The Chaoming coalition army attacked Ulsan, and Kato fought a bloody battle with 100 people

Although the Japanese army withdrew south on the initiative due to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's order, the Ming army pursued it with brilliant results, and most of Gyeongsang Province and Jeolla Province were under the control of the Ming army and Korea. Therefore, the governor Xing Jue summoned Yang Hao, Jinyi Wei Shi Yong, Ding Yingtai, the director of Zanhua, Yoo Chenglong, the governor of the Joseon Dynasty, the Marshal Kwon Li, the soldier Cao Jushu Li Dexin, the admiral Ma Gui, and Chen Lan to discuss the military plan.

Xing Jue said: "Now we are in an advantage, Gyeongju, Jeonju, Namwon and other places are under control. Now it is necessary to concentrate forces to attack the dangerous barrier first, and the Japanese are outside Busan, and there are new Japanese fortresses stationed in Ulsan, Jinju, Sacheon, Suncheon and other places, with the sea route at their back. The Japanese army is in these cities, surrounded and annihilated, and the Japanese will be severely damaged, and they can only survive and breathe. At the same time, the detachment was dispatched to attack from all sides at the opportunistic opportunity to seize the townships, counties, strongholds, and military stations it occupied. After ordering the naval army to fight, advancing by sea and land, blocking transportation, and clearing the territory, Pusan was isolated and helpless, and it was at his fingertips. Ulsan Waseong is the closest to Busan, and it is the easiest to send troops from Gyeongju, and once Ulsan is captured, the Busan Waseong will be deeply shocked, and this battle can start from Ulsan. Feel free to say what you have to say about this. ”

Liu Chenglong said: "My lord's analysis is very appropriate, and I have no objection. But how is this newly built city constructed and can be explored? Is it not easy to attack? The Japanese army was good at defending the city, and now it was heavily garrisoned, making it even more difficult to capture. In addition to the heavy defense of the Japanese invaders, there must be reinforcements at any time, and the war has reached a critical point, so we must not be careful. ”

Ding Yingtai, the director of Zanhua, said: "The prime minister is very worried, if this battle cannot be won in Ulsan and our army suffers heavy losses, it will definitely affect the overall situation. Regarding the structural design of the city, the superintendent had previously asked Jinyiwei to go to secretly investigate, and Shi Dusi might as well talk about it for the prime minister. ”

Jinyiwei Shi Shiyong explained to everyone present: "Jinyiwei has sent many batches of secret agents since October, but the Japanese are well guarded and kill villagers indiscriminately. About the Ulsan Waseong only know that its battlements are dense, the sentry tower is built to expand the outer city, and the inside and outside are built with multi-storey urn cities, built by the mountain, relying on the mountain to improve layer by layer, taking into account the water source, the defense is tight, easy to defend and difficult to attack. With all due respect, if the Wako are properly arranged and flexibly change their tactics, the Wa Castle can be called impregnable. ”

The Marshal of the Joseon Dynasty, Kwon Li Jin, said: "In this way, it is not advisable to storm the city, and the design of the city is precisely to ensure that the city does not fall, and it is built to wait for an opportunity to counterattack with us for a long time." When luring the enemy out of the city, it is easy to encircle and annihilate it outside the city before attacking Ulsan. North Korea can send 10,000 troops to help, and I will also go to the battle formation in person to cooperate with the Ming army to attack Ulsan. ”

After a while, Yang Hao asked Xing Yu for an order: "Our army has 60,000 troops, and in this case, it is estimated that we have selected 36,000 elite soldiers plus 10,000 troops from North Korea to fight the enemy, and how to lure the enemy can be planned again." This time, I would like to be the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces and assist the armies of the two countries to fulfill their respective responsibilities and cooperate with each other. He asked the commander-in-chief Ma Gui and Marshal Kwon Li to be his deputies, and after capturing Ulsan, he would take advantage of the situation to recover Dongnae, threatening the Busan Japanese army, and the enemy would be torn apart. What does Admiral think? ”

Ma Gui said: "Indeed, as Yang Jingluo and Director Ding said, this victory or defeat is related to the overall situation. Since the artillery is necessary for the siege, I intend to send troops to surround Ulsan before the siege firearms arrive, so as to prevent the Japanese army from taking more precautions. In this regard, Liu Chenglong also took the initiative to ask to go to Ulsan together, and Xing Jue and Yang Hao agreed.

Ding Yingtai, the director of Zanhua, said: "It is the beginning of winter, and the wind and snow are coming, and our army is still short of winter materials, so we should have suspended the war, and if we fall into a confrontation in Ulsan, the gains outweigh the losses, and we need to urgently request the imperial court to transfer and allocate them to prepare for the long-term war." Yang Ho said: "That is natural, and the Japanese must have assumed that it would be difficult for our army to start a war in the cold winter, and I suspect that the Japanese are now troubled by the severe cold." It was the time of surprise to lure the enemy out of the city, reduce casualties, and break through Ulsan as soon as possible. This surprise attack in the snow was never expected. ”

Li Dexin, a Korean soldier from Cao, is still worried: "The Korean navy is still resting and recuperating, rushing to build ships, and there is a shortage of warships and insufficient combat strength, so it is difficult to realize the governor's strategy of advancing by sea and land in the short term." In fact, the Japanese army was still unimpeded in sea transportation, and the various Wajo cities were able to support each other in transporting soldiers, military rations and ordnance, and it was very difficult to capture the Wajo Castle, which made me extremely worried. ”

Chen said: "It is precisely because of this that it is necessary to launch an attack on various Waseong cities at the same time, first attacking Ulsan to deter the enemy, and also to test the reality of the Japanese army. However, the navy really needs to participate in the war as soon as possible, and also asks the superintendent and the economic strategy to ask for the dispatch of the navy to help as soon as possible and fight jointly with the Korean navy. Xing Jue agreed, and immediately ordered the mobilization of troops to attack Ulsan.

In Fushimi Castle in Kyoto, Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was recovering from his illness, after receiving a report from the front, asked Maeda Toshiie one after another whether the order to relaunch the offensive had been conveyed to Korea. Ishida Mitsunari replied that it had been unmistakably conveyed to the Japanese army. Toyotomi Hideyoshi suddenly felt a pain in his chest, and said fiercely: "Then why haven't you broken through the Ming army's defense line and recaptured the lost city?" Every attack was repulsed? Did they really attack? Is the Ming army that strong? It's ridiculous! Bring the armor! Maeda Toshiya, you don't have to stop me, you still have to believe that when those fools arrive? I have no choice but to go to North Korea to make a break in this war! ”

Maeda Toshiie urged that now was not the time to get excited, and asked Toyotomi Hideyoshi to be calm. Hideyoshi said angrily: "I have already said that I want to go to Korea, whether it is the king of Korea or the emperor of Ming, I will definitely personally command, defeat their army, capture them alive in front of me, and personally cut off their heads!" Before Toyotomi Hideyoshi finished speaking, his body suddenly studied, his mouth spat blood, and he fell to the ground. Seeing this, Maeda Toshiya and Ishida Mitsunari hurriedly helped, Hideyoshi even said that it was fine, Ishida Mitsunari was frightened and shouted that the attendants came to take care of Hideyoshi's rest and prepared to urgently call a pharmacist for treatment, Hideyoshi immediately drew a knife and stabbed the two attendants to death, warning the Toshiya and Mitsunari that they must not leak their vomiting blood. The two of them took the order.

And in Busan, Ukita Hideya is also discussing military plans with Kuroda Rusui, and Kuroda Rusui once again offered a plan: "The current situation should be carried out in the law of cage city, and the consumption of the enemy's military strength and military food is the key." The coastal area of Korea is mostly occupied by our army, the sea route is unimpeded, and the soldiers and materials can be endless, while the Ming army is different, and the cold winter is approaching, which is not conducive to the war and is conducive to the cage city. It is difficult to determine whether the Ming army will start another major war in the near future, but it is extremely necessary to strengthen the city defense and prepare for war at all times. If I am the Ming army, we must attack Ulsan first to deter Busan, Kato, Nabeshima and Asano father and son are in Ulsan, with 12,000 troops, and we need to mobilize troops in advance to rescue at any time. Now, if you want to regain the advantage, there are two strategies, one is to wait for the opportunity to annihilate the enemy under the city when the enemy's food is exhausted and the fighting spirit is relaxed, and then launch a new offensive against Hanyang in two ways. The second is to abandon Ulsan, Yangsan, Sacheon, Suncheon and other places, concentrate military forces on Busan, and fight a decisive battle with the enemy by sea. I also have a plan in mind on how to win the battle, but I still need to ask His Highness Taige for a decision first. Ukita Hideya also thinks that this is the only way to go, and obeys Kuroda's words.

After the Ming army and North Korea agreed to jointly attack Ulsan, Yoo Sung-ryong and Kwon Li began to mobilize North Korean troops and prepare for the expedition. However, the North Korean North People's Party was uneasy because of this, and the core members of the North People's Party, Liu Zuxu and Li Erzhan, went to discuss with Li Shanhai, the leader of the North People's Party. Yoo was worried: "If good news comes from Ulsan, this war will end soon." Liu Chenglong and the southerners will gain great prestige, the government and the opposition will praise, and the Westerners will also move closer to us to deal with us, and then Liu Chenglong can act at will, even His Royal Highness has to consider the situation. ”

Li Erzhan bitterly reminded Li Shanhai to be careful: "Although the prime minister said that he would withdraw from the imperial court as soon as this war was over, this could easily become empty words. What would you do if the prime minister changed hands after the war and then retired after the people's livelihoods and domestic order had been restored? The reforms carried out by the prime minister are not yet fully secured, how can he be reconciled? The prime minister personally went to Ulsan, precisely because this battle was extremely crucial to whether the war could be ended, and the gentry and the common people were extremely concerned. In the future, once you regret it, and use the momentum of quelling the war, what can you do? ”

Liu Zuqian said again: "It seems to be loyal, but in fact it is treacherous, and he is fair and selfless on weekdays, but in fact, he is just dedicated to grasping power." How can we expel him from the court and realize our concept of governing the country at that time? Therefore, Li Erzhan proposed that he should step up the collection of Liu Chenglong's handle. ”

Li Shanhai sneered: "Then according to the meaning of the two of you, it is better that our Chaoming coalition army must not be able to defeat the battle of Ulsan." The yellow-mouthed son is really clever and shameless! Although we are different from Xiguo's party policy and think about our own interests, how can we care about our own interests in deciding the major affairs of the society! Even if you want to fight for the party, you will have no external trouble. Li Erzhan, if you want to hold on to power by manipulating wars, ignoring the hardships of the people and the safety of the community, you should guard against people like you more than against political enemies! Stand down now! ”

Li Erzhan and Liu Zuxu were extremely puzzled by the sudden change in Li Shanhai's attitude, and Li Erzhan argued that it was because of loyalty to Li Shanhai that he had this suggestion, Li Shanhai said: "Loyalty? Do you think I'm the boss of the street scoundrels! Loyalty is dedicated to the community and the people, not to the individual! What are you still sitting here for? Didn't you hear me tell you to step down immediately? Leazan retreated.

Liu Zu persuaded uneasily: "My lord, my lord is angry, then Li Erzhan is also a young talent among our northerners, please don't give it up easily." Li Shanhai said: "I am not surprised that people who have been in politics for a long time have such a trick, but it is already so vicious at a young age, which is chilling and intimidating. ”

Liu Zuxu was worried that Liu Chenglong would become a force because of this, so he was struggling, Li Shanhai smiled again: "Why do you only know one and don't know the other, if Ulsan wins, fortunately, the war can end as soon as possible." It is a good thing that the leader can be admired, you have also been in politics for a long time, but you still don't know His Royal Highness, Li Erzhan is self-righteous, so you can't find the heart of the Lord every time. Why was Jin Deling innocently killed? Why was Yi Sunsin imprisoned? Why has the prince been repeatedly suppressed? There are all kinds of incidents, do you really not know what the reason behind this is? Liu Zuxu suddenly realized that he and Li Erzhan were shallow and ignorant, and Li Shanhai also secretly prayed for a great victory in Ulsan.

On December 24, the allied forces of the DPRK and Ming marched to Ulsan, and the Ming generals Li Rumei, Li Ruwu, Li Fangchun, Gao Ce, Xie Sheng, Wu Weizhong, Mao Guoqi, Chen Yin, Lu Jizhong, Dong Zhengyi, Wang Wen, and Xu Guowei all participated in the battle. The first batch of North Korean troops arrived in Ulsan with 3,500 troops. Ma Gui and Kwon Li made an appointment to climb the heights to observe the Waseong, Magui raised the telescope to check in detail, only to see that the area of Ulsan Waseong is vast, Ulsan Waseong and Daosan Waseong are connected as one, the mountain is steep and precipitous, the pass of the wall in the city is dense, layer upon layer, the city is high and the wall is thick, the built-in machine is included, and there are ten artillery pieces in the city, backed by the sea, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Ma Gui decided to divide the troops into three associations, with deputy general Gao Ce leading the Chinese army to aid the two associations in the east and the enemy in the west. Li Rumei, Wu Weizhong, and Mao Guoqi led the left army, and Li Fangchun and Xie Sheng led the right army. Ma Gui ordered the army to set up an ambush in concealment, so that Lu Jizhong, Dong Zhengyi, Wang Wen, Xu Guowei four generals each led 500 to take the lead in attacking the city, due to the lack of troops by the Japanese arquebus repulsion, Kato Kiyomasa was afraid that the Ming army had a deception and did not dare to come out lightly, so the Ming army launched two rounds of attacks were repulsed, Kato Kiyomasa saw this and led 6,000 people out of the city to attack the enemy, the Ming army was defeated and retreated to lure Kato Kiyomasa to pursue, Ma Gui saw that the time had come to order the whole army to attack, and the Ming 40,000 allied troops poured out to the Japanese army to start a siege.

Kato Kiyomasa was shocked, but soon turned around and wanted to take a head before withdrawing the troops, and then ordered the iron cannon to shoot in formation, personally led the flag to the Ming army to assault, Kato Kiyomasa was brave and abnormal, raised a sickle gun and killed more than a dozen people one after another, and killed Lu Jizhong to the Ming general, Lu Jizhong also raised a knife to face the battle, and Lu Jizhong was killed by Kato Kiyomasa before a few rendezvous, the Japanese army was alone and weak, and was about to be surrounded by the Ming army, Kato Kiyomasa ordered to return to the city, and the Japanese army fought and retreated, and there were countless casualties.

Seeing that Kato Kiyomasa was defeated, Asano Nagamasa in the castle ordered the city gate to be opened to meet Kato Kiyomasa, and Magui urgently ordered the whole army to rush forward, and the coalition army immediately launched a charge towards Ulsan. The Japanese army was panicked and difficult to resist, Asano Nagamasa had to order to retreat to Shimayama to arrange the defensive line, and Kato Kiyomasa volunteered to delay the time, Kato's iron artillery team shot according to the bunker, and the rest formed a formation to meet the enemy.

Kato Kiyomasa, Nabeshima Naoshige and Asano Yukinaga were scattered by the Ming army, Kato was anxious when he heard this, Pegasus broke in but was shot in the neck by a stray arrow, Kato could only advance on foot, and after several tears, Naoshige Nabeshima was found in a stack. Nabeshima said that Asano Yukinaga was besieged by the Ming army not far from the northwest, and Kato ordered Nabeshima to lead the army to withdraw quickly, and he led a hundred to rescue Asano Yukinaga.

Asano Yukinaga's guard was only 300, and there was not much left under the siege of the Ming army, and Kato Kiyomasa broke through the defense line and stabbed his horse, and his headquarters launched a counterattack. Asano Yukinaga shouted: "Your Excellency doesn't have to risk my life, I am always ready to sacrifice myself for His Royal Highness Taiko and the Asano family, and I am willing to die with the Ming army!" ”

Kato Kiyomasa knocked Asano Yukinaga down with a blow, and said sharply: "His Royal Highness Taiko and Lord Nagamasa treat me well, how can you and I be friends and not save you?" If you die in battle, how will Lord Nagamasa bear it? For the sake of the Asano family and to continue to serve Taiko, immediately retreat to Shimayama! I'll send you guards! There is Naoshige Nabeshima in front of you, don't say much, retreat immediately! Asano Yukinaga obeyed the order and withdrew to Shimayama under the escort sent by Kato.

Asano Yuki walked in a long way, and the Ming general Li Wenyuan led the team to pursue, and Kato Kiyomasa rushed to stop it. Li Wenyuan attacked Kato with two knives in his hand, Li Wenyuan danced the knife and made the wind, like a whirlwind sweeping the ground, Kato Kiyomasa chuckled and fancy, and after a few rounds of parrying, he saw the right time to stab Li Wenyuan and die. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen soldiers of the Ming army rushed in, Kato swept thousands of troops with a spear, the Ming army did not dare to approach, Kato led the troops to rush and kill, stabbing three people in a row, but one person held the handle of the gun tightly, and it was difficult to pull it out for a while.

Kato Kiyomasa suddenly saw a Ming general Pegasus rushing towards him, Kato Kiyomasa abandoned the gun and drew his sword, roared angrily, the sound was like thunder, the Ming horse was startled, Kato Kiyomasa saw the opportunity to hurry, and he would cut off the horse's legs, turn over and jump to kill the general. The surrounding Ming army was shocked by it, Kato led the troops to kill and scattered, and another general blocked the way, chasing Wu Weizhong, the general of the Qi family army in the Ming Dynasty, the two fought each other for more than ten rounds, Wu Weizhong slashed obliquely and was dodged by Kato to turn around and elbow hit, Wu Weizhong was hit in the back and knelt on his knees, Kato turned around and slashed Wu Weizhong's left leg, Wu Weizhong jumped hard and kicked Kato in the chest, and Jiaqi took a few steps back, Wu Weizhong was injured in the leg, and his subordinates rushed to the rescue, Kato did not dare to fight, pulled out his gun and walked away.

Fang walked not far but saw that there were two generals before and after each broke through the Japanese army to rush to it, the former was Wang Wen, Xu Guowei, and then Li Ruwu, Mao Guoqi, Kato Kiyomasa fought four generals, which belonged to Mao Guoqi was the most difficult to fight, and the four generals worked together under Kato Kiyomasa gradually difficult to resist, fortunately there was a flag to save, Kato was able to get rid of, continue to retreat, all the chasing Ming army was overturned by it to the ground, blood like a spring. Kato was already pouring blood at this time, put away his saber and grabbed the horse and held the gun, the place he passed was unstoppable, and the soldiers killed would have exceeded 100 people, Kato fought bloodily for a long time, and retreated one by one. At this time, Asano Nagamasa and Nabeshima Naoshige had built three fences outside Shimayama Castle and sent troops to rescue Kato and other remnants.

As a result of the surprise attack, the Ming army obtained a large area of the Japanese city and captured a lot of supplies, and the Japanese army only had the island mountain position left. Ma Gui ordered Xie Sheng to lead the right lane, Gao Ce to lead the middle lane, and Li Rumei to lead the left side to attack Daoshan in turn. Kwon Li led the Korean army to cooperate with the Ming army's firearms camp, and then used firearms to help. Asano Nagamasa ordered Yoshimori Takemori, Kakura Iida to guard the first fence, Hideo Morimoto, Kuki Shiro to guard the second fence, Yukinaga Asano and Ota Kazuyoshi to guard the third fence, and Kiyomasa Kato and Nabeshima Naoshige to lead the troops.

The Ming army dispatched tiger squat artillery, and North Korea dispatched Shengzi artillery to continuously fire at the first fence, and the Ming army took the opportunity to rush up, but was blocked by Takemori Yoshimori and Iida Jiao. The Japanese arquebuses were very dense, and there were ten "national collapse" artillery pieces on the island and mountain to help, although Xie Sheng felt that the Japanese artillery was weak, but with the cooperation of the arquebus, it was difficult for the Ming army to resume the offensive immediately. Xie Sheng shouted to march, took the lead, and was almost hit many times. However, the first fence was also destroyed due to the firepower of the Chaoming coalition army, and Xie Sheng knew that he could break through it with just one blow.

At this time, Gao Ce's middle route army suddenly caught up to help the battle, and the guerrilla general Chen Yin, who was attacked, took the lead in breaking through the first fence, and Xie Sheng and Wu Weizhong led the troops to stop Zhusen and Iida's department, and ordered Chen Yin and Mao Guoqi to continue to attack the second fence. Ma Gui and Quan Li ordered the Ming coalition army to advance the firearms battalion, the artillery roared, the Japanese position was dusty, and the Ming army dispatched a magic machine arrow car to set fire to the fire, and the smoke and flames made the Japanese defense in a desperate situation. Xie Sheng and Wu Weizhong each led troops to cooperate with each other, interspersed with a breakthrough to separate and surround Takemori Yoshimori and Iida Jiao, Xie Sheng led a strong breakthrough with light cavalry, Wu Weizhong took advantage of the situation to step forward, and the Japanese army was defeated. The coalition forces launched four consecutive charges on the second fence, and Mao Guoqi took the lead, and the Japanese generals Morimoto Itao and Kuki Shiro were forced to retreat.

The guerrilla Chen Yin and Mao Guoqi led their troops to attack the third fence, Asano Yukinaga and Ota Kazuyoshi desperately resisted, and Nabeshima Naoshige also led a team to help but was blocked by Wu Weizhong, and the battlefield was full of corpses. Ma Gui shouted to march, but Yang Hao had a deep friendship with Li Rumei, and took special care of the Li family in Liaodong, always hoping to make Li Rumei make a great contribution. Seeing that the third fence was about to be broken by Chen Yin, Yang Hao withdrew his troops on the grounds that Li Rumei was still far away from the rear and did not want Chen Yin to take the first credit.