The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 785 Kingdom: Choice

Xingtian and the Emperor came here to compete for the throne. The Emperor cut off Xingtian's head and buried it in Changyang Mountain. He then used his nipples as eyes and his navel as a mouth, and danced with a Ganqi in his hand.

——Classic of Mountains and Seas: Western Classic of Overseas

July 15th, the fourth year of Chongzhen, is the Ghost Festival.

The peace talks between Ming and Qing failed, and Huang Taiji, in the name of revenge for the old Khan and for the Eight Banners, raised an army of 120,000 to attack the Ming.

On July 18, the Qing army invaded Liaodong in four directions.

Daishan and Yuetuo led the two red banners to attack Tieling, Abatai and Dorgon led the bordered white banner to attack Fushun, Ajige and Jirgalang led the plain white and bordered blue banners to Kuandian, and Huang Taiji personally led the two yellow banners to attack Shenyang. Duoduo, Shuotuo, Dudu and other beile and beizi remained behind to defend Hetuala.

Wuzhenhachao's commander Shi Tingzhu and Ma Guangyuan also led their troops to accompany him.

Like Li Yongfang, who had already died for his country, Shi and Ma were both veteran baoyi (bond servants) of the Qing Dynasty. During the reign of the old Khan, they had deserted the Liaozhen garrison and joined the Later Jin, quickly rising to power. Their prowess in horsemanship and archery was unparalleled, making them exceptional baoyi. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, Ma Guangyuan and Shi Tingzhu accompanied the Qing army in several campaigns against the Ming, using the slaughter of Liao civilians as a stepping stone to rise through the ranks, earning their master's trust and rising to the rank of commander of the Eight Han Banners. Naturally, they were expected to perform diligently in this campaign against the Ming. Their Han troops, including artillery, numbered 20,000 men.

In addition, Huang Taiji forced the Li Dynasty to send 2,000 fire musket soldiers to accompany him. Together with the baoyi accompanying the army, the Qing army had nearly 200,000 troops.

Since the Battle of Shenyang in the 47th year of the Wanli reign, all parties in Liaodong have maintained peace for more than ten years.

After the Later Jin lost Fushun, Kuandian and other places, it retreated to Hetuala. Huang Taiji changed the country's name to Qing and proclaimed himself emperor... After ten years of accumulation, the Qing Dynasty had become very powerful. In addition, it had conquered Korea and Mongolia and equipped itself with firearms such as red cannons. Huang Taiji believed that he had the strength and skills to match Qi Mengbanban.

Despite this, he still sent Fan Wencheng to Shenyang to negotiate peace. The peace talks were just a decoy. Huang Taiji's ultimate goal was to fight a decisive battle with this mortal enemy.

As time went on, Qi Meng and his Liaozhen troops, who were entrenched in Liaodong, became increasingly powerful. According to reports from spies stationed by the Qing army in Shenyang, Qi Meng had 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers under his command, all of whom were strong troops with strict discipline and sharp firearms, which was not seen at all in the Eight Banners Army...

After Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he conferred the title of Earl of Liaoyang on Qi Meng, and took the initiative to extend the "three-year plan to pacify Liaoyang" agreed upon by the previous emperor (Emperor Tianqi) and the Earl of Liaoyang to ten years. He also sent the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, to Shenyang to read the imperial edict and reward the Earl of Liaoyang.

The Ming emperor and his subjects seemed united, at least on the surface. By contrast, the struggle for power among the beile of the Eight Banners reached a fever pitch. To suppress Daishan and curb the power of the three Dorgon brothers, Huang Taiji ordered the execution of Dorgon's mother, Abahai. Dorgon and Dodo, brothers, harbored a deep hatred for the new emperor and waited for the right moment to exact revenge.

Huang Taiji's battle plan this time was very clear: break through the center, encircle the two wings, feint attack Kuandian and Tieling, and use the main force to capture Shenyang, thus deciding Liaodong in one battle.

July 20th, Fushun East Gate.

After the red cannons bombarded, the cavalry soldiers of the Bordered White Banner shouted three times in unison as usual, to create a deterrent effect by "taking the initiative". The 1,200 cavalrymen were divided into three waves, in strict order, and they skillfully shot rows of sharp arrows towards the east gate in a lightning-fast charge.

Although the number of cavalrymen under Abatai was small, they formed a rolling tide of horses in a tight formation. Accompanied by the neighing of horses and fierce rain of arrows, they stirred up a bloody storm under the city of Fushun.

The earth was shaken by the mighty iron hooves, and the small white flags worn by the horsemen on their backs formed a huge rushing wave.

"First, they disrupted the Liao soldiers' formation with a hail of arrows, then used the cavalry to charge them. After the second wave of attack, Nikan allowed himself to be trampled by the Qing warriors like a flock of sheep! Hahahaha!"

Abatai stood on his horse and glanced at the top of Fushun City. In his sight, the defenders on the top of the city had retreated into the city, and he could only see the red tassels fluttering behind the battlements.

"Rao Yu Beile should be cautious. The Qi bandits are cunning, and Fushun is a strategic location. It must be heavily guarded. It is better to let Wuzhen Chaoha bombard the city a few more times, and then let the Baoyi fight on the city walls!"

Dorgon, less than twenty years old, had accompanied Huang Taiji in his campaign against the Chahar Mongols two years prior. His military exploits earned him the title "Mergen Daiqing" (meaning "wise commander") and the title of commander of the Bordered White Banner. However, during this campaign against the Ming, Huang Taiji temporarily handed command of the Bordered White Banner to Beile Raoyu, with Dorgon serving as deputy commander to assist his brother, Abatai. Although Dorgon was displeased, he dared not openly oppose this order.

Abatai stared at Dorgon for a moment, then said meaningfully, "The Emperor ordered my fourteenth brother and I to lead the Bordered White Banner together to urge those Han baoyi to fight bravely and not let them slack off on the battlefield. Fourteenth brother, you must understand the Emperor's intentions." "The spies we planted in Fushun were all killed by the Liao soldiers. If we forcefully attack the city walls now, I'm afraid there will be heavy casualties. The lives of baoyi are lives too, so how can we waste them like this?"

Abatai yelled, "There's always death in war! If you keep fussing like that, there's no point in fighting this war!"

Seeing that Rao Yu Beile was angry, Dorgon didn't say anything more. Anyway, most of the bondservants brought by the Bordered White Banner this time were newly recruited Han people, and not all of them were men from his Bordered White Banner. Dorgon didn't need to care whether more or less people died.

When Abatai saw that Dorgon stopped talking, he immediately waved his flag and ordered the soldiers to drive the bannermen out of the city.

A group of ragged, skinny civilians soon appeared at the foot of Fushun City. They were as dense as a dark cloud and rushed towards the city wall.

The baoyi troops were scattered and could barely form a row. They were like zombies, with gray and black faces, stiff knees, and moved forward silently. Those who walked slowly would be whipped by the white-bannered armored soldiers who caught up with them from behind.

Until the powerful sound of the conch shells was heard, everyone began to quicken their pace. The siege shield carts that had been waiting for a long time started immediately, following the lifeless baoyi soldiers, and rolled towards the city gate.

When the Baoyi advanced three hundred steps, the defenders on the city wall shot a sparse rain of arrows, which landed on their heads. A dozen people fell to the ground and howled, accompanied by wailing. Such casualties had little effect on the team of thousands of people, and the Baoyi continued to advance.

Dorgon did not look at the mighty siege troops, but turned around and asked:

"Rao Yu Beile, why didn't He Shuo Beile accompany the army to attack Ming this time? I haven't seen him for a long time."

At this moment, Abatai's attention was completely focused on the battle in front of him. When he heard someone ask, he blurted out: "Hauge is sick, so naturally he can't make it..."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, his facial expression changed drastically and he immediately swallowed the second half of the sentence.

"Haoge is very good. He can eat ten kilograms of meat in one meal."

"Ten pounds of meat?"

Dorgon, like a vulture eating carrion, immediately smelled the corpse:

"I heard that Heshuo Beile met Fan Wencheng half a month ago and then fell ill..."

Abatai shook his head in denial: "That's nonsense. When did Haoge meet Fan Wencheng? Fan Wencheng died a month ago! He was insane and bit everyone he saw. He was burned to death. Everyone in Hetuala knows that. Fourteenth brother, we are facing a formidable enemy. Don't mislead the people!"

"As long as you're not sick."

Dorgon nodded repeatedly, glanced at Abatai secretly, and said no more. His eyes followed the most trusted bannerman of Huang Taiji and looked towards the gate of Fushun.

Facing the all-out attack of the Bordered White Banner, Qi Meng only arranged three small squads of infantry to fight, with only 300 people in each squad, totaling less than 1,000 people. The general was the recently promoted Pu Gang.

As the first wave of suicide squad to meet the enemy, Pu Gang was ready to fight to the death under the attention of the entire army.

He placed a long rope behind the soldiers and shouted loudly: "Anyone who retreats to the rope will be killed!"

(End of this chapter)