Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 322



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Episode 322

Negotiation (1)

Golminala, the capital of the Later Jin Dynasty.

This castle, built in the valley where the tributary of the Yoha River, Yeoheo, flows, was quite large and strong as it was the capital of Yeoheo. It was also located in the valley of the southeastern mountain range that bordered Songnun Plains, so it was quite advantageous for defense in terms of terrain. That is why Yeoheo decided to make its capital here, not Songnun Plains.

However, this favorable topography could also work against it in other aspects. The Yehe River flows almost in a straight line from the northeast to the southwest, and the erosion of the Yehe River has created a long valley. The problem is that if both sides of the valley are blocked, it will be like a rat trapped in a trap.

Furthermore, thanks to Nurhachi’s pathological obsession with bringing back residents from conquered and surrendered regions, this valley became the most densely populated area of ​​the Later Jin Dynasty. In the event of a disadvantageous situation in the war, he had to shoulder the burden of having to prepare measures to evacuate the residents.

As soon as he entered the city, Nurhachi did not go to the palace but climbed up the south gate tower because he was impatient.

As a capital city, Golmin-ala steadily expanded its castle walls, and it was a combination of two castles, with a flat-land castle added to the existing mountain castle (Yeoheona-ra Castle) on a hill. Naturally, the palace was located within the flat-land castle.

“Tell them to quickly set up a fence in front of the south gate and north gate positions.”

Nurhachi gave instructions to Piongdon, who was standing beside him. As Piongdon descended the ramparts, his eldest son, Chuying, asked:

“Shouldn’t we also protect the western and eastern mountain ranges?”

“My brother has already taken such measures.”

Shurhachi, who remained in Golmin’ala, had already prepared defensive measures for Golmin’ala according to Nurhaci’s instructions.

“Huh? I can’t see it?”

“Of course it can’t be seen. It’s placed far away.”

Although the Golminala Mountain Fortress is located on a hill in the middle of this valley terrain and has a fairly wide field of vision, it was impossible to see the troops deployed in the eastern and western mountainous regions.

“Is the range of the cannons that long?”

“We don’t know for sure, but those who witnessed the battle between Balhae and Ming told us that it was farther away than they imagined.”

“Oh, I see.”

It was very noisy outside the castle gate. The entire Later Jin army could not enter the castle, and it was not good to be locked in the castle like that, so they planned to build a fence around the south gate and north gate, which would be Balhae’s main attack route, and deploy many troops there.

Scouts also continued to enter the castle. And soon after, the generals who heard their report came running up the ramparts one after another.

“The advance party of the troops led by the king passed Ssangnyeong and arrived near Wiwonbo.”

The troops led by Taegeon were moving very quickly after taking over Volatile. There were no troops to stop them, and the castles in the middle were all empty.

“You’re already near the committee office?”

The Wiwonbo was located on the border between the Ming Dynasty’s Liaodong Province and the Later Jin Dynasty, and was thus a Ming Dynasty defensive stronghold. It was located to the east of the Ming Dynasty’s Gaewonwi and was not too far away.

“It’s two or three days away. It might take longer if we go with you to the main force.”

An Pi-yang-gu said after roughly calculating the distance.

“I see. You came really quickly.”

“Then the king is coming with all four divisions?”

“There has been some change. One of your divisions has withdrawn to the west in the middle. It looks like they will attack Musun.”

The Balhae army, advancing from the east and south, joined forces near Volatile. Thus, five divisions were combined into a large army, but among them, the 18th Division, a reserve division, was assigned to guard the supply route as planned, so only four divisions were actually moving. In addition, the 27th Division was to advance westward along the Pingjing River (Hon River, a tributary of the Liao River, but Taegeon changed the name of this river to Pingjing River) and occupy Fushun (Fushun), and then advance to Shenyang.

“So there are three divisions in the southeast?”

Another general reported on the movements of other armies with a very somber expression.

“The northern army of the Later Balhae is moving unusually. I don’t know when they started dividing their forces, but two divisions have made a detour to the west, and the vanguard of the remaining three divisions has reached Heorusong.”

Heorusu Castle was also located on the upper reaches of the Yeoheo River.

“What? Already at Hershu?”

Nurhachi shouted in surprise.

“It’s a day or two away.”

Anpiyanggu again calculated the distance and told me.

“Where is the location of the unit that was said to have bypassed the west?”

Nurhachi asked in an urgent voice.

“That’s… the plains located west of our Golminala. Over there.”

The general pointed to the west.

“They intend to surround us.”

Chewing immediately read a consistent plan from the Balhae army’s movements. And then another fatal piece of news was delivered.

The news brought by the scouts who had been scouting the south was that the Ming city of Liaoyang had fallen and the defeated Ming army was retreating across the Tianmen River to Gwangning.

“So, two of these divisions are advancing quickly and aggressively, and Simyang and Cheoryeong have already fallen into the hands of the Balhae army.”

“You went all the way to Cheoryeong?”

After Cheolryeong, there was Gaewon. If you went up from Gaewon, there was no answer.

“Now that it’s come to this, we have no choice but to fight. We’re being squeezed from all sides, so it’s not easy to find a way out.”

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Chewing, who had no real experience with the Balhae army, insisted on fighting. However, Nurhachi completely ignored him and looked at An Piyang-gu. An Piyang-gu read Nurhachi’s mind right away.

“If we set out immediately, we can reach Mongolia first. If we go west from there, we can safely reach Eastern Mongolia.”

It was located midway between Golminala and Gaewon, known as Mongol-hwa, and was one of the defensive strongholds that the Later Jin Dynasty valued.

Nurhachi thought for a moment. Looking at the scene, An Piyanggu became restless. There was not much time left. In particular, the Balhae army approaching from the north was even more frightening.

Nurhachi shook his head slowly and finally opened his mouth.

“The people of Golminala here are helpless, and the soldiers won’t be able to escape either. What’s the point of running away like that?”

“Then are you fighting?”

Chewing asked with an expectant expression.

“No. It would be a waste of time to fight. I will meet with the King of Later Hae and negotiate. Even if they force us to surrender, I will accept it as long as it will protect our warriors and people.”

“father!”

Chewing shouted. It was rude, but Nurhachi just smiled because it was a reasonable matter.

“An Piyanggu! Go to Hong Taiji, who is accompanying the rear navy, and tell him what I want. I want to negotiate.”

“Yes, I understand.”

An Pi-yang-gu set off without saying a word.

* * *

The Liaodong strategy was finally able to catch its breath when it reached Soheuksan. After being unable to endure the bombardment of Balhae and leaving Liaoyang Castle, it was too late to properly count its remaining troops as it fled in a panic.

They were all bruised and battered from having to cross the notorious swamps of the Liaodong Plain. They had to cut down trees to make rafts to cross the rivers, including the Liao River.

“There are only 40,000 left. Does that make sense?”

Yang Ho could only sigh. It was a crushing defeat. Originally 160,000, and with an additional 20,000, 180,000 troops were mobilized for this war, but only about 40,000 troops were saved. When they left Liaoyang, they were close to 50,000, but many died or deserted from the difficult march, so now only 40,000 remained. They also lost their land. They lost the entire eastern part of Liaodong Taoist Temple, and it was doubtful whether they could defend the western regions such as Gwangnyeong, Uiju, Bansan, and Jinju – Jinju in the Soryung River basin, not Jinju on the Liaodong Peninsula.

“Gwangnyeong is not far away. Please reorganize your ranks there and submit your report to His Majesty.”

The commander of the original force, Gwan Byeong-chung, answered in a soft tone.

“Hearing the word ‘Jang Gye’, I already feel afraid.”

“Phew! What should I do?”

Guan Bingchung had already given up everything. If he returned like this, he could be beheaded for being held responsible for the defeat. But he could not run away either. If he did, his family would not be safe.

“Well, the rearguard has arrived too.”

The rearguard commander, Lee Yeo-baek, who had been left behind, led his soldiers and joined Soheuksan. Lee Yeo-baek brought his father Lee Seong-ryang, his younger sister Lee Yeo-mae, and all of his family members.

Lee Yeo-baek immediately approached Yang-ho and reported.

“We sent out scouts to the east to monitor enemy movements, and found that two divisions were chasing us.”

“As expected, they’ve organized a pursuit force.”

“But they don’t move that fast, so there’s still some distance to go.”

“Is it because of the firearms?”

“I think so.”

The Balhae army couldn’t speed up because they had to drag in new towed artillery. The harsh terrain of the Liaodong Plain also hindered the Balhae army’s advance.

The Joseon envoys also used the southern route among the land routes, that is, the route from Liaoyang to Haeju and Ujangseong to Bansan and Gwangnyeong, but it is said that they had a very hard time because the ground was soggy. Therefore, the land in the area south of this route can be considered to be close to a mud field.

The northern route was a route that went north from Liaoyang to Shenyang, then circled around to Guangning, but it had the disadvantage of taking many detours, which increased the distance. There were many wetlands between the southern and northern routes, so some even called this place “Yo-taek.” The route that the Ming army took was right there.

“It’s better because it’s two divisions, but…….”

Yangho knew very well how great the power of one division of the Balhae Army was. However, he was fortunate that he had faced more troops than two divisions.

“Have you heard any news from the Later Jin?”

“Yes. They are also said to be retreating to Golmin-Ala. We sent scouts to check if the north was safe, and we received information that even Nurhachi, who had gone on an expedition, had retreated and was returning.”

“Then wouldn’t the enemy forces attacking the Later Jin be able to change direction to Gwangning?”

“We have to keep that possibility in mind. They might pressure us to move in.”

The route that Lee Yeo-baek referred to was the northern route of the Joseon envoys’ journey.

“Then Gwangnyeong cannot become a bridgehead.”

“That’s right. Send a messenger to Geumju quickly and instruct him to establish a base on the southern bank of the Sol-ling River.”

“It can’t hurt to prepare in advance. Okay.”

Yangho and Yi Yeo-baek were thinking of giving up on Gwangnyeong Island. Since they had robbed the Gwangnyeong garrison and brought it to Yodong Castle, there was no easy way out. However, Geumju was different. The castle was strong, and there was a natural defense wall called Soreungha. In addition, the mountainous region extended to the coast, so there was the advantage of narrow passages.

“Then we’ll be giving away too much land.”

“It’s not too much. The entire Yodong Taoist temple has fallen.”

“If we can just stop the enemy’s advance this week, maybe we can make some progress?”

Having survived the battlefield, he was now in a position where he had to worry about punishment. Yang Ho was now more afraid of the Ming Emperor Wanli than the Balhae army.

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