During the Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty's internal and external wars were very frequent, but the Ming Dynasty's foreign wars during the Wanli period had a completely opposite ending: in the Ming Dynasty's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression from 1592 to 1599, the Ming army and the Korean army fought bloodily and won a great victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea, so that Japan did not dare to peek into China for 300 years.
However, in the Battle of Salhu in the late Wanli period, the Jin army was defeated after the Ming army fought. A battle of Salhu cost the Ming army a huge price of 50,000 people. Then, why did the Ming army, which was also in the Wanli period, win a complete victory against the Japanese army, but after the fight, the Jin army was defeated miserably?
Zhang Juzheng (1525 – July 9, 1582)
First, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Aid to Korea was stronger than that of the Ming Dynasty during the Battle of Salhu.
When it comes to the Wanli Anti-Japanese War and Aid Korea, we have to mention Zhang Juzheng, a generation of famous ministers who gave the Wanli Emperor a strong family foundation.
In the middle and late period of the reign of the Jiajing Emperor, the land annexation and financial problems of the Ming Dynasty became increasingly serious, and military expenditure became increasingly tight. In order to save the Ming Empire from the crisis of rule, Gao Gong, the famous cabinet chief during the reign of the Longqing Emperor, reformed a series of problems in the Ming Empire and achieved initial results. After Gao Gong left the political arena, Zhang Juzheng, who monopolized power, launched a more in-depth reform of a series of problems in the Ming Empire on the basis of Gao Gong's reform.
Zhang Juzheng's reform is a reform that covers many aspects such as politics and economy. Politically, Zhang Ju is implementing the examination law. Economically, Zhang Ju is implementing a whipping law. After the strong reform of gao gong and Zhang Juzheng, the Ming Dynasty in the late Jiajing dynasty regained its vitality. In the later period of Zhang Juzheng's reforms, the treasury had as much as six or seven million taels of silver, enough for the Ming Empire to use for 10 years. The grain reserves reached 13 million stones. Strong financial deposits and grain reserves laid a solid foundation for the Ming Empire to defeat the Japanese army in the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea. Due to the influence of Zhang Juzheng's reforms, the national strength of the Ming Empire during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea was still relatively strong.
Above_ Wanli Emperor, Zhu Yijun (1563-1620), also known as Emperor Mingshenzong
By the time of the Battle of Salhu, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty and the period of the Wanli War of Resistance against Japan and Aid Korea were not the same. Due to the "three major conquests" military operations in the middle of the Wanli Dynasty, including the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea, there was a serious financial crisis in the Ming Dynasty. The Wanli Emperor, on the other hand, rescued the financial crisis by sending more land and sending mining tax inspectors to collect taxes arbitrarily. However, Wanli's move not only did not save the financial crisis, but also provoked popular resistance and intensified the class contradictions between the Ming ruling class and the common people.
The strength and weakness of the Ming Dynasty's national strength was also fully reflected in the equipment of the Ming army in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Battle of Salhu. In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea, the Ming Army was well-equipped, possessing tiger squat cannons, great general cannons, exterminating cannons, divine cannons, Flang machines, three-eyed guns and other firearms.
In the Battle of Pyongyang, the Ming army relied on strong firepower to annihilate more than 10,000 Japanese troops at a small cost of 793 killed, and won a complete victory. However, in the Battle of Salhu, due to the financial difficulties of the Ming Empire, the Ming army's firearms were outdated, and more than 5,000 musketeers of the Ming army never fired muskets, and the overall strength of the Ming army was not the same as that of the anti-Japanese war and aid to Korea.
Therefore, the strength of the Ming Dynasty's national strength, especially whether the Ming Dynasty's internal finances were abundant, became the basic reason for the Ming army's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea and its defeat in the Battle of Salhu.
Kaminomi_ Hideyoshi Tsugami (March 17, 1537 - September 18, 1598), Akira Kinoshita, Hideyoshi Hashiba
Second, from the perspective of importance, the Ming Empire attached much more importance to the war against Japan and aid korea than to the Battle of Salhu.
In March 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi mobilized 150,000 Japanese troops to invade Korea. Due to weak resistance by the North Korean army, most of the territory in the country fell. King Lee of Joseon realized that without the assistance of the Ming Empire, Korea would never have been restored. Therefore, the Korean authorities sent envoys to Beijing to present their credentials, hoping that the Ming Empire would send troops to Korea to help Korea defeat the Japanese army.
The Ming Empire recognized the seriousness of the situation, and the Ming Dynasty monarchs believed that "the intention of the Wokou to Korea is really China, and the salvation of Korea by our soldiers is really to protect China", and agreed to the request of the Korean authorities to send troops. In 1592, the Ming general Zu Chengxun led more than 2,000 soldiers into the korean war. After the Ming army arrived in Korea, Zu Chengxun commanded the Ming army to launch a tentative attack on Pyongyang, and because Zu Chengxun was not familiar with the Japanese military tactics, the Ming army's tentative attack ended in failure.
Above_ Japanese Azuku ship and Korean turtle ship in the Wanli Korean War
The military situation was urgent, and Zu Chengxun truthfully reported the battle situation on the front line of the Ming army to the general Yang Shaoxun: 1. There was not enough grain and grass in Korea. 2. Intelligence is wrong, the information provided by Korea to the Ming Empire says that there are more than 1,000 Japanese troops in Pyongyang, but in fact there are more than 10,000 Japanese troops in Pyongyang. 3. Command authority is not uniform.
The failure of the tentative attack made the Ming Dynasty realize that the invading Japanese army was a war machine that could not be underestimated. The Wanli Emperor then launched a large-scale mobilization for war. During the period when the Ming army's ancestral training department failed to attack Pyongyang and the Ming army was fully dispatched, the Ming Empire allowed Shen Weijing and the Japanese side to delay negotiations on the one hand, and on the other hand stepped up preparations for war. By October 1592, the war machine of the Ming Empire was in full swing, and the Ming army dispatched Liaodong troops, the cavalry of Xuanfu Datong, the infantry of Baoding and Jizhen, the infantry of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the Sichuan army to form an anti-Japanese army and marched into Korea.
Above_ Wanli Korean War The Japanese army landed on the beach on the edge of Busan at the southern tip of Korea
It is worth mentioning that the predecessor of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang infantry was the Ming Dynasty Qi Family Army, which had made many military achievements in the battle to suppress the Wokou, and the Ming Army was able to throw the Qi Family Army, which had combat experience against the Japanese, into the War of Resistance against Japan and Aid Korea, which was enough to prove that the Wanli Emperor attached great importance to the war against Japan and Aid Korea. In order to defeat Japan, the Ming Dynasty spent between 7 million and 8 million taels of silver.
The Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the war against Japan and aid korea, but the importance attached to the Battle of Salhu was far less than that of the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea. In the later period of the Wanli Emperor's reign, he was unable to take care of the defense of the northeast region, the Training of the Ming Army was wasted, the equipment was outdated, and the generals of the army falsely reported their posts. Before the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Aid to Korea, the officers and men of the Ming Army were enthusiastic about participating in the war. However, before the outbreak of the Battle of Salhu, the enthusiasm of the officers and men of the Ming Army to participate in the war was not as good as that of the Ming Army during the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea. The commander of the Ming army, Yang Ho, was unwilling to go out to participate in the battle, and the situation of the lower-level officers and men of the Ming army "advancing alone for the brave and retreating alone" was even more serious.
Above_ Schematic diagram of the Battle of Salhu
Third, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Aid korea, the results of the strict training of the Ming army under the influence of Zhang Juzheng's reform were fully reflected, and the Ming army was efficient and professional in combat, and the technical and tactical level was very excellent. By the time of the Battle of Salhu, the Ming army had abandoned training, and even the most basic cooperation had problems.
In view of the lax training and poor combat effectiveness of the Ming army in the late Jiajing period, Zhang Juzheng adopted the practice of "accumulating money valleys, repairing dangerous passes, training soldiers and horses, rectifying equipment, opening tun fields, rationalizing salt, collecting horses, and scattering rebel parties" to rectify the Ming army, improve the equipment of the Ming army, and strengthen the daily training of the Ming army.
In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Aid to Korea, the achievements of Zhang Juzheng's reforms were fully reflected in the Battle of Pyongyang - after the battle began, the Ming army bombarded the city of Pyongyang with heavy artillery. After the shelling, the Ming army concentrated its forces to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese army. From a tactical point of view, the close coordination between the infantry and artillery of the Ming Army, the unified command and coordination of each main offensive unit, showed superb and professional military quality. In the end, the Ming army annihilated more than 10,000 Japanese troops at a small cost of more than 790 casualties.
Li Rusong (1549 – May 8, 1598), courtesy name Zimao, was a Chinese poet
In the Battle of Bihokan in March 1593, more than 3,000 Ming troops were surrounded by 20,000 Japanese troops. Faced with several times the size of the Japanese army, the Ming general Li Rusong launched a Jedi counterattack against the weak point of the Japanese defenses, the forces of the famous Japanese sengoku general Kuriya Keio. In the course of the charge, the Ming army's war horses fell into a quagmire and were unable to move. The cavalry decisively abandoned the horses and repeatedly charged with infantry tactics and the Japanese army.
The battle reached the most critical point, and Li Rusong's Ming army was in danger of being annihilated by the Japanese army. At the critical moment, Yang Yuan led more than 1,000 cavalry to support. Yang Yuan's cavalry was very skilled at shooting at the Japanese army with firearms, and Li Rusongbu and Yang Yuanbu should cooperate inside and outside, causing the Japanese army to flee in a panic. In the end, the Ming army annihilated thousands of Japanese troops at a small cost of 264 casualties. The Japanese army alone lost 2,000 men in Tachibana's clan.
Above_ Battle of Salhu
Through the performance of the Ming army in the Battle of Pyongyang and the Battle of Bijukan, we can see that the achievements of Zhang Juzheng's reforms were fully reflected in the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea, and the Ming Army against the Japanese Army was an efficient and professional war machine. But this kind of professional and efficient combat was not reflected in the Battle of Salhu. Due to the lax training and poor equipment maintenance of the Ming army in the late Wanli period, the Ming army that fought in the Battle of Salhu had problems with even the minimum unit coordination.
Specifically, the Ming general Du Song was greedy and eager, leading the troops and the Houjin army to fight. And Juniper's action was too fast to leave the elite troops of the Ming Army behind, and they were blocked by the Hun River and could not participate in the battle. The car camp has firearms such as bird guns and Flang cannons, and the combat effectiveness is well-trained, and Juniper's actions have fallen behind the car camp, which is a big taboo for soldiers. If the che battalion entered the war, the Ming army was likely to overturn in the Battle of Salhu.
Above_ Flang machine cannon
Fourth, the Anti-Japanese War of Aid to Korea and the Battle of Salhu, the opponents of the Ming Army were not the same.
In the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea, the opponent of the Ming Army was the Japanese Army, which had a strong firearms unit and a navy, while the Ming Army also had a firearms unit and a strong navy. In the Battle of Pyongyang, Ming firearms showed great power. In the Battle of Luliang, the Ming army's water army showed great might. In the entire War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Aid korea, the strength of the Ming army and the Japanese army was roughly equal, and the Ming army surpassed the Japanese army in terms of heavy firearms.
In the Battle of Salhu, the Ming army had firearms to participate in the battle, but the Ming army encountered the elite cavalry of the Later Jin army, the Yehebu cavalry and the Jianzhou heavy infantry. According to historical records, the Later Jin army "forbade non-commissioned officers to make noise, and it was forbidden to march in a variety of ways, and when the blades of the soldiers were connected, those who wore heavy kai sharp blades were ordered to be forwards." Those who wear short armor (i.e. two cuts of armor) are good at shooting, and shock from behind". Due to the participation of the Later Jin cavalry, although the Ming army once repelled the attack of the Later Jin army with firearms in the Battle of Salhu, the Later Jin army still achieved the victory of annihilating the Ming Army's Western Route Army and crushing other units of the Ming Army. Judging from the comparison of military strength, Hou Jin's heavy cavalry formed an absolute advantage over the Ming army.
The above reasons are the deep reasons why the Ming army defeated the Japanese army in the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea, but lost to Houjin in the Battle of Salhu. After the Battle of Salhu, although the Ming Dynasty had famous generals such as Xiong Tingbi and Sun Chengzong to turn the tide, the rotten Ming Empire Building would fall, and it was only a matter of time before it was destroyed.
Author: Military Handsome Guy Correction/Editor: Lilith
Reference: "Renchen 1592 Decisive Battle of Korea", Song Yi, Shaanxi People's Publishing House
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author