Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 388: First the Dynasty and then the Japanese
Although Tokugawa Yoshinao strengthened the functions of the shogunate and tried his best to consolidate the power of the various feudal domains after he succeeded to the throne, Japan was still very far from true centralization at that time.
Therefore, from this perspective, there is hope of inciting foreign daimyo to rebel.
However, the turbulent times of the Warring States in Japan have only ended for less than 20 years, and many old foxes who used various means to keep their family names in that era are still alive. Therefore, the Japanese daimyo at this moment are not willing to show their eagles until they see the rabbit: Ming Dynasty, the Celestial Empire! I have admired it for a long time. I am deeply honored to be recruited by you. However, you want me to do it now, oh, I have many difficulties. Otherwise, you can first hit the Tokugawa family a few times, and when he is doomed to fail, I will definitely rise up...
It is really rare for someone like the Ikeda family to be willing to rebel as soon as the Ming Dynasty landed in order to fight for the power of the main family.
However, if they wanted to use the Inhan region to land, they would have to bypass the Korean Peninsula and land on the north side of Honshu Island. This would significantly increase the number of sea routes and increase the pressure on logistics.
On his way back to Beijing from Siam, Zhu Youdong had seriously considered how to take action against Japan.
In his initial plan, my navy now controls the sea. Why should I attack Korea first and then land on the Japanese mainland? Can't I just kill them directly? After the Japanese mainland surrenders, won't the 100,000 troops on the Korean Peninsula naturally disappear into ashes?
But after thinking about it carefully, I felt that this plan was too risky.
When conquering Siam, due to the launch of the Ten Thousand Dogs Heavenly Expedition, all the countries surrounding Siam obeyed the command of the Ming Dynasty, and Siam's limited military power had been greatly weakened by various reasons. So the Ming Dynasty could play the Black Tiger Heart-pulling game. However, Japan was isolated overseas. If the main force landed directly in Edo Bay, not to mention how to solve the problem of the fortress artillery group there, even if the landing was successful, what if it was pushed into the sea?
Therefore, there must be a stable landing point, and it would be best if there is a guide at this landing point.
Now, we have this point and we have a guide. And compared to landing on Kyushu Island or the western end of Honshu Island, this place is very close to Kyoto, Japan: the emperor is a puppet at the moment, but he is the nominal leader of the country after all. If we can control the emperor, wouldn't it be twice the result with half the effort?
But to take advantage of this point, there must be a support point on the Korean Peninsula: to conquer a country like Japan, at least more than 100,000 troops must be mobilized - and this must be mainly the new army. Once the new army is deployed, there will naturally be a large number of artillery and ammunition to be transported. Moreover, Japan is not as self-sufficient in food as the Southeast Asian countries, and the trick of relying on the enemy for food is not very effective. Therefore, this transport fleet must prepare a large amount of food.
With such a huge amount of transport, it would be too troublesome if it went directly from Shandong to Yinfan: How can you be sure about what happens at sea? In addition to climate reasons, although the Japanese fleet has lost control of the sea, it is not completely without warships. The Tsushima Strait is so narrow that they can't stop your main force. It's still possible to sneak attack the transport ships and communication ships, right?
So, after a long detour, the problem is back to square one: to attack the Japanese mainland, you must first take over Korea. Then send troops and supplies to Korea via the Bohai Sea, and then transport troops and supplies from Korea to Infantry.
"Well, it seems that we have to fight against the Japanese pirates in Korea."
"Your Majesty, we have discussed for a long time and we also think it is better to conquer Korea first. In addition to finding a closer and more stable starting point for the subsequent attack on Japan, we can also practice with the Japanese troops in Korea."
"Okay, so have you found the landing point?"
When attacking Korea, after clarifying the attitudes of the Date family and the Uesugi family on the Yalu River defense line, they will definitely not push forward from the Yalu River line. Starting from Liaodong or Shandong, landing directly in the waist of the peninsula is a way to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
"Your Majesty," said Yu Zigao, "After repeated discussions among us, we suggest landing in Incheon."
"Incheon?! Ha, what a great idea!"
North Korea, as a peninsula, has many mountains. But specifically speaking, the east side of the peninsula, that is, the side close to the Sea of Japan, has more mountains and steeper terrain. Most of the rivers in the peninsula also originate from the east side. Relatively speaking, the west side, that is, the side close to China, has much flatter terrain. Many rivers in the peninsula flow to the west side, washing out patches of middle and lower reaches of the plain.
After the Han River flows through Seoul, it turns north and enters the sea near Ganghwa Island. Incheon is on the west side of the bend before the Han River enters the sea.
The terrain is flat, most of the altitude is below 300 meters, and even if there are hills, they are not high. There is no problem of climbing or crossing. There are many rivers in the territory, but they are not wide, and the engineers can cross them by building a bridge.
Of course, the most important thing is that this place is very close to Seoul, the core city of the Korean Peninsula! Just across from here is Seoul!
In the historical plane, Mr. MacArthur's final military stroke of genius was probably landing here: this place is truly the waistline of the Korean Peninsula.
"I agree with the plan to attack Korea first, take it, and then land in Japan. I agree with the plan to land in Inchon. So, how many troops does the Ministry of War plan to send to Korea this time?"
"Your Majesty." Wang Xiangqian stood up and said, "The Ministry of War means that the entire First and Third Group Armies of the New Army, the entire Wusong Town, the entire Sichuan Town, the entire Shizhu Thousand Households of Chongqing Guard, and the Tengxiang Four Guards and the Beijing Camp will send another 5,000 soldiers. The total number of these is 112,000."
Alas, after listening to Wang Xianggan’s words, Zhu Youdong also felt depressed.
In the entire Ming Dynasty, in addition to the 150,000 new troops, there are 800,000 combat troops. But in fact, among the 400,000 combat troops in the nine important border towns, Liaozhen currently has 30,000 troops confronting Ida and Uesugi along the Yalu River. After the other eight towns supported Liaozhen with a total of 20,000 elite troops, they could not spare any troops at all - the Mongols in the north were only beaten hard, but not killed. It is necessary to leave basic defense forces.
Of the remaining 400,000, 100,000 were in the Beijing camp, but every time they went out to fight, they could never spare more than 10,000 soldiers.
As for the 300,000 troops in the south, there was really no one capable of fighting except Sichuan Town, Shizhuso, the remnants of Qi's army in Wusong Town, and the navy in Funing Town.
This resulted in the Ministry of War having to withdraw troops and reuse them.
The new army has 150,000 soldiers, and they eat up more than 6 million in military pay a year, but they can fight. The old army has 800,000 soldiers, and in addition to the output of their own military settlements, the court has to subsidize at least 4 million in military pay a year. When it comes to use, there are still only a few hundred thousand soldiers who can be relied on...
Fortunately, the war in Siam has been over for some time, and these troops have been able to rest. But if it continues like this, how can the country survive in the future? !
After we finish fighting Japan this time, I will clean up the military households and thoroughly reform the military system.
"The Grand Marshal's arrangements are in place, but I would like to make some minor adjustments."
"Your Majesty, please give your instructions."
"Transfer the 10,000 Jurchen troops currently on the north bank of the Yalu River to the troops landing at Incheon."
"I obey your order."
"Well, this landing is a joint effort between the navy and the army. The commander of the navy is naturally Li Guozhu. What about the commander-in-chief of the army?"
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of War wants Cao Wenzhao to be the commander-in-chief, and give him the title of General of Suppressing Japanese and Superintendent of All Military Affairs of Korea?"
"Okay. So when are you going to set out?"
"Your Majesty, there is one more personnel matter to deal with before the date of departure is determined."
"Oh, I understand. Then let my Mr. Sun be the minister appointed by the emperor to pacify the Japanese."
"Your Majesty, it will take about one to two months to mobilize all the troops, allocate food, wages, equipment, gunpowder and artillery shells. We plan to send troops in early March. If the war goes well, Korea can be pacified within three months."
"Well... the Ministry of War will lead the way, and the other ministries will do their best to cooperate and strive to send troops in February. I don't want to drag the war on for too long, otherwise we won't be able to land on the Japanese pirates' homeland before June."
"Yes, I will obey your order."
