Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 98 The Hidden Danger Behind Victory

The messenger horse was running quickly, delivering urgent military information to the capital. This information was placed on the emperor's desk. The emperor's expressions when reading these newspapers varied, sometimes solemn, sometimes anxious. But today the emperor picked up the latest Tang newspaper and couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"Okay, okay! This Li Rusong fought well. I didn't misjudge you." The emperor was happy as he took the report.

"Chen Ju, look at this. This battle was really good. The Pyongyang Fort was defeated so quickly in just a short time. Thousands of people were beheaded. Konishi Yukinacho's army was defeated and fled. Kato next to him Qingzheng was so frightened that he ran away, and now half of Korea's rivers and mountains have been recovered." The emperor handed the Tang newspaper to Chen Ju.

"My ministers congratulate your Majesty. With such a great victory, it seems that the day when the army will return to the court is not far away."

"Yes, I'm going to the Ancestral Temple. I want to talk to my ancestors about these illustrious martial arts achievements. Hey, Li Rusong has made such a great contribution. What kind of official should I reward him with? Do I want to give him a title? "

"Your Majesty, the battle is not over yet. When General Li returns in triumph, he will be rewarded for his merits. It will be a grand event for the country."

"Hey, I was so happy that I almost forgot about the ancestral system. This good news must be told to all the ministers, the people in the capital, and distributed to all provinces. The Japanese don't even make people feel safe during the New Year. Now everyone Be cheerful and cheerful.”

However, as soon as the emperor's decree was sent to the cabinet, Wang Jiaping, the chief minister of the cabinet, had to rush into the palace to meet the emperor after reading it.

"How did your Majesty think of sending such a decree?" Wang Jiaping asked directly.

"Is there anything wrong with this decree? The battle is won, everyone is happy, the court and the people are happy, what's wrong with it?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, there is an old saying that a father who is a soldier is an ominous weapon. The purpose of raising this royal army in the Ming Dynasty was to drive out the Japanese army and preserve the country of Korea. Now that the army has killed many people, your Majesty should have compassion for others. Can you have the virtues of a holy king? Moreover, it is not the season now, and the Korean War has not achieved full success. Since the Korean War, military supplies have been consumed a lot, the imperial treasury is empty, and the people are busy with their livelihoods. Is it too early to celebrate with these fireworks? ”

"Then if I want to comfort the ancestral temple, there will be no problem." The emperor said unhappily.

"I don't dare. This is an act of pure filial piety from Your Majesty. I am extremely frightened."

"Okay, okay, then withdraw the decree. I will go to the Ancestral Temple later to comfort me." The emperor said helplessly.

Wang Jiaping resigned.

The emperor was still a little unhappy, so he looked at Chen Ju.

"Chen Ju, where is Zhang Xiao now?"

"Zhang Shidu happened to be teaching to the two princes today. At this hour, he should be preparing to finish class." Chen Ju said.

"Then call Zhang Xiao over. I want to see what he says." The emperor said. Ever since, before Zhang Xiao had time to clean up the classroom, he was called to the imperial study room again.

"What did you teach my two princes today?"

"Reporting to your Majesty, I taught the two princes the geography of Japan today."

"You are really interested. Please take a look at this newspaper. Li Rusong won a big victory. Now that the Japanese have lost their courage, the Korean War is about to come to an end," the emperor said.

Zhang Xiao took the newspaper and read it carefully. Although according to workplace principles, one should not interrupt the boss's mood when he is in a mood, but this is a matter of life and death for many people, so Zhang Xiao decided to express his opinion.

"Your Majesty, it is too early to say that the war is over at this time."

"Oh? Why do you say that? Before our vanguard lost, the situation was indeed dangerous. But now that we have achieved such a great victory, the rest of the battle should be overwhelming. Is this result exaggerated?" The emperor took back the Tang newspaper. , and read through it carefully.

"Your Majesty, the results written in this battle report are actually too short. It is said to be beheading 2,000 people. In fact, the number of Japanese killed in the battle should be several times the number of heads. The so-called Japanese army under the command of Konishi Governor is the number one. The legion has been basically disabled."

"In that case, why do you still say that after such a great victory, our army is still far from returning to the court?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, when Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty led millions of people to attack Goguryeo, the world was in chaos. It was because it was too difficult to support an army of millions, so the people all over the country mobilized to transport food and weapons. As a result, the people were miserable. , the dynasty was cut off. Although our army now only has 50,000 soldiers, it still needs a lot of food, grass and weapons. As our army continues to win, it becomes more and more difficult to transport military supplies. "

"The Japanese were originally willing to spend all their money on conquests across the sea. Now that they have managed to take over North Korea, they must have conquered and plundered wantonly. We, the Heavenly Soldiers, are here to show off the power of Heaven, and they are in a foreign country, so it is certainly not easy for them to plunder. Moreover, North Korea is very mountainous and originally produced not much. Now that it has experienced war, the people will definitely not have much food left. It will definitely become more and more difficult for our army to supply food and wages in the future."

"Furthermore, Konishi Yukōchō and Kato Kiyomasa went deep alone in order to gain credit. Therefore, they were defeated. Now that the Japanese army has given up on northern Korea, the main force is probably concentrated in the Wangjing area, and the Japanese country is close to Korea. According to previous intelligence , the Japanese country still has more than 100,000 reserve troops on standby. Our army originally only had 40,000 to 50,000 troops, and other reinforcements are still on the way, and only 10,000 to 20,000 troops can arrive in a short time. We really have to fight hard. , our army's advantage is almost offset." Zhang Xiao analyzed in one breath.

"So according to what you said, our army can't win quickly now? How many people are needed to push the Japanese army into the sea in one go?"

"It will take a hundred thousand elites, and there will also need to be naval assistance to cut off the Japanese army's supplies. Otherwise, the Japanese will garrison the fort on the seaside, and our army doesn't know how many people will die before we can capture it. Or we can spend taels of silver and select troops. The capable officer reorganized the North Korean army. The North Korean army was completely defeated this time, and all the troops that could fight were killed by their own friendly forces. Now the remaining troops are basically frightened, except for a few rebels who are still holding on. We have some combat power. If we rely solely on our army to fight the Japanese, it is really not cost-effective."

"Then if there is such a stalemate, when will the fight be over?" The emperor no longer felt happy about hearing the Tang newspaper, and began to feel sad again.

"Your Majesty, the Japanese country has a small population, and now they are going on an expedition to conquer the country. As long as our army continues to send out surprise troops to attack their land and sea transportation, and sneak attacks on their granaries, their army of hundreds of thousands of people will not be able to hold on for a long time."

However, Zhang Xiao was feeling a little scared now. He wondered if General Li Rusong, who had taken Pyongyang so quickly, still remembered the tips he gave him. If Li Rusong goes wandering again, it's hard to say what the outcome will be.

(End of this chapter)