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

Chapter 682 Wang Hai Sends Out Troops
Not long after Nikan led his troops north, Wu Sangui's scouts figured out the enemy's marching route. Wu Sangui, who had been well prepared, led his troops to the southwest and came up behind Nikan without anyone noticing. When Nikan set up camp to rest that night and prepared to continue his journey the next day, Wu Sangui's cavalry sneaked into the camp at three o'clock in the morning under the cover of darkness, and all the main forces were dispatched, heading straight for Nikan's camp.

This battle was fought extremely suddenly. Wu Sangui was determined to win it, so he not only sent out his main forces, but also directly used the artillery he carried.

After the battle broke out, Nikan in the camp reacted immediately and hurriedly organized a counterattack, but because Wu Sangui caught him off guard, Nikan was unable to organize an effective counterattack in his panic. Moreover, the Mongolian cavalry in his camp became chaotic first. The Mongolians whose lair had been attacked were already in low morale and were uneasy. Now they were suddenly attacked again. How could they have any fighting spirit?
Wu Sangui won a great victory in this battle, and Nikan's army was directly collapsed. If it weren't for the bravery of the Eight Banners soldiers under Nikan's command and their desperate resistance, Nikan might have been killed in the battle.

Wu Sangui defeated Nikan's camp at the cost of less than 300 cavalrymen, killing thousands of Nikan's Eight Banners and Mongolian coalition forces. The nearly 5,000 Mongolian cavalrymen led by Nikan fled in panic, and the elite Eight Banners suffered heavy losses. Even Nikan himself was wounded in this battle and almost lost his life.

Wu Sangui did not want to fight. His cavalry came and went like a gust of wind. After just over an hour of fighting, Wu Sangui took the initiative to withdraw with his troops. After Wu Sangui's cavalry left, Nikan's camp was in a mess. After gathering the remnants, Nikan found that most of the Mongolian cavalry had disappeared without a trace. The remaining Mongolians were also scared out of their wits. His 2,000 Eight Banners directly lost more than 600 people. Such a huge loss made the wounded Nikan spit out blood immediately and fainted.

Although this battle did not kill Nikan, it dealt a heavy blow to Dorgon, especially breaking up Dorgon's Mongolian cavalry. Only a few of the Mongolians who escaped were left, and they were no longer able to fight.

After the war, Wu Sangui led his troops directly back to Chengde and once again came to the Kharchin and Ongniud tribes. When they heard the news that Wu Sangui defeated the Eight Banners, the noble leaders of the two tribes were frightened and dared not have any other thoughts. They respectfully welcomed Wu Sangui's arrival.

The news of Nikan's defeat soon reached Dorgon, who was shocked when he heard the news. He never expected that Wu Sangui would use his troops in such a way and catch him off guard.

Dorgon was so angry that he wanted to lead his troops north immediately, concentrate his forces to find Wu Sangui's cavalry, annihilate them, and cut Wu Sangui into pieces if he was caught. But the problem was that Huang Taiji's mission was to attack the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty's Great Wall defense line had not been broken yet, so Dorgon could not go back to trouble Wu Sangui directly.

Dorgon had no choice but to report the situation to Huang Taiji as soon as possible, inform him of the circumstances, and ask Huang Taiji what to do next.

At this time, Huang Taiji was not much better than Dorgon. It had been nearly ten days since the war with the Ming Dynasty broke out. This war, which was originally thought to be a sure win, was particularly difficult. The two sides fought many fierce battles at Xifengkou, including the highlands northeast of Xifengkou, but Huang Taiji was never able to capture the positions garrisoned by the Ming army, let alone break through the Great Wall defense line and attack the heartland of the Ming Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, Huang Taiji originally planned to have Dorgon attack the Great Wall defense line of the Ming Dynasty in the west at the same time, relying on multiple breakthroughs to mobilize the Ming Dynasty's troops and break the deadlock. But now Wu Sangui's cavalry suddenly appeared behind them, not only defeating the Kalaqin and Wengniute tribes, but also fighting eastward to the Chahan Hetao.

After hearing the news, Huang Taiji did not take it too seriously at first. Although Wu Sangui's cavalry caused some trouble, the number of the enemy was not large after all, and the Ming army was fighting deep in the grasslands. Even if they gained some advantages for a while, it would definitely not last long.

Huang Taiji had fought against the Ming Dynasty for many years, so he was naturally familiar with the situation of the Ming army and the combat effectiveness of the Ming cavalry. Although it was said that this cavalry was centered on the Guanning Iron Cavalry, how many Guanning Iron Cavalry could there be? Moreover, it was a recognized fact that the Ming army was not good at fighting on the grassland. Even if Wu Sangui was a little clever and used this tactic to create trouble, it would only be trouble.

How could Huang Taiji, who had 150,000 soldiers, look down on the two or three thousand Ming cavalry? Even if Wu Sangui's cavalry had more Mongols, so what? If he was not busy breaking through the Ming army's Great Wall defense line and was too lazy to pay attention to Wu Sangui's isolated army, it would be easy for Huang Taiji to deal with Wu Sangui with the strength of the Eight Banners.

Therefore, apart from making slight adjustments after learning the news and sending a part of the Eight Banners to prevent Wu Sangui from going directly south to harass the rear, Huang Taiji did not take Wu Sangui seriously at all. He still focused all his energy on how to break through the direction of Xifengkou.

But Huang Taiji never expected that Wu Sangui would be so bold. When the battle report from Dorgon came, Huang Taiji learned that Nikan was defeated, most of his Mongolian cavalry fled, and the Eight Banners suffered heavy losses. He was furious and issued an order to severely reprimand Dorgon and Nikan, especially the latter. Huang Taiji even directly took away Nikan's title of Beizi and ordered him to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence. If he was defeated again, he would be severely punished.

In addition, Huang Taiji had to consider the threat of Wu Sangui. Under the condition that Dorgon had to continue to attack the Ming Great Wall defense line, Huang Taiji finally decided to mobilize part of the troops to sweep the rear and completely solve the problem of Wu Sangui's isolated army. Soon Huang Taiji ordered Jirgalang, Turg, Chahara and others to lead 20,000 troops to the north to sweep the line from Chahanhetao to Harahetao, chase and suppress Wu Sangui's isolated army, and at the same time appease the Mongolian tribes, stabilize the rear and ensure the safety of the rear.

Judging from the war situation, Huang Taiji's decision was very safe. You must know that Huang Taiji had no shortage of troops. Compared with the Ming army in the south, his troops had an absolute advantage. It’s just that he had not been able to break through the Ming army’s Great Wall defense line and capture Xifengkou. Most of his troops were unable to defeat the Ming army with their troop advantage.

Now Dorgon's army cannot move for the time being, Huang Taiji still hopes Dorgon can break through from the west. So he can only split a part of his main force to solve the problem of Wu Sangui. Moreover, Jirgalang, Turg, and Chahala are all veterans and are good generals in the Eight Banners. The three of them, together with the elite Eight Banners, are enough to deal with Wu Sangui. Even if Wu Sangui is good at fighting, he is not his opponent. Once Wu Sangui's isolated army is killed or he is driven back to Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji can continue to attack Ming Dynasty without any scruples.

Huang Taiji's calculations were very good, and the facts proved to be so. As Jirgalang, Turg, and Chahala's troops swept northwards, looking for the traces of Wu Sangui's lone army with the intention of annihilating them in one fell swoop, Nikan, who had been defeated and wounded before, also gathered the remnants of his troops and made meritorious contributions to redeem himself from his crimes, and joined Jirgalang and others to continue northwards, looking for the traces of Wu Sangui to avenge his previous vengeance.

At this time, Wu Sangui clearly felt the pressure. Although his cavalry had good combat effectiveness, it was impossible for him to compete with the elite Eight Banners, which were several times his number. If he was caught by the enemy and pursued relentlessly, it would be difficult for Wu Sangui to escape.

Moreover, the enemy had adopted a sweeping posture, and their leaders were all famous generals from the Eight Banners. Even Wu Sangui would find it difficult to find the enemy's loopholes for a while. The tactics he had used to catch Nikan off guard could not be replicated. He could only resort to harassment and guerrilla warfare. Moreover, these tactics were not absolutely safe. If he was accidentally counterattacked by the enemy, his isolated army would be surrounded and annihilated.

Wu Sangui considered it again and again and could only avoid the enemy's attack and try every means to deal with the enemy in an area of ​​several hundred miles. However, as time went by, Wu Sangui's range of activities became smaller and smaller. If he stayed here any longer, he might not be able to leave. Wu Sangui had no choice but to decide to retreat directly, avoid the enemy's attack and return to the Great Wall, waiting for another opportunity to fight in the future.

But at this moment, a piece of news came that made Wu Sangui overjoyed. A Mongolian cavalry of tens of thousands of people suddenly appeared on the right wing of Chahar. Moreover, this cavalry was extremely powerful. After entering Chahar, they directly rushed eastward. Within a few days, the various Chahar tribes surrendered upon hearing the news and directly killed their way to the vicinity of Wuwei.

This cavalry came from Tumed, and its leader was none other than Wang Hai.

After learning that Huang Taiji intended to attack the Ming Dynasty again, Zhu Shenzui immediately appointed Wang Jinwu as the main general to lead the troops north to garrison the Great Wall. Zhu Shenzui also asked Wang Hai to return to the grassland as soon as possible and mobilize the Tumed tribes to prepare to advance eastward to Chahar to cut off Huang Taiji's retreat.

This foreign war was extremely important to Zhu Shenzhui, and he knew very well what it would mean to him if he lost this battle. So he had to win this battle and not lose it, even if it cost him some money. So he not only sent his elite cavalry and the new army he had trained with great difficulty over the years to the front line, but also directly used the elite Mongolian cavalry of Tumed.

Zhu Shenzui knew that it would be difficult to stop Huang Taiji's advance relying solely on the Great Wall defense line. Huang Taiji was good at commanding troops, and the Eight Banners under his command were also very capable. Wang Jinwu had insufficient troops, and a large part of them did not belong to Zhu Shenzui's direct line. If he could not stop Huang Taiji's advance southward, he, Zhu Shenzui, would be in danger, as would the capital, and the Ming Dynasty!

In this situation, it is not as simple as just defending, but also necessary to take the initiative to attack, especially to hit Huang Taiji hard from behind, so as to force Huang Taiji to retreat and hold the line.

In fact, Wu Sangui's idea was similar to Zhu Shencui's. They both turned their attention to the Mongolian direction, but their approaches were different. Wu Sangui just wanted to rely on his Guanning Iron Cavalry to create trouble for Huang Taiji, but Zhu Shencui decided to use the elite cavalry of Tumed to give Huang Taiji a hard blow and let him feel the feeling of encountering an enemy from behind.

Due to time constraints, Wang Hai hurriedly left Beijing and rushed to Guihua, handing Zhu Shenzhui's letter and order to Tana. After learning the situation, Tana quickly gathered the army and prepared to send troops again. Many days had passed. When the Tumed cavalry marched eastward, the battle of Xifengkou had been fought for several days. At that time, Wu Sangui had also captured the Kharchin and Ongniud tribes and was marching towards the Chahan Hetao.

(End of this chapter)