Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 581 Dorgon’s Self-Defense
Since Huang Taiji ascended the throne, when has he ever suffered such a big loss? The Jurchens originally had a small population. In order to increase the population of the Jurchens, Huang Taiji tried every possible means in recent years. He not only sent people to the north to capture wild Jurchens to enrich the population, but also established the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Eight Banners on the basis of the Eight Banners, in order to change this problem.

As early as the time of Nurhaci, there was a rumor that "If there are less than 10,000 Jurchens, they are invincible if there are more than 10,000!"

This is true. Although the Jurchens were born with a small population, they were also very powerful. For so many years, whether fighting against the Ming or the Mongols, the Jurchens were invincible. But this time, it was originally thought that the Dorgon brothers would win the battle in Mongolia, but they brought back the news of defeat.

The loss was more than 5,000, and Huang Taiji was heartbroken when he thought of it. These were not the Eight Banners of Mongolia or the Eight Banners of the Han Army, but the Eight Banners of the Jurchens.

These losses were the original strength of the Jurchens, who were also the elite among the Eight Banners, not to mention that there were many white-armored soldiers among them.

Looking at the Dorgon brothers kneeling in front of him, Huang Taiji wanted to draw his knife and chop the two bastards directly. But no matter what, Dorgon and his brothers were his brothers, and as the Khan, Huang Taiji had to consider this point, so he suppressed his anger.

"Dorgon! Dodo! You have returned in defeat, causing heavy losses to my Eight Banners. Do you have anything else to say?" Huang Taiji asked with suppressed anger. Everyone knew in their hearts that after this sentence was said, Dorgon and his brothers should be dealt with next. Although no one knew how Huang Taiji would deal with them, after suffering such a great defeat, Dorgon and his brothers would probably be in big trouble this time.

"Great Khan, I have something to say!" Dorgon certainly understood this, and it would be too late if he didn't make a distinction now. Although he was defeated, he thought that there was nothing wrong with his arrangement in this battle, but he underestimated the strength of the Tenger tribe, especially the sudden change on the battlefield, which was the key to the final defeat.

Huang Taiji did not say anything, but just raised his hand and gestured, indicating Dorgon to speak.

Dorgon immediately told him a series of arrangements from before the war to after the battle started. These words were not only told to Huang Taiji, but also to everyone present.

As he spoke, everyone listened attentively and felt that there was nothing wrong with Dorgon's tactics. Moreover, the timing when Dorgon's main force appeared on the battlefield was also very good. It was exactly the moment when Dodo attacked the enemy's center army. If there were no accidents, with the arrival of Dorgon's main force, the two brothers would attack from the front and back, and the battle should be won.

But the problem is that they lost the battle in the end, and lost so miserably. This made everyone feel puzzled, and many people exchanged glances with each other, and saw the same confusion on their faces.

"Since you had made arrangements before the war, and the situation after the war was developing as expected, why did you lose instead of win?" This was the first time that Huang Taiji heard Dorgon's explanation. He was also a veteran of many battles, and he knew immediately that Dorgon's arrangements were indeed correct. Not to mention Dorgon, even if he led the troops himself, he would probably make the same arrangements. Huang Taiji had to admit this.

"I was just about to talk about this." Dorgon kept paying attention to the changes in Huang Taiji's expression while he was telling the story. Seeing that Huang Taiji also showed a puzzled expression at this time, he felt slightly relieved and continued talking.

He told Huang Taiji that everything was going well. It seemed that he and Duoduo's tactic of attacking from the front and back was about to be a great success. It was only a matter of time before the main central army of Tengger's tribe was defeated. Once the enemy's central army was defeated, the battle would be completely won.

But what no one expected was that the situation suddenly changed. No one expected that Tengger's tribe actually had a large number of artillery, which were hidden in the formation in advance. When his troops charged, they suddenly fired a volley, catching Dorgon's Eight Banners off guard.

Relying on the power of artillery, Dorgon's Eight Banners elite suffered heavy casualties, but at this time Dorgon did not retreat, and continued to command his troops to charge. Dorgon, who often fought against the Ming army, knew very well that he must not retreat at this time, because retreating would give the artillery a gap to reload.

The best way to deal with it is to withstand casualties and continue to charge, rushing to the front before the enemy fires a second time. As long as the two armies meet, the artillery will lose its power, and the enemy's gunners will have absolutely no power to resist under the swords of the Eight Banners.

But everything that happened next left Dorgon dumbfounded. Although his troops' continued charge did pose a threat to the enemy's artillery, which began to retreat, his Eight Banners were unable to break into the enemy's lines.

The reason was simple. As the Eight Banners approached, the enemy's formation changed. A well-equipped and extremely powerful infantry suddenly appeared. This infantry not only had muskets that could fire continuously, but also caused heavy casualties to Dorgon's Eight Banners with the cooperation of the retreating artillery.

At this point, Dorgon's cavalry charge tactics were firmly held. Before Dorgon had time to adjust his tactics, the elite cavalry of the Tenger tribe that had been deployed long ago and the Tumed coalition forces that had pretended to be defeated before made a detour to outflank them. This caused Dorgon's Eight Banners elite, who were originally going to attack the Tenger tribe together with Dodo, to become the target of the enemy's attack, and they were in a very dangerous predicament for a while. "What a joke!" Before Dorgon finished speaking, Tabai couldn't help but said, "Khan! What Dorgon said is not credible at all. The Mongols have always been poor. Even an iron pot at home is a treasure. Where can they get cannons? Even if there are, they are just two or three old and rotten cannons. How can they stop my Eight Banners elite who are all over the world?"

"In addition, Dorgon also said that the other side sent out extremely elite infantry to directly block his attack? This is even more ridiculous! How can infantry in this world stop the charge of my Eight Banners? Could it be that the Eight Banners led by Dorgon are all made of mud? Khan! I think Dorgon is clearly quibbling and using these unrealistic words to excuse himself!"

"Sixth brother!" Dorgon stared at Tabai with his eyes wide open, feeling extremely furious.

Although Tabai was also Nurhaci's son and older than Huang Taiji, his status among Nurhaci's sons was not high, and he did not even have many military achievements.

On the one hand, Tabai's mother was just a concubine of Nurhaci, in other words, a concubine, and a concubine who was not very favored. On the other hand, Tabai himself had no military talent. Although he was old, he did not have many military achievements. In those days, Huang Taiji and others were named one of the four great beile by Nurhaci. Later, Dorgon and his brothers were also named beile and called "four little beile". However, Tabai, who was much older than them, was only a light cavalry captain and a third-class one. His status could not be compared with them at all.

After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, Tabai knew his own affairs. In order to please Huang Taiji, he took the initiative to hand over several Niulu in his hands to Huang Taiji to show his absolute support. In the past two years, Tabai's presence was not strong. He was just a lackey beside Huang Taiji and never went to the battlefield again, let alone any military merits.

Dorgon knew what Tabai meant. First, Tabai didn't believe him at all. Second, this guy wanted to use him to please Huang Taiji. This time, his brothers were defeated. Huang Taiji was angry and wanted to use them as a scapegoat. How could Tabai, who had always been Huang Taiji's lackey, not understand? That's why he jumped out to refute.

"Just because Sixth Brother doesn't believe it doesn't mean it's not true. Although my brothers were defeated, we dare not use such words to deceive the Khan. We can find out whether the Tenger tribe has artillery by asking. There are quite a few people from the Eight Banners who returned with us. It can't be that everyone is lying, right?"

After hearing this, Tabai was slightly stunned. What Dorgon said was not without reason. This kind of thing could not be deceived at all, especially with a cannon. There were so many people on the battlefield, not to mention the Eight Banners soldiers who followed Dorgon and his brothers to escape, even the Mongolian cavalry who followed the army were not few. As long as he asked someone to verify it, he would know the truth immediately.

"So what if we have cannons? They are just a few of them. As for your statement that the infantry repelled our elite Eight Banners, that is sheer nonsense!"

"Haha, it's not uncommon for infantry to repel my Eight Banners' elite troops. I see that you, Sixth Brother, are getting old, and your brain isn't working very well anymore, is it?" Dorgon asked with a sneer.

Tabai was stunned and didn't react for a while, but at this time Huang Taiji thought of something and showed a thoughtful expression.

Dorgon ignored Tabai and continued to say to Huang Taiji: "Great Khan, this is absolutely true, and I am not lying. I think there is a reason for this defeat. It is most likely that the Ming Dynasty sent troops to help. Otherwise, the Tenger tribe, a mere Mongolian tribe, would never have such a large-scale artillery."

"That's not all. What I just said about the elite infantry was not false. I saw it clearly on the battlefield. These infantry were definitely not Mongolians, but the Zhejiang Army of the Ming Dynasty. I failed to investigate clearly before the battle, which led to the enemy's artillery and Zhejiang Army repelling us at the critical moment of the battle. The cavalry of the Tenger Army took advantage of the situation and killed us. My troops were in a desperate situation. If I hadn't reacted in time and retreated decisively, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to come back..."

"What!" Huang Taiji was already suspicious, especially when he heard the word "Zhejiang Army" from Dorgon's mouth, he couldn't help but stand up.

"How many artillery pieces does the other side have? How many Zhejiang troops does the other side have? Are you sure it's the Ming Dynasty that's sending troops?"

"I'm sure!" Dorgon answered without hesitation: "The enemy has nearly a hundred artillery pieces of various types, and the Zhejiang Army has 5,000 soldiers. Not to mention, the elite cavalry of the Tengger tribe is extremely well-equipped, no less than the elite of our Eight Banners. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been defeated in this battle..."

"Khan, what Fourteenth Brother said is right. I dare not deceive Your Khan. Not only Fourteenth Brother, but my main attack on the enemy's central army also encountered stubborn resistance from the elite cavalry of the Tenger tribe. These cavalrymen are equipped with equipment that ordinary Mongolians do not have, and the weapons they hold are also different. Without the help of the Ming Dynasty, it would be impossible. If Your Khan does not believe it, you can ask the soldiers who participated in the battle at will, and you will know the answer after asking." Duoduo also said hurriedly on the side, his tone firm and decisive.

(End of this chapter)