Chapter 27 9. Head-to-tail attack, bloody battle in Shanhaiguan

When the Qing army arrived at the outskirts of Shanhaiguan, Li Zicheng led the peasant army to arrive one day earlier, and had already fought Wu Jun in a bloody battle for a day. A stone was next to Shanhaiguan, but it was still outside the pass.In this battle, Wu Sangui did not use elite soldiers and strong generals, but mobilized 50,000 to 60,000 "village brave" troops to resist the attack of the peasant army.The rest of the troops are still stationed at the important gorge in the pass.Li Zicheng was too conceited. He thought he could defeat Wu Sangui and occupy Shanhaiguan without any effort, but he didn't expect Wu's army to be so powerful in combat that he couldn't break it for a while.But judging from the battle situation, the Wu army is obviously a bit out of support.After Yiyishi fell and retreated, in order to preserve his strength, Wu Sangui withdrew his troops back to the pass, and sent someone to ask for help from Dorgon, who was already close to the pass but had no action to send troops.

When Dorgon was preparing to enter the customs, he became suspicious again, fearing that Wu Sangui and the peasant army would lure him into the customs and set a trap for himself.After discussing with the Baylors, he came to a conclusion, and then quietly watched the battle and spied on the movement.At this time, it was already daylight, and Li Zicheng was mobilizing troops and horses, preparing to attack the city.Wu Sangui was even more anxious, and couldn't wait any longer, so he led more than ten generals and hundreds of elite cavalry into the Qing army camp to meet Dorgon.Dorgon's worries about the future were completely dispelled, and what made Dorgon happy was that this time was definitely an excellent time to surrender Wu Sangui.The two sides met, straight to the point, hit it off.Wu Sangui immediately shaved his hair and became a minister, and then described the current emergency situation to Dorgon in detail.

Wu Sangui said: "The Peasant Army doesn't know about the arrival of the Qing army yet, so they have concentrated all their forces on the front to attack Guancheng, and the forces in the rear are extremely weak. We can adopt the tactics of attacking the head and tail and chopping his waist, so that he will be caught off guard." Dorgon nodded acquiescingly, but he kept an extra eye in his heart. He felt that this battle was no small matter, and success or failure was the key.Since the Peasant Army didn't know our army was coming, we could find a fighting opportunity from here. Let Wu Sangui send troops to fight the Peasant Army first, and when the fight reaches a certain level, he will lead a heavy army to go there. It can be regarded as waiting for work with ease, reducing the loss of one's own troops. "The general's tactical attainments have made me very admired. From this we can see that as long as our two armies join forces, the peasant army will undoubtedly be defeated. It's just that my Qing army is not familiar with the terrain of Shanhaiguan, so once we make a move, we will definitely suffer from it Fortunately, I think so..." Dorgon paused and continued, "Since the general is stationed at Shanhaiguan, he must be familiar with the terrain of Shanhaiguan, and the soldiers are good at fighting in the area under their jurisdiction. Therefore, the general must first lead his troops to attack Peasant Army, if I charge in with lightning speed, the Peasant Army will definitely be defeated!"

Wu Sangui felt a little displeased, although Dorgon's words were sound, but he was still doubting whether he really surrendered to him.He tried his best to let himself take the lead, no doubt he wanted to reap the benefits of the fisherman and clean up the mess.But the situation has come to this point, if you don't do what he said, the result will be even worse.Wu Sangui nodded and said: "The prince's analysis is reasonable, then according to your deployment, I will lead the troops and the peasant army to take the lead." At this time, Li Zicheng did not hesitate at all, he felt that he would definitely win this battle.Although the Wu army's combat effectiveness is very strong, it is simply an egg against a stone to compete with the peasant army, and it is beyond its capabilities.When the future troubles of Wu Jun are eliminated, it will not be too late for him to ascend the throne, and then he will not have to worry about these wars anymore.Even though Li Zicheng thought so, there was still a turmoil in his heart. Yesterday he had the first battle with Wu Jun. The Liaodong soldiers led by Wu Sangui were indeed the strongest opponents he had ever encountered in his life.Success and failure suddenly became important at this time, and Li Zicheng immediately transformed his underestimation of the enemy into a thought of dealing with the enemy cautiously.He believed that if Wu Sangui's troops were to be completely defeated, he might have to send out all his troops.

Soon, Wu Sangui led 50,000 Wu troops to take the lead in the battle, shouting and galloping across the river, with cavalry first and infantry behind, adopting the tactic of rushing forward and killing later.The army commanded by Li Zicheng has set up a decisive battle in Hongwadian area on the west bank of Shihe River: from the mountains in the north to the sea in the south, it stretches for 20 to 30 miles, like a long snake, facing the west gate of Shanhaiguan, showing a majestic posture to win the pass in one fell swoop. .Standing on a high hill, Li Zicheng had a panoramic view of the battle situation. He was secretly worried for Wu Jun. Judging by the strength of the two soldiers, Wu Jun definitely had no chance of winning.I don't know if Wu Sangui lost his head. Instead of relying on the characteristics of Shanhaiguan, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, to defend the city, he put aside the natural fortifications that are beneficial to him, and led his troops to fight over.

When Li Zicheng saw Wu Sangui rushing towards him with his troops, he immediately issued an order, and the "long snake" snaked past at a rapid pace, preparing to encircle the Wu army. As soon as the battle was fought, a strong wind suddenly blew up, flying sand and rocks, and the dust was filled in the air, making it difficult to distinguish from a few feet away.Wu Sangui was eager for revenge, and with the Qing soldiers as backup, his bravery doubled, and he completely lost the intention of being wary of the enemy in the previous battle.While rushing to kill, he encouraged the whole army to fight: "Kill me! Although the 'rogue bandits' have a strong force, they are vulnerable, kill!" Wu Jun was encouraged, his morale increased, and he rushed straight to the right wing of the peasant army desperately, swinging his knife Prancing horse, charge into battle.

The peasant army did not show any weakness, and fought bravely, one after another, encircling the Wu army on three sides.Wu Jun charged to the left, the flag of the Peasant Army pointed to the left, and quickly entered the siege; Wu Jun charged to the right, and the flag of the Peasant Army pointed to the right again, and then entered the siege.Wu Jun charged away again... Repeatedly, Wu Jun charged and killed dozens of times, the peasant army surrounded and regrouped, and for a while Wu Jun and the peasant army were evenly matched.I saw the drums of the two armies beating, the horses neighing, and the voices of the people shouting, all mixed together.What's more, the sound of thunderous artillery fire was like the afterplay of war music, and arrows rained down, shooting into the formations of the two armies one after another, and some of the aggressive "Feiwan" even scattered near the temples in the city.

The fierce battle lasted until noon, and the Wu army gradually lost its offensive momentum, and it seemed that it could no longer support it.Dorgon, who was hidden in the city, saw it very clearly. He immediately summoned the kings Baylor and the generals who went to the expedition, and mobilized again: "Everyone must work hard this time and must defeat the enemy. Although the enemy has already occupied We have the upper hand, but our army is already exhausted, we can attack the head and the tail in two ways, and this battle will surely be victorious!" After speaking, he began to deploy his troops, arrayed in the direction of the sea, attacking the weaker tail of the peasant army, and attacking with the Wu army at both ends.As soon as he gave the order to fight, the Qing cavalry who were ready to go rushed out of the city like an arrow on the string.With the white flag cavalry as the vanguard, the follow-up was overwhelming. For a while, the Qing army was like a galloping horse, with endless shouts and unstoppable force.The cavalry of the Qing army charged bravely with great vigor.Seeing that the Wu army could not be supported, Wu Sangui was in a hurry. At this time, he saw the Qing army rushing from the rear of the peasant army, and he immediately cheered up. The situation on the battlefield began to reverse.

Li Zicheng saw that his troops were about to encircle and suppress the Wu army. At this time, a force of troops suddenly rushed out of the city, which made him gasp and was extremely surprised.At this time, a monk came to report and said: "Manchurian soldiers have joined the battle, and the team is huge. I'm afraid it was planned long ago. Your Majesty, you should quickly withdraw your troops and return to the city. If you continue to fight this battle, your majesty may not even have a chance to stand up." gone." Li Zicheng's heart turned cold when he heard this.When did the Qing army enter the customs, and I didn't know the details related to it. If I continue to fight this battle, I will definitely lose.Seeing the Qing army charging towards them with a murderous aura, his troops began to gradually collapse.

Li Zicheng's general Liu Zongmin had been fighting on the battlefield, and suffered many arrow wounds on his body, but he did not pull it out, and continued to fight.When the dust dispersed and cavalrymen with "braids" suddenly appeared in front of them, the peasant army couldn't help shouting: "The full army is coming..." and they were defeated.The defeat of the peasant army at the front quickly affected the entire peasant army.The long formation of the Peasant Army suddenly broke into several sections, losing its original siege momentum.The soldiers discarded bows, arrows, broadswords and other weapons one after another, and retreated violently. Many fallen soldiers were trampled to death by the soldiers behind, and there was chaos.After about one meal, as the sand and dust receded, the Shihe battlefield became empty in an instant.The Qing and Wu allied forces followed closely behind the fleeing peasant army officers and soldiers and continued to pursue and fight fiercely. They pursued for forty miles before withdrawing their troops and returning to camp.Many peasant soldiers were chased to the seashore, and many of them threw themselves into the sea and drowned.

Li Zicheng led the remnant soldiers and lost generals and fled to Yongping overnight. The Battle of Shanhaiguan ended with the complete victory of the Qing army and the complete defeat of Li Zicheng. For the Qing Dynasty, tens of thousands of lives and blood were held for it to enter Beijing. A tragic memorial ceremony.One of the main reasons why the Qing army was able to win a complete victory in Shanhaiguan was that Wu Sangui switched to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and invested 50,000 Liao soldiers, resulting in a strategic advantage over the peasant army.At the same time, as the commander-in-chief of the Qing army, Dorgon seized the opportunity to guide the war with correct strategies, tactics and policies, and his success was no accident.