Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Rumble..."

Horses neighed and the earth shook. Cao Wenzhao, who was chasing Dorgon, noticed a cloud of dust rising in the distance.

A cavalry force of several thousand men arrived outside Shenyang.

Cao Wenzhao looked through his binoculars and discovered that among the approaching cavalry, there were not only the flags of the Ming Dynasty's border defense army, but also a flag with the character "Manchu".

This was Man Gui's private army, so they could continue using their surname as their banner. Cao Wenzhao, realizing this, immediately shouted with joy:
"General Man!"

"The Dongping army is here!"

"We have reinforcements!"

He personally led his troops to meet them.

As for Dorgon, he had already fled further and further away and was about to approach Shenyang.

Knowing that the Jurchens had cannons and fearing an ambush, Cao Wenzhao did not immediately give chase.

Man Gui traveled day and night this time, and many people fell behind along the way.

Upon seeing Cao Wenzhao, he immediately launched into a tirade:
"how is it now?"

"How many Jurchens escaped?"

Cao Wenzhao treated this general, who had been ennobled for his merits, with great respect and replied:

"The Jurchens sent the Plain Yellow Banner and Plain Red Banner to flee north, while the two White Banners blocked them at the Hun River."

"Just now, when the two white flag troops were defeated, another troop of soldiers came out of the city, carrying a lot of flags."

"This humble general is about to attack the city; what does the general think?"

When Man Gui learned that they had just won the Battle of Hunhe, he was so frustrated that he kept slapping his thigh.

If he had been just one step faster, he might have been able to stop Dorgon.

Now, he could only watch Dorgon walk around the city, seemingly intending to enter through another gate.

Man Gui was so anxious that he wanted to chase after him, but Cao Wenzhao stopped him, saying:
"General, the Jurchens are capable of casting cannons, and I am worried that there may be an ambush."

Man Gui, eager to make a name for himself, ignored his advice and urged the soldiers to advance.

The Dongping army rushed here day and night to make a name for themselves, so of course they wouldn't hesitate at this moment.

Just as they were about to reach the city wall, a flock of pigeons suddenly flew up from inside the city, and shouts of battle rang out from within the city walls.

Man Gui was startled, wondering what the Jurchens were up to.

Cao Wenzhao pointed to the pigeons being shot by the Jurchens and said:

“Those are carrier pigeons of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. There are spies in the city who alerted us.”

"The Jurchens must have laid an ambush; we must not approach them lightly."

Watching the pigeons being shot down one by one by the Jurchens with arrows, and faintly hearing shouts of battle from inside the city, Man Gui sighed, knowing that the Imperial Guards in the city were risking their lives to warn them.

Given this, he couldn't afford to be reckless. Besides, the Dongping army was already exhausted from their day and night march.

"Dismount and set up camp!"

Man Gui ordered his soldiers to choose a location to set up camp, but ultimately failed to breach the city. Instead, he decided to besiege it and then devise a plan to capture it later.
-
On the city wall of Shenyang, Sahalian, who was in charge of guarding the city, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

In fact, there was no Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) desperately reporting the news. Rather, they had seized a batch of pigeons during their previous capture of Manchu slaves and guessed that they belonged to the Jinyiwei.

Then Saharan did the opposite, using the flock of pigeons to create an empty city ruse.

However, it wouldn't be accurate to say there was no ambush; at least the cannons that Huang Taiji didn't take with him when he withdrew were all left behind in the city.

Yes, Huang Taiji had already fled.

Man Gui came in a grand procession from the west, and loyal Eight Banner soldiers had already relayed the news.

Upon learning this, Huang Taiji felt even more strongly that Shenyang was indefensible. At Sahalian's urging, he mingled with the second group of soldiers with their mixed flags and escaped with his personal guards of the Bordered Yellow Banner.

However, the Khan's entourage remained in the city, creating the illusion that they were still there. This encouraged the soldiers to hold out, buying them time to escape.

Dorgon had just circled the city because Sahalian knew about it and allowed him to avoid entering the city and catch up directly.

He was determined to live and die with Shenyang, but he didn't want to drag the other princes down with him.

He instructed the soldiers to guard the city well, and then pretended to go to see the Great Khan to ask for their reward.

Everything that wasn't taken away was given away by him for free.

Let the remaining Eight Banner soldiers and their slaves defend the city well and try to buy a few more days.
-
On the Ming army's side, after deciding to set up camp, Man Gui soon received news that was neither good nor bad for him: "General Hou is seriously injured and is no longer able to perform his duties."

"How is this going?"

After gathering his generals, Man Gui inquired in detail about what had happened.

Only then did I learn that Hou Shilu had fought too fiercely in the Battle of Hunhe. In addition, as the main general of the Ming army, he was deliberately targeted by the Jurchens. After continuous battles, he almost died on the battlefield.

If Cao Wenzhao hadn't rushed out in time, leading to the Jurchens' crushing defeat, Hou Shilu would probably have been killed in battle.

He has now survived, but is seriously injured and unconscious.

"In that case, we need to elect a new commander-in-chief."

"Our vanguard committee must elect a leader."

Cao Wenzhao immediately said.

He came from the Beijing Garrison and had the deepest understanding of the collective deliberation system.

Now that the commander-in-chief is seriously injured and in a coma, someone must be chosen to take his place.

Mao Wenlong was somewhat reluctant because he wanted to take over command as the Chief Protector.

However, there was no such rule in the Ming army. Even if he served as a military officer as a guard, he could not directly replace the commander-in-chief.

It is impossible to exclude Man Gui from the vanguard committee.

According to the system established by the Privy Council, the General-in-Chief was naturally one of the members.

Not to mention that Man Gui is a commander-in-chief, which is one rank higher than a general.

As expected, Man Gui was elected as the commander-in-chief.

He was, after all, from the Guan Ning Army, and the generals trusted him.

On the contrary, although Mao Wenlong fought alongside them, their relationship was not very good because he came from the Dongjiang Army.

Enraged, Mao Wenlong immediately said:
"The Jurchens have already fled; simply besieging the city won't suffice."

"I'm going to lead troops to pursue the Jurchens. Who of you will come with me?"

Upon hearing this, Man Gui's expression turned serious, and he was about to reprimand Mao Wenlong for interfering with his command.

However, before he could speak, news from Tiger Skin Post Station interrupted the discussion:
"The Zhenglan Banner in front of Hupi Post Station has fled, and we don't know where they went."

"Ma Hujun's side is all infantry, so there's no way to pursue them."

"He sent people to warn us to be careful of being attacked by the Zhenglan Banner."

"The supplies we need are being delivered by Commander Ma as soon as possible."

After this news came out, Mao Wenlong dared not say anything about catching up.

Because of the threat posed by a single banner of the Jurchens, at least five thousand new troops were needed to deal with it.

Cao Wenzhao's left wing has been fighting all day and it is clearly impossible for them to move out.

Sun Yingyuan only had three thousand men under his command, and they also had to hold off the Guan Ning Army.

Furthermore, the new army was short of ammunition; even Mao Wenlong had little left. If he led the Dongjiang Army away from the main force and encountered the Zhenglan Banner, it was uncertain whether he would survive.

Mao Wenlong was unwilling to take risks when a great victory was imminent.

However, the fleeing Jurchens had to be pursued. In the end, under Man Gui's arrangement, all the armies concentrated their ammunition and handed it over to Sun Yingyuan's Shooting Battalion.

He led the existing 3,000 men of the Archery Battalion as the vanguard to track down the Jurchens.

The next day at dawn, Sun Yingyuan led his troops to catch up.
-
Back at the rear, Sun Chengzong, upon learning that Hou Shilu was seriously injured and that Man Gui had taken over as commander-in-chief, was almost numb.

He did not expect that Hou Shilu could achieve victory with a small cavalry force.

Unexpectedly, Hou Shilu was seriously injured, and Man Gui took over as commander-in-chief.

Adding to the list of those who died in battle, such as Zhao Lüjiao, and those who fell ill, Sun Chengzong himself began to wonder if he was simply born with bad luck.

"When we went to war, we had three great generals, but now one is dead, one is wounded, and one is sick."

"Could it be that my Guan Ning Army has been plagued by bad luck all along?"

Recalling Ma Shilong's defeat at Liuhe, Sun Chengzong was genuinely worried that he might encounter something bad again, affecting the outcome of the subsequent battle.

Now, he no longer cared about commanding the battle; he simply focused on logistical support and relaying news of the Hunhe River Campaign back to the front lines. (End of Chapter)