It was the autumn of 1629, and the storm was rising. In the face of the surprise attack of the Later Jin Iron Cavalry, Yuan Chonghuan, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty, stepped forward and vowed to stop the enemy army on the front line of Jizhou. But who would have expected that at this critical moment, the last line of defense of the Ming Dynasty would be defeated by Emperor Chongzhen himself? How did the war evolve, and why did Chongzhen destroy the Great Wall? What kind of absurd twists and turns finally led to the fall of the Ming Dynasty? Let's find out.
1. Later, the Jin Iron Cavalry broke through the Shanhai Pass, and the door of the Ming army was wide open
In October 1629, Emperor Taiji of the Later Jin Dynasty personally led the Eight Banners Army, with the help of Mongolian cavalry as a guide, suddenly bypassed the Ming Dynasty's strong Guanning defense line, and attacked the relatively weak passes of the Ming Great Wall, Longjing Pass and Da'ankou. At that time, the Ming army stationed at Longjing Pass and Daankou was weak and could not return to the sky at all, and the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry of Houjin Xiao and good at fighting instantly broke through the encirclement, and easily broke through the defense of the Ming Great Wall.
On October 27, the Houjin army had reached Xifengkou, the last line of defense from Beijing. Xifengkou is located on the only way to Jingshi, once lost, Jingshi will be attacked on the back. Yuan Chonghuan, a famous general of the Ming army in western Liao, naturally saw the Houjin attempt before others, and he urgently ordered Zhao Shujiao, the general soldier of Pingliao, to lead 4,000 soldiers and horses to rush to Zunhua, trying to block the enemy army before the Later Jin captured Zunhua.
It's a pity that the advance troops of Zhao led the sect had been predicted in advance by Huang Taiji, and the ambush was wiped out on the way. On the second day of the first month of November, Houjin conquered Zunhua, an important town in Gyeonggi, and burned and plundered along the way, without hindrance. At the same time, Yuan Chonghuan also personally led the 9,000 elite troops of the Guanning Iron Cavalry to rush into the pass, and rushed to Jizhou, which was only more than 100 miles away from the Beijing Division, on the 10th day of November, determined to stop the Houjin army here.
But Huang Taiji knew how difficult it was to attack the city, and he would never repeat Ning Yuan's mistakes. He skillfully evaded Yuan Chonghuan's interception and deployment in Jizhou, and made a detour to the capital city of Tongzhou. From Zunhua to Tongzhou, there is only a line of separation, and the Houjin Iron Cavalry is like this unhindered and unhindered, and it goes straight to the city of Beijing. In this unimpeded raid, the Later Jin invaded Gyeonggi of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty's outer defense line was almost collapsed.
2. Chongzhen was hot-headed and personally cut off the last line of defense
The Houjin army has arrived, and the fall of the Beijing division is in danger. At this critical moment, the emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty cut off the last line of defense at a critical moment.
At that time, Yuan Chonghuan led the elite Guanning Iron Cavalry to defend Jizhou, vowing to stop the Houjin army here. Although Jizhou has been lost and lost, as long as the Guanning Iron Cavalry still exists, the hope of the Ming Dynasty's counteroffensive is still there. However, Chongzhen was suspicious of Yuan Chonghuan at this time.
Since Yuan Chonghuan's battle in Ningyuan, he has become famous for his repeated military exploits, and Chongzhen is deeply afraid that those who have the heart to reuse will rebel against the imperial court. What made Chongzhen even more jealous was that in 1629, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, the general soldier of the Dongjiang River, without the approval of the imperial court, and completely solved the threat of the Houjin on the coastal line. Undoubtedly, this is tantamount to exercising military power outside the imperial court, and it is already suspected of encroaching on the imperial program.
In addition, when he was in Jizhou, Yuan Chonghuan did not go straight to Huanglong as Chongzhen expected, but went to the area of Hexiwu and allowed Houjin to sweep on the way. A series of actions made Chongzhen have many doubts about Yuan Chonghuan, thinking that he must have selfish intentions.
Finally, when the Houjin army was pressing, Chongzhen made up his mind to completely get rid of this dissident who was intent on stealing the country. On November 27, Houjin launched another general offensive and fought fiercely with Yuan Chonghuan outside Zuo'anmen. At this moment of crisis, Chongzhen suspected that Yuan Chonghuan was secretly conspiring with Houjin, so he secretly ordered the execution of this famous general of the Ming Dynasty.
The bad news spread, and Guan Ning's iron cavalry lost his spirit, and his feet were in chaos. Even Zu Dashou and others, who were originally loyal to the Ming Chamber, had no choice but to abandon their positions and retreat to Guangqumen. In this way, with his own suspicions, Chongzhen personally cut off the last hope of the Ming Dynasty and cleared the last line of defense for the Later Jin to attack the Beijing Division.
3. Melee, and spy reports are flying all over the sky
Just when the Later Jin Dynasty was overpowering the Jingshi, the Ming Dynasty also fell into chaos. Suspicions and contradictions between the government and the opposition have arisen one after another, and spies and gossip have been flying everywhere.
First of all, the news of Yuan Chonghuan's execution spread rapidly among the government and the opposition. Previously, the government and the opposition in the Ming Dynasty had always spoken highly of Yuan Chonghuan and regarded him as a hero of the country. But at the moment, because the court magnates were suspicious of him, they slandered Yuan Chonghuan one after another.
Especially when Yu Qian and others, who were important ministers of the court, blatantly framed Yuan Chonghuan in the court for colluding with Houjin for fornication, intending to steal the country. Because of this, Yu Qian went to the imperial court, claiming that Yuan Chonghuan had a conspiracy to "plot to usurp the dynasty", and committed a felony against him, which should be corrected.
This nonsense soon spread among the government and the opposition, and was also taken advantage of by the Houjin, and Huang Taiji even took the opportunity to spread lies, claiming that he was here on the orders of Yuan Chonghuan, under the guise of "assisting the Ming Dynasty in eradicating traitors". Later Jin even spread full leaflets along the road to promote their "just" cause.
In the atmosphere of chaos between the government and the opposition classes, all kinds of spy reports and gossip flying all over the sky plunged the city of Beijing and even the whole country into a commotion. As a result, some people lost confidence in the Ming Dynasty, and others also had antagonism and division between the government and the opposition.
What's more, even the peasant rebel army of the Ming Dynasty, which had long been entrenched in the suburbs of Beijing, also took the opportunity to come forward, claiming to eradicate the traitors and take revenge on Yuan Chonghuan. The streets of Beijing were full of debates and comments on the merits and demerits of Yuan Chonghuan during his lifetime, and there were also courtiers who spread all kinds of gossip everywhere.
For a time, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were indignant at Chongzhen's mispreservation, and the imperial court also had no time to deal with external troubles due to internal strife. The Later Jin took the opportunity to sow discord, causing the civil strife in the Ming Dynasty to intensify and fall apart. In this way, under the shroud of espionage and rumors, the drama of the fall of the Ming Dynasty slowly kicked off.
Fourth, Houjin took advantage of the situation to take advantage of the fire to rob
Just when the Ming Dynasty was in chaos, the Later Jin army took advantage of the situation and took advantage of the fire to loot.
As early as 1628, the Ming Dynasty was challenged by a peasant rebel army. This peasant rebel army led by Zhang Xianzhong and others was originally stationed in Shanxi, but at this time, it took the opportunity of the Houjin invasion to suddenly attack the Beijing division in the north.
On 2 December, Zhang Xianzhong's vanguard had captured Daxing, less than 100 miles from Beijing. Zhang Xianzhong took advantage of this foothold and called for "assisting the Ming family to expel Houjin". But who would have expected that Zhang Xianzhong's real intention was to seize power by taking advantage of the chaos.
At the same time, the Houjin Iron Cavalry has also smashed the yellow wall, and the army of the Eight Banners has overwhelmingly overwhelmed the capital. On December 12, Huang Taiji personally commanded more than 10,000 cavalry of the Eight Banners and launched a general attack on the capital. Due to the internal resistance, the defense line outside the Guangqu Gate of the Ming Dynasty no longer existed. Later, the Jin cavalry was able to drive straight into the east and west gates.
On December 14, Houjin launched a frenzied fire attack, burning the city from three sides, southeast and northeast. The city of Beijing is full of fires and smoke. The people of the city were displaced and fearful.
Just when the Ming Dynasty was attacked on both sides, the military heart of Guangqumen, which had been extinct in the original baggage, was even more gone. Zu Dashou and others were defeated and retreated, and there was no Ming army outside the Guangqu Gate to stop them. On December 19, the Houjin cavalry entered the city of Beijing and captured the Forbidden City.
For Hou Jin, this battle of capture was simply too smooth. However, if we talk about the breadth of the front and the fierceness of the war, this battle is definitely the most tragic of the Ming Dynasty's foreign wars. Even Houjin paid a heavy price of more than 10,000 casualties.
What is even more distressing is that the Later Jin also burned the capital on a large scale during this period, looting countless rare cultural relics and treasures. This was followed by a complete massacre of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Beijing.
In this way, under the double attack of internal and external troubles, the last line of defense of the Ming Dynasty was self-defeating, and the fall of Beijing was inevitable. Later Jin also took the opportunity to enter the capital and plundered and killed. All of this is due to the last ray of hope that Chongzhen personally cut off.
5. The Ming Dynasty then collapsed
Beijing fell, and the Ming Dynasty entered the road of no return.
After the Later Jin captured the Forbidden City, the Ming court was in chaos. The eunuchs in the palace were slaughtered, and countless precious treasures were looted. Even Chongzhen himself was displaced in the palace and fled alone to the area of Coal Mountain.
And in the capital, Houjin took the opportunity to kill. In the months that followed, the city was littered with corpses and severed limbs. Countless wealthy and powerful families were killed and plundered, even ordinary civilians were spared. Later Jin's soldiers plundered the city's wealth and then carried out an unprecedented massacre of the city's citizens.
What's even more suffocating is that Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant army who had previously stood up against the Houjin, also joined the melee. Although Zhang Xianzhong claimed to be "assisting the Ming family to punish the traitor", in fact, he was robbing under the guise of taking advantage of the fire. After the capture of Beijing in Houjin, Zhang Xianzhong took advantage of the situation to enter the imperial city and won important fortresses.
Once the two foreign armed forces take advantage of the fire to rise, the people in Beijing will naturally be even more panicked. Civil strife is rife and lives are devastated. Even the Ming army under the Ming Chamber was unable to protect itself and scattered and fled. Eventually, many courtiers who had been loyal to the Ming dynasty had to surrender to the Provisional Power of the Later Jin.
Soon after the fall of Beijing, Chongzhen also hanged himself on a coal mountain. After the crown prince Yinzhen escaped from Beijing, he was chased and killed by Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army. There are also countless royal relatives and noble relatives and ministers, who were martyred in this catastrophe. And Nanming, who had been besieged for many years, was also swept away in the following years. The Ming Dynasty completely collapsed, ending more than 270 years of foundation.
In this way, the original last ray of hope was cut off by Chongzhen himself, and finally caused the complete destruction of the Ming Chamber. Later, Jin Tieqi took advantage of the weakness and opened a killing ring. The peasant army harassed and looted while the fire was burning. Under such a double attack of internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty finally broke itself and has been in a slump ever since.