Upon learning that this location was Byeokjegwan, Li Xingzhong was stirred with deep emotion. It was here that his great-uncle, Li Rusong, had once led several thousand elite cavalrymen to hold off a siege and assault by tens of thousands of Japanese invaders. After that battle, the invaders never again dared to launch a major northward offensive, and the two sides entered a stalemate. It could be said to be one of the critical turning points in the Imjin War.
Determined not to disgrace Li Rusong or the Li clan of Liaodong, Li Xingzhong led the charge himself. He personally commanded his elite troops, driving toward the mouth of the valley. The valley was narrow, preventing the Ming Army from utilizing their superior numbers, so they were forced to advance in long, thin columns. Li Dingguo attacked from the north, and Li Xingzhong from the south. There was no room for tactics; it was a brutal, head-on collision of pure grit, life for life.
The Eight Banners soldiers fought with desperate ferocity, for this was a matter of life and death. If they won, they might live a little longer; if they lost, death was immediate. The Ming Army, however, was even more determined, for this was their chance to change their fate—not just for a moment or a lifetime, but for their entire clan for centuries to come. The Hongnong Yang clan had thrived for a thousand years because their ancestor, Yang Xi, had managed to secure a piece of Xiang Yu’s body after the Battle of Gaixia. To the Ming so…
Chapter 1273