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

Chapter 184 Bad News from the Slave Community

On the 23rd, Huang Taiji's troops and the two Blue Banners met up east of Tongzhou. Huang Taiji warmly welcomed Amin and Mangultai, praising them for their meritorious service in defeating the enemy. He also offered to grant Amin the southern part of Liaodong and the capital of Korea, and to Mangultai Liaoyang, Guangning, and the eight hundred li of Liaoze between them.

Amin and Mangultai could not reach a consensus on where to launch their attack: Mangultai believed that even if Huang Taiji was to be deposed, it should be done after returning home. If they started fighting amongst themselves now, it would only benefit the Ming court.
Amin, however, believed that now, with Huang Taiji's direct descendants suffering heavy losses and his prestige greatly diminished, there was still a chance to overthrow him. If he were allowed to return to Liaodong, given his exceptional ability to network, there would be no opportunity to take action against him.

While it's said to be a matter of policy, the real issue is actually Amin's dissatisfaction with the allocation: Korea was originally a bargaining chip that Huang Taiji had promised, and now Mangultai is being generous with other people's resources and is not even willing to increase the stakes. Why should Amin take such a huge risk to push Mangultai to the top?
It is said that one cannot hit a smiling face. Since Huang Taiji had adopted such a humble attitude, and neither of them had made up their minds, they could only pretend to be friendly with Huang Taiji. Everyone was smiling and seemed to be having a good time. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought that they had won a battle.

The Jurchens in Tongzhou were terrified by their actions: a full 50,000 Jurchens had gathered in Tongzhou territory—what were they planning?! The Tongzhou garrison commander urgently requested reinforcements from the capital. Meanwhile, news of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident had also reached Beijing, dampening the initial joy of victory.

The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works jointly decided to strengthen the defense of Lugou Bridge and build a fortified city at the bridgehead as a bridgehead fortress. However, this was a matter for the future. For now, they could only send 500 cavalrymen to symbolically take over Lugou Bridge and organize the local soldiers and civilians to bury the dead.

Tongzhou City requested reinforcements, but the capital had no suitable troops to send.
The imperial court's elite troops were already severely weakened and were no longer fit to continue fighting; while the White-Spear Soldiers, although their losses were not great, had traveled a long way from the interior, having spent more than half a month at sea, and then fought a major battle. The soldiers were not made of iron, and their bodies were also beginning to give out.

However, according to the Ministry of War's analysis, it was highly unlikely that Huang Taiji would attack Tongzhou, unless he was stunned by the artillery fire. Rather than considering how to support Tongzhou, it would be better to find a way to keep the Jurchens inside the pass.

The best approach would actually be to reclaim the border wall and use it to close the gates and trap the enemy, just as we did when we hosted Lin Dan Khan at the border wall in Datong. Any other attempt to intercept them from within the pass would be extremely difficult.

On the 25th, the authorities in Jizhou City discovered traces of slave cavalry.

Governor-General Yang Hao of Jiliao personally donned his armor and knelt on one knee before his soldiers, saying, "Previously, you all were eager to fight, but I forbade you to go. You secretly cursed me as 'old and incompetent' and 'cowardly and afraid of battle,' which I am aware of. The visiting soldiers also said that they had traveled a thousand miles to come to our aid, and if they could not fight, what was the point of coming here?"
Now that the Jurchens have suffered a defeat in the capital region and are about to flee, I earnestly request that you all follow me in a desperate battle to intercept them and annihilate them within the pass. This is firstly to atone for our guilt in losing Jizhou, and secondly to avenge the people who have been harmed by the Jurchens!” Upon hearing this, the generals roared their agreement, all exclaiming, “How valiant you are, old commander! We are willing to fight to the death with you!”

However, just when everyone in Jizhou was determined to fight the Jurchens to the death and avenge their previous humiliation, the Jurchens suddenly realized something. Huang Taiji learned that Jizhou was heavily fortified and had a strong military, and he also knew that the Jiliao Road was impassable. So he abandoned his option to go north and instead went south to plunder Xianghe County.

After capturing the county town, Huang Taiji ordered that the swords not be sheathed for three days, and the tens of thousands of people in and around Xianghe County were slaughtered, including women and children. The low morale of the Jurchens was somewhat restored.

Upon learning the news, Yang Hao was so enraged that he vomited blood and couldn't eat for three days. He immediately submitted a memorial to the court to plead guilty, while simultaneously dispatching 10,000 troops south to Sanhe County. Jizhou was a crucial point on the major east-west route connecting the capital region, while Sanhe was the final point on the North China Plain leading into the Yanshan Mountains.

Everyone knows plains are advantageous, but the problem with plains is that they are flat and offer no natural defenses. Agricultural societies favored plains, and nomadic societies also grazed their livestock on them, making the boundary between mountains and plains a strategically vital area.
For agricultural societies, plains can be used to concentrate troops and transport supplies, forming a defensive system of "blocking the enemy in the mountains and fighting decisive battles on the plains"; for nomadic societies, once this line of defense is breached, the rest is open space for them to plunder.

The Jurchens broke through several checkpoints of the Yanshan defense line and rampaged across the plains, becoming unstoppable. Apart from the large, man-made cities, there was simply no way to intercept them.

That's why Zhu Youjian, despite the immense defensive pressure, refused to send the Guan-Ning Army back to defend the region. He was prepared to be powerless against the Jurchens within the Great Wall and to allow them to plunder at his mercy.

Given that the Ming Dynasty was destined to lose the war within the Great Wall, it attempted to achieve a strategic balance by exchanging bases. However, no matter how you looked at it, the Ming Dynasty was at a disadvantage: the Jurchens were so poor, what difference would their destruction make? But the Jurchens' burning and killing of the capital region caused truly heavy losses.

The financial loss was secondary; the million people in the capital would starve if they relied solely on the meager grain transport. The main source of food still depended on the grain tax collected from Beizhili. With the Jurchens causing such widespread destruction, Beizhili could no longer be cultivated.

Moreover, the Jurchens wouldn't just plunder once; once they've tasted success, they might come every year. If that's the case, the Ming Dynasty will still be doomed, just like in the original history, and there won't be much change due to a temporary improvement in finances.

When Huang Taiji arrived, he secretly crossed the small road north of Jizhou. Although it was said to be a secret crossing, the garrison in Jizhou had already discovered the Jurchens' tracks, but considering they only had a few thousand men and could barely defend themselves, they dared not intercept him, only reporting the intelligence to the three garrisons and the capital. Now that Jizhou had both troops and morale, Huang Taiji decided not to take that route!

Sanhe will definitely be fortified to intercept them, but it's uncertain whether they can be stopped. Clearly, the Jurchens plan to retreat to strongholds near Shanhaiguan, such as Qian'an, Yongping, and Luanzhou, then gradually withdraw their forces, circle around, and return via Da'ankou.

Yang Hao had begun to doubt himself, feeling that he had been tricked by the Jurchens again, just like he had been at Sarhu. If he were still in Santun, he could have stopped the Jurchens from retreating from the east. The three final nodes in the eastern part of the capital region, from left to right, were Santun, Zunhua, and Jizhou City.

However, after reading Yang Hao's letter of apology, Zhu Xieyuan felt somewhat helpless, thinking that Yang Hao had really been imprisoned for too long and his mentality had become problematic: There are no "what ifs." If he hadn't come to Jizhou, wouldn't the Jurchens have simply walked back from Jizhou without any trouble? This issue should be viewed dynamically!
If he truly felt guilty, he might as well recapture Zunhua and be done with it, then he wouldn't have to worry about whether to defend the east or the west; or he could directly recapture places like Da'ankou and Longjingguan, and then deploy defenses along the border.

But since the Jurchens could attack from the outside, they could also attack from the inside, and the terrain offered them an advantage. The problem remained the same: the walls were too long, the defensive line too long, spreading their forces thin and lacking mobility. They could barely defend themselves, let alone launch an effective attack on the Jurchens. Therefore, this victory at the gates of Beijing was truly remarkable, and may even be their swan song.

On the 29th, the garrison at Sanhe indeed encountered the main force of the Jurchens. At this time, Sanhe had 10,000 reinforcements from Jizhou and the two garrisons originally stationed there. If the Jurchens hadn't delayed their arrival by raiding along the way, the reinforcements from Jizhou probably wouldn't have been able to arrive in time. The two garrisons should have had 15,000 men, but in reality, there were only 5,000 men there.

Upon hearing the news of the Jurchens' entry into the pass, the local magistrate organized several thousand people to participate in the defense of the city. However, Sanhe County was only a small city with a circumference of five li, which was not enough to completely block the roads. To intercept the Jurchens, it was necessary to conduct field battles outside the city: defenses were set up along the Chaobai River to the north and along the Baoqiu River to the south.

Battle was imminent. The Ming army laid an ambush at bridges and fords; the Jurchens attempted to cross the river on ice, but their efforts shattered the ice, resulting in countless drownings. The weather, which had been so kind to the Jurchens, was finally turning its back on them; even the cold they so dearly loved was now turning against them. The Emperor...
Enraged, Taiji chose to directly attack Sanhe County. The soldiers and civilians of Sanhe County fought desperately, and in the most critical moment, one soldier even jumped off the city wall while holding onto a Jurchen soldier. Thanks to the unity and fearlessness of the soldiers and civilians, they managed to hold out for several days without falling, but their own casualties were extremely heavy.

The reinforcements, unable to bear the situation any longer, diverted troops to the city to provide support, further weakening the river defenses. However, Huang Taiji still failed to capture even a single bridge. The Jurchens then secretly constructed pontoon bridges in secluded locations at night, dispatched elite troops to cross the river, and launched a pincer attack on the Ming army.

The Ming army defenders were extremely tenacious; before being slaughtered, they managed to destroy the bridge with gunpowder. Helpless, Huang Taiji could only seize the opportunity of the hard-won bridgehead to quickly repair the broken bridge, build more pontoon bridges, and continuously send troops to the other side to consolidate his position.

The Ming army naturally did not stand idly by and surged in from all directions, trying to drive the Jurchens into the river. However, even with their best efforts, they failed to achieve their goal. Instead, because they had to rush from elsewhere and had not had time to build a defensive line, they were repeatedly attacked by Jurchen cavalry, suffering heavy losses, and the defensive line was lost.

However, the Jurchen army of tens of thousands could not cross the river quickly. When they were halfway across, Ming reinforcements arrived and attacked their rear. Seeing this, the Ming army on the opposite bank was greatly encouraged and launched another attack on the Jurchens who were crossing the river.

To break through the Sanhe defense line, the more than 50,000 cavalrymen of Huang Taiji, Amin, and Ajige were significantly reduced in size. Benefiting greatly from the terrain, their kill ratio was even more impressive than in the defense of Beijing. In this battle, 7,000 Jurchen cavalrymen were killed, the defending army suffered over 4,000 casualties, and hundreds of civilians perished!

Despite the impressive results, the Sanhe defense line was eventually breached, and the Jurchens disappeared into the Yanshan Mountains and vanished without a trace.

In March, the Jurchens gradually withdrew their troops from within the Great Wall, and news of the recapture of cities kept coming from various places: Xianghe, Yutian, Fengrun, Qian'an, Yongping, Luanzhou, etc., leaving only Zunhua still in Jurchen hands. Huang Taiji returned to Zunhua after a long detour to catch his breath, relying on the high city walls of Zunhua to give him some sense of security.

When they set out on their campaign, they had a massive army of 100,000, conquering cities and seizing territories, and were invincible and glorious. However, now only less than 60,000 troops remain in Zunhua City.

It wasn't that 40,000 of them were wiped out by the Ming army; only a little over 20,000 died in battle. Of those 20,000, about 10,000 were Mongols. The reason there are only a little over 50,000 left is because his Mongol allies no longer wanted to follow him and broke the alliance by running away ahead of time!

Inside Zunhua City, mountains of gold and silver treasures lay piled high, and much of the grain was left to soak in the open air. Their successful raid on the pass was undeniably lucrative, but was it worth the nearly 20,000 Jurchen lives lost for it?!

Zunhua City gave the Jurchens a sense of security, and with that security secured, it was time to settle scores. Amin and Mangultai launched an attack, demanding that Huang Taiji take responsibility for the defeat and that the eight great beile (princes) hold a new vote to elect a new Khan. Daishan, who had previously spoken up for Huang Taiji, remained silent, and three of the four great beile had begun to have opinions about Huang Taiji.

Jirgalang and Dodo continued to support Huang Taiji, Ajige remained silent, and there was also Dorgon, who was frozen solid when the Jurchens took him off the city wall. So now only seven of the eight great beile remain.

Huang Taiji wanted Hauge to take over, arguing that their escape was due to Hauge's desperate breakout, so even if he, the Khan, was at fault, Hauge had made a contribution.

The others naturally disagreed: Amin and Mangultai believed that since it was originally a two-on-two situation with two wavering candidates, it was considered a close contest. Now, with the addition of Hauge, wouldn't Huang Taiji ultimately be chosen? Their uprising was bound to succeed, otherwise, if Huang Taiji continued to be the Khan, who knew how he would retaliate against them?

Although Daišan did not want to be used as a pawn by Amin and Mangultai, he also did not want to see Huang Taiji's power increase. In his opinion, a half-dead Khan was a good Khan.

Hauge did indeed make contributions, that cannot be denied, but their reasoning is that Hauge now has lost an arm, so he should be allowed to enjoy life and wealth, not continue to be tormented. Although phrased euphemistically, the essence of their argument is that a cripple is not qualified to be one of the Eight Great Princes!

They were both quite capable. Hauge had originally considered defecting, but after being provoked by them, he realized that no matter how badly Huang Taiji treated him, he was still his father. And who knew how others would view him? If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach? He still had to grit his teeth and stick with Huang Taiji.

The position of Eighth Beile was temporarily vacant. Of the seven people, including Huang Taiji himself, three supported him becoming Khan, while only Amin and Mangultai opposed him. The meeting could not continue at this point. Just as Huang Taiji had narrowly retained his Khanate once again, devastating news arrived from his hometown!
(End of this chapter)