In the 46th year of the Wanli Calendar, in 1618 AD, the situation in the Ming Dynasty became more and more dangerous. After experiencing the war against the Ming Dynasty, the finances of the Ming Dynasty were already in jeopardy, but the disaster was not alone, and after basically integrating the Jurchen tribes, Nurhaci in Liaodong pulled up the anti-banner and resolutely refused the Ming government's solicitation and declared independence. The Ming Dynasty had no choice but to send an army of 200,000 to prepare to completely subdue Nurhaci.
This battle is the famous Battle of Salhu in history, and the final result is that the 200,000 troops of the Ming Dynasty were defeated by 60,000 soldiers and horses in the Nurhaci District, and almost the entire army was destroyed, and the Ming Dynasty was devastated ever since. In this battle, the Ming Dynasty's troops occupied an absolute advantage, and it was the most elite field troops of the Ming Dynasty that were sent, and they did not want to fight a war, so that the Ming Dynasty was no longer able to take the initiative to attack.
So, how did the Ming Dynasty lose this battle? In this battle, the Ming army adopted the war strategy of "dividing the troops and encircling and annihilating", and 200,000 troops were divided into four roads in an attempt to encircle and annihilate Nurhaci. These four generals were Du Song, Ma Lin, Liu Ling, and Li Rubai, who were also the best of the Ming generals. However, Nurhaci has obviously become more advanced in the way of coping, and has adopted the policy of "concentrating superior forces and breaking through each one".
The outcome of the war is not repeated, and Nurhaci relied on this strategy to successfully defend his regime. So why did the Ming Dynasty adopt such stupid tactics? This is also the most direct reason for the failure of the Ming Army, and it is said that it is two words "shusheng". The commander-in-chief of the battlefield appointed by the Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was Yang Hao, who served as the "Liaodong Jingluo" and was a typical civilian official, which is what we call "Shusheng".
Since ancient times, it has often been a tragedy for students to lead soldiers. One of the biggest characteristics of leading soldiers by scholars is that they talk about soldiers on paper, are omnipotent, and are powerless in the face of the enemy. Attacking in separate ways and combining attacks does not take into account the geographical situation of the Liaodong battlefield at all, nor does it consider the changes in the situation on the battlefield. When a large army marches, it rushes to divide the troops without understanding the speed and deployment of the enemy's troops, which is basically a sheep into the mouth of the tiger.
In history, there are countless examples of students leading soldiers and harming soldiers, including the fiasco of Zhao Kuo in the Battle of Changping of Qin zhao, the defeat of Ma Mo at the Battle of Wei Shu Street Pavilion to Zhang Guo, the change of Tumu Fort, and so on. Why did Yang Ho adopt this strategy?
After understanding the history of the Ming Dynasty's use of troops against the Jurchens, we can understand that in the past two ming dynasty campaigns to encircle and annihilate the Jurchens, this strategy of divided attacks was used. However, the experience that was easy to use before may not be easy to use now, and the previous situation is very different from the current situation, and the specific situation should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Obviously, Yang Hao thought that his troops were superior, so he did not pay attention to Nurhaci. But in fact, after the unification of the Jurchen tribes, the combat effectiveness has been incomparable, the Ming army is divided, and the number of a single unit is no longer dominant, let alone the combat effectiveness.
Students use soldiers, do not know how to be flexible, only know to copy experience, which is also the root cause of Salhu's fiasco. Wanli improperly employed people and harmed innocent lives in vain.