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On October 31st of the second year of Chongzhen, there were rumors that Tatars were knocking on the gate and entering. Some sensitive people began to drag their children into the capital to seek refuge.
In the late Ming Dynasty, the first reaction of officials when encountering trouble was not to confirm and deal with it, but to conceal it. If they could not hide it, they would report it to the superior. Therefore, Zunhua was not far from the capital, but the court did not know the news in advance until the 31st day.
, the news reached the court.
The then chief minister of the cabinet, Han Xu, whose courtesy name was Xiangyun, was from Puzhou. Feeling that the situation was serious, he did not dare to delay and immediately went to see Emperor Chongzhen.
Emperor Chongzhen was shocked when he heard this. His first reaction was what Zhong Jinwei said: Jianlu invaded in a detour. So he told Han Xu his thoughts.
However, Han Xu, the chief minister of the cabinet, had a different opinion: "Your Majesty, Jianlu is far away in Liaodong, and Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao, is guarding him. How can he stay away from his lair?"
"What about between you?"
"I and my colleagues in the cabinet all believe that the Mongolian tribes are knocking on the pass to plunder the capital in winter, imitating Anda Khan's invasion of the capital in the 29th year of Jiajing, and they must have their own agenda."
Emperor Chongzhen stopped talking. After all, what Zhong Jinwei said was the opinion of one family, but the incident of An Da Khan was a pain for the Ming court. It was the second attack on the capital after the "Tumubao Incident". If the Mongolian tribes follow my example this time
Dahan's move would definitely lead to an invasion of the capital. But if the main force of Jianlu took a detour, it would be a good opportunity for Guan Ning's cavalry to attack Shenyang. In exchange for this, Jianlu would not be able to afford the loss.
When Han Xu saw that Emperor Chongzhen was silent, he had no choice but to urge him: "Your Majesty, I thought that I was sending an order to Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao, to enter the pass and intercept the Mongolian Tatars to prevent a recurrence of what happened back then."
Emperor Chongzhen was really in a dilemma. He wanted to ask Zhong Jinwei, but Zhong Jinwei had been in a coma for several months. He didn't know when he would wake up, which was really worrying.
Han Xu began to chirp in Emperor Chongzhen's ear again.
Emperor Chongzhen finally got annoyed and asked: "Are you quite sure that the invading enemy is the Mongolian Tatars?"
This was a guarantee, so Han Xu hesitated. If not, if the emperor said something wrong, he might have to bear all the blame.
In the end, we had to order Wang Qia, Minister of War, to verify the actual situation as soon as possible.
On November 1st, the influx of refugees caused the capital to become riotous. To prevent accidents, martial law was imposed in the capital.
In the afternoon, it was finally revealed that the invasion was by Jianlu and Mongolian tribes, but the number was still unknown. Some said it was ten thousand or twenty thousand, and there were many who said one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand.
Emperor Chongzhen was very angry. What was going on? The number of invaders was so different that the measures to be taken were completely different.
The plan drawn up by the Ministry of War and the Cabinet was to mobilize Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Ji Liao, to enter the pass and retreat from the enemy, because the most powerful of the invading bandits were the Jianlu. Yuan Chonghuan was familiar with Liao affairs and had dealt with the Jianlu for a long time, so he was familiar with the situation.
However, there are other voices saying that Sun Chengzong, the former Liaodong manager, was also familiar with Jianlu and was older than Yuan Chonghuan. Han Xu, the chief minister of the cabinet, retorted that Sun Chengzong had been retiring at home for a long time, and the current Jiliao was the one who was suitable to take charge of the defense of the capital at this time.
There is no doubt that the governor Yuan Chonghuan. The reason why Han Xu recommended Yuan Chonghuan in this way was selfish, because he was Yuan Chonghuan's "master". Among the invading Tatars, Yuan Chonghuan was responsible for building captives. If Yuan Chonghuan himself could repel or annihilate the invading enemies.
, then not only may he not be held accountable, but he may also have the opportunity to be rewarded by the court.
Emperor Chongzhen felt that if Yuan Chonghuan was sent directly to Shenyang, the invading Tatars would be the Jianlu branch and the Mongolian Tatars. The main force of the Jianlu forces was waiting for Guan Ning's army in Shenyang, fearing that Guan Ning's army would never return. Thinking of this , I couldn't help but sigh in my heart. The previous idea seemed like a clever plan, but if I really wanted to put it into practice, there were many restrictions and it turned into empty talk in an instant.
Emperor Chongzhen gave up his previous idea, and based on the opinions of his ministers, he finally decided that Yuan Chonghuan would take charge of the defense of the capital, and at the same time ordered Sun Chengzong to enter the court.
On the morning of November 2, Zhao led 4,000 Guan Ning cavalry. After three days and nights, they hurriedly traveled 340 miles and arrived ten miles away from the Santun camp. No Jianlu was seen inspecting the horses, so he ordered to take a rest. The troops were sent out all night to explore the enemy's situation.
All the soldiers took this opportunity to dismount their horses to rest, eat dry food, and feed their horses.
After about half an hour, the spirits of all the soldiers had basically calmed down. Among the soldiers in the northeast corner of the team, there was a corps commander, surnamed Zhu, named Yuanzhong. A mistake caused a serious injury to a bully, and the bully was very powerful. Although Zhu Yuanzhong was justified, he was sentenced to be sent to Liaodong as a military household. Later, he was promoted to corps commander based on his merits.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhong had nothing to do with Qi Biaoyong's personality, and his face was covered with sweat.
I couldn't bear it any longer, so I walked up to the boss and explained the reason. It turned out that I had diarrhea and I needed to go get some relief. This was one of the three urgent things everyone had, and there was nothing I could do about it. The boss asked him to go and come back quickly.
Just when it was convenient to go to the hills on the edge of the retreat, a scout horse reported back to Zhao Zhijiao that no Tatars were found in the Santun camp, and the Ming army flag was still in the Santun camp.
Zhao led the teachings to feel relieved. Fortunately, they were not captured by the Tatars. In this case, they entered the city to rest. So they regrouped their troops and rushed to the Santun Camp.
Zhu Yuanzhong heard the sound of gathering when he was taking a convenience, but his stomach was so strong that he couldn't stand up, so he had to comfort himself and hurry up to catch up with the large army after the convenience was over.
But he said that Zhao led his army to the Santun camp, and sure enough the flags of the Ming army were flying in the city. He was relieved and asked to enter the city to rest.
Zhu Guoyan, the commander-in-chief of Ji Town in the Santun camp, had heard the sound of thundering hooves early and stood on the corresponding wall to watch the enemy.
When I saw the flag with the word "Zhao" flying in the air, I looked at the military strength and realized that it was Pingliao General Zhao Lite who had arrived, and I felt relieved.
Naturally, the two adults started talking.
Zhao Shujiao said: "Our army is galloping in the starry night. Both men and horses are exhausted. We open the door and enter the city to rest."
Zhu Guoyan was helpless: "The Tatars are powerful and the city gate has been blocked, making it impossible to enter."
Speechless, Zhao Lijiao was silent for a while, and then shouted: "I haven't seen the enemy since I arrived, do you know where he is going?"
"About two hours before the general appeared, the Tatars withdrew from Santun Camp to the direction of Zunhua. I thought the Tatars saw that Santun Camp could not be captured, so they turned to attack Zunhua."
"Do you know how many Tatars retreated?"
Zhu Guoyan was not sure, because the Tatars did not let him see the whole picture. He made an estimate and said to Zhao Lijiao: "About four to five thousand. It is expected that one of them will not be able to attack Zunhua, so the Tatars here will Go to reinforce."
Zhao Lijiao thought to himself that Zunhua was in danger. The Tatars had not left here for a long time and were chasing after them. They might be able to attack them unprepared. So he ordered the army to turn around and rush to Zunhua's aid.
Besides, Huang Taiji began to prepare for war after receiving the notice from Fan Yongdou. When he received the report from Tanma that Shanhaiguan reinforcements were approaching, he laughed loudly and immediately issued orders to mobilize all his troops to ambush at the predetermined location and ordered everyone at the Santun Camp to disguise themselves. In order to reinforce Zunhua, the Ming army was led to follow up.
At this time, each beile knew that Huang Taiji had already made arrangements. The eldest beile Daishan and the third beile Mang Gurtai were even more regretful. Huang Taiji was so sinister and deliberately concealed key plans to lead himself into the pit he dug.
He jumped inside and drew circles to curse him for not having a good death in the future.
To Huang Taiji's expectation, there were only four to five thousand Ming troops coming to the rescue, and Yuan Chonghuan's flag was not seen. It turned out that Tan Ma found countless cavalry in the early morning. As soon as the cavalry ran away, there was an endless long snake formation. The first
I didn't see it very clearly in the morning, but the second military order I received was to report back if Ming reinforcements were found. So when I saw the countless cavalry, I thought it was Shanhaiguan reinforcements, so I reported immediately.
After Fan Yongdou of Shanhaiguan learned that only one of the Ming troops came to aid the Ming Dynasty, Zhao Lejiao, it was too late to notify Huang Taiji.
It was a bit difficult for Huang Taiji to choose. Should he continue to wait and see if there were any reinforcements behind him? After all, it was not easy to arrange this big bag; or should he eat it now, what if the main force of Shanhaiguan followed up?
Did this reveal an ambush?
Besides, Zhao led his troops in pursuit, and suddenly he felt something was wrong, and his long-term battlefield sense came into play. He stopped his running horse, and then began to look around.
The terrain here is a long valley. Although it is relatively wide, it is still a good place for an ambush. He led four thousand cavalry troops and rushed towards them. There was so much movement, but no wild animals were seen running in panic, and no valley was seen.
Birds in the high woods.
Although there were Tatars passing by in front, it had been a few hours and it was not so quiet.
It was very abnormal! Zhao led the teachings to come to a conclusion, so he asked the troops to defend and rest on the spot, and at the same time sent Ye Bushou to visit both sides of the valley to inspect the situation.
Zhao Lijiao's situation was immediately reported to Huang Taiji.
It was obvious that he was about to be discovered, so Huang Taiji had no choice but to launch an ambush and attack the Ming army.
When the Jianlu appeared all over the mountains and plains, they formed a siege, with ambushes at the front, rear, and left. The Ming army was frightened, and the horses felt the overwhelming murderous aura and began to panic.
Zhao Shujiao took a look and knew that there was no way out. The enemy's situation was so ridiculous. There were tens of thousands of Tatars here and there, and there were more than 70,000 or 80,000 Tatars! He only had 4,000 cavalry. Even if one was equal to ten, he would defeat them all.
But come here, let alone not.
There was no timidity or panic. The commander turned the horse's head and looked at his men. He found that not only the soldiers, but also the generals and generals had expressions of fear and panic. Of course, there were also numbness and fearlessness; but there was no exception.
They all looked at themselves.
Zhao Shujiao understood their thoughts and moods at this moment very well. He had done it many years ago and chose the wrong path. This time, I was here to lead the way, so he straightened his chest and faced his men.
He yelled with all his strength: "Soldiers!"
The guards surrounding him saw that the coach wanted to speak, so some of them with loud voices repeated the coach's words and spread their voices far away.
"My fellow soldiers, in the past, when I saw the enemy's strength, I ran away in fear. The court punished me according to the law and I should be executed. Fortunately, I was able to carry out the crime and perform meritorious service. Every time I think about it, I feel regretful. I am a man who stands between heaven and earth and reports to the police."
Your grace, I protect my parents, wives and children; the Tatars killed my compatriots in Liaodong, their bones were exposed in the wild, and there was no rooster crow for thousands of miles, and now they want to poison the pass. I will never agree, can you agree?"
The troops led by Zhao are basically from Liaodong, and almost everyone has a history of blood and tears at the hands of the Tatars. When I heard the commander say this, I thought about it, and my eyes slowly filled with bloodshot eyes, one, two
, three, and slowly more and more people responded: "Never agree!" Finally, a unified and loud voice was formed: "Never!"
Zhao Shujiao was very satisfied that all his men were still alive. He stood on his horse, raised his hand forward and then pressed it down. After the voice calmed down, Zhao Shujiao shouted in a firm and fearless voice: "Soldiers,
It belongs to a man. Follow me to kill the enemy, give your life for your life, and pay for your blood debt with blood!"
"A life for a life, a debt of blood with blood! A life for a life, a debt of blood with blood!..." The voice slowly changed from chaotic to neat, and the soldiers opened their throats and roared out the long-suppressed anger in their hearts. At this time, there was no
Panic, no fear, only a rage of revenge!
Zhao Shujiao slowly looked around, looking at the young faces in front of him, and said silently in his heart: They are all good men!
"Soldiers, see you in the next life!" After saying this, Zhao Shujiao cupped his fists and cupped his hands in a circle, then turned the horse's head and began to slowly let the horse pace.
This time, the guard did not pass on the message as it was, but shouted in his own voice: "Brothers, see you in the next life!" Then he turned his horse's head and followed. All the people looked around, said nothing, and said goodbye to their comrades with their eyes.
, all the horses under control followed.
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Zhao Lejiao, I secretly thought he was one of the heroes of the late Ming Dynasty!