Daming talker

Chapter 688: Primary and Secondary Attacks

In the end, Lin Jinglie did not let Shen Weijing go to his death. He had no subjective likes or dislikes for this person.

I was thinking that such talents who dared to lose face and deceive people in the diplomatic field were still relatively scarce in the Ming Dynasty at present, so I kept them as a backup for the time being.

On October 14, Lin Jinglue ordered the three directly affiliated battalions and the First Corps to continue resting in Shunan for another day.

The main purpose was to allow the government troops to recover their strength after a long journey and to make final preparations for the attack on Pyongyang.

At the same time, he specially appointed General Li Rusong to come forward to receive the people sent by Konishi Yukinaga, the chief general of the Japanese troops in Pyongyang City, to contact them.

Speaking of Konishi Yukinaga, he is quite an interesting person. He is an outlier among the Japanese generals. He is not known for his martial arts, but started his career with business.

His fighting spirit is far inferior to that of other Japanese generals, and he is also the Japanese general who most hopes for peace talks, otherwise he would not be fooled so easily.

Compared with another Japanese vanguard, Kato Kiyomasa, who attacked Hamgyong Province on the east coast, they were opposite extremes in almost all aspects.

Konishi Yukinaga was a Catholic, while Kato Kiyomasa was a Buddhist; Konishi Yukinaga had good military discipline, while Kato Kiyomasa had poor discipline; Konishi Yukinaga always wanted to make money through harmony, while Kato Kiyomasa was extremely cruel; Konishi Yukinaga was just a businessman, while Kato Kiyomasa was the famous "Ken'gatake Seven Guns".

Therefore, the conflict between Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa was also very deep. Historically, it lasted until eight years later, when Konishi Yukinaga stood on the wrong side and was beheaded.

Just as Li Rusong and Shen Weijing were accompanying Konishi Yukinaga's envoy in eating and drinking, fooling people by saying "The Celestial Empire has promised peace and the envoy will be here soon", Lin Jinglue, who was stationed at Anding Pavilion, also welcomed guests.

It was Liu Chenglong, the main partner of the Kingdom of Korea, the Right Prime Minister and Inspector of the Three Provinces, and the Governor-General of All Military Affairs, who brought his men here. For some reason, Liu Chenglong suddenly felt like a pimp.

The person who came with Liu Chenglong to pay a visit this time looked like a monk. The arrogant Lin Jinglie did not ask anything proactively, but just stared at Liu Chenglong without saying anything.

If you, Liu Chenglong, have no sense of tack and bring anyone, no matter who they are, in front of you, then you should consider finding someone else to cooperate with.

Liu Chenglong understood Lin Jinglue's thoughts very well, and said with a stiff face: "This is Master Songyun, whose name is Wei Zheng. He practiced in Mount Konggang before. After the Japanese invasion, he recruited 700 monks and soldiers, and is willing to contribute to the recovery of Pyongyang."

Lin Tailai was a little speechless. Another person who wanted to take advantage of the military merit. Wasn't that too much of an honor for Liu Chenglong? Also, why did a bunch of monks come here to join in the fun?
However, thinking of the location of Mount Kong Kong, Lin Tailai temporarily suppressed the urge to drive them away and asked:
"I heard that Mount Kong Kong is near the east coast. Why is Monk Wei Zheng here?"

Liu Chenglong introduced: "Master Wei Zheng's master is Master Xishan Xiujing, who practiced in Beopheung Temple in Sunan.

After the Japanese invasion, Master Xiujing was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the eight-province Buddhist army, and Master Weizhen went to Shunan to seek refuge with his master.

Also, because Master Xiujing is old, he wants to recommend Master Weizheng to replace him as the chief of the eight-province monk army."

Only then did Lin Jinglie understand why Monk Wei Zheng was so eager for military merit. It turned out that he wanted to become the "Commander-in-Chief of the Eight Buddhist Armies."

It was such a coincidence that the army was resting in Sunan, which was only forty miles away from Pyongyang, and this group of monks were also active in Sunan.

Hearing this, Lin Tailai suddenly said to Liu Chenglong: "Please step aside first. I want to talk to Monk Wei Zheng alone."

Liu Chenglong was extremely surprised. What was there that he could talk to Master Wei Zheng about but that he couldn't hear?

"Master Wei Zheng can't speak the Celestial language." Liu Chenglong expressed his opinion carefully.

Lin Tailai pointed at Cui Wukui and said, "Cui Xingren can speak your country's language, just let him translate!"

Liu Chenglong walked out reluctantly, but Monk Wei Zheng was confused.

I don’t know what the Marshal from the Ming Dynasty likes about me that makes him take our private conversation so seriously.

Lin Tailai pointed to the map of northern Korea on the table and asked Wei Zheng, "Since you escaped here from the east coast, you must be familiar with the mountain roads?"

As we all know, most of North Korea is plateaus or mountains, with only a few plains or flat land near the coast.

There are high mountains between the east and west coasts, making transportation extremely inconvenient and there are very few passable roads.

Therefore, in Korea, it was easy to travel north and south along the coastline. The two Japanese pirate pioneers, Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa, advanced from south to north along the east and west coasts respectively.

But it is extremely difficult to cross from east to west. If you are not particularly familiar with the route, you won’t even be able to find the way among the mountains.

Monk Wei Zheng was also a smart man, and he immediately asked, "Does Tianshuai want to go to the East Coast from now on?"

Lin Tailai tapped the map twice and said, "I heard that there is a road from Shunan to Yongxing on the east coast. We don't need to go hundreds of miles south."

Due to the popularity of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, Lin Tailai also studied the map of the peninsula in later generations.

In his impression, there seemed to be a railway between Shunan and Yongxing in later generations, which should be the only railway in North Korea that crossed 200 kilometers of mountains and connected the east and the west.

Based on this speculation, since the railway was built on this line as a priority, it means that the original transportation infrastructure of this line was good, and there may have been a road in ancient times.

Therefore, before crossing the river this time, Lin Tailai had already ordered to find insiders in North Korea to inquire about the road problem.

It is now basically certain that the route from Shunan to Yongxing should be open, a distance of four to five hundred miles.

If a large army passes through this road and quickly reaches Yongxing on the east coast, it can completely intercept Kato Kiyomasa's Second Corps in Hamgyong Province and prevent it from retreating southward.

But he had never walked this road before, so he lacked confidence. So when Lin Jinglue heard that Monk Wei Zheng had escaped from the East Coast, he couldn't help but ask him about it alone.

Monk Wei Zheng replied through Cui Wu Kui's translation: "There is indeed a road between the two places. It passes through several valleys where the mountains intersect, and also goes around two peaks. When I fled to Shunan before, I followed this road."

"Okay!" Lin Tailai suddenly became enthusiastic. "Master, why do you need to go to Pyongyang to risk your life? There are greater achievements waiting for you!"

In the blink of an eye, in Lin Jinglie's mouth, Monk Wei Zheng decisively became a master.

No matter what your Buddhism is like, as long as you can lead the way, you are a master!
In Lin Tailai's vision, after Li Rusong's Corps conquered Pyongyang as quickly as possible, they could continue to move south as in the original history, attracting and restraining the vast majority of the Japanese troops.

The Third Battalion directly under the Jinglüe, Ma Gui's Second Corps, and Dong Yiyuan's Third Corps, totaling 33,000 troops, set out from Sunan and crossed the mountains in central Korea to the east coast to intercept Kato Kiyomasa's Corps.

If possible, try to wipe them out completely and effectively kill the Japanese army's manpower.

On that day, Lin Jinglie took time out of his busy schedule to host a banquet to entertain Master Wei Zheng and his master Master Xiu Jing, which was considered to be a great honor for them.

Not only was Master Wei Zheng able to lead the way, but he also called him "Tianshuai" all the time, a title that Lin Jinglie found very pleasing to the ear.

On October 15, the Jinglüe Biao Camp and Li Rusong's Corps set out from Shunan and set up camp only ten miles away from Pyongyang.

That night, Li Rusong came to plead with Lin Jinglie again, asking him to redivide the scope of supervision and let him supervise the entire attack direction of the West City.

The reason is that most of the troops in the direction of Xicheng are from Liaodong Jizhen, and the effect will be better if he supervises the battle.

Moreover, the battle situation in the West City must be more intense and more dangerous. The Minister of Strategy is responsible for the overall situation and should stay away from dangerous places, so he only needs to supervise the battle in the secondary direction of the South City.

Lin Tailai agreed to it out of consideration for their long-term friendship. He felt that these Liaodong arrogant soldiers were worried that when they reported their achievements, he, a "southerner", would not take care of them.

Therefore, the Liaodong Army hoped to let Li Rusong, one of their own, supervise the battle and made such a request before the battle.

After the fight was over, Lin Tailai sneered secretly.

On the morning of October 16, the columns appeared outside the gates of Pyongyang in accordance with previous deployment orders.

At this point, even though Konishi Yukinaga was eager to "negotiate peace", he realized that something was not right.

This Ming army of unknown number seems to be seriously attacking the city!
The Japanese soldiers, who were already tired and homesick for the winter, were driven up the city walls, where they barely mustered their fighting spirit and began to prepare for defense.

According to the prior agreement, Li Rusong supervised the battle in the main attack direction in the west, while Lin Tailai supervised the battle in the secondary direction in the south.

The main force responsible for attacking Lumen in Nancheng was the Zhejiang Army Column led by Brigadier General Luo Shangzhi, with a strength of 3,000 men.

Assisting them were Wang Bidi's column of 1,500 men from Qi's army and Ye Bangrong's battalion of 2,000 men.

If Lin Jinglüe were to supervise the battle here, he would also have a thousand men from Dayun Camp, his personal guard.

Before setting out to attack the city, Lin Tailai had a heart-to-heart talk with the main attacker Luo Shangzhi.

Although Luo Shangzhi was a general of the Southern Army and a native of Zhejiang, he was not actually from the Qi Family Army system. This made him different from Wu Weizhong, Ye Bangrong, Wang Bidi, Qi Jin and others.

"I heard that you are a brave general from the southern army and your hometown is Yuyao, Zhejiang?" Lin Jinglue asked kindly.

Luo Shangzhi replied slightly reservedly: "Yes."

Lin Jinglue sighed and said, "The people in the court who have a problem with our department are mostly from Yuyao! Chen Younian, Sun Yu, and Shao Bi, who are at the level of assistant ministers, are all from Yuyao!"

Lieutenant General Luo: “.”

What does the Yuyao people you mentioned have to do with him? They are different from the civil and military, okay?

Lin Jinglue comforted him, "Don't be nervous. You and I are both southerners. If you capture the city, we will report your achievement. If you are the first to reach the city, we will promote you by two levels!"

After giving psychological counseling to the main attacker, Lieutenant General Luo, Lin Tailai inspected the officers and soldiers of each battalion again. Suddenly, his eyes fixed on a certain area.

The soldiers in this area wore completely different clothes and uniforms than the Ming soldiers, and they didn't even have armor.

Cui Wukui, who was in charge of translation, explained: "These are the North Korean troops who came to help. The number has swelled to 600 to 700!"

According to the previous deployment, the Korean troops participating in the siege were all arranged in the direction of the South City.

"Hmm?" Lin Tailai frowned.

Cui Wukui asked, "What's wrong?"

After thinking for a while, Lin Tailai ordered: "Go and tell their generals to tell the Korean soldiers to take off their outer robes!"

Cui Wukui was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked: "Why is this?"

Cui Wukui was afraid of being blamed, so he quickly explained: "If we don't explain the reason to them, I'm afraid it will cause instability in the army. After all, forcing them to take off their clothes is a bit like a public humiliation."

Lin Tailai replied: "The reason is very simple. The vanguard of our Ming Dynasty soldiers want to borrow their uniforms to pretend to be the Korean army and attack the city!"

Soon, the Korean general Li Ai came over and asked for battle: "Why do we need the heavenly soldiers to pretend to be us? Our army can bravely lead the charge!"

Lin Tailai said angrily: “This department just wants to pretend, it doesn’t really want to see a defeat!
Stop talking nonsense. If you can lend the clothes and sit quietly, you will be rewarded!"

Li Ai: “.”

I was so angry that the foreign minister was so rude.

Is it that their greatest value is that they come here wearing hundreds of military uniforms?

Luo Shangzhi, who was mobilizing people in the front, heard that they had to change into the outer clothes of the North Korean soldiers, and ran over to inquire about the situation.

Lin Tailai replied: "The Japanese army has always looked down on the Korean army and has completely disdained them.

If our vanguard disguised themselves as Korean soldiers to attack the city, the Japanese would definitely think that the South City was just a feint to make up the numbers and the defensive pressure would be minimal, so they would mobilize their main forces and musketeers to the West City.

If that's the case, we can pretend to be the vanguard of the Korean army and attack back and forth a few times. When the elite Japanese soldiers are transferred to the West City, we will suddenly launch an all-out force, and we may be the first to break through the city, hehehehe."

Hearing this, Luo Shangzhi also started laughing. This Mr. Lin Jinglie was really too mean.

If the secondary South City is breached first, the government troops in the West City will surely look very unhappy.

Lin Jinglue felt that he had made all the necessary arrangements, so he urged the officers and soldiers of each battalion to advance to the outside of the south city.

There was no feasibility of "matching the schedule" at this time. The prior agreement was to wait for the artillery fire from the west city direction before officially starting the siege on the entire line.

Looking at the Lumen in the southern city of Pyongyang in the distance, Lin Jinglue's thoughts kept drifting, but it was not because he was nervous.

If Lin Jinglüe still had some anxiety about the entire war situation, this anxiety definitely did not include attacking Pyongyang.

In the original history, Li Rusong captured Pyongyang in just one day. Could it be that after this time and space has been strengthened, it could be possible that it could perform worse than in the original history?

Not to mention, Konishi Yukinaga himself doesn't have much fighting spirit, and he's not a ruthless person like Kato Kiyomasa.

Anyway, up to now, Lin Jinglue's biggest worry is how to cross the mountainous area to intercept Kato Kiyomasa after breaking through Pyongyang.

As for Pyongyang City, the most important thing for individuals is to be careful of the Japanese soldiers' "iron cannon", which is the matchlock gun.

In the original history, Li Rusong, who was supervising the battle, was hit by several bullets, his warhorse was killed, and it seems that his bronze helmet was also hit.

Thinking of this, Lin Jinglue subconsciously touched the bronze helmet on his head, the heavy iron armor on his body, and the specially made visor.

Thinking of Li Rusong who was supervising the battle in Xicheng, Lin Jinglie couldn't help feeling evil in his heart.

He called a personal soldier and ordered, "Send a message to Li Rusong, move all the car-mounted cannons forward one zhang!"

After giving this order, Lin Jinglie finally came to his senses and began to concentrate on observing the situation on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)