In many online articles, there are some inappropriate views on the Wanli Korean War. Some of these views appear in articles, and some appear in netizens’ replies. This article is among them. A wrong statement, some clarification. This wrong statement is: "In the War to Resist Japan and Aid Korea in the late Ming Dynasty, the Japanese army did not use elite troops, but the Ming army used the most elite troops in the country." Now I will refute it with the information I have. This argument. (The following information comes from official histories such as "History of the Ming Dynasty", "History of the Late Ming Dynasty", "History of Korea", "Records of the Korean Ri Dynasty", "History of Japan", "History of the Warring States Period of Japan", as well as Japanese unofficial history: "The Life of the Toyotomi Family" , "The Battle of Yamato Bunroku Keicho", "Cherry Blossom Chronicles", "Morning of the Soul of Yamato", etc.; and Korean unofficial history: "The True Imjin Japanese Rebellion", "Joseon Chronicles", "Souwon Genealogy", etc. , also refer to the local chronicles of Hebei, Shanxi and other places) First, let’s take a look at the situation of the Japanese army. The number of troops that the Japanese army put into the Korean battlefield for the first time was basically the same as the second one, except that the number of troops in each legion was different between the two wars. Generals also made individual adjustments. Among them, Japan's troop deployment and deployment for the Second Wanli Korean War (called the Keicho Campaign by the Japanese) was relatively detailed and comprehensive. The troop deployment for the second war is now listed as follows: First Legion Commander: Konishi Governor Konishi Governor 7,000 people, Muneyishi 5,000 people, Matsuura Jinnobu 4,000 people, Omura Junchuang 2,000 people, Goto Nobuyasu 700 people, total military strength: 18,700 people. Commander of the Second Army: Kato Kiyomasa Kato Kiyomasa 8,000 people, Nabeshima Naoshige 12,000 people, Sagara Norifu 800 people Total strength: 20,800 people Third Army Commander: Kuroda Nagamasa Kuroda Nagamasa 6,000 people, Otomo Yoshitoshi 6,000 people total strength : 12,000 men Fourth Corps Commander: Shimazu Yoshihiro (formerly Kato Mitsuyasu) Shimazu Yoshihiro 1,000 men, Mori Hidemoto 2,000 men, Takahashi Yoshiuchi 2,000 men, Akizuki Kaneuchi 1,000 men, Ito Yuhei 1,000 people, Shimazu Toyohisa 1,000 people Total strength: 17,000 people Fifth Army Corps Commander: Fukushima Masanori Fukushima Masanori 5,000 people, Toda Katsunari 4,000 people, Hachisuka Housekeeper 7,200 people, Nagasogabu Morichika 3,000 people, Ikoma Oishashi 5,500 total troops: 30,000 Sixth Army Commander: Kobayakawa Hideaki (formerly his father Kobayakawa Takakei) Kobayakawa Hideaki 10,000 people, Mori Hideyori 1,500 people, Tachibana Munege 2,500 people, Takahashi Shokei 800 people, Yoshihiro Tonghe 900 people Total strength: 15,700 people Seventh Army Corps Commander: Mori Terumoto Mori Terumoto 23,000 people, Yoshikawa Hiroie 7,000 people Total strength: 30,000 people Eighth Army Corps Commander: Ukita Hideie Ukita Hideie 10,000 people, Masuda Nagamori 3,000 people, Ishida Mitsunari 2,000 people, Kato Yoshiaki 2,000 people, Otani Yoshitsugi 2,200 people Total strength: 19,200 people Ninth Corps Commander: Asano Nagamasa Asano Nagamasa 4,000 people, Miyabe Tsujun 3,000 people, Kinoshita Katsutoshi 1,750 people, Inaba Masashige 2,000 people. Total strength: 10,750 people. Commander of the 10th Army: Hidetsu Hashiba (the number of the corps was later exchanged with the Ninth Army). Hashiba Hidetsu 13,000 people, Kimura Shigege 2,000 people, Onoki Shigeji 3,000 people. Kamei Hidetsuna's total strength of 4,000 men: 22,000 men. The total strength of the Japanese Army in the second war was 190,850 men. According to the Japanese history book "The Battle of Yamato Bunroku Keicho", the Japanese army also had 22,100 men from various naval divisions, and another 22,100 men from various naval divisions. Japan has also concentrated 95,000 reserve ashigaru (light infantry) on the islands between the Korean Peninsula and Japan and on the western coast of Japan. In other words, the strength of the Japanese army entering North Korea was more than 210,000 soldiers and naval forces. If the reserve army was added, it would reach 300,000 troops. Japan can be said to have devoted all its strength to the country. With such a force, how can it be said that it is not an elite Japanese army? During the Second Wanli Korean War (called the Battle of Keicho by the Japanese), the first echelon of the Japanese army consisted of the 1st to 5th legions plus baggage troops, with more than 120,000 troops. (According to "The Morning of Yamato Soul" written by the Japanese scholar Shirei Shimoto) In the first Wanli Korean War (Battle of Bunroku) and the second Wanli Korean War (Battle of Keichang), the actual total troop strength invested by the Japanese army Almost the same, but the troops deployed on the front line are very different. In the first Wanli Korean War (Battle of Wenlu), the Japanese army of more than 200,000 navy and land forces almost fully entered North Korea in an attempt to annex North Korea and then attack China; while in the second Wanli Korean War (Battle of Wenlu), more than 200,000 Japanese soldiers and naval forces entered North Korea in an attempt to annex North Korea and then attack China; War (Battle of Keichang), in view of the heavy casualties suffered by the Japanese army in the Battle of Munrok, especially its elite First Corps, which suffered most of the casualties in the Battle of Pyongyang, the Japanese army carried out "a "strike" from inside and outside the Korean Peninsula to the west coast of Japan. "Three-line configuration", there are 120,000 navy and land forces in the Korean Peninsula, about 100,000 Japanese troops are deployed on various islands between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, and 95,000 troops are deployed on the west coast of Japan. The reason why the Japanese army was deployed in this way in the Battle of Keicho is Because their purpose in this war was not as aggressive as the Battle of Munroc, they adopted a prudent approach of first occupying the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, and then gradually conquering northern Korea. After introducing the Japanese army, now let’s introduce the source and composition of the Ming army.

In the first Wanli Korean War, the Ming army invested 48,000 troops in two batches. The first was an advance team of 5,000 troops, and the second was a large force of 43,000 troops led by General Li Rusong. The advance team consisted of 5,000 people: most of them were Ming troops from the Liaodong area, with 2,500 regular and local troops each, 1,000 of whom were Korean rebels who had previously fled to the Ming Dynasty. (Records of "The Real Imjin Japanese Rebellion" published in Korea) Mainly introduces the large army led by General Li Rusong, the composition and origin of these 43,000 people: Liaodong Army 10,000 people: This army is the direct descendant of Li Rusong, and has just participated in the pacification The Ningxia rebels have been fighting the Mongols in the north all year round. They are the most elite troops in the war to aid Korea, and they are all cavalry. They have great lethality against the Japanese army in the war. There are 5,000 infantrymen in Jizhen and 5,000 infantrymen in Baoding: Jizhen and Baoding have always been an important military town in the north. They were both one of the nine towns and nine sides of the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, about 100,000 troops were stationed in Jizhen alone all year round. North Korea is also an important military fortress to defend the northern nomads. Soldiers from the two places could not be used. However, considering that North Korea is located in the north and has a similar climate to these two places, and the soldiers from the two places are brave and good at fighting, 5,000 people from each place were dispatched to North Korea. Xuanfu and Datong cavalry numbered 8,000 people each: Like Jizhen and Baoding, these two places were also one of the nine towns and nine sides of the Ming Dynasty. Among them, the Ming Dynasty's garrison in Xuanfu alone reached 83,000. Three hundred and four people, the Ming court recruited troops from these two places. There are also some stories. Just when the Ming court ordered troops to enter Korea from here, the northern nomadic troops just invaded. Although the scale was small, these two places The generals refused to send their regular troops to North Korea, but instead "mixed" them. The Xuanfu garrison was only given 1,000 regular troops, and the other 3,000 were all local miscellaneous regiment training troops; the situation of the Datong garrison was even more dire. , only 500 people were allocated to the regular army, and the remaining 4,500 people were trained in local motley crews with 3,000 people. The other 1,500 people were simply thrown to the local officials and asked to find a solution. As a result, 1,500 militiamen were temporarily recruited, equipped with horses. , just like this, of the 8,000 cavalrymen along the way, there were actually only 1,500 regular Ming troops, most of whom were miscellaneous troops and recruits with no combat experience. There are three thousand Tengpai troops in Fujian: During the Ming Dynasty, among all provinces in China, Fujian was the best in terms of Tengpai troops, followed by Henan and Zhejiang. As the name suggests, the Tengpai Army's main weapons are Tengpai. The three thousand Fujian Tengpai Army sent to North Korea this time are mainly local troops recruited from Fuqing, Fujian. Even though they are local troops, these soldiers are battle-hardened and have great combat effectiveness. Strong, they played a significant role on the Korean battlefield. Their equipment was a shield nearly 2 meters high for each person, and they were all set on the left hand, while the right hand held a long knife, and there were ten flying swords around the waist. The swords, lined up in a queue and advancing slowly during the battle, look like a moving castle from a distance. When they are far away, they use shields to block their bodies. They only see the front through a small opening in front of the shields, and slowly move in front of the enemy. When the enemy is about ten meters away, throw a flying knife to kill the enemy. Slowly approach and pick up the throwing knife. After approaching the enemy, use a long knife to chop the legs of the enemy's soldiers and cavalry. Sometimes two people work closely together and one person Use a shield to cover, while the other person chops down the enemy. This kind of shield is made of special materials and can completely block any kind of muskets at that time, but it is difficult to block cannons (but the Japanese army in the Wanli Korean War mainly used muskets, so Because of this, the Japanese army suffered a big loss in front of the Fujian Tengpai Army). Ten Thousand Sichuan Army: There were some twists and turns in transferring the Sichuan Army to fight in North Korea. Initially, the Ming court considered that northern Korea was mountainous and should send troops adapted to mountain warfare. At that time, whether it was infantry warfare or mountain jungle warfare, the final The strongest is only the army of Guangxi, followed by the army of Yunnan, especially the world-famous Guangxi Wolf Soldiers. However, the Ming Dynasty later considered that the southern border was unstable, with frequent invasions from Annan and Burma, and rebellions in the south. The troops in Guangxi and Yunnan could not move for the time being. The Ming Dynasty immediately decided to send Sichuan troops into the DPRK. Half of the Wanchuan troops were from Sichuan. Half of the army was originally stationed in Sichuan from other provinces, and its combat effectiveness was not weak. The above are the troops that the Ming army entered to fight in Korea during the First Wanli Korean War. They were a mixture of regular troops and miscellaneous troops. The Liaodong Army had 10,000 troops, the Jizhen and Baoding infantry had 5,000 each, and the 1,500 cavalrymen from Xuanfu and Datong. The 3,000 Fujian Tengpai Army is an elite unit among the regular armies of the Ming Army. It can be considered an elite unit among the miscellaneous armies, but other units cannot be said to be elite units among the Ming Army. Generally speaking, in the first Wanli Korean War, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army was still much higher than that of the Japanese army (both in terms of soldier quality and equipment). This was reflected in the great victory in Pyongyang, the pursuit battles on the Han River and other places, and the encounter at Byokjeokwan. , and the siege of Wang Jing can be seen. After introducing the first Wanli Korean War, we now begin to introduce the composition of the Ming army during the second Wanli Korean War. During the Second Wanli Korean War, the domestic situation in the Ming Dynasty was even worse than the first time. Peasant uprisings occurred one after another in the country. In Hunan alone, there were no less than 20 peasant uprisings. In addition, the Burmese army continued to attack in the south, and northern ethnic minorities also continued to move south. , the most serious one was when the nomadic barbarians killed the famous general Li Rusong during the war southward. This series of objective reasons determined that the Ming Dynasty was unable to send more elite troops like the first war.

During the Second Wanli Korean War, the Ming Army dispatched roughly 100,000 troops, including an army of 75,000 to 80,000. The source and composition of its troops were as follows: After the First Wanli Korean War, The Ming army left behind 11,000 troops in Korea: 3,000 Fujian Tengpai troops, 3,000 Liaodong cavalry, and 5,000 local regiments of Xuanfu and Datong cavalry. The sources of the troops are the same as those in the first war, so they will not be repeated here. . Before the outbreak of the Second Wanli Korean War, the Ming army transferred more than 5,000 Liao soldiers, more than 4,000 Jizhen infantry, and 10,000 Japanese troops to the DPRK: these two troops were different from the previous one. Although They are also nominally soldiers from Liaodong and Jizhen, but they are not regular troops. They are all local militia and new recruits. Many of them are even forcibly recruited to join the army. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of this unit is not high. After the Japanese army conquered Nanyuan, Suwon and other places, the Ming Dynasty sent 5,000 Liao soldiers and 15,110,000 Zhejiang soldiers originally on the Northeast Mongolian front to reinforce the Korean battlefield: the composition of this reinforcement force was also It's very complicated. The 5,000 Liaodong soldiers are considered regular troops with strong combat effectiveness, but the Zhejiang soldiers are 15,000. Except for the 5,000 Zhejiang troops stationed in the north, the remaining 10,000 are all government troops stationed in various parts of Zhejiang. The regiment lacks combat experience and has relatively poor combat effectiveness. After the Battle of Ulsan, the Ming army once again sent 10,000 Yunnan soldiers and 20,000 new soldiers from Yiwu, Zhejiang Province to join the war: 10,000 Yunnan soldiers, of which 2,000 were Yunnan official troops and 8,000 were local armed forces of local ethnic minorities. However, these troops were not from Yunnan As for the elite troops on the front line, because the Burmese army was also concentrated on the Yunnan front line at that time, the elite troops of the Ming army stationed in Yunnan could not be transferred to the Korean battlefield, so they had to send some inferior troops to Korea. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of this unit was average. The recruitment of 20,000 new soldiers in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province was mainly due to the tradition of fighting Japanese pirates there. The Qi family army at that time was mainly composed of soldiers from this area. These Yiwu recruits did not have experience in large-scale combat, but because there was a certain martial spirit here, this unit still performed very bravely in North Korea and played a certain role. Also after the Battle of Ulsan, although the Ming Dynasty had already sent reinforcements, in order to better eliminate the Japanese army, the frontline commander of the Ming Army requested that more reinforcements be sent, especially the navy, to participate in the battle. The Ming Dynasty also mobilized 10,000 Sichuan troops and naval forces. 20,000 soldiers entered North Korea to fight: The 10,000 Sichuan Army was a local miscellaneous force in Sichuan. After arriving in North Korea, most of them were under the command of Ming general Liu Ting. This army has been fighting against rebels in Sichuan all year round. It has rich experience, but the composition of the soldiers is complicated. Some are In the local regiment training to suppress the rebels, some rebels came here after surrendering. The combat effectiveness of each unit was different, ranging from high to low, and the internal unity was not very unified. The 20,000-strong Navy was composed of sailors recruited from all over the southeastern coast. Since the Ming Navy's equipment was much better than that of the Japanese Navy, the Navy basically won the battles. The above is the source and composition of the Ming army in the Second Wanli Korean War. We can see that most of the Ming army sent to Korea for the second time were second-rate or even third-rate troops. Because of this, the Ming army in The fighting in the second Korean War was relatively difficult, and China and Japan were almost in a stalemate for many times during the second war. Looking at the two Wanli Korean Wars, the Japanese army had an advantage in numbers, and they were all the most elite troops in the country. On the other hand, the Ming army, the troops dispatched for the first time were decent, and the troops dispatched for the second time were mixed troops and new recruits. There are a lot of them, and when people see them, they think that Ming Dynasty is just perfunctory! Therefore, I think that the statement that "in the War to Resist Japan and Aid Korea, the Japanese army did not use elite troops, but the Ming army used the most elite troops in the country" is simply untenable.