Chapter 96, The Death Knell of the Ming Empire (Part 2)
However, although Shanhaiguan had been captured, Huang Taiji's tactical command was still very conservative and did not attack Beijing in one go.
On the one hand, this is because the Battle of Dalinghe, which lasted nearly a year, has just been fought. Although the Ming army was severely defeated, the Jurchen soldiers were also exhausted, and even their horses lost fat. Now, without much preparation, he suddenly had to enter the Pass to defeat the Ming Dynasty again. He was suddenly caught off guard. He didn't have the troops, ordnance, or equipment to spare. Especially those Mongolian allies, who had already gone home after the Battle of Daling River, and are still here now. Envoys had to be sent quickly to mobilize troops on the grassland - the Eight Banners soldiers and horses that Huang Taiji initially brought into Shanhaiguan were only a few thousand people under the two yellow flags, and the follow-up troops were still slowly arriving.
On the other hand, Huang Taiji was also uneasy about the newly surrendered Guan Ning Army, and to some extent wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight - the Guan Ning Army who surrendered this time, plus the previous Daling River After the prisoners of war from Guan Ning's army in the battle and the miscellaneous Ming army who were coerced into surrender, the total number has reached as many as 40,000 to 50,000. Later, even if the Jin Dynasty sent out all its troops, plus the Horqin tribe and other Mongolian allied tribes, they could only gather 70,000 to 80,000 troops.
Obviously, no king would be at ease if such a huge uncontrollable military group was placed beside or behind his back.
Therefore, Huang Taiji made an excuse to wait for the follow-up troops and newly cast heavy artillery, and soon after entering the customs, he set up camp in Changli County as the frontline headquarters for this Ming Dynasty war. Then he grabbed the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners and sat still. He only sent two surrendered generals, Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang, and led 40,000 Guan Ning's surrender troops to divide into two groups and attack the capital and Tianjin. According to Huang Taiji's wishful thinking, if Zu Dashou It would be great if he and Wu Xiang could win an open battle; if Guan Ning's surrender was defeated by the Ming Ting who fought back desperately, it would also help the Kingdom of Later Jin to eliminate a potential hidden danger.
In any case, no matter which side wins, the Han people will die, which is sacrificing the vitality of the Ming Dynasty. Huang Taiji does not feel sorry at all.
In this regard, the Liaoxi generals headed by Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang had nothing to say - this was basically a vote of approval.
As for whether he could capture the capital this time, Huang Taiji didn't have any ambition to win. According to what he told the Eight Banners leader, the guiding ideology of this entry was to "take an inch and measure it." ", nothing can be forced. It would be great to be able to break into the Forbidden City and sit in the Dragon Court in one go. If Mingting cannot be killed in a short while, then there is no need to spend all his capital.
Therefore, he initially stationed his troops in Changli and watched the battle, with the idea of returning to Shanhaiguan in case the situation was unfavorable.
Unexpectedly, after this sudden change, even in the face of the disaster of national subjugation, the resistance of the Ming army can still only be described as "weak and powerless", and there is no crazy energy to resist at the end of the day. When the Jurchen Eight Banners stood still, they could only rely on Zu Dashou, the Guan Ning Army who had just defected, went straight to the capital and defeated Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army, one of the only two field armies of the Ming Dynasty in North Zhili. On the other side, Wu Xiang also performed a triumphal song, fighting all the way from Shanhaiguan to the gate of Tianjin. If Hong Chengchou's Qin army hadn't arrived, he might have captured this gateway to Beijing.
Seeing that the defeated generals under his command, Guan Ningjun, were actually fighting so smoothly and destructively within the pass. Now the Jurchen Eight Banners stationed in Changli are also very jealous. For a while, they are all gearing up and eager to try. They can no longer hold back and are eager to show off their skills.
Huang Taiji, who originally planned to wait and see for a while, could not withstand the fierce crowds below. Seeing that the Eight Banners troops and horses were almost assembled, and the Mongolian cavalry from the Horqin tribe had also arrived, he set out from Changli and continued towards the Ming Dynasty. The capital advanced.
Perhaps this time it was because of good luck. The Jurchen army had just arrived in Laoting County when they received another piece of good news.
"...I'm so happy! Great sweat! The Ming army in Tianjin mutinied! God has blessed me with great wealth!"
In the swirling dust, the chubby Mang Gurtai squinted his beady eyes and came happily from the front on a bay-red horse. Before he could get close to Huang Taiji's chariot, he was already far away. He shouted, "...As long as Hong Chengchou is defeated, Chongzhen's son will be dead!"
Seeing Mang Gurtai's rough and arrogant behavior with no respect at all, Huang Taiji couldn't help but frown slightly for a moment, but after hearing his words, he was immediately overjoyed, "...the Ming army in Tianjin really mutinied? No. What kind of rumor could it be?”
"...it's absolutely true! According to the report from the police, the whole city of Tianjin is on fire! The fireworks can be seen four or five miles away!"
Mang Gurtai said cheerfully, "...Wu Xiang has also sent an envoy to talk about this matter. He will be here in a while!"
"...Very good! Very good! God has blessed me so much!" Huang Taiji took a deep breath, then turned his head and shouted loudly, "... Send the order quickly, and the Eight Banners armies immediately select elite cavalry, one person per person Two horses, carry three days of dry food, and follow me to attack Tianjin!”
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North Zhili, Shuntian Prefecture, Tianjin Acropolis
A cruel drama of massive looting and burning and killing of civilians is taking place in this city known as the "Gateway of the Emperor".
Inside and outside the mottled and broken Tianjin city walls, the shouts of killing in Shaanxi accent were earth-shattering. Clouds of black smoke floated over the city. The streets and alleys were filled with the cries of soldiers and civilians in the city. Groups of rioters were still coming from various places. They came from every camp and poured into the city in a steady stream.
The Shanshan rebel soldiers, who have been suffering from hunger these days and are full of resentment, armed with a variety of weapons, broke down the doors of every household in Tianjin, robbed their property, raped their wives and daughters, and even deprived them of their lives. , set fire to their houses...
The Shaanxi relief troops who had just lifted the siege of Tianjin not long ago had now become bandits and butchers ravaging the city.
All discipline and morality were wiped out at this moment, leaving only the most primitive cruelty and violence.
When Hong Chengchou, who was preparing military supplies at Dagukou, learned the bad news about the changes in the rear, he quickly took the Chinese Army Supervisor Biao Battalion and hurried back to Tianjin. The city of Tianjin was already in flames, thick smoke was everywhere, and mourning was everywhere - every street On both sides of the alley, They were filled with mutilated corpses, and the bleeding water extended along the cracks in the bluestone pavement on the street. People kept running out of their homes in panic carrying packages, but they were overtaken by the rebels chasing behind them and hacked to death. Then they robbed him of his belongings. And the women's cries and screams came from every house...
When he saw the corpse of the Tianjin governor hanging on the beam of the Yamen, Hong Chengchou finally couldn't help but blacked out and fainted.
——Half a day after Hong Chengchou left the military camp, Qian Shisheng, the second minister of the cabinet of the Beijing court, came over for inspection. As soon as this man arrived in Tianjin, he swaggered into the military camp, summoned the generals of King Qin's army, which was mainly the Qin army, and scolded them for being greedy for life and fearing death. They actually stopped advancing in Tianjin and refused to go to Beijing to fight. Must arrive within five days To reach the capital, otherwise there will be severe punishment... But as for the most critical issue of food and grass supply, Qian Shisheng didn't mention a word. He obviously thought that these humble warriors were gods who ate the wind and drank the dew, even if they only drank the northwest wind. He should also be able to fight.
(The Beijing court in the late Ming Dynasty always had this problem. Once faced with a crisis, it would desperately mobilize troops from outside to the capital, thinking that the more troops there would be, the more peace of mind it would have. However, it did not prepare logistical supplies at all. It seemed that it did not consider that these troops also needed to eat. Yes, the result is that the reinforcements mutiny and the loyal ministers are frightened)
What made King Qin's army even more indignant was that after reprimanding the sergeants who were bleeding and sweating with white strips, Qian Shisheng went to the Tianjin Acropolis next to commend the Tianjin governor for "defending the city" - it is said that The governor spent a lot of money in the court and paid heavy bribes to several cabinet ministers. As a result, all the troops outside the city were furious: If we hadn't come to rescue and relieve the siege, your broken city would have fallen long ago!
Moreover, you, a dog official, clearly have money to bribe important officials in the court, so why do you sit back and watch our saviors starve to death outside the city? What a shame!
As a result, hungry, angry, and full of resentment, several middle and low-level officers of the Qin Army, such as Qianhu and Baihu, took the opportunity of the Tianjin government to open the city gate and welcome the second assistant Qian Shisheng to drive. , swarmed up with his trusted servants, killed the scattered defenders, and captured a city gate. Immediately afterwards, the Qinwang troops from all walks of life, who were also full of resentment, made an uproar and rushed into Tianjin in a chaotic manner, looting and killing, committing murder and arson. Since the prestigious Governor Hong Chengchou was away, the generals could not restrain the excited officers and soldiers, and the chaos soon became even greater.
——All the soldiers know very well that due to the previous series of cruel and cruel treatment, the soldiers' anger has now exploded like a powder keg and can no longer be suppressed. Even their superiors can only follow the soldiers' thoughts and simply make a big fuss, otherwise they will be the first to be killed. Anyway, today is a turbulent time. Although according to the system, the nobles and the military are still humble, but as long as the generals who control the troops and horses do not rebel, after causing chaos such as mutiny, even the court can only try to appease them, and I dare not pursue it seriously.
They old veterans are all using this trick now - as early as the Wanli and Tianqi years, the border troops on the nine northern frontiers would play this trick from time to time because they were in arrears with their military pay all year round. They were not beating up civilian officials to vent their anger. They just rob residential businesses and make some money at least. Anyway, the law does not punish the public. As long as a few scapegoats are pushed out to deal with the crime, all charges of mutiny and robbery can be solved.
Therefore, when Governor Hong Chengchou rushed back, the situation in Tianjin was already in dire straits. The crazy soldiers were rampant in the city. They not only robbed Tianjin's merchants and large households, but also set fire to government offices and killed officials - -Qian Shisheng, the second assistant to the cabinet who came to inspect and urge the troops to advance, was overturned by the rebels at the gate of the city. He did not know where he fled to. ; Tianjin civil and military officials who had suffered great losses carried the bodies of their colleagues and relatives, knelt in front of Hong Chengchou's horse and cried, asking the Governor for justice; then, the respectable gentry and merchants in Tianjin City also came together to demand justice. Governor Hong must severely punish those rebellious officers and soldiers who dare to kill and loot in Tianjin...
However, the generals of King Qin's army also came together to appeal to the governor, crying that the court was unfair and mistreating their meritorious ministers, which triggered the mutiny... This forced Hong Chengchou to be in a state of distress and dilemma for a while, almost always ten years old ——The rebels rammed into the car of the deputy minister of the cabinet, and they really deserved death; but they had to rely on these people to fight with the Liaodong slaves immediately, and they really didn’t dare to punish them harshly: in case they couldn’t get angry enough, they could simply What should you do if you run away from battle or even defect to the enemy? Are the Liaoxi generals sending out letters of persuasion to surrender all over the world these days?
Therefore, Governor Hong Chengchou had no choice but to find ways to reconcile conflicts and try to adjust the contradictions, all in order to maintain stability. But no matter how hard he fought with Xi Ni, the two sides were always fighting each other, one wanting revenge and the other wanting justice. After going back and forth for a long time, they still couldn't calm down the matter.
Then, Governor Hong Chengchou soon discovered that he no longer had to worry about the mess after the Tianjin Mutiny.
Because, while the city of Tianjin was still filled with smoke and corpses were everywhere, officials were still spitting at each other, and the rebels were still busy killing people and stealing goods, at the end of the distant horizon, a cloud of flying dust had suddenly risen, and there were Countless flags fluttering in the wind...
"...It's terrible! It's the Tatars! It's the Jurchen Tatars who are coming to kill us!"
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On the first day of October in the fifth year of Chongzhen's reign, Qian Shisheng, the second assistant to the cabinet, went out to patrol Tianjin and urged all ministries and troops of King Qin to rush to Beijing to rescue him. At that time, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, went out to collect food. Qian Shisheng summoned the generals to lecture them. His words were quite contemptuous and insulting, and he did not reward them with any money or silk. The generals were angry, thinking that the imperial court was treating its meritorious officials harshly, so they immediately started a rebellion, triggering a mutiny among the armies. They attacked the city of Tianjin with their troops, set fire to and looted wantonly, and Du Sance, the governor of Tianjin, was killed.
On the third day of October, Hong Chengchou rushed back to Tianjin after hearing the news in an attempt to suppress the mutiny, but it was too late. The chaos between the government and the army in Tianjin was still pending. The slave chief Huang Taiji personally led the Jurchen cavalry and the Guanning rebels, a total of more than 20,000 people. On the afternoon of the fourth day of the lunar month, they made a long-distance attack to the gates of Tianjin.
Due to the haste of the incident, tens of thousands of King Qin's officers and soldiers were completely unprepared, so they collapsed without a fight, and Tianjin Wei fell immediately. Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, led the guards of Biaoying to fight out of the rebel army. He first fled to Jinghai County, but was turned away by the county magistrate, and then fled to Cangzhou. His horse was exhausted, and on the way he was captured by Guan Ning's rebel general Wu Xiang. At this point, the officers and soldiers of both Jifu and Jifu were defeated, and not even a tenth of the remaining soldiers was left. The vanguard of Jiannu had entered Hejian Mansion, and the capital became an isolated city, and the soldiers and civilians were all terrified...