Chapter 1824
Stop Here
Chapter 1824 Stop Here
The parties who formed the coalition had different purposes for participating in this war. Portugal and Annan mainly wanted to obtain the commercial treatment of North Korea and expand their own commercial and trade routes to the Yellow Sea.The Fujian Navy, which has long been allowed to enter this area, has another important purpose besides obtaining the trade rights of North Korea, which is to train troops.
Because it is too sensitive to cooperate with Haihan to send troops without authorization, the Fujian navy did not even plan to declare military exploits to the Ming court. After all, for Xu Xinsu, who is not short of money and does not want to be transferred from Fujian, the imperial court's reward is not too big. practical significance.With the example of Haihan in front, Xu Xinsu believes that training a strong army at the local level is more practical for the Xu family to ensure their long-term prosperity.So even though it would cost a lot to send troops to North Korea to participate in the war, Xu Xinsu still firmly chose to join the coalition forces organized by Hai Han.
As the commander of the Fujian Navy, Xu Yuzhuo also implemented this idea. Every action he took after arriving in Liaodong was to ask Wang Tom to fight.And the identity of the Ming army of the Fujian Navy is indeed convenient for them to carry out operations in North Korea, which is why Wang Tom fully trusts him and sends him out to perform combat missions alone.
After returning to the Datong River defense line, the Fujian Navy was the first fleet to launch as a surface force, which made Xu Yuzhuo quite proud, thinking that the performance of the Fujian Navy on the Datong River and Qingchuan River was indeed recognized by the Haihan people.And through the actions during this period, Xu Yuzhuo also realized that although the Qing army was good at land warfare, it would immediately become weak when it encountered water. Trouble.
Compared with surface forces, the pressure on independent regiments and marines responsible for defending land defenses is correspondingly greater.Before the coalition fleet returned from the north, the independent regiment had already begun to practice various tactics on the defense line, in order to exert its full combat effectiveness in the battle.And the marines who had just returned to the Datongjiang base with the fleet also marched to the defensive position immediately after landing. They needed to familiarize themselves with the defense area they were in charge of-the river banks on the east and west sides of the base.
Although the terrain surrounded by water on three sides of the base is very beneficial for building a line of defense, the army still has many dissatisfaction with the temporary fortifications, and can only make up for the shortcomings of the fortifications by strengthening the deployment of troops.Fortunately, with thousands of migrant workers rushing to work day and night, the overall project was almost completed before the arrival of the Qing army.
After the Qing army occupied Anzhou, it took another day to rest and reorganize the troops before setting off to continue southward.The next goal of the Qing army is very clear, which is the city of Pyongyang, which is located more than a hundred miles south of Anzhou.
During this era, Pyongyang City was the capital of Pyongan Province in northern North Korea, and it was also an important town near the west coast of North Korea. However, during the Dingmao Rebellion in 1627, Pyongyang City was captured by the Hou Jin army at that time, and a large number of people were taken into slavery. To extremely serious damage.Although the city defense has been repaired in the past few years, and many special policies have been given to the local area to restore social production, it still has not been able to return to the level before the war.
According to the original historical trajectory, the city would be captured by the Qing army again during the Bingzi chaos in 1636.However, due to the intervention of Haihan in this time and space, the historical development process has been changed to a certain extent. The time when the Qing army invaded North Korea was postponed for more than a year, and the speed of its southward advance was also greatly affected. It took two months to complete. Advancing to the vicinity of Pyongyang, Pyongyang City is located on the bank of the Datong River and is divided into two parts, Jiangnan and Jiangbei. However, the North Korean army does not have much confidence in defending the city, and the Haihan Army does not plan to transfer the army to Pyongyang. Therefore, Haihan simply suggested that North Korea abandon the defense of Jiangbei City, and directly retreat to the south bank to defend the river.After learning about Haihan's battle plan, the North Korean side agreed to such a plan, and moved all the personnel and materials from the north bank to the south bank, leaving only an empty urban area for the Qing army.
The cavalry troops of the vanguard battalion of the Qing army rushed to the outside of Pyongyang at the place where they set off from Anju, but the militant Qing army was not frightened by the empty city plan, and sent a small group of troops to test near the city wall. Without any response, more than a hundred people were decisively dismounted, threw them on the top of the city with grappling hooks, and then climbed up.Soon the Qing army determined that there were no defenders in the city. To be precise, the Koreans had abandoned the city, and the city was empty, leaving nothing of value to the Qing army.
The generals of the Pioneer Battalion were also a little dumbfounded seeing this situation. Since entering North Korea, although the opponent's combat power is not strong, they have not directly abandoned a city like this.Especially in the attack on Anju City a few days ago, the Qing army really took some trouble to take it down. The fortifications of Pyongyang City are stronger than those of Anju City. The defenders chose to retreat without a fight. A surprising approach.
Huang Taiji did not understand the true intention of the North Korean defenders when he received the news from the front line. The only reasonable explanation seemed to be the chain reaction brought about by the cancellation of military aid by the Haihan people, which made the defeated The North Korean army took the initiative to give up half of Pyongyang City.As for where the defenders will retreat, it is obvious. The Datong River that lies in front of the Qing army does not seem to be a natural moat that can be passed within a day or two.
The Pioneer Battalion did not organize a wave of forced crossings on the spot, because there were no ships near the north bank at all, and all water vehicles had already been cleaned up by the authorities and sent to the south bank.If the Qing army wanted to cross the river quickly, they probably had to go to the city to dismantle the door panels to make rafts.However, after discovering the shadowy sail shadow on the other side of the river, the generals of the Pioneer Battalion resolutely gave up this unrealistic tactic.With the previous two encounters with enemy fleets on the river, the Qing army knew very well that forcibly crossing the river at such a time would only lead to death in vain.
A day later, the main force of the Qing army arrived in Pyongyang one after another, and they did not encounter any armed resistance on the way.To be precise, in the more than 100 miles from Anju to Pyongyang, the Qing army did not even see any living people.North Korea resolutely implemented the tactics of strengthening the wall and clearing the field in this area. This approach made many Qing army generals feel a little bit of coolness.
In the war of invading North Korea ten years ago, the Hou Jin army at that time also attacked the city of Pyongyang with such force, but that time the defenders did not abandon the city directly, but defended for four days and three nights. Declare fall.This time, the time left for the North Koreans to deploy defensive means is obviously much more than that of ten years ago, but the other party decisively chose to abandon the city, which seems strange no matter how you look at it.
After Huang Taiji arrived in Seoul, he did not start crossing the river immediately. Instead, he deployed cavalry to conduct reconnaissance upstream and downstream along the river bank, looking for a suitable place to cross the river, and then called a meeting of his civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures.
In land combat, the Qing army can be said to not be afraid of any opponents other than the Haihan army. Even the Portuguese army, which is also equipped with muskets in batches, suffered some losses when it confronted the Qing army in Liaodong.However, if the battlefield is shifted to the surface of the water, in any environment of rivers, lakes and seas, the Qing army's equipment disadvantages will immediately be infinitely magnified, and it will have no ability to fight against the opponent's armed fleet.
The opponent grasped this shortcoming of the Qing army very accurately, which is why they were blocked in front of Jiang He several times during the invasion of North Korea.But now such a situation has appeared again, the Datong River is a natural moat lying in front of it, if it is dragged here for another month, it will cost a lot of supplies for the Qing army, even if the casualties are not counted first. But now the Qing army's material transportation in North Korea is all by land. It is hundreds of miles from the Yalu River to the current location. Every day the combat operation is delayed, the pressure on logistics will be increased.
Although the Qing army had strong land maneuverability, it had to rely more on its own logistics supplies in an environment where North Korea consciously implemented the tactics of fortifying the wall and clearing the field.The living supplies and combat equipment needed by tens of thousands of people are a great test for logistics, and the Qing army's ability in this area is really not professional.
The battle meeting held by Huang Taiji did not come up with any clever strategies, and he could only adopt a cautious strategy first, waiting to confirm the strength of the defense on the river before making any plans.
The initial reconnaissance results made Huang Taiji even more depressed. There were obviously a lot of large warships on the other side, and he obviously didn't intend to give up on the Datong River.If you want to cross the river here, you will inevitably pay a considerable price in casualties.What's more, North Korea cleaned up the nearby river bank in advance, and the Qing army simply couldn't get enough vehicles to complete the large-scale crossing operation in a short period of time.
If he can re-plan the invasion of North Korea, Huang Taiji may reconsider the troubles caused by Haihan's intervention in the war, and even re-plan a marching route closer to the inland, even if he has to cross many mountains for this, it should be It will be much better than dragging by the big river for half a month.
But now it seems too late to re-plan the marching route and bypass the armed blockade on the Datong River. Tens of thousands of Qing troops have to enter the inland mountainous areas and detour hundreds of miles to avoid the Datong River Basin. It would have a great impact on morale, and Huang Taiji didn't want his imperial conquest to become a farce of hide-and-seek with the Haihan army.If possible, he certainly hopes to defeat the Haihan people on the frontal battlefield to prove that the Qing army is the most powerful armed force in this area.
The Qing army then spent two full days conducting reconnaissance on the upper and lower reaches of the Datong River, but the results were not optimistic at all.On the river tens of miles away from the upper reaches of Pyongyang, the Qing army scouts saw the Ming army fleet cruising in groups on the river. The conspicuous "Xu" flag on the mast indicated that this fleet was stopped in Anju earlier. The navy unit of the Qing army for more than half a month.
As for the scouts who went downstream along the river bank, they discovered a new town a hundred miles away.But this place is blank on the map of North Korea. Theoretically, there should be no cities, but now we can see smoke from cooking houses, densely packed houses, and docks on the river bank.But when the scouts continued to approach, they found that this so-called "town" was not so ordinary. Not only was there a defensive zone built by iron nets to resist horses, but also faintly formed trenches and forts could be seen.Although there is no city wall in this place, it is obvious that this place is also a large armed stronghold.
The generals of the Qing army were also puzzled as to why the city of Pyongyang was directly abandoned by the North Koreans, but an armed stronghold with a large population popped up in the lower reaches of the Datong River.But according to the situation obtained by reconnaissance, this is probably the only place on the north bank of the Datong River that is still inhabited.
There is a theory that the North Koreans may have split opinions internally, just like what happened in Anju, some people wanted to withdraw from the battlefield, while others planned to fight the Qing army to the death, that's why Pyongyang appeared It was a situation where a new stronghold was built downstream from the empty city.
Naturally, there are many unreasonable things about such an idea, but judging from the current situation of the Qing army, this seems to be a more likely situation.
It's not that no one thought that that place might be related to the Haihan people who had claimed to withdraw from the Korean battlefield, but the information provided by the reconnaissance cavalry was too little, and there were no details to connect this place with Haihan.In addition, most people are also subconsciously unwilling to accept the fact that the Haihan people are still in North Korea, and they are not even willing to think about it in this direction.
So when the information was not detailed, Huang Taiji allocated [-] soldiers and horses to Azig's command, and asked him to go downstream to find out.
In order to avoid being detected by the enemy, Azig deliberately stayed away from the river bank when he led his troops south, and arrived at the north side of the Datong River base a day and a half later.
After all, Azig is a general who has commanded many large-scale battles. After observing from a distance, he found that the environment of this place was a bit unusual.Between the two east and west water veins that flow into the Datong River, there is an area surrounded by water on three sides, and where this area connects to the inland, a strange winding line of defense has been built.
The outermost perimeter of this line of defense is a man-made ditch, behind which are various fortifications.Azig had confronted the Haihan army for a long time on the Jinzhou Isthmus, and he had already recognized these fortifications with obvious traces of Haihan at first sight.
"Why are you from Haihan again!" Azig suddenly became depressed.The intelligence does not mean that the Haihan people have given up military aid to North Korea. How could they quietly build such an armed stronghold on the banks of the Datong River? Is it rumored that North Korea sent a piece of land to the Haihan people as a military base? This is the place ?
Seeing this line of defense reminded Azig of his days in Golden State. He really didn't want to deal with the Haihan people on the battlefield. .
(End of this chapter)
The parties who formed the coalition had different purposes for participating in this war. Portugal and Annan mainly wanted to obtain the commercial treatment of North Korea and expand their own commercial and trade routes to the Yellow Sea.The Fujian Navy, which has long been allowed to enter this area, has another important purpose besides obtaining the trade rights of North Korea, which is to train troops.
Because it is too sensitive to cooperate with Haihan to send troops without authorization, the Fujian navy did not even plan to declare military exploits to the Ming court. After all, for Xu Xinsu, who is not short of money and does not want to be transferred from Fujian, the imperial court's reward is not too big. practical significance.With the example of Haihan in front, Xu Xinsu believes that training a strong army at the local level is more practical for the Xu family to ensure their long-term prosperity.So even though it would cost a lot to send troops to North Korea to participate in the war, Xu Xinsu still firmly chose to join the coalition forces organized by Hai Han.
As the commander of the Fujian Navy, Xu Yuzhuo also implemented this idea. Every action he took after arriving in Liaodong was to ask Wang Tom to fight.And the identity of the Ming army of the Fujian Navy is indeed convenient for them to carry out operations in North Korea, which is why Wang Tom fully trusts him and sends him out to perform combat missions alone.
After returning to the Datong River defense line, the Fujian Navy was the first fleet to launch as a surface force, which made Xu Yuzhuo quite proud, thinking that the performance of the Fujian Navy on the Datong River and Qingchuan River was indeed recognized by the Haihan people.And through the actions during this period, Xu Yuzhuo also realized that although the Qing army was good at land warfare, it would immediately become weak when it encountered water. Trouble.
Compared with surface forces, the pressure on independent regiments and marines responsible for defending land defenses is correspondingly greater.Before the coalition fleet returned from the north, the independent regiment had already begun to practice various tactics on the defense line, in order to exert its full combat effectiveness in the battle.And the marines who had just returned to the Datongjiang base with the fleet also marched to the defensive position immediately after landing. They needed to familiarize themselves with the defense area they were in charge of-the river banks on the east and west sides of the base.
Although the terrain surrounded by water on three sides of the base is very beneficial for building a line of defense, the army still has many dissatisfaction with the temporary fortifications, and can only make up for the shortcomings of the fortifications by strengthening the deployment of troops.Fortunately, with thousands of migrant workers rushing to work day and night, the overall project was almost completed before the arrival of the Qing army.
After the Qing army occupied Anzhou, it took another day to rest and reorganize the troops before setting off to continue southward.The next goal of the Qing army is very clear, which is the city of Pyongyang, which is located more than a hundred miles south of Anzhou.
During this era, Pyongyang City was the capital of Pyongan Province in northern North Korea, and it was also an important town near the west coast of North Korea. However, during the Dingmao Rebellion in 1627, Pyongyang City was captured by the Hou Jin army at that time, and a large number of people were taken into slavery. To extremely serious damage.Although the city defense has been repaired in the past few years, and many special policies have been given to the local area to restore social production, it still has not been able to return to the level before the war.
According to the original historical trajectory, the city would be captured by the Qing army again during the Bingzi chaos in 1636.However, due to the intervention of Haihan in this time and space, the historical development process has been changed to a certain extent. The time when the Qing army invaded North Korea was postponed for more than a year, and the speed of its southward advance was also greatly affected. It took two months to complete. Advancing to the vicinity of Pyongyang, Pyongyang City is located on the bank of the Datong River and is divided into two parts, Jiangnan and Jiangbei. However, the North Korean army does not have much confidence in defending the city, and the Haihan Army does not plan to transfer the army to Pyongyang. Therefore, Haihan simply suggested that North Korea abandon the defense of Jiangbei City, and directly retreat to the south bank to defend the river.After learning about Haihan's battle plan, the North Korean side agreed to such a plan, and moved all the personnel and materials from the north bank to the south bank, leaving only an empty urban area for the Qing army.
The cavalry troops of the vanguard battalion of the Qing army rushed to the outside of Pyongyang at the place where they set off from Anju, but the militant Qing army was not frightened by the empty city plan, and sent a small group of troops to test near the city wall. Without any response, more than a hundred people were decisively dismounted, threw them on the top of the city with grappling hooks, and then climbed up.Soon the Qing army determined that there were no defenders in the city. To be precise, the Koreans had abandoned the city, and the city was empty, leaving nothing of value to the Qing army.
The generals of the Pioneer Battalion were also a little dumbfounded seeing this situation. Since entering North Korea, although the opponent's combat power is not strong, they have not directly abandoned a city like this.Especially in the attack on Anju City a few days ago, the Qing army really took some trouble to take it down. The fortifications of Pyongyang City are stronger than those of Anju City. The defenders chose to retreat without a fight. A surprising approach.
Huang Taiji did not understand the true intention of the North Korean defenders when he received the news from the front line. The only reasonable explanation seemed to be the chain reaction brought about by the cancellation of military aid by the Haihan people, which made the defeated The North Korean army took the initiative to give up half of Pyongyang City.As for where the defenders will retreat, it is obvious. The Datong River that lies in front of the Qing army does not seem to be a natural moat that can be passed within a day or two.
The Pioneer Battalion did not organize a wave of forced crossings on the spot, because there were no ships near the north bank at all, and all water vehicles had already been cleaned up by the authorities and sent to the south bank.If the Qing army wanted to cross the river quickly, they probably had to go to the city to dismantle the door panels to make rafts.However, after discovering the shadowy sail shadow on the other side of the river, the generals of the Pioneer Battalion resolutely gave up this unrealistic tactic.With the previous two encounters with enemy fleets on the river, the Qing army knew very well that forcibly crossing the river at such a time would only lead to death in vain.
A day later, the main force of the Qing army arrived in Pyongyang one after another, and they did not encounter any armed resistance on the way.To be precise, in the more than 100 miles from Anju to Pyongyang, the Qing army did not even see any living people.North Korea resolutely implemented the tactics of strengthening the wall and clearing the field in this area. This approach made many Qing army generals feel a little bit of coolness.
In the war of invading North Korea ten years ago, the Hou Jin army at that time also attacked the city of Pyongyang with such force, but that time the defenders did not abandon the city directly, but defended for four days and three nights. Declare fall.This time, the time left for the North Koreans to deploy defensive means is obviously much more than that of ten years ago, but the other party decisively chose to abandon the city, which seems strange no matter how you look at it.
After Huang Taiji arrived in Seoul, he did not start crossing the river immediately. Instead, he deployed cavalry to conduct reconnaissance upstream and downstream along the river bank, looking for a suitable place to cross the river, and then called a meeting of his civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures.
In land combat, the Qing army can be said to not be afraid of any opponents other than the Haihan army. Even the Portuguese army, which is also equipped with muskets in batches, suffered some losses when it confronted the Qing army in Liaodong.However, if the battlefield is shifted to the surface of the water, in any environment of rivers, lakes and seas, the Qing army's equipment disadvantages will immediately be infinitely magnified, and it will have no ability to fight against the opponent's armed fleet.
The opponent grasped this shortcoming of the Qing army very accurately, which is why they were blocked in front of Jiang He several times during the invasion of North Korea.But now such a situation has appeared again, the Datong River is a natural moat lying in front of it, if it is dragged here for another month, it will cost a lot of supplies for the Qing army, even if the casualties are not counted first. But now the Qing army's material transportation in North Korea is all by land. It is hundreds of miles from the Yalu River to the current location. Every day the combat operation is delayed, the pressure on logistics will be increased.
Although the Qing army had strong land maneuverability, it had to rely more on its own logistics supplies in an environment where North Korea consciously implemented the tactics of fortifying the wall and clearing the field.The living supplies and combat equipment needed by tens of thousands of people are a great test for logistics, and the Qing army's ability in this area is really not professional.
The battle meeting held by Huang Taiji did not come up with any clever strategies, and he could only adopt a cautious strategy first, waiting to confirm the strength of the defense on the river before making any plans.
The initial reconnaissance results made Huang Taiji even more depressed. There were obviously a lot of large warships on the other side, and he obviously didn't intend to give up on the Datong River.If you want to cross the river here, you will inevitably pay a considerable price in casualties.What's more, North Korea cleaned up the nearby river bank in advance, and the Qing army simply couldn't get enough vehicles to complete the large-scale crossing operation in a short period of time.
If he can re-plan the invasion of North Korea, Huang Taiji may reconsider the troubles caused by Haihan's intervention in the war, and even re-plan a marching route closer to the inland, even if he has to cross many mountains for this, it should be It will be much better than dragging by the big river for half a month.
But now it seems too late to re-plan the marching route and bypass the armed blockade on the Datong River. Tens of thousands of Qing troops have to enter the inland mountainous areas and detour hundreds of miles to avoid the Datong River Basin. It would have a great impact on morale, and Huang Taiji didn't want his imperial conquest to become a farce of hide-and-seek with the Haihan army.If possible, he certainly hopes to defeat the Haihan people on the frontal battlefield to prove that the Qing army is the most powerful armed force in this area.
The Qing army then spent two full days conducting reconnaissance on the upper and lower reaches of the Datong River, but the results were not optimistic at all.On the river tens of miles away from the upper reaches of Pyongyang, the Qing army scouts saw the Ming army fleet cruising in groups on the river. The conspicuous "Xu" flag on the mast indicated that this fleet was stopped in Anju earlier. The navy unit of the Qing army for more than half a month.
As for the scouts who went downstream along the river bank, they discovered a new town a hundred miles away.But this place is blank on the map of North Korea. Theoretically, there should be no cities, but now we can see smoke from cooking houses, densely packed houses, and docks on the river bank.But when the scouts continued to approach, they found that this so-called "town" was not so ordinary. Not only was there a defensive zone built by iron nets to resist horses, but also faintly formed trenches and forts could be seen.Although there is no city wall in this place, it is obvious that this place is also a large armed stronghold.
The generals of the Qing army were also puzzled as to why the city of Pyongyang was directly abandoned by the North Koreans, but an armed stronghold with a large population popped up in the lower reaches of the Datong River.But according to the situation obtained by reconnaissance, this is probably the only place on the north bank of the Datong River that is still inhabited.
There is a theory that the North Koreans may have split opinions internally, just like what happened in Anju, some people wanted to withdraw from the battlefield, while others planned to fight the Qing army to the death, that's why Pyongyang appeared It was a situation where a new stronghold was built downstream from the empty city.
Naturally, there are many unreasonable things about such an idea, but judging from the current situation of the Qing army, this seems to be a more likely situation.
It's not that no one thought that that place might be related to the Haihan people who had claimed to withdraw from the Korean battlefield, but the information provided by the reconnaissance cavalry was too little, and there were no details to connect this place with Haihan.In addition, most people are also subconsciously unwilling to accept the fact that the Haihan people are still in North Korea, and they are not even willing to think about it in this direction.
So when the information was not detailed, Huang Taiji allocated [-] soldiers and horses to Azig's command, and asked him to go downstream to find out.
In order to avoid being detected by the enemy, Azig deliberately stayed away from the river bank when he led his troops south, and arrived at the north side of the Datong River base a day and a half later.
After all, Azig is a general who has commanded many large-scale battles. After observing from a distance, he found that the environment of this place was a bit unusual.Between the two east and west water veins that flow into the Datong River, there is an area surrounded by water on three sides, and where this area connects to the inland, a strange winding line of defense has been built.
The outermost perimeter of this line of defense is a man-made ditch, behind which are various fortifications.Azig had confronted the Haihan army for a long time on the Jinzhou Isthmus, and he had already recognized these fortifications with obvious traces of Haihan at first sight.
"Why are you from Haihan again!" Azig suddenly became depressed.The intelligence does not mean that the Haihan people have given up military aid to North Korea. How could they quietly build such an armed stronghold on the banks of the Datong River? Is it rumored that North Korea sent a piece of land to the Haihan people as a military base? This is the place ?
Seeing this line of defense reminded Azig of his days in Golden State. He really didn't want to deal with the Haihan people on the battlefield. .
(End of this chapter)