At the end of April, Li Hao's envoy came to Beijing and handed over to Zhu Yijun a credential requesting to send troops to aid Korea.

This time, Zhu Yijun did not let Li Hao wait for a long time, he quickly made a decision, and asked Xing Jue, the secretary of the military department, to be the governor of Jizhou, Liaodong, and Baoding, and be responsible for the affairs of resisting the Japanese and aiding Korea.

Xing Jue recommended Yang Hao, who participated in the politics of Shandong right, as the imperial history of the capital, as the economic envoy of the Eastern Expedition to Korea, Zhu Yijun did not object.

Yang Hao, the word Jingfu, the number Fengyun, the person from Shangqiu, Henan. He was a Jinshi in Wanli for eight years, and successively served as the magistrate of Nanchang and Lixian County, and then entered the dynasty to do the imperial history.

In the fifteenth year of Wanli, Yang Hao was promoted to the senator of Shandong and was responsible for the defense of Liaohai Road. During his stay in Liaohaidao, he mobilized the people to reclaim more than 130 hectares of barren land and store more than 18,000 stones of grain every year.

Regarding Yang Hao's appointment as an envoy, Zhong Nan was opposed. Because for Yang Hao, he is no stranger to the original time and space - the famous battle of "Salhu", the Ming army was defeated by the Qing army, and Yang Hao can be said to be to blame.

However, Yang Hao's performance during his tenure in Shandong was remarkable, and Xing Jue's strong recommendation was so that Zhong Nan's opposition was pressed by Lord Shangshu.

The post of economic envoy is very important, not only to participate in the determination of the strategic direction, but also to be responsible for logistics and supply, and other matters, which plays a relatively important role in the victory of the war. Compared with Song Yingchang in the first Korean War, Zhong Nam felt that Yang Hao was too far behind. But the wood is already in the boat, and it is useless to say more, and it will not change the outcome except to undermine morale.

Since this is the case, Zhong Nan is particularly attentive to the appointment of front-line generals in the future. In the internal discussion of the Ministry of War, Zhong Nan took the lead in proposing Ma Gui to be the chief military officer of the Eastern Expedition to Korea. For this proposal, everyone didn't think it was inappropriate, after all, Ma Gui's ability was there.

In addition to Ma Gui recommended by Zhong Nan, there is also Li Rusong recommended by Song Yingchang, who is also a popular candidate for the chief military officer of the Eastern Crusade. Both of them are famous generals in the world, and it stands to reason that no matter who goes to North Korea, they can convince everyone.

It's just unfortunate that the situation in Liaodong at this time is also relatively tense, and a big man like Li Rusong needs to be in charge, so he can't get out for the time being. In the end, Xing Jue made a decision and chose Ma Gui.

Because the Ming army needed time to assemble and the situation in Korea was very urgent, by mid-May, the first combat team rushed to Korea, totaling more than 30,000 people.

The composition and deployment of its troops are as follows: more than 17,000 Shanxi soldiers with a total army of Magui are stationed in Seoul; The Liaodong cavalry of Yang Yuan, the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong, was 3,000 people, stationed in Nanyuan; Chen Yuzhen, the general of Jeonju stationed in Korea in the Ming Dynasty, led 2,000 troops, echoing the Ming army in Nanyuan; The Jizhou military camp sent 4,000 southern soldiers, led by Liu Hu to Zhongzhou; In addition, there are more than 3,000 Zhejiang soldiers, led by the guerrilla Mao Guoqi of the right battalion, stationed in Xingzhou, controlling the island ridge and Qiufeng ridge.

The commander-in-chief of the front-line operations of the entire Eastern Expeditionary Force was Ma Gui, the former commander-in-chief of Datong and Yansui. At that time, the idea of the Ming army was: first let the above-mentioned armies hold the fortress of the headquarters, and as soon as the 40,000 army led by the governor Xing Yu arrived, the Ming army and the Korean coalition army would then switch to the strategic counteroffensive stage, and launch a pincer offensive from Namwon and Chungju to completely encircle and annihilate the Japanese army in Busan.

The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and it will not develop exactly as the Ming army envisioned. In June, the main force of the Japanese army gradually approached Liangshan and Xiongchuan; At the end of July, the Japanese army broke through Sacheon, Namhae, and Gwangju, and finally pointed to Namwon.

Nambato was originally a foreign vassal of Jeolla Province in Korea, and its strategic position was very important. Because once the southern plains are lost, the Ming Dynasty's Jizhou, Dengzhou, Laizhou and other places, the Japanese army can sail there. At that time, even the Jingshi may face the invasion of the Japanese army.

Nanyuan was guarded by Yang Yuan's troops, and in addition to the 3,000 Liaodong elite cavalry, there were also more than 3,000 Korean troops, who were also under his command. He participated in the First Korean War and had rich experience in resisting the Japanese.

In the face of the siege of the Japanese army, Yang Yuan was not afraid. He asked the Ming Dynasty coalition army to confine the Nanyuan city gate, and took advantage of the Ming army's artillery advantage to hold on to the Japanese army for five days.

On the sixth day, the Ming Dynasty coalition army ran out of ammunition because of its food and ammunition, and there were no reinforcements coming, so Yang Yuan had to lead a small number of soldiers to break through; The soldiers who remained after the Nanyuan Breakoff were all spared and were all killed by the Japanese army.

Due to the bloody battle of the defenders of the southern plains, the Japanese army besieging the city suffered heavy losses. After the Japanese army broke the city, they slaughtered the city for a day to vent their anger.

After hearing the news of the loss of Nanyuan, Chen Yuzhen, who was stationed in Quanzhou, took the initiative to evacuate without firing a single shot or arrow. In this way, Kato Kiyomasa's Right Army took Jeonju without bloodshed. After that, the Japanese army captured Huangshishan, Jinju, Gongju and other places, and the barrier of Seoul was lost.

The successive losses of Nanyuan and Quanzhou not only completely disrupted the strategic deployment of the Ming army, but also caused a lot of trouble to the later counteroffensive of the Ming army. At this time, the situation in Korea was critical, but the second batch of troops of the Ming army was still being recruited. Seeing that the balance of victory was about to tilt in favor of the Japanese army, at the critical moment, Magui stood up.

On August 6, in order to delay the northward march of the Japanese army and buy time for the mobilization of the Ming army, Magui made a bold decision - to ambush the Japanese army at Jishan in order to achieve the goal of consolidating the forward position in Seoul.

Ma Gui ordered the deputy commander-in-chief Xie Sheng to lead an army of more than 2,600 people to rush to the north of Jishan in advance and set up an ambush.

On the 7th, the 1st Division of the 3rd Army of the Japanese Army led by Kuroda Nagamasa had an encounter with the ambush soldiers of Jiesheng, and the vanguard of the Japanese army was defeated. Immediately afterwards, Yang Dengshan led the follow-up troops to Jishan and formed a flanking attack on more than 10,000 people of Kuroda Nagamasa. Although the strength of the Ming army was far less than that of the Japanese army, the cavalry of the Ming army showed great strength and defeated the third army of the Japanese army.

Seeing that Kuroda Nagamasa was about to suffer a big defeat, at this time, his reinforcements, Mori Hidemoto of the Eighth Army, arrived with troops, and only then did he relieve the siege.

The Eighth Army was the largest part of the Japanese army, with 40,000 men, and the Ming army under the fighting Xie Sheng and Yang Dengshan did not exceed 5,000 people, so they could only watch Kuroda Nagamasa escape from the encirclement.

Despite this, the Japanese army was still afraid of the Ming army's field warfare ability, and although they occupied Cheonan and controlled Jisan, they did not dare to go north to attack Seoul.

After the Battle of Jishan, the Ming army successfully delayed the offensive of the Japanese army, bought a lot of time for its own side, and perfectly achieved its strategic purpose. Soon after, the Japanese army retreated to Pusan, forever losing the initiative in the war. It can be said that the battle of Jishan is of great strategic significance to both China and North Korea, and Ma Gui and Xie Sheng, Yang Dengshan and others have also been rewarded by the imperial court.

When the war report of North Korea was transmitted back to the imperial court, Zhong Nam breathed a sigh of relief. Ma Gui is the person he strongly recommends, and he can be fearless in the face of danger, and reverse the decline caused by Yang Yuan and Chen Yuxin, and his face is also bright.

In October, fighting resumed, and the two armies fought again at Xingzhou and Castle Peak.

In Xingzhou, Ma Gui ordered Li Rumei to lead thousands of troops and launched an offensive against the Japanese army defending the city. Kobayakawa Hidebo and Chikushi Guangmen, who were stubbornly defending, ushered in reinforcements at the last moment, Masahiro Yamaguchi, and Li Rumei had no choice but to retreat.

In Qingshan, the Maori Xiuyuan Army of the Japanese Army was surrounded by the heavy troops of the Sino-Korean coalition led by Peng Youde, a general of the Ming Army, and suffered heavy casualties. Fortunately, thanks to the reception of Asano Yukinaga and Ota Kazuyoshi and others, Mori Hidemoto was lucky to escape.

The two sides come and go, and each has its own winners and losers.

On December 23, the Ming army attacked Ulsan Castle.

As the vanguard, the Zhejiang soldiers led by Ma Guiming Mao Guoqi took the lead in launching a fierce offensive, and quickly broke through Ulsan Castle and besieged the army led by the Japanese general Kato Kiyomasa in Dosan.

After being trapped, Kato Masaaki sought support and built three fences outside Shimayama Castle to protect himself and stop the Ming army.

Mao Guoqi and the guerrilla general Chen Yin cooperated tacitly and successively laid down the first two fences of the Japanese army. Seeing that the third path was about to be defeated, Yang Hao withdrew his troops.

It turned out that when Yang Hao was an official in Liaodong, he was deeply favored by Li Chengliang and had a good relationship with Li Rumei. He was afraid that Mao and Chen would take all the credit, so he planned to wait for Li Rumei to arrive at Daoshan before making a general attack, but he missed the best opportunity to break the city.

Because of the relieved Japanese army, the city gate was closed from then on, refusing to fight, blindly waiting for the arrival of reinforcements. At this time, it was winter, there was heavy snow and cold wind, and the ground was muddy, and after the Ming army besieged for several days, there was no result, and morale gradually declined.

At the beginning of the first month of the twenty-fifth year of Wanli, the reinforcements that Kato Masaaki had been waiting for finally arrived. Mori Hidemoto and Kuroda Nagamasa led an army of more than 40,000 people to Dosan, and the frightened Yang Ho fled back to Seoul overnight.

After a slight run, the originally low morale of the Ming army fell to the bottom in an instant. If it weren't for the southern soldiers of Mao Guoqi, Chen Yin and Liu Hu who fought to the death and paid the price of thousands of lives to stop the pursuit of the Japanese army, I am afraid that this war could have ended in advance.

Ma Gui, who was stationed in Seoul, was also very angry when he saw that the Lord had fled without a fight. However, the other party was his superior civil official, and he had a lot of power, so he could only write a letter to Zhong Nan, complaining, hoping that the other party could put some pressure on Yang Hao.

In the Battle of Ulsan, the Ming army suffered heavy losses, according to preliminary estimates, more than 6,000 casualties. Originally, the generals of each battalion planned to report the battle situation according to the truth, but they were scolded by Yang Hao. In the end, Yang Ho presented a battle report to the imperial court, saying that the Ming army had won a small victory in Ulsan, and his own side had only a few hundred casualties, while the Japanese army suffered no less than seven or eight thousand casualties.

After receiving Yang Hao's battle report, Xing Jue actually believed it and planned to ask the emperor for credit.

Zhong Nan has his own intelligence system, and there are Jinyi guards on the front line to inquire about the news, so he exposed Yang Hao's lies on the spot. Xing Jue spoke for Yang Hao at first, but after Zhong Nan took out ironclad evidence, he kept silent.

Zhong Nan struck while the iron was hot, and suggested to the emperor on the same day: remove Yang Hao from the post of economic envoy.