Wanli 1592

Chapter 138 After the War
When Master Xiu Jing was discovered, he was sitting cross-legged on the battlefield with a peaceful expression. According to the explanation of his disciples and the Ming army, when Xiao Ruxun beat the drums declaring victory, according to the battlefield practice, the soldiers who participated in the battle would stop fighting and sit down. Rest and recover.

The same goes for Master Xiu Jing, who put down his iron rod, sat cross-legged, and held a Buddhist bead in his hand. At first, everyone thought that Master Xiu Jing was too tired and needed a better rest, so no one bothered him. When they were almost rested and ready to clean up the battlefield, some disciples went to help Master Xiu Jing, only to find that Master Xiu Jing had passed away.

In order to defeat the Japanese pirates, Master Xiu Jing fought with high intensity for more than two hours at the age of 72, exhausted his last sliver of energy, ran out of energy, held his breath in the battle and did not let go, and the battle ended in victory After that, he relaxed his heart and swallowed it in one breath, and the master passed away. He performed the act of a martyr as a monk and died heroically for his country.

Looking at Master Xiu Jing's peaceful face as if he was asleep, the generals of the Ming army headed by Xiao Ruxun saluted him in unison. After Master Xiu Jing's disciples told him about the arrangements for his death before the war, Xiao Ruxun On the battlefield, a cremation ceremony was held for Master Xiu Jing, and then the relic of Master Xiu Jing was returned to his disciples. After the recovery of North Korea, he wrote a sacrificial oration in his own hand to comfort the spirit of Master Xiu Jing in heaven.

After the farewell ceremony between Master Xiu Jing and the comrades who died in battle, Xiao Ruxun ordered all the ministries to regroup, set up camp on the spot, bury pots and cook food, and rest overnight. He also ordered the general Chen Xie to lead 2000 troops to escort back more than [-] Japanese captives. The Kaesong camp took a short break before being sent to Pyongyang.

Anyway, it’s a labor force that needs to eat. It’s not for nothing. Let them go to repair Pyongyang first. Don’t be a freelancer. When the frontline war is over and report to His Majesty the Emperor, they will be brought back to Daming to work as coolies.

For details, Xiao Ruxun also wrote a letter for Chen Xie to bring to Song Yingchang who is in charge of the overall situation in Pyongyang, asking Song Yingchang to make good use of this batch of precious labor, and not to abuse it casually. residual value.

Xiao Ruxun’s opinion is to suppress them for as long as they can, squeeze out their labor as much as possible, and don’t waste it. Anyway, a porridge and a meal don’t consume too much food. Whether it’s helping the North Koreans to build cities so that the North Koreans can provide food, our army rations It's only been a month.

However, Xiao Ruxun also underestimated Song Yingchang a little. It was not in vain to manage Liaodong for so long. He was short on time before and raised 15 shi of grain and grass for Xiao Ruxun to make military rations. It was given relatively quickly, so Song Yingchang now has a full [-] shi of grain and grass in his hands, which is enough for Xiao Ruxun to use for four months.

And the one thousand Liaodong Han cavalry and the three thousand Jurchen cavalry commanded by Zu Chengxun are only three days away from Kaesong.

After dinner, all the troops were resting. Li Rusong came to Xiao Ruxun's big tent and proposed the idea of ​​attacking Seoul at night. Xiao Ruxun shook his head and vetoed it.

"Seoul is not Pyongyang, nor is it Kaesong. It is the general headquarters since the Japanese pirates landed. The defense is not comparable to Pyongyang Kaesong. Although I wiped out the main force, at least tens of thousands of troops are still standing there. If the Japanese pirates do not run away, our army will take it." It is not difficult to go to Seoul, but it must be established with sufficient firepower.

In the previous battle, the gunpowder and shells in the reserve were exhausted, and the consumption of matchlocks was also very high. Now there are only thirty or fifty cannons that can be used, and there are still a thousand matchlocks. Such firepower is impossible to win Those in Seoul can only take human lives to heap, which is not appropriate. "

Li Rusong said: "But the main force of the Japanese pirates in Seoul has been wiped out. The Japanese pirates are already afraid. They may not defend Seoul and lead their troops to flee. If we attack again tomorrow morning, there will be only an empty city left in Seoul. We will get nothing. Now march in, say Maybe we can catch those Japanese chieftains who ran away."

Xiao Ruxun smiled, and said: "The governor understands what Li Zongbing means, but the army has been fighting for days, exhausted, forced to drive, not to mention whether they can catch up with the Japanese pirates, even if they catch up, will the Japanese pirates be unprepared? The Japanese pirates are not Fool, what we can think of, the Japanese pirates may not have imagined. Using my tired army to attack the enemy's rejuvenated army, although the Japanese pirates are afraid of me, Ming, they dare not fight, and the remaining cavalry under Li Zongbing can't create a bigger battle The result."

Li Rusong's expression froze. He knew that the Jurchen cavalry and Han cavalry under him were intact and there were less than 1000 people. Even Nurhachi was injured in the previous high-intensity battle, let alone the remaining cavalry, who had no mobility. Under such circumstances, in the plains, it is obviously unreasonable for the infantry to pursue the battle. What's more, the food and grass carried by the army is only enough for two days, and the scheduled supplies are still one day away from Kaesong, so the army cannot continue to move forward.

"It's not a bad thing for Japanese pirates to withdraw their troops. At least Seoul has been taken, so North Korea's Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do are also taken. The Japanese pirates only have Gyeongsang-do, Chungcheong-do and Jeolla-do left, of which Jeolla-do is still The North Korean Navy Yi Sun-shin and the Army Kwon Yulsuo were fighting, and the Chungcheong Japanese pirates were caught between the two sides. They would not dare to stay for long, and they would definitely withdraw.

The last main force of the Japanese pirates must be at the southern end of Gyeongsang-do. They may not dare to stay in Jeolla-do for a long time. As long as our army continues to march, the Japanese pirates will not dare to stay in Jeolla-do for a long time. I heard that the Japanese pirates landed in North Korea from Busan in Gyeongsang-do. , Then Busan should be the last stronghold of the Japanese pirates. With the support of the Japanese pirates navy, they can attack and retreat or defend, which is not good for me.

If we want to completely annihilate this group of Japanese pirates so that they will no longer have the strength to invade North Korea, we must send out the navy to cooperate in the battle. The North Korean navy has only one unit under Yi Sun-shin's command. Yes, so the governor is trying to get the imperial court to dispatch naval forces to cut off the retreat of the Japanese pirates, so we can't push the Japanese pirates too hastily. "

Xiao Ruxun pointed to Seoul.

"The governor decided to take a rest for a few days after the capture of Seoul. After Li Zongbing's four thousand cavalry and supplies arrived, we marched again, captured Chungju, entered Gyeongsangdo, captured Sangju, stationed troops in Sangju City, and then It is the safest strategy to send troops to support the Korean army in Jeolla-do to recover Jeolla-do, to threaten the Japanese pirates in the south of Gyeongsang-do from both sides, and to form a two-sided attack, trapping the Japanese pirates in the Pusan ​​area."

Having said that, Li Rusong had nothing to say.

After Li Rusong left, Yuan Huang looked at Li Rusong's back, smiled, and said in a low voice: "It seems that Li Rusong is at least somewhat convinced of you, which is a good thing."

"How Li Rusong sees me is not important and cannot affect the overall situation."

Xiao Ruxun shook his head and said with a smile: "Li Rusong is a relatively pure soldier. He behaves like a soldier and received military education since he was a child. He is different from his father. Li Chengliang is not only good at military affairs, but also The core of the Li family is Li Chengliang, not Li Rusong."

(End of this chapter)