Chapter 17 8. Besiege Qinghe, Tunnel to win

After the defeat of the Ming army in Fushun and other places, the Ming court was even more anxious. They did not expect that the Manchu army led by Nurhachi would capture so many cities in a row, and countless soldiers died in battle. They would be threatened even more in the long run. .So the Ming court became cruel and hurriedly dispatched troops to Liaodong, but Liaodong's current military strength was stretched and it was impossible to divide troops to support it.While the Ming court was struggling with this matter, Nurhachi proposed to make peace with the Ming court, and promised to withdraw troops back to Hetuala immediately, but actually stepped up internal training to find opportunities for combat.

Qinghe, located among the four mountains, is surrounded by Yahu Pass (now the third pass in the southwest of Xinbin, Liaoning) in the east. It is a strategic hub for Jianzhou to enter the hinterland of Eastern Liaodong.Before going out of the customs, Yang Gao of Ming Jinglue told Zou Chuxian: "If the Manchu army comes to attack, we must use the complicated terrain of Qinghe to find a good area that is conducive to defensive battles as a combat base." Relying on the terrain is not enough, I order you to build a war fortress in a favorable terrain within four months to meet the enemy, and you must not concentrate your troops in the city and wait for death!"

In the next few days, Zou Chuxian gathered all the soldiers and people in the city and built military fortifications near Qinghe City. The fortifications were equipped with artillery, guns, lead, iron eggs, and rolling logs.He decided to wait for the arrival of the full army and set up an ambush to block the attack. On July 20th, the forty-sixth year of Wanli, Nurhachi led his troops out of Hetuala, marched towards Qinghe, and besieged Yahuguan on the same day.Zou Chuxian was horrified when he heard the news that the soldiers had entered Qinghe, he hurriedly mobilized his troops and returned to Qinghe City.Abandoned the newly built fortifications.He believed that fighting anywhere, whether setting up an ambush or besieging him, would be unfavorable to him. Only when he returned to the city could he have both offensive and defensive capabilities, and could continue to contend with the Manchu army.But what he did just went against the plan Yang Gao had given him to defend the city.

On the 21st, Nurhachi broke through Yahu Pass, came outside Qinghe City, and launched an attack. The defenders on the city resisted tenaciously, firing artillery, rolling logs and stones.The Manchu army that had attacked earlier was immediately beaten to pieces, and Nurhachi ordered the troops to retreat. Nurhachi camped near Yahuguan Pass. It was late at night, and the stars in the sky flickered like sparks.But in Nurhachi's eyes at this time, it seemed extremely strange.He walked around outside the camp, and a doubt arose in his heart, why didn't the Ming army set up an ambush here?At the same time, there was a little luck in my heart.He found a stone and sat on it, thinking about how to destroy Qinghe City, the key is how to break the city gate, as long as the city gate is broken, and the army rushes into the city, the Ming army will definitely be defeated.

"Why is Da Khan so elegant today, and came here to admire the stars?" The person who came was Li Yongfang, and Nurhachi betrothed one of his granddaughters to him. Nurhachi sighed, and said, "At this time, I have a breath in my heart, and I can't release it even if I want to. It's uncomfortable." Li Yongfang said with a smile: "Khan is a heart disease, as long as the heart disease is cured, the anger will slip out." "Do you have any ideas?" Nurhachi asked suddenly. Li Yongfang said: "I was also an official in the Ming Dynasty, and I know a little about Zou Chuxian, the defender of Qinghe City. This man is not good at using soldiers, and he only does things according to his own likes and dislikes. He offended many people during his reign."

Nurhachi was taken aback and said, "What's the use of telling me these things." Li Yongfang said with a smile: "Da Khan still didn't understand. Zou Chuxian is very assertive, and he has to make up his own mind no matter how big or small it is. A spies reported that Yang Gao once offered him a plan, but he was useless. All the soldiers retreated to Qinghe City again. This way, it is extremely beneficial to us." "Can you explain it more clearly?" Nurhachi was still a little puzzled. Li Yongfang said: "When two soldiers fight, there are bound to be casualties. Since the withdrawal of the troops, I have come up with a plan in my heart. It will definitely not work to attack Qinghe City, but we can take another method, which is to dig a corner of the city wall, from which The lower part of the city is connected to the inner part of the city, but in doing so, some soldiers must be sacrificed to serve as cover and divert the attention of the enemy. I can stand up at the right time and persuade Zou Chuxian to surrender. If it works, we will avoid this battle; no If so, we’ll have to use that method.”

Nurhachi was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "This plan is very good. I think it is a bit impossible to persuade Zou Chuxian to surrender, but I can try it. Just now I heard you said that digging a corner of the city wall is a very good way. Divide the troops into two groups, and all the way to the front Confront the Ming army, divert the attention of the Ming army, and quietly go around to a corner of the city wall to dig a tunnel. By the time the Ming army reacted, our soldiers had already entered the city through the tunnel." The next day, Nurhachi led an army to the outside of Qinghe City to call for battle.Seeing the provocation from the Manchu army who was defeated yesterday, the city guard cursed: "The defeated general will come back if he still has face! In my opinion, you should save your life, disband and go home."

Hearing that the Manchu army came to attack the city again, Zou Chuxian immediately exclaimed: "Defend and kill me desperately, don't let them rush into the city." When Zou Chuxian came to the city and looked down, he saw that the army was densely packed, and he felt flustered for a moment.At this time, Li Yongfang squeezed out from the crowd full of troops, turned her head up and shouted to the city: "The one standing on the city is Zou Chuxian, General Zou?" Zou Chuxian couldn't find the person calling his name for a while, so he responded: "Who is calling me?"

Li Yongfang stepped forward again and said: "You and I have been officials in the court for several years, have you forgotten me?" Zou Chuxian saw Li Yongfang clearly, his face changed suddenly, and he scolded: "You traitor, why don't you find a place to end your remaining life, what are you doing here?" Li Yongfang said: "When you were officials together, you didn't know how corrupt the government was. Now that there is a new master who can stabilize the people, why should I be foolishly loyal to the dying court? I'm here to see you today." You, I want to persuade you to repent, not to use all your talents and strategies in useless places. If you surrender now, you can also enjoy the glory and wealth like me, and you can also use your talents to benefit the people. Why not Why not?"

"Bah! You don't even blush when you say that." Zou Chuxian blushed with anger, grabbed an arrow and shot at Li Yongfang.Fortunately, Li Yongfang was wearing special armor, so she was not injured. This is actually Li Yongfang's strategy of attacking the east and attacking the west. The whole army in the city has already gathered in front of the city to defend closely.While they were talking, Nurhachi sent a group of strong and elite soldiers around the back of the city.Some of them used shovels, some used picks to dig towards the corner of the city wall. After about two hours, the city wall was finally dug through.At this time, the battle in front of the city gate had just begun.

Nurhachi fired a trumpet, and the soldiers began to move towards the back of the city.Zou Chuxian, who commanded the battle in the city, was very puzzled, thinking that the Manchu army would withdraw again.While being surprised, a soldier ran over with a face full of horror and shouted: "The general is not good! A passage was dug out by the Manchu army behind the city, and a large number of Manchu troops have rushed into the city." Zou Chuxian's body suddenly tilted and almost fell down.He turned to the soldiers and said, "Hurry up... Hurry up... Move the troops to the back of the city, and don't let the full army come in." Most of the soldiers guarding the city were transferred away, leaving only a small part.Seeing that most of the defenders had evacuated from the front of the city, the Manchu army estimated that the time was almost up, so they braved the rain of arrows and shells, each of them held the corpses of soldiers who died in battle, and piled up in front of the city, forming several rows. People's Ladder", Manchu troops boarded the city on the "human ladder".Seeing this, the guarding soldiers fled one after another, and most of those who ran slowly were hacked to death by the full army. Nurhachi ordered all the soldiers to shout, as long as they surrender, they will never kill.But none of the Ming army surrendered, as if they had been intoxicated, as long as they had the breath, they wanted to kill. Qinghe City was in chaos immediately, the sound of crying and killing overwhelmed the sound of weapons clashing.The Ming army could no longer resist the powerful offensive of the Manchu army. The soldiers of the Ming army were wounded, fled, and surrendered.Seeing the situation, Zou Chuxian knew that if the battle continued, he would not even have a chance to escape, so he led some remnant soldiers to rush out of the city.As soon as he was about to rush out of the city gate, he was shot off his horse with an arrow by a Manchu soldier, and was trampled to death by the fleeing Ming soldier.Since then, in the battle of Qinghe, the Manchu army won, and the Ming army defending the city was defeated. Attacking a fortified battle has been a headache since ancient times, and most of the attacking party has to pay a heavy price, not to mention that there are extremely lethal artillery on the city wall this time.It is completely reasonable that the Manchu army, which has always been invincible, failed in its first siege.Since this path does not work, it is necessary to think about the problem in another way.Li Yongfang was able to figure out a way to dig a tunnel without losing a way to reduce casualties.The so-called combat strategy sometimes does not require careful planning before it can be implemented.Just like the method of digging tunnels in the Battle of Qinghe, the solid city walls are actually soft soil. In the eyes of the Ming army, their defeat was sudden, but for the Manchu army, victory was actually controlled by themselves from the moment the tunnel was dug. in hand.