Chapter 165 Huang Taiji Attacks Daling River Sun Chuanting Rescue
Huang Taiji led the main force of the Forty Thousand Eight Banners to withdraw from the grassland and rush towards the Daling River.
He learned that the Ming Dynasty had removed most of the elites from Liaodong to encircle and suppress the yellow-robed thieves.
Huang Taiji couldn't help laughing. This was really a God-given opportunity for Hou Jin.
The Hou Jin Dynasty had occupied most of Liaodong, and the Ming army only relied on a few key cities for defense.
The Ningjin defense line has always been a thorn in Huang Taiji's heart.
They attacked for nearly ten years but failed to capture it, and caused Houjin's most disastrous defeat.
This time the Eight Banners soldiers led the Mongolian Eight Banners and sent the main force to attack Lindan Batur.
The main purpose was to allow Hou Jin to unify the grasslands.
At the same time, for the sake of An Daming, they asked them to mobilize elites from Liaodong to encircle and suppress the yellow-robed thieves.
The Ming court was indeed fooled and wiped out all the elites in Liaodong.
Huang Taiji had completed his strategic goal, and Lin Dan Batur was completely vulnerable to the attack, and was forced to flee westward by them.
Huang Taiji originally thought that both the Ming Dynasty and the thieves in yellow would suffer losses.
Unexpectedly, the final result was that the thief in yellow won a complete victory, and he would be Hou Jin's biggest enemy.
He led the troops to defeat Lindan Batur.
The remnant soldiers of the Chahar tribe asked his son Hauge to lead the Mongolian Eight Banners to pursue them.
Huang Taiji received the results of the battle between the Ming Dynasty and the yellow-robed thieves.
After knowing about them, Jin also took action and rushed thousands of miles to raid Daling River City.
If you want to conquer Jinzhou, you must conquer the large and small Linghe cities nearby.
This time, Huang Taiji defied public opinion and forcibly promoted the plan to attack the Daling River in the army.
He must rely on his military exploits to stabilize his position.
Among their grassland forces, the Great Khan is the alpha wolf. As long as he shows his slightest sign of weakness, he will be attacked by a group of people.
Daishan and other Baylor objected, and Huang Taiji wanted to do something they thought was impossible.
Only in this way can you consolidate your own power and weaken the power of other Baylors.
Huang Taiji personally led the army through Heishan, and Guangning pressed on Daling River City from the front.
He took the Dorgon brothers with him, and the two brothers were a little restless.
The other route led 20,000 troops from Beiledeglei, Yuetuo and Azige, passing through Yizhou to settle between Jinzhou and the Daling River, cutting off the connection between Jinzhou and the Daling River.
The elite Ming army is still in Liaodong, and he has the means to capture the Daling River.
Now that the Ming army has been exhausted, the defender of Daling River is Zhang Chun, an unknown civil servant.
This kind of civilian defense of the city will make it easier to capture the city.
Even if he gave Ming one more year to build the city, Ming had already built Dalinghe City, so it didn't matter.
Huang Taiji rode a tall horse and confidently rushed towards the Daling River.
Suddenly a plume of smoke appeared in front of him, and the ordering soldiers rode fast horses and ran to him quickly.
"Great Khan, something big happened. Amin Beile, Amin Beile massacred Yongping City."
When Huang Taiji heard what the messenger said, his expression changed and he lost his voice and said: "Amin massacred the city.
This is a piece of trash that fails to succeed but fails to succeed.
Before the war started, I gave repeated orders that massacre of the city would never be allowed.
How dare he ignore my orders.
Arrest Amin immediately, give him fifty lashes, and remove him from all positions."
Huang Taiji was extremely angry that Amin dared to disobey his orders.
Ignoring his prodigy, if this behavior is imitated by many Baelors, he will not be able to manage the army in the future and must be severely punished.
Amin massacred the city, and the impact was too bad.
They had the habit of massacring cities before the Eight Banners. Amin massacred the city again, which would arouse the fear of the Ming army.
They will definitely defend Daling River City, and it will be too difficult to persuade them to surrender.
Amin's approach suddenly made his attack on the Daling River more difficult.
…………………………
Dalinghe City, the city walls are dotted with newly built Hongyi cannons.
Guard Zhang Chun looked at the Eight Banners soldiers who had built several trenches outside the city, preparing to surround the Daling River.
There was a look of fear on his face. This was the enemy chief Huang Taiji who was personally leading the troops to besiege the city.
Dalinghe City Council General You Shilu immediately stood up and said: "Master Zhang, we have a month's worth of food and grass stored in the city.
At the top of the city there are also Hongyi cannons newly issued by the imperial court.
As long as we hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements, we will definitely save the day."
Zhang Chun said hesitantly: "The imperial court has transferred the elite troops from Liaodong. Where can we find reinforcements?"
Zhang Chun was promoted and employed by Sun Chengzong. Master Sun took a fancy to him and asked him to guard Dalinghe City.
Now most of the Ming army here in Liaodong, including the most elite Guan Ning army, have been taken away by Lord Sun.
There are insufficient troops, and no generals from other places dare to come to support.
He expected Dalinghe City to be an isolated city. In order to repay Emperor Chongzhen and Master Sun for their cultivation, he could only choose to defend Dalinghe City.
You Shilu immediately said: "Master Zhang, we will definitely have reinforcements, and there is no way Jinzhou can just sit back and watch us be captured by Huang Taiji.
Dalinghe City fell, and Jinzhou became an isolated city.
Mr. Zhang should have known that not a single one of the Yongping City defenders was left, and all of them were killed by the Eight Banners soldiers.
You know, Yongping City surrendered to Kaicheng, and the Eight Banners soldiers had the habit of killing prisoners.
If we don't surrender and insist on defending the city, we still have a chance to survive.
Surrendering can only lead to death, it is better to continue to hold on."
You Shilu told Zhang Chun a lot about how Dalinghe City could hold on, especially the information about the massacre of Yongping City.
Zhang Chun finally strengthened his confidence and decided to coexist with Daling River City.
The Zhang family has been favored by the Ming emperor for generations, and they must not surrender to Hou Jin and dishonor the Zhang family's prestige.
Once his reputation is damaged, his branch will be expelled from the family tree, and no one will be able to succeed in the imperial examination in the future.
You Shilu believed that they were seeking death when they went out of the city to fight with the Eight Banners soldiers.
However, with the Hongyi cannon on Dalinghe City, there is still great hope to hold the city and wait for reinforcements to rescue it.
You Shilu led an army of tens of thousands, but could not defeat the thieves in yellow who only had tens of thousands of people.
He was directly exiled to Liaodong, where his family served in the border army for generations.
Here in Liaodong, I also have many in-laws and friends.
Especially with the arrangements made by his elder brother You Shiwei.
You Shilu soon made meritorious service and became a general.
He wants to prove himself here and will never run away again. He has no way to escape.
The highest official in Dalinghe City is Zhang Chun, a civil servant.
The specific work of defending the city was still arranged by You Shilu.
You Shilu stood at the head of Dalinghe City, looking at the Eight Banners soldiers besieging the city.
"Fire the artillery, give me the red barbarian cannon, and hit these Eight Banners soldiers hard.
I'll see if their flesh and blood can withstand the cannon."
…………………………
Huang Taiji watched the Eight Banners soldiers continue to suffer casualties. Every time an Eight Banners soldier died, he felt extremely painful in his heart.
The number of Eight Banners is too small, and every Eight Banners disciple is extremely valuable.
There are too many cannons on the top of Dalinghe City, especially the Hongyi cannon, which has the most powerful firepower.
Every time its cannon fires, it will take away more than a dozen Eight Banners soldiers.
The war cannot be fought like this. The Eight Banners and the Ming Army are completely unable to fight a war of attrition.
The population of the Ming Dynasty was too large. It was not cost-effective for Hou Jin to exchange one Eight Banners soldier for ten Ming soldiers.
"Let them all withdraw, as long as Daling River City is besieged.
This city is too small, and they don't have much food and grass in the city.
If the Ming army dares to come to support us, we will be defeated directly.
The Eight Banners soldiers are cavalry and are not good at attacking cities.
We are fighting in the field with the Ming army, and this is the home ground of our cavalry."
Huang Taiji came up with another idea, and asked the Eight Banners soldiers to wear the clothes of the Ming army, pretend to be the Ming army who came to support, and deceive the Ming army from Dalinghe City.
As long as these Ming troops leave the city, the Eight Banners soldiers can defeat them.
…………………………
Zhang Chun saw the Ming army coming to support, and he immediately said excitedly: "General You Shen, let's send troops to support quickly."
You Shilu held a somewhat worn telescope and observed the movements of the Ming army.
"Master Zhang, this is not a reinforcement, he is a reinforcement from the Eight Banners pretending to be us.
As long as we leave the city, we will be fooled by Huang Taiji.
He didn't expect that I had a treasure like a telescope in my hand, and I could see clearly what they were doing.
Besides, the acting was too fake. The Eight Banners soldiers still didn’t understand the Ming army.
They actually made the Ming army and the Eight Banners soldiers evenly matched, and even took the initiative to launch an attack.
This is simply impossible. I know the Ming army here in Liaodong. Even ten times the Ming army may not dare to attack the Eight Banners soldiers."
You Shilu understood the strength of the Ming army and the psychology of its generals very well.
Huang Taiji saw that the Ming army in Dalinghe City was not fooled.
He continued to adopt a siege approach. Dalinghe was just a small city and they would soon run out of food.
After Huang Taiji besieged Dalingcheng for half a month.
Ming general Zu Kefa led 6,000 cavalry and came to check the situation in Daling River City.
Huang Taiji commanded his two hundred soldiers to attack the six thousand cavalry.
Two hundred versus six thousand, they directly defeated the six thousand Ming army cavalry.
Huang Taiji looked at the performance of the Ming army and smiled. The Ming army was still such a waste.
On the thirtieth day of Huang Taiji's siege, Jinzhou City gathered 60,000 Ming troops to support Dalinghe City.
General Zhang Cunren, with 60,000 Ming troops, slowly marched towards the Daling River.
They were directly defeated by 28,000 bannermen led by Yue Tuo and Azig.
They fled back to Jinzhou in embarrassment and never dared to come out again.
You Shilu used a telescope from time to time to take a look at the situation outside.
He also saw the Ming army organize several large-scale reinforcements.
But because the combat effectiveness was too low, there was no way to break through the Eight Banners soldiers' defense line.
The soldiers in the city could only eat half full.
Only when they found out that the Eight Banners soldiers were preparing to attack the city could they have enough to eat.
Even though You Shilu was saving like this, his food supply was still at the bottom.
The grain he predicted was different from the actual usage of grain.
You Shilu stood on the wall of Daling River and couldn't help but curse.
"These dog officials, they dare to mix sand in the grain.
The grain in the warehouse is only half of the original amount.
We are going to run out of food."
In Dalinghe City, the food has now been exhausted.
Zhang Chun found You Shilu again and asked, "General You Shen, what should we do now?
The imperial court organized several reinforcements, but they were unable to break through the Eight Banners soldiers' defense line.
We have become an isolated city, and now we have to run out of food. Do you think we still have a way to survive?
If it really doesn’t work, we can only surrender in Kaicheng.”
You Shilu said patiently: "Master Zhang, start surrendering, we still have a way to survive.
Please carefully recall how many Eight Banners soldiers our Hongyi artillery killed during this period.
Mr. Zhang should have known in his mind that Huang Taiji had killed so many Eight Banners soldiers.
Even if we surrender now, will Huang Taiji let us go?
Huang Taiji wants to let us go, but those Baylors in Houjin will not agree.
If we surrender now, we will definitely die.
Even thinking about dying is difficult. After passing through those Baelors, they will definitely find ways to torture us after so many of their men died."
Zhang Chun's eyes lost their luster, and his hands trembled as he said: "What should we do in this situation?
You can't just wait to die in Dalinghe City!
Can our troops in the city break out?"
You Shilu shook his head and said with great certainty: "Master Zhang, our military strength cannot compete with the Eight Banners soldiers.
Not to mention that there are now trenches outside the city. Even without these trenches, we would not be able to defeat the Eight Banners soldiers.
What's more, many soldiers have been hungry for many days now, and only the artillerymen can have enough to eat.
If we leave the city now, we are going to die.
Now we have only one way, and that is to kill the horses and eat everything edible in the city."
In Dalinghe City, the Ming army defenders began to kill horses and eat horse meat to survive the crisis.
By killing the horses, the Ming army gave up its plan to break out and prepared to defend Daling River City.
There were not many horses in the first place, and there were nearly 40,000 people in the city. Those few thousand horses were simply not enough to eat.
…………………………
Huang Taiji has besieged Dalinghe City for two months.
During this period, the Ming army also organized several reinforcement operations, but they were all defeated by Huang Taiji's troops.
He tried to send troops to capture Dalinghe City, but they were repulsed by the city's defenders using Hongyi cannons.
These several attacks on the city caused heavy casualties to the Eight Banners soldiers.
Seeing this situation, Huang Taiji could only ask the soldiers to give up the siege.
He has been surrounded for more than two months. No matter how slow the Ming court reacts, it will organize heavy troops to rescue Daling River City.
Huang Taiji is not afraid at all. In the past two months, he has seen that the Ming army here in Liaodong has become weaker.
Not to mention their tactics, they can defeat as many as they come.
Even if the Ming army attacks with heavy troops, their Eight Banners soldiers are all cavalry, so they can easily retreat and basically won't suffer too much loss.
In Dalinghe City, You An, the gunner of the Hongyi Cannon, watched the Huotou Army bring a bowl of meat.
He suppressed his nausea and finished the bowl again.
In order to live and kill more Eight Banners soldiers, you must eat this bowl of meat.
Mr. You had already started killing horses a month ago.
The number of horses in the city was limited and they were all eaten up quickly.
The extremely hungry people ate rats and earthworms, and everything edible in the city was eaten.
After everything was eaten, people began to starve to death in the city fifteen days ago.
You An endured the discomfort in his stomach and finished the bowl of meat.
He returned to the gun position with hatred for the Eight Banners soldiers and guilt for his comrades.
When he saw the Eight Banners soldiers, he wanted to rush forward and lit the match of the Hongyi cannon.
Youan watched as the huge iron bullet hit a white-armored soldier, smashing the Tatar into pieces.
He showed a cheerful smile, and he was living an ignoble existence just to kill more Tatars.
Huang Taiji saw that Dalinghe City could not be attacked for a long time, and the Eight Banners soldiers' casualties increased.
He immediately asked the Eight Banners soldiers to retreat and continued to besiege Dalinghe City.
According to his experience, the resistance in Daling River City is already very weak, and it will take another five or six days to capture it.
No need to make unnecessary sacrifices.
"Great Khan, Dorgon Beile sent a messenger here with important military information."
"Let the messenger come in."
The messenger walked into the big tent, saluted, and reported the military situation.
"Report to the Great Khan that another reinforcement of more than 50,000 Ming troops has arrived from the direction of Jinzhou.
Their formation is very strange, and there are many cannons in the team.
The flag this army is flying is also a flag we have never seen before."
Huang Taiji knew that this was the Ming Dynasty court sending Ming troops from other places to reinforce.
"The Ming army is the most elite of the Guanning army in Liaodong. Even the Guanning army cannot defeat us, let alone the Ming armies elsewhere.
Tell Dorgon that he must keep this army outside Dalinghe City.
I want to make the Ming army in Dalinghe despair and completely collapse."
The newly appointed governor of Liaodong, Sun Chuanting, the censor of Youqiandu.
The commander-in-chief of Jinzhou was You Shiwei, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong was Wu Xiang, and some came to the Ming army, totaling 50,000 troops.
It carries 60,000 muskets, 80 Hongyi cannons, and more than 500 artillery pieces of various types.
He listened to the roaring sound of cannon coming from the direction of Daling River City.
Sun Chuanting's nervous mood calmed down. Daling River City was not captured by the Hou Jin army. They arrived before it was too late.
After Sun Chuanting offended Wei Zhongxian, he had been idle at home.
Mr. Xu Guangqi, Assistant Minister of the Cabinet, was in the last month of his illness.
He checked the previous records of the imperial court, especially the officials who were demoted during the two dynasties of Wanli and Tianqi.
He recommended many capable officials to Emperor Chongzhen, and Sun Chuanting was one of them.
Emperor Chongzhen summoned Sun Chuanting on the platform and asked about the current situation and solutions.
Sun Chuanting put forward his own opinions without being humble or arrogant.
Emperor Chongzhen was very satisfied with his answer and was appointed governor of Liaodong.
Emperor Chongzhen transferred the former Shanhaiguan Commander-in-Chief You Shiwei, the cavalry of the Guanning Army who had retreated to Datong, and some of the Ming Army to his command.
Sun Chuanting was recommended by Xu Guangqi, so he was naturally an official in their department.
Sun Yuanhua provided him with the best batch of muskets and artillery, as well as a large amount of ammunition.
The gunpowder among them is also produced by the Daming Gunpowder Factory, which produces the best quality gunpowder.
An artillery unit that Sun Yuanhua had trained so hard was also handed over to Sun Chuanting.
As soon as Sun Chuanting was appointed governor of central Liaoning, news of the emergency in Daling River reached the capital.
At the urging of Emperor Chongzhen, he led You Shiwei, who had just returned to Beijing, to meet Wu Xiang at Shanhaiguan.
They came a little late, but not too late.
As long as Dalinghe City is not captured, Sun Chuanting is confident that he can save Dalinghe City.
He usually also reads newspapers about thieves in yellow to learn about the thieves in yellow.
On the march, Sun Chuanting also witnessed the power of the dense formation of muskets during army drills.
This is because he was one of the first officials to realize the powerful power of muskets.
Emperor Chongzhen met with him, and Sun Chuanting also mainly stated that the Ming army's use of firearms was the best way to get rid of the current passive situation.
The thieves in yellow have used their outstanding record to prove that firearms can determine the outcome of the battlefield.
Sun Chuanting looked at the Eight Banners soldiers and had already charged towards them.
He was a little surprised, how dare these cavalry charge against the army that had already deployed artillery.
Who gave them the courage?
"Fire the cannon and load the shotgun."
Sun Chuanting gave the order, and this elite artilleryman quickly completed the reloading action.
Before the cannon fired, the musketeers in front had already adjusted their formation.
The musketeers held their flintlock rifles flat and made a gap, revealing the dark red cannon.
Skilled artillerymen who have been trained for a long time, even under the pressure of cavalry, they will light the gun rope of the cannon.
Dozens of Hongyi cannons completed a volley, sending out a huge amount of canisters, like a rain of bullets, flying towards the Eight Banners soldiers.
Faced with such a dense formation, shotgun shells are most effective.
Especially the shot shells from the Hongyi cannon can sweep away a large area in one hit.
The Eight Banners soldiers running ahead were hit by large-scale firearms for the first time.
Their dense charging formation provided a perfect target for the Hongyi artillery.
The multiple layers of cotton armor on his body didn't work at all, and he was directly penetrated by the iron sand fired from the red cannon.
The Eight Banners soldiers fell in droves.
When Wu Xiang saw this scene, he remembered the tragic scene of being attacked by artillery fire from thieves in yellow.
The red barbarian cannons of the Ming army were far less powerful than the cannons of the yellow-robed thieves.
But it still reaped the lives of the Eight Banners soldiers very quickly.
Wu Sangui suddenly realized: "It turns out that it's not that we are too weak, but that these firearms are too strong.
As powerful as the Eight Banners soldiers, they are unable to withstand these firearms."
The Eight Banners soldiers did not retreat, Dorgon commanded the Eight Banners soldiers to rush to the front of the Ming army's formation.
The Ming army's musketeers also pulled the triggers in their hands.
You Shiwei learned the three-stage shooting method from the yellow thief before and became very proficient in it.
A continuous barrage of lead bullets was fired at the Eight Banners soldiers.
The Eight Banners soldiers wore multiple layers of cotton armor, which could previously protect them against the inferior matchlock guns of the Ming army.
But against a flintlock gun loaded with enough gunpowder, its defensive capabilities are very poor.
Flowers of blood bloomed from the bodies of the Eight Banners soldiers, and they fell to the ground in a flash.
Dorgon saw the cannon swallow up two Niulu.
Now the three Niulu in front were all swallowed up by the Ming army's firearms.
He simply couldn't believe how long it had been since the Eight Banners suffered such a huge blow.
He watched as the Ming army's muskets fired one after another, and more Eight Banners soldiers fell.
"Withdraw our troops, we can't continue fighting."
The horn sounded, and the Eight Banners soldiers began to retreat.
A smile appeared on Sun Chuanting's face.
"The Eight Banners soldiers are nothing more than that. Who dares to say that the Eight Banners are invincible now?
Send an order to Wu Xiang and ask them to pursue the cavalry."
Wu Xiang received the order and immediately led Guan Ning's cavalry to pursue the Eight Banners soldiers.
They rode on horseback and attacked the Eight Banners soldiers with muskets.
Wu Sangui shot an Eight Banners soldier and he smiled.
Before, the Eight Banners soldiers were chasing him everywhere, but now he is chasing the Eight Banners soldiers everywhere.
Governor Sun has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Firearms are used on a large scale and are really too powerful.
…………………………
In Houjin's camp, Huang Taiji looked at Dorgon who was a little embarrassed.
He whipped Dorgon directly.
"I asked you to attack the Ming army's reinforcements. How did you fight this battle?
We lost seven Niulu, which is more than 2,000 people.
There are only so many of us Eight Banners disciples, how can we withstand your consumption?"
Dorgon lowered his head and whispered: "Please tell me, the Great Khan, that this Ming army reinforcement is no small matter.
Whether they are cavalry or infantry, they are all firearms troops.
The cotton armor of the men was unable to withstand the firearms of these Ming troops.
Behind the Ming army's formation, there were also a large number of Hongyi cannons.
I had already rushed to the front of the Ming army's formation. Their Hongyi cannons fired cannonballs, and one salvo took away two or three of us.
These cannons are really scary."
After hearing this, Huang Taiji knew that the elite troops of the Ming army had arrived on the battlefield.
After he finished his anger and carefully considered the pros and cons, he had already made a decision in his heart.
Huang Taiji gritted his teeth and said, "Let's withdraw our troops."
The failure of the attack on Dalinghe City this time will greatly affect his prestige as the Great Khan.
The troops of the Hou Jin Dynasty were all cavalry, and they retreated very quickly and soon disappeared.
Zhang Chun quickly led his own soldiers out of the city to meet the reinforcements.
He looked at the center of the team, which was a civil servant wearing a Shang Fang sword on his waist.
"Zhang Chun, who is a humble official, has met your Excellency."
You Shiwei stepped forward and introduced Sun Chuanting to Zhang Chun:
"Long time no see, Mr. Zhang, I am the new Jinzhou Commander-in-Chief You Shiwei.
This is the governor of Liaodong, Mr. Sun Chuanting, the censor of Youqiandu."
Sun Chuanting said apologetically: "We are late, and your soldiers in Dalinghe City have suffered."
When Zhang Chun heard this, he couldn't help but shed tears. This period of time was really painful.
As Sun Chuanting approached Dalinghe City, he saw the tragic situation in the city.
There were more than 40,000 people in the city, but now there are less than 10,000 left.
Having seen all kinds of miserable situations, he kept sighing. This place has simply become a hell of Shura.
