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Volume 1: Dragon Trapped in the Shoals Chapter 150: Crisis in Nanyuan

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    Chapter 150: Crisis in Nanyuan

    Since Xing Jie was transferred from the post of Governor of Sichuan and Guizhou to take charge of the anti-Japanese war, for him, it was undoubtedly a mess due to the continuous natural and man-made disasters in the country.  After Xing Jie took over this mess, he worked hard and by the end of June, the total number of mobilized Ming troops reached 38,000.  Compared with the first time to fight against the Japanese, this time the fight against the Japanese was more difficult. After all, the last time to fight against the Japanese, the manager Song Yingchang gathered more than 70,000 elite soldiers in almost the same time, and Xing Jie's 38,000  people, half of whom were recruits.

    Of course, this is not to say that Xing Jie is less capable than Song Yingchang, nor is it that the Ming Dynasty does not have enough support. In the final analysis, the Ming Dynasty can hardly support such a labor-intensive war. After all, in the past few years, there have been constant natural disasters and weapons, even if it is such a huge  In the Ming Dynasty, the national treasury was also stretched.

    Regarding the upcoming war, before Yang Hao and Ma Gui entered the court, Xing Jie discussed with them many times and made tit-for-tat plans.  Commander-in-Chief Magui suggested a preemptive attack on Busan to capture Governor Konishi and force Kato Kiyomasa away.  But they soon discovered that this plan didn't work. Whether they were attacking Busan or Ulsan, the Japanese navy had to be mobilized before they could let go.

    Therefore, in the end, Xing Jie decided that Yang Yuan and Wu Weizhong, who had entered the court early, would be stationed in Nanyuan and Chungju respectively, guarding Jeolla and Gyeongsang Provinces. Yang Hao and Ma Gui would stay in Seoul to coordinate, and the Korean army would be stationed in Yiyi in the middle of the two roads.  rather.  As soon as the army assembled by Xing Jie was in place, it and the North Korean Navy attacked the Japanese Navy from east to west at the same time. The army marched towards Busan and Jizhang, driving Japan into the sea in one fell swoop.

    According to this idea, Yang Yuan¡¯s 3,000 Liaodong Army was stationed in Nanyuan, guerrilla Chen Yuzhong¡¯s 2,000 troops were stationed in Quanzhou, and part of Wu Weizhong¡¯s Southern Army was stationed in Zhongzhou.  In addition, the main forces of the North Korean army, Kwon Su, Guo Zaiyu, Kim Yingrui, and Li Yuanyi, were stationed in Yunfeng, Huangshi, Changnyeong, and Seongju.  It shows the situation of the Eastern Ming Dynasty and the Western Dynasty.  The main force of the Ming army led by Ma Gui will move south along the western part of Korea, pointing directly at North Gyeongsang Province.

    Regarding the plan revealed by Yang Hao after asking Zhu Changluo for instructions, Zhu Changluo did not intervene after careful consideration. Although he wanted to remind Yang Hao and Xing Jie who were far away in Liaodong to pay attention to the movements of the North Korean navy. After all, the North Korean navy is now  The commander of the army was Yuan Jun instead of Yi Sunchen, who was good at water warfare. However, considering that he did not want to give the powerful Xing Jie the impression that he wanted to intervene in military affairs, and for long-term considerations, he did not want North Korea to  He had a navy that was good at fighting, so he suppressed this idea in his mind.

    Zhu Changluo did not expect that this idea at the time would have unexpected results.  Just after he received the letter from Shi Xing who was far away in the capital, he thought of finding any reason to risk leading his guards to the front line to avoid being deprived of his military power.  After all, according to the news sent by Shi Xing, Zhu Yijun mainly temporarily dispatched guards to the front line in order to deprive him of his military power due to the tight situation on the front line. Now, as long as Zhu Yijun's imperial edict has not reached North Korea, as long as he leads the guards to go  The front line was indirectly following Zhu Yijun's imperial edict. Even if Zhu Yijun knew about it, besides being angry and suspicious, he could only stare blankly for the time being.

    However, just because Zhu Changluo did not warn Xing Jie and Yang Hao about the North Korean Navy at that time, now he was presented with a reason that allowed him to go to the front line with his guards in an upright manner without making Zhu Yijun suspicious - Zai Shi  Xing's letter had just arrived, and before Zou Yi had time to notify Leng Mo, General Liao, Dong Yiyuan and Yi Sunchen, a battle report came from the front. In the Battle of Chichuanliang, the entire North Korean navy was annihilated.

    Xing Jie had countless calculations, but he did not expect that under the command of this useless Yuan Jun, the North Korean Navy would be wiped out overnight in the Battle of Chichuanliang, and Xing Jie's plan to advance the waterway would end in vain.  Yuan Jun's incompetence not only dragged down himself, but also dragged down the Ming army, because the main attack direction of the Ming army's plan was Gyeongsang Province, while the Japanese army's main attack was in Jeolla Province, which had relatively empty troops.  The collapse of the North Korean Navy left the coalition forces in an isolated dilemma in Jeolla Province.

    It was precisely the isolation and helplessness of the Ming army at the front that prevented Zhu Changluo from returning the two thousand Liaodong cavalry and the thousand brocade guards that were seconded to him by Li Rumei, plus the five thousand Liaodong cavalry that Dong Yiyuan brought to protect him.  Cavalry became more important.  Before Zhu Yijun's imperial edict reached North Korea, Zhu Changluo offered to lead almost nine thousand of his guards to fight the enemy on the front line, which suddenly made his image taller.

    Whether it was the Korean government or the generals of the Ming Dynasty in Korea, in their view, after the Korean navy was completely annihilated, Zhu Changluo did not hesitate to offer to personally lead the escort to the front line to fight against the Japanese and encourage the front line.  With low morale, the prince of the Ming Dynasty can still understand justice so well and take risks with his own life. How can this not make people grateful and moved?

    The image of Zhu Changluo is widely recognized by everyone.?Becoming taller and taller, even Ma Gui, who had a good impression of Zhu Changluo before, became more respectful and admirable towards Zhu Changluo. The idea of ??finding a backer flashed through his mind, but at this time he also carefully considered what to do.  The pros and cons and feasibility of taking refuge in Zhu Changluo.

    With 8,000 Liaodong cavalry and nearly 1,000 Jinyi guards, as well as 6,000 Korean cavalry previously sent by the King of Korea, Zhu Changluo set out from Seoul and headed for the front line in a mighty way.  This is a huge force. Just the eight thousand elite Liaodong cavalry escorting them are enough to be daunting. If they charge, even if they face fifty or sixty thousand Japanese troops at once, there will be no pressure. Of course, this is just  Under ideal circumstances, after all, it is impossible for the opponent to prepare such a huge cavalry to charge. However, if the opponent is restrained, it is a different matter.

    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

    On the sixth day of August in the twenty-fifth year of Wanli, Shimazu Yoshihiro's army, as the vanguard of the Japanese left army, arrived in Guri and entered the territory of Nanyuan.  On the one hand, Yang Yuan, the deputy commander-in-chief stationed in Nanyuan, ordered the North Korean envoy Li Funan, the supporting general Jin Jinglao and others to assemble the North Korean troops stationed nearby. On the other hand, he sent scouts to spy on the enemy near Yuanchuan and convened his generals to discuss countermeasures.  He did not expect that the pace of the Japanese attack would suddenly accelerate. In his imagination, the Japanese would enter Nanyuan as early as the end of August.  Of course, he could not have expected that North Korea's only combat-effective naval force would be completely wiped out in just one night. As a result, the Japanese army no longer had any worries and accelerated its advance.

    The next day, the scouts reported that the enemy force was extremely large, and to make matters worse, intelligence reports of large-scale attacks by the right route army were also reported near Juchang and Sanjia, which made Yang Yuan extremely nervous.  He only has 3,000 Liaodong troops and horses plus a hundred or so servants, which is only about 6,000 including the Korean army. Even if you include the 2,000 Ming soldiers in the nearby Quanzhou, the number is only 8,000 at most.  What's more, the two thousand Ming troops in Quanzhou are still stationed in Quanzhou. Whether they will come to support is still unknown. And the Japanese troops who attacked this time are at least more than 50,000.

    Faced with this pressure, Yang Yuan had no choice. On the one hand, he sent people to ask for help from Quanzhou, and on the other hand, he sent people to complain to the admiral Ma Gui of Seoul and ask for reinforcements. As for now, he can only defend the city, hoping that before the city is broken,  , reinforcements can arrive in time.  With the Liaodong Army as the main force, he deployed 800 people on all sides of the city, 1,200 people under the walls, and a reserve of 1,000 people.  The Korean army was also distributed according to this ratio. Yang Yuan also mixed his close confidants into the Korean army, which was generally looked down upon by the Ming Dynasty, hoping to improve their combat effectiveness, but they could only be used as doctors.

    As early as when he came to Nanyuan to garrison in June, Yang Yuan sent people to build more city walls. He also added a lot of shooting holes on the city walls, and also used the four cannons that he had spent a lot of time to get from Ma Gui.  Place it on the city wall, dig deep trenches around it, and assume a defensive posture.  Before the Ming Dynasty, troops were stationed here and repairs were made. Although it has been abandoned for a long time, it is better than nothing and the city wall is still stable.

    But Yang Yuan knew that if the reinforcements could not arrive in time, they would only delay the fall and would not be able to retreat the enemy. In the end, the only way to defeat the city would be to destroy the city.  The only hope is that the commander-in-chief, Ma Gui, can see through the Japanese army's main attack direction in time and come to the rescue as soon as possible.  When they were in Seoul, Yang Hao and Ma Gui had clear instructions when planning their strategy: "If there is an emergency, Nanzhou will sue Quanzhou, Quanzhou will sue Gongzhou, Gongzhou will sue Seoul, and rush to rescue in sequence." According to this  It was stipulated that Yang Yuan had already sent an emergency envoy to Chen Yuzhong in Quanzhou to ask for help, and he also sent someone directly to Magui in Seoul to ask for help.

    From August 9th to August 13th in the twenty-fifth year of Wanli, these were probably the five most difficult days for Yang Yuan. It is not an exaggeration to say that the days were like years.  The geographical location of Nanyuan is extremely important. Opening up Nanyuan will open the door to Seoul from the north. What's more, if Nanyuan is lost and the Korean navy is wiped out, the Japanese army will use Nanyuan as a stronghold and can enter Seoul from the north.  , but if Japan's naval forces are used to move westward, they can threaten the Ming Dynasty's Zhejiang, Shandong and other coastal areas. It can be said that if Yang Yuan loses Nanyuan, his future and even his life will be in doubt.

    ¡°But with today¡¯s six thousand Ming and North Korean mixed troops facing at least fifty thousand Japanese troops, the result is easy to guess, and Yang Yuan can¡¯t sleep day and night.

    On August 9, a scout came to report: "The enemy has arrived at Tunshan Mountain." Yang Yuan stayed up all night.

    On August 11, the scouts reported: "The enemy has passed Suxing Ridge", and Yang Yuan suffered from insomnia again.

    On August 12, a scout came to report: "The enemy's forward has arrived at Tate River." Yang Yuan stared at the scout with bloodshot eyes for a while, and finally waved his hand feebly.

    The Tate River is just 40 miles southeast of Nanyuan Castle. The Japanese appeared here, indicating that the Nanyuan offensive and defensive war was about to begin.  Climbing to the top of Nanyuan City, Yang Yuan could even see the black smoke billowing from the villages in the distance. At this time, he couldn't help but have a thought in his mind: "How about retreating?" Of course, it was just?It was just a passing thought. If he abandoned the strategically important Nanyuan City and fled without fighting to the end, he could be sure of his fate.  What's more, the distress letter has been sent out for four days. If everything goes well, it should have arrived in Seoul, right?  Perhaps Admiral Magui's reinforcements are already on the way.

    On August 13, the main force of the Japanese army arrived at the Tate River.  They set up an extremely impressive formation and opened two fronts. The first front was composed of Konishi Yukinacho's second legion, which ran from Fangchuan from the Zen Temple to the Great Wall Bridge and surrounded the west gate of Nanyuan;  The front was composed of the navy of Shimazu Yoshihiro, Kurushima Michizou, and Kato Yoshiaki. It cut off the river from the lacquer field, followed Koshigawa and Kuribachi to Ogosen, and connected with the Ximen Front.  The Japanese army set up their formations on Xiangxiao Mountain and Qilin Mountain. They set up camps everywhere outside the city, erected flags and horns, and the arrays they set up were continuous and layered, and the momentum was extremely huge.

    Yang Yuan was already fully clothed and personally supervising the battle on the city wall. Now at the critical moment of life and death, seeing such a huge momentum of the Japanese, he could trust the 3,000 soldiers and horses he brought, but he could not believe the 3,000 Koreans.  How to rest assured - during the Anti-Japanese War in Imjin, the Koreans had a tradition of surrender.  Yang Yuan didn't want the Koreans to open the city gate and surrender in response to the power of the Japanese army before the battle started.

    Fortunately, this did not happen, and thankfully, perhaps the Japanese wanted to lower the morale of the coalition defenders, or the troops were exhausted due to the rapid march, so they did not attack the city today.  Seeing the Japanese return to camp in an orderly manner after setting up their battle formations for a long time, Yang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Now that he had one more day, he might be able to make a turn for the better.

    However, after five days of fear and hope, Yang Yuan unexpectedly received a letter and order from Ma Gui on the night of August 14th.  It turned out that as early as when Ma Guigang received the news that the North Korean navy had been annihilated, based on his many years of military leadership experience, he had predicted that the Japanese would speed up their attack and attack Nanyuan as the main force. At that time, he did not know  Zhu Changluo wanted to go south for support, so he sent someone to send a personal letter from Yang Yuan, the deputy commander in chief, who was far away in Nanyuan.

    Yang Yuan met the messenger overnight and couldn't wait to open the letter. He wrote in the letter: "the Japanese pirates are coming with ferocity and their number is twice that of our army. It is not suitable for our army to fight decisively with them. The top priority is to dampen their spirit and shake their morale. Therefore,  Your ministries each perform their duties I currently have no troops to send you, and other ministries have no troops to send you. I know how difficult it is for you, and I will try my best to raise troops and horses. You must resist for at least five days. If there are no reinforcements after five days,  You can give up on your own"

    Looking at this letter written by Ma Gui with dull eyes, Yang Yuan's mouth was full of bitterness.  The content of this letter is very clear. Although Ma Gui said in the letter that he would try his best to raise reinforcements, Yang Yuan knew very well that this was just a better wording and reinforcements?  Even if there are reinforcements, unless they are elite cavalry, can other arms reach Nanyuan, which is five or six hundred miles away from Seoul, within five or six days?  It is obviously impossible. Yang Yuan knows that among the more than 20,000 Ming troops and horses that have arrived in North Korea early, the truly elite cavalry is Ma Gui's less than 5,000 Xuan cavalry.

    However, in the early stages of the war, would Ma Gui, as the admiral, be willing to send out his elite Xuan cavalry?  This is difficult to achieve. After all, as the third person in the Ming Dynasty who went to Korea to fight against the Japanese, if Ma Gui had sent out his own soldiers from the beginning, if he had suffered heavy losses, would he still have the right to speak in the future?  ?  Even if you don't take these into consideration and just look at the overall strategic situation, as the admiral, it is impossible for Ma Gui to send out all the mobile troops.

    Yang Yuan believed that if Ma Gui wanted to send the Xuan cavalry to rescue, he would first analyze the enemy's and ours' military strength.  Facing at least 50,000 Japanese troops, unless Ma Gui sent all the Xuan cavalry to come to the rescue, it would definitely not help. The fewer troops he sent would just be to deliver food to the Japanese. But Ma Gui could not send all the Xuan cavalry.  Therefore, his best approach is to simply not send any soldiers.

    Of course, there is another possibility that even Yang Yuan himself finds a bit whimsical.  He knew that in North Korea at present, if we only talk about elite cavalry, it is not the Koreans, not Yang Hao, not Li Rumei who has three thousand elite Liaodong cavalry, nor Ma Gui who has nearly five thousand elite Xuan cavalry, but at least  The emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo was guarded by less than 6,000 elite Liaodong cavalry. According to Yang Yuan's knowledge, the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo probably had 2,000 elite Liaodong cavalry sent by Li Rumei as a guard. In other words, in the hands of the emperor's eldest son, perhaps  There are eight thousand elite Liaodong cavalry

    If the noble eldest son of the Emperor could understand his situation and send 4,000 Liaodong cavalry to support him, although Yang Yuan knew that this possibility was slim, he believed that, not to mention relying on 4,000 Liaodong cavalry to defeat the Japanese army, then  It's a bit difficult, but at least he is sure that with the help of four thousand elite Liaodong cavalry, he can make the Japanese use rat weapons and teach them a profound lesson. Of course, he just thinks about this idea casually, but he knows it very well.?For the safety of the prince, guards will not be dispatched casually.

    Although Yang Yuan has been sleepless for several nights, Yang Yuan has no sleep at this time. After thinking about it, he can only go all out and hope that he can rely on 6,000 people to hold on for five days in Nanyuan.  And thenif you are lucky enough to survive, you can lead the remaining brothers to break out. After reading the letter in his hand again, he gritted his teeth and whispered in a hoarse voice: "Ifif before the city is broken or the siege breaks out,  If Ma Gui can help the reinforcements arrive, his life will be entrusted to him from now on. No matter who sends the reinforcements to save himself and the three thousand brothers in the city, what's the point of leaving my life to him?"

    On August 14, Governor Konishi personally led 10,000 troops to Nanyuan Castle. He was not in a hurry to attack, but arrogantly asked his soldiers to cut down trees to make ladders for attacking the city at a place just outside the city where arrows could not reach.  Yes, this was a provocation. He expected that the Nanyuan defenders, who were short of major generals, would not dare to leave the city. This arrogant and unobtrusive move would be a huge blow to the morale of the defenders in the city. Before the siege, he wanted to  Try to lower the morale of the defenders as much as possible in order to reduce Japanese casualties.  You know, after these years of civil war in Japan, coupled with the loss of men and horses in the last invasion of Korea and the mobilization of almost all the young and strong for this invasion of Korea, the current Japan is almost broken.
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