What were Qi Jiguang’s main achievements in resisting foreign aggression?

Qi Jiguang’s achievements:

Southern expedition against Japanese pirates

Battle of Cengang

In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557), Japanese pirates After invading Yueqing, Ruian, Linhai and other places, Qi Jiguang led his troops to rescue, but they were unable to make it in time because of the isolation of roads. Therefore, the court did not punish Qi Jiguang. Later, Wang Zhiyu's party caused chaos in Cengang, and Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou's armies joined forces and went to besiege. But they were not captured for a long time, so the imperial court dismissed Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others and asked them to take the blame to kill the enemy. The Japanese pirates stationed in Cengang could not withstand the attack of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, so they planned to escape.

In the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing (1558), the Japanese pirates built a large ship and prepared to escape at night. Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang took the opportunity to launch an attack and sank the Japanese pirate ship. The remaining party fled to southern Fujian. The Japanese pirates who escaped from Cengang went on to burn, kill, and loot in Taizhou. Luo Jingbin and others impeached Qi Jiguang for deliberately releasing the Japanese pirates from Cengang, and were suspected of collaborating with the Japanese. Just when he was about to be punished, Qi Jiguang was reinstated because of his contribution to pacifying Wang Zhi, and was asked to guard the three counties of Tai, Jin and Yan.

After Qi Jiguang took office in Zhejiang, he found that the soldiers in the guard station had average combat capabilities, while the people in Jinhua and Yiwu were more sturdy, so Qi Jiguang went to recruit 3,000 people, and under Qi Jiguang's guidance and training, they were An elite force was formed, later known as the "Qi Family Army". Qi Jiguang formulated a formation based on the geographical features of the swampy south, and equipped his troops with firearms, weapons, warships and other equipment. The Qi family army became famous all over the world.

Battle of Taizhou

In the 40th year of Jiajing reign (1561), Japanese pirates launched a large-scale attack on Taozhu, Qitou and other places. Qi Jiguang led his army to guard Taozhu and defeated the Japanese pirates in Longshan. Qi Jiguang marched all the way Chase to Yanmen Ridge. After the Japanese pirates escaped, they took advantage of the opportunity to attack Taizhou. Qi Jiguang took the lead and killed the leader of the Japanese pirates. The remaining party members were desperate and all fell into the Gualing River and drowned. However, the Japanese pirates invaded Taizhou again, and Qi Jiguang led his army to annihilate them all in Xianju. After the great victory in Taizhou, Qi Jiguang was promoted to the third rank. Later, Japanese pirates from Fujian and Guangxi flowed into Jiangxi and caused chaos. Governor Hu Zongxian was unable to pacify them, so he asked Qi Jiguang to come for reinforcements. Qi Jiguang led his army to defeat them in Shangfangchao. The Japanese pirates rushed to Jianning, and Qi Jiguang led the army back to Zhejiang.

The Battle of Fujian

In the 41st year of Jiajing (1562), Japanese pirates invaded Fujian, and combined with Japanese pirates from Funing, Lianjiang and other places, they successively captured Shouning, Zhenghe, In Ningde and other places, the Japanese pirates who invaded from Nan'ao, Guangdong, combined with the Japanese pirates from Fuqing and Changle, captured Xuanzhongsuo, and invaded Longyan, Songxi, Datian, Gutian, Putian and other places.

The Japanese pirates were so powerful that the local officers and soldiers did not dare to attack, so Hu Zongxian ordered Qi Jiguang to lead troops to suppress the bandits. After receiving the order, Qi Jiguang led his troops to attack Hengyu Island first. The dangerous waterways around Hengyu Island were difficult to pass. Qi Jiguang ordered his soldiers each to hold a bunch of straw and fill the trenches. They defeated the Japanese pirates on Hengyu Island and beheaded more than 2,200 of them. Afterwards, Qi Jiguang took advantage of the victory and pursued the enemy to Fuqing, destroying the cattle fields and destroying the Japanese pirates' lair. The remnants of the Japanese pirates fled to Xinghua in a hurry, and Qi Jiguang did not stop. He chased them all the way, destroyed more than 60 camps of Japanese pirate strongholds, and beheaded countless people.

After Qi Jiguang pacified the Japanese pirates in Fujian, he returned to Zhejiang and traveled to Fuqing. He encountered a small number of Japanese pirates who had landed from Dongyingao. Qi Jiguang led his troops to attack and beheaded two hundred people. After several battles, Qi Jiguang almost killed all the Japanese pirates in the Fujian-Guangzhou area.

Battle of Xinghua

After Qi Jiguang returned to Zhejiang, new Japanese pirates from Japan were waiting for an opportunity to invade. As their numbers grew stronger, they attacked Xinghua, but were besieged. It has not been captured for several months. At this time, Liu Xian sent eight people to Xinghua with letters to convey the message. They were intercepted and killed by the Japanese pirates. The Japanese pirates dressed up as Liu Xian's envoys and tricked them into opening the city gate and took the opportunity to capture Xinghua City.

After the Japanese invaders captured Xinghua, Liu Xian led his troops to approach Xinghua. However, due to the small number of troops, Liu Xian did not dare to attack the city without authorization. However, he was impeached and charged. Yu Dayou, the commander-in-chief of Fujian Province, also expressed the need for a large army to encircle him.

In the 42nd year of Jiajing (1563), the imperial court appointed Tan Lun as the censor of the right capital, and the governor of Fujian came to support him. However, Ouyang Shen, the commander of the capital, was ambushed by Japanese pirates and died in a fight. The Japanese pirates Then he occupied Pinghaiwei. In April, Qi Jiguang led Zhejiang troops to come to support.

After Qi Jiguang arrived, Tan Lun immediately prepared for a general attack on the Japanese pirates. He first erected fences on each sea channel to block the Japanese pirates' return. Then Tan Lun assigned Liu Xian as the left army and Yu Dayou as the right army. Tan Lun led the central army and Qi Jiguang was the vanguard and besieged Pinghaiwei. He was defeated in one fell swoop and more than 2,000 people were beheaded. Qi Jiguang and others led his troops to pursue them, but the Japanese pirates' roads were blocked and more than 3,000 people were beheaded. So Liu Xian and others revived Xinghua. The imperial court recorded Qi Jiguang's previous military exploits in the Hengyu battle, and appointed Qi Jiguang as the commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief of the army.

The Battle of Xianyou

In February of the forty-third year of Jiajing (1564), the remaining Japanese pirates gathered more than 10,000 people to besiege Xianyou and fought for three days. Qi Jiguang led his troops to After the siege was lifted, the Japanese pirates were defeated. Qi Jiguang led his army to pursue them until they reached Wangcangping, where they beheaded more than a hundred people. Many of them fell to their death from the cliff. Thousands of people from the remaining party fled and occupied Caipiling in Zhangpu. Qi Jiguang divided his soldiers into five sentries (ancient military establishment units) to climb up the rock and met the Japanese pirates at hand-to-hand combat, capturing and killing more than a hundred people. The remaining Japanese pirates robbed fishing boats and fled to the sea, and then invaded Funing. Qi Jiguang led Li Chao and others to defeat them, and then pursued them to Yongning, killing more than 300 people.

In the same year, the Chaozhou Japanese pirates gathered 20,000 people, and they worked as horns with the pirate Wu Ping to plunder Chaozhou. Yu Dayou led his troops to defeat the Japanese pirates, and surrendered Wu Ping, allowing Wu Ping to be stationed in Meiling. But soon after, Wu Ping gathered more than 10,000 scattered Japanese pirates who had been defeated by the Ming army, and together with Lin Daoqian and Zeng Yiben, they landed in Zoumaxi and Bopuao, and looted Nancun Fort and Gangkang Village. Qi Jiguang immediately led his troops to encircle and suppress the enemy. After learning about it, Wu Ping abandoned Meiling, which he had previously defended, gathered more than 100 large ships, fled into Nan'ao, and built Dazhai for defense.

In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), Yu Dayou led the navy and Qi Jiguang led the infantry. The two worked together to encircle Wu Ping. Wu Ping was defeated and fled to Fenghuang Mountain alone.

Northern Tatars

In the first year of Longqing (1567), Wu Shilai reported to Emperor Mu Zong of the Ming Dynasty and suggested that Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others train the Tatars in the Jimen area. Soldier. However, after the court meeting, it was decided that only Qi Jiguang would be appointed. So the imperial court appointed Qi Jiguang as the deputy general of the Shenji Camp. At that time, Tan Lun had just recruited 30,000 infantrymen in the Liao and Ji areas, and another 3,000 soldiers in Zhejiang. He asked Qi Jiguang to train them, and got Mu Zong's permission.

In the second year of Longqing (1568), Emperor Muzong of the Ming Dynasty asked Qi Jiguang to train soldiers from Jizhou, Changping, Baoding and other places. Officials below the chief military officer were all under Qi Jiguang's control. After Qi Jiguang took office, Jizhou had the commander-in-chief Guo Hu, but Qi Jiguang was the prime minister and could not unify the orders. Therefore, the imperial court transferred Guo Hu away and made Qi Jiguang the commander-in-chief to guard Jizhou, Yongping, Shanhai and other places. Qi Jiguang was also promoted to the right governor because of his meritorious service in defeating Wu Ping. At that time, the Northern Barbarians invaded Qingshan Pass, and Qi Jiguang led his troops to repel them.

In the first year of Wanli (1573), the young prince of the Northern Barbarians and Dong Hu planned an invasion. They asked for rewards from the Ming court but were rejected, so they burned, killed and looted at Xifengkou. After learning about it, Qi Jiguang led The soldiers went to quell the chaos and almost captured Dong Fox alive. In the summer of the same year, Dong Hu invaded Taolin and was repelled by Qi Jiguang. Then Dong Changang, Dong Hu's nephew, invaded Jieling and was defeated again. Dong Hu repeatedly invaded the border and not only failed to gain advantage, but also suffered heavy losses. So he offered the border to ask for rewards, and the court promised to give him annual rewards.

In the second year of Wanli (1574), Dong Changang invaded the border again but was unable to enter through the pass, so he forced his uncle Dong Changtu to invade the border. Qi Jiguang led his troops to defeat him and captured Dong Changtu alive. Dong Hu and Dong Chang'ang led 300 people from their clan to Qi Jiguang Pass to plead guilty. Dong Hu, wearing plain clothes, cried and begged to pardon Dong Changtu. Qi Jiguang decided to accept his surrender after discussing with his subordinates. Dong Hu then released the looted people and vowed not to rebel again. From then on, Dong Hu and Dong Changang no longer dared to invade Jimen.

The Jimen guarded by Qi Jiguang was impregnable and the Northern Barbarians could not attack, so they turned to invade Liaodong. Qi Jiguang led reinforcements and assisted Liaodong defender Li Chengliang to repel them. The imperial court granted Qi Jiguang the title of Taibao of the Crown Prince, and then granted him the title of Shaobao.

Troop training and formation

Military, Qi Jiguang wrote two important military books, namely "New Book of Ji Xiao" and "Record of Military Training". These two books are a summary of his experience in training and fighting, and they are also his textbooks for training the army. They have a high status in military science and are included in the "Sikuquanshu", accounting for one-tenth of his military works.

When Qi Jiguang first arrived in Shandong to prepare for the war against Japanese pirates, he found that the Ming army was arrogant and lazy, with lax discipline and untrained soldiers. Compared with the Japanese pirates who were proficient in Japanese swords and heavy arrows, their combat effectiveness was too weak.

So Qi Jiguang went to Jinhua, Yiwu and other places to recruit 3,000 farmers and trained them personally. This was the early "Qi Family Army".

Mandarin Duck Formation

Because the coasts of Zhejiang and Fujian are mountainous and swampy, and the roads are rugged, it is difficult for large forces to deploy, and the Japanese pirates are good at setting up ambushes and fighting hand-to-hand. In response to this characteristic, Qi Jiguang created a new battle formation. This formation looked like mandarin ducks walking together when fighting Japanese pirates, so it was named "Mandarin Duck Formation". This formation of a basic combat unit of twelve people, with the combination of long and short weapons, can continuously change according to the terrain and combat needs.

The Yuanyang Formation consists of 12 people in a team, with the captain at the front, the next two holding a long card and a shield. The long shield holds a long shield to block the heavy arrows and spears of Japanese pirates, and the shield holds a shield. The lightweight rattan shield is equipped with a javelin and a waist knife. The long card player and the rattan card player mainly cover the advancement of the rear team. In addition to covering, the rattan card player can also engage in close combat with the enemy. The two of them are holding wolf bamboos for the wolf bamboo. The wolf bamboo is made from moso bamboo grown in the south. The bamboo is selected to be old and solid, and the end of the bamboo is beveled into a sharp shape, leaving sharp branches around it. Each wolf bamboo is 3 meters long. On the left and right, the wolf swordsman uses the sharp blade at the front of the wolf sword to assassinate the enemy to cover the advancement of the shield hand and the attack of the spearman behind. Then came four spearmen with spears in their hands, two on each side, taking care of the shield bearers and wolf bearers on the left and right in front respectively. The short-soldiers who followed up with short swords were the short-soldiers who used short swords. If the long-swordsmen failed to stab the enemy, the short-soldiers would rush forward with their short swords and kill the enemy. The last one is the fire soldier in charge of food. "Yuanyang Formation" not only closely combines spears and shields, long and short, fully exerting the effectiveness of various weapons, but also the formation can be changed flexibly. According to the situation and combat needs, the column can be changed into a horizontal formation, a formation can be changed into two small formations on the left and right, or three small formations on the left, center and right. When it becomes two small formations, it is called the "Two Talents Formation". The left and right shield hands are accompanied by the left and right wolf hands, spearmen and short soldiers respectively to protect its attack; when it becomes three small formations, it is called the "Three Talents Formation". At this time, the wolf spear hand, the long gun hand and the short hand hand are in the center. Shield bearers guarded the left and right sides. This changed formation is also called the "changing mandarin duck formation". This formation used flexibility and maneuverability, which just suppressed the Japanese pirates' advantage. Qi Jiguang led the "Qi Family Army", and after practicing the "Mandarin Duck Formation" method, he dealt a devastating blow to the Japanese pirates in the battle.

Chariot camp

When Qi Jiguang was guarding Jimen, he established a chariot camp to restrain the cavalry based on the characteristics of the northern nomads who were good at cavalry combat. Every four people pushed a chariot and fought. Keep horse traps and firearms in the vehicle. During the battle, the chariots were formed into a square formation. The horse infantry used the chariots as cover and first used firearms to conduct long-distance attacks. When the enemy's cavalry approached, the infantry used horse-repelling weapons to line up in front of the formation and assassinated them with spears. After the enemy was defeated, they sent The cavalry pursued him. Qi Jiguang also set up a heavy supply camp at the back of the formation, selected the southern soldiers as the vanguard, and the guards as the main coordinator. The local soldiers were responsible for defense. Qi Jiguang's army was shrewd in control and sharp in equipment, making Jimen the first army on the border at that time.

Building the Great Wall

Jinshanling

The "Southern Japanese and Northern Japanese pirates", that is, the harassment of Japanese pirates along the southeast coast and the harassment of Tatar cavalry on the northern border, are long-term There were two major problems that troubled the Ming court and endangered the Ming Dynasty. After destroying the Japanese pirates in the south with Yu Dayou, Tan Lun and others, Qi Jiguang was transferred to the north to defend against the Tatars.

In order to strengthen the defense of the north, the Ming Dynasty divided the Great Wall into nine defense zones, each with heavy troops stationed in them. They were called nine-border towns, and each town was under the jurisdiction of a general military officer. Ji Town stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Juyongguan in the west, guarding the capital. It is the most important town among the nine towns. Qi Jiguang is the chief military officer of Ji Town.

The Jizhen Great Wall was first built in the early Ming Dynasty. In the sixth year of Hongwu, General Xu Da and others were ordered to prepare for the Shanxi and Beiping borders, and ordered each of them to build a strategy. From Huai'an Hou Huayun Longyan, he traveled more than 2,000 miles to the west from Yongping, Jizhou, and Miyun. There were one hundred and twenty nine passes, all of which were garrisoned. In the 14th year of Hongwu, Xu Da sent Yanshi and other guards to build 32 passes including Yongning and Jialing with 15,100 soldiers. Although the Great Wall was also built during the Hongzhi and Jiajing years, it was too simple. The truly large-scale construction was completed by Qi Jiguang from Longqing to the beginning of Wanli.

In the process of building the Great Wall, Qi Jiguang, based on the architectural idea of ??"adapting measures to local conditions and using danger to control fortresses", raised the city walls where the mountains are low; built watchtowers where the mountains are high, and added additional repairs in some places. Barrier walls, support walls, and horse-blocking walls are all made of masonry or masonry-wood structures, making this section of the Great Wall well-equipped, solidly constructed, rigorously laid out, and both offensive and defensive. Experts have identified the Jinshanling Great Wall as the essence of my country's Great Wall.

Barrier walls, text bricks, and horse-blocking walls are known as the "three unique features" of the Jinshanling Great Wall.

Hollow enemy tower

While strengthening the city wall, Qi Jiguang also built a hollow enemy tower. The hollow enemy platform consists of upper, middle and lower parts. The lower part is the base, which is made of large stones with the same height as the city wall. The middle part is the hollow part. Some use brick walls and brick arches to bear the load, and are constructed into interconnected vaults. Some use wooden columns and wooden floors. It is load-bearing and covered with heavy brick walls on the outside, forming a large indoor space on the first or second floor for soldiers to garrison and store grain, fodder and weapons. The upper part is the platform top. Most of the enemy platforms have a tower built in the center to provide shelter from the wind and rain for the soldiers defending the city. Some platform tops are spread out to form a platform for burning smoke and fire to raise the alarm, but there is no tower.

Qi Jiguang has detailed records of the hollow enemy towers in "Miscellaneous Records of Military Training". The enemy towers vary in height and size. Each enemy tower serves as a horn to help each other. The enemy towers are equipped with artillery, Tatar bows and arrows. Unable to shoot at the soldiers in the enemy tower, the cavalry did not dare to approach the Great Wall under artillery attack. Each hollow enemy station is equipped with a commander, who is responsible for directing the battle.

Equipment invention

Qi's saber

Qi's saber is a weapon specially improved and manufactured by Qi Jiguang for the Japanese knives used by Japanese pirates. The knives used by the Ming Dynasty army were often cut off by the Japanese knives when fighting Japanese pirates. Qi Jiguang absorbed the strengths of the Japanese sword and improved the Chinese saber with an obvious Japanese style. The arc of the blade was increased, the width of the blade was reduced, the tip of the blade had a small arc, there was a pick line in the middle of the blade, and there was also a pick line on the back of the blade. The blade tip retains basically the same thickness as the blade body, and the back of the blade is trimmed to reduce the overall weight of the blade without reducing the strength of the blade. Qi Jiguang recorded the forging method of this sword in his book "Miscellaneous Records of Military Training: Weapons Explanation".

The National Museum of China currently has a Dengzhou Qi family sword in its collection. The upper part of the sword is engraved with the characters "Dengzhou Qi family in the tenth year of Wanli".

Langzhen

The wolfzhan is one of the weapons that Qi Jiguang equipped the Qi family army to deal with Japanese pirates. It is two feet thick and one to five or six feet long. When the Ming Dynasty army was fighting Japanese pirates, they were panicked because they were afraid of the Japanese swords of the Japanese pirates. Qi Jiguang installed an iron spear head on the top of a long and knotty bamboo, ironed the branches on both sides with fire to make them straight and hooked, and then poured Add tung oil and apply poison. During the battle, the Japanese pirates' long knives were sharp, but they could not cut through soft branches. The layers of bamboo knots were deep enough to block the penetration of long spears. The branches on the wolf sword are lush and can protect the holder. When charging into battle, it can not only protect itself, but also has very lethal power. It can be said to be both offensive and defensive, and it is known as a "sharp weapon for piercing Japanese enemies."

Artillery

The artillery equipped by Qi Jiguang for the Qi family army is also called "Tiger Crouching Cannon". It is named because its firing pattern resembles a squatting tiger. The Ming Dynasty army attached great importance to the use of firearms, and specially established the "Shenji Camp", a unit equipped with firearms. When fighting Japanese pirates, Qi Jiguang found that the use of bird cannons and Fran machines had great shortcomings. Although the bird guns were accurate, their lethality was too weak, while the Fran machines, although lethal, were very heavy and difficult to carry. So Qi Jiguang invented the "Tiger Crouching Cannon", which was more lethal than the cannon, lighter than the Franco machine, and easy to carry. And manufacture equipment in large quantities.

Evaluation:

① I heard that Qi Jiguang planned to prepare for Japanese invaders in the south. He built a wall along the coast with Yantai in between. From Huaidong to Guangxi, it was no worse than this. The defense was very strong and Japanese pirates I dare not go to Lu Yun because of this.

② Qi Jiguang, the commander-in-chief of Ji Town, ordered Ni Shan, the general of the Chinese Army, to lead 30,000 Ji County troops to attack the northern barbarians. Because of the general’s prestige, the army feared his order. And dare not disturb the people.

Qi Jiguang (November 12, 1528 - January 5, 1588), whose courtesy name was Yuanjing, also known as Nantang, later named Mengzhu, and his posthumous title was Wuyi. Han nationality, native of Penglai, Shandong (some say his ancestral home is Dingyuan, Anhui, and he was born in Luqiao Town, Weishan County, Jining, Shandong). A famous anti-Japanese general of the Ming Dynasty, an outstanding strategist, calligrapher, poet and national hero.

Qi Jiguang fought against Japanese pirates on the southeast coast for more than ten years, eliminating the Japanese pirates that had plagued the coast for many years and ensuring the safety of lives and property of the coastal people; later he fought against the Mongolian tribal invaders in the north for more than ten years, safeguarding He ensured the security of the northern territory and promoted the peaceful development of the Mongolian and Han peoples. He wrote famous military books such as the eighteen-volume "New Book of Jixiao" and the fourteen-volume "Records of Military Training", as well as "Zhizhitang Collection" and Submit memorials and amendments to the imperial court in various historical periods.

At the same time, Qi Jiguang was an outstanding weapons expert and military engineer. He transformed and invented various fire attack weapons; the large and small warships and chariots he built made the Ming army's waterway equipment superior. To defeat the enemy, he creatively built a hollow enemy tower on the Great Wall, which could be used to advance, attack, retreat or defend. It was a very unique military project.