"Return to the capital!"
This time, Dorgon did not hesitate at all. He immediately ordered the entire army to go north to rescue Yan Jing.
It was this order that completely ruined the Qing Dynasty.
Just as the Qing army left for the north, Li Jing's and Guo Ziyi's troops were like two wolf packs that had locked on to their prey. They attacked decisively the moment the prey showed signs of panic.
Dorgon, Ajige, Lian Po, and the other generals of the Qing camp were all experienced generals and were not completely unprepared. However, since Yan Jing was in a state of emergency, it would be inconsiderate to leave the camp and go north in a hurry.
Secondly, Li Jing's and Guo Ziyi's troops had been preparing for a week. Even if the Qing army was prepared, they would not be able to stop them.
A great decisive battle was about to take place.
The southern allied forces took advantage of the Qing army's weakness and launched continuous attacks. If the Qing army did not stop and forced their way north, the allied forces would come forward and bite.
If the Qing army stopped and fought on the spot, the allied forces would retreat and would not continue fighting. If the Qing army sent troops to guard the rear, the allied forces would swallow them without hesitation.
This kind of "shameless" tactic annoyed Dorgon.
If Yan Jing was not in a state of emergency, Dorgon would have stopped and dealt with the allied forces. However, the moment they learned that the Qing army was going north, the Da Xi army attacked even more fiercely.
Zhang Xianzhong was greedy, but he was also very clear-headed.
Whether they were fooled or not, the Da Xi army was already in a difficult position. If they retreated now, they would only be bitten to death by the Qing army. Even if the Qing army let them go for the time being, the two forces had become mortal enemies and there was no possibility of reconciliation.
Since that was the case, they might as well go one step further and attack Yan Jing before the Qing army arrived. Then, with the defense of Yan Jing and the important captives like Emperor Shunzhi, they would restrain the Qing army.
As the saying goes, "Put yourself in a dead end and you will be reborn."
Faced with the fierce attacks of the Da Xi army, the Qing army that stayed in Yan Jing had already used all their skills and suffered heavy casualties. Even the guards in the city and the imperial guards in the palace had been driven to the battlefield.
Even so, the people in the city were still in a panic.
Although the top level of Yan Jing was full of Manchu people, the people in the city, including the civil and military officials, were still mostly Han people.
Naturally, there was no lack of cowards among them, but there were also people who were ferocious and sad.
Moreover, even if they were spineless, there might still be people who would repent. Just like the Jiangnan gentry leader Qian Qianyi mentioned before, after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, he inexplicably raised the banner of anti-Qing.
The complexity of the human heart was evident.
The Shanhai Pass fell, the Qing Dynasty's old territory was plundered, the main force of the Qing army was held back by the allied forces from the south, Yanjing was besieged, one after another major event after another continuously impacted the nerves of the Han people in the city.
Something seemed to be breaking out of the ground.
The imperial court of the Qing Dynasty also seemed to have noticed this sign. Even when the defense of the city was at its most difficult, they did not relax their control of the order in the city and were always on guard.
The entire city was filled with unease and undercurrents.
…
While Dorgon was leading his troops to reinforce Yan Jin, the 180,000 Qing troops who had arrived at Shanhai Pass were not ordered to return to Yan Jin, but to take down Shanhai Pass as soon as possible.
The Qing Dynasty seemed to be very clear-headed.
They realized that Yan Jin was at its most dangerous moment and the city could be breached at any moment. At times like this, the Shanhaiguan Pass, which was located at the hub of the retreat of the Qing Dynasty, became more and more important.
If they recapture the Shanhai Pass, the Yanjing imperial court will have a way out; if they fail, the Qing imperial court will be finished.
It was obvious which was more important and which was more important.
Therefore, while the Southern Allied Forces were biting Dorgon's troops, a war was also breaking out in Shanhai Pass.
The Qing army wanted to recapture Shanhai Pass, but the imperial fleet of the Xia Dynasty would not let them do as they wished. In order to defend the pass, the 3,000 Divine Guards who were active outside the pass had quietly returned to Shanhai Pass to assist the imperial fleet in defending.
In this way, the defense was even stronger.
The Qing army's attack could not be said to be weak. While bombarding the pass with cannons, they also relied on the siege weapons to engage in close combat, all in order to take down the pass as soon as possible.
However, in front of the P1 Cannons, the Red Barbarian Cannons of the Qing Army's Godly Arms Battalion were too weak. Whether in terms of range or firepower, they were far inferior to the P1 Cannons.
Moreover, the P1 Cannons occupied a high position. More often than not, the Red Barbarian Cannons were destroyed before they could fire two shots. In addition, with the help of the Mimic Flying Device in the air, the Godly Arms Battalion had little effect.
This time, they had suffered greatly.
After a day and a night of fierce fighting, more than 30,000 of the 180,000 Qing troops were killed, but Shanhai Pass still stood tall. To make matters worse, the Red Barbarian Cannons of the Qing army had been used up.
Without the help of cannons, it was wishful thinking to want to break through Shanhai Pass.
Despair, fear, and pessimism.
All kinds of negative emotions spread within the Qing army. It was uncontrollable, as if doomsday had arrived. The morale of the Qing army plummeted. Some soldiers had already quietly slipped away and disappeared.
The first to run away were the puppet soldiers of the Qing army.
Their loyalty to the Qing was the lowest. Seeing that the ship called the Qing Dynasty could capsize at any time, they naturally did not have the determination and ambition to "live and die with the Qing Dynasty."
During the reign of Shunzhi, the Qing Dynasty had just been established. The policy of fooling the people had not yet been implemented, and there was no time to tamper with history to cover up the numerous crimes committed by the Qing army in Huaxia.
At this time, among the Han people, it could be said that there were very few people who truly identified with the Qing Dynasty.
Moreover, there were opportunists like Wu Sangui and Shang Kexi in the Qing army. Seeing that the Qing Dynasty could not even protect itself, they naturally had the idea of starting from scratch.
With someone taking the lead, there were others who followed.
At first, the deserters were scattered one by one, then groups after groups. Later, the entire battalion of officers and soldiers disappeared without a trace overnight.
Among them was Wu Sangui's unit.
Following the escape of the puppet soldiers, the morale of the Qing army hit rock bottom. The pessimistic Qing officers and soldiers knew very well that perhaps they would never be able to take down the Shanhai Pass.
"What should we do?" The officers and soldiers were panic-stricken.
At this critical moment, the Qing army, which had shrunk to a hundred thousand men, split up again. This time the deserters were the Meng Baqi of the Eight Banners Army, which was also the elite cavalry of the Qing army.
As the saying goes, "In the face of a great calamity, fly away on your own."
The Manchus and the Mongolians were very close. After all, they were not a real family.
Seeing that the Qing Dynasty had fallen and seemed to have settled down, the Mongolians were not stupid enough to walk down the dark path. Although the Shanhai Pass was the central hub leading to the outside of the Great Wall, it was not the only passage.
The Meng Baqi decided to withdraw to the outside of the Great Wall, no longer participating in the muddy waters of the Central Plains.
This was simply fatal to the Qing army.
First, less than half of the elite troops were gone, their combat power was greatly reduced, and there was no hope of breaking through the Shanhai Pass. Second, the hearts of the soldiers were wavering. Even the Meng Baqi, the 'disciple soldiers', were wavering.
Some wanted to learn from the Meng Baqi and take a detour to the outside of the Great Wall; some wanted to return to Yanjing and rescue their families.
The battle of Shanhai Pass had ushered in the most critical turning point.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
