Konishi Yukinaga went deep into the Ming Dynasty alone, but was raided by the Ming army
Toyotomi Hideyoshi had stated in 1588 that he wanted to conquer the world, including the Ming Kingdom and the Western Ocean, but in 1592, during the Korean War, he found himself too weak to manage even the small kingdom of Ryukyu.
Although the Japanese army had achieved some initial victories on the Korean Peninsula, the advance of the Japanese army was greatly affected by the long battle front, coupled with the rebel attacks organized by the Koreans and the lack of access to local taxes and food.
These circumstances made Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ambition of conquest difficult to realize.
While Ishida was overseeing the war in Korea, he reported to Toyotomi Hideyoshi about the problems facing the expeditionary force, including a lack of rations and the arrival of winter that would limit the battle. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's July 15 order prioritized the consolidation of rule on the Korean Peninsula meant that his goal had been narrowed to encroaching on the Korean Peninsula.
Before the Ming army entered Korea, the Japanese army was already facing a number of fatal problems. Ishida Mitsunari went to Gyeongsang Province with Hideyoshi's seal, and asked Mori Terumoto, the commander of the Sixth Army, to send troops to help Konishi Yukinaga suppress the rebel army in Pyongan Province.
However, Mori Terumoto said that he was too busy to help Konishi. Before crossing the sea and invading Korea, Mori Terumoto's attitude was positive, but now he has become negative.
Kuroda Rusui, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's military advisor, explained the situation of Heian Road to Tachibana Muneshige.
Konishi's Ping'an Province, which was in charge of the Ming Dynasty's Liaodong Province, bordered Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty, and due to the frequent local rebel armies, Konishi could not continue to encroach on Korean territory, so he had to ask for help from the legions of other provinces.
Kato Kiyomasa reminded Toyotomi Hideyoshi that the Heian Province was in chaos and that it would be difficult to conquer Korea if the other provinces did the same. Kuroda Rusui pointed out that the Sixth Army's Kobayakawa Takakei and Mori Terumoto were in the south of Korea, and Konishi's assistance to the north was not enough.
Soshige proposed that Somo go to Pyongyang instead of Kobayakawa in order to avoid the division of the Sixth Army. Tachibana Muneshige bowed to Kuroda Rusui to express his gratitude, and Kuroda Rusui said that he should actually be grateful to Soshige, because the Third Army under the command of his son Kuroda Nagamasa was stationed in Hwanghae Province, adjacent to Heian Province, and after the division of troops, Nagamasa often went to Heian Province to assist Konishi.
In case of a problem with Ping Andao, Changzheng may be implicated. Muneshige said that he had always wanted to repay Kuroda Rusui for saving the Otomo family six years ago, when Kuroda Rusui advocated sending reinforcements and led the first reinforcements to land in Kyushu, forcing the Shimazu army to abandon the attack on Tachibanayama Castle, which he was defending.
Although Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa have been competing with each other since the invasion of Korea, Konishi Yukinaga still did not give up the idea of attacking the Ming Kingdom. According to the record of "Seonjo Record", Toyotomi Hideyoshi stipulated that whoever entered the territory of the Ming Kingdom first would receive the title of "Ming Kingdom Ichibangun".
In order to compete for this honor, Yukinaga Konishi and Kiyomasa Kato are constantly working hard. Kato Kiyomasa's Second Army planned to start from Hamgyong Province, cross the Jurchen territory, and make a detour to directly attack the Ming Kingdom.
In fact, in the midst of the battle against the Jurchens, Kato Kiyoshi had entered the area of Juzijie in Yanbian, China.
After hearing that Kato was going to start an operation, Konishi of Pyongan Province, Hamgyong Province, and Hwanghae Province in the north was itching, and he also planned to find an opportunity to continue northward and cross the Yalu River to enter Liaodong of the Ming Kingdom.
However, Hamgyong Province had been pacified by Kato at that time, and there were almost no rebels. On the contrary, a bunch of North Koreans there also acted as puppet troops, leading the way for Kato, which was in stark contrast to the situation of Heian Province, which Konishi was responsible for.
From "The Record of Xuanzu") Konishi's First Army still has a "Korean expert" like Zong Yizhi, not without reminding him, but Konishi is still hot-headed and continues to go north.
Konishi is a businessman, and he is usually flamboyant, and Kuroda Rusui is even worried that his son Nagamasa will be confused by Konishi. Therefore, Kuroda Rusui sent Muneshige to the north.
However, Jong-mao's stay in Pyongyang will not be long. According to records, he participated in the Battle of Geumsan on July 9, 1592, and defeated the Korean army under the command of Han Yu on August 10 of the same year.
From the Japanese Wikipedia) Therefore, we can be sure that the duration of Jong-mao's stay in Pyongyang was between mid-July and August. At that time, Geumsan Castle, which was guarded by Jongmao, was an important stronghold of the Sixth Army in Jeolla Province, and Kobayakawa sent the main army to invade Jeonju, and Geumsan Castle had only a small force of the Tachibana Army, and it was constantly threatened by Korean rebels.
Therefore, Jongmao only took more than a hundred soldiers to Pyongyang with him at most. Kuroda returned to Japan after meeting with Muneshige, and he crossed the sea with Ishida Mitsunari to Korea on May 16, but stayed there for less than two months.
The reason for Rusui's return to Japan was that he claimed to be in poor health and needed to go back to recuperate, although he later came to Korea again. According to historical records, many Japanese daimyo who came to Korea developed physical conditions, such as Mori Terumoto and Otani Yoshitsugu.
On the night of July 16, 1592, Tachibana Soshige rushed to Pyongyang Castle without stopping, and after entering the city, he first came to Yeongwangjeong.
Located in the center of present-day Pyongyang, Yeongjeong Pavilion was built during the Goryeo Dynasty in the 11th century. Later, Zhu Zhifan, the envoy of the Ming Kingdom who sent an envoy to Korea, came here, and he praised Lianguang Pavilion with the six words "the first country in the world".
From Encyclopedia).
The Ryō Pavilion has become the headquarters of Konishi's First Army, and the Gion Flag that symbolizes Konishi is fluttering high above it (Tachibana is also the Gion Flag Guard, but there is a slight difference).
The rainstorm was raging, and the Lianguang Pavilion stood tenaciously in it. Here, Muneshige met not only Yukinaga Konishi, but also Kuroda Nagamasa, the commander of the Third Army. Changzheng was specially invited by Xiao Xi to discuss the attack on the Ming Kingdom.
Although the young and vigorous Nagamasa firmly supported the attack on the Ming Kingdom, he reminded Konishi that there would be many inconveniences in attacking the Ming Kingdom now. In addition, Muneshige also reported to Konishi the difficulties of the Sixth Army in the south, and expressed his opinion on behalf of Kuroda Rusui to abandon the attack on the Ming Kingdom.
Konishi is bent on competing with Kato, and is deeply afraid that Kato will really succeed in detouring the Jurchens. To this end, he kept telling Kuroda and Tachibana about the benefits of attacking the Ming Kingdom in order to gain their support.
Yukicho Konishi and Nagamasa Kuroda discussed: If he encounters an attack by the rebels on the way to Liaodong, does Konishi-sama have any coping strategies?
Kuroda Nagamasa and Konishi Yukinaga advocated an attack on Tianjin by sea, arguing that it would allow them to reach Beijing more quickly and that they could attack the rest of the Ming Dynasty by sea. However, Kuroda opposed the idea, pointing out that the Yellow Sea Sea route was already controlled by North Korean naval forces, and that the lessons of Yasuharu Wakisaka last year were not enough.
He attacked from the sea but suffered a crushing defeat to Yi Sunsin. Therefore, he considered it unwise to attack by sea.
The control of the Yellow Sea was in the hands of Yi Sunsin's navy, and Japan was unable to attack the mainland by water. Konishi Yukinaga was still eager to attack the Ming Kingdom, but Nagamasa and Soshige objected.
In the end, Nagamasa proposed that the three of them vote on the resolution as representatives of the First, Third, and Sixth Armies, respectively. However, Konishi expressed displeasure with this and mentioned that he still had the support of Ishida Mitsunari.
Nagamasa said angrily that he was discussing military strategy instead of arguing with Konishi. At the military meeting, Kuroda Nagamasa and Konishi Yukinaga had a fierce quarrel, and the other generals could only try to persuade them to fight.
In the end, the military discussion broke up unhappily, and Nagamasa decided to return to Hwanghaedo and no longer cooperate with Konishi. Jong-mao also decided to leave, but because it was raining too much outside, they decided to spend the night in Pyongyang and leave the next day.
At midnight on July 17, after the military meeting, Konishi realized that he had become hostile to Kato, and if he did not make enemies with Nagamasa again, he would make too many enemies, so he decided to reconcile with Nagamasa.
After a night of deliberation, Konishi finally agreed to slow down his plan to attack the Ming Kingdom. However, while they were still deliberating, a general came to report that an enemy army had entered the city through Pyongyang's Seven Stars Gate, and that Songura Jinshin was blocking it.
Because it was raining heavily that day, it was not suitable for the two armies to fight, so Konishi was very lax and did not even close the city gates. When Konishi and his troops arrived at Qixingmen, they found that the battle was very fierce, with continuous gunfire and the enemy constantly firing arrows at the Matsuura Zhenxin team.
The enemy army was mainly cavalry, their movements were very skillful, and the cavalry impact was amazing, and because the defenders of Pyongyang were not fully prepared, many Songpo soldiers could not stop the enemy attack for a while.
Konishi suddenly noticed that something was wrong with the sounds coming from the enemy's mouths, and it took him a lot of effort to see their faces. Almost everyone in this unit rode horses, wore red clothes, held various blades, was extremely murderous, and wore iron armor, and the armor rate was very high, surpassing Konishi's own troops.
The military flag has a blue background with the Chinese character "令" written in large letters on it. They are not Korean officers or rebels, but Ming troops!
On July 17, 1592, the Ming army suddenly appeared at the Qixingmun Gate in Pyongyang City, officially announcing their intervention in the Korean War. This battle marked the first appearance of the Ming kingdom in the Imjin Rebellion, and it also kicked off their fierce battle with the Japanese army.