Kwon Li held on to the city of Xingzhou, and the Japanese army fought hard and was difficult to overcome

In Hanyang Castle, Ukita Hideya summoned Kuroda Kanwei, Ishida Mitsunari, Otani Yoshitsugu, Masuda Nagamori, Kato Mitsuyasu, Maeno Nagayasu, Konishi Yukinaga, Kato Kiyomasa, Kuroda Nagamasa, Fukushima Masanori, Kobayakawa Takakei and others to discuss the matter, and the Ukita Hideya planned to capture Koshu and asked Kuroda Kanei for advice. The official guard said: "The mountain city of Xingzhou is built on Deyang Mountain, bordering the Han River, surrounded by water on three sides and sloped on one side, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Singju has a panoramic view of the dangerous pass north of Hanyang, which can deter Hanyang to the south, and this place holds the throat of the north and south, and is connected to the Imjin River. If the Ming army advances south again, Xingzhou will definitely be an important stronghold and used for the storage of grain and grass materials, but if our army captures Xingzhou, it can consolidate Gyeonggi and build a defensive line. It is conducive to monitoring the movements of the Ming army and waiting for an opportunity to advance north to counterattack, and I support the choice of the commander-in-chief. ”

Kuroda Nagamasa echoed: "That's exactly the case, after the war, the Ming army did not dare to enter lightly, and the monk soldiers in Gyeonggi Province were also wiped out by Kato and Fukushima. Our army should take advantage of this to gradually launch a counteroffensive, first capture the important area of Xingzhou and advance northward, and then wait for an opportunity to annihilate the Ming army and capture the Korean royal family alive. ”

Kobayakawa Takakei also said: "After the battle of the Stone Pond and the Biho Pavilion, we were both defeated by the Ming army, but the thousands of troops of the Ming army were able to compete with several times the enemy in an extreme environment, and the combat power was unprecedentedly strong. Now it is no longer easy to start a war with the Ming army, but I am also in favor of taking Xingzhou. ”

Ishida Mitsunari added: "The Ming army is now all north of the Imjin River, and there are only a few thousand Korean troops stationed in Xingzhou City, so it is not difficult to capture Xingzhou, and I heard that the Xingzhou garrison general Kwon Li has a prominent family background, comes from a famous family, and has many military merits and is quite popular among Korean officers and soldiers, if he can kill this person, he can also deter North Korea." It's just that as Lord Gongguanwei said, Xingzhou is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is necessary to mobilize superior forces to take it in one fell swoop, and it is also necessary to transfer some elites to the main roads to prevent the rescue of the Ming army. ”

Governor Konishi asked Hideya for an order because of the shame of Yixue: "I am deeply ashamed of the defeat of the first team in Pyongyang, so the first team is always ready to train and wait for the repetition of the martial arts." Capture Koju, please allow the first team to be the vanguard. Hideya asked if the First Army had finished resting, and Konishi replied that the First Army had recovered its morale and asked to be the vanguard.

Kato Kiyomasa laughed and said, "Hey Xiaoxi, why did you and Ishida suddenly increase their confidence when they said that only the North Korean army was stationed?" Sure enough, he will only bully the weak, and I really think that Xue Shame should also ask to be the vanguard of the attack on Pyongyang. In addition, I see that you have lost a lot of weight, which is really ugly. It is no wonder that in Pyongyang almost lost his life, if he went to Xingzhou this time and even the North Korean army could not be defeated, then he would have no shame to live in the world again. I advise you to rest again. ”

Konishi Yukinaga fought back: "Kato, it seems that you didn't tell you your secret, I didn't defeat the Ming army, but you were defeated by the Korean rebels in Hamgyong Province, I heard that in order to survive, you only wore civilian clothes to escape, and the cold wind in Hamgyong Province didn't freeze your life, right?" There is also the Hanyang army arguing that you deliberately did not come, and you ignored the order to withdraw the army, which is completely contempt for the commander-in-chief. ”

Kato Kiyomasa said angrily: "Nonsense, don't think I don't know, before the military conference was held, it was clear that you and Ishida Mitsunari seized the message that notified me, will the captain ask me about it?" I will also report to His Royal Highness Taiko and behead you and Ishida Mitsunari! Pray for blessings. ”

Ishida Mitsunari got up angrily and scolded: "Kato! You are so presumptuous in the military discussion! During the war, you still want to provoke civil strife, don't think that His Royal Highness Taige will protect you because of this! ”

Seeing the three of them, Ukita Hideya shouted, "All sit down!" Whoever provokes infighting again will be held accountable by military law! In the battle of Koshu, I have decided that Konishi will lead the first formation, Ishida will lead the second formation, Kuroda will lead the third formation, I will personally lead the fourth formation, Yoshikawa Hiroke will lead the fifth formation, and Kobayakawa Takakei will lead the sixth formation. Fight 30,000 and conquer Xingzhou. ”

Fukushima Masanori asked: "Hey Hideya, why don't you let me and Kato go out, if the second and fifth teams are used, not only Koshu, but even Kaesong can be won again in one day!" Ukita Hideie replied, "I have not personally captured the castle since I landed in Korea, and even though I am the captain of the army, I have the desire to break the castle and kill the enemy, and even then I do not have the sole merit of this merit, so I have ordered the teams to draw troops to work together in Koju." The second and fifth teams were all elites, so in order to prevent the Ming army from attacking, the fifth team was asked to guard the main road. The second team defended Hanyang, which was more important than attacking Hungju. ”

Fukushima Masanori gave up and agreed to take on the task of guarding against the Ming army, because Fukushima Masanori was also very eager to fight the Ming army. Kato Kiyomasa smiled at Konishi Yukicho: "Konishi, you'd better pray that the Ming army won't come to the rescue of Xingzhou, otherwise you should be ashamed after we repel the Ming army." Yukicho Konishi glared and was silent.

Xingzhou is also preparing for the Japanese attack, Master Xiujing's second disciple Chu Ying heard that the Japanese army will attack Xingzhou and also led hundreds of monks and soldiers to support, Kwon Li is very grateful for Chu Ying's arrival, Kwon Li asked: "I heard that the Japanese army is in Gyeonggi Province to clear the rebels and monks, I am still worried about this, seeing that the masters are fine, it is really God blessed." Chu Ying thanked and said: "General Xie cares, the monks all over the world respond, the Buddha is in his heart, how can he be killed by demons and demons, this time I am ordered by the master to help the general guard Xingzhou." "Thank you again, please enter the city.

After Xingzhou, the general Quan Li summoned the generals and said: "Xingzhou is located in a dangerous place, for the throat of the north and south, it is related to the overall situation, such an important place, the Japanese army will attack sooner or later, now it seems that it is not the case, our army must hold on to the danger, and Xingzhou can also be used as the front-line station for the recovery of Wang Jing in the future." ”

General Zhao Ju said: "General, the number of troops in Xingzhou is less than 3,000, how to defend Xingzhou if the Japanese army comes to attack?" Is it possible to ask the Ming army for help? Quan Li replied: "Xingzhou occupies a favorable location, lives on the top of Deyang Mountain, has the Han River in the south, has the Changling River in the east, and the swamps between the two rivers are dense, and only the northwest road can be accessed. Bow and crossbow fire bolts, rocket throwing stones, and ground artillery were checked again for use, and the fortifications of Xingzhou were reinforced, trenches were dug, and two fences and fortifications were built in a row to delay the attack of the Japanese invaders. As for the reinforcements, they could send people to the imperial court to ask the Ming army for rescue. Zhao Yu took the order.

In the early morning of 12 February, the Japanese army had already assembled and deployed on the outskirts of Xingzhou, and Quan Li saw that the Japanese army had arrived and ordered the whole army to feast on the war and decided to fight to the death. Quan Li encouraged the whole army and said: "Soldiers, I Quan Li has fifty five, and there is not much time left, and I have been promoted to general in the army for many years, but I often have a vegetarian meal, and I am often ashamed of this, and it is difficult for the country to fight with the Japanese to protect the family and defend the country, but I still have a wish that I personally lead the soldiers to completely expel the Japanese into the sea, since the Japanese invaded our Korea, they have brutalized the people, plundered money and grain, occupied our mountains and rivers, and destroyed our temple. The ancestors of the past generations can not rest in peace, parents, wives and concubines, children are displaced from the same township, life and death are unknown, if you do not rise up to resist and fight to the death, North Korea will die, we will all die without a place to be buried, what face is there to face the father and the old folks under the nine springs! The Japanese are outside the city today, soldiers! Follow me to kill the Japanese and defend Xingzhou! ”

The officers and men of the whole army in Xingzhou were deeply encouraged, and the shouts did not stop, and Quan Li saw that the morale was greatly boosted, so he ordered all units to enter the city defense position and wait for the Japanese army to attack. At the beginning of the morning, 30,000 Japanese soldiers were carrying red and white battle flags, wearing demon masks on their faces, fully armed, shouting in unison, approaching in unison, and murderous. Seeing this formation, the Korean defenders could not help but be frightened and frightened, and Kwon Li was encouraged again and again, calmed down the army's heart, and the whole army waited for Kwon Li's order.

The road to Xingzhou was very narrow and full of fortifications, and the Japanese army could only be divided into more than ten teams to attack in turn. The first formation of the Japanese army launched a charge towards Koshu under the orders of Konishi Yukinaga, and Quan Li strictly ordered the whole army not to return fire and wait for the military order. When most of the first formation of the Japanese army had entered the range of Korean firepower, Kwon Li personally beat the drum three times to order the whole army to counterattack, and for a time the stones were rolling, rockets, bows, and artillery were fired in unison, and the Japanese army was caught off guard, the formation was dense, the area was narrow, and there was nowhere to dodge the sudden blow, and the casualties gradually increased.

Konishi Yukinaga firmly believed that he would be able to break through with one blow and give full play to the firepower superiority of the Japanese army. Governor Konishi ordered the reorganization of the main formation, gathered arquebuses to return fire, but under the fierce counterattack of North Korea, no matter how many times Governor Konishi ordered, it was difficult for the first Japanese formation to form an effective counterattack force immediately, and it was never possible to break through the first fence.

Ishida Mitsunari saw that Konishi Yukinaga was defeated, and hurriedly asked, Konishi Yukinaga said: "North Korea has carefully built fortifications outside the city of Xingzhou, Xingzhou occupies a favorable location, it is not easy to attack, North Korea fought back fiercely, I was caught off guard, it was difficult to reorganize immediately, and I couldn't break through with hard support, so I could only retreat, what a shame!" I really want to kill all the North Koreans in Xingzhou! ”

Ishida Mitsunari comforted: "Konishi-kun, don't be angry, it's excusable to retreat, it's not that you are incompetent in command, just slaughter after capturing Xingzhou afterwards." The North Korean army is only a temporary force, the end of the so-called strong crossbow, it is impossible to wear Lu Min, Xingzhou can't last too long, I will be able to climb the city tower if I go to attack again. "Governor Konishi advised him to be cautious, and Ishida Mitsunari went into battle after saying goodbye and took over the attack.

So Ishida Mitsunari led the second formation to attack Xingzhou again, but the second formation of the Japanese army under the defense of the Korean army was the same as the first formation, although Ishida Mitsunari personally risked the arrow stone, bravely took the lead, but he was hit by an arrow, and his head was also injured by the stones scattered by the stones, and the second formation was also difficult to break through the fence for a short time, but the army was in chaos, Ishida Mitsunari was wounded and rescued to the rear of the army, and the second formation continued to retreat, and Ishida had to order a retreat when he saw this.

The third formation was led by Kuroda Nagamasa, Kuroda Nagamasa learned the lessons of the first two formations, ordered to keep a distance, avoid the North Korean range and not launch a charge without authorization, and ordered the iron artillery team to concentrate in front of the army to shoot at the fence and the North Korean soldiers who were hiding, Kuroda Nagamasa said to himself: "Konishi was frightened by the Ming army, and even North Korea could not be defeated, Ishida is not worthy of the name of a samurai, and he does not have the ability to fight, but this Korean army has spent a lot of effort in Xingzhou, as long as it can make steady progress, no one can stop it when it can give full play to the advantages of our army." ”

North Korea's two fence forts were carefully built, the Japanese iron artillery was difficult to cause serious damage to the fence, the Japanese army then raised the iron cannon to shoot upward, and shot the projectile into the city, but the Japanese army was far away from the Xingzhou castle tower, and the power of the projectile was greatly reduced after being projectile into the city, and the Korean army had almost no casualties, and the Kuroda Department fired indiscriminately for a long time without effect, and Kuroda Nagamasa had to retreat in embarrassment.

When Liu Chenglong received Quan Li's request for the Ming army's rescue and immediately asked to see Song Yingchang of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Chenglong requested: "Jinglue, please send troops immediately, with the Ming army's combat power to recover Wang Jing's victory, and now the Japanese army is attacking Xingzhou, and General Quan Li, the general of Xingzhou, is also in great need of rescue, and at this moment sending troops to Wang Jing can also solve the crisis of Xingzhou." ”

Song Yingchang politely refused: "The losses and impacts caused by the Battle of Biho Pavilion are much more serious than expected, and it will take some time for the Ming army to deal with some problems now." In addition, the North Korean army has long been ordered to return to the unified command of the Ming Dynasty, and the North Korean departments are not allowed to fight without authorization, and I don't know who provoked the war in Xingzhou, but I know that the North Korean army has always hoped to fight independently, and I also made it clear to the king that if the North Korean army wants to fight independently, it must show the corresponding strength, and this is not the time for the North Korea to show its ability to fight independently? ”

Liu Chenglong persuaded again: "After strategy, I can guarantee that the North Korean military and civilians will fight to the end and defend Xingzhou." However, the battle situation is great, and Xingzhou is a key point in the north and south, once it is lost, the Japanese will gradually be in a favorable situation, and whether it is to march to Wangjing or defend Kaesong and Pyongyang, they will face oppression. ”

Song Yingchang thinks it is reasonable: "What the envoy said is reasonable, even so, there is no need for the Ming army to attack Wangjing, the time to recover Wangjing has not come, and the reason for this is not to be asked in detail." But the rescue of Xingzhou is easy, after the battle of the Bihu Pavilion is afraid of the combat strength of our Ming army, only need to bluff a division to launch a feint attack in the direction of Wang Jing, this is to avoid the real and virtual, encircle Wei to save Zhao, attack it must be saved. If the Japanese knew that the Ming army was coming to attack in a big way, they would have withdrawn from Xingzhou and returned to Wangjing, so Xingzhou could be protected. Liu Chenglong thanked him, so Song Yingchang sent an order to Zha Dashou and Mao Guoqi, and led 3,000 troops to carry artillery and banners to feint against Wang Jing.

The general of the Japanese army, Ukita Hideya, was furious when he saw that the three formations were defeated: "Incompetent! We can repel tens of thousands of Ming troops, and only a few thousand weak Korean brigades have been unable to attack repeatedly, and they have been attacking Hanyang in a month before, and what is the offensive that will win every battle! Ukita Hideya personally led the fourth formation to attack Xingzhou, the Japanese army saw the general out of the battle, morale greatly increased, desperate to charge forward, the front team suffered many casualties, but at this time the Japanese army was not afraid, the soldiers were not afraid of death, went forward one after another, and finally broke through the first fence fort, the Japanese army immediately relied on the bunker to arrange an iron artillery array to return fire to the Korean defenders, and the rest of the Japanese army continued to charge the second fence, and the Korean army was horrified. Kwon Lichenglou supervised the battle, saw that the North Korean army's heart was shaken, ordered the deserters to be beheaded, and the North Korean army reorganized the defense, the North Korean artillery shot the sky shock and lightning The killing range is larger, and the North Korea's catapults and rocket vehicles are very powerful, and the bow and crossbow are fired intensively, the Japanese army is struggling, Ukita Hideya was also hit by two arrows and fell to the ground and was rescued by his subordinates and dragged out of the formation, and the fourth Japanese army saw that the general was wounded and retreated, and also retreated, and gradually pushed to the first fence defense.

The fifth formation of the Japanese army, Yoshikawa Hiroka, then took over the attack, the two armies in the second fence hand-to-hand combat, both armies are going all out, unscrupulous, lime smoke, biting and gouging eyes, Quan Li also personally went into battle with the Japanese army, the two armies could not hold each other, Yoshikawa Hiroya had a plan, ordered the Japanese army to retreat, mobilized kerosene hay to prepare for the burning of Xingzhou. Seeing that the Japanese army was preparing for a fire attack, Kwon ordered his subordinates to dig a dam to divert water from the Han River to irrigate the Japanese army, and the water was flooded until the Japanese army reached its knees.

After the fifth formation was withdrawn, the sixth formation of Kobayakawa Takakei took over the attack, the sixth formation was covered by iron artillery, loosely positioned, and a large number of baked jade were transferred to throw and bombard, and soon the second fence opened the gap, Kobayakawa Takakei ordered a surprise attack, and the Korean army saw this and hurriedly rushed up to block the Japanese breakthrough.

On the other side, the Ming generals Zha Dashou and Mao Guoqi led 3,000 troops to Hanyang, and saw that there were thousands of Japanese troops stationed in the main road in front of Hanyang. Fukushima Masanori saw that the Ming army was excited, and immediately organized a battle, and the Fukushima army's iron artillery team fired in a row, and the Ming army was killed dozens of defeats and retreated, and Fukushima Masanori ordered a pursuit.

When the Japanese army pursued, the Ming army ambushed the soldiers, most of the Ming cavalry held firearms such as fire door guns, abduction guns, portable Franc machine guns, etc., which had both speed, firepower, and range, the Japanese army hastily pursued and did not have time to set up formations, shooting at each other, each had a lot of casualties, the two armies were scuffling, Fukushima Masanori duel Zha Dashou, the two slashed each other with knives, and the back and forth of several times was checked Dashou was knocked to the ground, Fukushima Masanori was trying to mend the knife to end Cha Dashou's life but was thrown out of the cloak to cover his sight, was knocked to the ground, and the saber fell to the ground. After Fukushima Masanori picked up the spear and brandished the stab, turned the gun to pick and split, Cha Da was blocked by the left and right, and gradually could not be stabbed into the right rib by a shot, fortunately the Ming sergeant rescued him, Fukushima Masanori was pinned, and Cha Da was able to escape.

Cha Da was ordered to retreat of the Ming army, Fukushima Masanori led the army to continue to chase, but suddenly suffered a series of shelling, only to see that the opposite mountain seems to be densely covered with flags, the sound of killing is everywhere, the artillery bombardment is intensive, shaking the sky, Mao Guoqi ordered the ambush to kill the response to Cha Dashou, the Japanese army suddenly collapsed, one after another, Fukushima Masanori was very surprised to see this scene, thinking that maybe the main force of the Ming army was here, and immediately sent someone to inform Ukita Hideya, and led the troops back to the defense to send troops to help.

The battle of Xingzhou is approaching dusk, the second fence has also been breached, the Korean arrows are exhausted, the people of Xingzhou have used aprons as pockets to transport stones, the Japanese offensive is endless, the Korean army is close to running out of ammunition and food, Kwon Li Zheng has nothing to do but sees a number of warships sailing on the Han River, it turned out that Li Xue transported reinforcements and arrows to help, Xingzhou soldiers and civilians rejoiced, and after receiving assistance, they returned fire to the Japanese army again.

By sunset, Koshu had repelled nine Japanese attacks, killing nearly 2,000 enemies, Ukita Hideya was annoyed and angry, and then ordered the whole army to attack, Ukita Hideya once again went to the front line, all the Japanese generals escorted around, and the Japanese arquebus steadily advanced. The rest of the samurai and ashigaru teams still fought hard to attack the castle and prepare to climb the castle, but the arrows in Koju were about to run out again, and the soldiers were killed and wounded, and Kwon Li himself was also hit by an arquebus and could not wield a sword. The gate of Xingzhou was blown up, the Japanese army wanted to penetrate, the Korean soldiers and civilians resisted hard, and the gate of Xingzhou City Wall was almost a sea of corpses. The Ukita Hideya family ordered the large iron artillery team to be transferred forward again, and strictly ordered the Japanese army to take Koshu in one go. Just when he was expecting that Xingzhou would be broken, Ukita Hideya received a report that the main force of the Ming army was approaching Hanyang, and the situation was extremely critical! Unwilling, Ukita Hideya shouted angrily to vent his anger, and was forced to abandon Xingzhou and lead the army back to Hanyang.

Seeing the retreat of the Japanese army to celebrate the victory, and ordered the disintegration of the Japanese corpse and inserted it in the stake to show the public, the soldiers and civilians of Xingzhou were happy, but Quan Li was very sad, Quan Li said to Li Xue and Master Chuying: "Xingzhou won more with less, and the Japanese army was defeated and retreated, but our army suffered huge casualties, and the remaining troops alone could not hold Xingzhou, and the imperial court was also stretched thin in terms of troops and grain and grass, and it should be difficult to replenish Xingzhou's troops immediately, and after the war, Xingzhou was broken, and in my opinion, Xingzhou should be abandoned and led all the soldiers and civilians to retreat to Pazhou to defend." There was no objection from the crowd, so Kwon Kuri led the remnants of the army and the people to Paju early the next morning. After Kwon Gyuri withdrew to Paju, the empty fortress of Koju was occupied by the Japanese army.