Huang Taiji
2004 film, Alexander the Great
Alexander and Huang Taiji seem to be two incompatible figures. They were separated by 2,000 years and thousands of miles apart.
But they all have one thing in common: a small regime on the fringes of the civilized world has successfully challenged and annexed a neighboring large empire.
Alexander himself was extremely military literate and destroyed the First Persian Empire, which spanned three continents. Emperor Taiji's political level was high, and he allowed the Manchus to move from a separatist regime in the northeast of the Ming Dynasty to feudalization, while his descendants conquered Daming and continued the Manchu regime.
The frontiers of civilization in human history have always erupted from time to time with amazing power that shocked the world at that time. This is a very interesting point when reading history, when the "corner barbarian" has a plan to learn the advantages of your system, and can ignore your shortcomings in a targeted way, then you must pay attention. We are all primates that evolved from the Great Rift Valley and walk upright, and are not much different in nature.
Barbarian of Northern Greece, traitor of the Greek Federation to king of the conquering world
Today there is a Republic of North Macedonia in northern Greece, a country that has no half-dime relationship with the historical Kingdom of Macedonia except for the name Macedonia. The main ethnic group of the country is the Slavs, who also speak the Slavic language family. The location of the Republic coincided only partially with the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia. The Greeks to the south were very mindful of the name of the country and repeatedly offered to change the name of the country. Its current official name is "Republic of North Macedonia".
Emblem of the Macedonian royal family
Although Greece today is proud of Macedonia, it regards Macedonia and the empire founded by Alexander later as part of its glorious history. However, in the era of the city-states BC, Macedonia was not recognized by the Greek city-states in the north and south. The Greeks despised these northern neighbors as barbarians.
Ancient Macedonia was located on the northeastern edge of Greece, bordered by Thessalis to the south, Mount Olympia in the center, Illyria to the west, and Thrace to the east. The western part of the kingdom, with vast areas, mountains and dense forests, is suitable for animal husbandry, and most Macedonians live here; The coastal plain bordering the Aegean Sea in the eastern part of the kingdom is suitable for agricultural development. Further east is the Dardanelles Strait, where Europe and Asia meet.
Hide in the northwest corner of the map where the kingdom of Macedonia secretly develops
The Macedonians are probably a mix of Illyrians, Thracians, Greeks. In addition to the barbaric habits of the Macedonians themselves. The important reason why the Greeks did not welcome him was that when the Persian emperor Xerxes invaded Greece in the 5th century BC, the Macedonians acted as a leading party, which caused public indignation among the Greek city-states. For more than 100 years, neither Greece nor Persia looked at the edge of the civilized world until a man appeared, Philip II.
One-eyed dragon, Philip II
Philip II was the father of Alexander, who would become famous in the world, the founder of the Kingdom of Macedonia. Compared with the statehood Jurchens, Philip II can be regarded as the Nurhachi of Macedonia + half of the Emperor Taiji.
Philip was born in 383 BC and was held hostage by Debes for three years as a young man. During this time he studied military strategy with Epaminondas , Greece's most prestigious general at the time. Returned to Macedonia as regent in 359 BC. Immediately reform your own weak country with an iron fist.
While hostage in Thebes, he saw the inefficient civic assemblies of the Greek city-states, and he thought that clever debaters could not change Greece, and that it was unreasonable folly for a bunch of aristocrats to quarrel for three days over the cost of a public aqueduct or the dividends of a colonial operation.
Upon his return, he first strengthened the royal power, turning the Macedonian citizens' assembly into the executive body of the royal power.
At the same time, he plundered the surrounding Thracian tribes and amassed a great fortune.
Coins minted by Philip II
He created a standing army loyal to the royal family and reformed the Macedonian phalanx, the infantry at the center of which was equipped with a spear 6.3 meters long, and listed formations up to 32 columns deep. The nobles formed cavalry, which at this time did not have stirrups, and this group of well-trained cavalry completed the attack on the enemy's two wings when the Macedonian infantry withstood the enemy, which was the peak of the light cavalry's combat power. Later Alexander's noble companions were the backbone of this force.
Macedonian partner cavalry
Macedonia, which soon completed political centralization and military reforms, began to sweep through the Greek states.
In 358 BC, his new army succeeded in invading Illyria first
In 357 BC, he captured the Athenian colony of Amphipolis and obtained gold mines there.
In 356 BC, Philip captured the northern Greek cities of Portdia and Piedna.
In 355 BC he captured the Greek city of Krennides and renamed the city Philippi.
With his son Alexander, they defeated the allied forces of the Greek Confederation and completely wiped out the rebels within Greece.
Philip II died soon after, leaving behind a rich treasury and tens of thousands of soldiers capable of fighting good wars. At this time, the second king of Macedonia was the military genius Alexander, and the old Persians had just experienced the chaos of the imperial throne, and a distant royal family ascended the throne, which was the last emperor of Persia, Darius III. And the Egyptians within Persia were also taking advantage of the chaos. At this moment, Macedonia is like a red sun rising in the east.
By the time Alexander came to the throne, the integration of the Greek world had been completed
Alexander, as Philip's eldest son, received a good education from an early age. At this time, although Macedonia was fierce in its people, its behavior was so simple that it made the Greeks feel rude. But such a people instead of learning the twists and turns of the Greeks, they learned mathematics, engineering and natural history, which helped organize the army. Alexander's teacher Aristotle was also very optimistic about this gifted and intelligent student, hoping that this student would spread Greek culture far away.
Educated youth Alexander
Shortly after Philip's death, Alexander once again defeated the rebellious Greeks and soon began his dream of conquering the world. And the Persian Empire, which has existed for more than 200 years, is already dying of old age and was killed by this young man's blow.
For the Macedonians of that time, or the statehood Jurchens after 2000. Whale swallowing the Persian Empire or the Ming Dynasty is extremely whimsical, this behemoth is dozens of times its own size, and the suffocation brought about by oppressing itself for hundreds of years. Any politician who wants to make this decision will weigh it up.
Gogamela, the battle for the collapse of the Persian Empire
When Issus defeated the Persian Empire in Macedonia. The Persian monarch Darius III proposed peace on the terms of an equal division of Asia and a large contribution of Alexander's finances. Almost all Macedonian generals agreed to this condition, after all, they had already gone so far and defeated such a formidable enemy, which was already groundbreaking for the memory of the Macedonians.
General Parmanuel said: "If I were Alexander, I would agree without hesitation".
Alexander retorted: "If I were Parmanuel, I would also agree, but I am Alexander".
Then came the Yi Jiang chasing the poor, and a great empire of more than 200 years collapsed.
Jianzhou Jurchen that brute
2000 years later, a similar story took place in the White Mountains and Black Water in the northeast of the Ming Dynasty. The son of a state-building Jurchen nobleman left his less harmonious family. He came to Fushun, the distribution center of the Northeast Horse Market, where he met the nobleman who changed his life, Li Chengliang. When Nur Hachi was mixed with Li Chengliang, he learned Chinese and saw how the Li family trained Ding. He also traveled to Beijing with the tributary procession, and he saw how the bureaucracy of the mid-Ming dynasty eroded the polity of this vast empire.
Liaodong Li Chengliang
Unlike Qi Jiguang's idea of solving the Mongol problem once and for all in Shanxi, Li Chengliang's selfishness was too heavy, and under his intentional guidance, the border troubles in Liaodong were used by him as a stepping stone for his own wealth and promotion.
While Jixian had no Mongol invasions for 16 years, Liaodong had to deal with Mongol and Jurchen invasions almost every year. For his own selfish interests, Li Chengliang left room for every time he purged the Jurchens and Mongolia in Liaodong, and every time he suppressed them, he raised his own dignity.
Nurhach's father and grandfather were killed during a Ming military operation, and in order to compensate Nurhachi Li Chengliang for rewarding him with 13 sets of horse market edicts, which became the first principal of Nurhachi fortune.
Li Chengliang's own training system of cavalry and jiading was learned by the studious Nur Hachi. This alert Jurchen already has the ambition to gradually dominate Liaodong.
Later, when the Wanli Emperor sent the eunuch Gao Huai to disrupt the political situation in Liaodong. Nurhachi in the corner has been using the privileges of the horse city to accumulate money and food, and secretly form an army to build a state. Attacking the Haixi Jurchens, the Savage Jurchens, and when annexing other Jurchens, Nurhachi gradually discovered the importance of a field force that forbidden the line.
Nurhachi founded the Eight Flags and established a strict and clear reward and punishment system.
In the early days, the combat effectiveness of the Jurchens was very average, basically the level of wild brawls, and there were no tactics to speak of.
During the Chenghua period of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, the Chenghua Ploughing Court operation was launched against the Jurchens. In this battle, the Ming army destroyed most of the villages, and most of the battles were "village-level fights" at the level of 100 people.
Chenghua plough court
However, 100 years later, Nurhachi tempered the organization and discipline of the Jurchen Eight Banners through continuous annexation wars. Gradually surpassed his teacher, Li Chengliangbu of Liaodong and the Ming army everywhere.
In the 47th year of Wanli, the Ming army was defeated in the Battle of Salhu. The Eight Flags Army showed extremely high military literacy for more than four days, fighting 500 kilometers back and forth, fighting bloody battles with Juniper, Marin, and Liu Yao, killing more than 40,000 Ming troops, more than 300 senior generals, and 2 general soldiers.
After the field strength of the Eight Flags Army increased, the Ming army and the Mongols were no longer opponents
At this time, the Eight Flags Army was already a force with neat appearance and high morale. After several crushing defeats, the Ming army also admitted that it was inferior to the Eight Flags Army in the field.
"Armor shines like ice and snow".
Salhu, a high-ranking officer of the Ming army, was all killed in battle
Shortly after Salhu, the Wanli Emperor died and the Emperor of the Apocalypse ascended the throne, and Nurhachi once again sent a great gift, captured Shenyang, and eliminated the Sichuan and Zhejiang armies on both sides of the Daling River, and then went south to take Liaoyang.
Huang Taiji to Huang Taiji
If Nur Hachi sounded the death knell of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji was the life-calling ghost of the Ming Dynasty. Huang Taiji and Hui Taiji were originally the names of the ordinary Donghu ethnic group, but when translated into Huang Taiji, the momentum was immediately different.
Huang Taiji's political talent can score 90, far exceeding that of Chongzhen and Lin Dan Khan of Mongolia at the same time.
When Nurhachi first came to power, he showed great political talent and talent for fraud. With Nur Hachi's new funeral, he immediately showed deference to the mourned Ming envoys. and very cooperated in writing letters to Yuan Chonghuan, and also took the trouble to cooperate with Yuan to modify the format of the letter and lower his title. Even the Emperor of the Apocalypse felt that this new Nu chief could socialize. Turning around, he crossed the Yalu River with a large army, scrapping the Ming Dynasty's hardcore brother Korea, and cut off the strategic idea of the two wings of the Ming Dynasty flying together.
During the Emperor's Taiji period, the Qing army could already enter the interior to plunder
Subsequently, he rebelled against Horqin and subdued the Mongol tribes in southern Mo with his strength. At this time, a large net had covered the entire northern defense line of Daming.
The Ming army, which could not win in the field, could only form a fortress to protect itself, and the eight banners of many northern provinces came and went freely
In the fourth year of Chongzhen (1631), Huang Taiji used Liu Han, a craftsman who had been captured, to successfully imitate the Western red-clothed cannon used by the Ming army, and named it "Heavenly Blessing Cheering General".
In the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), the Ming generals Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming led their troops to surrender after Jin, bringing Western cannons and Portuguese trained gunners to the Eight Flags Army, and the artillery strength of the Eight Flags Army quickly overtook the Ming army.
Cannon in red
The northern defense line of the Ming Dynasty was already beaten by thousands of people, and the Qing army entered from the north one after another, looting and plundering the population, and stirred up the people of Hebei and Shandong in the Ming Dynasty. The general Lu Xiangsheng and the emperor Sun Chengzong actually died in the process of fighting the Qing army in the mainland.
Not only political strategy, Huang Taiji is higher than Chongzhen, and his desperate courage and convincing are also first-class. The Emperor Taiji has repeatedly defrauded the ancestor of the birthday, which can be said to have given all the face inside.
Finally, during the Battle of Songjin, which decided the fate of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji endured physical discomfort and came to the battlefield, and finally Stud successfully took away the last field elite of Daming. At this moment, with Li Zicheng inside and Manchu Qing outside, the Ming Dynasty could no longer spare a trace of strength to calm the chaos.
Barbarians at the door
There may be several reasons why gateway barbarians like the statehood Jurchens and Macedonia always make a splash.
The first is the diffusion of technology, which will allow the periphery of the empire to develop rapidly. The border minority regimes formed in the late Tang Dynasty and after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, those loose small tribes that were originally very backward, quickly sinicized after accepting the culture of the Central Plains, and thus developed into state power, such as the Khitan and Western Xia.
At the end of the Persian Empire, the Greeks had established people who traveled throughout the Persian Empire through mercenaries, familiar with the Persian military and political system and understanding the important official roads and node cities within the empire. Some people also wrote this history into books, so although the Macedonians looked barbaric, many people actually knew a lot about the internal affairs of Persia.
Jurchen leaders such as Nur Hachi and Emperor Taiji of eastern Liaoning were also very familiar with the system and customs of the Han dynasty, and this knowledge helped greatly when the Jurchens expanded.
An epic of a Greek mercenary, the Long March
Nearby powers are in a period of weakness. In the 4th century BC, Persia fought several rounds of civil war for the succession to the throne, and the country's organization was already in shambles. The Ming Dynasty at the beginning of the 17th century was also, after the three major conquests, there was no war inside and outside, the emperor neglected government, political corruption, and party strife. The field combat capability of the Ming army plummeted, and the Mongols at the same time could only fight a few hundred men. Suddenly, the Jurchens trained tens of thousands of field troops to be invincible.
The barbarians build organized and combative troops. Barbarians were able to defeat civilized empires not because they were barbaric enough, but because they had more organized troops. Whether it was the Macedonian phalanx, the Silver Shield Soldiers, the Companion Cavalry, or the Eight Flags Army, they all absorbed the advantages of other armies under the historical conditions of that time and strengthened the discipline of their own troops to the greatest extent. Troops with iron discipline are the root cause of their ability to constantly defeat behemoths in the field.
During the Emperor Taiji period, with the blessing of artillery, the Qing army did not fall behind in siege battles
By the time of Emperor Taiji, the Eight Flags Army not only had strong combat effectiveness in the field army, but also surpassed the Ming Dynasty in the artillery units that attacked the city. So Persia and Daming were strong on paper, but they lost in field battles once and once, and in the end they didn't even have the strength to defend the center.
At least 2 successive generations of political and military geniuses are needed. This is actually a matter of luck, only one generation can not do, because the old empire has a thick foundation, if it has passed the trough period. Then, with its thick national strength, it can in turn consume the power in the border areas. Therefore, there are many regimes that have attacked the old empire in human history, but very few can "exchange real estate certificates".
But if the "barbarian group" successively produced such people as Philip II and Alexander Antipac, Antigonus, and Ptolemy; The Jianzhou Jurchens successively produced Nurhach, Huangtaiji, Dolgon, Hauge, and Azig; Can continue to be a genius, 2 generations 3, 40 years to continue to strengthen themselves in the game after game, and eventually turn the game around.
In the face of the weak who actively learn from themselves, the strong must not be taken lightly. Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival, arrogance is.
The Silver Shield Soldiers, an elite force composed of veterans of Macedonia who have experienced hundreds of battles, are regarded as the "essence of the essence" of Macedonia's strike force.
Early Eight Flags Army