More than 50,000 troops were defeated?
It couldn't be? 50,000 troops were defeated? Could his 2,000 men be enough for the Ming Army?
"Hengshan! You are responsible for the rear! Block the Ming Army's pursuers!! "
Ishida Mitsunari gave the order for Hengshan Keiyoshi to die regardless of anything. Hengshan Keiyoshi glared at Ishida Mitsunari, who was running away. He stretched out his hand to stop him but didn't know what to say. He didn't want to die for them here, but he had to accept this order. He felt a little unwilling, a little wronged, and a little sad. He didn't know if his lord was safe inside.
"Where is the lord?!"
Hengshan Keiyoshi asked loudly.
Ishida Mitsunari paused and looked into the valley. He didn't speak, just shook his head and left. This shake of the head made Hengshan Keiyoshi's heart cold. The meaning of this shake of the head could not be clearer on such a battlefield.
However, a cannon sound interrupted his despair.
A group of Ming Army horses suddenly rushed out from the side, shouting and roaring, galloping on horseback. A big flag with the word "Li" made many Japanese soldiers scream in horror.
That's right, the general of this group of horses was the general of the Ming Army, Li Rusong, who had beaten the Kuroda and Kobayakawa armies in Kaicheng.
Li Rusong's face was dark as he charged with a cavalry that roared like tigers and howled like wolves. He quickly cut into the Japanese army's formation. The cavalry formation spread out and broke them up in one fell swoop. Using the flat terrain to gallop and kill the Japanese soldiers, Hengshan Keiyoshi's troops were in chaos.
He couldn't understand why the Ming Army would appear here. Why would the Ming Army cavalry appear here? This was the rear of the Japanese army, the last line of defense of the Japanese army. How could the Ming Army cavalry come out from here? What was going on?
Ishida Mitsunari and the others were also confused. It took them a long time to react. They grabbed a few horses and ran without looking back. Hengyama Keiichi, who had the intention to resist, could not organize the army to effectively block Li Rusong's cavalry. The defeated Japanese pirates rushed out of the mountain area of Bihoku Hall in batches, and the original formation was suddenly disrupted.
Some of the defeated soldiers ran away on their own, dragging the soldiers who wanted to resist behind them to be their scapegoats. Some of the defeated soldiers even dragged others down from their horses and climbed back up to run. In the end, they were dragged down by others and stomped on a few times. A horse was dragged back and forth many times before it finally fell to the ground and whined. The dumbfounded Japanese pirates were hacked to death by the Ming Army cavalry in the blink of an eye.
Li Rusong only felt that there were too many Japanese pirates in front of him. There were so many that he could not kill them all. Even if they did not resist at all and just waited to be killed, there was no time to kill them. This kind of bitter and sweet worry that belonged to a general made Li Rusong very depressed.
The Ming Army almost cleaned up the Japanese pirates in the mountain area. The whole army pressed forward. Outside the mountain area, Li Rusong's cavalry was nailed to the entrance of the valley to prevent the Japanese from escaping. Only a small part of the Japanese could break through Li Rusong's blockade and escape. Li Rusong was also unable to chase after them. He could only nailed to the spot and desperately block them. He killed as many as he could. At the same time, he resented his lack of troops. Even if he could pass through the small path and not delay the battle, his troops were too few. In the face of the defeated Japanese pirates, he really could not stop them.
Li Rusong's heart bled as he looked at the fleeing Wokou pirates, as well as the corpses and the rewards they had earned. Li Rusong's anger grew, and he could only kill to appease his anger.
Everything that Hengshan Keiichi witnessed almost drove him crazy. He wanted to counterattack but could not. He wanted to escape but could not. The narrow space was a mess, and the command system was completely out of order. What was worse was that when he looked up, he actually saw the Ming Army's battle flag appear not far away!
"The Ming Army is coming!!"
It was unknown which Japanese pirate was scared out of his wits and shouted loudly. Suddenly, the people around him panicked. They shouted and ran. This news spread quickly, which caused a further fatal blow to the Japanese pirates who were running for their lives. They pushed and shoved each other to escape. A large number of Japanese pirates were not killed by the Ming Army, but died under the feet of their own people. When the battlefield was cleaned up after the battle, the tragic scene made many Ming Army soldiers frown.
When he finally realized that the overall situation could not be changed, Hengshan Keiichi despaired. Looking at the scene inside, he did not know if his lord had escaped, or if his lord had really died in the battle. But no matter what, he had to show his last loyalty to his lord.
Hengshan Keiichi committed suicide to prove his loyalty. Once he died, the last group of organized troops that protected him also screamed in horror and collapsed.
The situation soon became clear. Xiao Ruxun sent a few surrendered Japanese pirates to the battlefield and shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed." The news spread like wildfire. Seeing that there was no hope of escape, the Japanese pirates who were in despair seemed to be grasping at straws. So, groups of Japanese pirates decisively threw down their weapons and knelt down to surrender. The battle ended in an instant. This confused the Ming Army soldiers who were trying their best to kill the defeated Japanese pirates. They did not understand why the Japanese pirates who were desperately running just now suddenly surrendered.
They had not killed to their heart's content!
The surrender of the Japanese pirates was reasonable. Xiao Ruxun was not surprised at all. It would be strange if they were stubborn and did not surrender. In this era, the Japanese were not stubborn enough. They still had a trace of fear in the face of the Celestial Empire. It was even more so after being beaten up. The terrible memories of being beaten up by the unbelievably powerful empire a thousand years ago came back to their minds.
The Celestial Empire was still the Celestial Empire.
Xiao Ruxun operated in North Korea for three months to deal with logistical problems. Then, on October 30th, he went to war. So far, in a month, he had destroyed the two armies of Konishi and Kato Kiyomasa. Then, he defeated the joint army of Kuroda and Kobayakawa at Kaesong and took over Kaesong. After confronting the Japanese at the Imjin River for several days, he broke through the Imjin River defense line and successfully crossed the river yesterday. Today, he had basically defeated the main force of the Japanese invading North Korea.
Three months of preparation and one month of attack. In one month of battle, the Japanese had completely destroyed the Japanese's painstaking efforts for half a year. Seoul was about to be destroyed. Their most important stronghold was about to be destroyed. Half of North Korea was about to be recovered in the blink of an eye. How could they fulfill their ambitions?
Before the battle, the Japanese were filled with fear of Xiao Ruxun and the Ming Army. Now, this fear became fear after they saw it with their own eyes. This fear catalyzed the fact that they laid down their weapons and surrendered in batches.
On the evening of November 28th, after more than half a day of bloody battle, except for a small number of Japanese elites who successfully escaped with a few people from the Japanese high command, because the front and back were blocked, the main force of the Japanese was wiped out. According to preliminary statistics, the Ming Army captured 28,000 Japanese, killed 22,000 people, beheaded more than 3,000 people, and killed 51 famous generals of the Japanese.
Among them, a head in Luo Shanghai's hand was recognized by the head identification officer, Monk Xuansu. Xuansu screamed in horror for a long time. After drinking a glass of wine, he said that this was Masuda Nagamori, the elder whom Toyotomi Hideyoshi relied on very much. If Toyotomi Hideyoshi was compared to the Daming Emperor, then Masuda Nagamori's position was probably equivalent to the Six Ministers of the Daming Empire.
Luo Shanghai was stunned for a while before he realized that the guy he had stabbed to death was a high-ranking official in Japan.
In his mind, this was the kind of thing that could be exchanged for at least five hundred taels of silver. Five hundred taels of silver! As long as he didn't spend it recklessly, it was enough for his family to live in peace and happiness for ten years!
After that, according to some of the Japanese captives, there was another important Toyotomi official, Kato Mitsuyasu, who was killed by the Ming Army's artillery. Not even his bones were left. Only a golden helmet was left, probably still on the mountain. Xiao Ruxun sent people to look for it. Sure enough, they found a blood-stained golden helmet. Looking at its style, it was not something that ordinary people could use. The captive was right.
On the Ming Army's side, 1,356 soldiers died in battle, and more than 4,000 were lightly or severely injured. In total, the casualties were more than 5,000. It was the highest since the start of the war. Of course, it was also the biggest victory. A part of the soldiers who died in battle were Wu Weizhong's subordinates and Li Rusong's Jurchen cavalry. Including the rest of the troops, the Ming Army lost 23 basic officers such as baihu, qianhu, three guerrillas, and one general. The main generals did not die in battle, but there were many who were injured.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
