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

Chapter 318 Ajige, you traitor!
On the fourth day of his encampment in Hequ County, Zhu Youjian launched a fierce attack, and today the fish have finally taken hold!

"Your Majesty, I didn't expect the Jurchens to actually be tricked by you." Zhu Xieyuan said with a bit of a wry smile. "The battlefield is dangerous, so please, Your Majesty, avoid the limelight for now. Leave this place to this old minister."

"I'm avoiding his sharp edge?!" Zhu Youjian grinned maliciously and patted Prince Yonghe on the shoulder. "Play the part of me well, and after this battle, I'll reward you with two big butts. I'm leaving now!"

Zhu Qiuzhu's calves were cramping slightly, and he said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, I've never fought a war! Your Majesty, Your Majesty?!"

Prince Yonghe could not reach him, and Zhu Youjian walked further and further away. Seeing the emperor gone, Zhu Xieyuan breathed a sigh of relief. He said to Zhu Qiuzhu with the air of someone who had been through it all, "Don't panic. The Jurchens' arrows are fast and poisonous. They'll kill you in an instant. It won't hurt much."

"what?!"

On February 10th of the fifth year of the Chongzhen reign (1644), four thousand Jurchen cavalry set out from Shenyang, galloping 1,200 li (approximately 650 kilometers) in three days and nights, arriving at the border of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia. The general leading the army was Jirhalang, the Jurchen chieftain of the Bordered Blue Banner, and the vanguard was Shuo Tuo, the chieftain of the Bordered Red Banner.

Originally, Daišan and Ajige agreed that each banner would contribute 800 men, totaling 6,400 troops. However, this was opposed by several minor princes. Their families were poor, and they couldn't afford to lose 800 elite soldiers. So they negotiated a reduction to 500 men per banner. A long-distance raid sounds impressive, but how feasible is it in practice?
By the time they get there, they won't even know where the Ming emperor has gone; or what if they don't keep a close watch after the fighting starts, and the enemy hides inside the city walls? How can they possibly attack the city with such a small force?! The Jurchen princes used to be very confident, but in recent years their invincible belief has long been shattered.

Now everyone down below is saying something like, "The Ming army is invincible when it's not fully paid, and it's invincible when it is fully paid." What are we going to do?! However, because the grand prize is so tempting, everyone agrees to put some money into it and take a gamble.

Jirgalang was known for his cautious approach to military affairs. When he came from Liaodong, he dared not approach the Ming Dynasty's border wall, but instead marched directly along the southern edge of the Gobi Desert, that is, deep into the southern grasslands.

After arriving at the intersection of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia, they did not rush in, but instead made final preparations and sent out scouts fifty miles away.

What he did was almost a complete replica of what Zhao had done a few months earlier when he led his troops in a night raid on the Plain Yellow Banner camp. He was cautious but also tried to be quick and precise, because military opportunities are fleeting and cannot tolerate any delay.

No one knows what Jirgalang was thinking, or why he accepted this military adventure, as it was inconsistent with his usual cautious and deliberate character. As a royal minister who had been deeply trusted by Huang Taiji, Jirgalang's abilities were beyond question.

In the original historical timeline, during the early stages of the Battle of Songjin and the period of the downfall of the Southern Ming Hongguang regime, Jirhalang served as the commander of the army and was highly trusted by Huang Taiji and Dorgon, the two leaders of the Manchu Qing dynasty. Shuo Tuo's purpose in going to war was very clear, just like the reason why his brother Yue Tuo risked his life to go to war.

His prestige was even less than that of Yue Tuo, so he urgently needed to consolidate his position in the Eight Banners military group through military achievements. As a people who came from the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River, the Jurchens had already established a state power and implemented the Three Departments and Six Ministries system, but in the fundamental issue of power succession, they still retained a strong tribal character.

In terms of property inheritance, the system of the youngest son inheriting the hearth was implemented, which is why the three brothers, Ajige, Dorgon, and Dodo, were able to inherit their father Nurhaci's two Yellow Banners at the young age of only teens.

However, when it came to selecting a leader, it was necessary to choose someone who could win the hearts and minds of the people. Therefore, Huang Taiji, who had already gained fame during Nurhaci's time, was chosen as the new Khan.

After Huang Taiji's death, Dorgon, the most capable of the two, took over the mantle of power. However, because Hauge's power was equally strong at the time, or perhaps because Dorgon had no son, he chose to be the regent rather than the emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

In short, the Jurchen regime maintained the most fundamental democratic characteristics, and was very fortunate to maintain unity every time it was about to split, thus avoiding the fate of many once-powerful nomadic regimes that declined like meteors due to the death of their rulers and internal divisions.

Now, with Nurhaci, the Khan of Heavenly Mandate, and Huang Taiji, the Khan of Heavenly Cong, falling one after another, any other foreign regime would have long since disintegrated. Yet the Jurchens are still able to make a comeback and even attempt to turn the tide.

The Tumu Crisis interrupted the fate of the Ming Dynasty, turning a nation that had surpassed the Han and Tang dynasties in its ambition and expansion into an extremely conservative one. Militarily, it shifted from its habit of long-distance raids to building massive city walls and fortresses, becoming confined and self-defensive. Therefore, taking risks in military affairs was of great practical significance.

Unfortunately, this was merely a casual move by Zhu Youjian, a ploy to fool the fools, who had already seen through him! The highest level of deception is to fool even one's own people. Zhu Youjian was indeed in Hequ, and his troop deployments were genuine. Even if Zhu Youjian hadn't sent someone to leak the information to Ajige, someone else would have inevitably betrayed him. This betrayal might not even have been intentional, because such a significant event as the emperor leaving the capital was not concealed at all, and his subsequent whereabouts would undoubtedly be a matter of great interest. What were the adoring poets and courtesans compared to this? In feudal times, the emperor was the undisputed apex predator.

One of the main reasons Zhu Xieyuan prevented Zhu Youjian from leaving the capital was his fear of a repeat of the Tumu Crisis. In fact, Zhu Youjian had already considered this when he decided to come to Shanxi. Rather than being harmed by those schemers, he thought it better to catalyze the situation himself, though he wasn't sure if it would actually work.

After all, if he were Ajige, he would probably be packing his bags and leaving Liaodong by now. He could live comfortably back in the vast fishing and hunting areas, and even trade with the Western Regions through the sable trade route. The reversal of the Ming-Jin situation is an inevitable trend, and they can't stop it!

On the 11th, Jirhalang's scouts crossed the unguarded border wall into northern Shaanxi, then waded across the frozen river and discovered the Ming army's garrison and the emperor's residence. Their movements were also spotted by patrolling Ming soldiers, who, without delay, rushed back to report to Jirhalang.

Jirhalang was already fully prepared, and a surprise attack should look like a surprise attack. He knew that this battle could not be delayed. Jirhalang led his army forward and headed straight for Hequ County, fearing that the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty might escape.

At Niangniangtan, a gentle slope in northern Hequ County, two or three hundred soldiers from the Hequ Thousand Household Garrison hastily formed ranks to block the enemy. Faced with thousands of slave cavalry surging from the opposite bank of the Yellow River, they were terrified.

They attempted to break the ice to prevent the slave cavalry from crossing the river, and even tried to blast it with gunpowder, but because the ice was extremely thick, the ice floes flowing down from upstream were even squeezed several meters deep into the riverbed, and their ice-breaking operation failed.

The commander of the Hequ Thousand-Household Garrison fired two rounds of gunfire, shouting, "This dog emperor has been embezzling military pay! These two shots are enough to repay the old emperor!" He then led his several hundred men, abandoning their armor and weapons, in a desperate flight. The Jurchen Eight Banners allied army, seeing this, was greatly encouraged, and their faces revealed long-lost, ferocious smiles.

General Shuo Tuo, the vanguard of the army, was already fantasizing about capturing the Ming emperor and ravaging him.

For the Jurchens, the fighting strength of the Ming army had always been a mystery. They had seen both the elite Ming army that could fight against the White-Armored Bayara and the useless Ming army that could be chased by a dozen people when there were thousands of men. So they did not think there was anything wrong with the performance of the Hequ Guard just now.

They felt that even the emperor's guards were probably no better, and only those ruthless border soldiers who had survived countless battles were worthy of their attention.

Just as Shuoto was lost in a hallucination, a deafening roar yanked him back to reality. Panic erupted in the rear of the army, screams filled the air, and the seemingly impenetrable ice river began to move!

The Jurchen cavalry were broken in half, and at least three hundred of them fell into the thick mixture of ice and water more than two hundred meters across the river. In this situation, the Jurchens were in no better shape than if they had fallen into boiling water.

As a fishing and hunting people who came from the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River, many of the Jurchens could swim, but the large chunks of solid ice on the riverbed and the thick ice floes about the thickness of a little finger beneath the surface made their swimming skills completely useless.

The Yellow River began to churn, its speed increasing rapidly, like a mudslide, carrying everything in its riverbed downstream into the canyon.

Shuo Tuo stopped his horse and turned back, standing on the gentle slope of the riverbank watching the disaster unfold. His heart was cold, not much warmer than the broken ice in the river.

On the other side of the Yellow River, a large number of cavalrymen, unable to stop their horses, were crushed by their unsuspecting comrades behind them. No matter how much they struggled, they could not avoid falling to their deaths, and several hundred more riders perished in the process.

Even now, Shuo Tuo still hoped it was just an accident. However, the thousands of White-Spear Soldiers marching down the hilltop in perfect unison shattered his last shred of hope.

"Break through to the north!" Soto screamed, like a goblin whose tail had been stepped on!
"Ajige, you traitor!" Jirhalang roared just as loudly from the other side of the river.

(End of this chapter)