Prime Minister Bizen

It can be seen from the map that the Jinjiang River bends from the southwest of Gongzhou City to the southeast, and Gongzhou City faces the south of the Yangtze River on both sides and is a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

There is a stone bridge in the northeast corner of Gongju City. It is a bridge built by the North Korean government to connect the north and the south. If you don’t cross the river from here, you have to go around the end of the Nishan Pass in the southwest to cross the river by boat, or continue to the lower reaches of the Jinjiang River. Look for the ferry.

At the beginning, the defeated soldiers crossed the river from the stone bridge in the north, and wanted to go to Nishan via Gongzhou, but Gongzhou City is now in the hands of Japanese pirates, and the defeated soldiers who entered the city first were all killed.

The rout soldiers who wanted to enter the city crowded in the east were initially frightened by the tragedy at the gate of the city, but when they saw the Japanese troops marching out from the north and south sides, they ran towards the stone bridge seeing that the situation was not right.

As the main road connecting the north and the south, the width of the stone bridge on the Jinjiang River is not wide, but only 4 to 5 people can run parallel at the same time.

Now seeing bandits coming to kill from the direction of Gongzhou, the rout soldiers in the south of the bridge rushed to the bridge one after another, while the rout soldiers in the north of the bridge were not very clear about what happened here, and they still rushed to the bridge.

The broken soldiers on both sides faced each other and squeezed on the not spacious stone bridge. Hanfang Zhengxing's troops coming out of the north gate had already started to form an array, and the archers in the queue had already started to shoot at the bridge with their bows and arrows.

At the same time, the 300 Banner Headquarters that Hideka had handed over to Hanaba Masayuki had already lined up facing the bridge, and behind him were the Tochigi samurai Ashgaru from the 500 Hanabou Family Headquarters.

Following Hanabou Masako's order, and under the leadership of his son Hanabou Masanari, the Hatakemoto group charged towards the rout that did not make it to the south of the bridge, and behind him were 500 Tochigi soldiers who followed on foot.

"Ah~! The cavalry is coming!" Although there were only 300 people, the Bannermen, who were dressed in single-panel chest pieces and ghost masks, still cast a great psychological shadow on the North Korean army.

Especially at the critical moment of escaping, many people have thrown away their weapons long ago, and even if they had one, they were short knives. How could it be possible to carry something like a long gun that hindered escaping?

The soldiers who lost their long weapons were unable to form a phalanx to deal with them, and even turned their backs to the cavalry, and the result was that they were overwhelmed by the cavalry.

The 300 cavalrymen of the banner, armed with red guns, rushed towards the scattered rout formation behind with no expression on their faces. They first harvested the lives of more than a hundred people and then pulled back to the south side to face the bridge again.

"Let's go! The cavalry of the Japanese pirates is coming!" The rout of the bridge south and north shouted to the opposite side, but in this crowd of people, who can hear it?
Even if the man in front of him heard it, there were hundreds of routs behind that man trying to squeeze onto the bridge and cross the river.

"Ah~! I've been hit by an arrow, I've been hit by an arrow." Xiangxi Jiaqing's troops lined up on the east side of the bridge, and shot at the soldiers on the east side of the bridge with their bows and arrows.

The Japanese soldiers from the south bank were seen by the rout soldiers on the east side, and they all told their companions that the other bank was really hard to get through, which made the rout soldiers crowded on the bridge turn around and head north with difficulty.

The soldiers near the east side kept getting arrows and falling into the water, but it was not over yet.Toyotomi Hidesada, who came out from the north gate, led Sanada Nobuyuki's subordinates and Hanaba Masanari's Tochigi people to kill Sanchuannan with a small number of routs, and began to line up behind the cavalry pair.

Unless it is a last resort, the cavalry in the Middle Ages must not be used to attack a solid formation. Even back charging should be avoided as much as possible. A small number of cavalry will fall forward into the enemy's formation due to inertia, and it is easy to die under the hooves of their own people. .

During this period, the training cost of cavalry was too high, and their main function was to break up the enemy's formation and break down the enemy's defense line.

Hanafo Masayuki and Toyotomi Hidetada saw that the formation behind the enemy was too strong (people crowded together), and then signaled the banner to wait for a while, and the infantry pressed forward and used iron cannons and bows to kill the enemy soldiers.

Under the nervousness of the defeated soldiers, some people jumped into the river in an attempt to swim across the rushing Jinjiang River.

As the routs on the north side turned to the south, the crowded environment on the bridge finally got a little better, and the routs began to flee in one direction.

Seeing this, Hanabou Masanari and Toyotomi Hidetada glanced at each other, knowing that it was time for the cavalry to attack, Hanabang Masanari immediately signaled the captain of the Banner Company assigned to him by the Hideo family, Shigekane Akai, to charge the enemy.

Following Shigekane Akai's order, the Banner crowd urged the horses to move forward slowly, then bowed their bows and shot arrows towards the bridge, and after a round of arrows, they rushed behind the rout soldiers with spears in their hands.

Toyotomi Xiuzhen also mobilized her cavalry warriors to charge after the Xiujia Banner crowd. The entire cavalry team numbered more than 400.

[Puff~!Boom~! 】

The cavalry collided with the trailing soldiers and continued to charge without slowing down. The first two cavalry rushed up side by side, followed by more than 400 cavalry rushing to the bridge.

On this narrow bridge, the cavalry don't need to run fast, and they can put a lot of pressure on the enemy by walking forward slowly. Pierce through, or be rammed and fall into the torrential Jinjiang.

Or consciously, in order to prevent being killed by the cavalry, many North Korean defeated soldiers jumped into the river by themselves and drifted down the river.

As the cavalry crossed the river, 500 Tochigi followed closely behind, followed by Toyotomi Hidetada's 3000 men.

At this time, the massacre in the city had basically ended, and Okagari went out of the city to meet with Xiangxi Jiaqing, who had been shooting arrows at the bridge, and the general Hanafang.

Huafang Zhengxing knew well that the routs in front of him were just forwards, and there were still many routs on the other side of the Jinjiang River.

He ordered hundreds of soldiers including Yuuki Haruto and Tagaya Shigeke to stay in the Gongzhou city to guard. Okagatoshi's troops were responsible for cleaning the battlefield on both sides of the bridge, and the others crossed the river to continue chasing the remnants of the enemy.

The area at the entrance of Gongzhou City was too narrow for the cavalry to charge, but the land on the other side of the Jinjiang River was a large paddy field. The cavalry who had just crossed the river fell into the same problem as the cavalry of the Imperial Army during the Battle of Chungju.

In order not to fall into the mud, they could only pursue along the field ridges, and the rout soldiers who fled into the field ridges were handed over to the infantry behind to clean up.

The infantry was not in a hurry to go to the fields to pursue them, and basically blocked them along the ridges. Anyway, the speed on the ridges must be faster than walking in the mud in the fields.

Or if you really can't catch up, shoot an arrow in the direction of that person, fire an iron cannon, and knock him down directly in the field.

Most of Li Wei's troops were government soldiers, and the rate of Korean government soldiers wearing armor was less than 2%, and most of them were private soldiers of generals. Most of the government soldiers had no armor to wear.

As a public security management unit, the yamen is just wearing a piece of clothes with a [D] written on it. As for the conscripted servants and peasants, they wear a variety of clothes, but they don't even have a piece of armor on their bodies.

Facing such a five-armor unit, you don't need iron cannons to shoot, bows and arrows are enough to cause great damage.

Toyotomi Xiuzhen and Huafang Zhengcheng who had already crossed the river were not in a hurry, and ordered the bannermen to shoot forward, preparing to intercept the retreat on the opposite side, and drive the people to the Southwest River, while the infantry behind them filled the fields to catch the prisoners.

The timid North Korean soldiers lay down in the paddy fields trying to avoid pursuit, but it was just spring and the rice seedlings in the fields hadn't grown yet. They were lifted up like chickens, tied up with ropes, and caught by special personnel. guard.

The entire battle of chasing the rout soldiers was like a hunt. Although the number of rout soldiers was several times that of the Japanese army, none of the rout soldiers dared to take up weapons to fight back against the rout soldiers who were chasing after them.

Nearly [-] Ming soldiers were driven like a helpless flock towards the river in the southwest direction. Amidst the laughter of the Japanese defenders in Gongju City, they were squeezed into a small place by the river. an area.

There were only a few boats crossing the river, and they had already been seized by the soldiers who arrived first. They swayed the boats to the middle of the Jinjiang River, and looked at the compatriots in the direction they came from without the slightest pity. They only had the joy of escaping.

——They thought they escaped from the sky.

They didn't know that even if they landed, they would not be able to escape through the valley of Nishan, where more than 2000 Japanese troops were ambushing and killing them.

The sergeants who were not on board cursed the compatriots on board, the officials who brought them out, and the Japanese invaders who were chasing after them.

Some sergeants couldn't bear the psychological pressure and wanted to jump into the river, but they heard the cries of the Japanese invaders to surrender and not kill them. They seemed to have found a life-saving straw, knelt down on the ground, and waited for the Japanese side to connect them with ropes one by one.

However, the situation is changing so quickly. Before the Japanese prisoners are finished, some of the soldiers who fled to the north from Sona's defeated soldiers came from the northern valley and reported to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Hanabang Masako that "there is another attack on the north side." The enemy is coming in a group, it doesn't look like a broken army, the number is unknown."

When the two heard the news, there was a trace of solemnity in their eyes.

If the Xiu family's previous predictions were correct, the previous wave of rout troops really fled southward, while the troops coming from the north were the troops that were slightly gathered up by the general.

They are not afraid of pulling these two teams out alone. After all, their morale has already collapsed, so there is no courage to fight back.

But if this group of rout soldiers sees the army on the north side, it may give them new hope, after all, they are absolutely superior in numbers.

At that time, the enemy on the north side has not been defeated, and the group of captives who have just settled down in the south may have different thoughts and attack us from both sides.

At this time, the spies brought the specific number of Korean troops on the north side, about 5000, and the military appearance was a little neat, and there were still a large number of armored warriors in the queue.

"This must be the North Korean prison camp!" Huafang Zhengcheng told them the basic situation of North Korea that Xiujia had told them before, "The North Korean prison camp was built according to the forbidden army, and most of them were sent to the outside world. Only their armor rate can It’s so tall, its fighting power cannot be underestimated.”

The three of them looked at each other and quickly made a decision. They sent someone to inform Gang Jiali to take the sporadic captives on both sides of the strait to Gongzhou for custody. The culling is here again.

But before they did anything, the spies from the north came to report that the army on the north side began to retreat slowly. Presumably, they had received the news of the defeat of fleeing north from here and knew that Gongju had fallen. He fled north to Wenyang in an attempt to find another way out.

The three people who heard the news were relieved. There was such a large group of gunpowder barrels behind them, and they didn't have the mood to continue chasing them. They simply cleaned up the war and took them back to Gongzhou for custody.

Li Kuang was indeed scared back. He finally restrained his soldiers and prepared to go south, but he heard the soldiers who came from Gongzhou say, "Gongzhou has been occupied by the Japanese invaders. There are tens of thousands of troops. We will cover the sky and block out the sun." Impossible."

People can't believe what they say when they're panicking. They exaggerate the truth to hide their fear.

But Li Kuang didn't know the real situation. All he heard for so many days was bad news. Zhongzhou was defeated, the king fled north, and Wangjing fell.

All the above news gave him a wrong understanding of the Japanese army. He believed that the Japanese army was a formidable enemy. With more than 5000 people with low morale in his hands (and some gathered on the road), it was impossible to defeat the Japanese army and break into the whole country. Road.

The generals under his command provided him with an idea, let him go north to Onyang and then turn eastward, pass through Dechuan, Daxing, Hongzhou and then go to Boryeong.

According to the records of the North Korean Military Archives, there should be more than 2000 sailors in the Chungcheong-do Suying camp, and nearly a hundred warships, large and small. After collecting some surrounding ships, they should be able to return to Jeolla-do by crossing the sea.

However, his idea coincided with that of Xiujia.

After Huafang Zhengxing took Gongzhou and intercepted some prisoners, he called the generals to start a military discussion, and then took out the kit prepared by the Xiu family in front of everyone and unfolded it.

I saw it said "When you read this letter, you think you have won a great victory in Chungcheongdo, please go to Boryeong Suying to snatch the boats, and rely on the boats to transfer some of the prisoners to Jeju.

Then go northward through Boryeong and sweep all the way to South Chungcheong Province and Pyeongtaek to hand over the captives again, and then enter Gyeonggi Province to reconcile with Kato, Xiaonishi and other generals, and then enter Gangwon Province to complete the task of "Eight Provinces". "

The retainers of the Xiu family have long obeyed the Xiu family's plan without thinking, but the other daimyos who have not participated in many battles with the Xiu family have shown noncommittal to the Xiu family's plan thousands of miles away.

Although it is not possible to directly deny Xiujia's plan, they each put forward their own opinions.

For example, Kunizun Utsunomiya thinks that Dainagon is in Kyoto and may not know much about the situation in North Korea. This plan was proposed a few months ago and needs to be considered.

Sanada Nobuyuki did not dare to deny Hideo's plan, but he also mentioned that their main mission was to attack Gangwon-do and Hamgyong-do. Would switching to Chungcheongnam-do at this time delay the military situation?
The opinions of the two of them did lead to an introduction. Ujiji Oda said that now their order is to enter Wangjing via Chungcheong Province and attack Gangwon and Hamgyong Provinces.

Now that he stayed in Jinshan for a few days and didn't take the shortest road to Wangjing, now that he was winning a battle, there was no need to spend it here, let alone sweeping Chungcheongdo.

He said that this is the task of Fukushima Zhengzheng's Fifth Corps. With Fukushima Zhengzheng's temper, it is likely that neither side will fall well.

In the end, Hanabang Masako discussed with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and felt that the concerns of the daimyos were justified, and they really shouldn't stay in Chungcheongdo for a long time.

But it is not right to release the group of captives who are currently being held in Gongzhou, let alone take them north to Wangjing.After thinking about it, I decided to take Boryeong and use the fleet to send people away.

As for the sweeping of Chungcheong Road later on, let’s forget about it. If you can get down from the cities along the way, you can get down, and if you can’t get down, you can make a detour.Anyway, the main force of Chungcheongdo now is only Li Wei's Beishangqin Wangbing and Boryeong's sailors.

The Cheongju barracks was conscripted by Shen Li, and the rest also fled after hearing the defeat of Chungju. Presumably, going north from Boryeong to Wangjing via Onyang should go smoothly.

In this way, the armies of both sides began to march towards Boryeong without their knowledge, and finally there was another encounter in Boryeong.