Chapter 68 10. In front of Shanhaiguan

Mingguan Ning General, Pingxi Bo Wu Sangui, under the urgent call of Chongzhen, gave up Ningyuan, an important town outside the pass, and returned to aid the capital. However, when he arrived in Fengrun on March 20, he learned that the capital had fallen.Wu then led his army back to Shanhaiguan to garrison. Li Zicheng sent Tang Tong, a general from Juyongguan, to recruit Wu Sangui with his troops, Xu Yifeng, and a letter from Wu Sangui's father, Wu Xiang.Tang Tong and Wu Sangui are old comrades in arms, they participated in the Battle of Songshan two years ago together.After discussing in detail with his old comrades in arms, Wu Sangui accepted the money from Li Zicheng and expressed his willingness to surrender.Wu then handed over Shanhaiguan to Tang Tong, and led his troops to Beijing to surrender.

What happened next was described by Mr. Wu Weiye in "Yuanyuanqu", which is called "wives shouldn't care about big plans, heroes have no choice but to be passionate. The whole family's bones are turned into ashes, and a generation of red makeup shines through history." When Wu Sangui arrived in Yongping, he met someone who had escaped from Beijing, so he asked about the situation at home. Wu: How is my family? Visitors: Li Chuang lost his job. Wu: This is a misunderstanding, I will return it when I go back.What about my dad? The person who came: I was arrested by Li Chuang.

Wu: Misunderstanding, this is a complete misunderstanding, I will release it when I get back... Is Mrs. Chen okay? Visitors: Li Chuang also took over... Wu: Come on, order the whole army to wear mourning for the Ming emperor. I want to fight Li Zicheng to the death! Mrs. Chen is Chen Yuanyuan, her real name is Chen Yuan, and Yuanyuan is her stage name.In the historical materials of the late Ming Dynasty, some say that it was Liu Zongmin who snatched her, and some say that it was Li Zicheng.Regardless of who snatched it away, this incident did indeed lead to Wu Sangui's descent to the Qing Dynasty.

In the distant Jiangnan, a beautiful showgirl happened to be spotted by a noble relative.The noble relative took her to Beijing and gave it to the emperor, and then she was sent out of the palace.During a banquet at the mansion of a noble relative, a young general fell in love with her.The noble relative gave her to the general, but the general was stationed at the border, so he had to leave her in his father's old general's mansion.The rogues broke through the capital, the old general's mansion was raided, and she was snatched away by the rogues.After the general got the letter, he was so angry that he even took refuge in the enemy of a foreign race.He attracted foreign soldiers and horses, defeated the bandits, and snatched back the singing girl, but since then, the world of China has fallen into the hands of foreign races for nearly three hundred years.

On April 13th, Li Zicheng saw that the surrender was unsuccessful, so he personally led an army of about 100,000 to march to Shanhaiguan. Wu Sangui clearly realized that it was impossible for him to fight against the two forces of Li Zicheng inside the pass and the Manchu and Qing forces outside the pass at the same time, and he had to lean towards one of them.Since it was impossible for Li Zicheng to surrender, the only one who could help him was his old enemy Manqing outside the pass. Wu Sangui understands that there are no eternal enemies and no eternal friends.But Li Zicheng did not understand such a simple fact.

After learning the news of Li Zicheng's capture of Beijing, the Qing Dynasty had already issued a mobilization order, with Dorgon, the ninth son of Nurhachi, as the general, and Hong Chengchou, the surrendered general of the Ming Dynasty, as staff officers. Set the Central Plains".It doesn't matter whether Wu Sangui surrendered or not. Wu Sangui's surrender just gave the Manchu a better excuse. The Dashun Army arrived at the Shihe line in the southwest of Shanhaiguan on April 20, and immediately went into battle. Until the morning of the 21st, the Dashun Army still failed to break through the Wu Army's defense line.Li Zicheng ordered Wu Sangui's father, Wu Xiang, to persuade Wu Sangui to surrender before the battle. Wu Sangui shouted: "A father can't be a loyal minister, but a son can be a filial son?"

At noon on the 21st, the follow-up troops of the Dashun Army arrived one after another. Just as the main force of the Wu Army was retreating to eat, Li Zicheng broke through the Wu Army's defense line, went straight to Shanhaiguan, stormed Xiluo City and Beiyi City, and at the same time sent Tang Tong Army from Jiumenkou Go around the Great Wall and surround Shanhaiguan from behind. With a force of about 50,000, the Wu army was at a disadvantage, and urgently asked Dorgon for help.Dorgon moved his army to Huanxiling in the northeast of Shanhaiguan on the morning of the 22nd in order to directly observe the battlefield situation, but he refused to join the battle for a long time.

Li Zicheng had already discovered that a large number of Manchurian troops had appeared outside Shanhaiguan, but at this time he was in an extremely embarrassing situation.In terms of troop strength, the Qing army claims to have 140,000 cavalry, the Wu army has 50,000, and the Dashun army has only about 100,000. If the Qing army joins the battle, the Dashun army will be at an absolute disadvantage.But if you turn around and retreat, the Guanning cavalry of the Qing army and the Wu army are known for their mobility. Even if the cavalry of the Dashun Army can successfully withdraw from the battlefield, all the infantry and a large amount of luggage will be lost.

The problem facing Li Zicheng was: originally only one table was invited, but four tables came.The only way at present is to quickly solve Wu Sangui and capture Shanhaiguan before the Qing army enters the war. The Dashun Army stormed Guancheng desperately. Wu Sangui sent envoys to ask Dorgon for help many times, but Dorgon expressed the hope that General Wu could shave his head to see him.Wu Sangui only wanted to borrow troops to help, but Dorgon simply wanted him to surrender.Wu Sangui was unwilling to surrender to the foreign race in this way, but Li Zicheng's fierce attack without leaving room made Wu Sangui shaken.After a fierce ideological struggle, Wu Sangui finally shaved his head and went to see Dorgon.Dorgon asked all the Wu army to shave their hair. The reason was that the Qing army could not distinguish between the enemy and ourselves.

After the two sides reached an agreement, the Qing army immediately dispatched. The Tang Tong army who besieged Dongluo City in the northeast of Shanhaiguan was the first to bear the brunt.The Qing army then entered Shanhaiguan and joined forces with the Wu army. After Li Zicheng learned that the Qing army had entered the pass, he shrunk his troops to the Shihe line. Wu Jun and some Qing troops went out to form an array. The two sides launched an unprecedented field battle here.The Wu army charged first, and the Dashun army met them. When the two sides were fighting fiercely, suddenly there was a strong wind, and the sand and dust blocked out the sun.Dorgon seized this favorable opportunity, put the whole army into battle, outflanked along the right flank, and drove the Dashun army into the sea.

The brave Manchurian cavalry fell like a landslide. Li Zicheng saw a completely different army rushing into the Dashun army formation on Gaogang, he paused and said: "This must be the northern army, Sangui really brought the northern army!"The Wu army and the Qing army chased and killed them all the way, but the Dashun army suffered a disastrous defeat, causing numerous casualties. It is said that there were still uncollected remains until three years later.The Dashun Army suffered heavy losses, and even General Quan Liu Zongmin was shot by an arrow and was seriously injured. This is a battle that will determine the fate of China for the next three hundred years. Although Li Zicheng lost a lot, how could Wu Sangui be the winner?Li Zicheng immediately killed Wu Xiang's family to vent his anger. This is what Wu Weiye said in his poem, "The whole family's bones are turned into ashes."Thirty years later, Wu Sangui rebelled against the Qing Dynasty in Yunnan and Guizhou, and was defeated. He himself died of illness and grief, and the rebuilt family was also destroyed. Brothers fight against each other, who can win?