I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 487: First Victory in the Eastern Expedition
Yangzhou City, one hundred miles northeast of Seoul.

There is a large hilly area to the south of the city.

A cold wind suddenly blew across the empty hills like a knife. It was a wasteland without any trees, and everywhere there were stumps of felled trees. Some were as big as a bowl, and some were no bigger than a teacup.

The ground was covered with weeds, gray and dry, lying on the ground, with feet stepping on them neatly one after another.

Red flags fluttered in the wind, drums beat rhythmically, and flutes played melodiously. Rows of Shenwei soldiers, wearing new uniforms and round iron helmets, carried muskets, followed the drums, and marched steadily across the wilderness.

From time to time a gun carriage rumbled through the middle of the team.

Four horses were running in front, and six gunners were sitting in the gun carriage, which also had boxes of ammunition. Behind the gun carriage was a 9-jin or 12-jin field gun.

On the city wall of the south gate of Yangzhou City, five or six miles ahead, Cui Guangzhong was holding a tattered monocular telescope and looking at the approaching Ming army.

These Ming troops were divided into square formations and spread out leisurely across a wasteland that was three or four miles wide and two or three miles deep.

"These Ming troops are different from what we have seen before." After watching, Cui Guangzhong handed the telescope to the military advisor next to him.

The military advisor was named Cui Jiqing. He was a county magistrate, but because he was too greedy, he was removed from office by the local noble families. When he retired to his hometown, he read a few military books in his spare time.

When the Bojin Rebellion broke out and Korea was in chaos, he thought the time had come and enthusiastically participated in it.

Unfortunately, the rebel leaders such as Li Zandao and Park In-yong did not discover this Korean Zhuge Liang. After traveling to many places and suffering a lot, he was finally appreciated by Cui Guangzhong and invited to be a military advisor.

After being "importantly appointed", Choi Gil-kyung was ready to show his ability and build Choi Kwang-jung's troops into the strongest army in Korea. Unfortunately, the facts slapped him in the face like icy rain.

The main purpose of these bandits' rebellion is to rob money and women, and to be unruly and love freedom. You want them to exercise on time every day and practice martial arts?
dream!

Start a mutiny right away!
There are so many hilltops where rebellions broke out in North Korea. If I am not welcome here, I will find other places that will welcome me.

As a result, Choi Gil-kyung's military strengthening measures disappeared within a few days of implementation. Then Choi Kwang-jung was spotted by Lee Chan-do from Pyongyang and Hwanghae-do and became a veritable bandit, and Choi Gil-kyung also gave up.

Even if Wu Hou were alive, he would be helpless. What could he do?

But he still had some tricks. Cui Guangzhong followed his advice and gained some advantages, and he took Yangzhou as a stronghold and stabilized his position. Therefore, Cui Jiqing's position as military advisor was relatively stable.

Cui Jiqing held up the telescope and looked for a while, also very puzzled: "The general's eyes are as sharp as candles, and he can see thousands of miles away.

It is said in military books that formations are divided into square formation, circular formation, sparse formation, numerical formation, cone formation, goose formation, hook formation, Xuanxiang formation, water formation and fire formation. In addition, there is also the "cloud formation" for shooting, the "Yingwei formation" for besieging the enemy, and the "Hesui formation" for surprise attack.

What I admire most is Zhuge Wuhou's "Eight Formations" and "Plum Blossom Formation". I am not talented, but I deduced the Heaven and Earth Three Talents Formation from the changes of the Two Dragons Out of Water Formation. The army is divided into three rows and advances layer by layer, which can defeat a strong enemy.

The Ming army's formation is neither regular nor strange, and it does not follow the principles of yin and yang or the eight trigrams. It can only be described as a strange formation without any rules."

Someone nearby agreed, "The military advisor is right. General, look at these Ming soldiers, carrying sticks and walking around so recklessly. Are they here to fight or just to visit us?"

"Aren't the Ming army very powerful? Why do they look so ordinary? We can walk like this too."

"It's all just nonsense from those scholars and officials. They worship the Ming Dynasty as if it were their own father, so they must have exaggerated it. Now it seems nothing special."

"The Ming navy is indeed powerful, but once they are ashore, they are no different from us."

"So, we have been making trouble for so long, and the dog king and those dog officials have been begging for so long, but the Ming army dare not come. It must be that they are only strong in the navy. Once they land, they will be the same as our officers and soldiers."

"That's right, all crows are black, and officers and soldiers are all the same in tatters."

These bandit leaders, both big and small, have never tasted the iron fist of the Ming army, so they can give full play to their imagination here.

At the same time, in order to cheer up their own side, they must have trampled on the Ming army desperately.

When they fought against the Korean soldiers before, they were unstoppable and invincible. In their subconscious, they also hoped that the Ming army coming this time would be the same as the Korean soldiers.

Cui Jiqing put down the telescope and started talking again.

"General, I have counted and found that the Ming army does not exceed 15,000 people."

"Fifteen thousand people?" The rebel generals nearby became even more excited.

"We have 40,000 elite soldiers. 40,000 versus 15,000. They are not heavenly soldiers or generals. We are sure to win!"

"General, they have such a small force and yet they dare to line up and challenge us. We must leave the city immediately and teach them a lesson!"

"Yes, General. If you defeat the Ming army, you will be the number one hero in Korea. Even Li Zandao should give way to you."

After Cui Jiqing and other generals finished speaking, they concluded: “The Art of War says that the way to win is to defeat the extraordinary with the normal, to defeat the weak with the strong, and to defeat the few with the many.

General, in this battle we should use our superior numbers to defeat the inferiors!"

In their simple minds, war is nothing more than counting heads, and the side with more people will win.

There was a cunning light in Cui Guangzhong's eyes.

After thinking it over in his mind, Cui Guangzhong decided to send troops out to fight.

Cui Guangzhong was the number one figure among all the heroes of Korea who defeated the rebellion of the Celestial Empire. Even Li Zandao, who retreated to Pyongyang, had to bow down to him.

defeated?
If you are defeated, you will be defeated. When you see that the situation is not right, you should actively move forward with your confidants. The world is so chaotic now. You can just occupy a place and raise a flag to gather tens of thousands of soldiers.

Fighting again and again after repeated defeats is also an achievement. If you fail a few more times, the Celestial Empire will remember you. When the time is right, if you decisively accept the amnesty, you will definitely be able to get a good position in the new Korean court.

If you want to get an official position, you have to kill people and set fires to others to be recruited; if you want to get rich, you have to sell wine and vinegar while traveling.

I have also read the chapters of Tianchao's words!
"Army attack!"

At Cui Guangzhong's command, 40,000 bandit troops left Yangzhou City, formed a battle array outside the city, and slowly moved forward to fight against the Ming army.

Soon, the two armies were only a mile apart.

The Ming army was dressed in bright uniforms and their flags fluttered. The barrels of their muskets flashed white, and they were lined up like a forest.

The bandit army came in groups, wearing colorful clothes, including Confucian robes, official uniforms and armor, and women's colorful clothes and cloth.

They held various weapons and carried various banners. Their faces were grim and they looked fiercely at the Ming army, which was less than half of their own.

The Shenwei Army dispatched five musket infantry regiments, with sixty three-row formations forming twenty square formations in an orderly manner. The blue-gray uniforms were like the ocean, and the red armbands on the edges were like jumping red waves.

The fluttering flags looked like red sails. The artillery regiment quickly set up the artillery. Under the command of the artillery commander, thirty twelve-jin field guns and eighty-five nine-jin field guns were quickly set up.

Among them, five 12-jin field cannons belonged to a team. Under the command of the team leader Wang Fengmeng, the five cannons were aimed at the center of one of the bandit troops.

Concentrate all the artillery fire at one point, like a hammer hitting a nail.

The two armies were less than a mile apart, and five 12-jin field guns opened fire first.

The sound of huge artillery bombardments tore through the cold air and echoed in the mountains of central North Korea.

Li Jia, a soldier of the rebel army, looked at the pitch-black muzzle of the gun and felt a little uneasy, not knowing what this thing was.

The bandit army seized hundreds of fire guns sold by the East Japanese from the officers and soldiers, but most of them were snatched away by Li Zandao. The rest of the bandit army just heard the noise and didn't know how powerful this thing was.

Suddenly, artillery fire opened. Li Jia saw flashes of fire and billowing smoke on the opposite side. Before he could react, he felt as if it was raining. The raindrops flew down the left side of his face, hot and sticky.

He blinked hard and turned around to see that the companion who had just been standing on his left was gone. Only a pair of legs were left, shaky and about to fall down in the next second.

It was indeed his companion, and the boots on his legs were snatched from him.

His legs were covered in blood and white bones, as if something had pulled his upper body away from his thighs.

Turning back again, I saw a clear space on the left. The first four or five companions were gone, leaving only a pair of legs, surrounded by a pool of blood and sticky red mud.

The four or five companions behind him had lost their legs, and the companion next to him had lost his arms. They lay on the ground holding their broken arms and legs, howling and crying.

Li Jia looked at his companions again. Some were still standing intact, while others were covered in blood. Some were as bewildered as he was, while others seemed to have seen something, but the scene was too shocking. They were all frightened and stood there trembling.

Li Jia suddenly turned his head to the right. Not far to the right, there was a similar ditch with legs, blood, mud, and companions with broken limbs.

The whole team was in chaos, with howlings, screams, and mumblings, like a pot of boiling millet porridge, all mixed up in one mess.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Jia turned his head subconsciously and saw the artillery of the Ming army on the opposite side began to flash again. He turned his head in shock and saw it clearly.

A shell was so fast that its trace could not be seen with the naked eye, and it slammed into the team. The upper bodies of five or six companions on the left suddenly exploded, turning into blood rain and mud.

The shells fell with unabated momentum, bouncing across the hard, dry mud, breaking every leg in their path, just like dry branches snapping with a loud snap.

During the bombardment, the infantry regiment marched closer and closer to the sound of drums and flutes. When they were less than a hundred meters away from the enemy army, more than half of the enemy troops were defeated by several rounds of artillery fire and turned around and ran away.

Still remaining on the battlefield were those bandit troops who had not been hit by the shells and had not seen the tragic scene.

The infantry regiment continued to advance in formation, and when they were thirty meters away, they stopped.

"Raise the gun!"

The soldiers raised their muskets one after another, pointing the black muzzles at the enemy troops.

The officer raised his long sword and shouted at the enemy soldiers: "Aim!"

"Fire!"

There was a continuous sound of gunfire, the first note was crisp, the middle note was tearing, and the last note was dull. Rows of green smoke spewed out, and the enemy soldiers fell down row by row.

The rest of the bandit army was stunned by this sudden attack.

"Load the ammunition!"

At the officers' shouts, the Ming army soldiers skillfully loaded ammunition according to steps they had practiced hundreds or thousands of times, and then opened fire at the orders of "Raise your guns! Aim! Fire!"

"Go on the bayonet!"

The gleaming bayonets were mounted on muskets and immediately turned into spears. Tens of thousands of spears pointed their tips at the enemy troops.

"Follow me!" the officer roared and rushed forward with a long knife in hand.

Tens of thousands of soldiers raised their bayonets, roared, and rushed towards the enemy army in a roughly crooked formation. Tens of thousands of bayonets flashed a dazzling cold light in the sun.

At the same time, three thousand cavalrymen, led by Xiao Ruxun, attacked from the flank and outflanked the enemy army.

The good news was soon delivered to Ganghwa Island, and Ye Mengxiong reported it to Liu Tao.

"Forty thousand six hundred and seventy were killed, and one thousand one hundred were beheaded. Six thousand nine hundred were wounded and killed, and thirty thousand seven hundred were captured. The bandit leader Cui Guangzhong was captured by Xiao Ruxun, and Yangzhou City was recovered."

"Report!"

Another good news came.

"Pyongyang was captured, and the bandit chieftain Li Zandao gathered his wives and children and set himself on fire, while the rest of the army and civilians, more than 70,000 people, surrendered."

Liu Tao nodded and said, "Put it in order and send it to the Supervisory Office 800 miles away."

"Yes."

"Nan Zhao, organize the battle report and don't miss anything. The front-line command also has an urgent report to submit to the Rong government."

Ye Mengxiong nodded: "Don't worry, Mr. Liu, I will write it well."

In the past, one of the main reasons why military generals were suppressed by civil officials was that they had no direct channels to report to the central government and to the emperor.

The battle report was delivered by the civil servants.

They can say black is white and white is black.

You can claim the merits of a general as your own, and then describe his bravery in killing the enemy as underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly, his calmness in dealing with the enemy as missing the opportunity to fight, and his retreat after being defeated as fleeing before the battle.

Zhu Yijun changed the rules so that military generals commanding the front lines could report the military situation and battle situation directly to the Supervisory Office and copy it to the military government.

One copy is for civil officials and the other for military generals. If the two do not match, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will be dispatched.

Whenever he shows up, nothing good happens.

The good news was quickly delivered to the capital and to Zhu Yijun in Xiyuan.

it is good!
Once Pyongyang and Seoul are liberated and the first phase of the Eastern Expedition is successfully completed, I can get married with peace of mind!
(End of this chapter)