At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming and Later Jin dynasties were in constant conflict, and the two sides often broke out into wars in the border areas. At the same time, this period also produced many outstanding generals, such as Yuan Chonghuan.
Yuan Chonghuan was very accomplished in military training, and he advocated "defending the Liao territory with Liao people." The reason why he put forward this proposition was actually because for a long time in the past, the Ming army was decentralized training, and when the Liaodong war broke out, the imperial court sent troops from all over the country to support. Although such an approach can alleviate the shortage of troops in the Liaodong field to a certain extent, there are problems such as the disunity of the army, the weak combat effectiveness and the soldiers' inability to adapt to the local climate and environment. On the other hand, if the natives of Liaodong were used to fight, this problem could be solved. Because they are both good at equestrianism and proficient in riding and shooting, and are familiar with the local environment to adapt to the local climate, then these problems can be avoided.
Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan deliberately selected some young and middle-aged people from the people of Liaodong, then deployed them to various armies, and began to train a group of Liao generals.
On February 10, the sixth year of the Apocalypse, the Battle of Ningyuan broke out. In this war, Daming temporarily won the victory, so the morale of the army soared. Taking advantage of this great opportunity, Yuan Chonghuan invested a lot of energy and effort to train a Liao army. At the same time, a large number of Liao generals such as Zu Dashou, Man Gui, and Zhao Lijiao were vigorously cultivated. Although the number of this army is small, its combat effectiveness is very strong.
Later, people called this army the "Guanning Iron Horse", led by Zu Dashou himself.
In June 2008, China launched the book "Ten Great Legions in History", guanning iron cavalry and the Li Mu cavalry corps of the Zhao state during the Warring States period, the Wang Qi corps of the Qin state, the Han Xin army of the Western Han Dynasty, the Huo Zhiyi army of the Han Dynasty, the seven thousand white-robed army of Chen Qingzhi under Emperor Liangwu in the Southern Dynasty period, the Yue family army of the Southern Song Dynasty, the cowardly Xue army of Genghis Khan, the Ming Dynasty ChangyuChun Corps, and the Qing Eight Banner Army, etc., which were also known as the "Ten Victorious Legions" in Chinese history.
Since then, the Guanning Iron Horse has finally been able to get its name right after hundreds of years of dust.
It is said that on May 6 of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Emperor Taiji led the Houjin army to the west. Because the army had just suffered in the Battle of Ningyuan, morale was generally somewhat low. However, Huang Taiji firmly believed that he would lose the Battle of Ningyuan mainly because he was not fully prepared for the battle, so that he somewhat despised the enemy.
This time, he was going to attack Jinzhou, which had just been repaired and the military defense was not yet complete. In this case, if he attacked Jinzhou, he would definitely be able to win a big victory. As a result, Hou Jin launched a wheel war against Jinzhou that combined flank attacks and horse infantry. Suddenly, the flames were raging, and countless soldiers on both sides were killed and injured. However, after several days of continuous attacks, Hou Jin did not have the upper hand at all.
If this continues, Hou Jin's forces are likely to sink deep into Jinzhou and be dragged down. Therefore, Emperor Taiji immediately decided to stop attacking Jinzhou and attack Ningyuan instead.
According to records, when Hou Jin's army arrived at the northern outskirts of Ningyuan City, Emperor Taiji divided his army into nine battalions to besiege Ningyuan City. However, at this moment, something suddenly happened outside the city that surprised all the Houjin people: the war had just broken out, and the forward of the Houjin army collapsed. It turned out that the Ming army had already dug trenches outside the city, only to wait for the Houjin army to rush forward.
Although the forward collapsed, there were still soldiers in Houjin who continued to rush up the tower. In this regard, the Ming army did not dare to relax at all, constantly shooting sharp arrows with fire, and in a flash, the fire was soaring, and the Houjin army was in mourning. Huang Taiji originally thought that this was the sound of the Ming army being beaten by his own iron cavalry and running away.
However, when he saw the battlefield, the scene shocked him: the vanguard of the Houjin Iron Horse and the forward of the Ming Army were in a fierce battle, and the Ming Army's guns were aimed at the Rear Force of the Hou jin Iron Horse, which greatly damaged the Hou Jin forces. Moreover, Hou Jin's generals had already broken through jinzhou's defenses, but at this time, Yuan Chonghuan suddenly appeared with his Guanning iron horse.
For a time, the situation on the battlefield changed greatly, and HouJin became a weak person.
Faced with this situation, although Huang Taiji was very unwilling, he knew very well that he could not drag down the Houjin forces here, so he had to order the withdrawal of troops again. This was the first actual battle of the Guanning Iron Horse, and after experiencing this war, the Guanning Iron Horse instantly became famous. However, this battle was won in the battle against Houjin in the city, and if you want to really chase the Houjin army on the battlefield, then it will take a few years.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, three years later. Emperor Taiji personally led an army to attack the Great Wall, which had just mutinied, and he marched all the way forward, quickly breaking the last line of defense of Beijing, Zunhua, which meant that Beijing would completely fall in the near future. At this time, the rule of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be precarious, whether the dynasty is subverted or not, and whether history is rewritten or not.
After hearing the news, the whole court was shocked and overwhelmed. But soon, Yuan Chonghuan reacted, and he immediately ordered the general of Shanhaiguan, Zhao Lijiao, to lead a Guanning Iron Horse to meet the Jin Iron Horse after the battle. The next day, the main force of Guan Ning's iron horse set off for the battlefield, although there was a strategy to alleviate it, but Yuan Chonghuan knew very well in his heart that Zhao Lijiao's light horsemen were only a few thousand people, and they could not withstand Hou Jin's strong offensive at all.
Therefore, he did not seek victory, but only hoped that Zhao Lijiao would be able to hold the pass. Unfortunately, the Ming army was too passive, and when Zhao Lijiao's thousands of light horses arrived in Zunhua, Zunhua had already been breached. Soon after, these thousands of light horses were also destroyed in the fierce offensive of Houjin, and the whole army was heroically martyred. At this time, Yuan Chonghuan just arrived with his five thousand light horses.
The two armies faced each other, and the difference in strength was very large: Yuan Chonghuan only had 5,000 light horses, while HouJin had nearly 100,000 troops.
In order to delay the main force of Guan Ning, Yuan Chonghuan divided the five thousand light horses into three small teams. When Yuan Chonghuan's light horse had just finished deploying, Hou Jin immediately launched an attack. In this regard, Huang Taiji knew very well in his heart that although this was the GuanNing Iron Horse, it was not its main force. So he decided to give it a go and devote the rest of his troops to the war.
However, the time passed minute by minute, and the news of the great victory still did not come. Just at this moment, another Guanning Iron Horse arrived. After the light cavalry defending the city was supported, their morale was greatly increased, and they counterattacked Houjin. Although these two light horses added up to only a few thousand people, they beat the 100,000 troops of Houjin to the point of running around...
Soon, when people thought that Houjin would surrender, the Chongzhen Emperor did something that surprised everyone: he put Yuan Chonghuan in prison and strictly guarded him. Suddenly, Guan Ning Iron Horse lost his main heart and lost one after another. After that, Zu Dashou became the military leader of the Liao army and served as the chief military officer of Liaozhen. Wu Sangui's father was Wu Xiang, who was related to Zu Dashou by marriage and also belonged to the Zu Dashou military family.
When Zu Dashou surrendered to Emperor Taiji at the Battle of Songjin, Wu Sangui became a representative of the Liao army in the Ming Dynasty. After Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, this army also had to be used by the Qing court, and after that, it became an important part of the Han Eight Banners. Subsequently, this army assisted Wu Sangui in opposing the Qing Dynasty, and at one point almost overthrew the Qing Dynasty, causing Kangxi to lose 500,000 troops.
Since the San Francisco Rebellion was put down, there has been no more Guanning Iron Horse in the world.
Resources:
["History of Ming", "Records of Emperor Mingxi", "Later Collection of Shi KuiShu", "Ming Dynasty Northern Sketch", "Guanning Iron Horse: Special Forces of the Ming Dynasty that Made the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty Fearful"]