On the twelfth day of the first month of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Nurhachi personally commanded about 70,000 soldiers of the Eight Banners, known as the 150,000 army to the outside world.

After learning that Nurhachi was leading the Houjin army to attack, the Ming army in Jinzhou, Youtun, Xiaolinghe, Songshan, Xingshan and other places immediately panicked, and no one expected that the Houjin army would come so quickly.

In the face of the pressure of the Houjin army, the generals of the Ming army who originally wanted to stick to the Guanjin defense line chose to retreat to Shanhaiguan, they knew that they could not compete with the Houjin army with a lone army.

The Battle of Shimenshan not only made Li Hongyu exalt, but also made the Ming army outside the pass more aware of the terrible situation of the Houjin army.

Now many of the generals in Jinzhou and Youtun and other places are the people who accompanied Naren Tuoya to reinforce Shimen Mountain from Jinzhou at that time, and witnessed the bloodshed of the Shimen Mountain battlefield.

Besides, it was Gao Di's order to retreat to Shanhaiguan, and those Ming generals had no worries.

However, because they had previously reacted passively to Gaodi's retreat order, a large amount of grain and grass in Jinzhou and Youtun and other cities had not had time to be transferred, and many of the people scattered around had not been able to withdraw in time.

The so-called defeat is like a mountain, although the Ming army did not engage the Houjin army, but this kind of behavior of retreating without a fight is no different from defeat.

Therefore, during the retreat, the soldiers and civilians of the Ming army crowded each other, and the situation was extremely chaotic, and miserable cries could be heard everywhere, which made the morale of the army quickly drop to the bottom.

The generals of the Later Jin originally thought that it would take a lot of fighting to capture the cities of Jinzhou and Youtun, after all, the local defenders had not yet evacuated.

But who would have thought that the Ming army in Jinzhou and Youtun and other cities would retreat without a fight, just like the Guangning City back then, so that they could get those cities and a large amount of grain and grass hoarded in them without much effort.

This made the generals of the Houjin army feel a little unbelievable, you must know that just two or three years ago, the Ming army also moved the battle of Jinzhou and the battle of Shimenshan, and the fierce combat effectiveness made the Houjin army suffer a big loss.

In fact, the Houjin army can be said to have picked up a big bargain this time, if it were not for the Ming army hastily changing commanders and changing the established policy of operating the Guanjin defense line, then the Ming army in Jinzhou and Youtun would not have easily retreated.

Since Gao Di had already issued a military order to retreat, once they stuck to the city, it would be tantamount to disobeying the military order, after all, the officials and generals of Jinzhou and Youtun and other cities did not have Yuan Chonghuan's confidence and courage, even if they were all killed in battle, I am afraid that they would end up disrespecting the order.

In addition, the Houjin army was menacing this time, and Gao Di, who advocated the withdrawal of Shanhaiguan, did not have the experience of fighting with the Houjin, so for the sake of safety, it was likely that he would not send troops to the rescue, which made the Ming generals in Jinzhou and Youtun and other cities still have fighting spirit.

When the soldiers and civilians of Jinzhou and Youtun and other cities passed through Ningyuan City south to the Shanhaiguan in embarrassment, Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou, who were guarding Ningyuan, had less than 20,000 soldiers in their hands.

After Gao Di learned that the Houjin army was coming, he had sent an official letter to Yuan Chonghuan twice to ask him to lead the army to withdraw to Shanhaiguan, and resist the Houjin army with the solidity of Shanhaiguan.

Moreover, Gao Di clearly told Yuan Chonghuan that he would not send reinforcements to rescue Ning Yuan, so as not to be ambushed by the Houjin army on the road.

Although there were strong enemies in front of them and no reinforcements behind them, the situation was extremely dangerous, but Yuan Chonghuan ignored Gao Di's order, but ordered the army to be reorganized for battle, not only for the Ming Dynasty but also for their respective destinies.

Obviously, once the Ming army retreats to Shanhaiguan, then a large number of Ming troops outside the pass will be dismantled, so that many generals will return to their original posts and will no longer be able to make contributions.

Yuan Chonghuan believed that as long as they could hold Ningyuan City and resist several waves of attacks by the Houjin army, then Gao Di would definitely send troops to rescue under pressure, would they watch the 20,000 Ming army run out of blood with the Houjin army in Ningyuan?

What is particularly important is that Yuan Chonghuan and Li Hongyu talked about the situation outside the pass, so he thought that Nurhachi did not have the heart to win Ningyuan City, and with Nurhachi's character, he would never make the Houjin army pay a heavy price for an inconsequential city.

The reason why Ning Yuancheng is "irrelevant" is not that it is not important, but that it is not useful to Houjin at present.

Not only Ningyuan City, but also Liaoxi, which has been empty, has little value to Houjin, and Houjin will be a burden if it is captured.

Obviously, the strength of Houjin is not capable of maintaining the military expenses of the garrison of Ningyuan and even Guangning, coupled with the long distance, once the Ming army is dispatched to attack Ningyuan and other cities, the Houjin army will not have time to rescue.

Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan decided to fight desperately, not only for the reputation of the Ming army outside the Guanwai, for the face of the Ming Dynasty, but also for the future of the generals and soldiers of the Ming army outside the Guanwai.

Shimen Mountain, the cemetery of the soldiers who died in battle.

Accompanied by the four major Beile and other high-ranking officials and dignitaries of the Houjin, Nurhachi came to pay tribute to the soldiers of the Houjin Army who died in the battle of Shimen Mountain, and the atmosphere at the scene was solemn and slaughtering.

Looking at the battle of Shimen Mountain recorded in Chinese characters and Jurchen characters on the stone tablet, Nurhachi, who was coughing, felt that the battle of Shimen Mountain seemed to be just yesterday, if Shimen Mountain could be broken and Li Hongyu could be eliminated at that time, then Hou Jin would have no worries.

Nurhachi knew very well that if the person guarding the gate was Li Hongyu, then those Ming troops would definitely not abandon the city and flee, and Li Hongyu would definitely fight it in Jinzhou.

Fortunately, Li Hongyu was an important minister of the Ming Dynasty and had a lot of other affairs to be busy, so he did not stay in charge, otherwise Houjin would have encountered a lot of trouble.

"Father Khan, what is written on this is simply nonsense, how can our Dajin warriors die more in the battle of Shimen Mountain than the Ming army!"

Just as Nurhachi was looking at the stele in a daze, Mang Gurtai stepped forward and bowed behind him and said, "Erchen, let people smash the stele and rewrite it." ”

According to the records on the stele, the battle of Shimen Mountain, the Houjin army with absolute superiority in strength failed to capture it for several days, and withdrew after the Ming army came to help in Jinzhou, the two sides suffered heavy losses in this battle, and the Houjin army died after the Ming army.

"Don't bother the soldiers who died in battle, it's an honor for them to die here!"

Hearing this, Nurhachi groaned for a while and then instructed Mang Gurtai and the others, "Don't tamper with everything here, Ben Khan wants to use this place to warn me that the people of Dajin are not as easy to deal with as we think, so we must not have the heart to underestimate the enemy!" ”

"Obey the Khan's orders!" When everyone at the scene heard this, they bowed to Nurha, and they were quite surprised by his decision, it stands to reason that Jin suffered a loss after the battle of Shimen Mountain, and the performance of the Jin army should be re-recorded after beautification.

But Nurhachi was right, the battle of Shimen Mountain made the generals of Houjin wake up, although they fought many victories outside the pass, but the Ming Dynasty was not a lamb to be slaughtered.

In the end, the reason is that Li Hongyu let people record the course of the first battle of Shimenshan in this way, and said that the situation and situation of both sides are very impressive.

When the Ming army of Jinzhou rushed to the aid of Shimen Mountain, the Later Jin army was forced to retreat by the approaching Mongolian reinforcements, and was not defeated by the Ming army.

This made Nurhachi recognize the content of the stele, after all, he did not fall behind in this contest between him and Li Hongyu, and it was not that the Houjin army was invincible to the Ming army, but that he was afraid of the Mongolian reinforcements led by Lin Dan Khan.

When leaving Shimen Mountain, Nurhachi specially ordered that people should not embarrass the tomb keepers who were guarding the tombs in the cemetery, they not only took care of the heroic souls of the Ming soldiers, but also guarded the soldiers of the Houjin Army who died in battle.

With Nurhachi's decree, no matter how the situation in Liaodong evolves in the future, the cemetery of the dead soldiers in Shimen Mountain has not been harassed.

This incident is regarded as Li Hongyu's far-sighted move, using real historical materials to preserve the cemetery in Shimen Mountain.

Ningyuan City.

"My lord, Jiannu has been besieging us for several days, why haven't we seen it attack the city for a long time?"

In the conference hall, Yuan Chonghuan summoned the generals in the city to arrange defensive tasks, and one of the generals couldn't help but ask curiously, I don't know what tricks the Houjin army is playing.

It turned out that the Houjin army had come to Ningyuan City a few days ago, but they were only stationed outside the city and had no intention of attacking the city, which made Ningyuan City shrouded in a tense atmosphere.

"Maybe they're waiting for their time."

Yuan Chonghuan frowned slightly when he heard this, the psychological pressure on the defenders in the city was greater than that of the siege, and then he said in a deep voice, "No matter what the hell they do, we just need to defend the city with all our might." ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, Ningyuan is the last fortified city of our Ming Dynasty outside the Guan, once it is taken away by Jiannu, then the land outside the Guanxi will belong to Jiannu, and we will become sinners of the Ming Dynasty!"

As he spoke, Yuan Chonghuan turned around, glanced around at the scene, raised his right fist and shouted, "This official is ready, he will live and die with Ning Yuan City, be loyal to the monarch and serve the country, and leave a name in the annals of history!" ”

"Co-exist and die with Ningyuan City!" Seeing this, the generals at the scene raised their right fists and shouted in unison.

Many of these generals participated in the Battle of Jinzhou and rushed to aid Shimen Mountain, although they also knew the strength of the Houjin Army, but the city defense of Ningyuan City was much stronger than that of Jinzhou, and it was also close to Shanhaiguan and easy to get the rescue of the Ming Army of Shanhaiguan, plus Yuan Chonghuan, who was the main battle, would naturally stay in Ningyuan City and fight to the death with the Houjin Army.

In the Guanjin defense line, Ningyuan is the center of the entire defense line, and it is also the focus of the Ming army's defense, and it is obvious that the Ming army cannot strictly defend all the cities on the Guanjin defense line.

During the reign of Sun Chengzong, nine large cities were repaired, the most important of which were Jinzhou and Ningyuan, if the Guanjin defense line was compared to a long snake lying in western Liaoning, then Jinzhou was the head of the snake and Ningyuan was the seven inches of the snake.

However, because Sun Chengzong was in charge of Guanwai for only two or three years, he also focused on the construction of the city, and Ningyuan City was the most powerful city, and the city wall was heightened and thickened.

It is worth mentioning that Ningyuan City is also equipped with more than ten Hongyi cannons, but Jinzhou does not, and ten of them are from the twenty that Li Hongyu later bought for Sun Chengzong, which are Yuan Chonghuan's confidence to guard Ningyuan City.

Originally, Sun Chengzong wanted to wait for the construction of Jinzhou City to be completed before transferring the Hongyi cannons, but he didn't have time in time, but fortunately, this was the case, otherwise those Hongyi cannons would have fallen into the hands of Houjin.

(End of chapter)

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