Chapter 50 Ye Chen vs Li Chenggui
The Datong River rolls to the southwest. This is a famous river in Goryeo. Although it is not a big deal in the Central Plains, at this moment, it is also a natural danger.
This natural barrier divided the Ming Dynasty army into two sections. Because of the river crossing, part of the army was already on the west bank of the Datong River, and part of the army was still on the east bank of the Datong River. At this time, something unexpected happened on the east bank of the Datong River.
Countless Goryeo cavalrymen fought their way out of the sorghum fields.
The Ming army was caught off guard.
At this time, even if Ye Chen was extremely capable, it was impossible for him to command the troops behind him from across the river. They could only watch as the rear column was surrounded and divided by several times the number of Korean cavalry. Annihilate them all.
The only good news is that ever since he went south, Ye Chen has been adhering to the principle of charging ahead and stopping behind. This time when crossing the river, Ye Chen was the first to cross the river and clear the way for the army on the south bank. Those left behind were the Jurchens, the newly attached troops, and some wounded.
Therefore, Ye Chen's headquarters suffered considerable losses.
But this was Ye Chen's first defeat since he entered Goryeo.
After Ye Chen retreated from Kaijing and headed north, he encountered a problem. After hundreds of years since the founding of the Goryeo Kingdom, some people still looked up to him. The reward given by Wang Yu was so high that it attracted the attention of the local people. As a result, Ye Chen encountered many attacks of one kind or another.
As for the Goryeo Five Guards Army, it was said that there were hundreds of thousands of people, although many of them were on empty pay. But there are at least 80,000 to 90,000 people.
Ye Chen thought about killing a carbine and defeating one first. But the Korean people are smart and take every step, just like an old lady with bound feet. Let Ye Chen find no flaws. And Ye Chen was not a god when he defeated the tens of thousands of Goryeo troops.
But everything has pros and cons.
The disadvantage is that this kind of pursuit is a see-off type of pursuit, which poses no threat to Ye Chen at all. The only threat to Ye Chen is that Li Chenggui's troops join the battlefield. Ye Chen and Li Chenggui's troops came into contact for the first time on the battlefield, and both sides had their own victories and defeats. Ye Chen didn't dare to fight anymore, and Li Chenggui didn't dare to pursue him either.
The reason for this is that Ye Chen's armor is too sophisticated. More than half of the four to five thousand men are wearing armor. The Jurchens' battlefield organization is still very poor, but their martial arts are indeed good. There is only one chance to organize the Jurchen cavalry into heavy cavalry and attack the main formation of the Korean cavalry.
Because the Jurchen cavalry charged once and dispersed, it was almost impossible to gather again on the battlefield. However, this charge has great power.
Li Chenggui is not a weak player. However, seeing this situation, he did not dare to resist and could only give in.
But Li Chenggui is indeed a brave general. Even though the Jurchen warriors are already quite powerful. However, under Li Chenggui, there was no enemy in Yihe, and it was Li Chenggui's failure that made it impossible for the Ming army to defeat the Goryeo army in one fell swoop. The two sides faced off for half a day and fought several times, but neither of them could do anything against the other. In the end, Ye Chen retreated first.
It seemed that Ye Chen was defeated, but Ye Chen also made his own discovery. That is when he discovered that Li Chenggui and the King of Korea were not so close. Without him, Li Chenggui had thousands of elite cavalry. Although their armor and equipment were weaker than those of the Ming army, the long swords of both sides met. On the Ming side, there was almost no problem with the long swords. But there is a small gap on Li Chenggui's side. Even during the battle, the long knife broke.
This was the reason why Li Chenggui was helpless.
But this was not the reason why Li Chenggui watched him withdraw.
Because Ye Chen knows very well that if Li Chenggui drags Ye Chen on the battlefield with more than half of his troops' casualties, perhaps Ye Chen and his headquarters' hundreds of Ming troops will be able to escape, but most of the young girls and newly attached troops will have to answer. Here it is.
Playing chess is called hand-to-hand talk, because playing chess itself is a kind of communication. A real master can figure out some of the opponent's thoughts even if he doesn't say it, and the same goes for fighting.
As the commanders of both parties, Ye Chen and Li Chenggui have thought through my mind countless times about what the other can do and how I should respond, and the actions of the other party are linked to my conjectures. Some things are easy to deduce.
Li Chenggui saved his strength.
From the battle in front of us, we can also see that if Li Chenggui attacked earlier, he would have gained more. Why did he only attack more than a thousand people in the rear?
It's the same problem.
Ye Chen couldn't guess the specific reason. Maybe Li Chenggui wanted to explain to Kaijing, or Li Chenggui had other ideas, but it was obvious that Li Chenggui and Kaijing were not of the same mind.
After Ye Chen understood this, he became less worried about Li Chenggui, but more worried about his soldiers.
Without him, this battle would be lost. It's so demoralizing.
Not to mention, the so-called soldiers under his command are just a bunch of rabble. Ye Chen led them to victory one after another, and they gathered around Ye Chen. But Ye Chen's undefeated golden body was broken. Many people have other ideas.
Ye Chen's eyes were a little cold, scanning everyone.
With relatives on the other side, crying bitterly. Some were pale and whispering, and some were whispering to each other with wandering eyes.
Ye Chen had already prepared for the worst, and thought to himself: "My mission was just to hold Gao Li back, and now the mission has been completed. It would be better to take the remaining people back. There is no hope if I can't take them back. I will bring them back." Just go back with our troops."
It seems that the military is the coldest calculation, and those who can become famous generals have a similar cold heart.
When these people were wavering towards Ye Chen, they didn't know that Ye Chen was already ready to give up on them all.
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"General Li, why didn't you launch an attack in advance, otherwise this victory would have been even more glorious." A monk covered in gold and silver arrogantly reprimanded Li Chenggui.
In Goryeo, the Buddhist tradition is deeply rooted. Much more influential than Confucianism. The previous king, Wang Yu’s father, was a devout Buddhist. He promoted many monks to serve as officials in the palace, including those who have died. According to folk rumors, he is Wang Yu’s biological father. That person is also a monk.
I wonder if Wang Yu had no one available, so he hired many monks to serve as officials.
However, there is no precedent for a Goryeo monk to become an official, and there is not much resistance.
Li Chenggui said respectfully: "Master, the most important thing now is a victory. Your Majesty needs this victory. As for how much you win, it is a secondary matter, and the Ming army is strong. I am worried that if there are too many people left, If I can't eat, I'll miss important things. If I were here alone, I could fight whatever I wanted, but Master, it's different if you are here."
The monk's eyes rolled, his smooth forehead reflected the sunlight, and he already understood Li Chenggui's intention.
The king sent him to supervise the battle. When he comes, he will win a battle. Doesn't it mean that he has done a good job in supervising the battle? If he loses due to greed for too much, he will lose his face. He smiled slightly and said: "Amitabha, Lao Ne understands. Thank you General Li for your advice. I will definitely report General Li's contribution when I go back."
Li Chenggui secretly took a piece of gold and gave it to the monk, saying, "Then I'll leave it to the master."
The monk weighed it secretly, smiled slightly and said, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter."
Li Chenggui respectfully dismissed the monk. His son Li Fanguo, who had been silent all the time, said, "Father, why did you delay the attack?"
Li Chenggui said expressionlessly, "Didn't I just say that?"
Li Fanguo shook his head and said, "I can see that you are trying to prevaricate him."
Li Chenggui laughed and said, "Let's go, follow me."
Li Chenggui brought his son and several close servants to the prisoners. After asking, Li Chenggui immediately understood the structure of Ye Chen's troops. His expression changed greatly and he said, "You mean, the Ming army only has a thousand soldiers?" After several battles, there are only a few hundred people left, and the rest are Jurchens and their slaves?"
Several prisoners immediately said: "Yes, yes, yes."
These people were not die-hard loyalists of the Ming Dynasty. Under this situation, they naturally told what they knew without reservation.
Li Chenggui rarely lost his composure.
He was stunned there for a while before he came back to his senses. With a wave of his hand, the guards immediately executed the prisoners. Then he sent an order to find the real Akito prisoner. After some searching, there was none. This made Li Chenggui look extremely ugly.
