A few years ago, in order to develop tourism in the Ulsan area, the South Korean government planned to turn the "Crane Castle", which was built by the Japanese more than 400 years ago, into a tourist attraction.
In the plan to build the scenic spot, the local government prepared to erect a statue of the Japanese Kato Kiyomasa at the entrance of the scenic spot, which quickly dropped a bombshell on South Korean public opinion, and the South Korean people denounced the actions of the authorities, believing that the statue of Kato Kiyomasa, the aggressor, was a traitorous act, like pouring salt on the wounds of the Korean people.
Although Kiyoshi Kato is known for his loyalty in Japan, in other countries, his style is very different. Kato Kiyoshi was in the process of invading Korea and carried out several bloody massacres. At least tens of thousands of North Koreans were killed by Kato Kiyomasa. In addition, in the process of invading Korea, Kato Kiyomasa also connived at the burning and looting of his men. It is no wonder that the Korean nation hates Kato Kiyomasa and regards him as a butcher.
In fact, Kato Kiyomasa was not only a public enemy of the Korean nation, he also launched the first war of aggression against China in history.
With the end of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's division, Japan's Sengoku period came to an end. On this occasion, Toyotomi Hideyoshi set his sights on the wider Central Plains and wanted to realize his ambitions here.
At that time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's official position was "Guan Bai", what was "Guan Bai"?
This position began in the Han Dynasty, similar to that of the regent, and the status was only below the emperor. At that time, the emperor was an empty shelf, there was no real power at all, and all the military and state affairs were in the hands of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the "Sekibai".
Just as the so-called "desire is difficult to fill", such a big ambitionist as Toyotomi Hideyoshi is naturally not satisfied with being a Japanese Guanbai, he dreams of going to a higher level and becoming the Guanbai of the Ming Dynasty. Wanting to blackmail the Ming Dynasty's Heavenly Sons to order the princes, this ambition is really not small. Driven by desire, Hideyoshi brazenly launched the Korean War.
Speaking of which, perhaps smart readers have already guessed Toyotomi Hideyoshi's routine. It is not so easy to become China's Guanbai, and Japan must fight a "stronghold" bordering the Central Plains, which is North Korea, which is only one river away from China. This strategy is the same as the war of aggression against China hundreds of years later: first hit a springboard and then enter the Central Plains.
At that time, Japan had just ended its partition period, and its domestic combat strength was veterans who had been in the battlefield for a long time, and there were many famous generals who stood out in the Warring States. Toyotomi Hideyoshi gathered 200,000 elites, led by Kato Kiyomasa, on an expedition to Korea. It took less than a month for this tiger and wolf division to take over all of Korea, and the King of Korea was forced to retreat to the northeast of our country.
Of course, the phrase "take the whole territory of Korea" is a bit imprecise, and the Japanese army has only laid down seven koreas, and Korea still has one left. In short, North Korea is only one way from the end of the country.
Who is Kiyoshi Kato? Why would Toyotomi Hideyoshi send him to fight this war of aggression?
Kato Kiyomasa was born in the Owari Kingdom during the Azuchi Momoyama period, and friends familiar with Japanese history must know that Owari is the territory of the Oda family. Kato Kiyomasa was related to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, so when Toyotomi Hideyoshi joined the Oda Group, Kato Kiyomasa had already followed him. It can be seen that Kato Kiyoshi is a senior general under Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
In addition, not only is he qualified, but Kato Kiyomasa's ability is also not bad. After Oda Nobunaga was killed, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuya fought a fierce battle in Mt. Shibata in order to compete for the ownership of the Oda family, during which time Kato Kiyomasa and six other samurai made a great contribution to defeat shibata Katsuya, who was known as the "Seven Guns of Mt. Shibata".
With Kato Kiyomasa defeating Han Kecheng, the defender of North Hamjeong Province, he finally reached the Border between China and North Korea. At this moment, he only needs to continue to move forward to set foot on Chinese soil. At this time, Kato Kiyomasa was full of thoughts of making meritorious achievements, and despite the lack of soldiers, he resolutely led his troops to invade China.
In this way, the Japanese army arrived in the northeast and launched the first war of aggression against China in history.
However, Kato Kiyomasa never dreamed that invading China would be a big dream after all, because he had just stepped into China's borders and encountered a hard nail - Jianzhou Jurchen.
The Japanese crossed the Tumen River and came to the white mountains and black waters. During this period, Kato Kiyomasa's location was under the jurisdiction of the Jurchen Clan of Kenshu. At that time, the Jurchens still had a relationship with the Ming Dynasty. Kato Kiyomasa was in a good hurry, and when he entered, most of The state's troops were on the Haixi front, and Nurhaci was leading his army to fight the Jurchen Unification War.
Because the Jianzhou troops poured out of the nest, the air defense after the Jianzhou City was weak, and there were very few defenders in the city. Nurhaci did not realize that when he went out on the expedition, there would be such a group of Wokou in the old nest. When Nurhaci heard the news, Kato Kiyomasa had already won his first battle against China.
After Kato Kiyomasa entered the country, the first encounter was the three Jurchen alliances of Ulla, Kaisai, and Yehe, and Kato Kiyomasa's appearance caught the Jurchens by surprise, and they did not understand how this army appeared here. Because Kato Kiyomasa occupied the sky, he killed the Jurchens by surprise, not only defeated the Jurchen alliance, but also captured several Jurchen camps, which can be described as a complete victory.
In this war, more than nine hundred Jurchen soldiers were killed.
Due to the lack of news, the news that the Wokou had killed the Jurchen tribe did not come out in time, so that the Jurchen tribes around Wuliangha failed to react.
Hearing that the vanguard army had won a great victory and killed nine hundred enemy troops, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was overjoyed. In order to expand the results of the battle, Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately issued an order for Kato Kiyomasa to continue his advance and strive to take the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. When he received the order to "Imami Akikido", Kato Kiyomasa cried and laughed.
After years of conquest, Kato Kiyomasa was still a little self-aware, and he knew that the reason why he could win was entirely because the Jurchens had suffered the loss of ill-informed information and picked up a bargain herself. Relying on a mere 200,000 people and horses, it is not a problem to defeat the DPRK, and it is a bit difficult to fight the northeast, let alone "slightly clearly"? It is estimated that Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not carefully study the map, and the war in the Central Plains was often fought by hundreds of thousands of people and horses, which was far more complicated than the small-scale combat of thousands of people in the Sengoku period of Japan.
However, after all, Kato Kiyomasa was a courtier, and he could not persuade his boss. After all, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was still immersed in the satisfaction of unifying the country at this time, and Kato Kiyomasa did not want to dampen his enthusiasm. In response, Kato Kiyomasa moved out another Japanese army, that is, the reserve army led by his colleague Governor Konishi: "I heard that Governor Konishi has just laid the Heian Road, and the situation is not yet stable. I think that it is too hasty to continue to go deep into the Central Plains now, and we should consider the long term. ”
With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's permission, Kiyomasa Kato immediately deployed a defense in the Uryoha area to prevent the Jurchens from making a comeback.
It has to be said that Kato Kiyomasa has a strategic vision, and the orders he gave are undoubtedly correct. Unfortunately, he did not expect the Jurchens to be so united. Nurhaci not only drew his main force from the western part of the sea, but also formed an alliance with his opponents. After all, the infighting between the Jurchens was a "family affair", and the priority was to unite to drive the Japanese out of the country. As a result, the Jurchen ministries no longer fought, and sent out the young adults with the strongest combat effectiveness of each department. On this occasion, Kato Kiyoyoshi was no longer facing separate tribes such as Jianzhou and Haixi, but the Jurchen alliance.
The two sides fight each other and make a judgment. Although Kato Kiyomasa's army has experienced hundreds of battles, the Jurchen soldiers are all fierce characters who lick blood on the tip of the knife, and the Japanese are beaten by the Jurchens who are good at riding and shooting. After a few rounds, Kato Kiyomasa was under siege. Just when Kato Kiyomasa told that every day should not be called the earth is not smart, and he was about to die under the arrows of the Jurchens, the Japanese army led by Nabeshima Naoshige rushed to the aid in time, and finally broke the encirclement of the Jurchen coalition army, giving Kato Kiyomasa the opportunity to break through. After escaping from the encirclement, Kato Kiyomasa was chased for dozens of miles until he withdrew from the Sino-North Korean border and retreated to Hamgyong Province, and the Jurchens no longer pursued.
After being expelled from China by the Jurchens, Kato Kiyomasa finally realized his own disadvantage. Since then, Kato Kiyomasa has devoted all his energies to the conquest of Korea, temporarily losing his covetousness for Chinese territory. After fighting for half a lifetime, Kato Kiyomasa had never seen any army as strong as the Jurchen Army, and he was completely frightened by this fierce national armed force.
We know that in the history of Japan, the Japanese Sengoku period was full of famous generals, and the military strength of Japan in this period was the highest in history, so why was Kato Kiyomasa still unable to defeat the Jurchens?
And take a look at the evaluation given by people when they are:
"This thief has seven thousand soldiers, and three thousand men with armor." If there are seven thousand thieves, it is enough to stop 100,000 slaves. Although there are Tatars in the northwest, they are not such thieves! ”
It was Li Rumei, the son of the famous Ming Dynasty general Li Chengliang, who uttered these words, and although there were exaggerated elements, it showed the strength of the Jurchen fighting power. When Li Rumei made this evaluation, the ambitions of the Manchus were already revealed, so they called Jurchen a "thief". Seven thousand Jurchens can equal 100,000 Jurchens, and even the Mongols are not opponents of Jurchens.
Perhaps from this evaluation, we can also find the reason why the Jurchens swept through the Central Plains and no one can stop them.
It can be seen from here that the Jurchens are extremely strong in combat, and the Japanese are far from being opponents. In this way, the first war of aggression against China launched by the Japanese ended dramatically. Kato Kiyomasa did not even fight in the northeast, so he was picked up by the Jurchens and had to flee to the "stronghold" of North Korea.
I once heard a friend make such an analysis, if the Japanese army in Korea supported Kato Kiyomasa in time, Kato Kiyomasa may not be the opponent of the Jurchens, and history will definitely be rewritten. Combined with the literature, even if Japan gathered all its troops, I am afraid that it would only be on an equal footing with the Jurchen tribes, and most of the people who would reap the benefits of the fishermen would be the Ming army or the Dashun army. Of course, history is an established fact, and these speculations are meaningless.
Resources:
[The Battle of Sekigahara – Kiyomasa Kato, The Age of The Empire of Japan]