The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 797: The only person executed today is the traitor Zhu Youjian

At dawn, the headquarters of the Grand Marshal of the Army arrived at Shanhaiguan, and Wu Sangui went out of the city to greet him in person.

According to historical records, Sangui, with his upper body naked and a whip on his back, prostrated himself on the ground, formally surrendering to Qi Meng.

"I, a sinner, do not know the will of heaven and, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, have actually become an enemy of the Grand Marshal. Today, I lead the Ningyuan troops to surrender, only to avenge the late emperor and save the people of the Ming Dynasty. From now on, I will follow the Grand Marshal's lead and go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Qi Meng jumped off his horse, slid forward, held Wu Sangui's hand, and spoke excitedly.

"Once upon a time, Guan Zhong shot the hook of Duke Huan of Qi's clothes. Duke Huan of Qi appointed Guan Zhong as prime minister, and he eventually achieved hegemony. Today, the Earl of Ningyuan has led his army to surrender. The young emperor (Zhu Ci Miao) will surely reward you with land and promote you to a vassal king. You have a bright future!"

Kang Yingqian patted Wu Sangui on the shoulder and said, "What the Marshal said just now is right. Today, the Earl of Ningyuan has returned, obeying the imperial edict to punish the criminals and deal with Zhu Youjian. Firstly, the national hatred will be avenged, and secondly, the descendants of the Wu family will enjoy wealth and prosperity for generations to come, as solid as the mountains and rivers."

Wu Sangui expressed his gratitude repeatedly.

Qi Meng ordered the Ningyuan Army to tie white cloth on their shoulders so that the Jingnan Army could distinguish them from the Ming Army on the battlefield, because the Zhenwu Camp would kill all enemies after entering the battlefield.

~~~~~~
Thirty thousand Ming troops lined up along the Sha River. The central army formed a huge hollow square formation on the shore, supported by cavalry on both wings. The sky was filled with wind and sand, and it was impossible to distinguish between cattle and horses. The troops on both sides looked a little messy.

The director of the Imperial Observatory, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, opened his eyes wide, looked at the gray sky, puffed his nose and said, "God bless the Ming Dynasty."

Sandstorms are indeed not good weather for fighting.

Emperor Chongzhen raised his telescope and looked at the flags flying over Shanhaiguan. He quickly noticed the white cloth tied on the mandarin duck jackets of the Ningyuan Army and sneered:
"You are a slave of three surnames, and you are willing to be cannon fodder for the Qi thieves. I will send you on your way today!"

Tang Tong said with a smile, "Your Majesty is wise and powerful. Our Ming army is strong and our firearms are sharp. Wu Sangui is courting death. Please let me be the vanguard and kill them without a single piece of armor left!"

Generals such as Bai Guangen, He Renlong, and Zuo Liangyu were all ready to fight, waiting for the emperor's order to launch an attack.

Zhu Youjian glared at the front and waved his banner: "Bombard Shanhaiguan!"

"Zuo Liangyu will be the vanguard, He Renlong will lead the central army to attack the city, and Bai Guangen and Tang Tong will provide support from the side!"

Zhu Youjian left behind 10,000 of the most elite soldiers from the Beijing Camp as a reserve force to be used in the final fight against Qi Meng's Zhenwu Camp.

A dense barrage of bullets slowly unfolded in front of Shanhaiguan. The artillerymen, with their bare chests, stuffed the shells into the gun barrels and lit the fuses. A huge roar resounded throughout the battlefield.

As a time traveler, Zhu Youjian has a long-standing preference for artillery. He calls cannons "God of War" and believes that artillery is a decisive weapon that wins wars.

Emperor Chongzhen once issued an oral order:
An attack without artillery support is a crime against the Ming Dynasty and its people, and it will result in unnecessary sacrifices.

The Ming artillery employed indirect fire tactics, preparing for the attack with firepower, countering artillery fire and suppressing enemy artillery groups. This destroyed enemy artillery positions, allowing the attacking infantry to easily break through, allowing large numbers of cavalry to pour through the gaps in the enemy's defenses. As their firepower grew, the Ming army deployed more and more artillery pieces along the front lines. By the time of the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the density of Ming artillery reached 230–280 pieces per li of front line.

The Ming artillery fire was extremely fierce, but not always precise or accurate.

After several encounters with the Ming army, skilled Liaodong commanders such as Deng Changxiong and Pu Gang had learned to evacuate their forward positions before the Ming army was scheduled to begin fire preparation during field battles.

Of course, now that the army is backed by Shanhaiguan and is fighting a decisive battle with the Ming army, it is impossible to retreat.

The Ming army used 122mm howitzers as the mainstay of indirect fire bombardment, supplemented by 152mm howitzers. 122mm guns and 152mm howitzers were assigned to divisional and corps-level units and above.

Such firepower was terrifying. Qi Meng even doubted whether Wu Sangui and his Ningyuan Army could survive such intensive bombardment and reach the Ming army's position.

Cannon fodder should be aware of their status as cannon fodder. Under the cover of shield carts, the elite soldiers of Ningyuan advanced forward with difficulty, bearing the dense artillery fire of the Ming army.

While bombarding, Bai Guangen and Tang Tong led elite cavalry to encircle the Ningyuan army from the left and right wings.

The three thousand cavalrymen were like two sharp sickles, gradually increasing their speed and charging towards the Ningyuan army formation. The Shanhaiguan city wall soon began to bombard this cavalry. The whistling shells flew over the heads of the Ming army from time to time, tearing bloody holes in the cavalry formation.

When there were only 200 steps left to Wu Sangui's infantry, the officers waved their flags and shouted orders: "Prepare to charge! Draw your swords! Move forward in small steps."

150 steps away from the enemy.

"Move forward quickly!" 50 steps

"charge!"

The Ming army buglers blew the passionate charge horn, and the riders drove their horses to the highest speed. The accelerated charge allowed the cavalry to maintain a relatively intact formation before engaging the enemy, which would cause an instantaneous maximum impact on the enemy line.

The Ningyuan soldiers, with white cloth tied on their shoulders, fired their weapons relentlessly, trying to inflict the greatest possible damage on the enemy before the Ming army approached. Riders were constantly falling to the ground with gunshot wounds.

However, compared with the limited casualties of the Ming army, the Ningyuan army suffered heavy casualties. The artillery bombardment not only disrupted the formation of Wu Sangui's troops, but also brought the already panicked Ningyuan army to the brink of collapse. The firepower of the Ming army's artillery was far beyond Wu Sangui's understanding. In order to deal with time travelers like himself, Zhu Youjian took out all his trump cards.

Although the Ming army's first charge did not yield significant results, densely packed enemy corpses tied with white cloth strips were left in front of the formation.

The Ningyuan army was torn to pieces by the cavalry. The generals of each camp shouted loudly and tried to gather their troops and reorganize their formation. However, before they could finish gathering, the second round of attack came.

In order to win this decisive battle, Zhu Youjian mobilized 50,000 war horses and elephants from Shanxi, Xuanfu, Datong and even Myanmar to strengthen the Ming army's cavalry strength. The cavalry was certainly sufficient.

At this time, Bai Guangen and Tang Tong were full of fighting spirit and high spirits. Although they did not get along with each other normally, they were united when facing Wu Sangui. It was not because Wu Sangui had surrendered to Qi Meng, but because Ningyuan Earl had been favored by the emperor for a long time, which aroused the jealousy of many military men. Now that the opportunity has come, they naturally have to deal with this thief.

Bai Guangen employed a multi-wave assault, with two regiments from a cavalry brigade charging one after the other, spaced 80 steps apart. The first wave served primarily to draw the Ningyuan army's firepower and cause some confusion, then reversed course and returned through the gaps between the enemy phalanxes.

The Ningyuan Army was on the defensive, having to guard against the Ming Army's artillery fire and deal with the continuous attacks of the Ming Army's cavalry. As they consumed their ammunition and were reloading, more and more gaps soon appeared in the phalanx.

Without waiting for Wu Sangui's order to fill the gap, the second wave of cavalry arrived on horseback and attacked again. Near the torn gap, more and more Ming cavalrymen rushed in, waving their sabers, and killed with skillful movements. The Ningyuan army began to collapse at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ning Yuanbo screamed hysterically: "Quick! Ask the Grand Marshal for help!"

~~~~
"Hahaha! Wu Sangui is defeated! This damn servant, now he knows how powerful the Ming army is!"

"General Bai's military command is divine. In just half an hour, he broke through the Ningyuan Army's formation. I admire you so much!"

Just when Bai Guangen was about to say a few humble words to Tang Tong, suddenly, a gust of wind and sand rolled in from the eastern hillside.

He thought he was seeing things and rubbed his eyes again, but he saw that under the dust that covered the sky, the Jingnan Army quickly circled to Wu Sangui's right side and pounced on the left wing of their own camp.

When the Ming army turned to the cavalry that suddenly appeared from the dust like ghosts, they were shocked to find that they were all wearing red uniforms.

"Zhenwu Camp!"

With a cry of surprise, the Ming cavalry, who were in the midst of a fierce battle, fled in panic, heading towards Yongping without looking back.

~~~~~~
"This mission is specifically to eliminate the rebellious rebels (i.e., the false Emperor Chongzhen), aiming to destroy the rebels. Anyone who resists will be punished. The only person punished is the traitor Zhu Youjian. No civilians will be slaughtered, no houses will be burned, and no property will be looted. If anyone initiates internal cooperation and makes great contributions, he will be rewarded with special honors. The law will be enforced. The Ming rebels were defeated once at Yipanshi and twice in the capital. When they heard our army was coming, they burned the palaces and treasuries and fled south in panic..."

In May of the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign, the Jingnan army entered the pass and defeated the Ming army successively at Yipanshi and Chongwenmen. Zhu Youjian led the remaining troops of the Beijing camp to retreat southward along the canal.

On May 26, Qi Meng escorted the young emperor to the capital. Hong Chengchou suggested that if he wanted to annex the world, he must ensure the following two things:
The first was to completely annihilate Zhu Youjian's army;

The second is to change the polarization rule strategy implemented in Liaodong, temporarily suspend the oppression of the people in the interior, and continue to publicize Zhu Youjian's crimes of killing his brother and mother...
Finally, Hong Chengchou also specifically proposed that the "ban on foot binding" that had been implemented in Liaodong for ten years should be stopped within the Great Wall, otherwise it would provoke large-scale civil unrest.

Qi Meng approved.

After the Battle of Shanhaiguan, Emperor Chongzhen lost his ability to control the world. Zhu Youjian was no longer qualified to be emperor. Zhu Cimao, supported by the Grand Marshal, would ascend the throne in Beijing and become the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Eastern world, no one knows what will happen in the next second.

After getting rid of Zhang Yihang and defeating Zhu Youjian, two uncontrollable factors, Qi Meng thought he could sit back and relax and dominate the eastern world.

At least in this plane, there will no longer be various supernatural beings like those in "The Ming Dynasty Begins from Sarhu".

He can now be the Huo Guang of the Ming Dynasty with peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)