Reports on the Ming army’s condition were immediately relayed to Choi Yoon-deok.
After gathering the main commanders and staff officers, he immediately asked a question.
“What do you think?”
At Choi Yoon-deok’s question, a commander at the lowest position spoke up.
“I believe they’re exhausted from rushing here after hearing news from soldiers who fled Liaodong Fortress.”
Hearing this, Choi Yoon-deok nodded slightly.
“That seems reasonable, but there’s a problem. Based on calculations from documents secured at Liaodong Fortress, they’re seven days late. Surely anyone trained in military arts should know how far an army can move in a day. Isn’t that right?”
The commanders nodded at Choi Yoon-deok’s point.
***
Even ancient military texts emphasized that understanding how far an army could march in a day was the first step in military strategy. This knowledge was necessary to secure advantageous terrain ahead of the enemy and calculate the scale of logistics needed for war.
The Joseon army had also prepared data in advance and developed logistics plans accordingly for this war.
Of course, they had struggled with unexpected variables along the way.
***
“Then why…”
“Hmm…”
The commanders, agreeing with Choi Yoon-deok’s point, pondered repeatedly to find appropriate reasons.
Just then, an acrid smell wafted through the open tent flap.
“The insect repellent’s smell is strong today too.”
“It seems worse than usual, sir. Should we lower the flap?”
“No…”
Choi Yoon-deok and the commanders, discussing the acrid smell from outside, all stopped speaking simultaneously.
“Ah!”
Lee Jing-ok, who let out a short exclamation, immediately spoke up.
“It must be due to disease.”
Choi Yoon-deok nodded vigorously at Lee Jing-ok’s words.
“I think so too.”
Since ancient times, advancing from China to Liaodong required passing through the Liaoxi corridor. Mountains large and small blocked the way north, while the Bohai Gulf blocked the south.
Another characteristic of this Liaoxi region was its numerous wetlands and marshes. The area was even called Liaozhe due to its many wetlands and marshes.
Because of this, even the Joseon army had struggled advancing to the Daling River.
They had to deploy large numbers of cavalry and scouts to find sufficiently large dry ground for the main army to move and camp easily.
Along with these geographical issues, timing was also a problem.
It was now June.
Enormous swarms of mosquitoes bred and swarmed from the wetlands and marshes spread everywhere.
To protect their soldiers from these mosquitoes and flying insects as much as possible, the Joseon army had to burn large quantities of insect repellent.
This insect repellent was also another of Hyang’s creations.
Made from waste paper collected from palaces, government offices, and various other places mixed with powdered mugwort, it was effective at driving away mosquitoes and flying insects.
Though there had already been a method of rolling and burning dried mugwort leaves, Hyang’s insect repellent was more popular due to being easier to store and use.
***
The Joseon army strongly suspected “disease from insects” as the cause of Ming’s late arrival.
Indeed, disease had held back the Ming army, and insects weren’t the only cause.
The water issue was another factor.
Wetlands and marshes couldn’t serve as water sources for soldiers. Nearby streams and village wells couldn’t provide sufficient supply for 800,000 troops.
Therefore, most soldiers used crudely filtered turbid water from nearby sources as drinking water. This method was familiar to the soldiers.
The Central Plains had long been known for poor water quality, which led to the development of tea culture. Water had to be boiled to drink tea, naturally sterilizing it in the process. And since cheap teas were common enough for street vendors to sell sweetened tea, even common soldiers carried tea powder and sugar personally.
The problem was that this was an army of 800,000.
Drinking tea required boiling water, which naturally required massive additional quantities of firewood. And it also required time.
Regular soldiers who found this troublesome would simply drink roughly filtered water, leading to illness.
Another issue was waste disposal.
The amount of excrement produced by an army of 800,000 was enormous. Of course, they dug pits for latrines at each camp. However, demand always exceeded supply, and soldiers in a hurry would often relieve themselves in secluded spots outside the camp.
This situation led to contamination of water sources near the camps.
The number 800,000 was impossible to move at once. Soldiers divided into armies and units departed and moved in sequence, then stayed at campsites.
As this process repeated, the areas around campsites along the route became fouled with soldiers’ excrement.
Those in the vanguard fared somewhat better, but units further back had to manage in increasingly contaminated campsites. Consequently, large numbers of sick soldiers began appearing in rear units.
As the rear units fell into disarray, the vanguard’s movement also slowed, and their soldiers too fell into poor condition from increasingly hot weather and insect attacks.
In contrast, the Joseon army had made thorough preparations to avoid this situation. They had prepared large numbers of water purifiers and even brought lime powder for use in latrines.
The lime powder absorbed moisture and generated heat as it hardened, providing somewhat useful sterilizing effects. Soldiers were trained to scoop lime powder from containers placed beside latrines after use. Not only that, but each soldier was even issued four individually packaged portions of lime powder for use when latrines weren’t available.
Of course, this too was Hyang’s creation. He was so sensitive to this issue that one of his first creations had been flush toilets.
***
Having roughly figured out the situation, Choi Yoon-deok stroked his beard and muttered.
“This makes me want to try something clever.”
“Pardon?”
As Lee Jing-ok briefly expressed confusion at Choi Yoon-deok’s muttering, he soon smiled slightly and asked.
“Are you thinking of the Battle of Salsu?”
Choi Yoon-deok nodded at Lee Jing-ok’s question.
“Since they’re already exhausted, wouldn’t it be easier for us if we wore them down even more?”
The commanders and Lee Jing-ok nodded at Choi Yoon-deok’s words.
“Then shall we change the strategy accordingly?”
“Hmm…”
Though the staff officers who understood Choi Yoon-deok’s words proposed modifying the plan, he didn’t answer immediately. Stroking his beard with arms crossed, Choi Yoon-deok spoke.
“The problem is retreating after coming this far. Advancing is usually joyful, but retreating brings all sorts of thoughts.”
“Ah…”
When Choi Yoon-deok mentioned the issue of troop morale, the staff officers and commanders immediately nodded.
“Fortunately, we benefit from the cavalry discovering Ming’s vanguard early. We have time, so let’s think about it more.”
“Yes, sir.”
However, they had to make a decision before long.
***
The next day, at noon.
“Urgent news from the navy, sir!”
“Urgent news?”
Choi Yoon-deok, who had been taking a brief rest, rose at his aide’s announcement.
Sitting in his chair and unfolding the naval dispatch, Choi Yoon-deok’s face hardened.
“Additional Ming forces departing from Shanhaiguan? At least 100,000?”
After double-checking the dispatch’s contents, Choi Yoon-deok immediately issued orders.
“Gather the staff officers and commanders!”
“Yes, sir!”
Half a time unit later, the staff officers and commanders gathered in the command tent.
“Urgent news from the navy. Our warships patrolling the Shanhaiguan area spotted and reported this.”
After revealing the source of the urgent news, Choi Yoon-deok handed the document to the senior staff officer. Taking the document, the senior staff officer read aloud.
“Additional Ming forces departing from Shanhaiguan! At least 100,000!”
At the senior staff officer’s reading, the commanders’ faces crumpled.
“Does that country have nothing but surplus people? Everything they do starts at 100,000…”
“Tell me about it…”
While the commanders grumbled quietly, Choi Yoon-deok looked at the staff officers and senior commanders.
“What should we do? Retreat? Or face them here?”
“Wouldn’t retreating be better since we can wear down the enemy?”
“Indeed. The additional forces will become similarly exhausted getting here. Therefore, falling back seems best.”
As these supporters spoke up, opponents also emerged.
“We must face them here. If they learn we’ve retreated, the enemy’s morale will rise.”
“Exactly. The moment they learn of our retreat, they’ll become arrogant thinking we fear them. Since we’ve made thorough preparations, we should face the enemy here.”
“Don’t forget that while enemy morale rising is a problem, our troops’ morale falling is also a significant possibility!”
Fierce debate erupted between those advocating each position. Both sides had valid reasoning and remained evenly matched.
“Enough.”
As the debate showed signs of overheating, Choi Yoon-deok intervened. When the debaters fell silent, Choi Yoon-deok concluded.
“Both sides make good points, so I’ll think about it more. However, time is short, so I’ll make a decision by this evening.”
“Yes, sir.”
After this non-decision conclusion, the staff officers and commanders left the tent.
Following them out, Choi Yoon-deok looked at the sky and sighed.
“Haa~. What to do? Either choice will be like a chicken rib…”
However, before long, Choi Yoon-deok had to make his decision.
***
“Urgent news from the Tiger-Catching Gunner Unit!”
At the aide’s cry, Choi Yoon-deok smiled bitterly.
“Now even hearing the words ‘urgent news’ makes my stomach turn. Let me see it.”
Taking the dispatch from his aide, Choi Yoon-deok checked its contents and immediately ordered his aide.
“Summon all commanders again immediately!”
“Yes, sir!”
***
Addressing the staff officers and commanders gathered again in the tent, Choi Yoon-deok held out the dispatch and spoke.
“Urgent news from the Tiger-Catching Gunner Unit sent to scout near the Great Wall. Ming forces guarding the Great Wall are moving toward us.”
The senior staff officer, receiving the dispatch from Choi Yoon-deok and examining its contents, took out the earlier dispatch and compared them.
After thoroughly analyzing both dispatches, the senior staff officer reported to Choi Yoon-deok.
“Based on when these reports were made, the additional forces mentioned appear to be troops from the Great Wall garrison.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
After pausing briefly to think, the senior staff officer suggested to Choi Yoon-deok.
“We should retreat.”
“Why?”
“Great Wall garrison troops are Ming’s elite forces. Even with the difficult journey, they’ll maintain discipline to some extent. Therefore, drawing them in further while wearing them down would be the best strategy.”
“Hmm…”
After contemplating for a long while with tightly closed lips, Choi Yoon-deok finally made his decision.
“We’ll fall back.”