The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 385: The Japanese Pirates Frozen Like Dogs

In history, a severe cold wave also broke out during the Wanli Korean War.

That was the Battle of Ulsan, in which the Ming army suffered the heaviest losses. It was November at that time, and suddenly a cold wave came.

It was precisely because of that cold wave and the internal traitor Yang Hao that the Ming army failed to capture the Japanese city of Ulsan, and ultimately suffered heavy casualties, losing nearly 30,000 troops.

However, things are very different now.

The main force of the Ming army has not yet attacked.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was tricked by Wanli into deploying more than 300,000 troops.

How would so many Japanese pirates be frozen in such a fierce cold wave?
In normal years, the winter in the southernmost part of North Korea is not very cold.

If calculated by latitude, this place is about the same as the Jianghuai area in the Ming Dynasty. The latitude of most places in Jeolla Province is comparable to the south bank of the Huai River.

At this latitude, coupled with the regulation of sea water, the temperature in winter will not be too low.

Of course, this is assuming there is no cold wave coming.

Even Lee Sun-sin, a local, did not expect that the cold wave would reach Jeolla Province, and the Japanese pirates certainly did not expect it.

When he hurried back to the valley north of Lishan, the Japanese pirates on the opposite side were still preparing for battle.

You still want to fight at this time?

Li Shunchen stood in the first trench and scanned the Japanese pirates' camp with a telescope, and a sneer appeared on his face.

When the cold wave comes, you bastards will freeze to death!

He looked up at the sky and said decisively, "Hurry and fetch some water. Prepare to smooth the mud. Tonight, compact and smooth the earthen wall at the front of the first trench. Also, make a smooth slope in front."

The water can be poured randomly to form ice for defense, or it can be poured after carefully trimming the earth wall and the ground in front.

If there is not enough time, you can just fetch water and water it randomly.

However, they still have a few days and can still do some fine work.

That night, Konishi Yukinaga, Kato Kiyomasa, Kuroda Nagamasa and Shimazu Yoshihiro were so frightened that they hardly slept.

Because there were lights on in the trenches on the south side all night, and there were many people around, and strange noises could be heard from time to time.

They all thought that the guys from their vassal state, North Korea, were planning another night attack.

Who knew that they were busy in the trench all night and never came to attack.

The next morning, when they ran to the trench and took a look, they were all stunned.

This guy made the first layer of earth wall of the trench become as smooth as a mirror in just one night.

Moreover, the ground several feet in front of the earth wall was made extremely smooth.

Something is obviously wrong.

However, they had not expected that these guys wanted to play the trick of pouring water to turn it into ice.

Because the weather is not very cold at this time, only a thin layer of ice will form at night, and the ice will melt when the sun comes out during the day.

Playing with water to make ice at this time is a waste of time.

They all thought that these guys were digging a hole in front of the first trench last night!
The pit is now covered with wooden boards covered with mud, so it looks so smooth.

These guys from the vassal state of Korea are specifically playing weird tricks on them. It is not impossible that they dig a pit in front of the trench and let them all fall into the pit when they attack.

This digging tactic is not impossible to break.

Since they knew there was a pit there, they would definitely not jump into it foolishly. They just needed to cut some trees as thick as their arms and nail them into rafts, and then lay them on top of the pit when attacking. They could still cross a pit several meters wide.

After some discussion, these guys actually rode back to the camp and ordered people to cut trees and nail wooden rafts.

Li Shunchen raised the telescope and took a glance, and he understood that the Japanese pirates thought they were digging a trap!
This pit really needs to be dug.

The next night, he ordered his men to dig holes in the trench and start digging holes.

This is a pit for storing water, not for trapping people.

Because the cold wave has not arrived yet, and it is not cold enough for water to freeze, there is no point in pouring water on the earthen wall now. It is better to dig a pit in advance, fill it with water, and then pour water when the temperature rises.

They were digging a pit to store water, but the Japanese pirates thought they were going to dig a pit to bury people, so the guy was desperately trying to nail the raft.

At this time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had not yet ordered the attack to continue, and the two sides had not fought.

Yi Sun-sin was waiting for the cold wave, while Konishi Yukinaga and his men were waiting for orders from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Both sides worked hard for a few days, and the cold wave finally arrived.

That night, the howling cold wind suddenly blew up, the big trees were swaying to the south, the tents were rustling, and the temperature dropped sharply.

Li Shunchen squatted in the first row of trenches, staring at the water surface of the water pit in the flickering light of the wind lamp, and poking it with his spear from time to time until the ice in the water pit was about a finger thick. Then he gave the order to break the ice and pour water.

This cold wave was truly fierce. The next morning, Jeolla Province was already frozen over.

The 12th Battalion of the vassal state of Korea did not feel that cold thanks to the sheepskin coats and cold-proof tents sent by the Ming Navy.

The Japanese pirates were different. Their winter clothes were deerskin coats, which had very little fur.

Moreover, their deerskin coats were only half, not a complete set, and did not cover their hands, feet, or even legs.

They were so cold that they could only stay in the camp and shiver around the campfire. There were piles of campfires everywhere where they were standing guard. Without the campfires to keep them warm, they would have frozen to death.

Li Shunchen looked at the Japanese pirates who were so cold that he couldn't help but sneer.

These Japanese pirates, just have to hold on. If it weren't for the Ming Dynasty's clear order not to alert the enemy, he would definitely be able to lead his army to attack them now and defeat them so badly that they would flee. Who knows how many of them would have frozen to death on the way out.

The Japanese pirates were indeed frozen to death in the desolate mountains of their vassal state, Korea.

At this moment, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was bustling with traffic.

The people in the capital have enough money to buy thick cotton-padded jackets or even sheepskin jackets. In addition, all the shops have large coal stoves, so it is not cold at all. They will not be cold when they go out shopping in winter.

The common people would not be cold, and Wanli would naturally not be cold either.

The floor heating in the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace had been turned on long ago, and the coal stoves in the corridors were also steaming hot. Everywhere was as warm as spring, not cold at all.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, Wanli finished reviewing the memorials with a satisfied look on his face, and then took Qi Jiguang's memorial to the Grand Council Hall.

The Ming Dynasty navy fleet had already arrived in Jeolla Province, Korea, a vassal state.

Qi Jiguang carefully inspected the islands west of Jeolla Province, and then led the fleet on a circuit from Jeolla Province to the mouths of the Huanghuai River and the Yangtze River before submitting his report.

Not only did he select the approximate location of the naval port terminal west of Jeolla Province, he also suggested building a port terminal west of Jeju Island in the vassal state of Korea as a transit point.

Building another naval port terminal is not as simple as a sentence.

Because at this time, the Ming navy's ships still won by quantity. There were not many large Fujian ships, but the 800-ton centipede ships were indeed frighteningly numerous. A seaport used as a transit port would require not a few or dozens but hundreds of docks!
If it is not necessary, then of course we cannot waste manpower, material resources and even financial resources like this.

Therefore, this question must be carefully considered with reference to the map before a decision can be made.

Wanli took out the map of Ming Dynasty, Japan and its vassal state Korea and looked at it carefully, and he realized that this naval transit base must be built.

Because the Japanese navy had to pass through the waters between Jeolla Province and Jeju Island to transport supplies from Busan Port to Chungcheong Province, Gyeonggi Province and Pyeongan Province west of the vassal state of Korea.

Moreover, the Ming navy fleet had to pass through this sea area when transporting supplies from the mouths of the Huanghuai River and the Yangtze River to Jeolla Province.

In other words, if the timing is not right, the Ming Navy's fleet will most likely encounter the Japanese Navy's fleet in this sea area.

If the two fleets meet, they will definitely have to fight.

At this moment, they cannot let the Japanese pirates know how powerful the Ming Dynasty navy is, so it is best not to fight this kind of encounter.

The problem now is that the mouths of the Huanghuai River and the Yangtze River are more than a thousand miles away from the vassal state of Jeolla Province in Korea. Because sailboats are affected by wind direction and water currents, it is impossible to transport supplies back and forth frequently. They can only use the navy's centipede ships to transport supplies.

If the navy fleet transported supplies directly from the mouths of the Huanghuai River and the Yangtze River to the vassal state of Jeolla Province in Korea, the timing would be impossible to predict.

Therefore, Qi Jiguang suggested building a transit base west of Jeju Island.

In this way, the fleet transporting supplies from the mouths of the Huanghuai River and the Yangtze River only needs to travel about a thousand miles to unload the supplies at the transit base west of Jeju Island.

The Jeolla Province West Navy Base selected by Qi Jiguang is located in Myeongnyang Bay, Bukhae County, north of Jeju Island, which is only more than 200 miles away.

The navy's fast boats could easily depart from Myeongnyang Bay early in the morning at daybreak, rush to the transit base west of Jeju Island to load supplies, and then row back after confirming that there were no Japanese navy fleets nearby.

In this way, the navy fleet will not encounter the Japanese navy fleet.

The Japanese pirates were probably worried that the navy of their vassal state, Korea, would always take advantage of the absence of their navy fleet to harass Jeju Island, so the Japanese pirates had no intention of occupying Jeju Island at all.

At this moment, Jeju Island is still under the control of the vassal state of Korea, so there is no need to send troops to retake it.

Wanli looked at the map carefully for a while, then picked up a pen and wrote his reply on the memorial himself.

The Jeju Island naval transit base must indeed be built. As for the problem of insufficient personnel, we can first recruit 100,000 naval soldiers and transfer 30,000 craftsmen from Xinzhou to assist. In this way, the three naval bases can be built at the same time.

(End of this chapter)