Suwon City.
It had been besieged for half a month. Now, the grain and fodder within the city had been exhausted. Without resupply, all the soldiers would starve to death.
“My Lord Flag-Leader, the soldiers can’t hold out any longer,” Koizumi Junichi said anxiously on the city wall. Due to hunger, several food-related riots had occurred in the army today.
Edo Ichiaki was observing the army outside the city. In these fifteen days, these soldiers had not been idle.
They had dug several rings of trenches around the city. All Goryeo soldiers entered the trenches, prepared to wear them down to the very end.
This scene made Edo Ichiaki despair. With the cover of the trenches, it would be even more difficult for them to break through this encirclement.
As he was troubled, a dense sound of gunshots suddenly came from the official road south of the city. At this moment, Edo Ichiaki fell silent.
He understood. These were reinforcements from other cities. In the past half month, six batches of reinforcements had arrived successively, but they were all defeated by the Great Yu Empire army already ambushed here. If this continued, the Japanese army in the south would be annihilated.
Although he was anxious, he had no recourse. He could do nothing now.
Just as he guessed, outside the city, Ye Qingyun was commanding his musketeers in a fierce battle against the arriving Japanese army reinforcements.
On the official road, both sides formed neat ranks and exchanged fire. Leveraging the advantage of range, Ye Qingyun always chose to preempt the enemy.
This time, he did not choose the hundred-and-fifty-meter range, but launched an attack from two hundred meters.
They had gained experience at Suwon Bridge. To prevent both sides from falling into close-quarters combat, he chose to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy from a long distance.
At the same time, the artillery used grapeshot. The dense firepower made Japanese soldiers fall like cut wheat.
Often, by the time Japanese soldiers entered their effective range, their formation had already been largely destroyed.
After half an hour of fierce fighting, the over six thousand strong reinforcement force finally collapsed, retreating along the official road.
At this point, a loud bugle call suddenly sounded, and five thousand cuirassiers, brandishing their sabers, chased after the fleeing Japanese soldiers.
Under the cavalry’s pursuit, Japanese soldiers fell one after another. Soon, the reinforcing army was completely annihilated.
Ye Qingyun observed the battlefield situation, then smiled. On the fourth day of their siege of Suwon City, five thousand cuirassiers, arriving from Jinzhou, reinforced them.
The arrival of these cavalry truly made the battlefield the Great Yu Empire’s stage. Japan, lacking cavalry, was in a very sorry state against them.
After the ambush ended, Ye Qingyun had Qu Dong count the casualties. Just like the previous times, they had only nine soldiers wounded in this battle, with no fatalities.
The advantage of firearms made their engagement with the Japanese army exceptionally easy.
“It seems we overestimated Japan. The Japanese soldiers this time still used matchlock guns. Flintlock guns are only sparsely equipped in Japan, and they are even further behind in artillery. They have no artillery that can contend with us.” Qu Dong’s eyes narrowed.
Ye Qingyun said, “I have already sent back a battle report regarding the engagement with the Japanese army to Qingzhou Province. His Majesty will have a direct understanding of the Japanese army to formulate the next Japanese strategy. But in my opinion, once our domestic situation is settled, we should deal with Japan. It is said that Japan has many silver and gold mines.”
At this point, Ye Qingyun chuckled mischievously.
Qu Dong helplessly shook his head. He looked at Li Cheng-jae, who was still dazed. He had arrived with the Great Yu Empire’s cavalry, and his army, which he had formed in Haigucheng, also came with him.
At the current pace, they could reclaim southern Goryeo in just over a month. By then, they would face the problem of who to hand southern Goryeo over to.
So, at this point, Ye Qingyun called Li Cheng-jae over. According to the Emperor’s order, southern Goryeo would no longer be handed over to the King of Goryeo but would be governed by Li Cheng-jae. A unified Goryeo did not align with the Great Yu Empire’s current interests.
Currently, their goal was to divide Goryeo in two. In the future, they would divide Goryeo again, restoring the map of the Han Four Commanderies from the Han Dynasty, and ultimately completely incorporating the assimilated Goryeo into the Great Yu Empire’s territory.
And the King of Goryeo, in this situation, would no longer be the King of Goryeo, but would be reduced to a mere prefectural governor. This would make it easier for them to rule Goryeo.
“Li Cheng-jae, six successive batches of Japanese reinforcements have been crushed. The remaining Japanese forces will probably not be many. So, the task of reclaiming southern Goryeo now depends on you. We can only provide you with necessary assistance,” Qu Dong slowly began.
Li Cheng-jae snapped back to reality. After Ye Qingyun took control of Haigucheng, he formulated a plan for Li Cheng-jae to take over the south.
During this time, he had been recruiting and buying soldiers. Ye Qingyun even provided him with many flintlock guns, and also dispatched generals to train this army of fifteen thousand men, all for today.
“Yes, Division Commander Qu.” Li Cheng-jae was somewhat worried, and also ecstatic. The humiliation he suffered in Ryukyo City made him desperately eager to gain power.
Ye Qingyun nodded at this point. He said, “Depart with your army. In a month, I want to see a southern Goryeo without Japanese soldiers.”
Li Cheng-jae nodded heavily. He shouted an order and set off southward along the official road.
Looking at the gradually receding Li Cheng-jae, Qu Dong said, “Is His Majesty not afraid of raising an ingrate?”
“You’re wrong about that. Do you think this army truly listens to Li Cheng-jae? Don’t forget, the generals of this army are all selected and trained by us. Some of these generals are not Goryeo people at all, but Great Yu Empire people who were previously captured by Goryeo and enslaved here. They were meticulously chosen by the secret guards and remain loyal to the Great Yu Empire.”
Qu Dong understood. At this point, he looked at Suwon City and said, “Army Commander, it’s Suwon City’s turn now. After taking this place, Japan’s main force in Goryeo will be completely annihilated.”
Ye Qingyun thought for a moment. According to his understanding, Suwon City’s grain and fodder would last at most half a month.
He said, “Wait a little longer. We need to force them out. After all, these thirty thousand men are Japan’s elite this time; they cannot be underestimated.”
Qu Dong nodded. Desperate struggles were still very dangerous.
As his words fell, the city gate of Suwon City suddenly opened. Japanese soldiers rushed out, shouting, towards the trenches.
Ye Qingyun and Qu Dong exchanged glances. Qu Dong said, “I didn’t expect them to give in so quickly. Perfect. We can solve them once and for all today.”
With that, he immediately had the bugler sound the horn.
The Great Yu Empire soldiers, who had just finished a battle, immediately reassembled. They loaded their bullets, held their Conqueror Muskets high, and slowly advanced towards the Japanese army in Suwon City.