Chapter 735 The Fifth Time What? (Monthly Vote Requested!)

In the spring of the 21st year of Wanli, the Japanese pirates completely retreated to the south coast of Gyeongsang Province, centered on Busan, from Jinju to Ulsan.

Li Rusong's 30,000-strong First Corps arrived in the Seongju area in the north, firmly squeezing the Japanese army's space from north to south.

The 14,000-strong Magui Second Corps arrived in Gyeongju in the east and confronted the Ulsan Japanese army.

The 15,000 men of Li Xuan's fourth regiment arrived at Nanyuan in the west, more than 100 miles away from the Jinzhou Japanese army.

Now that the situation on the front line is gradually becoming clearer, and matters such as canonization and mining in the rear have been basically arranged, Lin Tianshuai is also preparing to set off south.

This was not yet the end of Chongzhen, and it was indeed rare for a civil servant like Lin Tianshuai to be keen on visiting the front line in person.

For the fifth time... oh no, for the purpose of wiping out the Japanese pirates and rebuilding the vassal state, Tianshuai also worked hard.

At this time, Chen Lin, deputy chief of the Navy, rushed to North Korea from the southeast with hundreds of warships and 13,000 troops.

Not counting the battle losses so far, the troops entering the DPRK include Li Rusong's First Corps of 38,000 men, Ma Gui's Second Corps of 17,000 men, Dong Yiyuan's Third Corps of 10,000 men, and Li Yu's Fourth Corps of 10,000 men. Five thousand people, Chen Lin's navy has 13,000 people, and the Sanbiao camp has 6,000 people.

The total strength of the army has reached 99,000. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is an army of 100,000, and it is a real 100,000 soldiers.

Limited to the past hundred years, this is already an unprecedented scale.

However, so far, through five large-scale battles in Pyongyang, Hamhung, Jiju, Byokjeokwan, and Seoul, the Heavenly Soldiers have sacrificed about 5,000 people, less than half of which were sacrificed by General Li in Byokjeokwan.

However, it is said that after the naval commander Chen Lin landed in Incheon, which was only 80 miles away from Seoul, he immediately rushed to the west gate of Seoul to meet with Lin Tailai, the minister of economics and strategy.

Cui Wukui, the attaché of the shogunate, greeted Chen Lin at the gate of Xique to express the importance that the shogunate attached to the naval admiral.

Deputy General Chen smiled and handed Cui Wukui a small bag of tips. There was a clear and pleasant sound of metal collision as it shook.

Faced with this greeting gift, Cui Wukui accepted it after hesitating for a while, and then reminded: "Lin Gong prefers to be addressed as the commander-in-chief recently, rather than the Duke of Jinlue or the military gate."

Chen Lin bowed her hand to Cui Wukui and went to the hall to meet Lin Tailai.

Marshal Lin sat behind the case and said calmly: "General Chen is a little late."

Chen Lin said with a smile: "I brought some new-looking gadgets for the commander to enjoy."

Marshal Lin didn't say anything, so Chen Lin took it as acquiescence and called on the soldiers to bring in a box.

After opening it, there was a box full of silver coins. Marshal Lin picked up a silver coin and took a closer look. It had an eagle-shaped pattern engraved on it.

Chen Lin explained: "This is the Yingyang that has been spread from overseas in recent years. One piece contains eight coins. It is quite beautifully made. I boldly gave it to the commander in a few boxes for viewing."

Of course Lin Tailai knew that after the Spaniards conquered Latin America, especially Mexico, half a century ago, they seized a large amount of silver and used it to mint silver coins. This "Eagle Ocean" is a very classic style.

Later, in maritime trade, a large amount of silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty in the form of Yingyang.

Today is the first time Lin Tailai has seen the real Ying Yang with his own eyes since he traveled through time.

In recent years, Chen Lin has been guarding Zhangzhou and Tingzhou as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Navy, and it seems that he has made a lot of money.

Since the decline of Ningbo sea trade, Zhangzhou Yuegang has been the largest sea trade port in recent decades. Leading the navy to guard a place like this would be a source of trouble.

Holding the silver coin, Marshal Lin suddenly felt something in his heart again and fell into deep thought.

Should "silver currency" with Lin's characteristics also be minted in Suzhou? One tael of silver and one silver dollar?

The nominal official currency of the imperial court was copper coins and treasure banknotes. No matter what shape the silver was cast into, it should not be illegal in theory.

This is the case in many areas of the Ming Dynasty. After more than two hundred years of changes, many of the systems established in the early years of the dynasty have become names on paper, and are completely different from reality.

For example, does anyone still uphold the famous prohibition that "officials and scholars are not allowed to engage in prostitution?"

So if you mint silver coins and don't be too ostentatious about using "Lin Datou" everywhere, you should be fine.

Seeing the marshal holding Yingyang and thinking for a long time, Chen Lin suddenly felt a little panicked. Could something be wrong?

No matter whether the commander is smiling or scolding him righteously, there is nothing wrong with it, but what does it mean to be dazed with Yingyang?

Isn't this Yingyang just silver? Chen Lin, who had nothing to be dazed about, didn't dare to say anything, so she just stood below and waited.

After a while, Marshal Lin finally finished thinking and put down the Eagle Ocean in his hand.

Then he kindly said to Deputy Commander Chen: "You are here at the right time. The Japanese pirates are entrenched on the south coast. If we want to completely wipe out the Japanese pirates, we need your navy to make great efforts."

Just now it was "General Chen came a little late", now it is "he came just in time".

The amount of money is not important. Does Marshal Lin, who has full control of Susong's industry, agriculture, commerce, transportation, engineering construction, and finance, still lack a few boxes of Yingyang?

What matters is the attitude shown. Marshal Lin is a person who attaches great importance to attitude.

Then Marshal Lin ordered: "The main tasks of your navy are twofold. First, completely cut off the Japanese army's retreat to the country; second, cut off the Japanese army's sea food route!

If you want to completely annihilate the southern Japanese pirates at the minimum cost, these two conditions are indispensable.

On the premise of completing the above two tasks, we can appropriately deter the Japanese troops in their homeland. "

Chen Lin promised without hesitation: "We will definitely fulfill the commander-in-chief's military orders!"

Marshal Lin still believed in Deputy General Chen's statement.

Although the Japanese pirates claimed to use thousands of ships to conquer the dynasty, most of them were transport ships, which could only be left empty in the port when they were not transporting troops.

The real navy only had more than 9,000 people, and the warships were said to have 700.

And in this era, many people may not know that the shipbuilding technology of Japan is not as good as that of Ming Dynasty, but even that of North Korea.

The Japanese warships were not as strong as those of the Ming and North Korea in terms of sturdiness and fire protection.

Why was the famous North Korean navy general Yi Sun-shin able to steal the show and be so praised when the North Korean army was completely incompetent and defeated?

Mainly due to the technical and tactical advantages of the North Korean navy, it was indeed able to defeat the Japanese navy in naval battles.

But no matter what, the North Korean navy still cannot get ashore, and its scale is not enough to carry out a complete naval blockade. Therefore, it was impossible to turn the tide of the war and achieve a strategic victory.

The navy was too professional. Marshal Lin could only entrust the direct command of the navy to Chen Lin, and could not handle it as he did with General Li.

However, he still had to "talk on paper" to highlight his abilities and establish prestige in front of Chen Lin.

This is the "way to control their subordinates" practiced by many leaders, and it is not unique to Marshal Lin.

Then Marshal Lin spoke eloquently: "Among the Japanese ships, the largest was called the Anzhai ship. According to the custom of the Japanese, many shooting holes were set up, and the hull of the ship was built very high.

Therefore, this kind of warship has three weaknesses. First, it has a deep draft and is extremely inconvenient to turn; second, it has a high center of gravity and has a large target; third, it has too many wooden structures and is very flammable. "

Chen Lin responded to Marshal Lin's "advice" with a "hmm, ah, ah, ah," and thought to herself, might the Marshal know a thing or two?

After finally waiting for a break in Marshal Lin's speech, Chen Lin quickly got down to business and asked for instructions:

“I heard that the famous North Korean state-owned navy general Yi Sun-shin led dozens of warships to win two or three naval battles last year.

Is it possible to cooperate with Yi Sun-shin and join forces to eliminate Japanese pirates at sea? "

Marshal Lin looked at Chen Lin with strange eyes, which made Deputy General Chen feel a little numb again.

Before coming here, I heard that Marshal Lin often killed North Korean civil and military officials for fun when he had nothing to do. Is it possible that Yi Sun-shin is also on the list?

"Why do you want to unite with Yi Sun-shin?" Marshal Lin asked.

Chen Lin explained: "Last year, Yi Sun-shin fought several battles with the Japanese navy. He at least has some experience and is familiar with the water conditions."

Marshal Lin gave very clear instructions: "Don't cooperate with the North Korean Navy. We, the Ming Navy, fight on their own and let them fend for themselves."

Seeing Marshal Lin's attitude of being very resistant to cooperation, Chen Lin asked curiously: "I dare to ask, is there any reason for this?"

Marshal Lin replied: "You don't want others to say that you, Chen Lin, fought under the command of Yi Sun-shin hundreds of years later, right?

You don’t want to say that hundreds of years later, Yi Sunchen will be named the best general in ancient and modern times, while you, Chen Lin, are unknown, right? "

Chen Lin: "?"

Commander, what kind of joke are you talking about? It doesn't sound funny.

Marshal Lin pointed to his eyes, "Believe it or not, my eyes can see some of the future."

Deputy Chief Chen thought, from a purely literary point of view, the level of your joke, Marshal Lin, is indeed very low.

Marshal Lin didn't know what was going on in Chen Lin's mind, so he continued to add: "The strength of their navy is just that. At the beginning of last year, Yi Sun-shin did win three naval battles.

However, the average number of Japanese naval warships destroyed in each battle was only twenty, and the total number of Japanese warships was seven hundred.

Check out the correct version one by one!

Then Yi Sun-shin drifted away and began a large-scale attack on Busanpo, the Japanese pirate base. As a result, he was defeated and he almost couldn't come back.

So not cooperating with them will have no impact on us, but it will avoid a lot of trouble. Why not? "

At this point, Chen Lin responded: "Yes, I will obey the commander's military orders."

“In addition, although the west coast of North Korea has a long coastline, the wave gap is too great, so there are not many places that can be used as good harbors.

Therefore, when you are sailing between ships, you should take the opportunity to survey and see if there is any place on the southwestern coast of Korea suitable for use as a large seaport. "

It was all a trivial matter, and Chen Lin agreed immediately, so the meeting was a complete pleasure for both host and guest.

After that, the generals acted separately. Chen Lin led the navy southward by sea. First, he had to find a suitable port as a base in Jeolla Province.

Marshal Lin ordered Dong Yiyuan's Third Corps of 10,000 troops to stay in the rear, responsible for guarding the safety of the road from Kaicheng to the southern front line, as well as the defense of Wangjing and Seoul.

At the same time, he ordered 3,000 people from the Wu Weizhong Battalion, one of the three battalions in charge, to stay and be responsible for protecting Jin Shunbin and Shunhejun when they went to Pyongyang.

Marshal Lin himself led the Dayun Camp and Ye Bangrong Camp and quickly went south to the front line.

After crossing Chungcheong Province, you enter the northern part of Gyeongsang Province, which is located in the southeasternmost part of the peninsula.

At this time, the northern part of Gyeongsang Province had been abandoned by the Japanese pirates, and General Lee's headquarters on the northern line was stationed in Seongju.

In later generations, Daegu, next to Seongju, was actually more famous and was the fourth largest city in the Nambang Kingdom.

Hearing that the commander-in-chief had come to join the First Corps again and had entered Xingzhou City, General Li went to the military headquarters to pay a visit.

When General Li entered the White Tiger Hall, he saw a large map hanging in the middle. Marshal Lin faced the map and stood expressionless with his hands behind his back, motionless as if he was deep in thought.

When you get closer, you can see that the big map is a situation map of Gyeongsang Province and Jeolla Province in the southernmost part of Korea.

This is normal. The future stage of the war will not exceed the scope of these two provinces.

Seeing Li Rusong coming, Marshal Lin spoke first and said without question: "I have decided. First, the war must be ended before winter!

Second, under the premise of ensuring this time, the final victory must be achieved at the lowest cost possible!"

Li Rusong fully agreed: "It should be so!" Then he asked curiously: "I just saw the general looking at the map intently. Did you gain anything?"

Marshal Lin pointed to the map and said: "Now the Japanese pirates have shrunk to the southern coast area. Our army has surrounded the Japanese pirates from the north, east and west.

Is it possible to feign defeat on the north line and induce the Japanese pirates to occupy Daegu?"

General Li was puzzled. Is this idea wrong with his brain?

Why do you have to feign defeat for no reason? Why do you want to induce the Japanese pirates to occupy Daegu? What's the point?

Besides, the overall strategy of the Japanese pirates now is to shrink and defend, and they may not be willing to extend the front line.

Out of respect for Lin Jinglue, General Li did not say anything and just remained silent.

General Lin pointed his finger in another direction and said, "Is it not possible? Then on the western front, is it possible to feign defeat in Namwon and lure the Japanese pirates to advance to Jeolla Province and occupy Gwangju?"

General Lin responded with silence. General Li did not want to express his opinion on this plan that only a fool could come up with.

Marshal Lin's face was full of regrets, and he sighed and said, "The western front is not working? Then there is only Ulsan on the eastern front.

There is no need to pretend to be defeated here, Ulsan is the front line occupied by the Japanese pirates, just go and fight directly."

General Li couldn't bear it anymore and asked, "General, what is your combat intention? Why is it Daegu on the northern front, Gwangju on the western front, and Ulsan on the eastern front?"

Marshal Lin explained, "To find the best place for the fifth, fifth, and fifth major battle."

General Li obviously didn't believe it, and sneered, "The fifth what? Are you sure you mean the battle? Not that old Deng or something?"

Marshal Lin further explained, "There have been four major battles in Pyongyang, Hamhung, Gilju, and Seoul. Isn't this the fifth one?

If you insist on counting the Battle of Pyeongyang, then it doesn't matter if you say this is the sixth one."

General Li: "."

Break up! Break up! Must break up for three days!

Marshal Lin looked at the map again. At present, he only needs to climb the first one to be the best in ancient and modern times. For such a glorious moment, of course, we should choose a memorable place as much as possible.

On this map of the southern part of the peninsula, there are Busan, the second largest city of South Korea in the future, Daegu, the fourth largest city, Gwangju, the sixth largest city, and Ulsan, the eighth largest city.

It can be said that these four places are slightly well-known in the future.

The most famous Busan is the nest of the Japanese pirates on the peninsula. It is not on the front line at present and it is impossible to reach it now.

Daegu and Gwangju are in our hands. It is not realistic to feign defeat and lure the enemy to take them back. So the only possible attack at present is Ulsan, which is the least well-known.

Alas! Marshal Lin felt a little regretful. Ulsan was still not worthy of his glorious martial arts.