In the blink of an eye, it’s New Year’s Eve again.
Bidding farewell to the 20th year of Chongzhen and welcoming the 21st year of Chongzhen is bound to be a better and more anticipated year for the people of the Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, for some people, although a difficult year has passed, the coming year will only be even more difficult!
For example, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Japanese army in Korea, a veteran of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, known as "Wisdom Izu".
If Tokugawa Iemitsu could see him, he probably wouldn't recognize him.
At this time, Matsudaira Nobutsuna's hair was not only completely white, but he was also much older, as if he had aged by ten years.
At this time, he was closing the door of the palace, drinking wine and watching several Japanese maidens dancing in the palace where the King of Joseon once lived. His whole person gave people the feeling of being completely decadent.
This is true for him, not to mention ordinary Japanese soldiers.
The Japanese army in southern Korea basically just barely maintained military discipline. There were patrols, rotations, etc., but the effect could only be said to be to fool people.
Drunkards in the army, plundering in various cities, robbing civilians of property, women, and other things happened one after another, but the superior officials in the Japanese army basically didn't care.
The reason for this is that they have one thing in common: despair!
When 300,000 troops marched to Liaodong to join forces with the Qing Empire to deal a heavy blow to the Ming Dynasty, the Dongjiang Army of the Ming Dynasty suddenly launched an attack on North Korea, and their strength far exceeded the 10,000 they thought.
It reached more than 60,000.
In just a short period of time, cities in northern Korea fell one after another. And the speed of the fall was far beyond the imagination of the Japanese army.
This situation can only show that there is a huge gap in combat power between the Japanese troops who stayed in Korea and the Ming troops who attacked Korea.
In desperation, Matsudaira Nobutsuna quickly organized military forces to defend southern Korea with all his strength. At the same time, he encouraged the army, saying that after hearing the news, the Japanese and Qing armies in Liaodong would definitely come to aid in large numbers, and then they would attack northern Korea under a pincer attack from the north and the south.
The Ming army will inevitably suffer heavy losses.
Not to mention, this statement is reasonable, at least in the eyes of the Japanese, and their morale is lifted again.
However, the remaining Japanese troops in Korea have been waiting and waiting for several months. The Ming army opposite them has not panicked at all. Instead, their strength has been continuously increasing.
At this time, the Japanese army began to be disappointed and then despaired.
If the Ming army in Korea received reinforcements, it was unlikely that they would come from the sea.
Because the sea depends on God’s face, there are some months throughout the year that are not suitable for large-scale sailing across the sea.
Moreover, if the Ming reinforcements can continuously reinforce North Korea through the sea, it means that they are not under heavy pressure on the front line of Shanhaiguan. This also means that the war at Shanhaiguan is not going well for the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese allied forces.
What is more likely than this is that the Ming army in northern Korea transferred most of its troops to the southern front. This is the most likely.
Why is this happening?
It must be that northern North Korea no longer needs enough troops to defend the enemies in Liaodong! That's why all the troops were dispatched south!
If this is the case, it also illustrates another problem, that is, even if the Ming army in northern Korea is reduced in strength, Liaodong will not be able to put pressure on it!
Three hundred thousand Japanese troops and the Qing army were on the Liaodong side. This was such a huge military force, but the Ming army did not care. There was only one possibility: the Japanese army and the Qing army were defeated, so the Ming army on the Yalu River line
There will be less pressure on the military.
The reason why the large-scale Ming army did not reach southern Korea was that they were still clearing out the remnants of the Qing and Japanese armies in eastern Liaoning. At least theoretically speaking, this is the most likely possibility.
After reaching this conclusion, these Japanese pirates in southern Korea naturally despaired.
The entire army of the Qing Empire, together with 300,000 Japanese troops, were defeated. So the 200,000 Japanese troops in southern Korea were alone and could not have reinforcements. How could they withstand the Ming army's attack?
As time passed, Matsudaira Nobutsuna had fewer and fewer means to boost morale. The increase in the Ming army on the opposite side, especially the appearance of more Ming troops, made the Japanese army even more desperate.
Later, the Ming army launched a public opinion offensive, indicating that the country had defeated the coalition forces, even eliminated the Jianlu, and liberated the entire Liaodong. They stayed up all night, and even brought some Japanese flags and other flags to show off in front of the battle.
Those flags were recognized by the Japanese as they belonged to the 300,000 Japanese troops who went to Liaodong. In the end, some of their heads were even lost.
The Japanese naturally recognized that these heads were all famous names who went to Liaodong.
If the flag can be faked, how can the head be faked?
From this moment on, the Japanese army's era completely collapsed. Even their coach, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, known as the wise Izu, also collapsed.
Everyone knows that the Korean Japanese army at this time was not as powerful as the Ming army, and it was impossible to have reinforcements. It was a desperate army in a desperate situation.
Why the Ming army hasn't attacked yet? It's probably because Liaodong didn't clear out all the remnants, or the weather is very cold, and the Ming army is preparing to celebrate the New Year!
In short, the Japanese in southern Korea are already living their lives in a numb manner, taking one day at a time. They no longer have the high-spiritedness they had when they first came to Korea, thinking of becoming the masters of the land of Korea.
At this time, in the main hall, several Japanese leaders sitting under Matsudaira Nobutsuna were drunk. I don’t know who stood up first and threw a Japanese girl there, and everyone else stepped forward one by one.
, each knocked down a Japanese girl, completely ignoring the Japanese commander sitting in the chair.
If this kind of thing had happened before, it would have been unimaginable. After all, Matsudaira Nobutsuna is known as the wise Izu. How could he not care about military discipline, let alone in front of him?
However, at this time, Matsudaira Nobutsuna seemed to have not seen him, minding his own business drinking one cup after another.
Suddenly, he stood up and stumbled towards the back hall without paying attention to the people in front of him.
The unruly people of Korea refused to accept the situation and cooperated with the Ming army to create obstacles for the Japanese army. As a result, the Japanese army's supplies became less and less. Even the lamp oil used in the palace had to be saved.
In the apse, the light was dim due to the lack of oil lamps. But fortunately, I could basically see clearly, and it was unlikely that Matsudaira Nobutsuna would bump into anything.
In the front of the lobby of the apse, there is a portrait of Tokugawa Iemitsu hanging. It is very large and cannot be seen very clearly in the dim light.
However, Matsudaira Nobutsuna didn't pay attention. He just came to the portrait and looked up at the portrait. He just looked at it quietly without saying a word.
I don't know how long it took, but Matsudaira Nobutsuna's legs suddenly went weak, and he knelt down in front of Tokugawa Iemitsu's portrait, and then kowtowed "dong dong dong".
If the trusted servant who was following him had walked in front of him and looked at him, he would probably have seen endless regret on Matsudaira Nobutsuna's face at this time.
Needless to say, one of the decision-makers who originally thought that joining forces with the Qing Empire would create the greatest glory in the history of the Japanese Empire greatly regretted that daydream.
Today, not only has the daydream failed to come true, but hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops have been lost in Liaodong. Not to mention North Korea, even Kyushu Island has fallen.
Moreover, it can be expected that the Ming army will definitely not give up and will continue to attack other territories of the Japanese country. By then, not to mention whether the Tokugawa shogunate can still exist, even the emperor who has inherited the power for thousands of years may become a prisoner of the Ming country.
, whether to kill or behead, everything depends on how the emperor of Ming Dynasty handles it!
This is really a burden that the Japanese cannot bear!
However, today's Ming Dynasty is too powerful. From the moment they wiped out all the Japanese navy, this has actually been the result.
However, if the Japanese country did not agree to form an alliance with the Qing Dynasty and did not send troops to the Koreans, then they might still be able to fight with the Ming Dynasty.
After all, if the entire Japanese army is on the mainland, even if there is no navy, as long as the Ming army dares to penetrate deep into the land, it will definitely be able to defeat them based on the favorable geographical location.
However, the Japanese country allied themselves with the Qing Dynasty. In order to occupy North Korea, they sent at least 600,000 elite troops and millions of farmers, which was equivalent to weakening the Japanese country's local strength.
Thinking of this situation, Matsudaira Nobutsuna's "dong dong dong" kowtowing sound became even louder. It seemed as if cracking his head would make him feel better.
I don't know when, he finally stopped kowtowing and slowly raised his head to look at the portrait of Tokugawa Iemitsu again. At this time, his forehead had swollen into a big bump, as if he had a horn growing on his head.
After a while, Matsudaira Nobutsuna slowly stretched out his hand and tidied up his appearance. His movements were slow but serious, and the decadent mood before seemed to have receded in an instant.
Then, he slowly stepped forward and took down a knife that was held under the portrait of Tokugawa Iemitsu.
Seeing him like this, the Japanese man behind him suddenly said with a sad face: "Master, North Korea cannot live without you!"
Matsudaira Nobutsuna didn't seem to hear it, and started to wipe the blade of the knife seriously with a piece of cloth on the side.
After hearing this, the Japanese continued to persuade with a sad face: "Master, if you..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Matsudaira Nobutsuna holding Bu's hand and suddenly stopped him from speaking with a gesture.
After a while, it seemed that the knife had been wiped to his satisfaction. Then he looked at the blade and whispered slowly: "In this situation, what difference does it make if I am or not? Once the Ming army launches an attack, everything will be different."
It’s all over!”
After a pause, he held the knife in his hand upside down and tried it, then continued to say slowly: "Instead of being humiliated by the Ming army alive, it is better to apologize to the general before the Ming army launches an attack!"
After hearing this, the Japanese stopped talking.
On New Year's Eve of the 20th year of Chongzhen, the commander of the Japanese expeditionary force, Matsudaira Nobutsuna, committed suicide in Seoul!