Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

The next morning, a faint glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon.

Dorgon, who was stationed in Qian'an, had just left the city when he encountered scouts sent by Yue Tuo's troops seeking help.

"Your Highness, the General is being besieged by more than 70,000 Ming troops in Tongzhou. We request Your Highness's assistance!" the scout said hurriedly, panting heavily.

"So that's where the Ming army from Jizhou went! They're besieging Yue Tuo!" Dorgon muttered, then turned and ordered, "Hauge, lead 20,000 infantry and cavalry to reinforce Yue Tuo!"

"I accept the order!" Hauge clasped his hands in a fist salute, looking eager to try.

He felt that Dorgon was giving him the credit, and that with his combined forces of 60,000 and Yue Tuo, they could easily defeat the Ming army of 70,000!

He then mounted his horse and led his army westward.

At this time, Dorgon ordered the abandonment of unnecessary prisoners of war, people, cattle and sheep. He was preparing to join forces with Yue Tuo to wipe out the Ming Dynasty's large army of more than 70,000 men!

When Hauge led his army through Yutian, they were met with a fierce artillery barrage from the Guan Ning Army led by Wu Aheng, the Governor-General of Jiliao, and Wu Sangui, which caught Hauge's army completely off guard.

He hadn't expected there to be such a fierce artillery force in Yutian.

"Damn it, there are still Ming troops in Yutian!" he cursed angrily, then ordered his soldiers to begin the attack on Yutian.

He could bypass it, but it was uncertain how many troops Yutian had. If there were tens of thousands more, he would be surrounded by the time he bypassed it. Therefore, he chose to attack Yutian first to test the strength of the Ming army.

"Lord Wu, I'll lead the cavalry and launch a counter-charge!" Wu Sangui suggested to Wu Aheng, the Governor-General of Jiliao.

At this time, Wu Sangui was young and vigorous, strong and powerful, and not afraid of the Qing army at all. His Guan Ning Army was also one of the strongest armies in the world.

"I refuse. His Majesty's decree is for us to hold off the Qing army heading west, not to annihilate them!" Wu Aheng said solemnly.

Wu Aheng believed that these Qing troops heading west were very likely to attack the capital, so he prepared to defend Yutian to the death. Even if he died in battle, he would not let these Qing troops go west. Moreover, Yutian now had nearly 40,000 troops, which was enough to hold out for a while.

Wu Sangui, eager to make a name for himself, was immediately deflated and could only nod in hushed tones. The emperor's decree had already been issued, and Wu Aheng was to be in charge in Yutian, so Wu Sangui could not disobey the order.

At that time, Wu Sangui did not yet possess the strength he would later gain, and the central authority of the Ming Dynasty had not been lost, so he had no choice but to obey orders...

Several hours later.

The gray-brown city walls of Yutian were covered with mottled bloodstains. The strong stench of blood assaulted the nostrils of all the defending soldiers.

The walls were covered with countless corpses, some from the Ming army and some from the Qing army; both sides suffered heavy casualties.

After several hours of siege, the Qing army was exhausted, and Hauge had no choice but to order a retreat.

By this time, Hauge had roughly figured out the situation in Yutian City. He estimated that Yutian had at least 20,000 to 30,000 troops, all of whom were elite Ming soldiers.

Just then, a Qing soldier rode up to Hauge's side: "Reporting to Prince Su, Prince Rui has arrived!"

"Understood!" Haug replied.

He then glanced at Yutian City in the distance, mounted his horse, and went to the rear army to see Dorgon.

A moment later, Hauge approached Dorgon: "This Ming army in Yutian numbers about twenty to thirty thousand, all elite troops!"

Dorgon nodded, unsurprised. He felt that things were now beyond his control.

Yue Tuo on the right wing was blocked, and their left wing was also blocked. It seems that the information they received before entering the pass was wrong. The main force of the Ming army was not in Shaanxi at all, but in this Beizhili.

Dorgon gazed into the distance, now hesitant. He had two choices: one was to abandon Yue Tuo and retreat, or head south along the coast from Liangcheng and Dagu; the other was to launch a strong attack on Yutian, take it, and then head west towards the capital, or bypass Yutian and head west from Baodi.

But if he chose to head south or return directly, he would certainly face punishment upon reaching Shengjing... If he were to go west to support Yue Tuo, his troops would undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties...

After a while, Dorgon sighed and said, "Tomorrow we will head west from Baodi, bypassing Yutian!"

After listening, Hauge pondered for a moment, then sighed, "Understood!"

He then added, "There are garrison troops in Yutian, but I don't know if there are any in Baodi!"

"I hope not!"

......

Two days later, before Dorgon and Hauge's troops even reached Baodi, Yuetuo led a large army from the direction of Baodi.

Before long, Yue Tuo, covered in dust and blood, rode up to Dorgon, panting heavily: "Prince Rui, there are also thirty to forty thousand Ming troops coming from Baodi, plus those coming from Tongzhou, making a total of over one hundred thousand troops on the western front..."

"How is the situation in your unit?" Dorgon asked...

Yue Tuo sighed: "More than ten thousand men were killed in the battle..."

"Yesterday, Prince Su also encountered resistance in the direction of Yutian, with about 20,000 to 30,000 Ming troops! Add to that the more than 100,000 Ming troops on the western front..." Dorgon calculated the number of Ming troops, then suddenly looked up: "The Ming army is too numerous. We now have two routes: one is to retreat from Qingshankou to the border, and the other is to cross the Wei River from the direction of Dagu and continue south along the coast!"

After saying this, Dorgon's gaze swept over Yuetuo, Hauge, Dudu, and others, seeking their opinions.

"If we head south, the Ming army will arrive and we won't be able to cross the river!" Hauge said, expressing his opinion.

"Prince Su is right. If the Ming army suddenly launches an attack while we are crossing the river, we will surely suffer a crushing defeat!" Du Du chimed in from the side.

Yue Tuo did not rush to express his opinion, but quietly considered Dorgon's two proposals.

Seeing that the crowd had no consensus, Dorgon spoke up again: "We still have more than 60,000 troops. Why don't we feign a southward advance from Dagu to lure the Ming army into pursuit, and then launch a surprise attack on them north of Liangcheng? After that, we can withdraw beyond the Great Wall?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Tuo's eyes lit up: "To launch a surprise attack on the Ming army without any preparation, and to inflict heavy casualties on them, doesn't count as a defeat!"

Dorgon and Yuetuo's idea was to reduce the punishment for Shengjing's failed invasion and preserve their own power.

Dudu and Hauge, on the other hand, were considering preserving their own strength, since they were both vice commanders and the main responsibility would not fall on their shoulders.

After considering it, Dudu and Hauge nodded.

They both agreed that the plan was very sound and said in unison, "As Prince Rui commands!"

The Qing army, after combining its forces, then began marching southwest towards Baodi.

......

At this time, Zhu Jian had already joined forces with Sun Chuanting's troops in Baodi.

Sun Chuanting rode up to Hong Chengchou, and upon seeing Zhu Jian standing beside Hong Chengchou, he was taken aback. He then dismounted, knelt on one knee, and clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute: "Your subject Sun Chuanting pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

Sun Chuanting hadn't expected the emperor to accompany the army on the expedition. Fortunately, the Qing army was unaware and didn't launch a desperate attack on the central army. If anything had happened to the emperor, the Ming Dynasty would have perished...

"No need for formalities. Where did Yue Tuo go? Did he meet up with Dorgon?" Zhu Jian asked.

"My scouts report that Yue Tuo has joined up with another Qing army and headed southeast!" Sun Chuanting said truthfully.

"Your Majesty, the Qing army intends to continue south from the direction of Liangcheng!" Hong Chengchou stepped forward and said.

Seeing that Zhu Jian remained silent, he continued, "If the Qing army marches south, our forces to block them will be severely insufficient. I suggest we follow closely behind. If we discover any signs that the Qing army is crossing the Wei River, we can attack immediately!"

Zhu Jian pondered for a moment: "Send an imperial edict to Wu Aheng in Yutian, ordering him to lead all the troops in Yutian south to join us and continue the pursuit of the Qing army!"

Zhu Jian agreed with Hong Chengchou. If the Qing army advanced south, these 100,000 troops would be insufficient to contain them, putting them at a disadvantage. Therefore, it was safer to follow closely behind...