The Ming army fought a bloody battle in the Bihu Pavilion, and the Korean monarchs and ministers were suppressed

Tokikobayakawa's 20,000 troops had all arrived at the battlefield, but due to the terrain and the melee at the front, it was extremely difficult to deploy for a while. Kobayakawa Takakei personally came to the front line to boost morale, Li Rumei saw from afar in the battle between the two armies, and saw that one of the enemy's main formations was suspected of being the main general, so he immediately opened his bow and shot at that person, Kobayakawa Takashi was frightened and hurriedly led the horse to dodge, and the arrow of the war horse knocked Kobayakawa Takashi to the ground, and the generals gave first aid. The battle was fierce, the arrows on the armor of Tachibana Somo were like hedgehog hair, the Tachibana army retreated to Komaruyama to the west to rest, Kobayakawa Hidebo took over the battle to cover, the Ming army was forced to retreat, and nearly half of the generals were killed, and the two sides ceased fighting.

Li Rusong summoned the remaining subordinates to discuss and said: "There are many Japanese invaders, if our army is deeply encircled, it is not easy to break through, and the enemy will soon attack again, so we must occupy the gap and retreat to the north before being completely encircled, waiting for reinforcements to rescue." Zha Dashou swore an oath: "The last general is willing to swear to the death to protect the lord out of the encirclement, please order the last general to open the way." "Zu Chengxun is also willing to stop the palace. Li Rusong signaled quietly: "Yang Yuan and Li Rubai can't die in battle before they come, the elite of Liaodong has lost too much, each must not mess up the formation, first break the enemy's edge and then retreat north, everything is at my command." "The generals commanded.

At this time, Kuroda Nagamasa, Ishida Mitsunari, Masuda Nagamori, and Otani Yoshitsugu had already arrived first, and the 10,000 troops they led were following one after another. The Japanese army held an emergency meeting, and Ishida Mitsunari believed: "The terrain is narrow, not conducive to the big battle, the morale of the new reinforcements of the Ming army has greatly increased, and it is difficult to lose ground in the face of the gradual encirclement, according to my opinion, it is better to retreat for the time being to avoid its edge and choose another battlefield." Masuda Nagamori, Yoshitsugu Ohtani, and Kuroda Nagamasa also agreed.

Kobayakawa Takashi categorically refused: "The Ming army is alone and surrounded by me, the main general Li Rusong is on the verge of death, although the Ming army is brave, and our army is bound by the terrain, but it is the time of decisive victory, and the emergency withdrawal at this time will cause chaos in our army, if the Ming army pursues, our army will not be able to advance and retreat will be defeated, and tens of thousands of troops can not defeat thousands of soldiers It is shameful!" In today's battle, our army will move forward with all its strength and cut off Li Rusong's head! Whoever bears the name of a samurai can go out with me to kill the enemy! "All the generals are excited and willing to fight! So Kobayakawa Takakei ordered Kobayakawa Hidebo, Mori Motoyasu, and Chikushi Hiromon to lead 5,000 people to outflank the left flank of the Ming army from the east side of the mountain, and ordered Tachibana Munege to outflank the right flank of the Ming army from the west side of the mountain.

At six o'clock, Kobayakawa ordered his generals Kuriya Keio and Inoue Keizada, each leading 3,000 to approach the Ming army, and when the Japanese army launched a charge, Kuriya Keio's department was hit by the Ming army's firearms, magic arrows and bows and crossbows, the formation was chaotic, the Ming cavalry jumped out, Kuriya Keio fought and did not retreat but the department gradually did not support, Inoue Keizada, who wanted to support, Kobayakawa retainer Sashi Masakatsu persuaded: "The Kuriya team will soon retreat, at this time it is better to retreat to the slope than to rescue forward, and when the enemy pursues the Kuriya team, our army will rush to the flank and win." Jing Zhen did according to the plan. The Kuriya team was defeated and the Ming army pursued on foot, Inoue immediately led the team to shout and kill, and Kuriya Keio also turned back to counterattack, and the two sides fought together.

And Otani Yoshitsugu also led his own team to rush to reinforcements, Otani Yoshitsugu took the lead in commanding the assault, and his close ministers advised: "The projectiles are flying sideways here, it is extremely dangerous, if you are hit, it is difficult to save your life, please command in the rear!" Otani Yoshitsugu said, "Life and death are fate, and if the arrow that ended my life is not today, even if the arrow rains down, what is there to fear." After that, Yoshitsugu Otani continued to lead the team to advance.

The firearms of the Ming army have almost run out of ammunition, except for Li Rusong's own soldiers holding three-eyed guns, most of the Ming army only carry magic arrows and portable knives, between the stone and the Bihu Pavilion are rivers and valleys, rugged and narrow, some areas are scattered paddy fields, plus yesterday's heavy rain, the ice and snow are beginning to dissolve, the roads are muddy, and it is difficult to effectively play the advantage of cavalry. The two sides fought fiercely, and the Ming army was defeated in a bitter battle, and Li Rusong ordered to transfer positions to the north to reorganize the front and wait for reinforcements.

Near noon, the Ming army suffered heavy casualties, more than half of the four thousand soldiers and horses had been killed or wounded, and there were few pro-army generals left, but the Ming army was still fighting with all its might, the Japanese army had completed the three-sided encirclement of Li Rusong and launched a general attack at the same time, the Japanese army was all over the mountains, there was nowhere to break through, the Ming army was already very tired, and Li Rusong was anxious, frightened and resentful under the gradual formation of the Japanese iron artillery team. I was in deep fear of dying here. Tachibana Somao also suffered many knife wounds, and when he saw this, he shouted that Li Rusong would die, boosting morale and attacking again. Ishida Mitsunari and Kuroda Nagamasa also asked Kobayakawa to order the whole army to attack. At the critical moment, Yang Yuan led the headquarters of 1,000 fine cavalry and 4,000 reinforcements to the rescue, quickly put into the battlefield from the north and launched a fierce charge against the Japanese army, the Japanese army was caught off guard and hurriedly tried to turn the muzzle of the gun to reload, suddenly attacked by the Ming army's arrow rain, the queue was chaotic, the Ming army's elite cavalry each held a three-eyed gun and rushed forward although it was shot by the arquebus, but it still quickly broke into the Japanese army, the Ming army's momentum was like a rainbow, and the morale of the Japanese army was in chaos, thus opening the way for Li Rusong's department, Li Rubai led the rear team to follow up, Li Rusong was immediately overjoyed, and immediately counterattacked with the whole army to join Yang Yuan.

Wu Weizhong also led his troops to raid from the mountain trail, and went straight to the Kobayakawa Takakei main camp, Kuroda Nagamasa saw this and immediately ordered his own troops to block, and it was difficult to distinguish the winner for a while. Wu Weizhong ordered all the tiger squat cannons to be fired at the Japanese army's main formation to force the enemy to retreat, and the Japanese army's main formation wavered, Kobayakawa Takashi shouted loudly, and asked who could retreat Wu Weizhong? Yoshikawa Hiroke responded and led his troops to support the Kuroda team. Wu Weizhong and the Ming army under his headquarters fought with all their might, and together with Yang Yuan and Li Rubai, they bought time for Li Rusong's evacuation. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty reinforcements also continued to enter the battlefield, and the situation around the Bihu Pavilion became more and more severe.

Kobayakawa Takakei was disappointed when he saw most of the reinforcements of the Ming army, and the Tachibana team was almost lost, and the sixth team suffered heavy casualties, Kobayakawa Takakei intended to withdraw the army, Ishida and Kuroda did not understand why they withdrew? Kobayakawa Takakei said: "I never thought that the Ming army would be so strong, no wonder Konishi's first team suffered a crushing defeat. Now that the Ming army has been reinforced by thousands, the situation has changed, and the fighters have been lost. It seems that this must be the same as us, and most of them will follow, and this place is not conducive to the main battle of the two armies, and it is not wise to continue to stalemate here. In addition, this battle has already involved too many troops, there is a war in Gyeonggi Province, this is not the moment for us to fight a full-scale decisive battle with the Ming army, we have completed the task of blocking the Ming army, and the safety of Hanyang should be worry-free in the short term. "Under the order of the Kobayakawa Takakei Army, the rear team became the front team, and began to withdraw in batches in an orderly manner, returning to Hanyang one by one. Li Rusong saw that the Japanese army had withdrawn and was able to get out of danger, and the Ming army returned to Paju to rest and prepare to withdraw to the north of the Imjin River.

Just as Li Rusong was about to leave, Liu Chenglong rushed to dissuade him. Li Rusong said: "I thought it was an ambush by a small group of the enemy, but the result was that the enemy's main force poured out, and I saw that the vanguard of light had as many as 20,000 people. It is estimated that the total strength of the enemy is no less than 200,000. "Where did Liu Chenglong's surprise come from in the number of 200,000? Li Rusong suggested that the enemy's main force would chase him and ask Liu Chenglong to leave this place with him quickly, but the North Korean detectives reported that the Japanese had stopped pursuing and returned to Hanyang. Liu Chenglong asked Li Rusong to rearm, mobilize reinforcements, and attack Hanyang, Li Rusong insisted on returning to Kaesong to rest, Liu Chenglong, Jin Mingyuan, Li Yi and others blocked it, and the two sides clashed for a while, fists and feet against each other. The Ming army retreated.

The Korean court therefore began a discussion, and Zheng Che played: "Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and Admiral Li Rusong fought in Biho Pavilion this time, although he failed to enter Hanyang, he could not be called defeated. It's just that when General Li Yi stopped the retreat of the Ming army, he was brutally brutalized on the grounds of disobedience and disobedience. Yi Doshou said: "In Wangjing, there are people slaughtered by the Japanese every day, and the Ming army actually treats our Korean generals as slaves and livestock and beats them at will, I really don't know whether it is reinforcements or enemy troops." ”

Li Hengfu, the secretary of the Bing Cao judgment, also said: "Even if the Ming army has the command of Korea, it must not wantonly insult the Korean officers and soldiers, and the Ming army must be severely punished until the promise is obtained, and then the Korean army will be independent of military power." Li Dexin said: "Your Highness, if you don't pursue this matter, North Korea will become the laughing stock of the Ming Dynasty, and the North Korean soldiers and the people of the world will also be extremely chilled." ”

Li Yuanyi, the observer of Ping'an Dao, also said: "Now the military camp is already boiling, and the conflict with the Ming army is about to break out. Others say that if the division of the dynasty is still there, they will never turn a blind eye. Zheng Zhuo also said: "Since the ministers have the same opinion, I will ask Song Jingluo to come and ask him about his responsibilities and give more advice." Jin Yingnan and other ministers unanimously asked Li Hao to inspire North Korea and punish the Ming army criminals. Li Hao played on the spot. and immediately arranged to summon Song Yingchang to meet.

Li Hao said: "Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, just rearm and fight again, although North Korea is aided by the Ming army, it must not be so contemptuous of a country's generals, wanton humiliation into what kind of system!" It would be like contempt for the widow and the court. When the emperor ordered the dispatch of troops, he would not have ordered that North Korea should be treated in this way. ”

Song Yingchang replied: "Your Highness, the foreign minister only heard that Li Rusong was ambushed by the enemy's heavy troops and retreated north, but he didn't know that there was such a bleak thing, he was really terrified, and the foreign minister will immediately send someone to severely punish Li Rusong and the generals involved in the case, and such an incident will never happen again." I ask for your Highness's forgiveness. ”

Li Hao smiled at the corner of his mouth: "Since Jingluo said so, how can the widow care about it anymore." Please take a seat, but the widow still has a request, now that the battle situation is good, the number of Korean soldiers gathered from all over the country is gradually increasing, so the widow wants to separate the Korean army from the command of the Ming army. In this way, there will be no clashes, and the morale of the Korean army will be even higher in the future battles against the Japanese invaders. ”

Song Yingchang saw that Li Hao was gaining an inch, and after taking a sip of tea, he got up and said: "Thank you Your Highness for the tea, the Korean army will definitely double its combat strength after independence, and it will definitely defeat the Japanese invaders." If this is the case, the minister can immediately lead the reinforcements back to Beijing to restore his life. The foreign ministers will show the emperor that the DPRK will be able to hold out to the end and annihilate all the Japanese invaders. ”

Hearing this, the Korean monarchs and ministers were all shocked, Li Hao hurriedly retained, saying that it was difficult for North Korea to recover the territory by itself, Song Yingchang asked strangely: "His Royal Highness also said that as long as the Korean army can be independent, it will be more conducive to fighting, since our Ming army is a stumbling block to North Korea, it is better to go back early." ”

Li Hao denied it again and again, and Song Yingchang smiled lightly and said: "Your Highness, if it is feasible, the foreign ministers will accept it, but this matter is really ridiculous, the Korean minister complained about being commanded by the Ming Dynasty, and the foreign minister has long understood." It's just a so-called frustrated self-esteem and a rush to regain face. It is not that our Ming army wants to bring the DPRK under its command, but that the effective unification of the command system is one of the elements for a decisive victory on the battlefield, not to mention that the DPRK army does not have the ability to win in regional independent operations, but insists on enjoying the same treatment? If this is the case, you should not ask Da Ming for help in the first place. If Your Highness wants the Korean army to fight independently, please show me the power of Korea. Then Song Yingchang walked away, and the Korean monarch was speechless.

Afterwards, Li Rusong pleaded guilty to Song Yingchang, and Song Yingchang accused: "The lone army goes deep, lightly offends the enemy, and almost accidents, if the general dies, the emperor's prestige will be greatly damaged!" Tens of thousands of soldiers will be implicated and punished by you, how to annihilate the enemy to restore the emperor's life? Your father, Li Chengliang, used his troops in a good way and was good at controlling the enemy's military strategy, but you were so reckless and reckless, so you could not do this reckless action again. ”

Li Rusong received the order. Song Yingchang said again: "But this battle is not useless, the northern army is brave to make the enemy cold, and it is also under your rule that you can have such combat power, and the ordinary army has already surrendered to the ground." Outnumbered, facing a tenfold enemy and still stubbornly waiting for help, I will ask for credit for you. Li Rusong thanked him.

The officers and men of the Yugoslav army also took this opportunity to sneer at the northern army and vent their dissatisfaction with the meritorious service. Wang Bidi, the southern general, openly questioned Li Rusong and said: "Abandon the army and only lead the vanguard to attack, and fall into a heavy siege, if the main general has strengths and weaknesses, the whole army will be frustrated and retreat, and the main general should be severely punished!" The rest of the generals of the Southern Army, such as Luo Shangzhi, Wu Weizhong and others, criticized one after another, Li Rusong ignored it and left, Zu Chengxun, Zha Dashou and other generals of the Northern Army accused the Southern Army of being supreme, and the generals of the Northern and Southern Army broke up unhappily.

Not only between the generals, but also the soldiers of the northern and southern armies have quarreled endlessly for several days, ridiculing and insulting each other, and finally turned into a large-scale brawl between the two sides, and the camp of the Ming army was in chaos for a while.

After the battle of Bihuguan, Li Rusong's pro-army suffered a lot of casualties, many of his cronies and fierce generals died on the battlefield, his own elite was severely damaged, and he almost died. The northern and southern armies were full of contradictions, incompatible with each other, and suppressed by Shangguan, and Li Rusong's fighting spirit fell into depression. All the way back to Pyongyang.

At this time, Shen Weijing proposed to the Korean king Li Hao to wait until the time was ripe to negotiate peace with the Japanese army, and Yi Dosuo said angrily: "General Shen, what are your intentions, and do you want to make a truce like last time?" We in the DPRK will never agree! Shen Weijing replied: "Was there anything wrong with the last truce? In the end, it bought time for the arrival of the Ming army, so that Pyongyang could be recovered. ”

Zheng Che asked what was the plan this time? Shen Weijing replied: "I will order the Japanese to withdraw from Wangjing to our own country, if you agree, you can let them live, naturally this is just a deception of the Japanese Kou, as soon as the enemy leaves Pyongyang, he will immediately gather and annihilate him, and recover the entire territory of Korea." Li Hao was delighted.

Ito Shou asked, "Will the Wako still believe what you say since the last time they were deceived?" It is better to give up the advantage of words and attack directly. Shen Weijing insisted that there must also be talks before the attack, and Zheng Cheol asked the North Korean minister to participate in it, otherwise it would be regarded as betraying North Korea. Shen Weijing said angrily: "The ministers of North Korea are always suspicious of me and our army, so why do you want to ask Daming to help?" Since the Ming Dynasty intervened, then this war was not only a war in Korea, and it was natural for the representatives of the upper kingdom to attend, so why did the vassal countries always intervene? ”

Idoushou also said angrily: "The main body of the war is North Korea!" Interfering is what Da Ming does! Li Hao stopped the quarrel: "The last time General Shen broke into the enemy camp alone, the strategy was successful and he was rescued by the Ming army. The widow was willing to believe General Shen. But there is only one thing to keep in mind, the Japanese destroyed the tombs of our ancestors, slaughtered the mountains and rivers, and must not negotiate peace with the Japanese invaders. Also, please make sure that the captured princes Rinkai-kun and Shunwa-kun are safe and bring them back. Shen Wei bowed and thanked.

After Shen Weijing was preparing and thinking about when he could go to negotiations, Liu Chenglong came to see him and asked: "I heard that you are going to take the opportunity to order the Japanese to withdraw their troops and bring back the prince, when will you leave?" Shen Weijing replied: "The date is difficult to determine, so we have to discuss with Song Jing to see when the time is right." Liu Chenglong advised: "Your Excellency will not go to negotiate peace, I hope that your Excellency can keep your promise, and only talk about ordering him to withdraw from the army and bring back the prince, if so, I will definitely investigate to the end." ”

Shen Weijing smiled and said: "The envoy understands, but why didn't Lord Liu kowtow when he saw the king's flag?" Liu Chenglong refused, and said: "If it is used to kill the enemy, I will salute, and I can't agree at this time." Shen Weijing said angrily: "Liu Chenglong, are you in a hurry to die?" It is a great sin to refuse to salute when you see the banner of the king's order, and you will not be able to redeem it. ”

The next day, Zu Chengxun was ordered by Li Rusong to arrest Liu Chenglong and ask about the crime of disrespecting the king's flag, Liu Chenglong was arrested in front of Song Yingchang and Li Rusong, Song Yingchang said: "The king's order flag is like the emperor coming to give orders, even if Yidi sees it, he will kneel and salute, but you resist this, why?" Liu Chenglong replied: "My lord, how can I not know the token of respect, but how can I kneel down to the token that contains the prohibition of fighting the enemy?" ”

Song Yingchang nodded approvingly: "It's really extraordinary, I'll give you another chance, please bow down, I don't blame the past." Seeing that Liu Chenglong was silent, Song Yingchang ordered Li Rusong to engage in Liu Chenglong's military law and punish him with a hundred rods. Li Rusong persuaded that he would die if he was scolded with a cane, but when he saw Song Yingchang turn around and turn around, Li Rusong had to order the execution.

When he was about to be executed, Haijun led Zheng Zhuo, Li Dexin, Li Hengfu and others to stop it, and Song Yingchang saluted and greeted: "I don't know what you are doing when the prince is coming?" I saw that Guanghai Jun's courtiers immediately knelt three times and bowed nine times to the king's order flag, and asked Song Yingchang to forgive Liu Chenglong and said: "The crime is not Liu Chenglong, it is I who ordered Liu Chenglong not to have a relationship with the enemy's peace, please understand." Song Yingchang replied: "Even so, then ask the prince of the palace to re-order the envoy to kneel." ”

Guanghaijun had to ask Liu Chenglong to abide by the etiquette, and his colleagues also advised him, Liu Chenglong had no choice but to feel the hard persuasion of the prince and his colleagues, so he knelt down three times and kowtowed to the king's flag, and shouted long live the emperor with tears in his eyes.

Afterwards, Li Hao asked Guanghaijun why he was like this? Guanghai replied that in order to save Liu Chenglong, Li Hao said: "The widow is asking you to kneel down for the king's order banner because you think the widow doesn't know this method so he turns a blind eye?" After all, they are all despised, if the courtiers and widows are aggrieved and forgivable, what is the difference between the prince coming forward and the king being despised? It's not that you just need to live, you don't need to come forward for anything, and don't disgrace North Korea. The blood of the people is avenged by the widows. "Let's leave.

After the Battle of Bihokan, the Ming army's defense line shrank to the north of the Imjin River, but there were still various Korean armed forces around Hanyang, Li Xue led 3,000 troops stationed in Pazhou, Kwon Li led 3,000 troops stationed in Xingzhou, Gao Yanbo and Li Shiyan led 1,000 troops stationed in the mountains of Yangzhou, and there were many monks and volunteers wandering around Gyeonggi Province to conduct guerrillas. Ukita Hideya ordered Kato Kiyomasa to lead an army of 3,000 to exterminate all kinds of monks and rebels. All parts of North Korea reported that troops were sent to the rescue, and the Japanese Fifth Army, Fukushima Masanori, also led troops to assist Kato Kiyomasa.

At the beginning of February, Kato Kiyomasa's department searched for monks and volunteers west of Hanyang and immediately launched an attack, the Japanese iron artillery team set up a series of fires, the coalition forces were defeated, Nabeshima Naoshige led 1,000 troops from the rear to outflank and cut off the return route of the coalition army, pressing step by step, the coalition forces did not hesitate to counterattack the Japanese army in a desperate battle, Kato Kiyomasa could not ask for it and ordered the whole army to attack, Kato Kiyomasa personally killed dozens of people, the Japanese army slaughtered frantically, the coalition army was annihilated, and no life was left.

The rest of the Korean reinforcements were swept by Fukushima Masanori led 5,000 troops to sweep the armies, the Japanese army relied on the superiority of numbers and combat power, all Korean armies were defeated and returned to the city, Fukushima Masanori as the head of the seven guns of Jianyue, the combat power was better than Kato Kiyomasa, Kwon Li, Li Xue and others were completely incapable of the enemy, Kato Army and Fukushima Army patrolled Gyeonggi Division, swept all roads, Hanyang was slightly clean around, but then Master Xiujing's disciple Weizheng led 2,000 monks and soldiers to Hanyang ten miles northeast of the water fell down the mountain, and at the same time another 600 monks captured the two village station, Rebels were attacked from time to time, and Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori were exhausted despite successive victories, and Ukita Hideya prepared to capture Koju in order to continue to consolidate Gyeonggi.