In April 1644, the Battle of Shanhaiguan broke out. The battle took place during the first year of Shunzhi and Dashun Yongchang of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the Qing regent Dolgon led the Eight Banner Army and the Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui to launch an important battle inside and outside Shanhaiguan. They successfully defeated the Dashun army led by Li Zicheng. The victory in this battle marked the entry of the Qing Dynasty into the Central Plains, the conquest of the Southern Ming government, as well as the Dashun and Daxi regimes, and the establishment of rule throughout the country.
War background
In 1643, Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty died and was succeeded by Fulin. Because of his young age, Dolgon and Zilharang became his auxiliary ministers. Dolgon saw that the Ming Dynasty and the peasant rebel army were constantly fighting, and the Ming Dynasty was already in jeopardy, and thought that the time was ripe to enter the Central Plains. In the first month of 1644, Dolgon, in the name of the Qing Emperor, wrote to the Dashun army, proposing a strategy of conspiring together and taking the Central Plains, but Li Zicheng ignored him. On the ninth day of April, Dolgon, as a general under orders, led more than 100,000 troops of the Manchu, Mongolian, and Han Banner Troops to leave Shengjing (present-day Shenyang) and march west. On the 11th, when he arrived at the Liaohe River, he learned that Li Zicheng's Dashun army had attacked the capital (present-day Beijing) on March 19, and that the Ming Dynasty had perished. Therefore, Dolgon accepted the advice of the Ming general Hong Chengzhuo and decided to lead his army south from Miyun (present-day Beijing) and Jixian (present-day Jinji County) and march directly towards Beijing, thus changing to a situation of competing with Li Zicheng for national rule.
Dashun troops
Regarding the number of soldiers and horses of the Dashun army going to Shanhaiguan, different historical records vary greatly. Ji Zuo's "Record of Sin" volume 31 and "Lonely Ministers Ji Cry" mention "60,000 soldiers"; Chen Jisheng's "Regeneration Legend (Part II), Yandu Diary" says that he led 50,000 troops; The legend of the rogue in the "History of Ming" claims to lead 200,000 troops; And in the "Wu Sangui Jiluo", it is recorded that "100,000 troops were sent, and the number was 300,000"; More than 100,000 are mentioned in the "Jiashen Transmission Record"; And the "Liukou Zhi" said that "more than 100,000 troops attacked by themselves". The "Qing Shi Record" believes that Li Zicheng's army has "more than 200,000." Shang Hongkui, a close person, conducted research in the article "Investigation of the Truth of the Battle of Shanhaiguan in the Ming and Qing Dynasties", and believed that the number of troops of the Dashun Army's Eastern Crusade did not exceed 60,000.
Qing army strength
Gu Cheng's "History of the Southern Ming" said that the Qing army was about 70,000 or 80,000.
Wu Sangui's troops
Wu Sangui originally commanded 5,000 Guanning soldiers at Shanhaiguan. Some records say that on his way back to Shanhaiguan, he recruited 7,000 soldiers, and another record says that he recruited about 20,000 soldiers and Tang Tong troops, so the total strength was about 20,000 to 30,000.
process
march
Wu Sangui was originally stationed at Ningyuan (present-day Xingcheng, Liaoning), and in the process of preventing the Qing army from entering Shanhaiguan, the Dashun army approached Gyeonggi. Wu Sangui was ordered to lead 5,000 cavalry into the capital to guard it, and upon arrival at Fengrun (present-day Hebei) learned that the capital had been captured, and the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen hanged himself. He then decided to return to Shanhaiguan, but in the meantime, Li Zicheng ordered Ming to surrender Tang Tong with 8,000 soldiers to Shanhaiguan. After much deliberation, Wu Sangui finally decided to surrender and led his army to the capital, but while traveling to Xisha Heyi in Yongping (present-day Lulong), he learned that his father Wu Xiang had been tortured by peasant troops in the capital, and his concubine Chen Yuanyuan had been taken away. Therefore, Wu Sangui changed his mind, raised the banner of avenging the Chongzhen Emperor, refused to submit to Li Zicheng, and wrote to his father that he could not betray his loyal courtiers, and after saying goodbye to his father, he led his army back to Shanhaiguan and attacked the Tangtong troops.
When Li Zicheng heard the news, he immediately convened the Minister of Culture and Military Affairs to discuss countermeasures and decided to adopt a strategy of collecting and appeasing at the same time. When Tang Tong repeatedly requested assistance, Li Zicheng ordered the general Liu Zongmin and others on 13 April to lead a Qing army of about 100,000 (or 60,000, different accounts vary) towards Shanhaiguan. In order to win the return of Wu Sangui, Li Zicheng took the Ming prince Zhu Ciyu and Wu Xiang with the army. However, Wu Sangui had a premonition that he might not be able to withstand the Qing attack and sent his adjutants Guo Yunlong, Yang Kun, and Sun Wenhuan to Dolgon for help.
On the way, the Qing army encountered Wu Sangui's envoys at Weng Hou (present-day Fuxinjing, Liaoning), so they changed their route and rushed along the route from Lianshan (in present-day Huludao) and Ningyuan. Faced with the threat of Li Zicheng's army, they marched day and night, marching more than 200 miles in 13 days, and finally reached Lianshan (present-day Lianshan District, Huludao) on April 20. Although Wu Sangui repeatedly urged reinforcements to arrive, the Qing army knew that Li Zicheng's troops were close to Shanhaiguan, so they accelerated their march day and night, which lasted 13 days.
Confrontation
Li Zicheng was not clear about the situation of the Qing army, and his actions were relatively slow, and he did not reach Shanhaiguan until April 21 to confront Wu Sangui's forces on the west bank of the Shihe River. On the same day, Li Zicheng's Dashun army and Wu Sangui fought a vicious battle at the city of Shi and Xiluo. At first, the Wu army had a slight advantage in the city of Xiluo, but then Li Zicheng's army stormed the two cities of Eastern Luo and the northern flank.
That night, the Qing army assembled 15 miles outside Shanhaiguan. Shanhaiguan is surrounded by Jiaoshan Mountain in the north and Bohai Sea in the south, the city wall is tall and strong, and there are Luocheng and Yicheng as defensive fortresses on the periphery, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. In addition to Wu Sangui's troops, the defenders also included 10,000 soldiers and about 30,000 Xiangyong.
On the day that Li Zicheng arrived at the pass, he issued an ultimatum to Wu Sangui, but after being refused, on the one hand, he ordered nearly 20,000 people from Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, and other troops to set up camp at the nine gates of Suizhong in Liaoning Province to cut off Wu Sangui's retreat; On the other hand, with its main force of 60,000 people, he launched a fierce attack on the city of Xiluo, the northern flank and the eastern city. Wu Sangui led the main army to line up on the line west of the Shihe River in Xiluocheng to prevent the Dashun army from attacking the pass.
The two sides fought fiercely near the city of Xiluo, and in order to get out of the predicament, the defenders lured thousands of Dashun troops to approach the city wall and suddenly fired artillery. The Dashun army suffered heavy casualties and was forced to retreat. At the northern flank of the city, the Dashun army took advantage of the condescending terrain to storm the city wall, and the battle continued until dawn the next day, when part of the defenders finally surrendered. However, since the other cities had not yet been breached, the Dashun army was unable to capture Luocheng. On the night of the 21st, Tang Tong's troops were defeated by the Qing army at a stone, and the rest retreated into Guan. After a day of fierce fighting, Dolgon had already understood the reality of the Dashun army, and immediately adopted the strategy of cautious warfare with ease and late strike, waiting for the Dashun army and Wu Sanguibu to be tired of the battle, highlight the surprise soldiers, and win in one fell swoop.
Decisive battle
In the early morning of April 22 of the lunar calendar, the Qing army advanced to a position only two miles away from Shanhaiguan City. Wu Sangui realized that the situation was critical, so he led several cavalry to break through the siege and gallop towards the Qing army stronghold of Weiyuan Fort in the north and east. There he bowed down to Dolgon and was appreciated by the edict stating that "closing the door is the first merit." Wu Sangui told Dolgon: "If the Qing army is not willing to help the Ming army in Shanhaiguan, I will not return to Shanhaiguan to supervise the battle." Li Zicheng's army will inevitably take advantage of the situation to attack the Qing army! Under such circumstances, Dolgon found that Wu Sangui's submission was sincere. Therefore, he accepted Wu Sangui's request and ordered Wu Sangui to shave his head according to Manchurian customs, while promising to marry Princess Jianning, the daughter of the Imperial Taiji, to Wu Sangui's son Wu Yingxiong. Dolgon, Azig and Dordor led 80,000 strong brigades from South Water Gate, North Water Gate and Guanzhong Gate respectively, and let Wu Sangui's troops serve as the forward with the white cloth as the symbol.
Before eight o'clock in the morning of April 23 of the lunar calendar, Wu Sangui's army gradually became difficult to support. A loyal force of Wu Sangui guarding the northern wing of Shanhaiguan surrendered to the Dashun army. Dolgon watched the battle from the Weiyuan Platform at Huanxiling and ordered the Qing army to enter the Guan from the three roads of South Water Gate, North Water Gate and Guanzhong Gate.
Because the Dashun army failed to capture the pass after a day and night of fortification, it changed its strategy and adopted field battles. They arranged into a long serpent formation and went all out into battle, from Jiaoshan to Bohai. The Qing army took Wu Sangui's army as the right flank to meet the battle, while the heavy troops lined up at the weak point of the Dashun army at the end of the Bohai Sea, waiting for the opportunity to attack, and warned all troops not to rush into attack. However, the Dashun army did not understand the intentions of the Qing army, and still pressed on Wu Sangui's army according to the original plan, letting the flag wave back and forth, and constantly rushing to kill. Wu Sangui stubbornly resisted the attack after being overwhelmed by the Qing army.
At this time, a strong wind suddenly hit, dusting the sky, which was not conducive to the Dashun army who was not familiar with the terrain of Shanhaiguan. The two sides began to fight, and the Dashun army, despite the casualties, surrounded Wu Sangui's troops, and the bloody battle continued until noon, when both sides were exhausted and suffered heavy losses.
At this time, Dolgon found the situation very critical, so he urgently ordered Azig and Dordor to each lead 20,000 elite horses to ride the wind, waving white flags to fight in the direction of the Dashun army. Ten thousand horses galloped and flew like rain, but as the wind gradually stopped, the tired Dashun army saw the Qing army suddenly appear, they were not ready in time, the position gradually scattered, and the losses were heavy. Shortly after 3 p.m., Li Zicheng's Dashun army was defeated. Liu Zongmin was wounded by an arrow, and the death toll of the Dashun army reached tens of thousands. Niu Jinxing's decision not to come to support Li Zicheng was also one of the reasons for the defeat of the Dashun army.
Li Zicheng was supervising the battle on Xiaogangfu, and a monk knelt in front of his horse and said: "The cavalry holding the white banner is not Guanning soldiers, but Manchurian soldiers, so the king should quickly retreat." Li Zicheng realized that the defeat was decided, and urgently ordered his remnants to evacuate and retreat in the direction of Yongping. On the same day, Dolgon made Wu Sangui the king of Pingxi and ordered him to be the vanguard and pursue all the way to the capital.
When the Qing army entered Beijing on June 6, 1644, they moved the capital from Shengjing to Beijing.
outcome
In this battle, Li Zicheng's Dashun army was unprepared for the Qing army to enter the pass to help the battle, and at the same time lacked experience in fighting against the Qing cavalry, and was finally taken advantage of by the Qing army, and the elite suffered heavy losses and could not rise again. The Qing army took advantage of the situation to occupy Beijing and take national power.
War evaluation
Gu Cheng's assessment of the Battle of Shanhaiguan was that during that period, Li Zicheng and the leaders of the Dashun army became arrogant by the sound of triumph, lacked sober estimation, and did not fully realize the extent of the danger in the face of the armed intervention of the Manchurian nobility. First of all, it was manifested in the fact that the Dashun army did not mobilize enough soldiers when it crossed the river and marched east. Although the total strength of the Dashun army at that time was more than one million, after pacifying the northwest region, a large number of troops stationed in various places were too numerous, occupying Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and other places, and at the same time stationing troops in strategic points, further dispersing the troops.
However, these actions make people feel that their understanding of the battle between the Ming and Qing dynasties is wrong, and it seems that they think that this is just a matter of the "former dynasty", and they have not been at odds with the Qing dynasty, and they can completely live with peace of mind without violating the river water. Their actions have increased the tension to a certain extent and put them in a rather passive position in the war.
In general, Gu Cheng believed that the defeat of the Battle of Shanhaiguan was due to the lack of sober understanding and insufficient estimation of the danger among the leaders of the Dashun army such as Li Zicheng!