Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The elite Goryeo troops stationed in Haeju were organized into the Youshence Army.

The name sounds pretty cool.

The names of other Goryeo armies are also quite deceptive. Not to mention the palace guards such as Konghe and Qianlong, the two major forbidden armies are named Yingyang and Longhu respectively.

In addition, there are six guards in the capital, Jinwu Guard, Qianniu Guard and so on.

There had just been a small fight outside the city, and Zhe Yanzhi's subordinates came back and reported: "General soldier, according to the prisoners' confessions, the elite troops who just left the city were none other than the Goryeo Youshence Army stationed in Haizhou. Their weapons and The armor is worse than the Ming garrison, but better than the Ming Cao army. Its combat capability is probably similar to that of the Ming Cao army. The main reason is that their morale is so bad, it is probably not as good as our Ming Cao army. "

Zheyanzhi muttered: "I've been deprived of food and salary. It's a damn thing if my morale is not bad."

"This kind of army with no morale can be defeated in one battle as long as it has siege equipment!"

"Fill in the moat first, and fire a few cannons if necessary. Don't rush to attack the city, besiege the city and call for reinforcements. As long as the reinforcements are defeated, the defenders in the city will definitely surrender. Scatter the light cavalry and small boats to the east, explore the enemy's reinforcements, and try again Let’s try to contact the local dealer.”

"yes!"

Cui Daoxiu was organizing the people to defend the city, and also took out the ordnance in the treasury and distributed it.

Haeju was once the headquarters of Goryeo's Protectorate, mainly to defend against the Liao Kingdom.

At that time, the Anbei Protectorate (Anzhou) was the front line against the Liao Dynasty, and the Anxi Protectorate (Haizhou) was upgraded to the Great Protectorate, which could quickly mobilize troops and horses from less than half of Goryeo.

Therefore, regardless of how well the armor is maintained, there is definitely no shortage of weapons in the treasury here.

The iron armor was rusty, the leather armor was moldy, the bow strings were broken, and the gun barrels were rotten... Pieces of armor were carried out and distributed to the young men organized by the temporary organization. Most of these young men were ordinary people in the city.

Half of the Youshen Ce army had no time to enter the city and had been dispersed by the Ming Dynasty cavalry. Cui Daoxiu could only recruit militiamen for defense.

That's nonsense.

The invincible Ming army has been preparing to go south.

As for Goryeo, which was in danger, its soldiers and armor were stored in the warehouse without any precautions, and they didn't even bother to repair their military equipment.

The next day, the second batch of Ming troops arrived and landed swaggeringly. The total strength here reached 5,000.

Cui Daoxiu did not dare to send troops out of the city at all. He only sent a few light cavalry to ask for reinforcements when the Ming army landed for the first time.

In the afternoon, the remnant soldiers who escaped from Huangzhou were defeated by more than a hundred Ming knights before they even approached Haizhou City. Xin Jia, the commander of Huangzhou, was also captured on the spot.

"The Huangzhou defenders were defeated?" Zheyan asked.

Xin Jia was talking nonsense: "The soldiers of tomorrow are too powerful. I originally planned to find an opportunity to surrender. Before I had time to surrender, the soldiers of tomorrow had already entered. Long live the Ming Dynasty! Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

After waiting for another half day, Zhang Yi came from Huangzhou with his troops.

He left 300 soldiers and 1,000 civilians to guard the city, and led 2,700 soldiers to join them.

There is nothing to fight around, so just continue to besiege the city. You must give time for Zheng Zhongfu to gather his troops. The total strength of the Ming army was not large, and the more troops Goryeo gathered, the better, so as to avoid breaking through layers and engaging in security wars.

Most of the county towns in Goryeo didn’t even have city walls!

…

Zheng Zhongfu has led his army to the area between Kaizhou and Haizhou. Now it is just a small county. It was only upgraded to a county during Li's reign.

Well, the name is...Yan'an County.

When the Ming Dynasty annexed Goryeo, the names would have to be changed one by one, otherwise the place names would be repeated everywhere. Not to mention Guangzhou and Huangzhou, there are also Kunming County, Wendeng County and Jiangyin County.

"What? You said Haizhou was besieged?"

Zheng Zhongfu was shocked.

He only gathered thousands of elites and set off without stopping, just to rush to Haizhou. Then relying on the strong city defense there, you can either defend to the death or look for opportunities to fight decisively.

What the hell is Haizhou being besieged?

The envoy for help cried and said: "The Ming army came from the sea by boat, and we were completely unprepared. Even half of the soldiers of the Youshence Army had no time to enter the city with their armor, and were killed by the Ming army's cavalry and fled. ”

Zheng Zhongfu was furious: "A month ago, a businessman brought back news that the Ming army on the north bank of the Datong River was mobilizing grain and grass. I have already gathered my troops and rushed here. How could Haizhou be completely unprepared? Is Cui family Collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country!”

The envoy asking for help hesitated and said: "Cui Duhu... He felt that the Ming army would not be able to come to Haizhou for a while because of Huangzhou City in the north. He never expected that the Ming army would come from the sea by boat."

"How could he not have expected that? From the maritime trade business with Ming Dynasty, it was his Cui family who made the most money!" Zheng Zhongfu's lungs almost exploded with anger.

While the two were talking, dozens of defeated soldiers came to surrender.

Those were the Youshence troops who had not had time to enter the city. After all, they belonged to the elite of Goryeo, and there were always some who were unwilling to surrender.

One after another, hundreds more remnants of the soldiers fled, and some soldiers even took their families with them.

Zheng Zhongfu sent Qingqi to inquire about the news, and soon collided with the Ming Dynasty cavalry - the two places were only more than 70 miles apart, and there was no terrain barrier to the plains.

The Koryo Qingqi were defeated and had no idea of ​​the enemy's situation because they were stopped halfway.

Zheng Zhongfu called Li Junyi to discuss: "The Ming army has surrounded Haizhou. We don't know how many Ming troops have come, and we don't know whether Haizhou has been defeated. How should we deal with it next?"

Li Junyi was originally collecting treasures and beauties, planning to go to sea before winter and go to Luoyang to bribe the Ming emperors and ministers.

As a result, before he set out, news came from the Datong River that the Ming army was mobilizing grain and grass.

Li Junyi said: "Since Haizhou is besieged, we can't fight in Haizhou, and we can't fight here."

"Haizhou City is surrounded by the sea to the south and mountains to the north. We can only pass through the narrow seaside channel. The artillery of the Ming army ships is powerful, and the shells can deter half of the seaside channel. Once fighting there, it is estimated that the two armies will Before the battle began, our army was defeated by the artillery fire of the Ming army’s ships.”

"And this place cannot be used as a battlefield. Only the county seat is on a hill, surrounded by flat terrain. How long can a mountain city be defended? If the Ming army is surrounded and refuses to attack, drag our army here and send a partial division to attack Kaijing. Most of the wealthy civil servants in Kaijing will take the opportunity to commit rebellion and surrender."

Zheng Zhongfu said: "I understand what you said, but what should I do next?"

"Take your Majesty to hunt south." Li Junyi said.

Zheng Zhongfu was stunned: "Nan Shou?"

Li Junyi nodded and said: "Yes, let's go to Nanjing (Seoul). The ships of the Ming army can reach the outer port of Kaijing, but it is difficult for us to defend it. Although Nanjing has the Han River leading to the sea, large sea ships cannot enter, and we will defend it until winter. completely fine."

"Is it just winter?" Zheng Zhongfu was a little disappointed.

Li Junyi said: "It would be good if it can be delayed until winter. By delaying the time and waiting for the Ming army to make mistakes, we will look for opportunities to counterattack."

Zheng Zhongfu said: "Can't we hunt eastward? There are more mountains over there."

Li Junyi shook his head: "If we take His Majesty and hide in the mountains, the Ming army can take advantage of the situation to occupy the two capitals, and then send troops to conquer the wealthy families everywhere. Goryeo has already lost Xijing (Pyongyang), and if it loses Kaijing and Nanjing (Seoul), it will only There is only one Tokyo (Gyeongju) left. By that time, we will become bandits and your Majesty will become a false king. Will the remaining Tokyo support us? No, we have just bloodbathed the Gyeongju nobles there!"

Zheng Zhongfu thought about it, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "Then please ask your Majesty to hunt Hanyang south!"

Withdraw immediately. The Korean reinforcements immediately packed up their supplies and planned to withdraw in the dark after nightfall. Soldiers suffering from night blindness can hold on to their belts and hurry as long as they are not separated from the army.

Just as the Goryeo army was retreating, someone in Li Junyi's camp took advantage of the chaos and led his horse westward.

Not long ago, Li Junyi did everything he could to make Zheng Zhongfu his adoptive father in order to save his life. How could he accompany Zheng Zhongfu to death?

…

Li Junyi's cousin Zhou Pu ran more than 20 miles away from the camp and was captured by the Ming cavalry.

Seeing Zhe Yanzhi, Zhou Pu said: "Zheng Zhongfu wants to take the monarch to retreat to Hanyang, Nanjing. Please send troops to intercept it by sea ship quickly!"

Zheyanzi couldn't believe it: "He didn't even save Haizhou, and he even gave up on Kaizhou?"

"He was frightened out of his wits," Zhou Pu said.

Orihiko asked again: "How many reinforcements did he bring?"

Zhou Pu said: "More than six thousand soldiers, all the elites of the two capitals and six guards, are followed by thousands of civilians. There are also some troops left behind in the capital. My cousin Li Yifang is responsible for gathering the troops. The troops from the capital and other places are gathering They are gathering there one after another. As long as the general sends a thousand elites to arrive in Kaijing before Zheng Zhongfu, my cousin will open the city to welcome the Ming soldiers and block the return of Zheng Zhongfu's six thousand elites!"

Zhang Yi reminded: "General Zhe, beware of fraud."

Zheyan smiled and said: "You Li family, are you so kind?"

Zhou Pu said: "The Zhou family is a poor family, and the Li family is a general family. There is no future in Goryeo. If the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty do not come to kill us, we will definitely continue to rule the country with soldiers. But now that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have come, how can we defeat the weak army of Goryeo?" It was Zheng Zhongfu who dethroned the country, and our Zhou and Li families were bewitched and coerced. Zheng Zhongfu was arrogant and domineering, so my two cousins ​​were forced to be humiliated and worship Zheng Zhongfu as their adopted father. This is a great hatred!

Orihiko asked: "What do you want?"

Zhou Pu said: "Please forgive me, the Emperor of Heaven, for forcing my two families to mutiny!"

"You go and rest first." Zheyanzhi said.

After the man retreated, Zhang Yi reminded: "General Zhe, there is no need for us to take risks. If this person comes to pretend to surrender, there are a large number of elites ambushing in Kaizhou, and the army we sent will lose troops and generals."

Zhe Yanzhi took out the map of Goryeo, pointed at the mouth of the Licheng River and said: "There is no need to go to Kaizhou, just land at the mouth of the Licheng River. If Zheng Zhongfu really wants to withdraw his troops, the elite troops we sent can ambush near the ferry first. The enemy troops will increase There were tens of thousands of civilians, and when they were halfway across, the ambush troops rushed out in one fell swoop!"

"If Zheng Zhongfu doesn't withdraw his troops, we can use sea ships to transport food there, and send the elite troops directly into the rear of Zheng Zhongfu's army. Then we can attack from both front and back!"

"Whether what Zhou Pu said is true or false, we will not suffer any loss in sending troops."