The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 787 Winter is coming
According to Qing military tactics, the cavalry would first launch a high-speed charge across a wide front without artillery cover. The infantry would then intersperse the attack with smoothbore muzzle-loading artillery and shotguns, creating a "chain gun" of volleys and a dense charge followed by successive battalions. If the enemy was well-positioned, the cavalry would retreat and then suddenly charge forward, breaking through the enemy formation and crushing it in one fell swoop.

However, today, the two Niulu Ezhen of the Bordered White Banner discovered that no matter how hard they rode their horses, or how they rushed forward to fight with swords and arrows, the result was all in vain.

The Ming army's iron armor was impenetrable to arrows and indestructible to swords. Their own firearms were inferior to those of the Ming army in both accuracy and range. What was even more fatal was that the Korean soldiers had been hiding in the back and were unwilling to fight.

The first round of attack by the Bordered White Banner Vests ended in a disastrous defeat.

Huang Taiji and Qi Meng had been fighting for many years, and both sides fought to the death on the Liaodong battlefield. However, Qi Meng had such an ace force hidden under his command, and the Qing army was unaware of it.

Relying on the strong support of his father-in-law Yang Jinglie and his sworn brother Eunuch Wei, Qi Meng obtained a huge amount of Liao salary in Liaodong (three million taels per year), supplemented by the powerful forging industry in Kaiyuan and Tieling, and strict military training (the training standards of the Zhenwu Camp: swimming two miles, doing one hundred consecutive push-ups, one hundred consecutive sit-ups, and eighteen pull-ups). Only then did he finally forge such an elite army "even the infantry are all in iron armor."

Flintlock rifles first appeared in Liaodong. The gunner pulled the trigger to activate the hammer, and the flint on the hammer rubbed against the curved anvil, producing sparks that ignited the gunpowder. Shooting simply required pulling the trigger, without the need to light the matchlock as with a matchlock, greatly improving shooting efficiency. By the first year of the Chongzhen reign, the matchlock rifles used by Qi Meng's army had been replaced by flintlock rifles.

The Ming army's sabers were invincible. Every time they swung the sword, they could take out several elite cavalrymen. Wuzhenhachao and the Korean soldiers were still dawdling behind. One hundred cavalrymen were all killed by the sabers, and the surviving cavalrymen were shot by the dense muskets on the city wall. In the end, only a few cavalrymen survived.

Ekeqin's face was covered in blood, and he could not tell whether it was his own blood or the blood of the Ming army. He skillfully controlled his horse to turn to the right wing, while loudly calling out to the cavalry and ordering them to encircle the armored Ming army from the flank.

"Go around to the flank and kill them!"

At this time, the cavalrymen and horses in the front row were all chopped into pieces. The shocking bloody scene made the cavalrymen in the second row shrink back.

Since Huang Taiji became emperor, the Qing army has campaigned east and west, conquered Mongolia, killed Ligdan Khan, razed Korea, captured Gwanghaegun... They have defeated all opponents and thought they could easily fight against the Ming army, but they did not expect the gap between the two sides to be so huge.

The cavalrymen who followed behind, witnessing the brutal battle ahead, turned and fled, while some brave Zhenyi circled around to attack from the flanks. However, this was in vain, as they were quickly dispersed by the musketeers on both wings, leaving behind dozens of corpses before fleeing in panic.

The Qing army has always had the quality of "reuniting rather than dispersing after defeat". They have been fighting for many years, and several Niulu Ezhen are veterans who have fought against Qi Meng since the time of Sarhu. They can use various tactics freely, and are as swift as the wind and as still as a mountain. When they see that the situation is not right, they immediately order the entire army to stand firm and reorganize.

"Nikan's artillery fire is intense. Shoot from a distance to disrupt the formation before attacking!"

The cavalrymen who rushed up from behind retreated more than ten steps and shot rounds of arrows into the sky in an attempt to disrupt the formation of the Ming army.

A dense rain of arrows fell on the armored soldiers, making a crisp tinkling sound. The damage caused by light arrows to the heavily armored soldiers was very limited. After three rounds of arrows, it was estimated that only a dozen Ming soldiers were directly hit in the face and fell to the ground howling.

Dorgon was worried because he knew that the fatal flaw of heavy armored infantry was that they could not pursue the enemy after winning, and it was difficult to retreat after losing. So he persuaded Abatai:

"Take off the vests and have the Korean soldiers and Wu Zhenha shoot at them from a distance. They're heavily armored and won't be able to sustain long-range fire. Once they're exhausted, we can send in the cavalry to pursue them."

Abatai knew that Dorgon was using Koreans and Han people as cannon fodder in order to preserve his own strength. However, it was obviously impossible to capture Fushun by relying on cavalry at the moment, but he still wanted to try again.

"Shoot all the arrows you have inserted, it's not too late to pull them back!"

The Ming army remained motionless, with only a few men falling.

The Ma Jias were calm and experienced, and were not in a hurry. Behind them, groups of camel caravans loaded with arrows were enough to ensure the continuous output of archers' firepower.

"Shoot! Shoot you Nikans to death!"

When Ekeqin saw the continuous stream of cavalry reinforcements coming up from behind, his fighting spirit was immediately high. At this time, some cavalry discovered the weak point of the Ming army's armor: the feet.

"Shoot them in the feet!"

A dense rain of arrows poured down, shooting at the Ming army's feet where the defense was relatively weak, and soon the armored soldiers' formation began to loosen.

Abatai noticed this and laughed:
"The Ming army moved, and the mountain moved!"

Dorgon continued to pour cold water on the situation: "It did move, but it was moving towards us."

"what!"

The Ming army was not running away at all. Instead, they were all wearing heavy iron armor and rushing towards the cavalry soldiers in the rain of arrows, roaring in unison!
The armored soldiers moved at lightning speed, rapidly closing the distance of a hundred paces. The cavalry soldiers, still firing arrows, were still dazed and unsatisfied. When they saw the armored soldiers approaching, they hurriedly retreated, but their retreat was blocked by the Korean reinforcements who had just arrived. The cavalry soldiers who retreated in front of the Korean soldiers were forced to turn their horses and rush forward, brandishing their sabers to cut down the fast-approaching Ming armored soldiers. The thin sabers, slashing against the thick armor, did little to inflict damage, and what met them was the terrifying blow of the sabers.

"kill!"

Pu Gang, holding a saber in his hand, quickly approached the chaotic cavalry soldiers. He ignored the heavy arrows flying towards him and swung his saber at the horse that was rushing towards him. At the same time, the Qing army cavalry on the saddle took advantage of the inertia of running and swung the saber to chop down heavily.

Pu Gang leaned sideways, his saber slashing across the breastplate of his armor as it fell rapidly, sending dazzling sparks flying across the fine armor. The horseman, expecting a sure hit, unexpectedly got his opponent to dodge. Just as he was about to adjust his horse's stance, a flash of white light flashed before his eyes, and the sound of metal piercing flesh rang in his ears. The horse's front hooves were severed, and it fell straight to its knees. The horseman scrambled to hold onto the horse's belly with his calves, but the immense inertia still threw him forward. When he trembled and stood up, the last thing he saw was the saber, longer than his body, whistling down...
A bloody rain arose from the vest, and amid the shouts of men and the neighing of horses, the elite soldiers of the Bordered White Banner were cut down from their horses one by one, without any chance of fighting back.

The Korean soldiers behind were frightened by the massacre before them and stopped firing. They abandoned their muskets and fled. The Wuzhenhachao fire musketeers on the flank also began to retreat.

Qi Meng conducted devilish training on this heavily armored infantry.

The Liao army's heavy armored soldiers were all strong men selected through repeated assessments of the entire army, and were called the Zhenwu Camp.

The armored soldiers of the Zhenwu Battalion trained twice daily, morning and evening, in full armor, a practice they had cultivated for years. "Each squad had six squad leaders... Each squad also had three platoon members, who carried their battle skirts, armbands, and armor, accompanying them. They would don their armor when in battle, sparing them the fatigue of marching." A dedicated person carried their armor with them during normal times, donning it only when on the brink of battle to conserve energy. Particularly impressive was their ability to maintain the Qi family army's "small three-piece" formation during the charge. To break through the formation, a soldier holding a long shield would cover two teammates, one soldier cutting down the horse while the other cut down the enemy. Their long swords were exceptionally sharp, "because they were forged by hundreds of blacksmiths, each working together to forge the blade, resulting in an exceptionally sharp edge." A single strike was "unstoppable." Combined with the support of musketeers on both wings, this heavily armored force was virtually unmatched on the battlefield.

One by one, the horsemen and their horses were hacked in half. In a short while, the first two rows of horsemen were completely killed or wounded, and the remaining ones fled for their lives. The front of the Bordered White Banner was in chaos, and Bayala, the main force, was also thrown into disarray by the defeated soldiers.

"The Jiannu were defeated! Defeated!"

A Baoyi soldier who moved forward in time shouted at the top of his lungs, but was immediately shot into a hedgehog by the dense rain of arrows shot by Bayala.

Despite this, defeat was inevitable.

Compared to the chaotic formation of the Bordered White Banner, the relentlessly pressing Zhenwu Battalion appeared methodical. The musketeers on both wings methodically reloaded their ammunition, aiming calmly at the chaotic cavalry ahead and firing decisively at those Jiannu who attempted to attack from the flanks. In the front, heavily armored soldiers wielded their sabers, slaying all who stood in their way. Having suffered two consecutive heavy losses, the Bordered White Banner cavalry finally realized their defeat was inevitable. The two Niulu Ezhen ordered the troops to retreat and quickly fled towards their main formation.

Seeing Niulu Ezhen running away, Ma Jia, who was still shooting arrows, stopped shooting, turned his horse's head, and fled desperately, regardless of the fact that his horse was trampling on the Korean soldiers around him.

More and more Qing troops joined the fleeing ranks, and Pu Gang ordered them to speed up.

Soon, a one-sided massacre began.

The Bordered White Banner Camp was backed by a hillside, and it would be difficult to escape at this time. Under the unstoppable counterattack of the Zhenwu Camp, the cavalry soldiers completely collapsed, and the Korean soldiers and Wuzhenhachao who followed closely were scrambling to escape. The defeat of the vanguard quickly affected the Bordered White Banner armored soldiers behind. At first, Abatai tried to organize these armored soldiers to step forward to block the wave of defeat, but soon found that it was in vain.

Some brave Bayala turned around, brandished their weapons, and tried to stop the pursuing Zhenwu Camp. After killing one or two Ming soldiers, these most elite heavy armored soldiers were instantly killed by the spears and swords that rushed from all directions.

From Korean soldiers to baoyi soldiers, from infantry to cavalry, the Qing army was crushed head-on. The Zhenwu Battalion chased after them, hacking at them like cutting melons and vegetables.

The White Banner line collapsed to the east like a tide, and the shouts of people and horses mixed with screams and wails rushed into the sky. It could be heard clearly from miles away.

"Failed! Defeated!"

Dorgon gazed at the crumbling Bordered White Banner formation and muttered to himself. He had thought the siege would drag on for years, but it ended in just two hours, and with such a scene. His only consolation was that the rout hadn't affected the Bordered White Banner's main force. As long as they escaped in time, they wouldn't be seriously injured, with the loss of at most a few hundred armored soldiers and a thousand or so Korean soldiers.

"Withdraw! Withdraw!"

Eqin screamed hysterically. He was surrounded and his mount was hacked to death three times by the Zhenwu Camp. Once he was even beaten off the horse by an iron whip. He struggled desperately to break free, but fortunately he was protected by two white-armored soldiers and was able to save his life.

Abatai looked at the devastated battlefield in despair, and under the protection of a group of Goshaha, he whipped his horse and fled to the east without looking back.

Dorgon stood where he was, and shouted at Rao Yu Beile's fleeing figure:

"Rao Yu Beile, you can't leave!"

Abatai replied from a distance: "Fourteenth brother, hold on, I will go to the emperor to ask for reinforcements..."

Dorgon cursed.

"The armored soldiers, withdraw from the battlefield. Don't worry about the Korean soldiers and Wuzhen Ha Chao. I will personally lead the white armored soldiers to cover the rear and withdraw from Fushun Pass!"

~~~~~~
Although Dorgon tried to turn the tide, Abatai's escape marked the complete collapse of the Bordered White Banner's resistance. The Qing army was defeated. The frightened soldiers rushed to the rear, grabbed horses and galloped away. Sometimes more than a dozen soldiers would fight and kill each other for a horse to escape...
The Bordered White Banners formed a fleeing torrent and rushed down the slope of Fushun Pass. The slope here was very steep, and the fleeing soldiers lost their footing and stumbled in groups, rolling like a raging tide.

Yuan Chonghuan, the Ningyuan military governor, was standing on the top of Fushun City Wall while the entire city watched the battle. He later described it as follows:

"The Jiannu soldiers' legs and thighs were broken, and their horses, laden with wounds, galloped in panic." The roads were narrow and crisscrossed with ditches. Heavy rain also struck, and the Manchu cavalry, clad in cotton armor, crammed together with the panicked Korean soldiers by the tens of thousands in the mud. "Those who crossed the ditch died in the ditch, and those who crossed the river died in the river." The scene was horrific. The weak were thrown from their horses, trampled into the deep mud and water by humans and animals, and turned into a pulp. Even the strong were mired in the mire, unable to escape.

The murderous Zhenwu Battalion simply took off their armor and combat boots to make the pursuit faster. They rushed into the fleeing soldiers barefoot, hacking them fiercely, "rushing back and forth swiftly", and wherever they rushed, a bloody rain would be set off. The Qing army "filled the ditches and the fields were covered with corpses", and they pursued and killed them for ten miles. The main force of the Bordered White Banner had not yet joined the battle, but they had suffered heavy losses. More than 3000 people of the 37 Zhenyi Battalion were trampled to death, and more than 600 armored soldiers were missing. Not only did the Bordered White Banner suffer heavy losses, but there were also few Han Eight Banners left. According to Qing statistics afterwards, only of the people under Shi Tingzhu's command escaped, and only of the gunners in the artillery battalion under Ma Guangyuan's command survived, and everyone was "terrified, and those who planned to fight shrank back"...

~~~~
On July 21, Huang Taiji, upon learning of the disastrous defeat in Fushun, immediately lifted the siege of Shenyang and led the two yellow flags to retreat towards Hetuala.

At the same time, the troops from various flags that participated in the siege of Tieling, Kuandian and other places also retreated one after another. The Ming army went out of the city to pursue them and captured a lot of them.

~~~
July 28th, Hetuala Khan Palace.

"Your Majesty, the crow blood is ready. Doctor Xu is waiting downstairs."

"Understood, back off."

Huang Taiji, looking exhausted, waved away Goshiha, the guard beside him, and grabbed a cloth bag on the table that was still oozing blood. The bag looked very heavy.

"Oh," Huang Taiji sighed, stood up and walked to the corner of the palace.

In the corner, there stands a shaman statue more than two feet tall. At this moment, the shaman is looking at the obese Qing emperor with pity.

"Hey!"

Huang Taiji sighed as usual, squinted his eyes and looked around. Seeing that there was no one around, he moved the shaman away skillfully.

With a crashing sound, a hole more than three feet wide appeared in the floor beneath the feet of the statue, just big enough for one person to pass through. A series of slightly damaged stone steps extended from the hole to the underground.

"Hey!"

Huang Taiji carried the bloody cloth bag, shook his fat body, and climbed down the stairs with difficulty.

As soon as he entered the secret passage, the statue above his head automatically moved slowly to its previous position.

The secret passage was more than ten feet wide and higher than Huang Taiji's head. Bright whale oil lamps were hung on the walls on both sides. The secret passage was brightly lit and very wide. At least it was not narrow for a fat man like him to walk in.

After walking about ten steps forward, a strong stench of corpse hit him in the face. Huang Taiji stopped and rubbed his big nose.

A sad and hoarse voice in Manchuria echoed in the empty secret passage:

"Hukou, Ama is here to see you again."

(End of this chapter)