There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

In May of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen.

Huang Taiji, accompanied by Prince Heshuo Zheng Jierhalang, Prince Rui Dorgon and other military generals and ministers, went to check outside Jinzhou City in person.

Jinzhou City was the northernmost end of the Ningjin Defense Line in the Ming Dynasty and the closest large city to Manchuria.

The Ningjin Defense Line of the Ming Dynasty started from Ningyuan in the south to Jinzhou in the north, and was connected with forts around it to guard the dangerous points. It was equipped with various arms and red cannons, gathered people in the fields, defended and fought, thus forming a 400-mile-deep Liaoxi Corridor. The solid defense line effectively blocked the Manchu and Qing armies from moving south.

In the eighth, tenth, and twelfth years of Chongzhen's reign, although the Qing army bypassed the Ningjin defense line from the grassland several times to invade the Ming Dynasty, the distance was too far and they had to climb several mountains. It was very inconvenient to transport supplies and the loss of personnel was considerable. .

It can be said that the Ming Dynasty was robbed several times. Although a lot of things were robbed, most of the looted food and the like were eaten by people along the way, and sometimes they even had to spend money to buy some more.

Huang Taiji realized from the experience and lessons of the Qing army's several previous entrances to the pass that if he wanted to seize the Central Plains, he must first seize Shanhaiguan, and if he wanted to seize Shanhaiguan, he must first seize Jinzhou.

At the end of last year, after Huang Taiji personally led the army back from Datong Mansion, the supply of supplies to the Qing Dynasty suddenly became tense because the Zhenming Army raided Shanxi merchants who had been smuggling Tatars for a long time.

In order to make up for the losses, after the beginning of this year, Huang Taiji ordered an attack on Songshan City, about ten miles south of Jinzhou, preparing to capture Jinzhou and break through the Ming Dynasty's Songjin defense line.

The Qing army first bombarded the city gate with artillery, and then ordered soldiers to board the city. At this time, Songshan Deputy General Jin Guofeng led less than three thousand troops to defend here. Qing artillery attacked from all sides, and the walls of Songshan City were damaged one after another.

Jin Guofeng led his soldiers to fill the gaps in the city wall with straw and straw, and continued to hold on tenaciously. The Qing army failed to capture Songshan until all the artillery shells were used.

As the storming of Songshan City was blocked, in March of the 13th year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji took the advice of Zhang Cunren, then a member of the Supervisory Council, and went to the outskirts of Jinzhou to build a city and collect grain. He also sent troops to harass the city so that the Ming army could not farm outside Jinzhou City.

In order to avoid the inconvenience of dispatching troops and transporting supplies from Shenyang, Prince Zheng Jierhalang and Prince Rui Dorgon were sent to Yizhou City (now Yi County), a fertile land located 90 miles away from Jinzhou, to build a city and farm.

By the beginning of May, the city had been basically completed, and forty miles east and west of Yiju had been cultivated.

So Huang Taiji went to Jinzhou in person to check the situation. He saw that the Qing army had captured more than ten piers outside Jinzhou and destroyed the farmland outside Jinzhou city. It was expected that the Ming army would be short of food this year.

However, the defense at the top of Jinzhou City is still tight, and there is no intention of wavering in military morale.

"Dorgon, have you sent someone to Jinzhou to persuade him to surrender?" Huang Taiji asked.

"I have been trying to persuade him to surrender. Zu Dashou has an ambiguous attitude. Although he replies from time to time, he only talks about the difficulties of surrender. I think this person has no real intention to surrender." Dorgon replied.

"That's before he reaches despair. Let's go back to Yizhou City first." Huang Taiji ordered. He was still confident in persuading Zu Dashou to surrender.

As soon as he returned to the temporary residence in Yizhou City, Bachelor Fan Wencheng knocked on the door and came in.

"Xueshi Fan is here, is there any new news?" Huang Taiji asked.

Fan Wencheng took out a thick document and opened the report: "Your Majesty, our spies have returned a message from the Ming Dynasty. Lin Feng's Zhenming Army has occupied Luoyang, Kaifeng and the entire Henan Province since the beginning of the year.

At the end of last year, they occupied Taiyuan and all of Shanxi, Xi'an Prefecture and most of Shaanxi. Recently, the Zhenming Army has moved south to Xiangyang and is expected to capture Huguang soon. "

"Oh, the Zhenming Army captured the territory so quickly! Didn't it already occupy almost half of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yeah, I didn't expect the Zhenming Army to rise so rapidly in the Ming Dynasty."

"Then how many troops do they have now?" Huang Taiji was still more concerned about this issue.

"The specific number of people is not known, but they are forming new units very quickly. Recently, they have formed the First and Second Henan Combat Divisions, as well as the Luoyang Combat Division, the First Hubei Combat Division and other units. The total strength is estimated to be more than 200,000. people."

Huang Taiji was heartened when he heard this. The Manchu Qing army had not taken advantage of the Zhenming army in several battles. It also defeated Beile Yuetuo and other generals. It can be said that it suffered heavy losses. "Your Majesty, the Zhenming Army is rising rapidly. The lower official suggested that our Qing Dynasty should quickly change its strategy. Instead of spending time with the Ming Court in Jinzhou, we should encourage the Ming Court to attack the Zhenming Army." Fan Wencheng continued to suggest when Huang Taiji did not speak. .

Huang Taiji stared at the map of Ningjin's defense line for a while, feeling that it would be impossible to break through this line of defense for a while. Relying on siege to seize Jinzhou will not be effective until at least the second half of the year, or even the end of the year.

By that time, the Zhenming Army might have swept across the entire Ming Dynasty. At that time, his Qing Dynasty will face the Zhenming Army, a powerful opponent that is countless times more powerful than the Ming Dynasty.

As the saying goes, the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

There is no eternal hatred between countries, only eternal interests!

Huang Taiji was worthy of being a hero of his generation. He immediately decided to change his strategy and join forces to fight against Lin Feng's Zhenming Army. He must first defeat the most powerful enemy. Otherwise, he would fight to the death with Ming Ting and end up taking advantage of Lin Feng's Zhenming Army.

"Master Fan, do we still have channels of communication with the Ming court? Let's first inquire about the Ming court's attitude." Huang Taiji asked.

"Your Majesty, Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty, continued Yang Sichang's original strategy and always advocated negotiating peace with our Qing Dynasty and focusing on solving the peasant army in the Ming Dynasty.

A few days ago, Chen Xinjia had sent a team of informal envoys through Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, to discuss peace negotiations with us. Because you went directly to Jinzhou, I wanted to wait for you to come back and report to you. "Fan Wencheng replied.

"This matter is of great importance. Go and invite Prince Zheng and Prince Rui to discuss it together." Although Huang Taiji had made an initial decision, he still wanted to hear the opinions of his important ministers.

Prince Zheng Jierhalang and Prince Rui Dorgon came soon.

Huang Taiji asked the two of them to sit down, and then asked: "Can our Qing warriors capture Jinzhou quickly?"

"No!" they both replied in unison.

"Now the Zhenming Army led by Lin Feng in the Ming Dynasty has risen rapidly and has occupied all of Henan, Shanxi and most of Shaanxi, and its military strength has expanded to more than 200,000.

Now the elite Guan Ning Army of the Ming Dynasty is confronting our army in the Ningjin area and is unable to encircle and suppress the Zhen Ming Army. How do you think we should respond? " Huang Taiji asked after briefly introducing the development of the Zhenming Army.

"Your Majesty, the Zhenming Army is the life-and-death enemy of our Qing Dynasty. It is far more difficult to deal with than the Ming Court. I suggest that we join forces with the Ming Court to deal with the Zhenming Army first." Dorgon suggested immediately after suffering the losses of the Zhenming Army.

"Your Majesty, we can't help Mingting in vain. We can take the opportunity to ask them for land outside the customs." Jierhalang said.

Fan Wencheng heard this and said anxiously: "The officials of the Ming court are all a bunch of fools. If Chongzhen is allowed to give up the land outside the pass, he will fight to the end. I suggest that the Ming court first withdraw its troops from outside the pass to deal with the Zhenming army. We promise not to do it first. occupy their territory.

When the Ming court and the Zhenming army are both defeated, it will be easy for us to occupy these places. There is no need to rush. "

After hearing this, Huang Taiji pondered for a moment and said: "The most important thing now is to combat the rapid development of the Zhenming Army, otherwise our Qing Dynasty and the Ming Court may both be defeated by them.

We do not take advantage of the immediate advantage. As long as the Ming Dynasty opens the border markets and allows us to purchase urgently needed grain, iron and other materials, we promise not to attack Jinzhou for the time being and let the Ming Dynasty send troops back to fight the Zhenming Army.

However, with the strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is estimated that they will not be able to defeat the Zhenming Army. We, the Qing Dynasty, can send an army to help them, but for the territory they have conquered, the Ming Dynasty will have to compensate us with land outside the customs. "

"Your Majesty's words are very wonderful. I completely agree with you!" Fan Wencheng immediately agreed.

"Where are you two?" Huang Taiji asked.

"We have no objection!"

(End of this chapter)