Songshan City was built in the fifth year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty. It is located at the foot of Nanshan Mountain in Jinzhou City. It is surrounded by mountains and faces the sea in the south, which is quite dangerous. It is an important military town in the Western Liaoning Corridor.
Now outside the south gate of Songshan City, Zhang Cheng and Guo Yingxian were all dressed in plain clothes. Behind them were the remaining less than 300 servants guarding Yang Guozhu's coffin as they slowly moved forward.
Governor-General of Jiliao Hong Chengchou, Commander-in-Chief Zhang Ruoqi, Governor of Liaodong Qiu Minyang and other officials, as well as Chen Jiugao, Wu Sangui and other general soldiers from various towns followed the hearse and slowly entered Songshan City.
Yang Guozhu's mourning hall is located in the front hall of the government office opposite the Military Preparation and Road Office in the city. Guo Yingxian personally led Yang Guozhu's family members to keep vigil for him.
He Zhenxiong and Tang Xiancheng also wanted to stay, but Guo Yingxian flatly refused because the Xuanzhen army suffered heavy casualties in today's battle, and it was urgent for them to return to stabilize the morale of the army.
In this way, on the first night, Zhang Cheng and Guo Yingxian kept vigil at Yang Guozhu's tomb. The rest of the officers and generals followed the governor Hong Chengchou and the commander-in-chief Zhang Ruoqi after paying homage to Yang Guozhu's tomb and then retreated one after another.
The Ming Dynasty's aid to the Liao Dynasty first fought against the Tatars. Many generals including Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town, were killed in the battle. For example, the deputy general Zhao Bangning was hit by a mace in his right arm and fell off his horse and died in battle; the guerrilla general Liu Songji was hit by an arrow in the face, piercing his cheek, and died in battle;
Guardsmen Luo Wenyao, Li Zhirong, and General Qian presented medals together, Liang Desheng, Commander Liu Wenzheng, and Wang Degong all sacrificed their lives on the battlefield.
In today's battle, various units of the Ming army also suffered heavy casualties. The most serious casualties were those of Yang Guozhu's troops in Xuanzang. Fortunately, they performed bravely on the battlefield. Although the damage was extremely serious, they also caused a lot of casualties to the Tatar thieves.
According to statistics, the three infantry camps in Xuanzhen only lost nearly a thousand soldiers in the battle, and the cavalry in the Dubiao camp also lost more than 400 soldiers. In addition, almost a thousand soldiers were injured.
Xuanzang's reinforcements to the Liao army suffered nearly 20% damage in battle, and even the general was killed. It can almost be said that the Xuanzang reinforcements were on the verge of collapse, and would also face the threat of being partitioned.
In total, the total number of Ming soldiers killed in this battle reached more than 9,000, and 13,000 were injured. If the casualties of civilians and military men were added, the Ming army's casualties in this battle were as high as 25,000.
The men and horses suffered heavy losses.
The Ming army suffered such heavy casualties that more than 10% of the battle losses occurred in one day. All the commanders and commanders who participated in the battle suffered heavy casualties. For example, Cao Bianjiao's troops also suffered heavy casualties, and Shanxi General Li Fuming's troops also suffered heavy casualties.
It almost collapsed, with nearly half of the unit lost, and now only about 3,000 troops remain.
The Qing army also suffered considerable losses. In addition to the Mongolian Zhenghuang Banner Gushan'e Zhen He Luohui who was killed by Guo Yingxian in front of the battle formation, the Zhengbai Banner Gushan'e Zhen "Batulu" quasi-tower was also killed by Zhang Guangda.
forward.
In addition, generals such as Jia La Zhang Jing Jie Luo Lan Tai, Hong Ke, Mu Hu Sa, Niu Lu Zhang Jing Zhang Ku Shan, Afoni Yue, Hui Lan and other generals were killed in battle.
The Manchurian banners also suffered more than 4,000 casualties, the Eight Mongolian Banners suffered more than 3,000 casualties, the Han banners suffered more than 2,000 casualties, and the Tianyou Army also suffered more than 1,000 casualties. In addition, there were casualties from the Mongolian and Korean armies of the outer vassals.
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Calculating this piecemeal, the Qing army lost more than 10,000 horses in today's battle alone. If the coated soldiers who built trenches on the front line to assist in the battle were included, the total number of casualties was nearly 15,000.
The Qing army originally had less than 70,000 troops outside Jinzhou City. After the battle, the total number of troops and horses in stock was less than 60,000, which was only one-third of the Ming army.
Dorgon was also worried. At the same time, after this battle, he also felt that the Ming army gathered outside Songshan City was different from the past. Not only were they large in number, they also dared to fight bloody battles.
If there were two more battles like today's, he was afraid that his troops would be exhausted. He did not dare to make any more efforts. In desperation, he withdrew all the defenders from Rufeng Mountain, Songshan Ridge, and Maojiagou.
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He wanted to concentrate his forces to besiege Jinzhou and only defend the Shimen Mountain strategic road and Huangtu Ridge in the south of the city. At the same time, after discussing with Haoge and other generals, he wrote a report overnight about today's battle and the details of the Ming army's reinforcements.
He sent flying cavalry to rush back to Shengjing and report to the slave chief Huang Taiji.
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Just when Dorgon withdrew his troops from Rufeng Mountain, Songshan Ridge, and Maojiagou, and sent a message to Huang Taiji overnight, there was an undercurrent surging in Songshan City, and various forces were ready to take action in order to compete for the Xuanzang troops and horses left by Yang Guozhu.
After paying homage to Yang Guozhu's tomb, Shanxi Commander-in-Chief Li Fuming hurried to the governor's camp to see Hong Chengchou. Although his contribution in this battle was not obvious, he suffered heavy losses, which made his already small number of troops even weaker.
He especially begged Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, hoping that the remaining troops and horses under Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen, could be temporarily put under his command, and at least one additional battalion of troops could be given to him so that he could better serve the country.
Hong Chengchou also had some thoughts about the Xuanzang army and horses left behind by Yang Guozhu. He did not want to annex them as his own, but wanted to distribute them to various battalions to make up for today's losses so that he could fight the Tatars again.
For this reason, he did not directly agree to Li Fuming, but only comforted him with gentle words and asked him to go back and rest. Now what he is anxious about is actually to determine the merits and faults of the generals today in order to formulate a report to the emperor.
Of course, as military commanders, the commanders and generals naturally had no chance to participate in this kind of thing. Hong Chengchou went through some discussions with Zhang Ruoqi, Qiu Minyang, Ma Shaoyu, Zhang Dou and others.
Today's first achievement is disputed among Yang Guozhu, Zhang Cheng and Chen Jiugao. Yang Guozhu's troops inflicted heavy losses on Dorgon's Qing army and were the most successful in killing the enemy. His general Guo Yingxian went on to kill the Qing army in Mongolia's Eight Banners Gushan Ezhen.
He Luo Hui.
Furthermore, Yang Guozhu sacrificed his life for the country, and honors are always given after his death, so the call for him to be the first to contribute is also the highest.
However, Zhang Cheng's troops went to rescue the Shenji Camp and the Xuanfu Zhenbiao Camp and killed many enemies. Zhang Guodong's troops even stormed the Qing artillery array at the Empress Temple and captured dozens of Qing artillery pieces.
This is a great achievement.
Moreover, his subordinates attacked Zhang Guangda and killed the Qing Manchu Eight Banners Gushan Ezhenzhun Pagoda. This was a Tatar warrior with the title of "Batulu". General Zhang Ruoqi strongly supported Zhang Chengxuan's first contribution to the Northern Army.
However, the Shenji Battalion, under the command of Chen Jiugao and Fu Yingchong, roared with artillery, which greatly contributed to the fighting on both sides of East and West Shimen. Although the unit's close combat capabilities are worrying, the power of this artillery is obvious to all, and its efforts will be needed in the future.
Just fine.
After some controversy, it was finally determined that the first contribution should be made to Yang Guozhu. Zhang Cheng had no objection to this. After all, Yang Guozhu took care of him a lot and was like a teacher and father.
Chen Jiugao had no objection. Although he was full of confidence in his own artillery and was proud of the artillery skills of his soldiers, he never thought that he would have the opportunity to win the first victory.
After deciding on the candidate for the first prize, Hong Chengchou didn't say anything for a long time, only looking at Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong. Qiu Minyang had worked with Hong Chengchou for a long time, and he naturally understood. He immediately suggested that Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of the Ningyuan regiment, should be rated as the second best because of his outstanding performance at East Shimen.
achievement.
Although everyone criticized this, no one opposed it openly. Everyone knew that this was Hong Chengchou supporting Wu Sangui. What's more, although Dongshimen did not have a big record, they still fought vigorously.
It was just a bitter experience for Cao Bianjiao. He fought fiercely with the slaves in Huangtu Ridge, killing more people than Wu Sangui, but his merits were rated lower than Wu Sangui.
In the end, Li Fuming's advance was unfavorable, which led to Xuanzang's soldiers and horses to fight against Dorgon's elite Qing troops alone. As a result, Yang Guozhu died on the battlefield and sacrificed his life for the country. Hong Chengchou petitioned the court and suggested that he be demoted to a first rank and temporarily stay in front of the army.
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In fact, there is no difference between this punishment and no punishment, because Li Fuming had been impeached and dismissed from the post of Shanxi military commander as early as the twelfth year of Chongzhen. This time, he was recommended by Hong Chengchou to accompany the army with his troops.
It didn't matter to him whether he was demoted one level or three levels in a row. As long as he was still in front of the army, as long as he still had an army in his hands, and as long as he made some achievements, he could be promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief at any time.
The merits and demerits of the generals were thus determined in a very harmonious manner. In any case, this battle could not lift the siege of Jinzhou by the Qing army.
But it also caused great damage to it, unleashed the momentum of the Ming army, and forced the Qing army's chief general Dorgon to shrink his defense line. It can be said that even if the siege of Jinzhou cannot be solved for a while, there is at least a hope of doing so.
In this way, it can somewhat comfort the court officials in the capital and Emperor Chongzhen.
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After the officials agreed that the generals' achievements were over, they left the temporary governor's residence in Songshan and retreated.
Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, returned to the inner courtyard. After everyone was seated, Xie Sixin, his close aide, ordered the boy serving tea to retreat, and then asked: "Yang Shuai of Xuanfu died, and there are still more than ten thousand troops left. Even if they are eliminated,
After removing the miscellaneous soldiers, there are still nearly 10,000 elite infantrymen and cavalrymen.
An army without a leader is like a pack of wolves that has lost its leader. Without its backbone, it will be difficult to exert its due fighting power. It is not as good as..."
Xie Sixin did not continue talking, and stopped at the point. It was both a suggestion and a test. Everything was left unspoken. People who understand will naturally understand. If you pretend not to understand, then there is no point in continuing this topic.
Hong Chengchou picked up the tea cup very elegantly, took a small sip, and put down the tea cup, still without saying a word.
Seeing that Hong Chengchou did not object, Li Song, who praised the painting, said: "Supervisor, just as Mr.
, I’m afraid there will be chaos in the long run!”
At this time, another staff member named Du said: "There is still Guo Shenjun in Xuanzhen, can he temporarily command the troops left by General Yang?"
There was a silence in the side hall of the inner house, which showed that no one was interested in this proposal. Everyone bowed their heads and drank tea in a tacit understanding, sitting quietly with their own thoughts.
"Ahem..."
After a while, Xie Sixin coughed a few times and said slowly: "In my opinion, it is better to replenish the troops and horses of Xuanzhen to several other generals to make up for the casualties in today's battle.
In this way, it can not only prevent the generals from declaring the town without a leader, but also allow the generals to quickly restore their combat strength, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone."
A secret smile flashed across Hong Chengchou's elegant face, but he still didn't say anything. He slowly stood up and walked to the window, looking at the sunset outside without saying a word.
Li Song looked at Xie Sixin, then at Du Zan's paintings, and then said: "Today, Commander Li from Shanxi, Commander Cao from Dongxie, and Commander Wu from Ningyuan were the most seriously injured. If not, Commander Yang will be killed."
How about we announce the suppression of the remaining soldiers and add them to the three-man army?"
His words seemed like inquiries, but in fact they were just tests, testing the thoughts of the people in the side hall to see if they could reach an agreement. In fact, most of the time, these thoughts were the boss's.
Who is the boss here?
There is no doubt that Ji Liao Governor Hong Chengchou is the boss of these people. Now everyone is constantly trying to figure out his intentions.
After following him for a long time, I have already become familiar with Hong Chengchou's character. Before a decision is made, these close aides can speak at will, because their unfettered words can inspire Hong Chengchou.
However, since entering Jinzhou to aid, Hong Chengchou's character seems to have changed. Although he is as elegant as ever on the surface, he has become more and more sinister secretly. However, only those close to him know these changes.
Because of this, they continued to carefully test Hong Chengchou's inner thoughts. After everyone finished speaking, they turned their eyes to Hong Chengchou to observe his every move. In essence, they were seeking Hong Chengchou's approval.
Hong Chengchou put down his tea cup, focused his eyes on Li Song, and said: "Although Guo Yingxian has made great contributions, he is indeed not the choice to lead the army. Now Commander Yang of Xuanzhen died for the country, but Deputy Commander Zhang Cheng is still here.
Can we divide our troops to make up for the shortage in other towns?"
Everyone was silent for a while after hearing this. After a while, Xie Sixin said: "My lord, Zhang Cheng has nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses in Xuanbei. If General Yang's soldiers and horses are also included, he will command too many troops and may become arrogant.
Heart, it’s not appropriate to make arrangements before the formation!”
The remaining people said "yes" repeatedly, and Hong Chengchou couldn't help but think deeply.
That Du Zanhua even said: "What's more, General Li's troops in Shanxi have suffered serious losses. We must continue to replenish them, otherwise we may not be able to fight again."
Several other people also tried to persuade them, and their intention was nothing more than to give Yang Guozhu's old Xuanzhen department to Li Fuming, Wu Sangui, Cao Bianjiao, and at most to Zhang Cheng. If no one supported it, Zhang Cheng would take charge of Yang Guozhu's old department.
They were simply worried that Zhang Cheng's command of the troops would be too heavy and he would become arrogant. This would make it difficult to maneuver before the formation, which might be detrimental to the Liaodong war situation.
Hong Chengchou closed his eyes and meditated. After a long time, he still couldn't decide, so he said to everyone: "I'm a little tired. Let's discuss this matter tomorrow."
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That night, rumors began to spread inside and outside Songshan City that someone in the Governor's Mansion wanted to take advantage of Yang Guozhu's death in the battle to divide the troops and horses of the town to supplement the battle losses of each battalion.
For a time, all the soldiers in Xuanzhen were indignant. Although the generals of each battalion tried their best to suppress it, they all complained about it in their hearts and did not want to be assigned to the command of other generals. Some even proposed to escape back to Xuanzhen.
In the mourning hall opposite the governor's residence, Zhang Cheng, who was guarding Yang Guozhu's body, also heard about this. On the one hand, he strictly ordered his generals to control the soldiers and horses of their respective camps and prohibit rumors from spreading in the army.
On the other hand, he concentrated on guarding Yang Guozhu's body and secretly observed Guo Yingxian's attitude. He knew that Yang Guozhu's general was a veteran of Xuanzhen, and his status in the Zhenbiao camp was very important, second only to the commander-in-chief Yang Guozhu.