I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 485: Pyongyang
Pyongyang, the western capital of North Korea, is located south of the Taedong River.

On Xuanmiao Mountain, facing the river southwest of Pyongyang City, there is a front-line command post of the Ming army.

At the highest point of the hill is a platform, and behind it is a flat ground with a simple shed built.

Zhou Guotai, the commander of the Beihai Military Commission and the Earl of Kaiyuan, stood on the platform, holding a monocular telescope and looking at the Pyongyang City ten miles away.

The city of Pyongyang is known to have the most dangerous terrain among all the provinces in North and South Korea. It is backed by mountains and blocked by water, controls the northwest, overlooks the Yangtze River (Taedong River), and is close to the wilderness.

It is divided into three cities: inner, middle and outer.

There are five gates in the inner city, the Suzaku Gate in the south and the Datong Gate in the east, which are the only city gates with urn cities.

The Qixing Gate is in the northeast, the Changqing Gate is in the southeast, and the Jinghai Gate is in the west.

Outside the inner city is the central city, the south gate is Zhengyang Gate, the east gate is Hanqiu Gate, the north gate is Qingchang Gate, and the west gate is Ordinary Gate.

Outside the inner city is the outer city, with the Chebi Gate in the south and the Duojing Gate in the west.

In addition, there are large and small side gates for land and water, such as Chengfu Gate, Zupu Gate, Dadao Gate, Xiaotong Gate, and Shuide Gate.

To the north of the Taedong River, there is another small city called North City, which has been captured by the Ming army.

A moat, which was deepened and widened along the natural river channel, surrounds the outer city, draws water from the Taedong River in the northeast, circles half a circle around Pyongyang City, and flows into the Taedong River again in the southwest.

More than 100,000 civilians surrounded Pyongyang like ants, digging two moats on the south and east sides of the city.

On the earthen embankment outside the trench, the Ming army's four mortars fired continuously at Pyongyang City. The bang bang of the artillery was like autumn thunder, intermittent.

The shell whizzed through the air, drew an arc, and fell into the city of Pyongyang. There was a loud bang, and a cloud of black smoke rose into the sky.

The city was very quiet, with only a few sudden bangs of musketry, and then it was suddenly quiet again.

Wei Jianping, a man from Qingyang, was over at the shed, talking to several generals wearing different uniforms and armor.

These people were generals of the North Korean Haedong Left Army.

The Korean Haidong Army was established by the Ming Dynasty and was divided into two armies: the left and right armies.
The Zuo Army recruited farmers, mountain people, hunters and fishermen from northern Korea in Yizhou, Daegwan and other places.

The right army recruited southern farmers, mountain people, hunters and fishermen in Chungcheong, Jeolla and other places.

Five hundred Ming troops trained by Qi Jiguang were sent as instructors, and Qi Jiguang's military training methods were introduced to train killers (melee infantry using swords, spears, and lances), shooters (archers), and gunners (musketeers), with an emphasis on training infantry in combat methods using spears, swords, wolf-whips, and bird guns.

Therefore, the Haidong Army was also called the "third-hand army."

The left army temporarily had 12,000 troops. The generals and middle and senior officers were all Ming people, while the lower-level officers and non-commissioned officers were Koreans.

The Sushen Army led the battle (supervised the battle) and fought several battles with the rebel army in Ningbyon, Sukchon and Kuseong. They defeated the enemy and saw blood, so they were well trained.

Later, with the support of the Sushen Army and the North Sea Navy, they recaptured Dingzhou, Anzhou, Hamheung and other cities, and are now the main infantry besieging Pyongyang.

Gao Ce, a man from Huining, was in the shed, holding a few military reports. After reading them, he couldn't help but curse, "Li Zandao is such a stubborn bastard. He still refuses to surrender even after being beaten to this point."

Zhou Guotai put down the telescope and walked back to the shed. He heard Gao Ce's words, "Li Zandao knows that his sins are grave. He killed so many nobles and even claimed to be a false king. Even if he surrenders, he will be sentenced to death."

Wei Jianping also finished his talk and waved his hand to let the generals of the Haidong Left Army leave.

Zhou Guotai poured three cups of hot tea, one for each of Gao Ce and Wei Jianping, "How is the left army of Haidong?"

"Very good. The food and wages are paid on time and in full, and the rewards and punishments are clear. This is enough to win over their military hearts."

"That's good. Wei Duxian has conveyed to us the secret order from the Supervisory Office. We must firmly control the left and right armies of Haidong."

"no problem."

Zhou Guotai turned to Gao Ce and asked, "Is there any problem with our supplies?"

"No problem. We opened two ports, Anzhou and Nanpu. The Xuanwei Envoy Office requisitioned 26 seagoing ships, all of which were 2,000 tons, to transport military equipment and supplies for us day and night.

General Ye sent a letter saying that all the winter supplies will be shipped here before November 1st. But he hopes that we can capture Pyongyang as soon as possible. "

Zhou Guotai nodded, "I know what General Ye is worried about. Nanpu and Anzhou are too small to station many soldiers. If the army is stationed in the wild, it will be a big problem to survive the winter.

Moreover, the supplies piled up in those two places could easily be looted and destroyed by thieves.

If we capture Pyongyang, it is large enough to house the Sushen Army and the Haedong Left Army. It will not be a problem for the troops to survive the winter, nor will it be a problem for the storage of supplies.

It’s just that the walls of Pyongyang are high and majestic, and I won’t sacrifice the lives of my brothers from the Sushen Army for that.”

Wei Jianping said bluntly: "Then use the lives of the Haidong Left Army to pile them up."

Zhou Guotai and Gao Ce glared at him and said, "We have spent a lot of effort to train the Haidong Left Army. They will be of great use in the future. It's a pity to just use them to fill a hole."

Wei Jianping spread his hands and said, "Then we can only wait for the navy's gunboats to arrive. We traveled light all the way and did not bring any artillery. The four mortars were brought here by the navy last time. The shells are only 18 kilograms, which is like a mosquito bite."

Zhou Guotai sighed, "The Xuanwu Navy is on Ganghwa Island and can come here in one day. But the Taedong River is in the dry season now, and the hydrology is complicated. The prince's sailboat has a deep draft and cannot come in.

Otherwise, if those seven battleships had come in and fired several hundred artillery pieces at Pyongyang, we would have already entered the city by now.”

Gao Ce echoed, "Yes, we can't wait until next year's flood season. But Mr. Liu sent a letter to mobilize the shallow-draft gunboats, so we have to wait a few more days."

Wei Jianping said nonchalantly: "Come over in two or three months, just wait a few days."

Zhou Guotai looked up at the sky. "The weather in North Korea is unpredictable. I'm worried that it will snow suddenly. That would be troublesome and add unnecessary trouble to our siege."

Wei Jianping and Gao Ce couldn't help but sigh at the same time.

Wei Jianping could not help but curse: "You said Li Zandao was staying well in Seoul, why did he come back to Pyongyang and bring back so many people, all of whom are stones from the toilet, smelly and hard."

Gao Ce replied: "It is said that he feels that Pyongyang is his 'place of rise' and that Seoul is the target of public criticism and that it is unsafe to stay there.

I heard from the prisoners that after he drove Cui Guangzhong away, he had been secretly managing Pyongyang City. Seoul was just an empty shell, and several groups of rebels coveted it and ravaged it back and forth, causing it to become overgrown with weeds and almost deserted.

From this perspective, Li Zandao does have some foresight and scheming. As soon as our army started its eastern expedition, he immediately abandoned Seoul to other rebels and fled back to Pyongyang. "

"No matter how smart and scheming you are, you will still be surrounded and beaten by us."

Zhou Guotai and Gao Ce glanced at him.

The Ming army was in this state, and all the most capable land and sea forces were sent out. Who in the world could withstand it? Suddenly, the sound of hurried horse hooves came from the foot of the mountain.

"Who's coming?"

"It should be the Sushen Army's Solon Left Camp that has returned from chasing the Shunchuan and Tokugawa rebels."

After a few minutes, the three of them hurried up the mountain road.

Leading the group was Li Dayong, Lieutenant General of the Sushen Army, followed by Zhang Erhe, the garrison commander and commander of the Solon Left Camp, and E Husheng.

E Husheng, whose original name was E Nahu, was a young man from the remnant of the Huerha tribe who was taken in by Zhou Guotai when he was plundering Haixi.

The Huerha tribe was different from the Haixi Jurchens. They called themselves Dahur (Daur), while the Haixi and Jianzhou Jurchens referred to them together with the Ewenki, Oroqen and other northern mountain wild people and reindeer herders as the Solon people.

After the government incorporated them, they called their tribe the Solon Left and Right Camps according to the phonetic transliteration of the Jurchens.

As the three men approached, Zhou Guotai, Wei Jianping and Gao Ce smelled a strong smell of blood. They sniffed and found that it was coming from E Husheng.

E Husheng was only fourteen years old, but he was born with supernatural strength and was an excellent rider and archer. In a one-on-one fight, Li Dayong and Zhang Erhe, who were considered the best among the Jianzhou Jurchens, might not be able to defeat him.

Zhou Guotai asked sternly, "Husheng, did you violate military discipline and massacre the enemy troops?"

E Husheng immediately replied, "I didn't!"

He was Zhou Guotai's personal soldier and was sent out to gain experience.

He was not submissive to anyone in the Sushen Army, except Zhou Guotai.

"Li Dayong, what's going on?"

"Commander-in-chief, we encountered bandits occupying the mountain stronghold and resisting stubbornly in Shunchuan Mountain. The terrain there is dangerous and we can't do anything to them for the time being.

Hu Sheng, carrying a bow and arrow and a long sword, climbed up from the cliff at the back mountain, then fought his way from the back mountain to the front gate of the stronghold, killing his way through the two or three thousand bandits.

When we approached him, he was covered in blood, as if he had been fished out of a pool of blood. We casually counted them and found that he had killed about 100 or 200 bandits. The rest of the bandits were so frightened by him that they dared not approach him.

Several captured bandits were so frightened by his glare that they lost control of their bowels and urine. The bloody smell lingered for several days, so I specially boiled a pot of hot water for him to take a bath, and he felt a little better.

Hearing that E Husheng had not violated military discipline and had made military achievements, Zhou Guotai patted him on the shoulder happily.

"Good job, you are promising."

E Husheng grinned.

Gao Ce stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, "Not bad, you will be more successful than us in the future."

Wei Jianping also patted his shoulder and said, "Okay, when you grow up, next year I'll ask your brother Tai to find you a wife with a thick waist and a big butt. I'll give birth to a big fat baby for you every year, enough to fill a class."

E Husheng's eyes lit up, his mouth widened, and he smiled even more happily.

Everyone laughed.

Zhou Guotai kicked him lightly on the buttocks, "Don't look at him as a fool, pretending to be honest. This kid is very cunning.

At that time, all the men in their tribe were tricked by Tumen Khan to go down the mountain. He realized something was wrong and thought that Tumen Khan was using them as scapegoats, so he pretended to be sick and did not go.

Luckily he pretended to be sick and didn't go, if he hadn't been there, the whole tribe would have been doomed."

E Husheng was not annoyed when he was exposed. He smiled innocently and said, "If you only have strength but no patience and wisdom, you can't be a good hunter."

Wei Jianping laughed loudly: "You have grown up and think you are the best in the world. After the Eastern Expedition, I will ask your brother Tai to send you to the Qinghe Non-commissioned Officer School and let you see it."

Wei Jianping turned around and asked, "What does that poem say? It means there are many outstanding talents."

"The vast ocean contains hundreds of rivers, and the Lin Pavilion is full of talented people."

"That's about it."

"Why does Mr. Zhuo Wu like an unlearned person like you?"

A few of them were laughing and joking for a while, when suddenly an adjutant came running to report: "Commander-in-chief, the navy's gunboats are coming."

"So fast!"

Zhou Guotai was overjoyed and rushed to the platform first, followed by the others.

With clicking sounds, people who had monocular telescopes took them out and stretched out the lens barrels.

If you don’t have any, just use your naked eyes.

Xuanmiao Mountain is located near the river, and the terrain is high, so you can see the river for dozens of miles. I saw a line of ships slowly approaching on the river in the southwest.

"The Wusong ship should be around 2,000 tons."

"Well, 2,000 tons is the largest tonnage of seagoing vessels that can sail on this section of the Taedong River at present."

"There are quite a lot of cannons. There should be more than 20 cannons on a single side of the ship. The caliber looks quite large."

"Unfortunately, it's not the prince's large sailing ship. That one would be more powerful to fire at."

"Be content."

"One ship, two ships, fifteen ships. The navy is mighty! So generous!"

Amid their discussions, fifteen Wusong ships were anchored on the south bank of the river ten miles away from Pyongyang.

Zhou Guotai shouted: "Staff Officer!"

"I am in charge!

"Send someone to contact the naval commander and tell him that I will invite him to meet at the command post to discuss the siege."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)