The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 498: Ping Chaoce

In late November of the second year of Taichu, Qi Jin led 5,000 elite troops across the Yalu River. The Third Corps joined forces with Zhao Lujiao's troops to form an eastern expeditionary force of nearly 10,000 people.

The Eastern Expedition Army took a short rest in Sinuiju and formed a new organization. The command of the army was handed over to Qi Jin. At the beginning of the first month, the army continued to attack the southern provinces and counties of the Kingdom of Joseon.

Qi Jin changed his strategy and abandoned the decapitation operation previously carried out by the Eighth Corps. He no longer chose to advance lightly and attack Seoul directly. Instead, he advanced steadily, starting from Pyeongan Province, and did not let go of any small border town. Every time he conquered a city, he would clear out the stubborn elements in the city and properly resettle the people from Liaodong who came with the army before continuing to attack the next city.

Sometimes, when there were not enough civilians to farm and they needed to be temporarily transferred from Liaodong, the Eastern Expedition Army would rest on the spot and wait for people to arrive from the rear, sometimes waiting for more than ten days.

As a result, the Third Corps' advance speed was equivalent to a snail's pace. From November to March of the following year, a full four months, Qi Jin commanded the Eighth Corps' combat troops and only advanced less than 300 miles (this was the original speed of Zhao Lujiao's ten-day advance).

This strategy of steady and gradual digestion is almost the opposite of the rapid and rapid advance during the first Eastern Expedition. King Yi Jong of Joseon had no temper at all with Qi Jin's style of play.

To be precise, the Korean army was the disciple of the Qi family army.

Around the time of the Wanli Emperor's campaign to aid Korea, the war against Japan entered a prolonged period of stalemate. To minimize the cost of the war, the Ming Dynasty organized Koreans to cultivate land, mine, and train soldiers, assisting this small, unmotivated eastern vassal state in its long-term struggle against Japanese pirates. Many of the generals sent to Korea to train the Korean army were from the Qi family army (including Liu Jing, of course).

The predecessor of the Third Corps was the 3000th Headquarters. The veterans were all from the Qi Family Army who participated in the bloody battle of Hunhe River. The chief officer Qi Jin was even the adopted son of Qi Jiguang, so it is not an exaggeration to call this army half of the Qi Family Army.

Now, the master and the apprentice meet on the battlefield. The master is still the same master, and even more powerful than before. The armament and tactics of the Third Corps have been comprehensively upgraded, while the apprentice has followed the old path of the Ming army. He is extremely corrupt, drawing salaries without working, and the civil officials discriminating against the military generals. He is even worse than the Ming army. If it were not for the financial support from Japan, Korea would have completely collapsed during the first eastern expedition.

Li Zong had no concept of guerrilla warfare, nor did he have the courage to confront the Third Corps head-on. He could only watch helplessly as the Qi army eroded Pyeongan Road bit by bit.

During this period, the Joseon army launched several small-scale counterattacks, trying to drive out the Qi people who were farming in Pyeongan Province. However, they were not effective in attacking the city, and were no match for the Qi army in field battles. Every time they took the initiative to attack, they ended up giving away their heads, helping the Third Corps to improve its record.

Fortunately, the Qi army did not seem to be planning to attack Seoul, at least they had not yet moved south.

Later, Li Zong and his generals finally discovered that Liu Zhaosun's army was not so much fighting as traveling thousands of miles to Pyeongan Province to cultivate land.

The Qi army stopped in Pyeongan Province. Even if the gate of Hwanghae Province was open, they would not attack, let alone attack Seoul.

The King of Korea deployed his troops and carefully arranged a "Long Snake Formation" in the south, waiting for Qi Jin to come south, but it did not work for a long time.

The Korean army has always had very little food, and basically relied on robbing the people during marches and battles. However, the people were gone after being robbed once. The soldiers who were recruited later had no food and had to demand payment. After several rounds of demanding payment, Li Jong was exhausted both physically and mentally, and finally gave up the delusion of ambushing the Qi army.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Emperor Wuding could no longer sit still.

Liu Zhaosun, displeased with Qi Jin's slow advance, issued several imperial edicts, ordering the Third Corps to capture Seoul or, at the very least, Pyongyang. The frontline commander, citing the principle that "a general is not subject to the emperor's orders while on the march," acted circumspectly and dispatched a small group of elite cavalry south from Pyeongan Province. The cavalry quickly penetrated the Korean defenses but stopped at Seoul and advanced no further.

When the late spring cold came, Qi Jin withdrew all the cavalry and returned to the base camp on the grounds of lack of food and soldiers.

In this battle, the Third Corps lost only dozens of cavalrymen, while the Korean army was exhausted and trampled to death, with more than a thousand people dying.

However, the straw raincoat guards and the instructors reported in detail to Emperor Wuding what happened on the front line.

Emperor Wu Ding was furious and shouted in front of all the civil and military ministers:
"Zhao Yujiao is not good enough, Qi Jin is not good enough, the Eighth Corps is not good enough, and the Third Corps is not good enough. Are we going to send the Korean Jin Yinghe to conquer Korea?"

Of course, the retired emperor said this just out of anger. At the moment, he could still dispatch the following troops for the eastern expedition: Zheng Yishi's 10th Corps, Wu Aheng's 6th Corps, and Wang Zengbin's 7th Corps.

Of course, this is only possible in theory. After all, the Sixth Corps is a navy. Conquering a large country like North Korea with a population of nearly ten million is impossible with just a naval landing of a few thousand people.

"What do you think we should do next? Should we let Qi Jin stay in North Korea?"

In the main hall of the Fuwang Palace in Luoyang, the civil and military officials of the Great Qi Dynasty were divided into two rows on the left and right. They stood there in silence and didn't say much.

Today, Emperor Wuding summoned all his ministers to discuss the plan of the Eastern Expedition. The Qi army's two previous battles against Korea were not satisfactory. At least there is still a long way to go to achieve the complete conquest of Korea as the retired emperor wished.

Zhao led his expedition eastward and made some progress, occupying five northern counties of Korea and approaching Seoul. However, due to underestimating the enemy and dividing his forces, he was ultimately defeated, losing not only his men but also countless horses, weapons, and armor, all of which were given to the enemy.

The Third Corps hid in Pyeongan Province to farm and mine, and was reluctant to move south. Although it had the advantage, it was far from the Emperor Wuding's plan of dividing the troops and attacking in a concentrated manner to crush them with ease.

After two eastern expeditions, one win and one loss, we ended up in a draw with North Korea.

Originally, Liu Zhaosun thought that he could achieve his goal in one battle and conquer Korea quickly with a small army without any effort. However, the facts proved that he was too optimistic.

After all, this time the goal against Korea is to conquer it, not to defeat it. Therefore, the pressure Qi Jin and Zhao Lujiao faced on the battlefield was much greater than the pressure faced by the time travelers during their first expedition to Korea.

Although Emperor Wuding was furious, he quickly regained his senses and decided to wage wars tirelessly, just like the four emperors of the Sui and Tang dynasties did in their conquest of Goguryeo, continuously weakening Korea until it was finally annexed.

(End of this chapter)