"I am here just for Japan. I will not interfere once I take command of the battle."
Zuo Mengeng's words effectively dispelled Liu Yiyuan's doubts.
As the top commander on the front line, what he was most worried about when he saw Zuo Mengeng's arrival was that the entire command system would be affected.
Apparently Zuo Mengeng also took this into consideration and made a solemn statement in front of all the generals, thus consolidating Liu Yiyuan's position as commander-in-chief.
"Does Japan really dare to start a war?"
Liu Yiyuan frowned.
Just facing the Qing army has already put him under a lot of pressure. If Japan gets involved again, who knows what the situation will be like?
"Based on what I know about Japanese people, they will definitely take risks."
Liu Yiyuan rubbed his cheek and made a suggestion.
"Should we mobilize more troops from within the country?"
There are only more than 40,000 troops in Busan, and they have to be allocated on a defense line of hundreds of miles. If Japan comes from behind, there will be absolutely no extra troops to deal with it.
Seeing that he was nervous, Zuo Mengeng smiled and reassured: "The situation is not as bad as you think."
He placed his hand on the Tsushima Strait.
"If the Japanese want to take action, they must cross the sea. Otherwise, no matter how many troops they have, they can only look back and sigh."
Liu Yiyuan suddenly realized.
"Do you want to repel the Japanese at sea?"
Zuo Mengeng raised his eyebrows.
"With the strength of our navy, can't we do it?"
Liu Yiyuan began to plan silently.
"I don't know how many troops and warships the Japanese side will send. As for the navy, they can gather up to thirty large warships and more than one hundred and forty small ships. Isn't this number a bit small?"
Zuo Mengeng waved his hand.
"You ignored our weapons?"
Zuo Mengeng was very sure that the number of warships in the Xia Navy was definitely inferior to that of Japan.
Although today's Japan cannot reproduce the scale of tens of thousands of warships filling the sea when it first invaded Korea, it can still be done by gathering thousands of ships.
But so what?
What weapons are on the Xia Navy’s ships?
There are heavy artillery with a range of up to seven or eight thousand meters, and light naval guns with very fast range and reloading speed.
As long as the fired high-explosive ammunition hits, it will definitely hit one. None of the wooden sailboats popular in the world today can withstand it.
Not to mention, the navy also has rocket launchers on board.
Although there are only more than thirty main battleships, Zuo Mengeng is full of confidence.
When Zuo Hua returned to Jeju Island for a meeting, Zuo Menggeng proposed the idea of a naval battle, which greatly delighted him.
"I originally thought that our navy would be the one to start this war. Since the Japanese want to join in the fun, they just gave us some practice."
Zuo Mengeng asked Fu Xinyuan to hand over the thick information to Zuo Hua.
"This is the information on the Japanese army that was summarized by all parties during the Imjin Japanese Rebellion. After so many years, I don't know how much it has changed, but it can still provide reference."
He emphasized: "Although our weapons have an absolute advantage, the Japanese troops must be more powerful. No matter what, we must have a complete strategy and we must not let the Japanese complete the landing and threaten our rear."
While he was speaking, Zuo Hua had already opened the information and studied it carefully.
"If the Japanese are still this kind of houseboats, then I am confident that none of them will be able to get ashore. If there is enough ammunition, it will not be difficult to wipe them all out."
The warships of the Japanese army were mainly Anzhai ships.
This kind of boat is just like the Chinese Fuchuan. It looks smooth and stable, but the disadvantage is that it is extremely slow. Moreover, it cannot raise the sail during war and can only be driven by human oars.
If it is in rivers and inland seas, with the advantage of human power, it can complete quick turns, which can also take some advantage.
However, on the vast sea, the space is vast. Once there is no speed advantage, the weapons of the Xia Navy will be no different from a living target.
After some discussion, the three generals reached a consensus.
The main warships of the Xia Navy that were originally cruising around began to move closer to Busan, and at the same time, they sent various reconnaissance ships to the east side of the Tsushima Strait.
Originally, in order not to cause unnecessary trouble, Xia's navy had always been relatively restrained and never crossed the center line of the strait for fear of irritating the Japanese.
Since the Japanese are now eager to try, there is nothing more to say.
While the Navy was making emergency preparations, the situation on the Korean Peninsula began to take a turn for the worse.
On December 29, Huang Taiji led the main force to arrive at the foot of Namhan Mountain City and repelled the largest counterattack by the Koreans. Since then, the Koreans have completely lost confidence and completely hunkered down in the city, waiting for their fate to come.
During this period, North Korea's reinforcements from all walks of life were completely destroyed.
On December 26, the reinforcements of Chungcheong Province Observer Zheng Shigui and Gangwon Province Observer Zhao Tinghu were defeated.
As the news spread, the reinforcements in Gyeongsang Province were panicked.
"Master Observer, in the opinion of the lower officials, we should act prudently to avoid unexpected events."
Gyeongsang Zuobingzhi Heo Wan carefully proposed the idea.
However, sitting on top and observing, Shen Yan's face turned as cold as ice.
"The king and father are trapped in the mountain city, and the country is in danger. How can we, the ministers, ignore ourselves and trap the king in an unjust place? You are also scholars, how can you forget the way of loyalty? Advance the army quickly, even if you die on the battlefield.
What can be done?”
Seeing Shen Yan's insistence on sending troops, Xu Wan and Min Yi had no choice but to lead two thousand forwards towards Namhan Mountain Fortress.
Until they disappeared, Shen Yan's originally stubborn body suddenly collapsed, looking very depressed.
"These are all my people in North Korea!"
Sitting next to Shen Yan was a young scholar. Although he was wearing a hat, his missing sideburns still looked too short.
"But they are not one of our own, and they will cause serious trouble."
Shen Yan let out a long breath, his expression extremely painful. He didn't know whether what he did was right or wrong?
On the third day of the first lunar month, Xu Wan and Min Yi, forced by Shen Yan, hurriedly and slowly arrived at Shuangling, southeast of Nanhan Mountain City.
Not surprisingly, they met the Qing army led by Hauge here.
After a bloody battle, the Qing army won a complete victory, and Xu Wan and Min Li were both killed in the battle.
Shen Yan, who was walking behind, learned the news and immediately ordered the withdrawal of troops, without any thought of dying to serve the country.
Among the various reinforcements, the one who fought fairly well was Li Shifang, the observation envoy of Jeolla Province.
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, he fought a fierce battle with the Qing army at Guangjiao Mountain.
Li Shifang deployed a tight defense line and withstood Duduo's repeated attacks from the front. Not only that, he also sent flanking troops in an attempt to outflank Duduo.
Seeing that the war was not going well, Duduo ordered people to blow the trumpet and ordered Yanguli to go to the mountain behind to urge the red cannon to get into position.
Yangguli took the order and set off, but as soon as he set foot on the mountain road, he encountered North Korean flanking troops.
As a result, Yangu Li was killed on the spot under a musket bombardment by North Korean soldiers.
This was also the highest-ranking general who died in the entire Qing army's campaign to conquer the dynasty.
After hearing the news, Duduo was panicked and quickly ordered the withdrawal of troops.
The North Korean army in Jeolla Province did not dare to advance because of heavy losses.
None of the reinforcements approached Namhansan Fortress, resulting in the overall situation deteriorating step by step.
There is not much time left for North Korea's monarchs and ministers.