Daming talker

Chapter 739 The Enemy is Too Steady
When General Ma led his troops to the west to "fight reinforcements", General Lin Tian was happily counting heads and spoils of war.

When conquering the Shimayama Castle San-no-maru, a large number of Japanese pirates were captured. Now that the count has been completed, the total number of prisoners is 4,106.

In Lin Tianshuai's eyes, these captives all smelled like copper coins.

He was afraid that the captives would become upset and cause economic losses, so he specially sent Konishi Yukinaga and Shen Weijing to comfort them carefully.

From then on, Korean volunteers would be used to guard the prisoners, and the captured food would be used to feed them, thus achieving a low-cost virtuous cycle.

When Konishi Yukinaga came back from pacifying the captives and reported the situation, he said, "In this current situation, I can play a greater role."

"What else do you want to do?" Lin Tianshuai asked puzzledly.

Konishi Yukinaga said: "Tianshuai can send me to persuade the remaining defenders of Shimayama Castle to surrender."

"That's not necessary!" Lin Tianshuai immediately refused, "We don't need them to surrender now! We must not force them too hastily, let them hold on!"

Konishi Yukinaga was confused. What kind of idea was this?

Of course, Lin Tianshuai would not tell Konishi Yukinaga all of his strategic ideas.

The distance between Ulsan and Busan, the Japanese pirates' headquarters, was only a little over 100 miles. What if we took Ulsan too early and scared the Japanese pirates in Busan into fleeing by sea?
When Lin Tianshuai was chatting with Konishi Yukinaga, he suddenly received information from Ma Gui and two family crest patterns.

Lin Tianshuai had some guesses in his mind, but in order to confirm, he turned around and asked Konishi Yukinaga.

Konishi Yukinaga replied: "The circle with a cross is from the Shimazu family, and the circle with three leaves should be from the Tokugawa family!"

The territories of the Shimazu family and Konishi Yukinaga are both in Kyushu, and the Tokugawa family is the first daimyo of Japan, so Konishi Yukinaga must be able to recognize the family crests of both families.

As a time traveler, Lin Tianshuai was shocked. How did the Tokugawa team appear? Did Tokugawa Ieyasu also come to Korea?

If this is the case, then history is completely distorted. After all, in the original history, Tokugawa Ieyasu's final status was equivalent to the King of Wa.

Konishi Yukinaga was also surprised, and after thinking for a while he analyzed: "It seems that after Kato Kiyomasa's troops were annihilated last year, Taiko decided to prepare to increase the troops, and chose the Tokugawa family!

We are planning to reach North Korea by this spring.

When I first heard Asano Yukinaga appeared in Shimayama, I guessed that a new group of soldiers had entered Korea, but I didn't expect it to be the Tokugawa family! "

Lin Tianshuai asked curiously, "I heard that Tokugawa and Hideyoshi were nominally monarchs and subjects, but in reality they were allies. So he just obeyed Hideyoshi's orders?"

Konishi Yukinaga replied: "If the Taiko ordered the Tokugawa family to send troops, given the character of the Tokugawa Dainagon, he would not dare to resist."

Lin Tianshuai did not expect that the consecutive victories would create such a huge butterfly effect.

In the original history, the future Shogun of the Edo Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu, had been maintaining his strength in his homeland, and the Tokugawa family basically did not participate in the expedition to Korea.

Thinking of this, Lin Tianshuai felt that he could not sit still in the back any longer. He stood up and said to Konishi Yukinaga, "I will go to the west to take charge, and you should come with me."

Then Lin Tianshuai gave another order, asking Li Rubai to lead his troops to continue monitoring Daoshan City.

Lin Tianshuai himself led three thousand standard bearers and rushed to the Ma Gui camp more than ten miles away.

When General Ma saw Lin Tianshuai rushing in from the big tent, Ma Gui was discussing battle plans with Jie Sheng, Po Gui and other generals.

Looking up and seeing Lin Tianshuai, General Ma couldn't help but complain, "We agreed before that I will command the West Route independently, and you, Marshal, will not interfere."

Lin Tianshuai consoled him, "The situation has changed a bit. Old Ma, listen to my advice. The enemy forces coming this time are too deep and you can't hold them back."

General Ma didn't know what had summoned the Marshal, he just felt that he should not report the intelligence in such detail.

"How deep is the water?" Ma Gui asked unwillingly.

Marshal Lin answered truthfully: "According to my observation, the future King of Japan is in the enemy camp."

General Ma was stunned. Although he had little education, Marshal, you can't lie to people so carelessly, right?

In my own case, I was either counting on my fingers or observing the qi, but when you were fooling Li Rusong, you must have been much more serious than this!

After a short rest, Lin Tianshuai personally rode his horse to the nearby mound to observe the Japanese army camp.

However, they found that all the Japanese army camps were on the other side of the Taihe River, one mile away from the south bank, confronting their own side across the river.

One could vaguely see a large number of Japanese soldiers digging half-height trenches outside the camp and piling up earth as cover.

There were more than 200 boats divided into two groups, east and west, docked on the south bank of the upper and lower reaches of the Taihe River respectively, forming a horn with the camp.

It is obvious that the arquebusiers can shoot on the ship, using the cabin as cover, which is a fighting style that the Japanese soldiers are very accustomed to.

As he watched, Lin Tianshuai frowned and said to Ma Gui, "The enemy is obviously going to take a defensive stance. It's really too damn cautious!"

Using rivers, river beaches and trenches as the periphery was obviously intended to restrain the Ming cavalry.

Even Marshal Tian would have a headache whenever he encountered the Japanese army who relied on their sharp muskets to defend their positions resolutely.

The combat effectiveness of the elite border troops of the Ming Dynasty is definitely higher than that of the Japanese army. They can defeat 30,000 Japanese troops in a field battle with 10,000 soldiers.

So far, after the heavenly troops entering the DPRK have barely overcome the problem of food and fodder shortages, their biggest weakness has become their small number of troops, which they cannot afford to consume.

Unlike the Japanese soldiers, 60,000 to 70,000 of them were wiped out from Pyongyang to Seoul, but there were still 70,000 to 80,000 left hiding on the south coast, and then the Tokugawa army was transported here by ship.

Therefore, Shuai Lin Tian has always been very cautious about the strong attack and is unwilling to sacrifice too many soldiers.

Hearing Marshal Lin's complaints, Ma Gui said helplessly: "The enemy troops in front of us are clearly here to rescue Daoshan Castle, and their strength is at least twice that of ours.

In this situation, they are unwilling to take the initiative to attack, but just want to defend here. How embarrassing it is. "

Through observation of the Japanese army's marching and camping, we can judge that the total strength of the Japanese army is about 40,000, while our side, including the Tianshuai Biao Camp, has no more than 17,000 people.

Forty thousand people were determined to defend against seventeen thousand people. General Ma was speechless. Didn't the other side worry about the situation in Daoshan City?
Can’t we send out an enemy general who says, “Forty thousand versus seventeen thousand, the advantage is on my side”?
Lin Tianshuai sighed and said, "First, this shows that the Japanese army has fully understood our cavalry and artillery combined tactics, so they are determined to avoid field battles;
Second, it is possible that the man nicknamed Old Turtle has arrived, otherwise how could the enemy be so stable? "

After observing the enemy formation, Marshal Lin called Konishi Yukinaga and ordered, "You and Shen Weijing act as envoys and go to the other side and say that you want to fight!
Of course the main purpose is to gather information and see if Matsudaira Takechiyo is here in person!"

Ma Gui looked at President Xiao Xi and warned Lin Tianshuai, "I'm afraid Xiao Xi will never come back."

Lin Tailai said nonchalantly, "If you don't want to come back, then don't come back. As the saying goes, trust your employees. In fact, Konishi Yukinaga should understand where he is more useful and valuable now."

Konishi Yukinaga bowed and said in an awkward manner: "As the old Chinese saying goes, you treat me like a national hero, and I will repay you like a national hero!"

If he returned to Japan as a defeated general and prisoner, he would be nothing and might even become a scapegoat and be the target of anger.

And the one who stayed with Tianshuai, who was about to recover all of Korea, was the number one Japanese around Tianshuai.

In the future, whether representing Tianshuai in diplomacy with Japan or engaging in re-export trade in Korea, the prospects are very bright.

To use a very popular saying among court traitors, "It is the greatest honor to be the dog of the Marshal Tian", and Konishi Yukinaga felt that his situation was similar.

Before leaving, Konishi Yukinaga asked again: "How do we talk to them? Is there anything we can't say?"

Lin Tianshuai said nonchalantly: "Be honest with others, and tell them what I usually say!"

After receiving the order, Konishi Yukinaga crossed the river and arrived at the Japanese army camp on the south bank as an envoy of the heavenly soldiers.

Being led into the central army tent, Konishi Yukinaga raised his eyes and looked towards the center.

Although he was mentally prepared, he was still surprised and asked subconsciously: "The Grand Minister is here in person?"

The samurai in his fifties sitting in the middle is none other than Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first daimyo of Japan, the actual controller of the Kanto region, with over two million yakitori, the most powerful figure under the Taiko and Kanpaku, and the Junior Second Rank, Gon Dainagon.

On both sides of Tokugawa Ieyasu are Asano Nagamasa, the current head of the Five Magistrates of the Toyotomi family, and Shimazu Yoshihiro, the lord of the Satsuma domain, who had always been highly visible until the end of the shogunate.

So Konishi Yukinaga had an idea in his mind that Asano Nagamasa was probably following Tokugawa Ieyasu as a military supervisor.

As for Shimazu Yoshihiro, when the large-scale military expedition to Korea was launched last year, the Shimazu family had been delaying.

It is estimated that Shimazu Yoshihiro was finally forced into a corner by Taiko and had to lead his troops to Korea.

There were also a group of other military generals sitting next to him, but their status was slightly lower than that of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shimazu Yoshihiro, and Asano Nagamasa.

Tokugawa Ieyasu nodded gently to Konishi Yukinaga and asked him to sit down and talk.

"The Marshal asked me to give a message to the Grand Councilor!" Konishi Yukinaga's opening remarks were still so plain and simple.

But Asano Nagamasa, whether in a bad mood or displeased with Konishi Yukinaga, scolded him, "You have received great favors from the Taiko, how dare you continue to live in this world?"

The 240,000-koku daimyo Konishi Yukinaga responded very stubbornly: "It is easy to commit suicide, but it is more difficult to live in disgrace and shame!"

Asano Nagamasa said angrily: "What do you mean by enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens is to serve the Ming invaders?"

Konishi Yukinaga said: "When Tianshuai first entered the court, he killed more than 37,000 of our soldiers in Pyeongan Province and Hamgyong Province, and basically refused to accept surrender. He was called the Blood Demon King!

When they arrived in Seoul, it was only after my strong persuasion that Marshal Tian accepted the surrender, thus saving the lives of more than 10,000 of our soldiers and generals.

The day before yesterday in Ulsan, I saved the lives of more than 4,000 people! That’s my role!

If I, Konishi Yukinaga, had not endured the humiliation and served in the Ming army, our country would have lost another 14,000 to 15,000 innocent souls!"

Everyone present: "."

It sounds so reasonable and well-founded that I don't know how to refute it.

Konishi Yukinaga continued passionately, "Besides, I endured humiliation and hardship at the hands of the Ming army just to promote peace talks!

The current situation is that my country will definitely not be able to defeat the Ming Dynasty! The Ming Dynasty only needs to mobilize a few border towns in the north to defeat half of my country's troops!
Only if I hide in the Ming camp can I promote peace talks and try my best to reduce my country's losses. This is my belief in living in this world!"

Asano Nagamasa snorted coldly: "No matter how much you talk, in the end, you are just trying to save your life and are suspected of defecting to the enemy!"

Konishi Yukinaga jumped up, looking as if his hair stood on end with rage. He glanced back and forth at the generals on both sides and shouted, "Are there any people who have withdrawn from Seoul? Come out and talk!"

However, the lord of Yanagawa Domain, Takakage Kobayakawa's adopted son, and the fierce general from the west who boasted that his family's 3,000 men could defeat 10,000 Ming troops, stood up and said, "What do you think?"

Konishi Yukinaga asked, "That day you asked me and Otani Yoshitsugu to go out of the west gate of Seoul to negotiate with the Heavenly Marshal, but your army quickly withdrew from the southeast. Is that right or not?"

Tachibana Muneshige said a little embarrassedly: "Yes, it is true."

Konishi Yukinaga said to Asano Nagamasa in grief and anger: "Am I surrendering to the enemy? I have been abandoned by my friends! What can I do if I am trapped in the enemy camp alone?"

Asano Nagamasa gave up trying to reason with him and started to scold him directly: "You are also a samurai now. Why don't you commit suicide when you are trapped by the enemy? You are indeed a coward who was born as a small trader!"

Everyone present could understand why Asano Nagamasa was in such a bad mood.

After all, the Asano family's heir, the 18-year-old son Asano Yukinaga, is still trapped in Shimayama Castle and could be killed at any time.

Konishi Yukinaga was not used to Asano Nagamasa’s bad habits and countered, “Your son Asano Yukinaga is now trapped in Shimayama Castle!
When the city is broken, you can see whether I can save his life or not! At that time, I will be the only one who can talk to Tianshuai!"

Holy shit! Asano Nagamasa was so defeated that he was about to draw his sword and chop Konishi Yukinaga.

Honda Tadakatsu, one of the four great kings of the Tokugawa family, a giant of more than 1.6 meters in height, known as the most powerful general in Japan, hurried forward to hug Asano Nagamasa after receiving a signal from his lord, and advised: "Calm down, calm down!"

Tokugawa Ieyasu tried to smooth things over, saying, "Let's sit down and talk. Being angry is useless. It's better to talk calmly!"

Everyone looked at Konishi Yukinaga in unison, feeling very strange.

Is this indescribable jerk with a face still the familiar Konishi Yukinaga?

The original Konishi Settsu-no-kami was known for his kindness and generosity in dealing with people, after all, he was born into a merchant family.

How come after staying in the Ming army for more than half a year, he became like this?
Tokugawa Ieyasu also wanted to extract some information about the Ming army from Konishi Yukinaga, otherwise why would he go to the trouble of meeting with Konishi Yukinaga?
"What kind of person is Lin Tailai, the Ming Dynasty's Minister of State? Besides his bravery, what other characteristics does he have?" Tokugawa Ieyasu took the initiative to bring up the topic and asked.

After thinking for a while, Konishi Yukinaga replied: "Tianshuai's greatest characteristic is that he is good at fortune-telling and judging people, as if he knows everyone well!

When you were still in the country, the Heavenly Marshal once said that if the Grand Minister did not come to Korea, he would definitely replace the Toyotomi clan, who had no successors, and become the shogun of the shogunate, and be crowned as the King of Japan by the Central Plains! "

Tokugawa Ieyasu: “.”

What the hell! I shouldn't have stopped Asano Nagamasa when he drew his sword just now! It would have been fine if I had killed Konishi Yukinaga earlier!

(End of this chapter)