The Guanning Iron Cavalry was a cavalry unit formed at the end of the Ming Dynasty with not many troops, but its combat effectiveness was quite strong, and it was the most elite unit in the late Ming Dynasty, which could confront the Eight Banners Army of the Manchu Qing Dynasty (the three major armies of the late Ming Dynasty).

"Guan" refers to Shanhaiguan, "Ning" refers to Ningyuan, Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, Jinzhou and other Liao soil is an important line of defense of the Ming Dynasty to resist the Houjin, Sun Chengzong advocated "Liao people to guard Liao soil, Liao soil to raise Liao people". Therefore, among the attached Liao people, strong people were selected to enrich the army, and at the same time, a large number of Liao generals such as Zu Dashou, Man Gui, and Zhao Shujiao were vigorously cultivated.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the three major armies were: Guanning Iron Cavalry - Zu Dashou; Qin Bing - Sun Chuanting; Tianxiong Army - Lu Xiangsheng. Its name was added by later generations.

The Guanning Iron Cavalry is a famous elite unit in Chinese history and one of the strongest armies among the cavalry of all dynasties. the cavalry of the Guanning Iron Cavalry and the cavalry of the Three Kingdoms Cao Wei; the hoplite cavalry of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty; Tang Taizong Li Shimin's "Xuansoap Cavalry"; Yue Fei's "Back Army" is recorded in historical classics. A variety of books in the Ming Dynasty recorded the battle process of the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and the "Ming Ji Beiluo" clearly mentioned that there were thousands of "Guanning Iron Cavalry" under Sangui, all of whom dared to fight, and Jianzhou was afraid of it. The Guanning Iron Cavalry all used the most advanced three-eyed god guns at that time, which were extremely powerful. This weapon has spikes all over its body, so it can be used as a mace in both long-range and melee combat.

In the historical books that were read, Wu Weiye explicitly used the words "Guanning Iron Cavalry" in the "Suikou Chronicles" written in the ninth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty. However, according to the trend of public opinion at that time, the "Guanning Iron Cavalry" is unlikely to refer to the cavalry trained by Yuan Chonghuan, but may be a branch of Qi Jiguang's anti-Japanese army. Yuan Chonghuan was suspected of "defecting to the enemy and treason" until the 49th year of Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1784), when the Qing people compiled the "History of the Ming Dynasty" according to the "Records of Taizong of the Qing Dynasty", Qianlong issued an edict to overturn the case for Yuan Chonghuan, and it was already 150 years later. And "Suikou Jiluo" was written in the ninth year of Shunzhi, in addition to the sixty-eight volumes of "Taizong Records", Wu Weiye himself did not participate in the compilation of "Taizong Records", and it is impossible to have the opportunity to know the inside story in advance, so he himself will not risk the world's disapproval, and sing praises for ***.

According to the "Suikou Chronicle", it is clearly pointed out that the so-called "Guanning Iron Cavalry" refers to the army brought by Zu Dashou's family general into the customs. Zu Kuan (Hu Ren, see Ming History) is Zu Dashou's domestic servant, and Zu Dale is Zu Dashou's cousin. The two men and their families brought their troops into the customs and cleared the peasant army.

According to the "Ming Ji Beiluo", it is clearly recorded that Zu Dashou organized his family and formed a good fighting army. "Ming Ji Beiluo" clearly gives the definition of Guanning Iron Cavalry: "Iron Riders, people from Shanbei near Hebei, Shanxi, and Liaoyang, are all people who control the strings and practice war." It can be seen that the way of origin in the family is more complicated, and most of them are warriors with archers.

At the same time, it is said in "Ming Ji Beiluo" that Wu Sangui also has a "Guanning Iron Cavalry". Considering the relationship between Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui (Zu Dashou is Wu Sangui's uncle, and Wu Sangui's father Wu Xiang is Zu Dashou's subordinate), this is the same army. Tan Qian's "Guoqi" refers to books such as "Suikou Jiluo", where Tan Qian calls it "Guanliao Iron Cavalry", and also points out that it is composed of Han Chinese.

In the "History of the Ming Dynasty", there is also such a paragraph in the introduction of You Shiwei, the general of Liaodong: "In the seventh year, Wu Xiangchi, the chief military officer of Ningyuan, was ordered to aid Xuanfu. Sitting on the army does not advance, and the dereliction of duty is discussed. If it didn't work, it would be a thief in Henan, and Zhao Shiwei served as an official, and he and the deputy general Zhang Waijiatong closed the door and rode 5,000 to suppress it. "With "Suikou Chronicle" and "Ming Ji Beiluo", it was determined by checking historical materials that this was the Guanmen Iron Cavalry Camp compiled and trained by Yang Sichang Chongzhen when he was the governor of Shanyong for four years. It has nothing to do with the rumored Guanning Iron Horse.

The so-called iron cavalry is nothing more than two explanations: 1. The cavalry wearing iron armor on the war horse, 2. It refers to the elite cavalry. Because Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui's soldiers belonged to the Guanning Army, they were called "Guanning Iron Cavalry". This has nothing to do with the rumored Predators, but it can be proved that the rumors are false.

According to the records of Xizong, in the sixth year of the Apocalypse, Yuan Chonghuan wrote to the Liaozhen Army in the sixth year of the Apocalypse, and still used the establishment rated by Sun Chengzong, and there was no Guanning Iron Cavalry. In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Guo Yunhou, the secretary of the household department, said: "The soldiers and horses inside and outside the gate were ruled by the Shufu, and then there were 107,003 horses, 552 horses, including 11,381 craftsmen and miscellaneous soldiers. "Once again, it proves that the Guan Ning Army is still the establishment set by Sun Chengzong.

According to the records of the "Ming File", around March of the first year of Chongzhen, there were about 100,000 Mongolian tribes who returned to the Ming court, and were placed near Jinzhou by the then Liaofu, and the generals of Liaozhen recruited a large number of strong and warlike Yi people as family members, when the Jinzhou general Zu Dashou directly reorganized some of the Mongols into the left and right battalions, with the Mongolian tribal leader as the general, and became the elite army under the direct command of Zu Dashou, with about 3,000 people.

Guanning Iron Cavalry is not Yuan Chonghuan's training, Yuan Chonghuan was appointed as the Jiliao Governor in April of the first year of Chongzhen, and entered the capital to see the emperor in July. In just over a year, there is no time to make changes to the Guan Ning Army. Liang Qichao's "Biography of Yuan Chonghuan" and Jin Yong's "Commentary on Yuan Chonghuan" also have nothing to do with Ning Tieqi's records.

After Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned, Zu Dashou became the military head of the Liao army and served as the chief military officer of Liao Town. Since then, the ancestral army led by Zu Dashou has stepped onto the historical stage of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years. With the eight years of Chongzhen, the generals of the ancestral army, Zu Kuan, Zu Dale led the troops to descend to the Yi family Ding into the customs to suppress bandits, the name of the ancestral army's good war spread in the pass, to Chongzhen nine years, some people began to "Guanning Iron Cavalry" to call the ancestral army led by Zu Dashou with the family Ding as the main force.

Wu Sangui's father is Wu Xiang, who is related to Zu Dashou by marriage, and also belongs to a member of Zu Dashou's military family. When Zu Dashou surrendered to Huang Taiji in the Battle of Songjin, Wu Sangui became the representative of the ancestral army in the Ming Dynasty Liao army. The 3,000 families under his command have also become an important combat force on which he depends.

To sum up, the real Guanning Iron Cavalry in history is really a family-oriented army headed by Zu Dashou and with Jia Ding as the main combat effectiveness. Due to the Battle of Daling River and the Battle of Songjin, most of the Zu family surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and this army was also used by the Qing court and became an important part of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty.

Fight to Fame:

In May of the seventh year of Tomorrow's Apocalypse, Huang Taiji led a hundred elite soldiers to Ningyuan City, and set up nine large camps on the periphery of Ningyuan, forming an encirclement of Ningyuan. Huang Taiji, who had just ascended the throne, faced Ning Yuancheng with a very complicated mood. Back then, his father Nurhachi was under this Ningyuan City, and was seriously injured by artillery fire and died. Therefore, Huang Taiji came prepared this time, which is to defeat Ning Yuan and avenge Nurhachi!

Three horns sounded, and tens of thousands of Eight Banner cavalry rushed straight to the bottom of Ningyuan City like a flood that burst the embankment. The drums of war were pounding, the sabers were flashing, and the shouts were earth-shattering.

The Ming army continued its previous tactics and bombarded the city with artillery. Rows after rows of Eight Banners fell under artillery fire, people turned on their backs, and flesh and blood flew sideways. Huang Taiji was expressionless, and waved his hand firmly, and the Eight Banners continued to attack in the face of artillery fire. For this victory, he had already studied the tactics of the Ming army, and he knew that as long as he rushed through this open field, once he entered the dead end of the artillery fire, it would be the world of the Eight Banners Army.

However, what happened next stunned Huang Taiji and stunned the generals of the Eight Banners Army. The artillery was still bombarding the city, but in the smoke of artillery fire, a horse team of tens of thousands of people was killed, and immediately the soldiers were holding three-eyed iron guns, and they began to shoot one hundred and eighty meters away from the Eight Banners Army, and the lead bullets swept towards the Eight Banners Army like a violent wind. Before the Eight Banners Army could understand, the Ming army had already rushed to the front, transferred the three-eyed iron gun, picked up the handle like an iron hammer and smashed it at the head of the Qing soldiers.

A hand-to-hand melee lasted from morning to noon, the corpses of the Eight Banners Army covered the wilderness, and blood flowed outside Ningyuan City. Seeing that the casualties were getting bigger and bigger, Huang Taiji had no choice but to order the withdrawal of the army.

After the war, Huang Taiji learned that this fierce and abnormal army was Yuan Chonghuan's newly formed Guanning Iron Cavalry.

Nine thousand iron cavalry guarding Beijing:

With this iron cavalry stationed in Ningyuan, the Eight Banners Army never dared to attack again. In the autumn of the second year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji avoided the Guanning Iron Cavalry, led the army to detour through the Mongolian steppe, and broke through the Xifeng Pass on October 26. The Ming army, which was unprepared and had just mutiny because of unpaid wages, collapsed in an instant under the impact of the wolf-like Eight Banners Army. On the 30th, the Qing army surrounded Zunhua, the last gateway to Beijing.

Yuan Chonghuan was shocked when he learned that if Huang Taiji attacked the city of Beijing, the scene of Emperor Huiqin of the Northern Song Dynasty being plundered by the Jin army would be repeated! Time was pressing, and Yuan Chonghuan once again thought of the Guanning Iron Cavalry in his hand. ordered Zhao Shujiao, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, the closest to Beijing, to lead 4,000 light cavalry to set off immediately and rush to help Zunhua; He personally led 9,000 iron horsemen to follow.

However, to Yuan Chonghuan's surprise, before Zhao led the army to arrive, Zunhua had already fallen, and the Zhao army was ambushed dozens of miles outside the city, and the whole army was martyred, and Zhao led the sect to die heroically!

After Yuan Chonghuan, who followed up later, learned of the murder, he ordered that the whole army should not be stopped without getting off the saddle, and the whole army would turn to Jizhou, and the Qing army must be intercepted in Jizhou.

When the nine thousand Guanning iron cavalry rushed to Jizhou, the cunning Huang Taiji had already led the army to bypass Jizhou and march towards Tongzhou. Tongzhou is only forty miles away from Beijing, and it is the gateway to Beijing, and there is no room for the slightest mistake. Yuan Chonghuan led the iron cavalry to Tongzhou again, and just after stationing, he learned that the Eight Banners Army had sailed to Beijing. In this way, Yuan Chonghuan led the Guanning Iron Cavalry, chased the butt of the Eight Banners Army, and was exhausted in the land of Gyeonggi. By the time they arrived at the city of Beijing, they were already sleepy and tired, and some soldiers were so tired that they couldn't even hold up their knives.

Huang Taiji wanted such a result, he adopted the strategy of dragging the troops, first exhausted the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and then under the city of Beijing, in front of the Ming Dynasty Emperor and civil and military officials, all the Guanning Iron Cavalry was annihilated.

In the early morning, the Guanning Iron Cavalry and the Eight Banners Army opened up a position under the city of Beijing, which was by no means an evenly matched battle. On one side is the tens of thousands of Eight Banners army personally commanded by Huang Taiji, with enough soldiers and food; On the other side, there was Yuan Chonghuan and his tired master Guan Ning Tieqi, with only nine thousand people!

Yuan Chonghuan knew that this battle was related to the survival of the Ming Dynasty, and his pre-war mobilization was simple and incendiary: "What is behind us?" The soldier replied: "It's Beijing, it's the emperor!" Yuan Chonghuan said: "And our parents, our brothers and sisters, if we don't want them to fall into the hands of the Tartar soldiers and become their slaves, what should we do?" The soldier waved the knife and gun in his hand and shouted: "Kill them, kill them!" The shouts were like thunder, and the sonic shook the field.

At this time, Huang Taiji was dispatching troops, and he believed that Guan Ning had no more than 10,000 iron cavalry, and he would definitely take a defensive position. He was ready to mobilize all his men and horses, and with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai, he smashed the Guanning Iron Cavalry in one fell swoop and took the city of Beijing. Unexpectedly, Yuan Chonghuan took advantage of their mobilization to lead the army to suddenly attack. Nine thousand cavalrymen, one by one, with three eyes, and a dense rain of bullets violently swept towards the Eight Banners Army, which was not ready. The Qing soldiers were caught off guard, and the team was immediately rushed to pieces.

After four hours of fierce fighting, the Eight Banners Army finally couldn't hold it anymore and began to retreat. Huang Taiji was once again defeated by Guan Ning's iron riders.

The 9,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry defeated tens of thousands of Eight Banners Army and completed an impossible task, and the Ming Dynasty lasted for more than ten years.