Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 177 Daishan: I think you just don't want to save that brat Dorgon. Hehe, I don't want to either!
If they can't overturn it, then ram it; use warhorses to ram through the camp walls. The Jurchens are capable of causing corpses to rise to the city walls; there's no reason they should be stopped by this mere seven-and-a-half-foot wooden wall. Behind them, Huang Taiji's military orders are pressing them on.

Huang Taiji somewhat regretted his earlier decision. Because he had brought elite troops, he had become somewhat constrained in battle. In a pure open field battle, of course, elite troops should be the vanguard, but in a battle of siege warfare, elite troops were not much better than ordinary soldiers; ultimately, they would still have to be sacrificed.

In terms of political ability, Huang Taiji was far superior to his father, but in terms of military strategy, he was somewhat inferior to Nurhaci. In the past, they were the ones being commanded, only needing to obey Nurhaci's orders, while Nurhaci had to consider many more factors.

Now that Huang Taiji was in charge, although he appeared confident in front of others, he often relied on guessing and gambling, without any meticulous plans or absolute certainty of victory.

Hauge, in a fit of rage, dispatched one hundred warhorses, divided into three groups, to charge the Ming army's chariot formation in shifts. Warhorses are living creatures; even knowing they were going to their deaths, they would try to avoid it. To tame them, their eyes were covered with strips of cloth. A warhorse broke its neck crashing into the shield wall, then tripped over the corpse of its brethren, falling and breaking its leg.

Impacted by this enormous creature weighing hundreds of kilograms, the Ming army's shield wall began to sway. The impact was transmitted through the joints of the shield carts, creating slight wave-like undulations across the entire surface. However, it remained firmly in place and showed no signs of collapsing.

This is the difference between a fixed chariot and an unfixed shield chariot. An unfixed chariot can be rammed open, while a fixed one can only be smashed. The difficulty of ramming open and smashing are not the same. In the past, the Jurchens had broken through the Ming army's chariot formations, but that was only when the Ming chariot camps were not yet firmly established or were being ambushed while they were moving their camps.

After losing a hundred warhorses, the Jurchens ultimately failed to break through the Ming army's wagon camp. However, they dismantled the wooden planks of the shield wagons and laid them on the carcasses of the warhorses to form a ramp, which they could use to charge directly into the Ming army's wagon formation.

But there's a deep pit behind the slope, and rushing over it would break the horse's leg. Humans are more resistant to falls than horses; if they weren't wearing armor, they could jump off that height and continue fighting.

The outer perimeter of the Ming army's wagon camp consisted of side wagon formations, which were significantly taller than a person and not much different in height from a person on horseback. The Ming soldiers behind them could attack by using the pre-reserved firing holes, or they could stand on the wagons and stick their heads out to attack.

Under normal weather conditions, the chariot formation would unleash a barrage of cannon fire, making it difficult for the Jurchens to even reach the base of the wall. But now, even the scattered artillery fire had ceased. The Jurchens, lying prone on the slope, surveyed the interior of the chariot camp and found Ming soldiers gripping their swords and spears, huddled together in a clumsy battle formation, cautiously observing the direction of their attack.

The soldiers in the wagon camp only had some crossbows, and were not even equipped with many proper bows. There was no open fire in the camp, and they looked extremely weak.

Hauge decided to go for it, figuring out the battle first. He didn't send any more cavalry to their deaths; once they broke into the enemy lines, they could move the Ming army's chariots from the rear, and that would be the time for his cavalry to unleash their power. He then ordered his men, the Red-Armored Ba Ya La, to dismount and fight on foot, leaping down the slope to capture the city wall.

After a fierce battle lasting nearly half an hour, involving a full seven or eight hundred soldiers, the Ming army's wagon camp was finally breached. Hauge was immediately filled with excitement and led two thousand cavalry in a charge, while simultaneously ordering his infantry to widen the gap. While Hauge at the front was working tirelessly to break through the enemy lines, Huang Taiji at the rear had already begun setting up camp.

The rain was too harsh; if it continued like this, they would freeze to death even if they didn't die in battle. The Jianzhou Jurchens were legendary for their ability to withstand the cold, having endured years of freezing temperatures, but that was dry cold. Now, soaked to the bone, no amount of hardship could save them. Huang Taiji had originally thought it would take at least three to five days to capture this camp, perhaps even until the Ming army ran out of food and water.

The Ming army was fighting right next to the city, so they shouldn't have carried much food. Huang Taiji estimated that the Ming army would have to break out when they ran out of ammunition and food, and that would be the time for them to truly reap the rewards. But he never expected that his foolish son would give him such a pleasant surprise.

Huang Taiji couldn't help but think of the Ming general he had never met. He thought the Ming general was utterly useless and that once he brought him back, he would definitely meet him properly to see what kind of talent he truly possessed. At the same time, he looked down even more on the young Ming emperor, who had failed to recognize talent and made poor choices in employing people; the Ming Dynasty deserved to perish.

Boom! ! !
Just as Huang Taiji was enjoying the hot ginseng soup and lost in all sorts of wonderful fantasies, the intense sound of gunfire pulled him back to reality. He saw flames soaring into the sky inside the Ming army's camp, and thick smoke filled the air, which even the rain could not dispel.

The remnants of the Jurchen army fled in a frenzy, scrambling to get out, and even getting stuck at the gap due to their jostling. In their struggle for a chance to escape, they didn't hesitate to draw their swords against each other.

Boom! The Great Franz breech roared, and the fist-sized projectile ignored the heavy armor of the Jurchen cavalry. With one shot, men and horses were shattered, and the projectile swept across dozens of meters, leaving a bloody trail.

Then, four soldiers worked together to lift the cannon out and stuff the new, already loaded barrel into the somewhat waterlogged magazine. But that didn't matter; as long as the cannon was waterproofed and could still be lit, that was enough. The torrential rain even helped cool the barrel, allowing the Ming army's artillery to fire more rapidly and without restraint.

The shield wall of the wagon camp was not just one layer. The outermost layer was a tall side wagon formation, and inside there was a main wagon formation, a structure like a nested doll, with four or five layers inside each. Between each layer, cavalrymen ran to relay messages and provide support.

A complete wagon battalion was designed with all sorts of problems in mind from the very beginning. It cost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to build a division-level combat unit. If it could be easily taken over by the Jurchens, the Ming Dynasty would have perished long ago and wouldn't be in this situation today.

The wise are not born different, but they are good at making use of things. The forms, tactics, and technologies of warfare are constantly evolving, and various methods will only become more and more troublesome and more and more frustrating to deal with.

"Fourth brother, we've lost again. Let's retreat!" Daishan said, his throat dry. "Even if you want to continue attacking Beijing, you can choose another opportunity. The casualties are too heavy; we can't fight any longer!"

Inside the wagon camp, the previously low morale soared, and the Ming soldiers' faces beamed with joy. The generals who had been arguing with Sun Chuanting also selectively forgot their true colors and fawned over him, because as the commander-in-chief, Sun Chuanting had absolute say in the distribution of military merits!

The soldiers gleefully collected the heads of the Jurchens. The Jurchens who rushed in did not cause much casualties to the Ming army, but were instead trapped in an absolute encirclement with no room to escape. The reason why the Trapped Camp has been praised and talked about for thousands of years is because the Trapped Camp is not something that ordinary people can do.

In the end, the Ming army suffered over a hundred casualties, killed over five hundred Jurchen heavy cavalry, and captured seven hundred enemy heads. Horse meat, armor, and weapons were piled up into small hills. Hauge was lucky enough to escape, but this time, Huang Taiji could not openly show favoritism. Someone had to take responsibility for the defeat, either himself or Hauge.

After all, it was he who gave the order to attack, and as the Great Khan, he naturally could not bow his head and admit his mistake. So he could only make things difficult for Hauge, who was stripped of his title of Heshuo Beile and temporarily lost his right to lead troops.

But isn't this also a form of protection? Things shouldn't happen more than three times. Huang Taiji felt that if he let Hauge go into battle again, he might really not come back. He had just thought that his son was going to die.

The soldiers guarding the city walls of Deshengmen naturally witnessed the battle, and cheered for their allies' great victory. Upon receiving the news, the emperor and his ministers in the court felt somewhat relieved, and some even flattered the emperor, saying he had a good eye for talent.

The emperor's high regard for Sun Chuanting was rather inexplicable, and his ministers, after much investigation, could not figure it out.

Some attribute this to Sun Chuanting bribing eunuchs and offering his daughter to the emperor. His daughter was beautiful and captivated the emperor, and she was also pregnant, which is why she gained favor.

But some say the emperor was simply extorting money. He took so many concubines, yet none of their relatives received any special treatment. The emperor was incredibly stingy, unwilling to even bestow a title, and wouldn't even grant them gold and silver for asking for land. There were even amusing stories of ministers' daughters writing home to complain about how impoverished life in the palace was, even worse than living at home, and asking their families for subsidies.

Some say this is a case of shooting arrows before drawing the target. When the emperor takes concubines, which family is an ordinary one? It's usually the high-ranking officials who come first, and then the concubines. But there are indeed exceptions, and that is Sun Chuanting. Yes, why is that?
Those lower-ranking officials who failed to offer their daughters began to ponder this question, feeling that if they could understand it, their future would be bright. Some thought it might be because of Sun Chuanting's military household background, and this speculation was actually very close to the final answer.

Zhu Youjian appointed Sun Chuanting because Sun Chuanting was a very capable fighter in history, but why was he so good at fighting? Was he born a fighter, or did he develop his skills through experience? Was he truly a skilled fighter, or did he achieve his victories by bullying weak peasant armies? Zhu Youjian couldn't be sure of these things, and Sun Chuanting needed to prove himself.

However, the famous generals of the Ming Dynasty often crumbled when they encountered the Jurchens. Not only did they fail to prove themselves, they also enhanced the Jurchens' reputation. Therefore, Zhu Youjian fought this battle with great trepidation, fearing a sudden collapse.

"Do we still need to send troops to rescue them?!" Zhu Youjian couldn't help but ask.

Zhu Xieyuan was also somewhat perplexed. Although he was knowledgeable in military affairs, this was his first time fighting against the Jurchens. After all, the Jurchens were a different kind of enemy. While the Ming army could send multiple Ming forces to divide and encircle the Tusi (local chieftains) of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, such tactics could not be copied. Trying to use division and encirclement against the Jurchens would be laughable; the Jurchens were far more adept at this tactic than the Ming army.

"Your Majesty, how to deal with this depends on how the Jurchens act. If the situation is critical, we will certainly send troops to their aid. If Sun Boya's formation is solid, then we should proceed cautiously and steadily, without any haste," Zhu Xieyuan said. This was utterly correct nonsense, which earned him a glare from Zhu Youjian.

The fact that the emperor even had the energy to roll his eyes showed that he was in a good mood, but this optimism was not something that could be contagious. Zhu Xieyuan then reminded him, "Although the chariot camp is important, you should not focus all your attention on it. Tonight, you must instruct the guards at each gate to send out more patrols and be vigilant against the Jurchens raiding the city!"

"Your Majesty, I have a brilliant plan!" Just then, a young official wearing a blue and white pheasant embroidered badge mustered his courage and said.

All eyes turned to him instantly, and many people couldn't help but frown, their faces showing displeasure. Everyone knew that the emperor was easy to talk to, but what time was it? Even if you wanted to get promoted and stand out, you shouldn't try to gain attention and stand out in such a serious matter as war.

Zhu Youjian didn't think much of it, assuming that a talented person had emerged in his court. Talented people certainly deserve to be promoted without regard to seniority, so he might as well listen to what the other party had to say.

"Who are you, and what are your plans? Speak freely," Zhu Youjian said.

"Your Majesty, I am Chen Xinjia, an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice!"

"The Ministry of Justice?!" Zhu Youjian was taken aback, a hint of disdain in his eyes. "Chen Xinjia's name sounds familiar, but what does he do again?!"

"My plan is that our army can use the side wagons to build wooden walls and construct a passage from the city walls all the way to the wagon camp. In this way, the soldiers in the wagon camp can safely withdraw," Chen Xinjia said confidently. However, instead of receiving praise from the emperor, he saw the emperor's darkened face and the mocking expressions of the other ministers.

"Go back to your office. If there is nothing important, you don't need to attend court." Zhu Youjian said to Chen Xinjia, and then loudly addressed the other officials: "From now on, officials who are not from the military administration are not allowed to speak about military matters without authorization. Officials from the purist stream are also not allowed to talk big or make empty promises in their reports. They must speak with substance!"

The emperor is indeed easy to talk to, but when the Ministry of Personnel conducts assessments, transfers, and promotions in the future, shouldn't they take the emperor's wishes into consideration more? In short, if there are no unexpected events, Chen Xinjia's career is probably coming to an end.

Chen Xinjia was naturally aware of these unspoken rules of officialdom. Since he was trying to stand out, he had to bear the corresponding consequences. Gambling always involves winning and losing; how could he possibly make a sure profit? His face turned ashen, and he became unsteady on his feet.

"Your subject obeys!" After bowing, Chen Xinjia retreated alone, looking utterly dejected.

Zhu Youjian watched his departing figure and couldn't help but shake his head. He still couldn't recall who this lowly fifth-rank official was, but such a person was a microcosm of the Ming Dynasty's civil officials: ignorant of military affairs yet overconfident, knowing a little bit, thinking himself a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, and prone to impulsive, flashy ideas. If such a person were to hold a high position, it would be a disaster.

In reality, Zhu Youjian didn't have much military talent, but he wouldn't give orders blindly. Even if he had ideas, he would consult with the military officials and generals. Otherwise, why would he keep Zhu Xieyuan by his side? He needed a role model. Otherwise, with a bunch of people surrounding him and offering their opinions, he wouldn't be able to distinguish who was right and who was wrong, and his performance wouldn't be much better than Yuan Shao's.

"Retreat three times?!" Huang Taiji opened the letter sent by the Ming army and felt somewhat surprised. This was the first time since the first year of the Tiancong reign that the Ming court had taken the initiative to talk to them. This gave Huang Taiji a glimmer of hope. The Ming's previous action of shooting their envoy directly had made him feel extremely frustrated. Now it seemed that the Ming was still willing to talk!

Huang Taiji increasingly felt that his decision was correct. As long as he hurt the Ming Dynasty and seized its weakness, he could force the Ming Dynasty to negotiate peace. In the period after entering the pass, the Jurchens had become somewhat arrogant from top to bottom. Now, after suffering two minor defeats under the walls of Beijing, they had to face the strength of the Ming army. It seemed that the destruction of the Ming Dynasty could not be accomplished in a short time.

Great Khan, the Ming court is now planning to release Dorgon, on the condition that we temporarily withdraw. Ninety li is only a day's journey for cavalry, a very convenient and cost-effective way. Let's agree to the Ming court's request!
"No, we can't leave," Huang Taiji said, pointing to the wagon camp in front of him. "The young emperor and his court are anxious because we have found their weakness. If we let this group of Ming soldiers go back, they will have no more concerns and will definitely regret it. At that time, we still won't be able to rescue the fourteenth brother!"
"Impossible!!" Daishan said suspiciously, but what he was thinking was, "Even if the Ming court has a thousand faults, when has it ever gone back on its word? You're just judging others by your own petty standards. I think you just don't want to save that brat Dorgon. Heh heh, I don't want to either!"

Huang Taiji's strategy was to continue negotiating, regardless of whether a deal was reached or not, or what was discussed, as long as negotiations were possible. The Ming Dynasty's refusal to negotiate was too terrifying!

The boomerang came, and Huang Taiji, unwilling to retreat, proposed exchanging 30,000 civilians and 2,000 taels of silver for Dorgon. It must be said, Huang Taiji was quite adept at manipulating people's hearts; Zhu Youjian was once again morally blackmailed. Indeed, shutting up was the most sensible choice.

“Your Majesty, the Jurchens’ price is very fair, and I think we can agree to their offer. Nurhaci Dorgon is already crippled, so releasing him would not cause him any great harm,” Bi Ziyan stated.

As the saying goes, "Ducks are the first to know when the river warms in spring." It's spring planting season now, and war is such a waste of time! Martial law is in effect in the capital region, refugees are pouring in, the population of the capital has doubled, and we still have to maintain an army of over 100,000 in combat. Money is flowing out like water every day!

He desperately wanted the war to end quickly. If things continued like this, the reforms he had painstakingly implemented and the finances of the Ming Dynasty, which had finally begun to improve, would be destroyed again!

"It's hard to say whether Dorgon will even survive tonight!" Zhu Youjian thought to himself.

However, he wanted to stall for time, since there were still reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty on their way. So Zhu Youjian said, "Alright, then let Huang Taiji send over 30,000 people. We can exchange them with him after they arrive."

Upon hearing this, Bi Ziyan was immediately speechless. The emperor wasn't planning to exchange anything; he was clearly planning to steal it!
(End of this chapter)