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

Chapter 582 Huang Taiji's Doubts
Huang Taiji was not an ordinary person. Although he was angry about the defeat of Dorgon brothers, he still kept his reason. After all, Dorgon brothers were different from others. They were his half brothers, and they were the four little beiles, in charge of the two white flags. They were not weak in strength and had different status in the Later Jin.

If it was an ordinary general, he could be killed, but the Dorgon brothers must not be killed. If Huang Taiji killed his two brothers because of this, it would be extremely detrimental to his reputation and rule. Moreover, there were many people present who were close to the Dorgon brothers. Even if Huang Taiji insisted on doing so, he might not be able to do it under their opposition.

Now Dorgon suddenly told Huang Taiji that the main reason for their defeat was not problems with tactics and command, but that the Ming Dynasty secretly participated in the war without their knowledge.

Although over the years, the Jurchens had more wins than losses in wars with the Ming Dynasty, especially in several decisive battles, the Jurchens were the winners. Moreover, Huang Taiji once led his troops to bypass Shanhaiguan and break into the Great Wall for the first time. He showed off his military power in northern Zhili and the capital area for more than three months, plundered countless people and supplies, and made the Ming army suffer terribly.

But even so, Huang Taiji did not dare to underestimate the Ming army. He knew very well whether the Ming army could fight and how strong it was. You should know that Huang Taiji had Ming army generals and troops who defected to him, and they were organized into the Eight Banners of the Han Army. Their combat effectiveness was not weak at all. The reason why the Ming army was defeated again and again against the Later Jin was because of the Ming court itself. While constantly deducting military pay, even military rations were insufficient, and the generals had to eat empty salaries and desperately squeeze the soldiers. Coupled with the pig-like command level, it would be strange if the Ming army could have any combat effectiveness.

Huang Taiji, as the opponent, knew better than anyone how powerful the Ming Dynasty was. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's advantage in firearms was something Huang Taiji had always coveted. In his opinion, if he were the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he would be able to conquer the entire world, not to mention Liaodong.

Now, after suddenly hearing Dorgon say that in that battle, the Ming Dynasty not only supported the Tenger tribe with nearly a hundred artillery pieces, but also supported them with countless sophisticated equipment, although Huang Taiji could not fully believe it for the time being, he believed it about 70%. After all, what the Dorgon brothers said was right. This was not a big secret. Many of the Eight Banners had participated in this battle, and the truth could be learned by just asking. There was no need for the Dorgon brothers to deceive him about this.

In addition, Huang Taiji also noticed a more important piece of information, that is, Dorgon said that the reason for his defeat was not only the above-mentioned problems, but also another key problem was that there was a Zhejiang army of nearly 5,000 people cooperating with Tengger's troops in the battle.

Huang Taiji knew the strength of the Zhejiang Army very well, as he had experienced the Battle of Hunhe River. In the Battle of Hunhe River, the Zhejiang Army had only 3,000 soldiers, but they were able to defeat the Eight Banners Army, which was ten times their number, and suffered heavy casualties. Although they finally destroyed the army by turning the cannons of the captured Ming army, the thrilling battle still makes people shudder even today.

Three thousand Zhejiang troops were so powerful, not to mention five thousand Zhejiang troops, and they were five thousand Zhejiang troops equipped with nearly a hundred artillery pieces.

If all this is true, the defeat of Dorgon and his brothers is understandable. Even if he led the troops himself, he probably would not be able to escape the fate of defeat.

But where did so many Zhejiang troops come from? Didn't the Ming Dynasty no longer have Zhejiang troops after the Battle of Hunhe? If the Ming Dynasty had such a powerful army, why didn't it transfer it to the Liaodong battlefield? If the Ming army had deployed this Zhejiang army and Zu Dashou to fight together in the Battle of Dalinghe, how could the Ming Dynasty be defeated?

Huang Taiji couldn't help but think about it. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his mind and he raised his head and looked to his left.

"Mang Gurtai!"

"I'm here!" Manggurtai responded quickly.

"I heard you mention after the battle that the Xuan army attacked Man Gui outside the capital of the Ming Dynasty that there was a troop similar to the Zhejiang army in the Ming army that formed a battle array to stop them. Is this true?"

"I dare not deceive the Khan, so I will take this matter seriously!" Manggurtai bowed and explained the situation in front of everyone, emphasizing the opponent's tactics and the appearance of the weapons they held.

Most of the people present had experienced the Battle of Hunhe River that year and were very familiar with the tactics and weapon styles of the Zhejiang Army. So after Manggurtai's speech, everyone could immediately judge that the army that Manggurtai encountered at the gates of the Ming capital was definitely the Zhejiang Army, but it was not large in scale and had few people.

Moreover, Manggurtai's words also indirectly proved that Dorgon did not lie. The Ming Dynasty did have a Zhejiang Army, an extremely powerful Zhejiang Army that was rebuilt after the Battle of Hunhe River.

According to Dorgon, he was facing 5,000 Zhejiang troops with nearly 100 artillery pieces, plus the well-equipped Mongol cavalry of the Ming Dynasty. Dorgon was indeed unable to resist with his troops. In this situation, it was thanks to Dorgon's decisiveness that he ran away immediately when he saw the situation was not right. If he ran slower, the whole army might have been wiped out.

"Ming Dynasty...Zhejiang Army...artillery..." Huang Taiji murmured to himself, his face changing from gloomy to happy.

He didn't expect the real situation to be like this, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Waving his hand to let Manggurtai return to the line, Huang Taiji pondered for a moment, and once again cast his eyes on the Dorgon brothers. If everything the Dorgon brothers said was true, this defeat was not their fault. After all, before the war, they did not expect that the Ming Dynasty would join forces with the Tenger tribe and send elite Zhejiang troops and artillery to participate in the war.

But even so, Huang Taiji never thought of letting the Dorgon brothers go. Huang Taiji has always used and guarded against these two brothers. He knows the abilities of the Dorgon brothers too well, and he knows their skills even better.

But these two brothers, including the older Ajige, were not easy to deal with. In order to seize the position of Khan and consolidate their power, they directly killed their mother, the Queen Abahai. From this point of view, Huang Taiji had a grudge against them for killing their mother.

This is also the reason why Huang Taiji adjusted the Eight Banners after he came to power, and took the most elite forces of the Eight Banners into his own hands by changing the flags, thus weakening the power of Dorgon and his brothers. So although there was a reason for this incident, it might not be possible to severely punish Dorgon and his brothers, but Huang Taiji would not miss this opportunity, so Huang Taiji finally announced the punishment of Dorgon and his brothers in public on the grounds of this defeat, cutting off two white flags and three Niulu as a severe punishment.

Faced with such a result, although the Dorgon brothers were indignant, they could do nothing about it. After all, they did lose the battle and caused the Eight Banners to suffer such a huge loss. They could do nothing about losing three Niulu, because the other side was the Khan.

Not only should they accept it, but they should also accept it with tears of gratitude, thanking the Khan for his mercy. After announcing the decision, Huang Taiji waved his hand, signaling that they could leave. With the withdrawal of Dorgon and his brothers, this temporary meeting was over.

After the meeting, Huang Taiji sat alone in a chair, lost in thought. After more than an hour, a man came in. This man was Huang Taiji's eldest son, Haoge. Haoge, who was in his early twenties, was tall and well-proportioned, slightly different from the slightly fat Huang Taiji, and looked more heroic.

"Father Khan!"

"Have you inquired?" Huang Taiji came back to his senses and asked.

"Father, I have found out everything."

"Say!"

Haoge said respectfully: "I have personally asked more than a dozen people, and what Dorgon and his men said is correct. The cavalry of the Tengger tribe is indeed well-equipped, and they also have nearly a hundred artillery pieces. As for the Zhejiang Army that Dorgon mentioned, it is also true, but the strength of the troops is uncertain. Some say 3,000, some say 5,000, and some say nearly 10,000..."

Huang Taiji nodded with a calm expression. This result was within his expectations, because he knew very well that the Dorgon brothers would never deceive him on this. The reason why he asked Hauge to confirm it was just that Huang Taiji wanted to confirm it again.

"This is a bit difficult..." Huang Taiji thought silently in his heart. His plan was originally good. This time he sent Dorgon and his brothers to conquer Mongolia. His original intention was to defeat the Tenger tribe that rose in Tumed in one fell swoop and teach the other side a severe lesson in order to suppress the power of the Tenger tribe.

After dealing with Ligdan Khan, the entire Mongolia was in disarray. Khorchin, Inner Khalkha and Chahar all surrendered to Huang Taiji. As for Outer Khalkha, they were not a threat at all as they were located in the deserted northern grasslands. As long as they did not cause trouble, Huang Taiji had no interest in dealing with them.

However, Tumed was different. Tumed was originally the headquarters of the Mongol Khan before Ligdan Khan, and it belonged to the Mongolian desert. Moreover, Tumed also bordered the Ming Dynasty. Before that, the Tenger tribe of Tumed had conducted trade with the Ming Dynasty under the instruction of Emperor Tianqi.

Now, after Bu Shitu's death, the Tengger tribe has become the actual leader of the Tumed, and Tengger himself has become the King of Shunyi appointed by the Ming Dynasty. From this point of view, the Tengger tribe is close to the Ming Dynasty. If it is left unchecked, it may bring trouble to itself in the future.

In order to solve the Mongolian problem, Huang Taiji decided to let Dorgon and his brothers lead the troops to fight. Even if they could not destroy the Tenger tribe, they had to subdue the other side and make the Tenger tribe submit to him in the future and no longer surrender to the Ming Dynasty.

In Huang Taiji's view, this battle was not difficult. He was very clear about the combat effectiveness of the Mongolian tribes. The Dorgon brothers brought 15,000 elite Eight Banners, plus tens of thousands of coalition forces from the Khorchin and Chahar tribes, so it was easy to defeat the Tumed tribes.

After dealing with the Tumed problem and the Tenger tribe, Huang Taiji would have time to solve the problems of Pi Island and Korea, and then concentrate on continuing the war with the Ming Dynasty. This was a plan Huang Taiji had planned for a long time, but he did not expect that a problem would arise in the first step. Not only did the Dorgon brothers fail to take down the Tumed and defeat the Tenger tribe, but they suffered such a great defeat that Huang Taiji's wishful thinking was completely shattered.

(End of this chapter)