Chapter 16 [White Mountain Black Water Soaring Wolf Smoke]-2

On March 19 of the lunar calendar, the Houjin army approached Liaoyang. Yuan Yingtai sent 50,000 Ming troops out of the city to fight.As a result, not long after the battle, the Ming army broke down and turned around and fled into the city. Not to mention those who were killed, their own people trampled to death, there were more than 10,000 people, and there were layers of corpses outside the city gate. In the early morning of the next day, the last 30,000 Ming troops were sent out to the battalion outside the east gate, still using the old method of warfare, with three layers of firearms arrayed in front of the formation, and fiercely bombarded the Hou Jin soldiers.After all, it is a hot weapon in its original state, unable to resist Bing Jinbing's desperate murderous aura.The Ming army was defeated, and tens of thousands of people fell into the moat and drowned during their escape.

The fierce battle lasted for more than a day. The secret spies of the Jin army who had sneaked into the city earlier set fires everywhere, burning almost all the armaments and supplies of the Ming army, and Liaoyang fell. Yuan Yingtai saw that the situation was over, and after lamenting, he ran up to the Zhenyuan Tower in the city and hanged himself to die for his country. Shenyang and Liaoyang fell one after another, and the Ming Dynasty's rule in the entire Liaodong region collapsed, and all the troops retreated one after another. In times of crisis, Wang Huazhen stepped onto the stage of history.This person is destined to be a tragic character.

Wang Huazhen, the loser of the Hexi War, was born in Zhucheng, Shandong, and was a Jinshi in the 40th year of Wanli.When Xiong Tingbi managed Liaodong, he served as the head of the household department and guarded Guangshou.Due to the good comfort, the Mongolian fried flowers did not dare to take the opportunity to act rashly.Zhu Tongmeng investigated the case of Xiong Tingbi, and after returning to the court, he also spoke well of Wang Huazhen.After the fall of Liaoyang and Shenyang, the Ming court reappointed Xiong Tingbi, and at the same time entered Wang Huazhen as the censor of Youqin capital and governor of Guangning (now Beizhen, Liaoning).At that time, Xiong Tingbi, who was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of War, had not yet arrived, and Liaoyang was lost for the first time. He was shocked from far and near, and everyone thought that the land of Hexi would definitely not be guaranteed.At first, Wang Huazhen had only a thousand weak soldiers.He guarded the isolated city, contacted Mongolia, and inspired scholars and people, so that the court trusted him as a genius.Therefore, Xiong Tingbi managed Liaodong, but only stationed troops in Shanhaiguan.All affairs in western Liaoning were directed by Wang Huazhen.

But Xiong and Wang didn't agree with each other at the beginning, and they had different opinions.Xiong Tingbi advocated defending the war, with deep fortifications and high barriers for the elite soldiers of the future; Wang Huazhen advocated aggressiveness, and renamed the various aid troops to "Ping Liao Army".Xiong Tingbi thought: "The people of Liao did not rebel, so they should change their name to 'Pingdong Army' or 'Zhengdong Army' to comfort their hearts." Wang Huazhen disagreed.As a result, the two were in Liaodong together, and it was widely known that the economic strategy and the governor were at odds.

When the later Jin and Ming dynasties were in stalemate, Wang Huazhen's commander Mao Wenlong led hundreds of elite troops to suddenly attack Zhenjiang (near Dandong, Liaoning today), and the Ming court was overjoyed.Wang Huazhen thinks she has made extraordinary achievements.Xiong Tingbi disagreed: "The troops of the three parties were not assembled, and Mao Wenlong's attack was too early, which caused the captives to vent their hatred for the Liao people, slaughtered the four guards and the people. The heart of Dongshan (Mongolia) was ashamed, the courage of North Korea was chilled, and the spirit of Hexi was seized. Dependent country contact counts.

It's called miraculous work, but it's actually a miraculous disaster! "Sparse, the Ming court didn't realize it. When Wang Huazhen heard about it, he believed that Xiong Tingbi was jealous of his subordinate's first achievement, and hated him even more. As a man, Wang Huazhen never trained in military affairs and despised the enemy. The frivolous and supercilious habits of literati are vividly displayed in him.After winning a small victory in Zhenjiang, he felt so good that he could fly to the sky, and he said that he could contact Mongolia Chaohua and other departments to join forces.Zhang Heming, Minister of the Military Department of the Central Court, believed it and acted on Wang Huazhen's words.Therefore, at that time, Wang Huazhen had 140,000 soldiers in Guangning City, while his nominal superior, Xiong Tingbi, only had the name of "Jinglue" and only a few thousand weak soldiers around him.The two are at odds with each other in everything, and the old Xiong is shallow and domineering, which is even more incompatible with Wang Huazhen.

At the same time, Xiong Tingbi went up and clearly reprimanded Zhang Heming, Minister of the Ministry of War, for not discussing with himself and dispatching troops without authorization. As a result, the conflict between Xiong and Zhang deepened. Wang Huazhen kept yelling that Mongolia would send 400,000 elite soldiers to help, but Xiong Tingbi didn't believe it.As a result, Mongolia never sent troops, and Wang Huazhen did not dare to send troops. At the end of the first year of Tianqi (1621), the river froze, and the people of Guangning believed that the Tartar soldiers would cross the river to attack, and fled one after another.Wang Huazhen divided his troops to guard Zhenwu and Xiping fortresses, and gathered a large army to guard Guangning.

Zhang Heming, Shangshu of the Ministry of War in the middle of the court, asked Xiong Tingbi to go out to help.As a last resort, Xiong Tingbi went out to garrison troops in Youtun (now southeast of Jinxian County, Liaoning Province).The deployment was established, Wang Huazhen believed the words of Hou Jin's spies, and suddenly took the initiative to send troops to attack Haizhou, but returned halfway, and the teachers were frustrated. After returning to Guangning, Wang Huazhen still did not lose his fighting spirit, and went to Shushu to invite 60,000 soldiers, expressing that he would wipe out Houjin in one fell swoop.At that time, Ye Xianggao, Wang Huazhen's teacher, returned to the cabinet not long ago, and he was very partial to his students, so Xiong Tingbi's proposal was naturally not taken seriously.The officials of the DPRK and China found out that Liaodong Jing and Fu were not in harmony, so they impeached the two of them in many chapters, and the chaos became a mess.At that time, Wei Zhongxian hadn't become a big deal, and he and the Ke family were wholeheartedly murdering pregnant concubines in the inner palace, and the affairs of the outer court were presided over by several cabinet ministers.After fighting each other for many days, the Ming court did not clearly express its support for Xiong Tingbi or Wang Huazhen, and still served as both of them concurrently, but only warned the two to strengthen cooperation and make meritorious deeds one.

On the Nurhachi side, the horses and horses were well prepared, and in the second year of Tianqi (1622), 50,000 elite soldiers were dispatched in the early spring, divided into three groups, and went straight to Guangning. After the Jin army repaired at the Sancha River ferry, they first stormed the fortresses of Xiping and Zhenwu.Wang Huazhen credulously believed the traitor Sun Degong who had already made an appointment with the Houjin army, and sent out the Guangning garrison to let Sun Degong and Zu Dashou lead the main force of the Ming army out of the city to fight with Qi Bingzhong and others to find the Houjin soldiers.

At this time, Nurhachi was most afraid of siege, and he was best at field warfare.On the Pingyang Bridge (now Tai'an, Liaoning), the two armies met.Just after the confrontation, Sun Degong's troops collapsed first, Zhenwu and Luyang soldiers panicked and fled in all directions. Ming generals Liu Qu, Qi Bingzhong and others were all killed in battle. The 60,000 Ming army was basically wiped out by the Hou Jin army. At this time, someone suggested that Xiong Tingbi rush to Guangning for rescue, but in the end, he was blocked by others and failed to make the trip. After Sun Degong fled back to Guangning, Wang Huazhen still didn't know that he had secretly surrendered money, and he still obeyed the traitor.There were not many Ming soldiers in the city, and many people took advantage of the chaos to flee the city.Sun Degong originally wanted to send Wang Huazhen himself and Guangning as a meeting gift to Nurhachi, but thanks to the rescue general Jiang Chaodong, Wang Huazhen escaped from the city after all kinds of hardships.

Guangning was then owned by Houjin. While staggering in embarrassment, Wang Huazhen met Xiong Tingbi when he fled to Dalinghe (now in Jinxian County, Liaoning Province), and wept bitterly.At this time, Xiong Tingbi was anxious, hated and gloated in his heart, and asked with a smile: "The 60,000 army wants to wipe out Jiannu in one fell swoop, how about now!" Wang Huazhen no longer had the spirit of the past, bowed her head and felt ashamed and could not answer. After breathing down, he discussed with Xiong Tingbi and wanted to send troops to take back Guangning.Xiong Tingbi said: "It's too late to talk about this now. The only option is to escort the fleeing people into the customs." So he handed over 5,000 soldiers under his command to the back of Wang Huazhen's palace, and then burned all the military resources, and slowly covered the retreat of the refugees. At this moment, the talented and bold Xiong Tingbi from before was no longer seen.Originally, when the Ming army was defeated in Xipingdi, if Xiong Tingbi sent out the army, he might be able to defend the city with the Guangning defenders.Even if Wang Huazhen abandons Guangning, if the arrangement is proper, the Ming army can still stick to Jinzhou, Ningyuan and other places, and stop the Qing army step by step.Xiong Tingbi was disheartened because of the rivalry among his colleagues, so he didn't want to resist any more, and kept retreating into the customs. On Nurhachi's side, after sending people to rob Guangning City, the city was burned down, and the Jin army withdrew to Liaoyang.At this point, the Hou Jin army basically took the military initiative in western Liaoning. The Ming Dynasty had no hope of restoring eastern Liaoning, and retreated step by step. In the end, it could only rely on Shanhaiguan. Not long after Xiong and Wang entered the customs, both were arrested.At that time, Wei Zhongxian had gradually seized the power of the court, but he failed to ask for 40,000 yuan in silver, so he simply used Xiong Tingbi as the name to promote the "Liao case".Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and other Donglin party members were involved in the crime of accepting bribes, and they were killed one by one. Xiong Tingbi himself could not escape the end of being punished in the downtown area (the fifth year of the apocalypse).Not only his own family, but also his relatives' families were implicated, and all their property was fined and confiscated.His eldest son, Xiong Zhaogui, couldn't bear the bullying of local officials, so he committed suicide by killing himself.His daughter, Xionghu, was so angry that she vomited blood and died.It was not until the second year of Chongzhen that the imperial court issued an edict to allow his family to hold his head for burial.Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi were imprisoned to die together, but they lived a few more years, and they were not beheaded until the fifth year of Chongzhen (1632). Xiong Tingbi was killed. Yuan Chonghuan, who was defending against the enemy at that time, heard the news, filled with grief and indignation, and wrote "Two Poems of Weeping Xiong Jinglue": One of the Crying Bear's Strategies remembers meeting with a smile, personally accepting instructions and teaching night talks. He is both talented and civil and military and has no sons left. If his achievements are magnificent, he will be charged with crimes. The canthus of the generosity is about to move, and the blurred and hot-blooded face is alive. The pain in the back is extremely private, and I shed tears late at night and lost my voice in pain. Crying Bear's Tale of the Second Taixi bow and Tibetan dog cooking again, the fox mourns the death of the rabbit and cares the most. The family is impoverished and cannot be redeemed, and the public is famous for bribing the public to kill. Tuobei was deeply angry with Tan Daoji, Yuan Shuyuan and Wei Yuancheng. Why do you want to be a good soldier for the altar? When this Lord Xiong died, it was actually the Ming Dynasty himself who chopped off a huge pillar that supported the Ming Dynasty. After the Ningyuan War, the myth of the unbeaten gold was shattered. The news of Guangning's defeat reached the capital.When Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty was doing carpentry work, he was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately gave him the Shangfang sword and asked him to go to Shanhaiguan immediately. Evading the hurdle of being held accountable, Zhang Heming wiped off his brow of cold sweat, and it took him twenty days to arrive at Shanhaiguan.Then, he immediately handed in his resignation on the grounds that he was seriously ill and slipped back to his hometown. The Ming court had no choice but to find another candidate, and decided to ask the right servant of the Ministry of War to explain the classics and manage Liaodong.This literati was very timid, and he resigned repeatedly, even if he was dismissed by the court.If you lose your official position, you can go home to take care of yourself, but if you lose your life, you can eat nothing.In the end, the Ming court had no choice but to hold a "democratic" meeting, and whoever got the most votes had to go.After a long time of election, Wang Zaijin was selected by everyone, and he was appointed Minister of the Ministry of War and the right deputy capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He managed military affairs in Liaodong, Jizhen, Tianjin, Denglai and other places.Wang Zaijin strongly resigned from such a high and powerful position.In the end, Ming Xizong turned his face angrily, saying that if he dared to refuse again, "the law of the country will not tolerate it." Reluctantly, Wang Zaijin could only accept orders.He concentrated nearly 120,000 elite soldiers in Shanhaiguan, and he himself sat down to close the pass. The dangerous buildings in the city control the Shuo Court, and the tributes of hundreds of barbarians come and go.The eight windows are empty and open enough to extend the moon, and the heavy threshold and high cold can pick up stars.The wind blows and the waves startle the monsters in the sea, and the thunder roars and the quiet drums weep the spirits of the mountains.Several times Hao Xiao raised his beard and laughed, and the sound of Qiang flute was heard from outside the sky. This poem is called "Zhendonglou", which was written by Xiao Xian, a Jinshi during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty.Zhendong Building, people today may not know what this building is, but it is actually the "Shanhai Pass" that we tourists understand.In the 14th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1381), the general Xu Da built a pass at today's Shanhaiguan, and the name "Shanhaiguan" also came from that time.This majestic pass leans against the majestic Yanshan Mountains and is surrounded by the vast Bohai Sea. It is a solid defensive barrier.The "Zhendong Building" is only one of the four gatehouses in Shanhaiguan City. The other three buildings are Wangyang Building, Ying'en Building, and Weiyuan Building. The urn city on the east floor of the town, and the urn city on the other three floors were destroyed in the 1950s. The five majestic characters of "The First Pass in the World" are said to have been written by Xiao Xian, and another is said to have been written by Yan Song, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty.The author personally believes that such magnificent and elegant calligraphy should be written by someone who has been a prime minister. Therefore, Yan Song should be the writer of the five big characters.Xiao Xian's highest official position is only at the level of "Siju" such as Bingke Gishizhong and Fujian Press Chasiqianshi, and his calligraphy is not particularly famous.But just as the descendants of the four major families of "Su, Huang, Li and Cai" think that "Cai" is Cai Xiang instead of Cai Jing, they are all caused by the psychology of "loyalty and treachery". Yan Song, who has a bad reputation as the prime minister. Searching the historical records, you can find that Shanhaiguan has a long history. It belonged to Guzhu in the Shang Dynasty, Yandi in the Zhou Dynasty, Liaoxi County in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and Yuguan was set up here in the Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. It belonged to Linyu County in the Tang Dynasty and Linyu County in the Song Dynasty. This place belongs to the Liao Kingdom, and Qianmin County was established, which was called Qianmin Town in the Yuan Dynasty.Extended to the Ming Dynasty, it was called Shanhaiguan, and it was under the jurisdiction of Yongping Prefecture.In the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, it was under the jurisdiction of Linyu County. At the end of 1948, Shanhaiguan was liberated and it was under the jurisdiction of Qinyu City. In the spring of 1949, Qinyu City was renamed Qinhuangdao City. Shanhaiguan is at the western end of the Liaoxi Corridor and the eastern starting point of the Great Wall.Looking to the north, Yanshan Great Wall is like a belt, with battlements standing, surrounded by green hills, overlooking one side; waving your hand to the south, you can see the blue waves of the Bohai Sea, the stone city enters the sea, and guards the sea; the stone river in the west is a natural deep trench to prevent the enemy from invading (after liberation Build a reservoir, which is now "Yansai Lake"); in the east, there is Guanxi Ridge, which is also a natural barrier against the enemy.Since the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Northern Qi Dynasty began to build the Great Wall in the Yanshan Mountains in 556 (the seventh year of Tianbao). The ruins of the Northern Qi Great Wall can still be found.During the Sui Dynasty, Yang Liang, king of the Han Dynasty in the time of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, and Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty in the future had hundreds of thousands of troops to conquer Koryo, all of which came from Linyuguan (Shanhaiguan).Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty drove to conquer Goryeo, and he still attacked from this point. "The pillow of the Great Wall protects Yan Ji, serves as the Pinghan of the capital, and supports Xiongguan as the throat of Liaozuo" ("Jifu Tongzhi"). In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this pass was a key barrier for the safety of the capital.The regime in the Central Plains has always relied on Shanhai Pass as a dangerous pass, but during the Five Dynasties, the Lulong Festival of the Later Jin Dynasty made Zhou Dewei foolish and unprepared, resulting in Yuguan being conquered by the Khitans and losing its barrier. From the perspective of military history, the most important and famous era of Shanhaiguan was in the Ming Dynasty. "Great General Xu Da dispatched 15,100 soldiers in Yanshan and other guards, and repaired thirty-two passes including Yongping and Jieling", and "built mountain and sea guard cities" , and opened the Wharf Zhuang Port near Shanhaiguan, making it a transshipment port for Shandong food and payment and transshipment to Liaodong. Originally, in the early Ming Dynasty, the main frontier defense forces were in today's Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other places to prevent the Mongols who retreated from the desert from making a comeback.However, beginning in the mid-Ming Dynasty, Manchu forces in Northeast China emerged, and Liaodong became an important border defense area. The most important thing for iron cavalry to enter Beijing.Because it is an important throat, "the safety of the world is in one wall."For decades, the Manchu cavalry made tentative attacks many times, but they all stopped in front of the pass. They could not pass through this dangerous pass.Although there were successive victories, they were all gained and lost, and the reason was that "Shanhai Pass controls it, and the internal and external momentum is not connected. That is to enter the other entrance, and the other (Ming army) has to go around my back" (Wei Yuan's "Shengwu Ji"), thus, "(Qing army) conquered Shandong and Zhili counties, and they did not defend (abandoned) It is all blocked by the Shanhaiguan Pass.” The huge defense system of Shanhaiguan was finally completed after more than 260 years of long-term operation in the Ming Dynasty. It took the Great Wall as the main battle, with Shanhaiguan City as the center point, a total of ten passes, 7 acropolises, 37 enemy towers, 14 Composed of buildings such as beacon towers, not only the primary and secondary are distinct, but also the dots and lines echo, the layout is reasonable, and the design is scientific.Its ten major passes start from Laolongtou in the south, pass through Shanhaiguan City in the middle, and extend to a stone (Jiumenkou) in the northeast, with a total of 26 kilometers. People don't open" trend.It is worth mentioning that Qi Jiguan, a national hero, left the town of Jizhou after pacifying the Japanese invasion in the southeast coast. He overhauled military equipment, trained soldiers, and improved weapons in the Shanhaiguan area, consolidating the mountain and sea defenses in the Shanhaiguan area. Wang Zaijin himself did not know soldiers.After he took office, he did not put forward any valuable strategic ideas, but only put forward his own "eight-character policy" - rejecting slaves and captives, blocking the pass and guarding the pass.Needless to say the last four words, the core content is the first four words, rejecting slaves means resisting the Jurchen Houjin; An unrealistic trick to rebuild a level.Fortunately, not long after, Sun Chengzong, a scholar who served as a lecturer for Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty, went to Shanhaiguan for a field inspection, and together with Yuan Chonghuan and others, he rejected Wang's absurd suggestion of building a pass outside Jinguan.Therefore, this Wang Shangshu basically did nothing practical in Shanhaiguan for a few months, and wrote a lot of imperial memorabilia, all of which were empty talk of a scholar. Other ministers regarded Liaodong as fearful of the road, but the loyal minister Sun Chengzong, as a university scholar, volunteered to go to Shanhaiguan to serve as Liaodong's economic strategy.After he took office, he recommended Zhao Ledjiao and Man Gui, the deputy generals, as his assistants. Together with Yuan Chonghuan, he insisted on adhering to the strategic policy outside the customs, deployed defenses in Ningyuan and Jinzhou, and relied on Shanhaiguan to make it a military force from Nurhachi to Huangtaiji. A solid defense system that cannot be surpassed. Sun Chengzong sent generals to Jinzhou, Songshan, Xingshan, Youtun, Dalinghe, and Xiaolinghe to build city defenses. In this way, they advanced more than 200 miles from Ningyuan City, and a total of 400 miles to Shanhaiguan. Here, the Ningjin defense line centered on Ningyuan was reinforced. Master Sun worked so hard, because of the persecution of the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian and others in the capital, they used the fact that the Ming army lost hundreds of people in the Battle of Liuhe (the Battle of Liuhe was a reckless attack by Ming general Ma Shilong, but in fact it was only a small-scale defeat. interfere with the overall situation), tried his best to attack Sun Chengzong, and finally forced him to resign and go home. After Sun Chengzong left, Gao Di, a member of the eunuch party, took over the defense of Shanhaiguan. When Gao Difu took office, out of timidity, he ordered the dismantling of the Ningjin line of defense, and ordered the Ming army to retreat to Shanhaiguan for defense.For this reason, Yuan Chonghuan, who was in Ningyuan, resolutely refused to obey, saying that he would rather die in the city than retreat.Yuan Chonghuan was resolute, and other Ming generals had to obey orders, and retreated from Jinzhou, Youtun and other places in embarrassment, losing countless grain reserves.Hundreds of thousands of Liao people were also forced to return to the pass, crying and crying. Yuan Chonghuan, courtesy name Element, was born in Dongguan, Guangdong, and was a Jinshi in the forty-seventh year of Wanli. "He is generous and courageous, and he likes to talk about military affairs. When the old school retires, he often discusses the affairs of the fortress. Knowing the situation of the fortress, he will only accept himself by the side."In the second year of Apocalypse, he was appointed as the magistrate of Shaowu County and came to Beijing to report on his work. He was recommended by Yu Shi Hou Xun, and was promoted to the head of the Ministry of War.Guangning collapsed, and countless Ming armies and generals were defeated in the pass. Yuan Chonghuan was the only one who rode out of the pass alone.After returning to Beijing, he went to Shushu and said: "Give me the soldiers, horses and money, and I will guard the outside of Shanhaiguan alone!" Yuan Chonghuan, let him recruit troops. Before leaving, he went to visit Xiong Tingbi who was under house arrest in the capital under "Shuanggui".The two didn't talk for a whole day, and it was too late to meet each other.In particular, Lao Xiong was overjoyed to learn that Master Yuan himself held the same strategic policy of "defending first and then fighting". . After arriving at Shanhaiguan, Yuan Chonghuan appeased the tribes of Harashen, and stationed in Zhongzuo (about 40 miles away from Shanhaiguan) late at night. With the support of Sun Chengzong, he rebuilt Ningyuan City in the fourth year of Tianqi (1624), making this small fortress town an important town outside the customs with extremely complete defense facilities. Sure enough, in the spring of the sixth year of the Apocalypse (1626), Nurhachi personally led 60,000 post-gold elite soldiers, with a new spear, and went straight to Ningyuan.The city is located in the middle of the Liaoxi Corridor. It is about 100 kilometers away from Shanhaiguan in the west and 300 kilometers away from Shenyang in the east. It is surrounded by mountains in the north and the sea in the south. This time, Houjin claimed 200,000 troops for this dispatch.After Nurhachi arrived in Ningyuan, he first recruited and surrendered Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan laughed and said to the emissary: ​​"There are not so many 200,000 troops. I heard that there are only 130,000. I, the Ming soldiers, have nothing to fear!" to stick to it. In order to arouse the spirit of loyalty, Yuan Chonghuan wrote a book with blood, held cattle and wine, and worshiped all the soldiers.The Ming army felt angry from top to bottom, and actively died. Therefore, under Yuan Chonghuan's precise arrangement, the Ming army withdrew all the people from the city and Zhou Dynasty into the city, fortified the walls and cleared the fields, and installed more than ten most advanced Western "red barbarian cannons" on the city at that time.It is worth mentioning that in the city of Ningyuan, the Ming army only had less than 20,000 troops. Seeing that the persuasion failed, Nurhachi ordered the Jin army to attack.All of a sudden, Hou Jin's braided soldiers came from the field. They flocked forward, pushing the chariot first, followed by archers, chariot soldiers, and heavy armored cavalry, moving solidly and murderously towards the city wall. Yuan Chonghuan was calm and calm, waving the command flag in his hand, and the Ming army fired cannons.While deafening, shells exploded in the Houjin team, and the thick and tall carts and the surrounding carts were immediately blasted into crumbs mixed with wood and flesh, and the red mist flew wildly. Even so, the Hou Jin soldiers were still desperate, and rushed to the city like ants, digging the city wall with their lives.Fortunately, the weather was cold, although many bricks and stones of the walls of Ningyuan City were pierced, but the frozen soil was solid and did not collapse. Since the Houjin soldiers who attacked the city were not within the range of the cannon, the Ming army came up with a new trick, stuffing gunpowder into the quilt and throwing it into the group of Houjin soldiers who were digging corners under the wall.Then, the Ming army defending the city shot fire with bows and arrows, and immediately the quilts bloomed everywhere. The fire burned many Jin soldiers to death, and their siege chariots and ladders were also ignited one after another. In this way, there were more than two days of fierce fighting. Because the Hongyi cannons on Ningyuan City were too powerful, Nurhachi had to look at the city and sigh.The only thing that gave him some comfort was that the Hou Jin 1st Division attacked and killed thousands of Ming troops guarding the granary on Juehua Island, and finally earned back a little face.In annoyance, the Hou Jin army slaughtered thousands of residents on the island. On the 27th, Nurhachi rode a tall horse and wanted to take another look at Ningyuan City in person before withdrawing from the siege.As a result, the cannon fired again, and an iron pellet penetrated into the armor and went straight into his back.Although he was desperate at the time, it made the old Jurchin immediately vomit blood.Injured and severely frustrated soldiers, he could only order a rescue and return to the army. During the retreat of the Jin army, Yuan Chonghuan ordered Zu Dashou, Man Gui and others to lead the Ming army to pursue them. They highlighted the surprise soldiers and defeated Daishan's first army.After that, the Jin army left in embarrassment. Because he ate a few ginseng a day, the injured Nurhachi lingered on the sickbed for more than half a year, and finally died of hatred. Of course, the official documents of the Qing Dynasty kept silent about the real cause of Nurhachi's death, only saying that he died of illness.People in the Ming Dynasty said that this slave chief died of "gangren on his back" after Ning Yuan's defeat, that is, he died of suffocation.In fact, the iron ball of the cannon was the real cause of his death. When the news of victory came, the entire Ming court cheered.For the first time in eight years, Jin Bingfeng suffered a setback.As a result, Yuan Chonghuan was promoted to be the censor of the capital of Youqian, and the governor of Liaodong, and all the generals were rewarded.Of course, the "Factory Minister" Wei Zhongxian contributed the most, and the "Ningyun Great Victory" was said to be the result of his own "command and control", and his clan's children were all rewarded for this.Gao Di, who had been stationed at Shanhaiguan and was afraid to ask for help, was only punished by resigning from his job and staying idle because he was a member of the eunuch party. After the Battle of Ningyuan, fortifying the city with cannons became the strategic guiding ideology of the Ming army.For this reason, Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty also issued an edict to designate more than a dozen Western cannons as "the generals of An Guoquan and Ping Liao Jinglu", which is indeed "progressive" compared with the five big pine trees that Qin Shihuang granted shelter from the rain as "doctors". .Since then, the situation between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty has changed from a unilateral attack by the former Jin Dynasty to a strategic confrontation between the two sides. The correct embodiment of Ning Jin's battle with strong guns After Nurhaci's death, his eighth son Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne and changed his name to "Tian Cong".Yuan Chonghuan was courageous and resourceful, and sent his subordinate Du Si and others to mourn the funeral with gifts.Huang Taiji received him warmly, and the two sides were tacitly polite to each other.Yuan Chonghuan's move was to test the reality of Houjin, and Huang Taiji's salute was to ease the unstable political situation when Houjin and Khan alternated.Because the Korean and Mongolian tribes were watching, Huang Taiji was not at ease.The two sides began to make peace. Huang Taiji wanted to use Shanhaiguan as the boundary, and asked the Ming Dynasty to give gold and things to Houjin every year.This is almost a replica of the relationship between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty. Of course, the Ming Dynasty could not agree.Huang Taiji did not hesitate to "beg for perfection", and promised to cut off his "year title", enshrined the Ming Dynasty as Zhengshuo, and returned ginseng and mink fur every year in return. In fact, from the top to the bottom of the Ming Dynasty, including Yuan Chonghuan himself, they never thought of actually carrying out peace talks with the Jurchens, and sending people to each other was just a tentative means of delaying and waiting.Therefore, at the beginning of the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627), Huang Taiji first launched an attack on North Korea. After more than ten days, the Korean Peninsula was completely occupied. The King of North Korea fled to Ganghwa Island like a rabbit. "A country of brothers". Force the other party to sign the "Jiangdu Peace Agreement", and let the other party make it clear that North Korea must remain neutral when Jin and Ming are at war. In early summer, Huang Taiji returned from North Korea to rest for a while, and led an army of about 70,000 to march towards Jinzhou. Yuan Chonghuan has always adhered to his own set of principles: "Defend the land of Liao with the people of Liao, and support the people of Liao with the land of Liao. Defense is the right plan, war is the odd plan, and peace is the side plan." For more than a year, he directed Ming The army built fortified cities, developed large-scale garrison fields, and selected officers and generals guarded dangerous passes, and they never relaxed their preparations for war.Of course, there were also conflicts between Yuan Chonghuan, Man Gui and others later on, but after mediation by many parties, everyone was able to put the overall situation first, share the same hatred, and fight against Houjin together. In the summer and May of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Huang Taiji led about 30,000 outpost elite soldiers across the Liaohe River, and went straight to Jinzhou, completely encircling Jinzhou City.Zhao Shuisu, Zuo Fu, Zhu Mei, and even Ji Yong, the eunuch of the supervising army, and others who were in charge of the city guards of the Ming Dynasty all went to one place to lead their troops to resist on the four sides of the city, and they did not dare to relax at all.At the same time, the ministries of the Ming army greeted each other in advance, and they must not fall into the strategy of enticing the troops of the Houjin army to go out into battle. Melee. After attacking Jinzhou for more than ten days, the Jin army was severely injured and did not make any progress.Helpless, Huang Taiji had no choice but to lead tens of thousands of elite soldiers to rush towards Ningyuan, leaving only a small number of troops to surround Jinzhou. On May 28, the Houjin soldiers started their second siege campaign against Ningyuan.Yuan Chonghuan and Man Gui (Mongolian Ming generals) personally supervised the battle.Man Gui led the Ming army out of the city to meet the Jin soldiers.Huang Taiji was overjoyed when he saw this, thinking that he could finally fight the Ming army.He didn't know that after Nurhachi's retreat, Yuan Chonghuan stepped up training the Ming army for field battles. He specially organized a chariot battalion and a cavalry battalion to train specifically for fighting against Houjin's wilderness every day.At the same time, Yuan Chonghuan fired cannons under the command of the city, and killed the Houjin army on their backs, causing many casualties. Huang Taiji was annoyed, and ordered his soldiers to charge, forcing the Ming army to retreat for a while.General Man Gui of the Ming Dynasty took the lead and fought with injuries. The Ming army was excited and moved forward enthusiastically. With more than 200 vans, they fired firearms from the vehicles. After fighting for a day, 4000 to 5000 people were killed or injured, and Ningyuan City was unscathed.Seeing that there was no hope of attacking Ningyuan, Huang Taiji had no choice but to lead his army to encircle Jinzhou. At this time, Huang Taiji was angry and impatient, with a gambler's mentality, and ordered the Houjin soldiers to take Jinzhou to death.Fortunately, the Ming army had deep trenches and strong walls, plus cannons, and the corpses of the Jin soldiers were scattered all over the field, and thousands of troops were lost. As the weather was getting hotter and the body was suffocating, Huang Taiji had no choice but to withdraw his troops in desperation as the army was about to suffer from an epidemic. This battle was called "Ningjin Great Victory" by the Ming Dynasty.This great victory is of great significance, as Yuan Chonghuan himself said: "In the past ten years, all the soldiers in the world have never dared to fight with slaves (Later Jin). , Aggressive!" The Ming army's fear of the enemy was swept away. With the same hatred and united wisdom, the Ming army finally won a triumphant victory. The good news of the great victory came to Beijing. Naturally, Wei Zhongxian and his gang won another "great contribution", and hundreds of members of the eunuch party were "determined in command" He was promoted to rank, while Yuan Chonghuan, the greatest hero of the Ningjin Great Victory, was only "raised one level". Soon, the eunuch party officials attacked Yuan Chonghuan for negotiating peace with Hou Jin in private, which led to the attack on North Korea.Yuan Chonghuan had no choice but to say that he was ill and begged for a rest to go home. Fortunately, the Ming court did not "pursuant" him, and Yuan Chonghuan was able to retreat completely. Soon, Ming Xizong died of illness, and his half-brother Zhu Youjian came to the throne as Emperor Chongzhen. After Emperor Chongzhen captured and killed Wei Zhongxian's eunuch, Yuan Chonghuan was able to be reappointed, as the Minister of the Ministry of War and the right deputy capital censor, and supervised the military affairs of Jiliao (and also supervised Denglai, Tianjin). It is a pity that Huang Taiji did not attack Shanhaiguan in the third year of Chongzhen (1630). He bypassed Inner Mongolia and suddenly forced Beijing. If you kill Yuan Chonghuan, the pillar of your own family, the Ming Dynasty will not perish, which is too much for heaven!