Once upon a time, the Mongols were invincible and built a vast empire across the Eurasian continent. But times have changed, and the golden family that dominated the world can now only lie dormant in a corner of the vast grassland, and the family shade no longer exists. As a descendant of Genghis Khan, Lin Dan Khan had the ambition to regain his former glory. However, with the rise of the Houjin, this emerging power posed a mortal threat to Lin Dan Khan. Huang Taiji's iron-fisted commander Hou Jin Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, determined to clear the last Mongol obstacle in his way in one fell swoop. When two powerful forces meet in the grassland, which one is stronger and which is weak, who wins and which loses, what are the prospects? How will this epic battle be staged, and what kind of turning point will it bring to history?
1. Lin Dan Khan's ambition and eastward expansion
The Mongolian steppes were once glorious and powerful under the rule of the Golden Family. However, with the change of the times, the empire that was once dominant gradually declined, and only existed in people's memories. It was during this critical period that Lin Dan Khan, the 35th descendant of Genghis Khan, succeeded to the throne of the Chahar tribe. Despite his young age, Lin Dan Khan had the ambition to revive the Mongol landscape and dreamed of once again unifying the entire Monan region.
In order to achieve his goal, Lin Dan Khan made up his mind and imposed harsh measures of rule. He did not hesitate to use force to force various Mongolian tribes to submit to his command, and even gave himself the arrogant title of "the god of gods, the all-wise Genghis Longsheng Khan", in an attempt to revive the hegemony of Genghis Khan. However, Lin Dan Khan's violent style finally aroused the dissatisfaction of the subordinates, and instead made them have a strong antipathy and resistance to Lin Dan Khan.
Seeing that the situation was out of control, many tribes began to rebel against Lin Dan Khan one after another, and wavered. And at this critical moment, an emerging force immediately intervened in this Mongolian infighting - the emergence of Houjin undoubtedly brought great pressure to Lin Dan Khan. The strength of the Houjin under Nurhachi should not be underestimated, and they adopted a moderate policy of "weaving flags, marrying, alliances, rewards, and almsgiving", and gradually won the support of more Mongol tribes. When Lin Dan Khan was depressed, he had to watch his subordinates surrender to the back like water dogs seeking survival.
At this time, Lin Dan Khan was like the end of a strong crossbow, and the war in the past few days also put him in an unprecedented passive situation. Once upon a time, he was just an ignorant teenager, but now he has to take charge of the task of reviving Mongolia on his own. Facing the Houjin Iron Cavalry that was pressing step by step, Lin Dan Khan was inevitably a little at a loss, so he had to temporarily put aside his great cause of reunification and find a way to save his life first. As a result, he began to secretly collude with the Ming regime and demanded a large amount of economic resources to maintain his rule.
2. Lin Dan Khan secretly allied with the Ming Dynasty
As the situation became more dire, Lin Dan Khan had to seek foreign aid to maintain his dominance. At this critical juncture, the Ming regime became the best choice for Lin Dan Khan. As the Central Plains Dynasty at that time, the Ming Dynasty had its own use value. Lin Dan Khan thus secretly colluded with him, intending to use the economic power of the Ming Dynasty to contain the threat of the Later Jin.
In order to gain the support of the Ming Dynasty, Lin Dan Khan took the initiative to extend an olive branch to the Ming Dynasty regime. He first made a series of rash demands to the Ming court, asking for a large amount of economic resources, hoping to enrich his military salary. Lin Dan Khan's approach quickly achieved results, and the Ming Dynasty, in order to use Chahar to contain Houjin, finally agreed to give all the city rewards of Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Yansui and other important towns to Lin Dan Khan. From then on, Lin Dan Khan controlled the trade with the Ming dynasty throughout the Mongol region.
However, even so, Lin Dan Khan did not stop there, but was ready to move and began a series of offensive operations. He did not hesitate to send troops south to harass the interior, intending to further subjugate the Ming Dynasty through direct invasion. At the same time, Lin Dan Khan also brutally attacked and plundered the pastureland of Alu Korqinda Chushuer, which had been surrendered to Houjin, and killed the envoys sent to the right-wing area by the Trans-Khalkha tribes in Mobei, which completely angered most of the Mongolian feudal lords.
Lin Dan Khan's series of actions are undoubtedly a direct provocation to Houjin. He abandoned his previous practice of secretly colluding with the Ming Dynasty, and instead directly launched attacks and sabotage against the Later Jin. What is ironic is that at that time, the Later Jin had already encircled most of the Mongol tribes, but Lin Dan Khan turned a blind eye and still stubbornly recklessly used military force against the Mongol tribes who had surrendered to the Later Jin.
At this time, the Moxi and Mobei tribes had never obeyed Lin Dan Khan, and his actions completely detonated the dissatisfaction of the Monan tribes. Lin Dan Khan's repressive rule had exhausted the patience of these Mongol tribes, and they finally gave up their support for Lin Dan Khan and threw themselves east to the Houjin. In this way, after several provocations and tosses, Lin Dan Khan's arrogant and domineering approach made him finally a complete loner. The ambition of a unified Mongolia was thus dashed, and the prospects were bleak.
3. Later Jin launched two expeditions against Lin Dan Khan
Lin Dan Khan's rebellious behavior finally aroused the wrath of Huang Taiji, the commander of the Later Jin. As the new ruler of the Later Jin Dynasty, Huang Taiji originally hoped to resolve the conflict with the Mongols through diplomatic means, but Lin Dan Khan's repeated provocations made him lose the last patience. Therefore, in 1628, Huang Taiji led the Houjin Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, united with the surrendered Karaqin, Ao Han, Naiman Tribe, Khalkha and other Mongolian tribes, and launched the first expedition against Lin Dan Khan.
This combined army, composed of the Later Jin and the Guishun Mongol troops, can be imagined as strong as its strength. They approached the base of Lin Dan Khan along the east bank of the Xilamulun River, and captured a vast area from the southern foot of the Great Khing'an Mountains to the Hexi Corridor. Faced with the pressure of the Houjin army, Lin Dan Khan was powerless to parry, so he had to retreat one after another.
Although Huang Taiji failed to completely defeat Lin Dan Khan in one go, this expedition still caused a heavy blow to Lin Dan Khan. He had to give up large swaths of his territory and was forced to move west to the Ningxia area. And at such a difficult moment, a sudden natural disaster made matters worse, which made Lin Dan Khan's situation even more desperate.
In the autumn of 1628, Lin Dan Khan's base area was suddenly ravaged by a plague, killing and wounding countless people. Just as they were recovering from the flames of war, the catastrophe was undoubtedly a blow to the head, putting Lin Dan Khan's army in an even more passive position. The loss of troops was serious, and after that, Jin did not stop there, and Lin Dan Khan had to continue to retreat westward, until he retreated to the area of Qinghai Lake to take a temporary breath.
However, Huang Taiji did not let Lin Dan Khan go. In 1635, he personally led a large army to the west again and went to the Qinghai area. This time, Lin Dan Khan was powerless to resist and had to abandon the city and flee after several crushing defeats with the Later Jin army in the Qinghai region. Huang Taiji personally led the army to pursue, and chased Lin Dan Khan to the shore of Qinghai Lake, Lin Dan Khan was already at the end of the crossbow and could not form an army.
In this decisive battle, Lin Dan Khan suffered heavy losses, and the remnants of his troops surrendered. And just when Lin Dan Khan was fleeing and had no way out, a sudden illness completely crushed him. In 1634, Lin Dan Khan was seriously ill during his escape in Qinghai, and finally died in May of the following year in the area of Dacaotan. In this way, the last Chahar Khan, who was once ambitious, died on the stage of history in a sad way.
Fourth, Lin Dan's sweat has been exhausted, and the golden family has fallen
Sabohan, the widow of Lintan Khan, succeeded to the throne of King Amur Khan soon after his father's death. However, after realizing that the tide of events had been reversed, Sabehan did not follow his father's blind rebellion, but wisely chose to submit to Houjin.
In August 1635, Sabohan personally led the court of the Amur Khan to Hoshut and met with Emperor Taiji. He not only handed over all the relics of Lin Dan Khan, but also bowed down to the Houjin Emperor with the most sincere attitude, expressing his determination to submit. Seeing this, Huang Taiji generously bestowed the title of Khan King of Sabohan Mongolia and incorporated his subordinates into the Later Jin Zheli Wooden Banner.
At the same time, Lin Dan Khan's widow Joseon also led the remnants of the party to take refuge in Houjin. As the last descendants of the Chahar royal family, their submission marked the end of the Golden Family's rule on the Mongolian plateau. An imperial family that was once infinitely beautiful silently withdrew from the stage of history.
In order to completely consolidate his rule over the Mongol region, Huang Taiji personally led his army on a three-year expedition to the west. He went on a campaign all the way, swept away all the last remnants of Lin Dan Khan, and made Monan Mongolia return to peace. By 1636, the entire Liangshan, Gansu and Qinghai regions were all attached to the Later Jin. In 1637, many tribes such as the Eastern Mongolians, Western Mongolians, Karaqin, and Zhuosuotu were successively incorporated into the Later Jin Dynasty. This marked the complete victory of the Later Jin in Monan and the complete unification of the entire Mongolian Plateau.
In this way, the hegemonic forces that once swept through Central Asia and Eastern Europe have finally become a thing of the past in the long river of history. As the last heir of this empire, Lin Dan Khan's single-mindedness and incompetence doomed the Golden Family to such a tragic end. They were once brave and good at fighting, but now they can only walk away on the boundless grassland, leaving their roots. The unification of Mongolia was shattered, and the golden family's once-glorious dynasty ambitions were shattered.
5. The beginning of the unification of the Mongol dynasty in the Later Jin
The death of Lin Dan Khan did not end the process of post-Jin unification of the Mongolian plateau. On the contrary, Huang Taiji regarded it as a good opportunity and was determined to completely remove the last obstacle to the great cause of reunification in one fell swoop. So, in the autumn of 1636, Huang Taiji personally led the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry Army to the Ningxia region in the heart of Mongolia.
This battle can be described as the decisive battle of the Later Jin Western Expedition. The huge army under the command of Huang Taiji was undoubtedly the most powerful military force at that time, and the momentum that came from the pressure was like a rainbow. In the face of such a strong enemy, the rest of the Mongols were simply unable to parry, and they surrendered one after another. Lin Dan Khan's widow and heirs also chose to surrender to Huang Taiji in a desperate situation where there was no way out.
In October 1636, Huang Taiji conquered the Kara Temple in Ningxia, where the remnants of Lin Dan Khan's party were completely subdued. Soon after, Huang Taiji defeated the Junggar and Desert tribes living in Gansu, and brought the entire Ganqing region under the command of Houjin. It can be said that after the complete purging of this battle, there is no longer any remnant of resistance to Houjin on the Mongolian Plateau.
With this major victory, the unification of the Mongolian plateau was just around the corner. In 1637, Huang Taiji ordered the kings to lead the main force of the Eight Banners deep into the hinterland of Mongolia and conquer the Mongolian tribes one after another. In this year, many tribes such as Eastern and Western Mongolia, Zhuo Suotu, and many other tribes successively submitted to the Later Jin and brought valuable horses, livestock and cavalry into the Later Jin army.
By 1638, most of the Mongolian pasturelands had fallen into the hands of the Houjin people. Huang Taiji ordered the first prince Huang Taiji Doro to serve as the commander of the four guards of Mongolia and led troops to garrison Khalkha Mongolia. The second son, Emperor Taiji Dorgon, was entrusted with the position of "King of Xining" and guarded the Ningxia area. The Mongolian Plateau is divided into two roads, "Dongning" and "Xining", which are under the jurisdiction of the Mongolian Metropolitan Division.
In this way, Mongolia finally moved towards complete unification under the iron-fisted rule of the Later Jin. Although Huang Taiji did not personally conquer the capital of Khalkha, he had already included the entire Mongolian region and became part of the territory of the Celestial Empire. As the commander-in-chief of the campaign at this stage, Huang Taiji's strategy of pursuing the victory can be described as handy and implemented throughout. Under his decision and command, the process of unifying the Mongol dynasty of the Great and Small Jin Kingdoms was unimpeded.
Looking at the duel between Lin Dan Khan and Huang Taiji, Huang Taiji controlled the initiative throughout the whole process, and was mainly anti-guest, but Lin Dan Khan threw himself into traps everywhere. In this way, an empire that was once powerful disappeared with the complete demise of the descendants of Genghis Khan, Lao Tzu, and disappeared in the long river of history. This heroic romanticism on horseback that swept the grassland for thousands of years has come to an end, heralding the dawn of a new era.