Twenty thousand people, exactly twenty thousand people
His Royal Highness, the eldest prince of the Ming Dynasty, was on his way to Jeolla Province to appease and inspire the Korean people. At Geumsan Mountain at the junction of Jeolla Province and Chungcheong Province, he captured a total of 20,000 Japanese main troops in one fell swoop. He was also the most famous person in Japan. The army led by the wise general Takakage Kobayakawa
As if the news had wings, it spread rapidly throughout the entire North Korea at the fastest speed. While people were still watching with doubts, the edict of King Li Huo of North Korea was rushed out with great fanfare in the form of eight hundred miles. The Eight Dao of Korea passed down, confirming that His Royal Highness, the eldest son of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, captured 20,000 Japanese troops alive with less than 10,000 people and almost no losses.
The war hasn¡¯t started yet, but the whole of North Korea is in a state of excitement
It has been about five years since the Imjin Japanese Rebellion. During this period, both the reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty and the local Korean army have more or less defeated the Japanese. The Ming Dynasty did not need more than 100,000 troops. Japan's 200,000-strong army almost drove them into the sea. But in this more or less big victory and small victory, there were never more than 10,000 people - including less than 5,000 Ming troops and 6,000 Korean troops. Not only did they win a big victory What about the Japanese who captured a full 20,000 Japanese troops alive with almost no casualties?
This is almost a miracle in the history of war
There is no doubt about the great victory. It is the most admirable and proud victory achieved by the Ming and Korean coalition forces since Japan invaded Korea. Especially the Korean side, they spared no effort in promoting this war. Consider this war with almost zero casualties as the result of the joint efforts of North Korea and Ming Dynasty
Regarding this war, the pride of North Korea cannot be expressed clearly in a few words. The reason why North Korea promotes this war with great fanfare is because it can achieve such a great victory before the war officially begins. Of course, this is only one aspect. The most important thing is, don¡¯t you see? Among the 10,000 people who achieved the great victory, not only were 6,000 North Koreans, but among these 10,000 people were the famous North Korean general Yi Sun-shin, and even the North Korean princes Linhae-gun, Gwanghae-gun and Jeongwon-gun.
This is the main reason why North Korea is proud and spares no effort to promote this great victory. Since the Imjin Japanese Rebellion, North Korea's dignity has been completely trampled under the feet of the Japanese. This great victory has so many Koreans participating. , which can allow North Koreans to find a fig leaf and at the same time regain their poor self-esteem.
For a time, in North Korea, the names of Zhu Changluo, Lord Linhai, Lord Gwanghae, Lord Dingyuan, and Yi Sun-shin were praised, and their prestige reached its peak. Of course, the names of famous generals such as Li Rumei, General Liao, and Leng Leng, Koreans They can selectively forget the names of Linhai Jun, Guanghai Jun, Dingyuan Jun and Yi Sunchen, but they dare not not mention Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of the Ming Emperor. After all, this army that achieved an unprecedented victory was commanded by Zhu Changluo. Yes, he himself is the eldest son of the Ming Dynasty.
At this point, Zhu Changluo was more relieved. As the prestige of Linhai Lord, Guanghai Lord and Dingyuan Lord continued to rise, even the King of Joseon Li Huo stared blankly when he knew that he wanted to control these three people and then control Korea. There is no good way. After all, if the crown prince of North Korea does not choose from these three people, it will be almost impossible.
Since King Li Huan of North Korea received the news sent by Zhu Changluo, he has been so excited that he almost couldn't sleep. Although he knew that it was impossible for Zhu Changluo to forge this kind of news, he still felt uneasy. After all, it was unbelievable to achieve such a great victory.
It wasn¡¯t until the black feather guards sent by Li Huo to secretly protect Zhu Changluo sent him news and confirmed the reliability of the news that Li Huo got carried away and roared in the palace to express the uncontrollable excitement in his heart.
North Korea is in great need of such an inspiring victory at this time. Since the Imjin Japanese Rebellion, Li Huo has always had a heart problem. Although with the help of Ming Dynasty, Japan was almost driven into the sea, Li Huo even breathed a sigh of relief. , but the heartache remains the same. He knows very well that it is certain that he will leave a strong mark in the history books of North Korea, and it is definitely not a good reputation - after all, it was during his reign that he was driven away like a dog by the barbarians from the east.
This great victory allowed Li Huo to see an opportunity, an opportunity to change his image to some extent. Look, the North Korea he ruled was not useless. With the help of North Korea's six thousand troops, the eldest son of the Ming Dynasty, and his three sons With the help of a North Korean general, didn't they capture 20,000 Japanese troops alive in one fell swoop? The most important thing is that this is not an ordinary Japanese army, but an army led by Japan's most famous wise general, Kobayakawa Takakage.
Therefore, Li Hao used the fastest eight hundred miles to rush to send the news of this great victory to all parts of North Korea. Among them, he highlighted that the 6,000 North Korean troops were sent by himself to protect the Ming Dynasty.The eldest son of the emperor also had his three sons and the famous general Yi Sunchen in the army. In short, what he meant was that this victory was not only led by Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of the Ming Emperor, but also involved a large number of Koreans.
In addition, although he knew that Zhu Changluo would definitely send the news to the Ming Dynasty, he still used 800 miles to rush to send this important victory news to the Ming Dynasty. Of course Li Huo knew what to do. In this victory memorial, he highlighted the role of Zhu Changluo and also asked for credit for Li Rumei, General Liao and Leng Leng. Of course, he did not forget to mention at the end that his three His sons Linhaijun, Gwanghaejun and Dingyuanjun, as well as the Korean general Yi Sunchen, also followed Zhu Changluo and personally participated in this war.
In Seoul, the remaining members of the mission were also extremely excited. Although they all regretted not following Zhu Changluo to Jeolla Road, Zhu Changluo had achieved such a great victory that everyone in their mission would follow suit. It's cheap, and if the emperor seals and rewards them, he won't forget them by the way.
Dong Yiyuan led 5,000 Liaodong cavalry. When he arrived in Seoul, he was not only greeted by the Korean King Li Huan, but also the news of Zhu Changluo's victory at Jinshan. Of course, as a famous general who had experienced many battles, Dong Yiyuan was very suspicious of this victory. authenticity. After all, this great victory was too outrageous. With 4,000 Liaodong cavalry and 6,000 North Korean troops with little combat effectiveness, they could actually capture 20,000 Japanese troops alive with almost zero casualties? is it possible?
Not to mention that the 20,000 people are an army led by the famous Japanese general Kobayakawa Takakage. Even if there are 20,000 farmers, even if they are bare-handed, as long as they resist, they can still cause considerable casualties to the 10,000 horses led by Zhu Changluo. Of course, those four After all, the thousands of Liaodong cavalry are soldiers who fight hundreds of battles. Maybemaybe they are better than the 5,000 Liaodong cavalry led by me, but they will not capture so many Japanese with almost zero casualties.
Dong Yiyuan's first reaction after hearing the news was that he had deep doubts, and then he sighed in his heart. He was a little disappointed with the eldest prince who had left a good impression on him. The eldest prince was still too young. I don¡¯t understand war, and I don¡¯t even know how to make basic deceptions. How could there be such an outrageous war? I can understand his thoughts. He is not favored and valued by the emperor in the country. At such an old age, he has not yet become the prince, and even the coronation has not been held. He really wants to make achievements that will impress the emperor.
But even if you want to achieve merit and make some achievements to change the emperor's impression of him, you can't be so impatient. The most important thing is that even if you want to lie about your military exploits, you can casually claim to have killed hundreds or thousands of people, or even You can even massacre some Korean mountain people in remote places to pretend to be Japanese, but you can't tell such lies that have no common sense and can be seen through at a glance.
????????????????? General Liao Shen, who is following the eldest prince, is also a veteran of many battles. Why don¡¯t you persuade His Highness to make the matter look more believable?
Dong Yiyuan was not as happy as the North Korean King Li Huo who accompanied him. Of course, he knew that he had definitely taken advantage of the fact that the eldest prince had just "big victory" over the Japanese army. The North Korean King was so excited that he could come out of the city to greet him in person. Only then will he personally go out of the city to greet himself, the former commander-in-chief of Liaodong. In addition, this has something to do with the fact that during the Imjin Japanese Rebellion a few years ago, the King of Joseon was forced by the Japanese to flee to Liaodong, and he sent people to protect him.
Looking at the excited North Korean King Li Huo next to him, Dong Yiyuan was a little confused. The North Korean King was not an idiot. Why did he believe the news that the eldest prince had captured 20,000 Japanese soldiers alive? Forced to suppress the doubts in his heart, Dong Yiyuan could not ask Li Huo questions. After all, this was related to the eldest son of the Ming Dynasty emperor.
At the Muhua Pavilion, Dong Yiyuan became even more confused when he saw everyone in the mission. Among the mission were Liu Chuxian, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was greeted with a smile by the governors from all over the country, and Chen Guangqu, the censor of Zuo Qiandu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Xu Guohui, a doctor in the Ministry of War who understands military affairs, will these people believe the news of His Highness the Great Prince's victory? Wouldn't they have any doubts? Liu Chuxian and Chen Guangqu were just two civil servants who knew nothing, but Xu Guohui, a doctor in the Ministry of War, had no objections?
Dong Yiyuan saw everyone's excitement, which didn't seem to be fake, and they were all talking about how the eldest prince was like a god with his troops, how vulnerable Japan was, and how such a great victory was rare in a century He was even more confused, because no one actually mentioned it There was no objection at all, and no one showed any doubts.
Seeing that everyone was like this, Dong Yiyuan certainly didn't know. Everyone in the mission had been following Zhu Changluo for a long time, and they all knew that the eldest prince was not a person who spoke arrogantly and did things without considering the consequences. Although they were all like Dong Yiyuan at the beginning, they were not interested in this incident. Thinking about the incredible victory, they were a little unbelievable, but the person sent by Zhu Changluo to announce the victory told them the general story of the matter. In addition, the King of Korea Li Huo believed the news through special channels, so everyone in the mission All doubts were dispelled.
Full of worries and can¡¯t figure it outDong Yiyuan later visited Zou Yi, who was recovering from his injuries in Deoksugong Palace. If there was any secret, no one knew it better than the eunuch who was the confidant of the eldest prince. Because Zou Yi was seriously injured, he could only stay in Deoksugung Palace to recuperate and was unable to travel with Zhu Changluo.
After some courtesy, Dong Yiyuan did not get any useful answers, and finally asked directly: "Eunuch Zou, um well, His Highness has achieved such a great victory. It is really gratifying to congratulate that general He is a rough man and a military general. He really wants to know what happened in this battle. That Haha, Eunuch Zou, you know that such a great victory is worth learning from. If Eunuch Zou knew"
Zou Yi glanced at Dong Yiyuan and smiled. He could understand the general thoughts of Dong Yiyuan, the border general. Not to mention Dong Yiyuan, even he himself couldn't believe that such a thing would happen when the news first came. It wasn't until Jin Yiwei who came to deliver the news explained what happened that he finally believed what he had grown up seeing. The prince actually achieved such a shocking victory.
"Our family knows the general's thoughts." Zou Yi said with a smile: "I won't hide it from the general. We do know something about the war."
"Oh?" Dong Yiyuan felt uneasy for a while. After all, he suspected that the eldest prince was pointed out to his face, which was indeed a bit disrespectful: "Father-in-law, the last general that one is a rough man, not very good at talking. I hope my father-in-law doesn't want to Sorry."
Zou Yi smiled and waved his hand: "This matter is actually very simple to say, and can be explained clearly in a few sentences. The Japanese heard that His Highness was going to Jeolla Province to appease and mobilize the Koreans before the war, so they thought I wanted to get ahead of His Highness and set up an ambush at Geumsan Mountain between Chungcheong Province and Jeolla Province in order to do harm to His Highness. Hey, for the sake of concealment, those Japanese people all hid in a valley on the road to His Highness. They wanted to I caught His Highness by surprise."
"Ah?" Although Dong Yiyuan knew that Zhu Changluo was fine at this time, he still felt nervous after hearing what Zou Yi said. After all, he was ordered by Zhu Yijun to protect Zhu Changluo. If something went wrong with Zhu Changluo, he would definitely be the first to suffer.
"Those little Japanese are really hateful, they should be driven into the sea to feed the bastards"
"General, don't be nervous. How can those Japanese be your Highness's opponents? Your Highness has long been on guard against the Japanese's move. He discovered the Japanese's conspiracy in advance, so he took advantage of it and pretended not to discover the Japanese's trap. Instead, he chose to do it at night. A sudden attack surrounded the mouth of the valley. The valley was a small valley within a large valley, surrounded by mountains. There was only one exit at the mouth of the valley, and the mouth of the valley was not too wide. They tried to rush out of the valley mouth, but the result was only in vain. With their casualties, how could they possibly break out? Besides surrendering, what else can they do?" Zou Yi said with a smile. It could be seen that Zhu Changluo was very excited about this great victory.
Although Zou Yi did not fully explain the matter, as a veteran border general, Dong Yiyuan figured out the general outline of the matter after a little reasoning. After surrounding the Japanese in the valley, the eldest prince probably issued some threats to the Japanese. For example, if there is a river next to the valley, he threatens the Japanese to flood the valley. If there are many trees in the valley, he threatens the Japanese to surrender if they don't surrender. Set fire to the valley
The Japanese could not break out of the valley. After being threatened, what else could they do except surrender?
At this time, Dong Yiyuan truly believed that Zhu Changluo had indeed captured 20,000 Japanese troops. Of course, he was so careful and knowledgeable about this noble prince, and captured 20,000 Japanese in one fell swoop. In addition to sighing that Zhu Changluo was lucky, Admiration also arises spontaneously
He not only admired Zhu Changluo for being able to capture so many Japanese with almost zero casualties, but also admired Zhu Changluo for being able to destroy 20,000 Japanese under the circumstances, not by fire attack or flooding, but by I feel admiration for choosing to capture alive. As a general who has been at the border for a long time, Dong Yiyuan knows very well that killing tens of thousands of enemies is absolutely not possible. Capturing tens of thousands of enemies is shocking. If he reports to the court, how many enemies he killed in a battle will be just one after all. It's just numbers, not to mention that even if you report it truthfully, it's just a number. It's far less amazing than seeing a living person.
What's more, even if you report a large number, some people will doubt the authenticity and suspect that you killed the good and took credit for it, which will make the victory low in the minds of the emperor and others. But the captives are real, and there is no falsehood whatsoever. They are clear and clear, and no one can erase them.
Of course, as a military general, Dong Yiyuan only started from the perspective of a military general, and did not think as much as Zhu Changluo thought, and did not have the concerns that made Zhu Changluo not attack.
"His Highness is really a god in using troops." Dong Yiyuan praised him sincerely, and then thought for a moment and asked: "Eunuch Zou, I wonder if Your Highness has captured the Japanese general Takakage Kobayakawa? That man is one of the few famous generals in Japan. It has such a big reputation in Japan, if?Caught him, Your Highness¡¯s battle is enough to scare the Japanese.¡±
Zou Yi's heart moved, and he quickly followed Zhu Changluo's arrangement and put on a regretful expression: "No one ordered his 20,000 men to come out and surrender one by one, but he took advantage of this time to climb the mountain and escape."
"Ah?" Dong Yiyuan also shook his head regretfully. He actually let this person escape. Even if he ran away, it was just a bit regretful. It could not affect the eldest prince's achievements that no one could stop or conceal. Then, Dong Yiyuan's heart moved. With his great achievements and the help of all the ministers, the eldest prince was very likely to be canonized as the crown prince immediately after returning to the country. Can he seize this opportunity? After all, when I find the eldest prince, I will follow him to protect him. Isn¡¯t this the first to get the moon first?
Your chance has come
He had a new idea. Although it was not yet mature, he couldn't restrain it. If he could become the eldest prince's confidant, wouldn't it be very likely that he would have a future emperor as his backer? Who among the real men doesn¡¯t want to make great achievements and be crowned a king?
"Eunuch Zou." Dong Yiyuan had an idea and became even more polite to Zou Yi, Zhu Changluo's confidant: "Eunuch, do you know whether His Highness has gone to Nanyuan in Jeolla Province as planned? I will have this imperial edict from the Emperor to His Highness. I will protect His Highness in the end."
Zou Yi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "General, to be honest, His Highness was very sorry for running away from Kobayakawa Takakage, so he sent people to suppress the 20,000 prisoners all the way to Seoul, while Your Highness led 6,000 soldiers and horses. Chasing Kobayakawa Takakage. Haha, if the general has an imperial edict for His Highness, in our opinion, it is best to wait for His Highness in Seoul. His Highness will return to Seoul after catching Kobayakawa Takakage."