Chapter 695: Inside and Outside Hamhung City

Seeing the obvious disbelief of Ma Gui, the old military leader, Lin Tailai suddenly took out three copper coins and said to Ma Gui: "Then I will use the copper coins to divine the situation of the Japanese soldiers."

Then he pretended to swing three copper coins in his big palm, and then pretended to throw the coins on the table six times in a row.

After writing down the positive and negative results each time, he closed his eyes and thought about it for a while.

Ma Gui and Dong Yiyuan stopped talking and just watched quietly from the side.

Suddenly Lin Jinglue opened his eyes and said very confidently: "Ask to heaven, I already know everything!"

Then he pointed to Hamhung Prefecture on the map and said: "There are 12,000 Japanese soldiers here, and the leading general is Nabeshima Naomo. He is over fifty years old and can be regarded as a minor famous general at the provincial or town level."

Ma Gui asked doubtfully: "What is a provincial and town-level minor general?"

Lin Jing thought for a while and then said casually: "It's like the four powerful generals of Xuanfu who are well-known in a region."

Ma Gui couldn't help curling his lips, "The Japanese country is really short of talents. Such people can actually guard a big city with more than ten thousand soldiers."

Lin Tailai pointed to Jizhou again, "There are ten thousand Japanese soldiers here, and the leader is Kato Kiyomasa!

It is said that this man is a direct henchman of the regent of Japan. He is famous for his bravery. He is nicknamed Tiger Kato. He is tall and majestic and has outstanding marksmanship! "

Hearing this, others around him felt that "tall, majestic, and outstanding in marksmanship" seemed familiar.

Lin Tailai snorted coldly: "But to say that this person is tall means that compared to the Japanese, he is actually one-third of a foot shorter than the Honbuyuan."

So everyone thought that this Japanese general named Kato Kiyomasa was nothing, after all, they had even seen the Nine Yuan True Immortal.

Lin Jinglue's finger pointed at the entire Hamgyeong Province again, "It can be said that the Second Japanese Army Corps mainly consists of these two groups!

At present, we have occupied Yongxing and completed the idea of ​​closing the door and beating the dogs!

The next task is to eat these two scattered groups as quickly as possible before the Japanese army can react and complete the combined forces!

First attack Hamheung Prefecture and annihilate Nabeshima Naoshige, and then formulate a new plan based on Kato Kiyomasa's movements. "

It's really hard for Ma Gui to understand. Is this information really calculated? This really overturned his cognition, it was too childish!

"It is indeed calculated." Lin Jinglue said seriously, "The accuracy is over 80%."

Previously, Lin Tailai knew that the Second Japanese Army had two groups, namely Kato Kiyomasa's Kumamoto soldiers and Nabeshima Naoshige's Saga soldiers.

But they don’t know the specific locations of Kato Kiyomasa and Nabeshima Naoshima, or where they are stationed.

The rough information obtained by North Korean spies just made up for this last link.

The information that Hamhung Prefecture and Jizhou each had large groups of Japanese soldiers seemed too vague to others, but it was enough for Lin Tailai.

Anyway, among the two groups of Japanese soldiers, one must be Kato and the other Nabeshima.

Based on Kato's style of advancing northward, the Jizhou Japanese soldiers further north were probably the Kato tribe, and the other group of Japanese soldiers stationed in Hamheung Prefecture were the Nabeshima tribe.

Magui's regiment will be the main force in attacking Hamhung Prefecture, so Magui asked again: "Please give me a brief introduction and elaborate on Nabeshima Naoshige, the defender of Hamhung Prefecture."

Now I have a basic understanding of the combat effectiveness and fighting patterns of Japanese soldiers. The main thing I want to know is the information about Japanese generals.

After Lin Tailai thought for a moment, he replied: "Naoshima Naoshige has been on Kyushu Island in the southern part of Japan for decades. He is a veteran of troubled times. He has been working hard to create a loyal and brave character."

Ma Gui was a little confused, "What does it mean to always create a loyal and brave character?"

Lin Tailai continued to answer: "Loyalty means being loyal to the lord and dying for advice several times; courage means daring to take the lead in battle and daring to defeat the enemy with a small number."

"What's the problem with this?" Ma Gui was still confused. He sounded like a very good person.

Lin Tailai said leisurely: "And the territory that was once my lord's has now become the territory of Nabeshima Naomo."

Ma Gui: "."

Seeing that Lin Jinglue was very familiar with the Japanese pirates, Dong Yiyuan, who had been silent for a long time, couldn't help but ask: "Instead of just talking about Hamgyong Province, we might as well calculate the Japanese soldiers in Gangwon Province in the south."

If the Magui Corps goes north to attack Hamhung and Dong Il-won stays behind in Yonghung, they may have to face the Japanese soldiers from Gangwon Province in the south. If the Japanese soldiers from Gangwon Province come to support Hamgyong Province.

Im Tae-rae replied: "The number of Japanese soldiers in Gangwon Province is probably between a few thousand and 15,000."

Dong Yiyuan: "."

What difference does it make if you say or don't say the error interval for this number?

Lin Tailai said distressedly: "The main force of the Japanese soldiers in Kangwon Province should be Shimazu Yoshihirobe, but this is an older veteran.

It stands to reason that the regent of Japan asked him to send out 10,000 troops, but he kept going back and forth, and God knows how many troops he has sent out now. "

Then he told Dong Yiyuan: "Anyway, your 10,000 troops are enough to defend Yongxing.

Yongxing must not be lost under any circumstances. I don’t want any casualty figures, I just want Yongxing!

At the same time, we must cooperate with the Korean volunteers to raid around Yongxing, try our best to intercept Japanese messengers, and block communications between the Japanese in Hamgyong Province and other places! "

"Understood!" Dong Yiyuan responded.

At this moment, Ma Gui suddenly became entangled again, "Hamheungfu is a large city in the northeast of Korea. According to the military gate, there are 12,000 Japanese soldiers guarding the city.

And my corps of 17,000 plus the 6,000 directly under the governor's battalion, totaling only 23,000 soldiers, less than twice the number of Japanese soldiers defending the city, and the number of heavy artillery is not large.

Should the general reconsider? Even if the city can be conquered, it is extremely uneconomical if the cost of casualties is too high. "

People who often attack cities know that under normal circumstances, the attackers should have at least three or four times the number of defenders.

And now it is less than twice, which makes Ma Gui feel entangled again.

Lin Tailai slammed the table and shouted at Ma Gui: "The headquarters has decided, no need to consider it!

The most taboo in combat is hesitation! Don't say anything more!

After your corps rests for two days, immediately set off with the headquarters' battalion to Hamhung Prefecture! "

After Ma Gui returned to the camp, he summoned the generals of each column to further convey the order.

In fact, the generals were also very concerned about the future battle plan. Yang Dengshan, one of the four fierce generals of Xuanfu, asked:

"There is no problem for us to fight bravely, but what is the general thinking in his heart? He doesn't want to be the first to win the merit, right?"

When attacking Pyongyang City, they all knew the depressed experience of the generals of Li Rusong's army.

Now the general who is more ferocious than the generals is already on the side of their army.

Before entering the Kingdom of Korea, they never dreamed that the biggest threat to winning the first-line military merits was actually the general.

The most terrifying general was not a show, but a real one. How could they, the generals, not know the value of "going first" twice and killing dozens of enemies?

Ma Gui smiled bitterly and said, "General Lin is really unfathomable. How can I guess it? Let's see when we get to Hamhung. "

Two days later, the eleven columns of the Ma Gui Corps and the three military camps directly under the military governor broke camp and marched towards Hamheung Prefecture, which was more than a hundred miles away.

In the eight provinces of the Joseon Kingdom, Pyeongan Province and Hamgyong Province were the last to be included.

In the Joseon Kingdom's concept, these two provinces are frontier areas, belonging to the "Northwest Confinement" area, and are naked official discrimination areas.

Therefore, the ruling foundation of the Joseon Dynasty in these two places, especially in Hamgyong Province, is very weak. This is one of the reasons why Kato Kiyomasa's Corps can march straight into Hamgyong Province.

Hamheung Prefecture is a big city in the Joseon Kingdom. It is the place where Lee Seong-gye, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, started his career.

At noon on the third day after the departure, the Ming Dynasty's official army arrived outside Hamheung City.

Ma Gui, the commander of the third corps, asked Lin Jinglue for instructions on how to set up camp.

Lin Jinglue then ordered: "Your corps is divided into 2,000 soldiers and horses with the headquarters, plus three military camps with a total of 8,000 soldiers and horses, and camp in the north of the city.

The remaining 15,000 soldiers of your corps will camp in the south of the city. "

Ma Gui felt that this arrangement sounded really amateurish, but after thinking about the combat effectiveness of the Japanese soldiers, he still endured it.

Even if there were 8,000 people camping, it should be enough to resist the attack of tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers, and there would be no problem with safety.

Then he heard Lin Jinglue order: "The heavy artillery is deployed in the south of your city, with the south of your city as the main attack direction, and the siege will begin tomorrow, and the headquarters will supervise the battle and support in the north of the city."

Hearing the words "main attack" and "support", General Ma's face could not help but twitch.

When fighting Pyongyang, Lin Jinglue, you let Li Rusong attack the west city, and then you, the support, secretly broke through the gate in another direction.

Lin Jinglue saw Ma Gui's thoughts and said sincerely: "Believe me, this time the headquarters is really supporting."

Ma Gui returned to the camp and pointed to Yang Dengshan and said: "Your column is temporarily under the direct command of Lin Junmen, go to the north of the city to camp! "

Yang Dengshan was surprised and asked: "Why is it me?"

General Ma's reason was very good, "Because Lin Junmen's Wumen student Heifenghu is under your command! ”

The Japanese garrison commander of Hamheung City, Kaga no Kami, and the lord of the 360,000-koku Saga Domain, Naoshige Nabeshima, stood on the city gate tower, silently watching the army in the distance.

This was an army with an extremely unfamiliar appearance, with as many horses as people, and well-trained chariot formations.

No need to think too much, this unfamiliar army must be the Ming army mentioned by the Koreans.

Three days ago, we received the news that Yongxing in the south had fallen, but it was not certain at the time which army occupied Yongxing.

Now this doubt can be completely resolved, and it must be the Ming army that captured Yongxing.

But Lord Nabeshima still couldn't figure out where this Ming army came from?

For a while, he didn't know what happened in other places. Could it be that the waste Konishi Yukinaga on the western front had been quickly defeated?

Otherwise, how could the Ming army that entered Korea from the western front still have the spare strength to split its forces and appear on the east coast?

Now Lord Nabeshima felt a little regretful that he shouldn't have brought his eldest son Katsushige with him.

This kind of opponent, just looking at the military appearance, is much stronger than he imagined.

Meeting such an opponent may be the most difficult hurdle in his decades of debut. If even the eldest son is lost, it will be a big loss!

I really don't know what medicine Toyotomi Kanpaku took wrong, he was so arrogant that he fantasized about establishing the capital and moving to Ming, and conquering Nanyang and Tianzhu.

In this situation, there are generally two ideas, one is to defend to the death, and the other is to abandon the city and break out.

But after observation, Naoshige Nabeshima decisively gave up the idea of ​​abandoning the city and breaking out, and could only defend to the death.

With the number of enemy horses, what can we use to break out? Two legs?

Suddenly, there was a blast from outside the city, followed by dozens of explosions like thunder.

Even the corner eaves of the city gate tower were blown to pieces, and Lord Nabeshima hurried down from the city gate tower.

In the face of artillery fire, the gate tower, which was an obvious target, had become the most dangerous place.

General Ma outside the South City shook his head, very dissatisfied with the effect of these rounds of artillery fire.

The number of heavy artillery over 100 jin was still too small. What could a few dozen guns do? When Li Rusong attacked Pyongyang a while ago, he used more than 300 guns.

Well, let's just make do with it! General Ma sighed, deployed more than 20 siege points first, and ordered each column to start taking turns to attack the city with infantry.

In addition to commanding, General Ma did not forget to pay attention to the situation in the North City. A scout reported that the governor did not attack the North City in a big way, but just set up a cloud car to shoot arrows into the city.

The defending general Naoshige Kobeshima personally supervised the battle in the South City, and suddenly saw his teenage son Shengmao running over with a letter in his hand.

"Father! Many sealed arrows were shot in, written in two languages!"

Naoshige Nabeshima was puzzled. The two sides did not speak the same language and had huge cultural differences. What could they communicate? Did the Ming army still want to persuade him to surrender?

He unfolded it and saw that it said "A letter to the soldiers of Ryuzoji - Naoshige Nabeshima was originally a retainer of the Ryuzoji clan. He was loyal on the surface, but deliberately killed his lord Takanobu and the four generals on the battlefield. Later, he colluded with the regent Hideyoshi in private and was able to occupy the Saga domain.

I heard that most of the soldiers in the city were old people of the Ryuzoji clan, so there must be many loyal and righteous people.

In order to promote the way of loyalty and righteousness, if anyone captures Naoshige Nabeshima or beheads him and offers him, our Ming Dynasty is willing to reward him with a thousand taels of silver and send him back to the country with courtesy. If he does not want to return to Japan, he can be rewarded separately."

After reading this slanderous words, Naoshige Nabeshima almost blacked out. How come even the Ming army knew about this little thing he had done in the country?

And it's not just a general knowledge, it's simply a level of knowing everything.

He has been the lord for only a few years, and many of the Saga domain soldiers and generals are from the era of the old lord Ryuzoji, and the relationship with him is very sensitive.

Because the relationship between him and his soldiers is very sensitive, he usually has to be careful, for fear of causing problems and turmoil.

As a result, these arrow books can accurately grasp this point, directly and nakedly slander and sow discord.

"Where did these arrow books come from?" Naoshige Kojima asked his son.

Katsushige Kojima replied: "They all came from the north city."

So Naoshige Kojima didn't care about supervising the battle in the south city, and hurried to the north city.

Anyway, the south city doesn't seem to be in great danger for the time being, and Naoshige Kojima is more worried about the people in the north city.