Li Zicheng made too many mistakes when dealing with Wu Sangui.
First of all, due to negligence, Liu Zongmin and others injured Wu Xiang, which made Wu Sangui give up the idea of surrender.
Of course, the reason why Wu Sangui did not choose to surrender to Dashun in the end had little to do with Wu Xiang's experience.
As a member of the landlord class, Wu Sangui was naturally incompatible with the Dashun regime.
This was the main reason why he refused to surrender.
Secondly, in the process of taking over Shanhaiguan, Li Zicheng did not send Liu Zongmin and other core generals and core troops. Instead, he asked Tang Tong, a surrendered general, to complete the matter.
Not to mention that Tang Tong had just surrendered, how loyal could he be?
The combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses in his hands is very doubtful.
As a result, Wu Sangui counterattacked, and Tang Tong was defeated. The first level in the world returned to Wu Sangui's hands.
When Li Zicheng decided to go on an expedition in person, he made a mistake again.
That is to let Bai Guangen be the vanguard of the entire army and fight the first battle against Wu Sangui.
As a result, Bai Guangen also lost miserably and retreated in despair.
The head start effect that Li Zicheng expected did not occur, but instead cast a shadow over the entire war.
In fact, it’s not Li Zicheng’s fault.
When he decided to take over Shanhaiguan, Li Zicheng once asked who would be responsible for this matter.
As a result, Liu Zongmin and others became cowardly and unwilling to leave the capital.
This is the limitation of the peasant class.
After entering the capital and seeing the prosperity, I just thought about my wife and children, and quickly lost my fighting spirit.
Everyone is waiting to be promoted to an official position and have a wife, and no one is willing to go to Shanhaiguan to blow the cold wind.
Now after a series of mistakes, Li Zicheng has to pay for it.
Wu Sangui was very nervous when he learned that Li Zicheng was approaching with nearly 100,000 troops. He sent two waves of envoys one after another.
A wave of people, mainly local gentry from Shanhaiguan, went to meet Li Zicheng. I hope to stabilize Shunjun and buy time.
In the other wave, deputy general Yang Kun and guerrilla Guo Yunlong went to seek help from Dorgon.
Although the Manchu and Qing Dynasties had already made plans, they were waiting for Wu Sangui to surrender due to the situation. But after waiting and waiting, Wu Sangui made no move.
After discussion, Dorgon, Hauge and other senior officials decided to take another approach.
Dorgon, Duduo, and Azig led nearly two-thirds of the troops of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty and Mongolia and all the Han army flags. They adopted Hong Chengchou's suggestion and planned to bypass Mongolia and break through the border from Jizhou and Miyun. Repeat the previous strategy.
On April 15, the Qing army came to Wenghou and ran into Wu Sangui's envoy.
"As long as the regent leads his troops to come to the rescue, my general will open the door to welcome the king's division."
Wu Sangui expressed his intention to surrender to Dorgon for the first time.
Dorgon was overjoyed, and while leaving Yang Kun behind, he sent his brother-in-law Bai Ran to follow Guo Yunlong to Shanhaiguan to find out the truth. At the same time, they changed their marching route and marched towards Shanhaiguan under the starry night.
When asking for help from Dorgon, Wu Sangui used the word "join forces" just in case. I hope to maintain a relatively independent position so that I can turn around and seek greater benefits in the future.
Dorgon, on the other hand, completely avoided this word and clearly asked Wu Sangui to surrender, and on the condition of breaking the earth and becoming the king.
On April 21, the Shun army arrived at Shanhaiguan.
Although Shanhaiguan is the most powerful pass in the world, all defensive deployments are originally aimed at the outside of the pass, and the inner side of the pass is actually very weak.
Of course Wu Sangui understands this.
Therefore, only a small number of troops were left to guard Guancheng, while he led the main force to set up a formation on the front line of Shihe.
Compared with him, Li Zicheng had much more troops. Not only were there tit-for-tat confrontations on Shihe's side, but the Shun army also launched attacks on Dongluo City, Xiluo City and Beiyi City to encircle Wu Sangui.
The battle was intense from the beginning.
At this time, Wu Sangui had completely given up the idea of surrendering to Dashun, and Li Zicheng also knew that Wu Sangui could not recruit him.
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Although the combat deployment is still exactly the same, the combat effectiveness of the Shun Army has been greatly improved.
In particular, the Shun army had more than 20 bronze cannons purchased from the Xia Kingdom, which greatly enhanced their combat effectiveness.
As soon as they fought, Guan Ning's army was beaten into a state of disarray, and Shihe's front line troops were completely untenable.
If Wu Sangui hadn't asked the red cannons on Guancheng to open fire, the Shun army would have broken through the Shihe defense line within an hour.
At this time, the Shun army was full of vigor and combat effectiveness.
After the battle between Song and Jin, the Guan Ning Army lost all its original elite, and the newly formed troops were somewhat less useful.
Reflecting on the battlefield, the situation of Guan Ning's army was extremely dangerous.
By the early morning of the next day, Wu Sangui had a premonition that he could no longer hold on.
"Report to the general that the thieves have invaded the North Wing City."
Upon receiving the news, Wu Sangui was so shocked that he almost fell off his horse.
Of course he understood that once Beiyi City fell completely into the hands of the Shun Army, his way out would be cut off.
"Where are the Qing troops?"
Gao Yi's beard was completely burned off by the fire, and he looked very embarrassed.
"The Qing army has arrived a long time ago, at Huanxi Ridge behind."
Wu Sangui was in a hurry.
"Why hasn't Dorgon taken action yet?"
Gao Di snorted coldly.
"Don't you understand yet? Dorgon is waiting for a price."
Wu Sangui's heart was bleeding, and he finally understood what it meant to be forced by the situation.
His little calculation has turned into a joke in the face of life and death.
If he wants to survive now, he has no choice but to put aside all his pride and take the path that is despised by everyone.
Wu Sangui had no choice.
He quickly led his generals and gentry to Weiyuan Terrace on Huanxi Mountain to meet Dorgon in person.
"The guilty minister has now understood the general trend, and from now on he is willing to be the lackey of the Qing Dynasty. I have lost my heart and am willing to be the pioneer of the Qing Dynasty and do the work of dogs and horses."
In full view of everyone, Wu Sangui bowed down three times and finally chose to surrender completely.
Dorgon got what he wanted and immediately ordered to send troops.
He made an agreement with Wu Sangui to let Guan Ningjun tie his shoulders with white cloth. As a signal to avoid being accidentally injured by the Qing army.
In the morning of that day, the Qing army entered the pass through three routes: Nanshuimen, Beishuimen and Guanzhongmen, and took control of Shanhaiguan.
Shunjun didn't know all this.
The Shun army was still aggressively attacking the Ning army's defense line, but after fighting for a day and night, the Shun army was actually exhausted to the extreme.
Suddenly there was a sound of artillery, and Guan Ning's army changed its array, revealing gaps.
Shunjun was baffled and completely confused. He didn't know what Guan Ningjun was playing.
While they were in shock, the Qing army's cavalry roared out of the formation and crashed into the Shun army's formation with lightning speed.
The addition of this powerful new force immediately reversed the situation on the battlefield.
