The Liaodong soldiers defended the dangerous city alone, and the Japanese army slaughtered Nanyuan by exploding the city gate

Since the first batch of Ming troops entered Korea, the general army Ma Gui led 17,000 troops to garrison Hanyang, Yang Yuan led 3,000 Liaodong cavalry to garrison Jeolla Province Namwon, Chen Yuzhen led 2,000 troops to garrison Jeonju and echoed Nanyuan, Wu Weizhong led 4,000 southern soldiers to garrison Chungju, Mao Guoqi led 3,000 troops to guard Xingzhou and control the island ridge and Qiufeng Ridge danger. The strategic deployment of the Ming army was that all departments would defend the fortress, and after the 40,000 troops led by Xing Yu entered the DPRK, they would jointly switch to the counteroffensive with Korea, and launch a pincer offensive against the Japanese army from Namwon and Chungju to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army.

Since June, the Japanese army has been dispatched from Pusan, gradually approaching Yangsan and Xiongcheon, and since the Korean naval forces have been almost completely annihilated, and the sea route is defenseless, the Japanese army has many options to attack. The Japanese army attacked from Gyeongsang Province to Jeolla Province on the left and right, the right army was led by Mori Hidemoto, Kato Kiyomasa, Kuroda Nagamasa and others with 50,000 troops to Huangshi Mountain Fortress, the left army was led by Ukita Hideya led by Konishi Yukinaga and Shimazu Yoshihiro and other troops of 56,800 troops, and in August the left army captured Sacheon, Namhae, and Gwangju and marched to Namwon.

In addition to the 3,000 Liao soldiers led by the Ming general Yang Yuan, the Chinese army Li Xinfang, and Mao Chengxian, there were also 3,000 Korean troops stationed in Namwon, including the Korean Jeolla Provincial Envoy Li Funam, the Namwon Provincial Envoy Ren Hyun, the garrison general Kim Kyung-lao, the Gwangyang County Supervisor Li Chunyuan, and the accompanying envoy Zheng Qiyuan, each leading the headquarters and the newly recruited Korean army. Yang Yuan convened the meeting, and Ren Xuan, the envoy of Nanyuan Prefecture, said: "In response to the order of the deputy commander-in-chief, in the past two months, the Nanyuan city has been strengthened by one zhang, and the moat has also been raised to two zhang deep, and the materials that can be used for garrison and barrier construction have been requisitioned, but the grain and grass in the city are insufficient, only enough for five days. ”

Jin Jinglao, the garrison general, reported: "There are three Shengzi artillery pieces in Nanyuan City, and I have transferred them to deploy them in the city tower, but the Shengzi artillery is relatively old, and there are no other firearms in the city, hoping that they can be effective in resisting the enemy." Li Chunyuan, the supervisor of Guangyang County, also said: "The people of all the townships outside Nanyuan have all moved into Nanyuan to avoid disaster, but the news of the imminent arrival of the Japanese invaders has been spread, and there are always a few people among the people who want to flee every day, and it is extremely difficult to appease. ”

In this regard, the military envoy of Jeolla Province, Li Funan, proposed: "The army of Namwon is short of food, the people's hearts are turbulent, it is located in an open plain, and there is a flat river on all sides, although it is in an important place, there is a huge difference in strength, it is better to abandon Namwon and move to Jiaolongshan Fortress ten miles away to garrison, Jiaolongshan Fortress has a steep terrain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is conducive to maneuvering with the enemy." What does Deputy Chief Yang think? ”

Yang Yuan said no: "Namwon Fortress is a foreign domain of Jeolla Province, and once it is lost, it will not only endanger Jeolla Province, but also Tianjin and Denglai." We are stationed here to defend the southern plains, how can we abandon the city? The soldiers of the Ming army can be one of ten, plus the help of North Korea, the Japanese must be blocked under the city of Nanyuan, and at the same time, it is necessary to immediately ask for help from Chen Yucheng in Quanzhou, Quanzhou and Nanyuan echo each other, if Quanzhou comes to help, Nanyuan can be protected. As for Jiaolong Mountain City, it must be burned immediately! ”

Li Funan was shocked and asked why Jiaolong Mountain City was burned? Yang Yuan said: "Compared with Jiaolong Mountain, Jiaolong Mountain City has more defensive advantages, so it will inevitably cause instability in the army's morale, if Nanyuan City is slightly unfavorable, it will rush to retreat to Jiaolong Mountain City, evacuate in a panic, how can Jiaolong Mountain prevent it?" Putting it to death and resurrecting, burning Jiaolong Mountain City and sticking to Nanyuan with all its might is for this reason. If anyone has any doubts, they will flee by themselves after the death of Yang Yuan, but if anyone dares to flee without permission before the death of this general soldier on the battlefield, they will die under my sword first! Please also encourage the morale of each department, and the Ming army will swear to defend the southern plains. "The generals commanded.

On 12 August, the Japanese army arrived outside Nanwon Castle, and the commander-in-chief, Ukita Hideie, convened a military meeting to deploy and capture Nanwon. Ukita Hideya issued a military order: "Fujido Takatora and Ota Kazuyoshi each team will follow me to attack the south gate, Konishi Yukinaga, Soyoshitomo, Wakisaka Yasuji, and Takenaka Shigeri each lead their teams to attack the west gate, Kato Yoshiaki and Shimazu Yoshihiro each lead their teams to attack the north gate, and Wasuka Housekee, Mori Yoshinari, and Ikoma Kazumasa each lead their teams to attack the east gate, what do you have any opinions?" ”

Konishi said: "It is reported that all the houses and temples outside Nanyuan City have been burned, and we have no cover outside Nanyuan City, and there are traces of reinforcement and excavation of Nanyuan city walls and moats. The focus is on the annihilation of the Ming army, and once the Ming army collapses the Korean garrison, there is nothing to worry about. ”

Shimazu Yoshihiro proposed: "The Ming Kingdom and Korea are only a few thousand troops in Nanyuan, and now they are besieged by our regiments, although the Nanyuan is open, but in my opinion, the Ming army does not dare to send cavalry to avoid destruction, so that Nanyuan is just a lone army cage city, but what I am most worried about is that there are reinforcements to rescue, and we must do our best to conquer Nanyuan as soon as possible from the beginning." I heard that this group of Ming troops should have been the one that was besieged in the Battle of Wenlu in the Bihu Pavilion, and I don't know if there is any luck last time to escape this time. ”

Ukita Hideya agreed, and then said: "Don't underestimate the enemy, the Ming army is very strong, far from being comparable to North Korea, and it can be fought against for a while in the face of several times the strength, but although we have the advantage of military strength, we can't just fight to the death, we still need to pay attention to strategy, reduce casualties, our goal is the whole of Korea, not only in Nanwon." Wakiban and Kato are often in the navy, and today they can fight together in Nanyuan, but they must reproduce the martial arts of the seven guns of Shidake. ”

Yoshiaki Kato vowed: "Captain, please rest assured, I will definitely be the first to attack Nanwon this time." Not to be outdone, Wakisaka Yasuharu said: "We have long hoped to return to land to fight, but the first to attack Nanyuan will never be Kato Yoshiaki, but it must be my Wakisaka Yasuharu!" Ukita Hideya was overjoyed and immediately ordered the entire army to attack Nanyuan.

The Japanese army marched under the city of Nanyuan, and surrounded Nanyuan all over the mountains. Yang Yuan and Li Xinfang guarded the east gate, Qian General Jiang Biao guarded the south gate, Mao Chengxian guarded the west gate, and Jeolla Provincial soldiers made Li Funan guard the north gate. Yang Yuan ordered the gong to be blown and fired, and ordered that the city strictly prohibited the use of military weapons in vain. At noon, five Japanese soldiers were ordered to surrender at the stone bridge outside the east gate of Nanyuan, Yang Yuan saw this in the outer city and ordered the Ming army to shoot and kill, and the Japanese army immediately turned to a full-scale attack, shouting from the Qichang Zen Temple, raising an arquebus and firing a series of fires from a hundred steps outside the city. The range of the Korean Shengzi artillery was limited, the power was weak, the Japanese army was almost undamaged, the North Korean and Ming troops in addition to the bow and arrow fire, the Ming army fired more thunderbolts to return fire, the two sides fired a day, the Japanese army retreated.

Yang Yuan guessed: "The Japanese are menacing, regardless of the cost, they will attack at night." Li Xinfang, Mao Chengxian, you two selected capable generals to be divided outside the four gates, immediately arranged Lingtie outside the Hao, as a nail board buried at the bridgehead, each will wait at the city gate, once the enemy enters the middle plan immediately attack and exterminate! Li Xinfang and Mao Chengxian received the order.

Lee Bok-nam, the Korean Jeolla Provincial Military Envoy, asked, "Why is the deputy town so sure that the enemy will attack at night?" The Japanese are ten times larger than me, and they can attack during the day, so why bother? Yang Yuan replied: "The enemy Kouzhi is not in Nanyuan but in Hanyang and Daming, so he will never spend time in Nanyuan, and will do everything he can to attack day and night in order to capture Nanyuan as soon as possible, and we can only hold on day and night to wait for help, and make every effort to stop the Japanese from outside the city of Nanyuan." ”

Therefore, the Ming army planted rhododium iron outside the trenches, and secretly ambushed the nail boards at the bridgeheads, and ordered the generals to lead their troops at the city gate after nightfall. At the time of the second watch, the vanguard detachment of the Japanese army sneaked to the gates and was ambushed by the nail plate diamond iron, and the Ming troops from all walks of life immediately attacked and killed when they saw this. Yang Yuan ordered the evacuation of the bridge of the four gates, shouting and firing cannons, all night. The Japanese soldiers scattered and set fire to the air for several miles, and the Japanese returned fire with arquebuses after the smoke, and returned in the middle of the night.

Ukita Hideya was furious: "Time is running out, we must take Nanyuan immediately!" Urge each team to build 500 more ladders overnight, fill in Haoping Road tomorrow, and dispatch the iron artillery teams of the arrow tower, be sure to shoot all the guards at the city gate, and attack the Nanyuan City in one fell swoop! Governor Konishi comforted: "The captain doesn't need to be so angry, Nanyuan will never repeat the defeat of Xingzhou, Nanyuan is just a lonely army and stubborn resistance, there is no strong reinforcement outside, and it will be owned by me within a day or two." ”

Shimazu Yoshihiro said: "The main force of the Ming army is still there, Nanyuan is still not easy to break, the Ming army has always been invincible in the world, and now it is forced to be trapped in the city, and it is inevitable that he will be unwilling." I think we can lure the Ming army out of the city, and when we have attacked the city several times, we can pretend to be exhausted, show confusion and retreat, so that the Ming army will think that there is an opportunity. Send 5,000 feet to cover the loess and ambush the ground, if the Ming cavalry really dispatched, then immediately encircled and annihilated, the elite of the Ming army was lost, and Nanyuan was at your fingertips. ”

Ukita Hideya exclaimed, "Isn't this the ninja method?" Shimazu, how could you have thought of using this kind of evil art as a method of warfare, as a samurai, it is not appropriate. Shimazu Yoshihiro said: "The ninja method has caused us many casualties, which shows that it is extremely practical, as long as we can quickly annihilate the main force of the Ming army, we can rest easy." It's just that I haven't learned the mysteries of ninja, so I shouldn't be able to be as magical as their ninjas, but it should be more than enough to deal with the Ming army. Ukita Hideya agreed.

In the early morning of August 13, the Japanese army surrounded Nanyuan again, built more flying cloud ladders to prepare to climb the city, filled the road under the cover of arquebuses, dispatched arrow towers to overlook Nanyuan to make the arquebus team condescending, the defenders of the outer city of Nanyuan died for a while, the Japanese army took the opportunity to flock to the city, and was repelled by the Ming army and North Korea several times, showing exhaustion, the formation was scattered, and then retreated to the base camp at noon.

Yang Yuan said to Li Xinfang of the Chinese army: "The Japanese have been fighting fiercely for days, our army has been suppressed by the enemy, and the Japanese will think that Nanyuan will fall sooner or later and have an opportunity to take advantage of it. It was the time of the surprise attack. Li Xinfang of the Chinese army believes that it is not a perfect plan, so it is better to stick to it and wait for salvation. Yang Yuan didn't listen: "It's been two days since I held on to Nanyuan, and Chen Yuzhi in Quanzhou has not come to his aid so far, and he has not moved his troops and ignored the orders of the commander!" When we all die in Nanyuan, he won't send troops to rescue! Shameless man, if I can survive Hanyang, I will behead him! Now we can no longer sit back and wait for foreign aid, we can only rely on us to act at the opportunity, needless to say, carry out military orders! ”

Yang Yuan then led all the Liaodong cavalry out of the city to attack, the Japanese army feigned defeat and retreated, the Ming army chased across the stone bridge, who knew that the Japanese army was covered with loess and lay on the ground, suddenly rose up, countless, almost surrounded Yang Yuan, the Japanese general Shimazu Yoshihiro personally came to the battle array, holding the wild sword to lead the troops to kill, Yang Yuan was alarmed and ordered to retreat, and dozens of Liaodong cavalry were killed and wounded to return to the southern plain. Shimazu Yoshihiro failed to completely annihilate the Liaodong cavalry and returned in anger.

After Shimazu Yoshihiro returned to the camp, he scolded indignantly, and Konishi Yukicho said: "Shimazu-kun's plan can be called dangerous, but it is true that there is no ninja skill, and the Ming army is also extremely powerful. Captain, it is better to recruit the Ming army, let me persuade the generals of the Ming army to surrender, and let them sacrifice Nanyuan. ”

Ukita Hideya immediately rebuked him: "Konishi, His Royal Highness Taiko has issued a strict order not to have any further negotiations with the Korean and Ming armies, and this order is actually a warning to you, do you dare to disobey His Highness Taiko's orders!" Konishi argued: "It's not a negotiation of peace, we are determined to win Nanyuan, but if we can make it go out of the city and surrender, we can also reduce casualties, our goal is the whole of Korea, there is no need to waste time here, I will not give him time to think about it, I will reply immediately, if the Ming army still stubbornly resists to the end, then annihilate it in one fell swoop." ”

Ukita Hideya didn't want to argue, and told again: "Konishi, I can allow you this time, but you must not be lucky or have other intentions, I will order the army to immediately develop baking bombs, and if the Ming army does not surrender, I will blow up the four gates of Nanyuan, no longer entanglement and no longer mercy, I will slaughter Nanyuan." "Governor Konishi received the order.

On August 14, Governor Konishi ordered the Ming army to visit Yanfeng for peace talks, Yang Yuan ordered the general to go with the Japanese army, and Li Xinfang of the Chinese army persuaded: "The deputy town is not allowed, and the imperial court strictly decrees that peace with the enemy must not be committed, so you will commit a serious crime!" We will swear to fight the enemy to the last soldier, defend the southern plains, please don't lose a big loss because of a small one! Yang Yuan said: "What are you talking about? How can I make peace with my enemies? The soldiers were now exhausted, and the city was in dire need of rest, so that the whole army could take the opportunity to put in order to prepare for the big battle. I'm going to say no as soon as we're ready. Remember, we only have half a day to cover our eyes. Li Xinfang took the order.

When the Ming army arrived at Yanfeng, Konishi said with a smile: "The Ming army came from afar to defend the southern plains with Korea, which is really hard. I am very eager to personally lead the army to fight to the death with the main force of the Ming army, but not in this southern plain, but in Hanyang. This small city in the southern plains, you are weak and weak, and it is difficult for the southern plains to survive a day under the strong attack, it is better to surrender the city or abandon the city and leave, at least you can save your life. ”

The Ming army general replied: "I can't make the decision on this matter, I just came to listen to your rhetoric on the order of the deputy town, report the truth, how to decide how to have your own deputy town reply, before the deputy town reply, please stop fighting and wait." Governor Konishi immediately got up and gave an ultimatum: "Why do you Tang people answer like this?" I don't have the patience to wait for your reply, there is no need to do more, and I should be grateful for the way out. When you go back, you need to tell Yang Yuan exactly what I just said, and tell Yang Yuan that before sunset, I will send an envoy into Nanyuan to ask for an answer, and if you stop outside the city, we will also attack the city immediately!" There is a shortage of food in the city, in order to show sincerity, there are twenty loads of military rations here, if you fight again, these twenty loads of military rations will not help you, just give Yang Yuan a signal, it is better to obey orders, otherwise the city will be ruined. ”

President Konishi gave it back. At dusk, the Japanese envoy came again, and was led to the south gate by the general officer, and discussed with Yang Yuan in the Longmen Pavilion. The Japanese envoy relayed the words of Governor Konishi, "General Konishi respectfully told General Yang Yuan that the disparity in military strength is huge, and the southern plain can be broken in one day, and there will be no people and animals at that time. It is advised to surrender or abandon the city at once, and if there is no repentance, it will be too late to repent. ”

Yang Yuan sternly refused, and said sharply: "I have been a general since I was fifteen years old, rampant in the world, invincible, and now there are Liaodong elite and Korean allied soldiers in charge, all of them are one enemy and one hundred, no longer have to waste their efforts, just attack the city, I also ask you to tell the Japanese Kou, the general can also give them a chance, and retreat as soon as possible to avoid being slaughtered by my long knife." ”

The Japanese envoy withdrew from the city to report, the Japanese army attacked the city on a large scale, under the cover of most of the troops, Ukita Hideya ordered the Einsatzgruppen to run to each gate in four directions, and placed baking explosive bombs to blow up the city gate, under the Ming army and North Korea, the progress of the Einsatzgruppen was slightly slow, but the east gate and the south gate were still blown open, the Japanese army stepped up the attack, and the number of casualties of the defenders at each gate gradually increased, and they were gradually lonely. Yoshiaki Kato and Yasuharu Wakisaka each led their own teams to take the lead and attacked the city several times, and the people in the city ran and wept and wailed to each other. In the heavy rain at night, the Japanese army took advantage of the darkness to attack the city again in the rain, and fought fiercely until the time of the retreat.

On August 15, the garrison of Nanyuan was less than 1,000, and the ammunition and food were exhausted, and the Japanese army invaded Nanyuan. ”

Li Funan was surprised: "Why did the deputy town judge the two of them before and after, in order to stick to the Nanyuan deputy town, Jiaolong Mountain City has been burned down!" Why is it now retreating to Jeonju? At this point, I will live and die with Namwon, and the Korean soldiers have made an oath to ask the Ming army to fight the enemy to the end! ”

Yang Yuan persuaded bitterly: "The southern plain has been broken, no matter how difficult it is to hold on, we have held on to the last moment, why let the soldiers die in vain?" Retreat at this time is not to flee from the battle, but to regroup for the future! As a Jeolla Provincial Soldier, you have a heavy responsibility, and you should take the overall situation into account! Li Funan insisted on resigning: "I didn't hold out until the last moment!" Now the withdrawal of troops will only be in turmoil, and the retreat to Quanzhou can not be stopped, the Ming army does not know whether there is any punishment for withdrawing at this time, but I will still be unable to escape death if I withdraw at this time, and I Li Funan will live and die with Nanyuan! ”

After Yang Yuan heard this, he didn't say much, let Li Funan go, after the Japanese army invaded Nanyuan, it turned into street fighting, Ming general Li Xinfang, Mao Chengxian, Qianzong Jiang Biao and North Korea's Jeolla Provincial Soldier Li Funan, Defense Envoy Wu Yingjing, garrison general Jin Jinglao, don't General Shen Hao, Nanyuan Prefecture Envoy Ren Xuan, Tongju Li Dehui, and county supervisor Li Yuanchun were all killed in battle, Yang Yuan led his own soldiers to capture the West Gate with 500 horses, and broke through the gap, and only 50 were left after the entourage escort broke through, and the rest of the Nanyuan defenders were all killed, and the Japanese army suffered more than 7,000 casualties. After the Japanese army captured Namwon, they slaughtered the city for one day to vent their anger, and the Korean soldiers and civilians in Namwon were wiped out.