There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 408 Jeju Horse Ranch
The Han army's firepower was too fierce; they even brought out hand grenades, a type of firearm that even Li Yinhou, the governor of Jizhou, had never seen before.

They explode as soon as they land, and each explosion leaves no one making a sound. Who wouldn't be terrified of that?
Before Li Yinhou could decide whether to continue fighting or withdraw his troops, a riot suddenly broke out within his own army.

Countless Jeju cavalrymen, dressed in tattered clothes like the Jeju infantry, shouted, "Kill the county magistrate! Kill the governor!"

These ragged Jeju cavalrymen were so numerous that they made up almost 90% of Li Yinhou's cavalry force. As if by prior arrangement, they swarmed forward and began hacking at the well-armored cavalry commanders in the ranks.

Now, the Jeju cavalry also erupted in chaos!

Their sudden rebellion was not entirely due to being intimidated by the Han army; there were also some historical reasons behind it.

All the Jeju cavalrymen belonged to the horse-raising households on Jeju Island, who were considered lowly people who had raised horses for generations. They not only had to raise horses for the Joseon king, but also had to pay high taxes on horse breeding. Furthermore, the Joseon officials who came to Jeju also tried every means to exploit them.

Anyway, if they're squeezed to death, so be it. The horsemen are all lowly people. Their ancestors were either Mongol criminals from the Yuan Dynasty, or Han Chinese criminals or Korean criminals from the Ming Dynasty. In short, they are all descendants of criminals.

The descendants of these sinners are all sinners and lowly people.

So many horsemen on the island, it wouldn't matter if they all died; at worst, they could just be exiled back to China.

After all, every generation of kings in Korea would routinely engage in several factional struggles, and every few years, thousands or even tens of thousands of criminals would be exiled.

Fortunately, Jeju Island's agriculture is underdeveloped and its population capacity is limited; otherwise, the exiled criminals alone would have overwhelmed the island.

Outside the Jeju Makseong (Forest of the Monk of Jeju).

The battle had now entered an extremely bizarre and inexplicable phase. First, the Jeju infantry at the front lines, under the cover of Han army fire, began to run over in droves, kneeling and surrendering.

Well, the Han army had seen this before when they fought the Qing army in the south, so it wasn't too rare.

Behind the enemy lines, the 2000 North Korean cavalrymen who were supposed to be the last force to fight have yet to engage in a single battle!

Suddenly things got chaotic.

"This is... infighting? What's going on?" Wu Liehu could see clearly through his binoculars that the Korean cavalry were actually killing each other.

No, it shouldn't be said that they were killing each other. After careful observation, Wu Liehu realized that the Korean cavalrymen were all raggedly dressed and were frantically attacking the fully armored cavalrymen on horseback.

Judging from the scene, it doesn't seem like an internal strife, but rather like a cavalry rebellion.

Lower than upper?
Ding Ruoyong, who had boldly rushed up, had been completely overwhelmed by the Han army's fighting power. Now, hearing Wu Liehu's doubts, he quickly explained, "General, you are unaware that it is not surprising that the enemy army would have internal strife. As long as our Han army can control Mu City, and the false governor cannot quickly recapture Mu City, or if he encounters any setbacks, his soldiers will surely rebel."

"Oh? Why is that?" Wu Liehu asked.

Ding Ruoyong continued, "Because Jeju Port is the only port on Jeju Island and its only passage to the outside world, and the Jeju Mokseong (Mokseong Castle) is conveniently located at this port. As long as the false Mokseong commander, Li Yinhou, cannot recapture the castle, they will lose contact with the rest of Joseon. And the Jeju soldiers gathered by Li Yinhou are mostly lowly people on the island who have long been exploited and oppressed by the government and have long wanted to rebel."

Wu Liehu understood that these people of Jeju had long wanted to rebel, but they had been suppressed by the Korean government. Whenever they rebelled, the Korean king would send a large army to suppress them.

But now the Han army has arrived and blocked the port of Jeju Island. As long as Li Yinhou cannot recapture the port in a short time, Jeju Island will remain an isolated island overseas.

So the Jeju people, who had long wanted to rebel, naturally sought revenge and did whatever they wanted!
Ding Ruoyong then said, "General, I have a plan that can make the enemy cavalry defect and surrender!"

Wu Liehu: "Speak!"

Ding Ruoyong said, "Immediately send someone to announce that as long as they are willing to surrender and defect, they will be given land and their taxes will be reduced."

Wu Liehu shook his head: "These are all things that were going to be done anyway, they're not really a strategy, but we'll do it as you said. Let those North Korean soldiers who surrendered earlier go back and persuade them to surrender."

Before long, a large group of surrendered Korean soldiers were all released back into the country.

They were all taught special rhetoric by the Han army. The instructors were taught to the leaders who could read Chinese characters, and then the surrendered officers led them down to persuade them to surrender.

"Surrender! Surrender! Surrender to the Chinese army now, and you'll get land and tax reductions. Stop working for the officials!"

"The pastor is lying to us. It wasn't the Japanese pirates who occupied Mu City; it was the army of the Celestial Empire."

"The Celestial Empire's army has come to our rescue! Surrender now and welcome the Celestial Empire's army!"

"Surrender now..."

……

Wu Liehu didn't understand their shouts at all, but he could see the effect of them through his binoculars. The Korean cavalry, who were already fighting amongst themselves, cheered, and then... things became even more chaotic.

The chaotic Korean cavalry, having stopped attacking their officers, all followed the Korean soldiers who had been persuaded to surrender and ran towards Mokseong.

This wave of persuasion nearly left Li Yinhou, Li Deyong, and Yin Que as commanders without any troops.

Li Yinhou led a massive army of 5000 men to attack, intending to retake Mucheng in one battle. However, less than an hour into the fighting, the entire army fled, leaving him with only 200 personal guards.

"As expected, they are all lowly people, descendants of criminals. How can they surrender to the Japanese pirates like this, worthy of the grace of the King of Zhengzong?" Li Yinhou gripped the reins and cursed fiercely.

Upon hearing Li Yinhou's words, Li Deyong and Yin Que, the two county magistrates of Jeju Island, were speechless.

Even at this point, Your Excellency is still trying to frame us. Everyone here knows that the ones who occupied Mu City were not Japanese pirates, but rebels from China.

Li Deyong was about to persuade Li Yinhou to retreat quickly, as the three of them were officials sent from within Korea. Those commoners and criminals could surrender without pressure, but they could not. They were nobles with families in Korea and would not surrender to the rebel forces from China.

If the barbarian Qing dynasty were here, they could barely accept it, since the Qing dynasty was nominally still the suzerain state of Korea.

Although North Korea verbally denounces the Qing Dynasty as barbarians and calls itself a "Little China," it actually has a strong dependence on the Qing Dynasty, even to the point of being shameless.

Historically, the war that forced Korea to open its doors to Japan was triggered by Korea's confidence in having the Qing Dynasty backing it up, which led it to launch an attack on Japanese warships.

after that……

The Qing government was preoccupied with its own problems and did not send troops to support Korea. Seeing that the Qing government could not be relied upon, Korea had no choice but to compromise and open its borders.

Li Deyong rode up to Li Yinhou and said urgently, "Your Excellency, the common people have all rebelled. We should retreat immediately!"

Li Yinhou wanted to insist after hearing this, but then he saw the wooden gate of Mucheng open.

"Counterattack! Charge out!"

At Wu Liehu's command, only 500 Han soldiers were left to garrison Mucheng, while he himself led 1500 Han soldiers and another 500 Manchu slave soldiers who had not participated in the entire battle, totaling 2000 troops. There were also more than 1800 surrendered Korean beggar cavalry and more than 1000 beggar infantry.

With this unification, the total strength of the Han army reached nearly 5000 men.

The 5000-strong army was fighting a counterattack against a North Korean army with only 200 men left; their combat strength was completely disproportionate.

No one needed to persuade him anymore; Li Yinhou turned his horse around, just like he had a few days ago when he was shocked to hear the cannon fire at the port.

He ran incredibly fast, all by himself.

Li Deyong and Yin Que were caught off guard and didn't react for a moment. When they came to their senses, they immediately rode away in the opposite direction.

As they ran, they shouted, "Shepherd, slow down! Don't run north! Wait for us!"

They were still shouting in broken Chinese, as if afraid the Han army wouldn't understand.

Well, that makes sense.

In the past, in order to save their lives, these three North Korean officials from Jeju Island could join forces and launch a counterattack on Mokseong. But now the situation is hopeless. They definitely can't win in a fight, and the only way to escape is by sea through Jeju Port.

Since that's the case, then when disaster strikes, everyone should scatter.

There's no way to escape; this wretched island is only so big. But people cherish their lives and are afraid of dying, so they'll try to live as many days as possible.

Wu Liehu's cavalry naturally had warhorses, but he had just traveled by ship to Jeju Island. People get seasick, and so do warhorses.

The Han army's warhorses were temporarily grazed near the port to recover their strength and spirit, and were not used as cavalry.

Otherwise, there would be no need to defend the city. Wu Liehu could just lead 2000 cavalrymen out and charge in, and he could crush the Korean army.

Wu Liehu ordered the surrendered Korean soldiers: "Pursue them immediately and kill all the fleeing enemy soldiers!"

The surrendered Korean soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment. Despite their boldness in rebellion, they had become timid and fearful after being recruited by the Han army.

After all, the previous decision was made in a moment of impulsiveness and confusion. Now that the Han army has promised to allocate land to them and reduce their taxes, they naturally dare not risk their lives anymore.

If he dies, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Seeing that the surrendered Korean soldiers did not move, Wu Liehu drew his sword and roared in anger: "Those who do not go will not be given land, nor will they receive any tax reductions!"

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

These beggar soldiers who had surrendered were terrified. They were afraid that Wu Liehu would not distribute the land, and they were also afraid that Wu Liehu, the general of the Celestial Empire, would be furious and kill them.

The 1800-plus beggar cavalrymen split into two groups: one group bravely pursued the fleeing Li Deyong and Yin Que, while the other group chased after Li Yinhou, who was running away alone on horseback.

The pursuit didn't last long before the cavalry that had gone after Li Deyong and Yin Que returned: "Sir, the enemy's cavalry is too formidable. We simply cannot defeat them and have no choice but to retreat."

You can't beat an egg!
Wu Liehu wasn't blind; he could see clearly through his binoculars that the Korean cavalry were almost catching up with the fleeing enemy, but the enemy cavalry simply turned around and charged back, scaring these guys into running away with their tails between their legs.

There was nothing he could do; they were the Korean army, not the Han Chinese army under his command, and they weren't even as good as the Qing army.

As one of the three East Asian countries, North Korea has a well-known reputation, but its military strength is not weak; it is simply a mess.

Korea hasn't fought a war for many years; the last war was the Imjin War two hundred years ago. If it weren't for the intervention of the Ming Dynasty, Korea would have been almost destroyed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Despite this, South Korea still managed to produce a world-class general, Yi Sun-sin.

If Yi Sun-sin can be nominated as a world-class athlete, then China should at least nominate Li Rusong.

North Korea's army had long been ineffective and useless; in fact, they didn't even have an army.

Previously, the Korean army was a special military system similar to military households, which had long since deteriorated. The army that could truly be considered a standing army of Korea was only formally established after the Imjin War, namely the "Training Commander".

Today, more than 200 years later, this model is basically useless.

This is not surprising. North Korea does not rely on its army to defend its country. They rely entirely on "serving the big country with small measures" and clinging to China as their "father". Therefore, they do not need an army with combat capabilities at all.

As long as it looks decent, that's fine.

Wu Liehu was exasperated by these surrendered Korean soldiers, but upon reflection, he realized it made perfect sense. The Korean army was indeed incompetent, which was why he could easily defeat them.

Moreover, the North Korean army is so bad that losing 200 cavalrymen is not a big deal. Once their warhorses have rested and recovered, even if 20000 North Korean cavalrymen come, they can easily sweep them away.

Another group pursued the surrendered Korean soldiers of Li Yunhou. They chased them for a little longer, but not by much. They still remembered that they were Korean commoners, so they still had a natural awe of Li Yunhou.

He simply followed far behind Li Yinhou, watching him disappear into the woods before running back to report.

Wu Liehu failed to catch up with either of his forces, so he stopped sending surrendered troops to pursue them. Instead, he advanced north and south respectively to capture the county towns of Jingyi and Dajing.

Rather than county towns, the two counties were more like clustered market towns, with even the county town walls being replaced by wooden fences.

It's so dilapidated!
Wu Liehu felt uncomfortable watching this and shook his head, saying, "It seems we must start building the city as soon as possible. Your Korean officials are simply too lazy."

Ding Ruoyong, who was accompanying the inspection, blushed slightly. He was also a North Korean and had previously served as a North Korean official. Even he had to admit that the Jeju city walls were far too rudimentary.

Ding Ruoyong wanted to find Li Yinhou and point his finger at him to scold him. With so many governors of Jeju, was there not a single one who knew to repair the city walls even slightly?
If our Celestial Fathers saw this, wouldn't they feel ashamed for their country?
Of course, no one knew. Who could have imagined that the Celestial Empire would come to Jeju Island, and even to Jeju Island, the place they used to exile political prisoners who lost in partisan struggles?

Cai Hong and the others were also called back from the port. At this time, they said together with Wu Liehu, "We really need to rebuild the city. Not to mention defending against enemy troops, we should at least defend against wild beasts so that the people here can have a sense of belonging to the Han Dynasty."

Ding Ruoyong offered timely advice: "Building a city is indeed necessary, but we should not rush into it. We should first transport enough stone from overseas. Moreover, if the general intends to station himself on Jeju Island for a long time, he should conscript laborers reasonably and avoid excessively depleting the people's strength. Otherwise, if the people of Jeju Island suffer, the Heavenly Dynasty's army will inevitably be harmed."

Wu Liehu readily agreed: "What you all say makes sense. I will go back and send a telegram to the court, asking His Majesty to send an official to Jeju Island as soon as possible, and also to transport some building materials and stones so that we can rebuild the city on the island. In addition, the horse breeds that His Majesty wants to train on Jeju Island can also be transported over."

The first batch of 50 Marvar horses can be transported to Jeju Island for grazing.

There were no large horse ranches in Nanjing, and horses that stayed there for too long would easily degenerate and become unsuitable for cavalry.

As for the warhorses on Jeju Island, their degeneration is so severe that they are even inferior to the current cavalry horses of the Han army, with some having a shoulder height of 1.3 meters.

This is supposed to be called a warhorse?
(End of this chapter)