Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 399 Chu Yinghan's Awakening
On February 10, when Sun Chengzong was holding a military meeting in southern Liaoning, on the north bank of the Yalu River, a coalition force of 50,000 troops from nine important border towns led by Du Song and Xiao Bozhi had begun to bombard the Japanese positions on the other side of the river.
At this time, the surface of the Yalu River was completely frozen, but the Ming soldiers did not push the cannons onto the river surface to shoot: although the surface of the Yalu River is not as wide as the Liao River, it is still 800 to 900 meters wide in Dandong. In addition, the Ming army's artillery position was at least 200 meters away from the river bank. Therefore, it can be imagined that most of the Ming army's artillery shells fell on the frozen river surface and did not fall into the Japanese position at all.
However, the main generals Date Masamune and Uesugi Kagekatsu looked as if they were facing a great enemy. Since the Ming army opened fire on February 10, they have sent out many messengers in succession: Urgent report, the Ming army is attacking in a big way. It is roughly estimated that the enemy army is no less than 100,000, and the artillery is dense. Our army has suffered heavy losses! Please send troops to support us as soon as possible!
There is no doubt that the Tokugawa family did not fully trust the two outer daimyo, Date and Uesugi. They also stationed retainers on the front line of the Yalu River for surveillance. But as the saying goes, when there are tens of thousands of people, there is no limit. How can a few military supervisors manage a battlefield with nearly 100,000 people on both sides of the Yalu River? Isn't it true that the front-line soldiers report what they say: the rumbling sound of the cannon must be true, right? The shouts of the Ming army resounding through the sky must be true, right?
On February 14, Maeda Toshitsugu and Mori Terumoto, who were stationed near Kaesong and served as the second line of defense, received the news. Then they mobilized their troops and sent more emergency documents to Seoul.
On February 17, the news reached Seoul. Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who was in charge of the city, was relieved after receiving the news: the Ming people had given up the possibility of landing directly in Korea from the sea and honestly attacked from the Yalu River. In this case, there was no point in fighting.
Tokugawa Yorinobu had an army of more than 50,000 people. In addition to a new army of 15,000 people, there were more than 20,000 troops from Tokugawa's relatives and hereditary daimyo, 5,000 troops from the Shimazu domain, more than 5,000 troops composed of various ronin and bandits, and a vassal army of 5,000 people from Korea.
Originally, the Korean vassal army was very useful: Koreans were not good at foreign wars but good at internal strife. The vassal army might not be able to fight hard battles, but it was much more reliable than Japan's own army to suppress the resistance of Korean natives. The Japanese occupied Korea for two years and formed a total of about 20,000 vassal troops, which brought them many benefits and saved them a lot of trouble.
However, in early February of this year, news came that the Korean royal family was collectively blown to the bottom of the Liaohe River by Japanese ninjas. Throughout Korea, officials, civilians, and even the vassal army, all had a different view of these invaders.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu knew that his brother had not sent anyone to assassinate the Joseon royal family: assassinating the orphans of Toyotomi was much more meaningful than killing the royal family of the Lee family! Only a fool would kill these rubbish.
But there was no way, Zhu Youdong had already thrown dirty water on them. And because the Ming Dynasty and Korea had been friendly for hundreds of years, no one would believe you even if you shouted that it was the Ming emperor who was crying thief! Not to mention that the Koreans would not believe it, the Japanese themselves did not believe it!
So now the helpless Tokugawa Yorinobu had to gather this ragtag army of vassal soldiers and ronin, a total of 10,000 people, and led them north by his trusted retainer Matsudaira Masanaga: the shogunate wanted to make the Ming people and the foreign daimyo fight each other to a loss. But the appearance of reinforcements still had to be done, right? As for the various discomforts of the vassal army, they could no longer care about it.
After doing all this, he took out a scroll of silk book from the pocket of his clothes.
This was sent to him by Tokugawa Yoshinao a few months ago. Now that the main force of the Ming Navy has returned, Tokugawa Yoshinao really put in some effort to deliver this silk book.
The content of the silk book was very direct: Your Excellency, if the control of the sea changes hands, all places along our coast may be attacked by the Ming Kingdom. In my opinion, the Ming Kingdom is very likely to land in Incheon. This place is a key place on the peninsula, please pay attention to it.
"Hahaha, brother, you miscalculated this time. The Ming people are really stupid and want to slowly attack from the north bank of the Yalu River."
It is not surprising that Tokugawa Yorinobu still made a mistake in judgment despite the reminder of Tokugawa Yoshinao: although Japan lost its control of the sea, it was not completely blind and deaf. Since the Chinese and Japanese are very close in race and have had economic and trade exchanges for many years, it is relatively easy for the Jinyiwei to get intelligence on Japan, and it is not difficult for Japan to get intelligence on the Ming Dynasty. Since the decisive battle in the East China Sea last year, the Japanese side has been able to obtain some intelligence about the Ming Dynasty.
In this intelligence, the Japanese side was very sure that nearly 50,000 of the 150,000 new troops of the Ming Dynasty were stationed in the Indochina Peninsula, and another 15,000 were stationed in Beijing for a long time. Therefore, there were only 90,000 new troops that could be mobilized.
Although the Ming Dynasty still had a standing army of hundreds of thousands, the territory of the Ming Dynasty was vast and there were too many places to guard. Therefore, in addition to the new army, at most 40,000 to 50,000 troops could be deployed for maneuvering.
Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty launched an attack of more than 100,000 people on the Yalu River line, the possibility of the Ming Dynasty landing in Incheon was already very small!
As for whether Date and Uesugi may have lied about military intelligence. First, the nearly 4 million koku of land newly acquired by the two families is right there. If they lied about military intelligence and caused us to misjudge the main attack direction of Ming, then Seoul would be ruined, and their new territory would also be ruined. Second, we have sent trusted retainers such as Nagata and Arakawa to supervise the army there. They would not lie about military intelligence.
"Haha, besides, after my brother told me about the possibility of landing in Incheon, I went there myself. Large-scale landings are only possible there in the morning and at dusk. Otherwise, only one or two thousand people can be deployed at a time. I have already deployed a regiment there, and this kind of force is already foolproof!"
After thinking about this, Tokugawa Yoshinobu quickly put away the silk book, and then summoned his retainers to discuss how to organize civilians to provide logistical support for the northern front.
…
On the same day, at the southernmost tip of Liaodong Peninsula, thousands of ships were lined up in an orderly manner on the sea, and 112,000 Ming soldiers, 10,000 Jurchen soldiers, and 2,000 Toyotomi soldiers were boarding the ships in a pre-arranged order .
"Brother Dong, I am leading my troops to North Korea now. Once I leave, I may not be able to come back. So, after I go out to sea, you must quickly return to my tribe's station and hold on to the remaining troops in the tribe."
"…Hey, my Chu Yinghan, why did you allow the Japanese ninjas to pass through your territory?"
"...I am the son of Nurhaci after all, and I am only a little bit away from becoming the Khan of the entire Jurchens. How can I endure being on equal footing with people like Daishan and Buzhantai for a long time? But..." He sighed, "The Ming Dynasty is too powerful. Under the leadership of Emperor Tianqi, the country is getting stronger and stronger. I don't have the courage to start an army again, but I feel uncomfortable in my heart. So, when Yagyu Munenori came to ask me to pass through, I... acquiesced."
"Yeah." Yehenala Donggo and Chu Ying have been together for almost seven years. In the past seven years, the couple has been very loving and they have three children. So after listening to Chu Ying's words, Donggo did not mean to blame him: "The Japanese ninja who went to assassinate the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty killed the entire Korean royal family in the Liaohe River. Oh, the rivers in our area freeze in winter, and the ice is so thick that it can support a mountain. If you want to blow it up, how is it possible without drilling holes and burying wires in advance? And if holes were drilled and wires were buried in advance, how could the Liaodong governor not find it if he really checked it carefully? People like Li Sancai only took a quick glance at our tribe last year and found the Jurchen textbooks I hid. If he really wanted to do good for the King of Korea, how could he not find it! It is clear that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty deliberately wanted to kill the King of Korea, so as to take advantage of the situation to swallow up Korea!"
"Hey, Dong Ge, is it useful to say this now? No matter what, those people on the Liaohe River, even the Japanese from the Toyotomi family who were present at the time, said that they were ninjas from the Tokugawa family."
"So you plan to die in Korea this time, and then use your death to buy a glimmer of hope for our tribe?"
"Yes, Dong Ge." Chu Ying opened his arms and hugged the woman opposite him tightly. "I used to be a fool who only cared about my own interests. But in recent years, after listening to the explanations of the scholars sent by the Liaodong governor to us, I finally understood what home and country are. I am the leader of this tribe. For the future of this tribe, it is natural for me to sacrifice. Also, after I die in battle, when the war in Korea is over, you should propose to the Liaodong governor to lead the tribe to move north."
"Migrate north? Why? We have worked so hard to cultivate this land."
"It's because this piece of barren mountain has become a fertile farm!" Chu Ying shook his head helplessly. "In recent years, I have read a lot of Han books, and I think I understand it. Emperor Tianqi is the legendary hero. This kind of person is the most cruel. In order to swallow up Korea, he did not hesitate to bury the entire Korean royal family. And we have been reclaiming the Songnen Plain for the Ming Dynasty for seven years, and it seems that it is time for the Ming Dynasty to reap it. If we don't have such awareness in this expedition to Korea, I am afraid that the day the Korean war ends will be the day when our Jurchens will be exterminated. Because it is too easy to find fault with our performance on the battlefield. Not to mention that I have a big handle held by the Ming Dynasty. The longer the Ming Dynasty holds this handle, the greater its ambitions will be."
"...You are worthy of being my man." Dong Ge in Chu Ying's arms smiled gently: "In that case, then go and die bravely. Don't worry, when I raise our child and he can protect his own tribe, I will come to find you."
