The reinforcement army gathered on the Korean border and smashed the city of Pyongyang in a day and night

In the first month of the 21st year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty army gathered into the court, the Ming Dynasty selected elite soldiers from all over the country, and presided over military affairs with Song Yingchang, the head of the military department, and Li Rusong as the chief military officer of the preparation of the Japanese, and the general army of each town. Liu Huangshang and Yuan Huang were praised, the deputy general Yang Yuan was the general of the left army, and the general Yang Shaoxian led 339 soldiers and horses of Ningqian and other battalions; Under the standard, Wang Chengen led 500 soldiers and horses in Jizhen Town; Liaozhen guerrilla Ge Fengxia led 1,300 soldiers and horses in the right battalion of the vanguard; Baoding guerrilla Liang Xin led 2,500 soldiers and horses; Datong deputy chief soldier Ren Ziqiang, guerrilla Gao Yi, Gao Ce led 5,000 soldiers and horses; The southern general Qi Jin led 1,000 chariot soldiers, a total of 10,639.

With the deputy general Li Rubai to lead the Chinese army, the deputy general Li Ning and the guerrilla Zhang Yingzhong led 1,189 Liaodong soldiers; Xuanfu guerrilla Zhang received 2,500 soldiers and horses; Staff General Li Rumei led 843 Yizhou soldiers; General Li Fangchun led 1,000 soldiers and horses; General Luo Shangzhi led 600 southern soldiers; Fang Shihui, the capital of Jizhen, led 1,000 soldiers and horses; The king of Jizhen asked for a thousand chariot soldiers; Xuanfu guerrilla Zhou Hongmo led 2,500 troops and horses, a total of 10,632.

The deputy general Zhang Shijue commanded the right army, and the subordinate guerrilla Liu Chongzheng led Liaoyang and Kaiyuan soldiers and horses 1,534; Zu Chengxun, the former deputy commander-in-chief, led 700 Haizhou horse troops; Sun Shoulian, the former deputy commander-in-chief, led the Shenyang Horse Army 702; The former deputy commander-in-chief Cha Da received 509 Kuandian Horse Army; Wu Weizhong, the general of Jizhen, led 3,000 southern soldiers; Under the standard, Qian Shizhen led the horse army of Jizhen 1,000; Zhending guerrilla Zhao Wenming led the horse army of 2,000 one; The Datong guerrilla Gu Sui led a total of 1,000,626 horse troops, and 2,800 infantry who continued to Jizhen, as well as Dong Yikui, Liu Wei and other reinforcements, with a total strength of 48,585.

The king of Joseon, Li Hao, welcomed Li Rusong's arrival, and Li Rusong thanked him: "The general knows that His Royal Highness is anxious, and he specially leads the army to help His Highness recover the lost territory. Li Haolian said thank you. Li Rusong asked how many Korean troops could join the war, and after hearing Yi Dosu's answer that there were only 8,000, Li Rusong thought that the number of 8,000 could participate in the war under the command of Zu Chengxun.

Yi Dou Shou suggested: "Admiral, the Korean army has its own establishment, and it will be chaotic to rush into the Ming army, so it is better for the two armies to cooperate in combat." Li Rusong asked rhetorically: "Does the integration of North Korea into the Ming army hurt your self-esteem?" Idoushou replied: "No, how can you be more self-respecting in this crisis, but the sudden change of the establishment will inevitably lead to confusion." Li Rusong insisted that as long as he obeyed the command, there would be no chaos, and the king of Joseon, Li Hao, also told the ministers not to insist, and after Li Hao thanked him again, he asked Li Rusong and other generals to rest.

Later, Yi Doushou and Zheng Che asked Li Hao to think twice about the preparation, and Li Hao was puzzled: "Why do the secretaries insist on fighting independently, and wouldn't it be more conducive to the war to unify the order?" Idoushou explained: "Although the number of our army is far lower than that of the Ming army, we must first have an equal relationship, otherwise we will be forced to obey the command of the Ming army in everything in the future." Li Hao said with a smile: "The Ming Dynasty is a kingdom, and it is natural to obey the command, the Ming army is tens of thousands, and our army is only 8,000, how can it be equal?" ”

Zheng Che persuaded again: "Your Highness, although our army is currently small, but after recovering Sandu, the scattered armies will meet one after another, and if you obey the orders of the Ming army now, it will be difficult to recover the military power in the future." Yi Doushou was also anxious about this, and was deeply afraid that North Korea would be coerced by the Ming army, so he persuaded again: "Yes, Your Highness, this battle is a war between Korea and the Japanese after all, and the Ming Dynasty is only for assistance, and the war should be dominated by the Korean side." ”

Li Hao was a little helpless, and then retorted: "The widow doesn't think so, I think that the original refusal to go to the Ming Dynasty and start a war, the Japanese invaded our North Korea to attack the Ming Dynasty again, and our army also obeyed the dispatch of the Ming Dynasty and fought until now, and the widow is just fighting for the emperor." Therefore, the main body of the war should be the Ming Dynasty. ”

Zheng Che and Yi Doosu couldn't understand the theory of Li Hao at all, and Li Hao said bluntly: "From the founding of the DPRK to the debate of the lineage, can we have a time of independence?" And the knowledge, thoughts, systems, etc., the foundation of North Korea is all taken from the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing and others should be clearer than the widows. This matter ends here, and the reconquest of lost territory can be subject to the dispatch of the Ming Dynasty. Yi Dou Shou and Zheng Che had no choice but to go.

Yi Dou Shou and Zheng Che had to meet Li Rusong to discuss: "The whole country is very grateful to the Great Tomorrow soldiers for rescuing North Korea, but North Korea is still the main body in this battle, and they are familiar with the situation in North Korea, please understand, it is better to cooperate with each other to fight." Li Rusong asked if it was the meaning of the king of Joseon? Zheng Che explained: "We are more concerned about the Commander's opinion than understanding the meaning of His Royal Highness, so we specially rushed here to discuss. ”

Li Rusong said: "In this case, the DPRK army can naturally be established independently, and the general has no objection. However, since the DPRK insists on fighting alone, it is enough to ask the DPRK to attack Pyongyang first, and our army can support it in the rear. Idoushou heard the sound of the strings, was indignant, and left immediately.

The next day, Liu Chenglong met with Li Hao, and Li Hao asked Liu Chenglong for his opinion on the preparation, and Liu Chenglong replied: "Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with the claims of Yi Dou Shou and Zheng Che. However, in the event of a fire at home, whether it is the use of water from his own house or from another, the fire must be extinguished first, so the minister believes that this is not the time to pursue the name, and the top priority is to recover Pyongyang, and if our army continues to win after that, it will be easy for the whole country to gather officers and soldiers to act independently. Li Hao thought so, and ordered Liu Chenglong to assist the Ming army in recovering Pyongyang on behalf of the Joseon Dynasty and appointed the Pyongan Provincial Governor to give him the right to work cheaply.

Li Rusong wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Japanese army did not know that the Ming Dynasty army had entered Pyongyang, and when he was deploying in Anzhou, the guerrilla general Shen Weijing came to ask for a meeting. Shen Weijing shouted that he was wronged, and hurriedly asked what crime he had committed? Li Rusong said: "You dare to pretend to be an envoy of the Ming Dynasty to show off your power in Korea without being publicly ordered by the imperial court!" The Ming Dynasty has never had a precedent for making peace with the enemy, and you dare to advocate privately making peace with the Japanese and the Japanese invaders, and lose the prestige of our country, and its crime can be punished! ”

Shen Weijing argued: "The military gate is angry, and the villain is wronged!" The villain was ordered by the secretary of the military department to lead the guerrilla general to delay the time, and the decision to make peace was also done by paralyzing the Japanese invaders, please check the military gate! Li Rusong said angrily: "Presumptuous, when you see that your deeds are revealed, you dare to involve important ministers in the court!" It's really treacherous and sinister. Decapitate immediately! ”

Seeing this, his younger brother Li Rubai gently persuaded: "Brother is angry, according to the younger brother's opinion, it is better not to kill this person, firstly, the Japanese are indeed confused by it, and secondly, if this person is really closely related to the military department, there will be trouble if he is killed now." Li Rusong thought for a moment, and suddenly came up with a plan, and then released Shen Weijing and ordered someone to go to Pyongyang to convey the intention of peace talks. The sword and axe man ordered the sword and axe to prepare secretly in Fushan Courtyard, and when the enemy master came, he would take it down in one fell swoop.

When Governor Konishi received the Ming army's request for peace, he was very pleased to see that the Ming Dynasty had granted the request, and the Japanese generals were equally excited. President Konishi asked where Shen Weijing was? The envoy replied: "Shen Guerrilla is old and his legs are inconvenient, and he has gone to Fushan Courtyard to wait for you to meet you. After Governor Konishi sent the envoy away, he was about to leave, and Zong Yizhi persuaded: "Father-in-law, I am worried that this may be a trap for the Ming army, should I go to explore the road first?" ”

Xiao Xi Xing said: "It's not necessary, Shen Weijing dares to break into the enemy camp alone, how can I be timid and afraid." Zong Yizhi persuaded again: "After all, this is related to the life and death of the whole army, but in case it is better to be careful, I will go to explore the way first, if I report back to you, please be sure to agree." Governor Konishi also thought that this was more appropriate, so he asked Zong Yizhi to lead a team of people to investigate first.

Zong Yizhi led twenty people to Fushan Courtyard and was warmly greeted by Ming Dynasty officials, but there were already hidden ambushes in the courtyard. Should have waited for the signal but the adjutant general Li Ning was impatient, and when he saw the Japanese army entering Fushan Courtyard, he immediately ordered a siege and killing, Zong Yizhi saw that the situation was not good, and led the team to draw his sword to meet the battle, and the two sides fought together, and Zong Yizhi led several people to escape out of the encirclement and flee back to Pyongyang to report the news.

When Li Rusong heard that the Japanese army's commander-in-chief, Konishi Yukinaga, had not appeared, he had only killed a dozen Japanese soldiers, and when he learned that the secret had been leaked, he immediately ordered the whole army to attack Pyongyang. After resting, the first army has reached 18,000 troops through the replenishment of soldiers, and Konishi Yukinaga deployed 2,000 Japanese troops in Qixingmen, Lumen, Hanblanket Gate, Ordinary Gate and Peony Terrace outside the city, and led the main force of 7,000 to press the formation, and ordered 1,000 ambushes to be placed in the city, and Pyongyang was heavily guarded and only waited for the Ming army to attack. In addition, more than 6,000 people from the Japanese army's third team of reinforcements Otomo Yoshitong have been stationed in Fengshan, and Konishi Yukinaga thinks to himself that it is not impossible to fight.

Li Rusong ordered Master Xiujing of Korea to lead 3,000 monks and soldiers to cooperate with Wu Weizhong's 3,000 southern soldiers to attack Peony Terrace, ordered Yang Yuan, the deputy general of the Chinese army, Zhang Shijue of the right army to lead 10,000 to attack Qixingmen, ordered Li Rubai, the deputy general of the left army, and Li Fangchun, the general of the left army, to lead 10,000 to attack the ordinary gate, and ordered Zu Chengxun to lead 10,000 troops to attack Hanrong Gate, and ordered Li Yi to lead 8,000 Korean troops to attack Lumen, and then sent Li Ning and other elite soldiers to ambush along the river outside the east gate, the generals commanded.

The terrain of the Peony Terrace in the north of the city is dangerous, and the Ming army intends to encircle this place even if it cannot be overcome, so as to prevent the Japanese army from outflanking the Ming army at other city gates from here. In the face of the artillery fire of the Ming army in Pyongyang, the tiger squatting and the Fran machine fired continuously, and countless stones and lead bullets fell from the sky and fell on the city, and the Japanese army still risked death to regroup the queue despite many casualties. During several rounds of shelling, the Japanese suffered nearly 100 casualties per shot, but they still gathered and fought back until they fell to the ground. The sound of the Ming army's artillery was earth-shattering, and the mountain shook ten miles away.

The Japanese army was very tenacious in the face of the Ming artillery, relying on the bunkers of the city tower to support each other and stick to the city gate. The governor of Konishi in the city was deeply disturbed by the rumbling of cannons outside the city, and strictly ordered the guards of all gates to stand firm and wait for reinforcements.

There are only a few heavy artillery in the artillery of the Ming army, the power is huge but the performance is unstable, if there is a risk of blowing up the chamber for a while, so the Ming army was not put into use immediately, although most of the artillery is difficult to destroy the city wall, but it is more than enough to suppress the city tower, Li Rusong ordered the whole army to attack and climb the city when the artillery is over, and cover the attack with cluster rockets such as fire dragon arrows, a swarm of bees, flying sickle arrows, and a hundred tigers rushing together, and the Japanese army concentrates on the iron cannon to shoot the Ming army of Pancheng, and the rolling wood and stone baking jade are smashed down one after another, the ladder of Pancheng is burned with kerosene, the battle is fierce, and it is difficult for the Ming army to climb the city, There were many dead and wounded, the formation wavered and retreated, Zhang Shijue of the right army of Qixingmen shouted and cursed, and ordered the march but it was difficult to prevent the Ming army from retreating. The Ming army in various places often suffered from unpaid salaries, and the fighting spirit was mediocre, and Li Rusong strictly ordered in advance not to snatch heads, and most of the soldiers were unwilling to fight to the death.

Li Rusong led his brother Li Ruwu, and the general Fang Shichun led two hundred light horsemen to besiege the city to inspect, and when they saw that their morale was low, they had to angrily behead several deserters and shouted on the spot: "Those who go to the city first will be rewarded with five thousand taels of silver!" And personally do the state of ascending the city to encourage the morale of the army, the order spread throughout the gates, the morale of the Ming army was greatly boosted, and they went forward to attack the city at the risk of death. Yang Yuan took the lead in ascending the city at Qixingmen and was wounded by the Japanese iron cannon, and the general Ding Jinglu covered Yang Yuan's body in the iron cannon and died. Li Rubai was shot in the head by an iron cannon at the ordinary door, but fortunately he dodged in time and only the helmet shot away, and Li Fangchun was shot through the right arm. The supervising team was also attacked, Li Ruwu was shot through his left arm by an iron cannon, Fang Shichun touched poisoned fire, and Li Rusong was also overturned to the ground by the Japanese army's continuous shooting when he was supervising the battle everywhere, Li Rusong hurriedly dodged the iron cannon shot, and led the crowd to change horses to continue to supervise the battle.

In Peony Terrace, the Chinese and North Korean coalition forces gathered to attack the northern fortress of Pyongyang here, the Japanese general Songpu Zhenxin led 2,000 troops and was extremely brave, the two armies first relied on their own firepower, each other was killed and wounded, and when the break came, the Ming army suddenly turned into close combat. The southern soldiers led by the Ming general Wu Weizhong were all trained by the descendants of the Qi family, and Wu Weizhong himself fought with Qi Jiguang for a long time when he was fighting against the Japanese in the southeast, and then went north to train the army, with rich experience. Now he is known as the four generals of the Southern Army together with Luo Shangzhi, Mao Guoqi and Qi Jin. Wu Weizhong ordered the whole army to swing the mandarin duck array, which was founded by Qi Jiguang and was extremely effective in dangerous places. The mandarin duck array is a team of eleven people, with long cards, rattan cards to block Japanese arrows, knives and guns, and with javelins, waist knives to protect the rear team to advance, the rear team of two people holding a three-meter wolf to assassinate, and then four people holding a spear to advance, the latter two holding a boring palladium guard support, each person has a clear division of labor, the order is prohibited, the overall tacit understanding is flexible, the formation is changeable, the action is convenient, both offensive and defensive, the southern soldiers carry the Qijia knife is for the Japanese army's knife, wild knife and system, plus the southern soldier marching literacy is extremely high so the combat power is very strong.

The Japanese army was difficult to defeat in the face of the mandarin duck array in close combat, the Korean monks and soldiers also fought to the death and did not retreat, Wu Weizhong was also shot by the iron cannon, and was almost killed by a bullet in the chest, but still shouted to supervise the battle, Mao Guoqi stepped forward to give first aid, Wu Weizhong entrusted Mao Guoqi to continue to lead the troops to fight regardless of the pain, Mao Guoqi admired, the Ming army was more courageous, and the Japanese army began to be chaotic. Liaodong fierce general Zha Dashou watched from the sidelines, seeing that the time had come, that is, leading all the Liaodong elite cavalry to assault, where they passed, the Japanese army was scattered and unstoppable, Wu Weizhong and Mao Guoqi led the troops until the peak was conquered. More than half of the Matsuura Shinsho troops were killed and wounded, and their morale collapsed, so they had to fight and retreat into the city.

Zu Chengxun attacked the city fiercely at Hanzhumen, the Ming army first disguised itself as the Korean army to attack, the offensive was very weak and was despised by the Japanese army, and when approaching the city tower, it was unloaded and entered, and the armor of Lu Ming fought with all his might, and the Japanese army was in a hurry to divide troops to reinforce. Luo Shangzhi, the general of the Shenji Battalion, led 600 southern soldiers to take the lead in boarding the city gate, the southern soldiers were trained by the Qi army, and immediately launched the mandarin duck formation to cooperate with each other when they boarded the city gate, with a small number of enemies, unstoppable, the main general Luo Shangzhi was honest in nature, brave and good at fighting, and his arm strength was known as being able to lift a thousand catties, so the army was called Luo Qianjin. Luo Shangzhi is neither a military nor a martial arts background, and stands out by fighting. This time is still brave and abnormal, kill many enemies, although accidentally shot and rescued, the Ming army still killed the Japanese army again and again and captured the banner, including the blanket gate Japanese army retreated, the follow-up Ming army in the city continued, opened the city gate, Zu Chengxun ordered a surprise attack, captured Pyongyang blanket gate.

Yang Yuan saw that he could not attack the Qixingmen for a long time, Zhang Shijue asked for the order to load the general to bombard the city, Yang Yuan agreed, under the continuous shelling, the Qixingmen City Gate was opened, the city wall was destroyed, and the Ming army led the car battalion led by Qi Jin to charge forward, and the artillery covered the attack on the Qixingmen. The Ming army was strong and sharp, the Japanese army was defeated, and the Japanese army retreated to the inner city when the general trend of city defense had gone, and the Lumen and ordinary gates were captured by the Ming army one after another.

Konishi Yukicho gathered the defeated troops, exhausted the main force of 7,000 to hold on to the inner city, Pyongyang city has many narrow streets, Konishi Yukinaga and Zong Yoshizhi and other days will make full use of the terrain to play the advantage of iron artillery, the Ming army front team has been shot and fell to the ground and difficult to advance, fierce battle for a day, the two armies are deadlocked in the inner city, the Japanese army is dead in the castle forts in various places in the city, the Ming army then set fire, the two armies have been tugging for a long time. At dusk, Li Rusong ordered the troops to be withdrawn. That night, Li Rusong was about to persuade the Japanese army to abandon the city and flee, but Liu Chenglong was puzzled why he wanted to let Konishi Yukicho go? Marshal Kim Myeong-won also believed that he should not let go of the Japanese Kou. Li Rusong explained: "The art of war cloud siege must be que, under the heavy siege of the enemy will be broken by the net, on the contrary, if there is a way to survive, the enemy can waver, the fighting spirit is weak, can reduce the casualties of our army in the siege, and then our army only needs to ambush when the enemy flees." ”

So Li Rusong sent a message to Konishi Yuki: "With my strength, I can annihilate you, but I can't bear to kill too much, so I will retreat and open you first". Seeing that his side had suffered many casualties, Governor Konishi thought that it would be difficult to hold on to Pyongyang, and replied that he was willing to withdraw his troops and not to stop him. Subsequently, Konishi Yukichang gathered the whole army and went out of the city overnight and retreated to the Datong River.

Li Rusong found out that the Japanese army had fled, and ordered the whole army to pursue, and the Datong River was frozen in January, and the Ming army and North Korea who were ambushed along the river immediately blocked and delayed the Japanese army's southward retreat, and the Ming army pursued to the Datong River and saw that the Japanese army was retreating south, so the artillery bombardment of the river, the ice was broken, and the Japanese army drowned thousands of people, and Konishi Yukinaga led the remnants of the army to flee to Kaesong. In the first battle of Pyongyang, the Ming army lost 796 casualties, 1,492 wounded, and the Japanese army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties.

Konishi Yukicho led the remnants to flee to Kaesong to meet Kobayakawa Takakei, Kobayakawa saw that Konishi Yukichang was very embarrassed, and his troops suffered heavy casualties, and Pyongyang lost its defense and asked how the Ming army was fighting? Konishi Yukicho replied: "The combat strength of the Ming army is very strong, our army is invincible in close combat, the Ming army's artillery is huge, and our army has suffered heavy casualties. Lord Longjing, you must not easily start a war with the Ming army, if you want to defeat the Ming army, you must join forces, Pyongyang has been lost, Kaesong is difficult to protect alone, it is better to retreat to Hanyang and concentrate troops to fight again. ”

Kobayakawa Takakei also thinks it is reasonable: "I can't imagine that the Ming army's combat strength is so strong, and if so, the former officers and soldiers should concentrate their military forces to garrison Hanyang, but now that the troops are scattered, they are easy to be broken by each other, and they should indeed retreat to Hanyang." When the Ming army is proud of its successive victories, it can concentrate all its efforts to set up an ambush and gather annihilation. Kobayakawa then ordered the Sixth Army to prepare to abandon Kaesong and move towards Hanyang.

On the Hanyang side, Ukita Hideya also learned the news of Pyongyang's defeat and was furious. The military advisor Kuroda Kanbei advised: "The first team has nearly 20,000 troops, which can be called elite, and it is still defeated by the Ming army because it holds the fortified fortress of Pyongyang, which shows that the combat strength of the Ming army is extraordinary, and the scattered armies are not conducive to war. ”

Ukita Hideya didn't allow it: "How can it be arranged like this, how can His Royal Highness Taiko allow it?" The great defeat of Pyongyang is a shame for our army, and we should immediately organize a counteroffensive, how can we all abandon the defense and retreat south! Kuroda Kanbei shouted, "Hide! The situation is urgent! Don't be obsessed with it anymore! Do you want the whole army to die in Korea? The dispersion of troops will only lead to successive defeats, withdrawing from the four northern provinces, showing weakness and paralysis, arrogant and arrogant Ming army, and concentrating military strength to win a great victory outside Hanyang City, so that the total annihilation of the Ming army will immediately be completely occupied by our army, and the march into the Ming country will be smoother. Please immediately issue a strict order to all teams to concentrate on Hanyang, and those who violate the order will be executed immediately! ”

Ishida Mitsunari also agreed: "If Hanyang is lost, then all teams in the north will face a catastrophe, please hurry!" The ministers agreed on this, and Ukita Hideya obeyed Kuroda Kanbei's words to convey military orders, and Kuroda Nagamasa asked Ukita Hideya to order the third team to hold the main road to block the Ming army and cover the retreat of each army to the south. Ukita Hideya agreed to the request.

After the battle of Pyongyang, Song Yingchang, the general manager of the Ming Dynasty, had arrived in North Korea, Li Rusong saw the meritorious service, Song Yingchang heard that Pyongyang had won a great victory, and praised the Korean officers and soldiers who participated in the war, and ordered Li Rusong to march into Kaesong after resting in Pyongyang, and Li Rusong received the order. The southern soldiers took the lead in breaking the city, and Yuan Huang preached to the southern soldiers: "The great victory in Pyongyang is all thought that the southern soldiers are the first to repay the imperial court, and the southern soldiers have made great contributions, and Song Shilang also knows it, so you can wait for the will." The southern soldiers cheered and bowed.

After resting in Pyongyang for ten days, Li Rusong took advantage of the victory and marched, and Kurono Shigekatsu, one of Kuroda's 24 generals under Kuroda Nagamasa, and Kuroda's general, Kuriyama Toriyasu, led their troops to cover the main forces of each army to retreat south to block the pursuit of the Ming army, and died in Shirakawa. The Ming and Korean coalition forces took advantage of the situation to regain Kaesong and then regain Pyongan, Hwanghae, Hamgyong Samdo and the northern part of Gangwon Province, while the main force of the Ming army marched towards Gyeonggi Province to deter Hanyang.