Chapter 19 Chapter 19 Determination

Nurhachi decided to completely wipe out the disobedient city in front of him, as well as the unknown man who dared to tease him. He believed that he could do this, because he knew for sure that this was an isolated city, and there were no reinforcements in front of and behind it, and there would be no reinforcements, and the only one resisting in the city was a recalcitrant General, and more than 10,000 isolated and helpless Ming troops. Six years ago, in Sarhu, he used more than 40,000 people to defeat the most elite army of 120,000 in the Ming Dynasty. Even the famous general Liu Ting who beat the Japanese to death in North Korea died in his hands.

Now, he led an elite army of 60,000 people and was invincible all the way. He came to this small city, facing only more than 10,000 defenders, and an unknown soldier named Yuan Chonghuan. There is no suspense about the outcome. Regarding this point, whether it is Nurhachi and his four major Baylors, or Gao Di of the Ming Dynasty, and even Sun Chengzong, they all hold the same view. Yuan Chonghuan believes in the light, because in his hands, there are four kinds of winning weapons. The first type of weapon is called the death guard. To put it simply, you can't die in the city. No matter how you fight, you won't go out, and you will die in the city.

Although this strategy is rather timid, it is very effective. You have 60,000 people and I only have 10,000. Why should I go out and let you fight?If you call in, I will admit defeat. His second weapon is the Hongyi Cannon. Cannons were the housekeeping skills of the Ming Dynasty. When they attacked Japan, they relied on them to send tens of thousands of devils to the sky. They also had the function of destroying corpses when they killed people. But this trick is not very useful on Nurhachi, because the main force of the Japanese army is infantry, and the later gold is cavalry, which is extremely fast. With the rate of fire and quality of the cannons of the Ming Dynasty, they greeted them without firing a few sabers.

Yuan Chonghuan knew this, but he still used cannons—imported cannons. Hongyi Cannon, also known as Hongyi Cannon, is a purely imported product, produced and assembled abroad. I am not looking down on domestic products, but as far as cannons are concerned, foreign ones are better.In fact, the cannons of the Ming Dynasty were not bad. Small hand cannons (small Frang machine) still had certain technical advantages, but there were problems with large artillery such as the General Cannon. This is an insurmountable technical problem - blasting the bore. Everyone should know that the artillery at that time had to be loaded with gunpowder in order to shoot the shells. The heavier the shells, the more gunpowder. If there was less gunpowder, the shells might fall to the ground as soon as they came out of the barrel, and the maximum damage would be to hit people’s feet , but if it is installed too much, since the barrel is a relatively closed space, it will explode inside, that is, the chamber will explode.

From a philosophical point of view, this is an antinomian paradox in which explosives are filled into the barrel, but the impact force is only allowed to advance in one direction (forward). How to solve this problem, I don’t know, and Yuan Chonghuan probably didn’t know either, but foreigners know that they built a cannon that didn’t explode, and after several twists and turns, it fell into the hands of the Portuguese. As for where the cannon was produced, historical data have different opinions.Some say it is the Netherlands, some say it is the United Kingdom, Rolls-Royce or Philips, it doesn't matter, as long as it is easy to use.

It is said that there were 30 cannons in this batch, which were sold to the Ming Dynasty by the hands of the Portuguese.When I brought it back for an audition, I blew up one gun on the spot (you must not be superstitious about foreign products), and the rest were still usable. At Yuan Chonghuan's request, ten guns were transferred to Ningyuan, and the rest stayed in the capital to pretend. Among these ten cannons, one will eventually form an indissoluble bond with Nurhachi. In order to ensure that the cannon is easy to use, Yuan Chonghuan also specially recruited a person named Sun Yuanhua.According to the usual practice, when buying imported goods, Chinese manuals must be distributed, let alone cannons.The Portuguese are very interesting. Although they are second-hand dealers and there is no manual, they can conduct training. They specially recruited a few Chinese to focus on teaching, and Sun Yuanhua is an excellent student in the Portuguese teaching class.

Yuan Chonghuan's third weapon is called Jianbi Qingye. In order to ensure that the enemy would not snatch a grain of grain and drink a drop of water, Yuan Chonghuan ordered to burn all houses and fodder outside the city, and transfer all residents into the city.In addition, he also did something that none of Nurhachi's opponents had done before - clearing out internal traitors. Nurhachi is a person who prefers to play dirty tricks, and he is very interested in sending spies to cooperate with the inside and outside. Before that, Fushun, Tieling, Liaoyang, Shenyang, and Guangning were all taken down in this way.

Nurhachi didn't know Yuan Chonghuan, but Yuan Chonghuan knew Nurhachi very well. He had figured out this trick a long time ago, so he organized an anti-traitor team to search for foreigners from house to house, and immediately killed spies when they encountered them. He also sent militiamen to stand guard in the city to prevent spies from destroying them. Persistence, cannons, and strong walls to clear the field, but this is not enough, far from enough. Ningyuan has been surrounded by 60,000 elite soldiers under Nurhachi. There is no hope of breaking through. How long can it last? So it was the last weapon that finally brought him on the road to victory.

This weapon starts with an order. After deploying external defense, Yuan Chonghuan called his subordinates and asked him to go to Shanhaiguan immediately, find Gao Di, and ask him for one thing. This subordinate knew that this was to ask for reinforcements, but he was also very confused. Mr. Gao ran faster than a rabbit before he withdrew his troops. How could he send troops? "This trip is bound to be fruitless, and reinforcements will not come." Yuan Chonghuan replied calmly: "I want you to go, not to ask for reinforcements." "Please tell Mr. Gao that I don't want his reinforcements. I only want him to do one thing."

"If you find any soldiers or generals who have fled from Ningyuan, shoot them to death!" The name of this weapon is determination. I don't have the support of the court, I don't have the guidance of the teacher, I don't have the reinforcements from the superiors, I don't have the assurance of victory, I don't have the hope of surviving. However, I have a firm belief. I will not retreat, I will stick to this place, fight to the last person, even if we die together, I will never retreat. This is my determination. On the 24th day of the first lunar month, before the war was about to start, Yuan Chonghuan summoned all his subordinates, and bowed down to them amidst the sound of astonishment.

He told everyone frankly that there would be no reinforcements, no helpers, and that Ning Yuan had been completely abandoned. But I don't want to give up, I will stay here until the last moment. Then he bit his middle finger and wrote a bloody letter, solemnly making this oath. I don't know the reaction of the soldiers, but I know that in that battle, among all those who stood firm in the city, there was only courage, firmness and fearlessness, not cowardice. On the morning of the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of the Apocalypse, Nurhachi issued an order to attack with a look of contempt, and the powerful and elite Houjin army rushed to the lonely Ningyuan City. It must be explained that the later Jin army did not go shirtless when attacking the city. They also knew very well that they could not charge up the city wall on horseback. In fact, they had a fairly complete tactical system, and there were roughly three groups of people. Whenever there is an attack, the forward of the Houjin army is served by a special type of arms-the soldiers.All the soldiers are pushing the cart.The so-called 楯车 is a kind of wooden cart, with several layers of thick cowhide wrapped in front of a thick wooden board, and water is poured on it. Since the board and cowhide are quite solid, the Ming army's firearms and bows and arrows cannot be shot through. This is the first group of people. . The second group is the archers, who hide behind the chariot and shoot arrows into the sky at an angle of 45 degrees (the range is very long), regardless of whether they hit the target, they leave after shooting. The last group is the cavalry. When the front is done, the distance will be close, and the effect of rushing out to kill people is quite good. Countless Ming armies were defeated in this way. The firearms did not work, and the cavalry couldn't cut people down, so they had to be destroyed. This time the process was roughly the same. Numerous soldiers pushed wooden carts and marched towards the city. They believed that the Ming army in the city was the same as before, and the firearms, bows and arrows would succumb to the cowhide. However, the cowhide was broken. The Hou Jin army with the ladder hid behind the wooden planks and cowhide, waiting for the moment to get close to the city wall, but what they waited for was the sound of thunderbolts on a sunny day and unknown objects falling from the sky. What is worth celebrating is that many of them still overlooked the whole picture of Ningyuan City - in mid-air. The Hongyi cannon at the head of Ningyuan City shot out brilliant flames with terrifying loud noises, and sent countless post-gold troops, their broken chariots, and countless pieces of cowhide to the sky—and then to the underworld. Regarding the effect of the Hongyi Cannon, the description in the history books is quite appropriate and sensational: "Everywhere blooms everywhere, and everything rots." When the first cannon was fired, Yuan Chonghuan was not at the top of the city. He was receiving a foreign friend——Korean translator Han Yuan. The loud noise frightened Comrade North Korea. He looked at Yuan Chonghuan in horror, but only saw a smiling face and three words of relaxation: "The thief is here!" A few months ago, when Yuan Chonghuan was determined to resist, he had already arranged a defensive system. The commander in chief guarded the east city, the general Zu Dashou guarded the south city, the deputy general Zhu Fu guarded the west city, and the deputy commander Zhu Mei guarded the north city. command. Among the four, Man Gui and Zu Dashou were the most capable, and the east and south cities they guarded were also the strongest. The Hou Jin army was very tenacious. After experiencing a major blow, they never gave up, stepped on the corpses of their predecessors, and continued to advance towards the city. The main direction they chose to attack was the southwest. This choice is not very good, because the guard in the west is Zhu Fu, and the guard in the south is Zu Dashou, so it is Zhu Fu and Zu Dashou who guard the southwest. What's more troublesome is that the Hou Jinjun fell into a strange situation as soon as he stepped on the corpses of his comrades and rushed to the city wall. The method of attacking the city is generally to set up a ladder and try to climb up, and throw stones to prevent people from climbing up. As long as the skin is thick and the scalp is strong, you will win. But this time was different. The Hou Jin army under the city was surprised to find that in addition to being shot at the head, they had continuous artillery attacks on the left, right, and even the rear. . This painful question once baffled me. Later, I went to Xingcheng (now Ningyuan), checked a few maps, and finally solved it. Simply put, this is an architectural question. To clarify this problem, I should draw a few pictures. Unfortunately, my drawing is too poor to be embarrassing, so I have to use Chinese characters instead, as long as I can understand it. As we all know, the general city is in the shape of a "mouth", square and square, one side climbs, and the other side is not allowed to climb, which is more kind. The more aggressive design is the "concave" shape. When the enemy invades such a city, if they enter the notch, they will be attacked from three directions: left, middle and right, which is quite uncomfortable. This kind of design is often seen in the inner city of big cities, such as the Meridian Gate in Beijing and the Wengcheng in the ancient city wall of Xi'an. Or if there are some soldiers in the city, they can't be drawn out to fight, and they don't want to be beaten. They also build the city in this way, killing some enemies is more enjoyable. But after I checked the information and observed on the spot, I realized that there is no limit to creativity. The city wall of Ningyuan is roughly the word "mountain". In other words, extending a tower outside the city wall and stationing troops on this tower will have many advantages. For example, when the enemy just enters the two entrances of the mountain, they will attack their flanks. After the enemy has completely entered, Just spank their asses.If the enemy hasn't come in yet, put a cannon on the top of the city to send them to heaven in advance. In addition, this design has another advantage. When the enemy rushes over, there is this gadget that can split the enemy into two parts and fight separately. Of course, there are some doubts. For example, if the tower is built so close to the front, what should we do if the enemy concentrates on attacking the tower? Answer: Play whatever you want, it doesn't matter. Because this city tower stretches out, it is for people to beat.And I checked, the tower may be solid, there is no passage below, and the soldiers are dispatched from the top of the city. That is to say, even if you tear down the tower, you still have to eat the city wall, and you will not be able to enter the city at all. I don't know who designed this tower, I just think this person is more ruthless. In addition to the ground, the Houjin army suffered blows from five directions: front, back, left, right, and above (the sky). The only shelter they could get was the corpses of their companions, so in a short while, corpses were everywhere. Blood flowed like a river. However, the attacker did not flinch, and returned without success. Regardless of Nurhachi's face, he didn't get anything. How can he explain to his wife and children when he goes back? In the face of cruel reality, the Hou Jin Army finally broke out. Although comrades in arms continued to fly into the sky, under the cover of corpses, they finally came to the city and began to build ladders. However, the artillery fire was too fierce, and stones kept falling from the sky. Bows, arrows and muskets kept hitting, and they were pushed down as soon as they were erected. After several times, their enthusiasm for climbing the wall was hit hard, so they decided to change their strategy—drilling holes. The specific construction method is to cover the head with a cowhide plank, and use a big axe and a sword to slash at the city wall. The ultimate engineering purpose is to cut through the city wall. This is a very difficult project, not to mention the frequent high-altitude throwing objects above the head, and the lack of heavy construction machinery, so it is really quite difficult to plan by people. However, the construction results of the Houjin Army proved that all their previous victories were not achieved by fluke. In the cold first month, the Houjin wall-digging team dug out several big holes in the solid city wall under the cannon fire. He said that three or four of the gaps of about two feet were dug out. The Ming army did not respond. It's not that there is no response, but that there is no way to respond, because the cannons at the top of the city have a range. If the enemy gets close to the city wall, they will enter the dead angle of shooting. , I can only watch helplessly as the other party is nervous about construction, there is nothing I can do. As far as the ancient city walls are concerned, even if a hole of two feet is dug, it will generally collapse even if it is fatally injured. But the strange thing is that the city wall never collapsed after the hole was dug. The reason is that it is cold, very cold. According to the analysis of historical data, the temperature at that time was about tens of degrees below zero, and the foundation of the city wall was frozen, so no matter how hard it was to dig, it would not collapse. But Yuan Chonghuan was very anxious, because it was unreliable to count on God after all. According to the progress of this project, the city wall would be completely demolished in a short time, and 60,000 people poured in, saying that it was useless. The top priority is to get rid of the engineer soldiers with cowhide body armor under the city, but the cannons can't hit them, and the muskets are useless, so what can I do? At critical moments, the wisdom of the masses played the most important role. When the city wall was about to be breached, the Ming army on the top of the city suddenly came up with a counterattack method. This method has the following steps. First find a quilt, spread straw, and wrap gunpowder inside, light it with fire, and throw it under the city. The quilt, straw and gunpowder, both the material and the method of operation, are unremarkable, but the effect is very terrifying. A few years ago, I found a small amount of materials and tried it with my own hands. The direct result of this experiment is that I have never tried it a second time, because the speed and intensity of its burning can only be described in two words: terrible . (Special reminder, this experiment is quite dangerous, do not try it lightly, do not imitate, hereby declare.) The Ming army rolled up the quilt, lit it on fire, and threw it down. In an instant, a spectacular scene appeared. The quilt covered with gunpowder began to burn violently, and began to float around. Wherever it floated, it would burn. As long as it was touched, it would fall into a sea of ​​flames. In the severe cold of the world of ice and snow, accompanied by the roar of terrifying cannons, a sea of ​​flames surrounded Ningyuan City, sending countless Houjin troops into hell, and the heroic Houjin engineering team was wiped out. This temporarily invented weapon is the famous "ten thousand enemies". Since then, it has been recorded in the annals of history and has become the prototype of the world's earliest Molotov cocktail. Everything in front of him was beyond Nurhachi's imagination and psychological tolerance. In the twelfth year of Wanli (1584), he was twenty-five years old, raised troops with thirteen sets of armor, and finally killed his enemy Nikan Wailan. In that year, Yuan Chonghuan was just born. He followed Li Chengliang, defeated Yang Gao, killed Liu Ting and Jun Song, and scared away Wang Huazhen. When he accomplished these great achievements and became famous, Yuan Chonghuan was just a fourth-rank civil servant, a nobody. In almost every battle before, he fought more with less, and defeated the strong with the weak. However, now he has an unprecedentedly strong force and unstoppable courage. The little man Yuan Chonghuan, whose attack force is only one-sixth of his own, lost. Invincible in battle, invincible in attack, the Destiny Khan who started from a small business will not lose, and he cannot lose, even if the casualties are heavy, even if the blood is flowing like a river, and the corpses are piled up, they must be piled on the top of the wall! So, after observing for a while, he decided to change the direction of attack - Nancheng. This decision fully proves that Comrade Nurhachi is a very qualified commander. He thought that Nancheng would soon be overwhelmed. Zu Dashou, the defender of Nancheng, agreed with this point of view. In terms of strength, if the Hou Jin army attacked the city with all its strength, even if the Ming army had cannons, it would not be able to cover the opponent's crowd, and it would only be a matter of time before they fell. Fortunately, before and after, the Jin army was short-sighted. They refused to go to the good city wall, but wanted to run into the pinch. They fought in the west and in the south. After realizing the mistake and correcting it, the Jin army changed direction and rushed towards Nancheng. When I arrived in Ningyuan, I walked around the city wall of Ningyuan without checking my watch, but it took at least half an hour. There are only 10,000 people in Ningyuan City, and they are divided among the four city walls, which is only 2,000 people.Calculated on the basis that each city wall is one kilometer long, there are roughly two guards per meter. This is the most optimistic estimate. Therefore, according to mathematical calculations, the Ming army could not resist the desperate attack of 60,000 people. The development of things is similar to the mathematical model. After the initial surprise, the Hou Jin Army finally showed terrible combat effectiveness. In view of the frequent throwing of "ten thousand enemies" on the top, the wall was not chiseled, and climbing ladders were used instead. On the way to rush over, a group was bombarded to death by cannons, a group was burned to death when they rushed to the foot of the city, a group climbed the wall, and a group was shot to death by bows, arrows and muskets. Those who were not bombarded, burned to death, shot to death, continued to crawl. At the same time, the Hou Jin Army began to organize archery teams to shoot arrows at the city and provide fire support. Under this desperate onslaught, the Ming army began to suffer a large number of casualties, and the defenders in the southern city lost more than one-third. Many post-Jin troops climbed the city wall and fought hand-to-hand with the Ming army. The situation was very critical. Before Zu Dashou was defeated, Yuan Chonghuan arrived. Yuan Chonghuan was not at the top of the city. He was located in a tall building in the center of Ningyuan City.I have been to this place before, and I can clearly see the fighting situation in the four cities when I climb this tall building. Yuan Chonghuan led his army to Nancheng, where he joined the final reserve team. The long-term training finally showed results. In the face of a strong enemy, the Ming army was fearless, fought to the death with the Jin army, and drove back those who climbed the top of the wall. At the same time, in order to curb the offensive of the Jin army, the Ming army adopted a new strategy - fire attack. The Ming army began to use a large number of fire tools. In addition to cannons, ten thousand enemies, and muskets, fireballs and even torches, everything that could be ignited was thrown down the city. This strategy makes sense, you have to know that this is winter, and in winter, the Houjin soldiers have a few cotton coats. War is the source of wisdom, and soon, even more wicked weapons appeared. Someone proposed to pull out a few long iron chains, burn them red with fire, and throw them down the city to attack the Houjin soldiers who climbed the wall. Then a magnificent scene appeared, in the howling north wind, a few red chains fluttered in the south city, wherever it was thrown, there would be screams. In the raging fire, Houjin's offensive was contained, and corpses were piled up in the city of Ningyuan, but he still couldn't move forward until dusk. So far, the Battle of Ningyuan has been going on for a day, and the Jin army suffered heavy casualties, with more than a thousand casualties, but only a few city bricks were exchanged. Yet the battle was not over. Extremely angry Nurhachi issued an unexpected order: night battle. Night battles are not Houjin's advantage, but it is a serious matter of face to shrink your head and run away when the battle is over. Nurhachi believes that the enemy's city has been damaged and their strength has reached their limit. As long as they attack again, Ningyuan City will be destroyed. Completely collapsed. Under the call of the leader, the Houjin soldiers held torches and started the night attack. As Nurhachi expected, he soon received the news of the collapse, and then the collapse of the Jin Army. After several desperate attacks, Hou Jin's soldiers finally discovered that they were indeed approaching victory—using the cruelest method: The attack was fruitless, the casualties were heavy, and the corpses were getting thicker and thicker. If they were all dead, they could climb up by stepping on the corpses. After a long silence, it will erupt, and if it erupts for a long time, it will collapse. After another round of fire, shelling, and arrow shooting, the Hou Jin army finally violated the order and all retreated. In the middle of the night on the 24th of the first lunar month, the helpless Nurhachi accepted this fact. He suppressed the anger in his heart and prepared to come back tomorrow. But what he didn't know was that if he didn't give up the attack, history would be completely changed the next day. Yuan Chonghuan couldn't stand it anymore, he had already invested in all the reserve teams, and even he himself went into battle, and his left hand was injured. If Nurhachi went all out and did it again, the consequences would be disastrous. Nurhachi gave up, but he persisted, so he guarded Ningyuan. The next question is whether Houjin can be defeated and Ningyuan can be defended. Judging from Jin Jun's performance that day, the answer to this question is yes-no. There is no help, no reinforcements, and the fortified city that has been built for several years was beaten into a semi-finished product in just one day. The enemy's fighting power is too strong. Obviously, if the Hou Jin army goes all out and stays here for a few months, even if it is planed by hand, it will not be enough. Planed down. For this answer, Yuan Chonghuan knew it well. So, he came to the last question: Since it is bound to fall, should it still be defended? He decided to persevere, even if the whole army is wiped out and there is no hope, he must persist to the end, to the last person. Yuan Chonghuan knew very well that tomorrow the city may or may not be lost, but it will eventually be lost.With Nurhachi's achievements in conduct, killing and death must follow. However, Yuan Chonghuan does not intend to give up, because he is a person who has no reinforcements, no food, no ideals, and no hope, and can still persevere. Forty-two years ago, Yuan Chonghuan was born in a remote village. He has always been ordinary. He was selected as a scholar, won the Juren, fell out of the list, rushed to the exam again, failed the list again, and finally made the list. . Then there are ordinary magistrates, ordinary department-level cadres, ordinary fourth-rank civil servants, and ordinary students, until he disobeyed orders and was alone, facing that incomparable and powerful opponent. Forty years of ordinary life, constant tempering, silent progress, firm belief, and incomparable determination: Immortality for just one day.