Post by ajk on Jul 1, 2015 0:45:21 GMT -5
So just how does Ryu plan to build a bridge across the Imjin River and do it quickly enough to make a difference? It will take months just to cut enough wood. He has a different idea though; says he remembers learning of a floating bridge that was constructed once, back during the Song Dynasty. But how to construct it....after researching and thinking, inspiration hits him while walking through a local street. Kudzu vine. Seriously? Yep...we see huge quantities of the stuff being tied into ropes of consistent thickness. The ropes are used to tie boards together and the boards are covered with dirt, making a bridge strong enough for the Ming army to cross the river so they could attack Hanyang as Li Rusong promised. And we see soldiers crossing it, just for a moment.
Oh, no...some time has passed; we're not sure how much time, but enough time to make Ryu angry because Li still hasn't attacked! Ugh! Li says he's carrying out a strategy called "iildaero"--saving energy and waiting for the stress on the enemy to exhaust them before attacking. Well that doesn't sound right for this situation at all, and Ryu says so. But Li asks for his trust, and really what can Ryu do about it anyway.
Apparently there are still around 30,000 citizens left in the capital. Shin Yeongcheol and Cheonri volunteer to sneak in and arrange for some internal resistance to go along with the army attack. Then we see them sneaking in by night.
Meanwhile, inside Hanyang, the Japanese leaders are getting anxious over their increasingly difficult situation. They anticipate trouble from the citizens if an attack happens...and so they decide to kill all the men. That's right, not a misprint. Kill them all. And so we see it happen--although we see them killing the women too--as Ukita smiles excitedly. (It's horrifying; I won't even describe it.) Shin and Cheonri manage to make it out alive and take a little orphaned girl with them, that's about the only good news. How horrible.
"They deserve to die. How can they massacre people? They are barbarians who know nothing about etiquette." Li Rusong doesn't like the news but isn't exactly enraged over it. Once again Ryu is begging him to attack. Li insists on staying the course and waiting for the enemy to get antsy and come out of the fortress. Ryu reminds him that enemy reinforcements may arrive and that Joseon's supply of rations isn't infinite. Li brushes him off. It sets Ryu to screaming at him. "Will it be after all of the people in the capital die?!?" (Some confusion here in the storyline, who's left alive?) Accuses Li of ducking a fight and says if the Ming army is just going to sit here then give the Joseon army the freedom to fight on its own. That is flatly rejected.
Jeongju: The king is here now. Whatever positive energy he gained from the Pyongyang victory is gone upon hearing of the Hanyang massacre. It reduces him to kneeling on the floor and sobbing. How could it not.
"What army would fight for their lives in another country's war?" Later on, Gwanghae, Yun Dusu and Jeong Cheol despair over what happened and seethe over the fact that it wouldn't have happened if the Ming army had attacked promptly. Then they start wondering if this is all a plot by Li Rusong and Shen Weijing to not commit to a full fight so that peace talks can be held instead. It's only speculation...
...but Gwanghae goes right to Shen Weijing (who we now learn is in Jeongju with the Joseon government) and confronts him. Shen says he never told Li to back off--which is true, there was no such plan between them--but he says he agrees with the strategy anyway because he wants to have peace talks. "Why should the Ming soldiers shed blood?" Wow, there you have it...But then, "What are you talking about!?" Someone overheard him as he entered the room. Who is this new person? "Have you lost your mind? The Wae soldiers should drown in the ocean." This person is Song Yingchang, chief administrator from Ming. He's just arrived to oversee things for the emperor. Gwanghae implores him, "Please have mercy on our people" and order Li to advance. Fortunately Song already heard about the massacre; he says he'll tell Li to advance immediately. Well here's somebody with his head screwed on straight...we hope.
Next morning: Song is formally received by the king, who welcomes him enthusiastically. Song reassures him and tells him to be strong. Then Song praises the crown prince for his loyalty and tells Seonjo he already sent the order to Li. "We will recover the capital soon. Just get ready to return." Seonjo should be ecstatic, but instead he turns to Gwanghae and glares at him suspiciously, like Gwanghae still thinks he's calling the shots.
Afterwards, Gwanghae goes to his father and begs forgiveness if he stepped out of line...which he really didn't do; Song just happened to walk into that room the previous night and the two of them got to talking. It's all right," Seonjo says; "you did well." But from now on, he adds, "don't do anything. Just breathe quietly by my side." Ugh.
Li Rusong receives the order to advance. He sure isn't happy about it...but wait! It's all academic now anyway because word arrives that the enemy army is leaving the capital just like Li was waiting for them to do. "Are they crazy?", he wonders. He orders Zu Chengxun to take a scouting party to check.
Zu does so, and yeah, they discover an enemy unit patrolling a ways outside of the city. Zu is supposed to simply report back...but he can't help himself and orders an attack.
Word arrives back at camp that Zu killed 100 soldiers. Li is ecstatic and says the main army will attack now. Luo Shangzhi wonders if this isn't a ruse, and also reports that the cannon unit isn't ready to attack at the moment. He looks like he thinks this isn't a good idea. "The cavalry unit will be enough," Li answers confidently. Oh geez....
Here comes the cavalry unit...and yep, down they go. It's an ambush, led by a furious Konishi seeking revenge for what happened during his retreat. Li has another horse shot out from under him and a wild battle breaks out in the close quarters of the forest-lined road. Li manages to flee but his whole cavalry unit is killed. Narration tells us that this was on January 27, 1593 and that Li lost 1000 men. "He was blinded by merit and fell for a trap. The Ming army was motivated after recovering Pyongyang, but this defeat made them lose the will to fight. This changed the tables of the war again."
That evening, Li returns to camp and orders the whole army to withdraw northward! He tells Ryu that he didn't fall for a trap, which Ryu already knows he did, and that the Japanese advance party that attacked him had 20,000 soldiers and the main army has 200,000. Ryu knows that's utter nonsense and calls him on it. And scouts now report that the enemy has retreated back into Hanyang so they're not anywhere within 40 kilometers of here. But Li insists on withdrawing anyway. Ryu starts yelling at him and it turns into an ugly confrontation between the Ming and Joseon leaders, which leads to pushing and shoving and Lee Il being knocked to the ground and kicked and beaten.
Word of the confrontation reaches the government. The king and officials are horrified that a Joseon general was treated so disgracefully. Yun asks, "Are they reinforcements or enemies?" The officials urge Seonjo to summon Song and complain to him. For once Seonjo shows some spine and agrees to do it.
Next morning, he and Song are sitting down for tea in an outdoor pavilion as the officials stand nearby--within earshot. Seonjo actually does very well for himself; firmly stating that Joseon's generals deserve basic respect and what happened is "the same as humiliating me and my court." Song is properly apologetic--he hadn't heard about the incident--and says he'll deal with it and make sure it doesn't happen again. He's very gracious. So Seonjo decides to push his luck. Asks for one more thing: give the Joseon army its freedom. Makes a good argument, that there would be less chance for friction among the generals if the Joseon army were independent. Song calmly sips his tea, then stands to leave and says he'll return home with his army! Obviously he's taken this as an insult. We don't want to command your army, he says, but we need to. "Having a unified command structure is necessary to win." And adds, "You can' t expect equal treatment when you're not capable of it. If you want, you can show how capable the Joseon army is without our help." And he walks away, leaving a stunned Seonjo behind.
Later, Seonjo berates his officials for pushing the whole command-structure issue in the first place. Yun Dusu calms him down, assuring him that the Ming army isn't going to just walk back home all of a sudden. And then Lee Hangbok speaks up. Urges Seonjo to show that the Joseon troops can fight successfully. Reminds him that Gwon Yul has 4,000 soldiers in the south, and tells him to order Gwon to move his forces closer to Hanyang so they can harass the enemy from the south when the main attack is launched from the north. "If Hanyang is recovered that way, the Joseon army will receive merit regardless of the Ming army's command." Wow, where did that come from all of a sudden? Interesting idea. Only hitch is that Seonjo can't give the order himself. Lee Deokhyeong suggests sending a secret order to Ryu (Ryu isn't here) and having him coordinate it all. That would mean appointing Ryu supreme commander of the three southern provinces so that he had the authority to do it. Jeong Cheol starts to object to giving Ryu so much authority, but Seonjo won't even let him finish his first sentence. "Do it," he says without hesitation.
Ryu gets the royal order of appointment. He sends Cheonri to Gwon Yul with the secret instructions to move his army closer to Hanyang and how and when to attack.
Cheonri goes and hand-delivers Ryu's message to Gwon Yul. It's definitely a risky strategy, moving closer to where the enemy is...but Gwon is all for it and orders preparations made immediately.
Oh, no...some time has passed; we're not sure how much time, but enough time to make Ryu angry because Li still hasn't attacked! Ugh! Li says he's carrying out a strategy called "iildaero"--saving energy and waiting for the stress on the enemy to exhaust them before attacking. Well that doesn't sound right for this situation at all, and Ryu says so. But Li asks for his trust, and really what can Ryu do about it anyway.
Apparently there are still around 30,000 citizens left in the capital. Shin Yeongcheol and Cheonri volunteer to sneak in and arrange for some internal resistance to go along with the army attack. Then we see them sneaking in by night.
Meanwhile, inside Hanyang, the Japanese leaders are getting anxious over their increasingly difficult situation. They anticipate trouble from the citizens if an attack happens...and so they decide to kill all the men. That's right, not a misprint. Kill them all. And so we see it happen--although we see them killing the women too--as Ukita smiles excitedly. (It's horrifying; I won't even describe it.) Shin and Cheonri manage to make it out alive and take a little orphaned girl with them, that's about the only good news. How horrible.
"They deserve to die. How can they massacre people? They are barbarians who know nothing about etiquette." Li Rusong doesn't like the news but isn't exactly enraged over it. Once again Ryu is begging him to attack. Li insists on staying the course and waiting for the enemy to get antsy and come out of the fortress. Ryu reminds him that enemy reinforcements may arrive and that Joseon's supply of rations isn't infinite. Li brushes him off. It sets Ryu to screaming at him. "Will it be after all of the people in the capital die?!?" (Some confusion here in the storyline, who's left alive?) Accuses Li of ducking a fight and says if the Ming army is just going to sit here then give the Joseon army the freedom to fight on its own. That is flatly rejected.
Jeongju: The king is here now. Whatever positive energy he gained from the Pyongyang victory is gone upon hearing of the Hanyang massacre. It reduces him to kneeling on the floor and sobbing. How could it not.
"What army would fight for their lives in another country's war?" Later on, Gwanghae, Yun Dusu and Jeong Cheol despair over what happened and seethe over the fact that it wouldn't have happened if the Ming army had attacked promptly. Then they start wondering if this is all a plot by Li Rusong and Shen Weijing to not commit to a full fight so that peace talks can be held instead. It's only speculation...
...but Gwanghae goes right to Shen Weijing (who we now learn is in Jeongju with the Joseon government) and confronts him. Shen says he never told Li to back off--which is true, there was no such plan between them--but he says he agrees with the strategy anyway because he wants to have peace talks. "Why should the Ming soldiers shed blood?" Wow, there you have it...But then, "What are you talking about!?" Someone overheard him as he entered the room. Who is this new person? "Have you lost your mind? The Wae soldiers should drown in the ocean." This person is Song Yingchang, chief administrator from Ming. He's just arrived to oversee things for the emperor. Gwanghae implores him, "Please have mercy on our people" and order Li to advance. Fortunately Song already heard about the massacre; he says he'll tell Li to advance immediately. Well here's somebody with his head screwed on straight...we hope.
Next morning: Song is formally received by the king, who welcomes him enthusiastically. Song reassures him and tells him to be strong. Then Song praises the crown prince for his loyalty and tells Seonjo he already sent the order to Li. "We will recover the capital soon. Just get ready to return." Seonjo should be ecstatic, but instead he turns to Gwanghae and glares at him suspiciously, like Gwanghae still thinks he's calling the shots.
Afterwards, Gwanghae goes to his father and begs forgiveness if he stepped out of line...which he really didn't do; Song just happened to walk into that room the previous night and the two of them got to talking. It's all right," Seonjo says; "you did well." But from now on, he adds, "don't do anything. Just breathe quietly by my side." Ugh.
Li Rusong receives the order to advance. He sure isn't happy about it...but wait! It's all academic now anyway because word arrives that the enemy army is leaving the capital just like Li was waiting for them to do. "Are they crazy?", he wonders. He orders Zu Chengxun to take a scouting party to check.
Zu does so, and yeah, they discover an enemy unit patrolling a ways outside of the city. Zu is supposed to simply report back...but he can't help himself and orders an attack.
Word arrives back at camp that Zu killed 100 soldiers. Li is ecstatic and says the main army will attack now. Luo Shangzhi wonders if this isn't a ruse, and also reports that the cannon unit isn't ready to attack at the moment. He looks like he thinks this isn't a good idea. "The cavalry unit will be enough," Li answers confidently. Oh geez....
Here comes the cavalry unit...and yep, down they go. It's an ambush, led by a furious Konishi seeking revenge for what happened during his retreat. Li has another horse shot out from under him and a wild battle breaks out in the close quarters of the forest-lined road. Li manages to flee but his whole cavalry unit is killed. Narration tells us that this was on January 27, 1593 and that Li lost 1000 men. "He was blinded by merit and fell for a trap. The Ming army was motivated after recovering Pyongyang, but this defeat made them lose the will to fight. This changed the tables of the war again."
That evening, Li returns to camp and orders the whole army to withdraw northward! He tells Ryu that he didn't fall for a trap, which Ryu already knows he did, and that the Japanese advance party that attacked him had 20,000 soldiers and the main army has 200,000. Ryu knows that's utter nonsense and calls him on it. And scouts now report that the enemy has retreated back into Hanyang so they're not anywhere within 40 kilometers of here. But Li insists on withdrawing anyway. Ryu starts yelling at him and it turns into an ugly confrontation between the Ming and Joseon leaders, which leads to pushing and shoving and Lee Il being knocked to the ground and kicked and beaten.
Word of the confrontation reaches the government. The king and officials are horrified that a Joseon general was treated so disgracefully. Yun asks, "Are they reinforcements or enemies?" The officials urge Seonjo to summon Song and complain to him. For once Seonjo shows some spine and agrees to do it.
Next morning, he and Song are sitting down for tea in an outdoor pavilion as the officials stand nearby--within earshot. Seonjo actually does very well for himself; firmly stating that Joseon's generals deserve basic respect and what happened is "the same as humiliating me and my court." Song is properly apologetic--he hadn't heard about the incident--and says he'll deal with it and make sure it doesn't happen again. He's very gracious. So Seonjo decides to push his luck. Asks for one more thing: give the Joseon army its freedom. Makes a good argument, that there would be less chance for friction among the generals if the Joseon army were independent. Song calmly sips his tea, then stands to leave and says he'll return home with his army! Obviously he's taken this as an insult. We don't want to command your army, he says, but we need to. "Having a unified command structure is necessary to win." And adds, "You can' t expect equal treatment when you're not capable of it. If you want, you can show how capable the Joseon army is without our help." And he walks away, leaving a stunned Seonjo behind.
Later, Seonjo berates his officials for pushing the whole command-structure issue in the first place. Yun Dusu calms him down, assuring him that the Ming army isn't going to just walk back home all of a sudden. And then Lee Hangbok speaks up. Urges Seonjo to show that the Joseon troops can fight successfully. Reminds him that Gwon Yul has 4,000 soldiers in the south, and tells him to order Gwon to move his forces closer to Hanyang so they can harass the enemy from the south when the main attack is launched from the north. "If Hanyang is recovered that way, the Joseon army will receive merit regardless of the Ming army's command." Wow, where did that come from all of a sudden? Interesting idea. Only hitch is that Seonjo can't give the order himself. Lee Deokhyeong suggests sending a secret order to Ryu (Ryu isn't here) and having him coordinate it all. That would mean appointing Ryu supreme commander of the three southern provinces so that he had the authority to do it. Jeong Cheol starts to object to giving Ryu so much authority, but Seonjo won't even let him finish his first sentence. "Do it," he says without hesitation.
Ryu gets the royal order of appointment. He sends Cheonri to Gwon Yul with the secret instructions to move his army closer to Hanyang and how and when to attack.
Cheonri goes and hand-delivers Ryu's message to Gwon Yul. It's definitely a risky strategy, moving closer to where the enemy is...but Gwon is all for it and orders preparations made immediately.
