their monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: Like Magui, I fell asleep in the first half of the night, so I was a little late. I have some things to do during the day on Saturday, but it should... or I hope it won't affect the update.
Click to download the APP of this site, massive, free reading!