Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The two red flags kept pleading for help, which naturally alarmed Huang Taiji.

He didn't want to give up Haizhou, but leading a large army to its rescue made him worried about the threat posed by the Guan Ning army.

The Guan Ning Army, which was originally stationed at the Liaohe Grand Camp, has now been fully deployed.

If he is not careful, he could be swallowed whole by the other party.

At this moment, he was somewhat annoyed by Dai Shan's incompetence, and at the same time, somewhat incredulous:

"What's wrong with Daishan?"

"They were trapped in the city by a motley crew from southern Liaoning."

"Doesn't he know that he's leading cavalry, which can only be effective outside the city?"

Upon hearing this, the high-ranking officials of the Eight Banners exchanged bewildered glances.

In fact, they understood Dai Shan's choice, because after the Battle of Daming, the Jin soldiers had developed a fear of cavalry charges.

But without the cavalry's striking power, it's like a tiger with its teeth pulled.

The so-called advantage of mobility was difficult to leverage in the defensive battles of Niuzhuang and Haizhou.

They could not ignore the Ming army's siege, because once the Ming army entered the city, it would be even more difficult to deal with them.

Therefore, Dai Shan's choice seemed normal to them.

Even after Huang Taiji complained, all he could do was clean up the mess for him.

Regardless, Daishan supported him.

If it weren't for this great prince keeping them in check, Amin and Mangultai would have been even more unruly.

Looking at the group of generals in the tent, Huang Taiji called out to them:

"Dorgon, go and rescue the Great Prince from the city, leaving only Sahalian to guard it."

Dorgon hesitated for a moment and asked Huang Taiji:

"Only the Bordered White Flag?"

"Please, Great Khan, send more troops."

His Bordered White Banner had thirty Niru, but fifteen of them belonged to Ajige and had been decimated in the Battle of Daning.

Even though they all said that Liaonan Town was a rabble, Dorgon was not confident in leading less than 5,000 men to fight against 50,000.

Huang Taiji pondered for a moment. He realized that he couldn't easily move his two yellow flags, so the only ones he could move were his two white flags.

However, if the Plain White Banner were assigned to Dorgon, then his main force would only consist of the two Yellow Banners.

If the two Yellow Banners were intact, it would be fine, but unfortunately, he had previously sent half of his troops to rescue Khorchin, and they have not yet returned.

It's too dangerous to defend ourselves with only the remaining half of the two yellow flags.

Considering that the Ming army had already fought with the Khorchin and most likely guessed that he had sent two Yellow Banners, Huang Taiji said:

“I’m assigning the Naiman and Aohan units to you. You will lead them to support the two Red Banners.”

"Remember, be flexible and don't engage the Ming army in a head-on battle!"

Clearly, Huang Taiji was worried that Dorgon would charge into battle like Ajige, sacrificing all the remaining Bordered White Banner soldiers.

Dorgon would not be so unwise, but he never expected that the Ming army was no longer the same as before.

He had barely led his troops to the vicinity of Haizhou when he received a report from his scouts that the Ming army was arrayed in the vanguard, already in full battle array and ready for action.

"How can this Ming army be so courageous?"

"They're even bolder than the Guan Ning Army!"

Without the support of a fortified city, they dared to challenge the enemy directly in the open field. This was something only Man Gui would dare to do, and Dorgon did not expect that the Liaonan army would also dare to do so.

"Could it be that these people are not a rabble, but rather an elite force comparable to the Dongping Army?"

Having this idea in mind, Dorgon sent a troop of cavalry to probe the area.

The Ming army opposite them was thrown into chaos, but it was only through the officers' shouts that they were calmed down.

Dorgon, who saw this scene through his telescope, burst into laughter:

"I thought they were elite troops, but they turned out to be reckless fools."

"Left and right, follow me forward and attack their flanks from both sides."

Commanding the Bordered White Banner troops to attack from the right and the Naiman Aohan troops from the left, they wanted to defeat the panicked Ming army.
-
The Liaonan Garrison's new army was newly formed; they were courageous, but lacked the ability to adapt their formations in battle.

Some panicked upon seeing the Jurchens; some wanted to change formation, while others were at a loss.

Upon seeing this, Yang Jiamo immediately gave the order:

"Maintain formation, do not change formation!"

"Artillery and cavalry, step forward."

Leave the infantry in the formation, and bring out the artillery and cavalry.

These technical troops were trained by him from the Divine Machine Battalion. They were not only highly trained, but also his true confidants.

The remaining infantry were mostly new recruits, whom he considered to be a complete waste of resources.

Seeing the new recruits who had strayed from their formation, Yang Jiamo said without any politeness:

"The guards stepped forward and beheaded those who broke formation."

"Officers and military judges, enforce battlefield discipline!"

He ordered his personal guards to draw their sabers and kill any soldiers who dared to break formation.

He shouted loudly, ordering the new recruits to stay calm.

However, some soldiers, trembling, still tried to escape, but after they were shot dead by officers and guards, even more people became afraid.

Some people became increasingly shaken, remembering the fear of being massacred by the Jurchens.

Just then, Lu Xiang-sheng led his personal guards and rushed over from the main camp.

Even with little experience, he knew that maintaining morale was paramount. Having interacted frequently with the soldiers, he loudly ordered those around him:

"Shout it out loud with me:"

"Kill the Tartars, distribute the land!"

Hundreds of people shouted in unison, which quickly inspired the surrounding soldiers to join in.

At the same time, Lu Xiang-sheng urgently mobilized the Tianxiong Army left in the camp, sending 5,000 men into battle.

Upon hearing this voice, many new recruits immediately recalled their experience of fighting the barbarians and distributing land some time ago.

They began to realize that the Tartars were not so scary after all; they were merely objects for them to gain merit.

Some people, thinking of their own merits and those soldiers who were treated as deserters, gripped their muskets tightly and no longer thought of fleeing.

Especially after the Tianxiong Army, who were kept as reserves, came up, they shouted "Kill the Tartars and divide the land" with Lu Xiang-sheng, their voices soaring into the sky and suppressing the fear of the new recruits.

Yang Jiamo was delighted to see this and his opinion of Lu Xiang-sheng, a military officer who had passed the imperial examination, changed greatly. He felt that although Lu Xiang-sheng seemed gentle, he was able to withstand pressure on the battlefield.

Before the soldiers' voices had even faded, Yang Jiamo loudly commanded:
"In this major battle, everyone's combat merits have doubled."

The order was given to those on either side to shout, "Double the battle merits!" The sound echoed across the battlefield.

The soldiers were even more excited upon hearing this.

The officers, in particular, put in their utmost effort.

Because the previous campaigns against the barbarians were relatively easy, they didn't have much credit for their command.

However, on this battlefield, their battle merits will not only be fully calculated, but will also be doubled compared to usual.

These people were fully motivated and loudly ordered the soldiers to maintain their formation, kicking anyone who was out of alignment.

Under the pressure of their accumulated power, the soldiers were like puppets, obeying their commands.
-
From a distance, Dorgon did not see this scene and was unaware that the Ming army's formation had stabilized.

He charged with the cavalry of the Bordered White Banner to within about a hundred paces, and saw the soldiers on both sides of the Ming army begin to fire their guns.

There was no volley fire or anything like that; these recruits hadn't been trained at all.

However, when hunting and capturing barbarians in the mountains and forests, their accuracy was quite good. The new recruits who hadn't practiced shooting were left behind.

Soon, the Jurchen cavalry began to fall in droves, and some were even killed from further away.

But Dorgon was secretly delighted at this moment:
"They can only fire up to a hundred paces away, and they don't have volley fire. This army is far inferior to the Dongping army."

Having carefully studied the Battle of Daning, he knew that Man Gui only opened fire at a pace of about seventy paces, and that when he did, it was a volley that almost wiped out the soldiers at the front.

The sparse firepower of these people was insufficient to defeat them.

Encouraged, Dorgon loudly ordered his men to charge. Once they reached about seventy paces, their arrows would be unleashed.

As the Jurchen cavalry drew ever closer, and they could even see them drawing their bows and firing arrows, the true test for the Ming soldiers had begun.

Few people were not afraid when they saw the charging cavalry; some new recruits were trembling and unable to load their weapons.

After the Jurchen arrows fell on their heads, some soldiers with poor mental fortitude almost collapsed.

But at that moment, the mines that the engineers had laid in advance finally came in handy—

Yang Jiamo, who had little confidence in the new recruits in Liaonan Town, laid landmines seventy paces away.

When the Jurchens reached seventy paces, they immediately entered a minefield laid by the Ming army.

In an instant, a series of loud explosions rang out, and some Jurchens were even blown up along with their horses by landmines with large explosive charges.

The Ming army's artillery began firing, with shrapnel loaded with gravel and small iron balls, which began to have an effect at this distance.

Yang Jiamo brought artillery from the Shenji Battalion, which was equipped with many mortars. At this time, they used the "tiger crouching cannon" tactic to fire directly at the Jurchens.

For a moment, the Jurchens couldn't even tell where the explosives came from, and their charging formation became chaotic.

The morale of the Ming soldiers was greatly boosted when they saw them being slaughtered like prey.

Their legs stopped trembling, their hands stopped shaking, and they skillfully loaded bullets into their muskets and fired at the Jurchens.

After they demonstrated their hunting skills, the Jurchen casualties suddenly increased.

Many Jurchens began to recall the horrors of the Battle of Daming and turned their horses to flee.

Upon hearing the explosion, Dorgon was stunned and it took him a while to regain his senses.
"I've fallen for their trap!"

"This Ming army is feigning weakness!"

The soldiers, who remained calm in the face of danger, and the well-trained artillerymen, did not appear to be a rabble.

Dorgon guessed that he had encountered the elite Ming army.

The horrors of the Battle of Daning also lingered in his mind. He didn't want to become an idle prince like Ajige.

After only a slight hesitation, Dorgon ordered his men to retreat, and did not forget to inform the Naiman and Aohan tribes that they could also retreat.

However, those two Mongol tribes were far less quick to seize opportunities than Dorgon.

By the time they wanted to retreat, they had already lost many men.

The cavalry of Liaonan Town began to move out in droves. Yang Yufan, Ma Ke, and others pursued them relentlessly.

Dorgon wanted to go to the rescue, but saw a group of several hundred Ming cavalrymen bravely charging towards him.

The leading general was Cao Bianjiao, who made a name for himself in Korea.

This greatly shocked Dorgon, making him even more certain that they had encountered the elite Ming army:

"Cao Bianjiao is a confidant of the Ming emperor; the troops he leads must be elite."

"We've fallen into their trap this time; the Liaonan garrison is no rabble."

"Compared to the Guan Ning Army, they are more like the main force!"

With this understanding in mind, he immediately ordered his men to break away.

At this point, he no longer wanted to defeat the Ming army, but rather to preserve his strength.

The remaining forces of the Naiman and Aohan tribes, who had allied with the Jurchens, were quickly annihilated under the siege of the remaining Ming troops. (End of Chapter)