The news that the Ming army suddenly landed in the rear naturally caused huge psychological confusion to the top brass of the Qing army.
Facing Haug's angry questions, the messenger who was only responsible for reporting military information was of course unable to answer.
But Mandahai, the Prince of Li next to Hauge, felt that it was inappropriate when he heard that Hauge actually planned to return and besiege Ningyuan and Jinzhou's Ming army, so he made suggestions out of the crowd:
"Prince Su! Since the Ming army has landed behind our army, perhaps we shouldn't worry about whether we can counter-encircle the Ming army in Ningyuan and Jinzhou at the moment.
If they dare to come, they must be confident, and they may have someone else to rely on. We might as well avoid their sharp edges and seek safety. Instead of retreating through the Liaoxi Corridor along the coast, we can retreat directly across the Yanshan Mountains!"
Hauge waved his hand and refused without thinking: "No! Not to mention that the Ming army has just taken the risk of going around and landing for a sneak attack. We still don't know whether Ningyuan and Jinzhou have been lost.
If any of these two places were not lost, our Qing soldiers were so frightened that they did not even dare to rescue them. In the end, they left Ningyuan alone and the Jinzhou defenders were wiped out by the Ming army in despair.
Then in the future, among the defenders of any city in Liaodong, other than our direct line soldiers and horses of the Manchus, who else would dare to sacrifice their lives for our Qing Dynasty? If they are not completely frightened by the Ming army, then a sneak attack and harassment may be a trivial matter.
Hua Da! This kind of thing must be done to scare the monkeys from the beginning. We must not let the Ming army's attempt to circumvent the situation succeed even once!
Besides, even if we take a step back and assume that Ningyuan and Jinzhou have been completely lost, we should not bypass the Liaoxi Corridor and withdraw through the grasslands north of Yanshan Mountain.
It might be possible for our cavalry to cross the Yanshan Mountains without any baggage. If the infantry does not bring any baggage and has to go around hundreds of thousands of miles of grassland, many of them may get separated and starve to death. And how can it be possible to cross the Yanshan Mountain quickly with chariots and staffs and baggage?
Walk?
If we retreat to the north of Yanshan Mountain, we will completely abandon the equipment and supplies that we have hoarded here for the decisive battle at Shanhaiguan! The infantry is bound to suffer heavy losses and will be chased and killed along the way. Only our Manchu cavalry can retreat unscathed. In this way
If we withdraw from the country, our national strength will be severely damaged, so what chance is there for us to make a comeback?"
Speaking of which, even if other senior Qing generals reacted slowly, they had already sorted out the pros and cons of the two plans.
The road to Mandahai is more stable, which can ensure that the cavalry troops can be withdrawn almost intact, but the baggage will be abandoned, and it is unknown how much the infantry can run. It depends on whether the Ming army is stuck in the fight, and Ningyuan Jinzhou cannot be saved.
.
Hauge's strategy is a bigger gamble. If the infantry baggage and Ningyuan Jinzhou can be saved if the battle is successful, but if the battle is not successful, the main cavalry force will have to be added.
At present, the advantages and disadvantages of the two plans cannot be directly determined. The key lies in the subsequent adaptability and execution ability of the troops.
No one can bear the responsibility of "losing the baggage, food and part of the infantry without giving it a try", so just listen to Hauge and give it a try.
There is hope that conservative treatment with medicine can cure the disease, but who would be willing to amputate the limb as soon as possible.
The Qing army quickly accelerated its mobilization and began to withdraw from camp on the same day, leaving only thousands of dead soldiers and cannon fodder and some strong men to stay at Shanhaiguan, in order to delay the pursuit of the main force of the Ming army in Yongping Prefecture and buy time for the main force.
…
Unfortunately, the retreat of the Qing army did not escape the eyes of the Ming army at all, because the Ming army had long thought that its life was better, and in the past few days, it had sent many large sand ships with shallow drafts and high masts to approach the coast of the Western Liaoning Corridor.
Investigation.
Originally, the water depth on the northern shore of the Bohai Bay was shallow, making it difficult for large ships to sail close to it. However, since the Ming army had built a navy in a targeted manner, this problem could certainly be avoided.
It has been two years since the Ming Army recruited the latest Western shipbuilders and ship designers from the Dutch. With a combination of Chinese and Western design discussions, they learned from the Dutch big-bellied ship's tonnage experience and improved the original large sand ship.
, it is not difficult to build a ship with a higher draft and heavier tonnage.
The Ming army also installed these new sandships, which were specially used in the coastal theater of the Liaodong Peninsula, with masts higher than those of the old ships, equipped with ladders and masthead cages, and supplemented by the latest high-precision and high-power telescopes.
The military deployment within dozens of miles along the coast can be clearly seen.
Therefore, the Qing army retreated along the Liaoxi Corridor, and the Ming army discovered it immediately. Unless the Qing army chose to cross Yanshan and take the road north of Yanshan, they could avoid detection.
After the Ming army detected the enemy's situation, they did not need to sail back to report. They only needed to directly send a reconnaissance sand ship every twenty miles at sea and use the beacon fire as a signal to relay a principle to the Great Wall, and the military situation could be reported in one or two hours.
Passed back to the key research camp inside Shanhaiguan Customs.
Therefore, Hauge originally planned to sneak out secretly. It would be better if the main force retreated and kept it secret for a day or two, so that the Ming army could know that Shanhaiguan was empty. In fact, only two hours after he left, the Ming army decided everything.
He also spread the news to the whole army, letting the soldiers know that the Tatars had escaped and were now going to Shanhaiguan to pick up bargains.
The morale of the Ming army suddenly became more and more like a rainbow. Who doesn't know how to fight against the wind?
For a moment, the artillery prepared with fierce firepower again. The rifle teams crossed fire from left to right, and the armored troops finished the attack.
In just a few hours, the thousands of Qing regular troops that Hauge had left behind Shanhaiguan to stall for time were completely wiped out by the Ming army with overwhelming strength.
Those temporarily captured strong men were even worse. Two to three thousand of them were annihilated. The rest all collapsed and surrendered on their knees, turning their guns to help the Ming army.
Hauge's troops who stayed in Shanhaiguan to stall for time only lasted half a day. Huang Degong and Li Dingguo chased out of Shanhaiguan, biting Hauge's tail. The two armies were separated by only forty miles and headed northeast.
This rhythm completely disappointed Hauge's original expectations.
Moreover, Huang Degong and Li Dingguo were not afraid of losing touch with the troops in pursuit, and the Qing army would turn around and fight back. Because the Ming army already had absolute sea route advantages, the army's flanks during the pursuit were protected by sea ships, and there were Hongyi cannons on the sea ships that could maneuver to follow.
Hauge didn't believe this evil at first. After escaping for a day in the direction of Ningyuan, he saw that the Ming army was catching up behind him. He wanted to take advantage of the night when the Ming army was stationed and resting, and the Ming army's guard was lax. He organized a cavalry team to counterattack at dawn, forcing him to
Eliminate yellowing and gain success.
However, Huang Degong and Li Dingguo always marched steadily by the sea and would not go too far inland.
When Huang Degong's front army encountered Haug, his cavalry turned back and fought back. Huang Degong immediately ordered each unit to form the Queyue Formation with its back to the sea to ensure that the Qing army's cavalry would not circle behind it, and then used the firepower of the rifle team to fire on three sides.
The Qing cavalry would have to pay heavy casualties if they wanted to charge forward.
At the same time, because the Ming army formed with its back to the sea, when the Qing cavalry rushed up, they soon found that they were within the coverage of the Ming army's naval guns. As long as they got close to within three miles of the coast, the Ming army would
The explosive shells of the new heavy artillery can hit it.
Therefore, although the Ming army's pursuers could not bring many heavy army artillery with them, as long as they marched along the Liaoxi Corridor close to the sea and did not go deep into the inland, they could get cover from naval guns at any time. This thing is comparable to Liu Yu's attack a thousand years ago
The Queyue Formation that defeated the Northern Wei cavalry was too powerful.
After several attempts, the Qing army finally left thousands of cavalry corpses and injured soldiers and fled in a panic. Hauge could only give up completely. In the process of escaping, he pulled the Ming army's pursuers out of touch, starting from the end.
The idea of not being able to look after each other and then find the right opportunity to fight back."
"The Nanmanzi's application of the navy is really sharp and vicious. It seems that in the future, we will not even be able to use the Liaoxi Corridor to advance troops, and we will have to go through the prairie. This is not a big deal. If everywhere along the Liaodong coast is not safe, how can we in the Qing Dynasty
Is it possible to completely abandon the coast and retreat inland?"
When he thought of this possibility, Hauge's heart was almost overwhelmed with pain.
But now that the matter has come to this, what else can he do? He can only look forward, take advantage of the situation, and take it one step at a time.
Less than a night after they recovered from the pain of the failure of the carbine, the Qing army received a new piece of bad news one after another in the early morning of the next day, which once again dealt a heavy blow to their morale:
Both Ningyuan and Jinzhou have been confirmed to have fallen! They fell during the period when Hauge's army rushed back from Shanhaiguan for reinforcements! The defenders in the two places did not last three days from being attacked to falling!
Hauge was furious and beat the messenger who brought the bad news. He also wanted to inquire about the details. Finally, he was told that the Ming army came across the sea and brought enough siege artillery. Just yesterday, they suddenly accelerated their offensive.
Coupled with the fact that some wavering soldiers in the city were willing to respond internally, many of the Liaodong defenders were the old tribesmen of Wu Sangui and other Ming generals. They took a multi-pronged approach to break the city so quickly.
After Haoge carefully sorted out this rhythm, he actually felt a shudder in his heart.
As for Mandahai who was discussing the decision with him, Yue Le also had some clues. Mandahai was relatively more experienced and suddenly exclaimed:
"No! I'm afraid that either the Ming army was pretending that they couldn't attack the city quickly at first, or they were trying to lure our army to rescue Ningyuan! The Ming army must have had enough siege artillery to forcefully break the city! But they didn't bring it out the day before yesterday.
, I just took it out yesterday, this is just a sign of weakness from the beginning, trying to seduce our army!"
As for what to seduce specifically, those who understand have already understood it at this stage. It is to seduce Hauge. He is reluctant to let go of Ningyuan, reluctant to leave Jinzhou, and reluctant to give up the baggage, food and infantry that must be given up to retreat over Yanshan. Therefore, he seduce Hauge and put more money on the card table.
What a big bet!
These words were refuted by Mandahai, and Hauge's prestige inevitably dropped a bit. At this point, the Qing army has basically realized that Hauge's ability to deal with the Nanmanzi is at most half the same as that of Dodo Dorgon back then!
It's impossible to be stronger than them!
However, the Qing Dynasty has already suffered enough civil strife. After all, Dorgon made a strategic mistake and his power has been eradicated, so there is nothing to regret now. The only choice is to follow Hauge's path to the end.
The generals just sighed, but they couldn't say they were dissatisfied. At most, their morale was low.
…
At this point, everything that should be lost has been lost. It is impossible to simply abandon the baggage and infantry and switch to climbing over the mountains.
Because Ningyuan City is not a checkpoint after all, but just an isolated city.
Even if the Ming army Zhang Mingzhen led Wu Sangui to land and captured Ningyuan, they would not be able to completely intercept and cut off the entire Western Liaoning Corridor. The Qing army could still bypass the isolated city and retreat.
Unless Ningyuan can be completely blocked like Shanhaiguan and has the supporting Great Wall, it will be impossible to break through. There is only an isolated city. If you don't give it a try, you will be sorry for the sunk cost of the Qing army so far.
The final result, of course, is "try it and die."
On the sixth day of September, the Qing army assembled its main force and prepared to forcibly bypass Ningyuan City from the northwest and continue to flee to the northeast.
During the march, the Qing army was on alert. If Zhang Mingzhen and Wu Sangui, who had just entered Ningyuan City less than two days ago, dared to leave the city to harass them, they would immediately use the main force of the Qing army to counterattack!
As a result, Wu Sangui was more stubborn than Hauge imagined.
He actually didn't wait for the Qing army to pass halfway before intercepting them, nor did he choose to wait until the main force of the Qing cavalry had passed through more than half of the time, then chase after them to cover up the infantry and baggage trains.
Wu Sangui directly chose to leave the city a few hours in advance before the vanguard of the Qing army had even bypassed Ningyuan City. He also took the time to dig some simple trenches and rammed earth walls, and then blocked the road, just like the street pavilions.
Wang Ping.
Seeing this scene, Hauge finally understood:
"Wu Sangui has such a big appetite when he has such a small number of men and horses to surround him? He expects to encircle and annihilate Gu Quan's army to the west of Ningyuan? With his few men and horses? Zhu Shuren probably doesn't trust Wu Sangui very much! I haven't heard of any other elite troops being allocated to him.
Wu Sangui dispatched, and he only had the old Guan Ning Army under his command, less than 30,000 people, and he still expected to stop the main force of the Qing Dynasty?"
Although the Ming army used great dispatching force to send as many troops as possible from the sea route to bypass the rear, after all, there were two places, Ningyuan and Jinzhou, that needed to be divided. And from Denglai to cross the sea, each ship could only transport more than a hundred people, and more
Leave the troops on the sea,
The total transport capacity of the Ming army, including sailors, was about 70,000 to 80,000. After excluding the sailors, the remainder was divided into two halves. Ningyuan and Jinzhou each had less than 30,000. At this point in the battle, this figure has become more difficult for both the enemy and us.
It's all clear.
So the current situation is that the total strength of the Manchu, Han and Mongolian troops of the Qing army under Hauge is 60,000 to 70,000, plus some strong auxiliary soldiers transporting grain. In front of him, Wu Sangui has 20,000 to 30,000 people blocking the road, and in the future, Huang Degong and Li Dingguo have more than 100,000
The army pursued.
As long as Wu Sangui held off Hauge for at most a day, or even just over half a day, Huang Degong and Li Dingguo would be able to catch up and kill Hauge's back-stabbing army.
Hauge had only two ways to survive, either to break through Wu Sangui before Huang Degong and Li Dingguo caught up.
Or before Huang Degong catches up, he can judge that there is really no way to break through Wu Sangui, so he can flee north across Yanshan Mountain.
However, this method of crossing Yanshan only when things are about to happen is destined to be difficult and dangerous. Troops with poor mobility will definitely be bitten and turned into cannon fodder. Only the cavalry will be able to escape, and not all of them are sure to escape. As for
The infantry is destined to be completely wiped out.
"Assault with the whole army! We must completely defeat Wu Sangui's troops before noon! We can't delay! Huang Degong will catch up at any time after noon, and then our army will be attacked from both sides! The survival of the Qing Dynasty depends on this battle, and all generals must do their best."
Use all your strength to break out of the encirclement! Kill!"
Hauge knew that he had no time to hesitate at Hanhu, so he just ignored the rules and rushed the entire army into the face of Wu Sangui who was blocking the road.
…
Wu Sangui, who was on the opposite side, saw the entire Qing army charging forward, charging to the death, and felt a trance in his heart.
At that moment, he suddenly felt that the scene before him was very similar to when he and Li Zicheng were fighting in Shanhaiguan more than seven years ago!
It's a pity that he misjudged the situation back then and made a mistake and became a despised seducer.
In that battle, he first had to fight with Li Zicheng for most of the day as a direct descendant of Guan Ning's army, and then Dorgon led the Qing cavalry to attack Li Zicheng from the flank.
But today, he had to intercept Hauge's charge head-on. He had to fight with Hauge for most of the day, and waited for Ming Dynasty's ally Huang Degong and Li Dingguo to catch up and kill Hauge in the back.
"It's so similar. That battle back then almost ruined my life. If I can win this battle today, maybe I can completely wash away the shame of that year and leave a good name in the future?"
Wu Sangui is also a courageous and bloody person. Historically, he finally rebelled against the Qing Dynasty. Now he has just given up secretly and joined the Ming Dynasty for ten years. Although he has been inconsistent many times, in terms of force, this person can still fight.
Moreover, since the decisive battle in Hebei, Zhang Huangyan's trust in him has also increased since he led Guan Ning's army to support him on the flanks.
Although Guan Ning's army cannot be equipped with the latest Wuchang-made rifles or even rifled guns, he has been issued thousands of early Wuchang-made rifles five years ago, as well as twenty cavalry cannons, which are regarded as armament treatment.
Not bad. With these new equipment at the bottom, his 20,000 infantrymen and three to four thousand Guanning cavalry have the confidence to fight to the death.
"The whole army must fight to the death! Anyone who retreats without permission will be killed! The Tatars are already a dead fish in the cauldron, and our Ming Dynasty will definitely win! Rifle formation! Guan Ning's cavalry is ready to make a roundabout attack! Once we see that the Tatars are trying to roundabout to the north,
Just go up and intercept!"
Wu Sangui personally wielded his sword and rode his horse to supervise the battle. As the Qing troops rushed forward, the two sides quickly strangled each other.
"Bang, bang, bang -" Thousands of Longwu three-year-old Wuchang-made guns opened fire one after another, and in conjunction with the firepower of other cannons, they fired one after another. Before the Qing infantry approached, they knocked down rows of soldiers like wheat.
soldiers.
Hauge didn't want the Manchu cavalry to charge the first wave and wanted to preserve his core strength, so he sent the Han Banner infantry cannon fodder first. Unexpectedly, facing the organized interception of the Ming army, the Han Junqi infantry charged so inefficiently.
Deaths and injuries increased sharply but progress was slow.
When firearms have been replaced, the charge battle between infantry and infantry can easily turn into a one-sided massacre. After the Ming army fired continuously and caused heavy casualties to the enemy, the morale of Guan Ning's army increased, and everyone in Guan Ning's army shouted for a fierce battle.
The sound shook for miles.
Hauge saw that Wu Sangui's morale had been boosted, so he had no choice but to let the Manchu cavalry take the lead in the charge at any cost. At the same time, the infantry also followed up at full speed, seizing every moment of time difference that the friendly forces fought for with their lives.
Outside Ningyuan City, there was a sudden flow of blood. Thousands of lives passed quickly within a few quarters of an hour, and corpses and injured soldiers were scattered everywhere.
The more Hauge fought, the more frightened he became. Why did his defeated Wu Sangui, who he thought was no big deal back then, become so tough and courageous now?
The Qing army was consumed in waves and repeatedly charged and killed. After paying a heavy price, some cavalry troops did completely penetrate Wu Sangui's defense line and rushed behind the Ming army.
The problem is that even though holes have been drilled in some parts of the front line, the remaining Ming troops still stick to their positions, neither retreating nor collapsing because their flanks were exposed, nor even fleeing back to Ningyuan City out of fear.
Defend the city to the death.
It can only be said that with the revival of the Ming Dynasty, everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty is the winning side. After the morale rises, everyone becomes more courageous. What's more, Guan Ning's army is already known for its bravery. After such blessing, it is even more courageous.
Hauge could not imagine.
On the contrary, after a part of the Qing army successfully broke through in a desperate battle, they did not want to return to help their allies. Since they had all escaped, they just ran away! Then the breakout troops left the battlefield directly...
A strange scene appeared on the battlefield. Although a small number of Qing troops successfully broke through, their strength advantage became smaller and smaller. Those who stood out just fled for their own lives and did not look back to backstab friendly troops——
The main reason is that they know that turning back may not be useful. The Ming army's muskets and hollow phalanx cavalry have long been accustomed to the Qing army. They know that the firepower behind the Ming army can also be very strong.
Under this situation, even though the Ming army was forced by the Qing army to create some local gaps at any cost, it actually caused the Qing army to flee. Everyone wanted to rush through these gaps and find a way out for themselves.
Although Wu Sangui could not completely annihilate the enemy, he still tried his best to force the rifle team to squeeze into the gap and fired wildly at the gap from the left and right sides with cross fire. The fleeing Qing army had to pass through this road of death.
You have to endure the fire coming from both the left and right sides at the same time.
Suddenly, the road to death was filled with corpses of Qing soldiers. For every person who broke out, at least two or three died on the road.
The chaotic bloody battle lasted for a long time, and even at noon, the Qing army failed to completely defeat Wu Sangui. However, the balance of remaining forces on the battlefield began to reverse.
Seeing that Huang Degong and Li Dingguo might appear at any time, Hauge had no choice but to grit his teeth, lead the cavalry troops that had not yet emerged, cross the Yanshan Mountains to the north, and use the last time to escape around the grassland.
The infantry and baggage still in the encirclement could only be used as rearguard to stall for time, and were completely lost to Huang Degong.
In the late afternoon, Huang Degong and Li Dingguo finally arrived on the battlefield, and with the remnants of Wu Sangui, who had suffered heavy losses in the bloody battle, they attacked from front to back and completely wiped out the Qing infantry, artillery and baggage units, which were exhausted in all aspects.
After this battle, Hauge was frightened and no longer dared to think of taking the Liaoxi Corridor to break through Jinzhou again. The remaining remnants all walked through the grasslands north of Yanshan Mountain and rushed back to Shengjing.
In the series of bloody battles since Shanhaiguan, the Manchu armed forces lost at least 20,000 to 30,000 men. As a result, the total male population of the Manchus further dropped from 70,000 to 80,000 to 40,000 to 50,000. They were extremely weak.
.
The combined losses of Han and Mongolian troops and young men and cannon fodder amounted to tens of thousands, and the prestige of the Qing court was completely gone.
What made Hauge most angry was that after he escaped back to Shengjing, a few days later, he sent out scouts to investigate again. He was still worried all day long, thinking that the Ming army would take advantage of the victory to pursue him.
However, after the Ming army won three battles in Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan and Jinzhou, they actually made a false shot and left only troops to guard Shanhaiguan. However, Ningyuan and Jinzhou were abandoned by the Ming army. They directly emptied the money, food, supplies and population and retreated into the pass, leaving the empty city behind.
Qing army.
Obviously, Zhang Huangyan’s plan was to consume the Qing Dynasty’s vitality!
He now has the advantage of the navy. As long as the Qing army dares to come back and occupy Ningyuan, the Ming army can go around and cut off the road at any time and come back to harvest again!
In contrast, if the Ming army were to defend Ningyuan, they would have to disperse their forces and leave holes for the Qing army to defeat them. It would be better to shrink their forces and move the enemy closer to fight, with the core goal of killing more enemy soldiers and bleeding them.
Anyway, killing a Qing soldier in Ningyuan is definitely much less labor-intensive than running to Shengjing to kill a Qing soldier.
After Hauge understood all this, he actually had no move at all. He didn't dare to occupy the empty city even though it was left empty. The 400-mile Liaoxi Corridor gradually became a no-man's land. Both sides were shrinking to prevent the enemy from detouring and cutting off the road.