Regarding the conditions for recruiting the generals in western Liaoning, Da Chu believed that they were sincere enough, not to mention that Zu Dashou had the rank of major general and the title of earl.
Even Wu Sangui, seeing that his father had surrendered to Chu and wrote a letter to persuade Wu Sangui to surrender, and Wu Sangui had actually controlled the more than 10,000 troops Wu Xiang had left in Guanning, the Chu army said in the surrender letter Wu Sangui also received relatively preferential treatment, promising to give him the rank of brigadier general and the title of baron.
The Chu army's treatment of the generals in western Liaoning was actually not bad. You must know that when Zheng Zhilong surrendered, what he received was not just the rank of rear admiral and the title of Zhenhaibo.
As for the powerful people in Youzhou City, the Chu Empire did not even give them the qualifications to surrender...
It's a pity that the Chu Empire thought that its sincerity was pretty good, but in the eyes of Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui and other generals, its sincerity was still too low.
People think that even if you don’t make a king, you should at least give him a hereditary Duke...
Even if it is given to Uncle Liaoxi, it is still a rubbish title inherited from a reduced rank. What is the use of such a rubbish title.
And the most important thing is that in the surrender letter of the Da Chu Empire, there was no mention from beginning to end that Zu Dashou could continue to retain and lead the original army to guard Liaoxi.
You can tell with your toes that if you surrender, Houzu Dashou will probably have no choice but to hang around and wait to die. The huge armies in western Liaoning are likely to be the same as the other Ming armies that surrendered to the Chu army. Except for cavalry and artillery, etc. Except for a few technical arms, all other soldiers will be eliminated.
No matter what, the subsequent armies in western Liaoning will become history, not a bargaining chip that Zu Dashou and the others can rely on.
This is not what Zu Dashou wants, nor is it what Wu Sangui and other Liaoxi generals want.
Zu Dashou is a standard warlord, and Wu Sangui and the others are also standard little warlords. It is impossible for him to obediently put down his army and leave his life and death to others.
The Ming court can't do it, the Eastern capture can't do it, and the Chu thieves can't do it either!
At least, it's impossible until he is completely defeated!
Zu Dashou and others did not accept the offer. At the same time, the Chu army was tired from attacking Shanhaiguan. More importantly, a large number of heavy artillery and ammunition were still behind, so it would be insufficient to attack Shanhaiguan directly.
At the same time, other troops of the Chu army that went north were also dispersed to Xuanfu and Jizhou to recruit surrender and take over the defense lines of the Great Wall. They were unlikely to provide Army Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa with much support.
As a result, Zhu Xingfa simply stopped attacking and built field fortifications outside Shanhaiguan, and then stationed himself generously outside Shanhaiguan, and began to quarrel with the Liaoxi armies inside Shanhaiguan.
Lieutenant General Zhu Xingfa was waiting for heavy artillery and a large number of artillery shells from the rear. He was also waiting for the Second Army and the Tenth Division to stabilize the situation in Xuanda, Jizhen and other places.
However, although the Chu army did not storm Shanhaiguan, the Dongluo side could not help but want to send troops to enter the pass.
Outside Jinzhou City, Huang Taiji, the leader of the East Captives, personally led an army of more than 100,000 people to arrive here. However, he did not attack Jinzhou City immediately. Instead, he sent people into the city to try to persuade Zu Dashou to surrender again.
Zu Dashou had learned about the incoming Dongji army before and rushed back to Jinzhou from Shanhaiguan to take charge of the overall situation. Faced with the Dongji's attempt to persuade him to surrender again, Zu Dashou and all the generals under him were all Undecided.
The conditions offered by the Dongli to persuade them to surrender were naturally a hundred times better than those of the Chu thieves. Once Zu Dashou surrendered, Huang Taiji, who was on the opposite side, directly named him King of Liaoxi.
And the most important thing is that Huang Taiji also allowed him to continue to command the armies in western Liaoning, and invited him to accompany the Eastern Capture Army to enter the Pass to avenge Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty.
It is said that it is to avenge Chongzhen, but to put it bluntly, it is to enter the pass to fight for the world.
This time the Chu thieves went on an expedition to the north, and the Dongli side saw an opportunity to enter the pass.
In the eyes of Dongdu and other people, the Chu bandits in the Northern Expedition were only tens of thousands, and the number outside Shanhaiguan was only thirty or forty thousand. Our own army was more than one hundred thousand, plus Zu Dashou's troops were about 60,000.
The combined forces of both sides are at least 200,000!
By then, it will not be easy to capture 30,000 to 40,000 Chu thieves. Even if the Chu thieves have sharp guns and cannons, they will be killed!
After these 30,000 to 40,000 Chu thieves are killed, the Eight Banners cavalry and his ancestor Dashou's tens of thousands of troops will join forces. I dare not say that they will sweep the entire world, but it will not be a big problem to take over North China and even the Central Plains.
After all, if they join forces, they will have a great advantage in strength, especially the cavalry!
It is said that after the Dongji surrendered to the eastern Mongolian tribes, they received a large number of cavalry from Mongolia to assist them, and also obtained a large number of draft horses from the grasslands, so they had a great advantage in mobile warfare.
After they join forces and enter the North China Plain, tens of thousands of cavalry and two hundred thousand infantry with a large number of mules and horses will sweep southward. How can the Chu thieves stop them?
Unstoppable!
Once the Central Plains is captured, and then the southern provinces are captured, several provinces can be allocated to Zu Dashou, and the other provinces can be given to other generals under Zu Dashou as fiefs.
At that time, Dongduo ruled the area north of the Yellow River, while Zu Dashou and his generals divided and ruled the provinces south of the Yellow River.
Huang Taiji even said that even if he retreated 10,000 steps and failed to successfully enter the pass, then this land in western Liaoning would be the fiefdom of Zu Dashou. The ancestral family, like the Mu family in the Ming Dynasty, would guard western Liaoning for generations.
This is what Huang Taiji said to persuade Zu Dashou.
To be honest, Zu Dashou was a little moved by this!
Not only him, but all the generals under him were also moved!
Although it is a bit awkward to take refuge in a foreign race, in the face of real benefits, barbarians can become a country of etiquette at any time.
Among them, Wu Sangui strongly advocated persuading Zu Dashou to surrender to the Qing Dynasty!
Although Wu Sangui's father Wu Xiang defected to Chu, and Wu Xiang even wrote a letter to persuade Wu Sangui to follow suit and defected to Chu, and also scolded Zu Dashou for being a human and cheating him, Wu Sangui was indifferent to his father's words.
He is an ambitious man!
Regardless of military rank or title, he actually didn't care much. The important thing was that he would give up military power after surrendering to Chu.
How can a man be without power for a day?
He took over the military power of Guan Ning from his father, and now has nearly 20,000 troops under his command. With these 20,000 troops, even if Dongluo comes to recruit surrender, they will have to offer a royal title, and they also promise a province as a manor.
After tasting the sweetness of holding a large army, don't ask Wu Sangui to voluntarily give up his military rank and surrender to Chu. Even if Wu Xiang comes in person to take back his military power, he will dare to kill him with one knife.
Wu Sangui wanted to enter the Pass, and then create a province and become a fiefdom to become the real emperor. He didn't want to go to the Chu Empire and become a helpless rich man... He even had to worry every day whether he would be raped. The Chu Empire was trapping and killing them after the war.
In history, there are many examples of people who gave nice words before surrendering and then gave them a glass of poisonous wine after surrendering. Wu Sangui did not want to follow in his footsteps.
Furthermore, at this time, the situation in Youzhou City was also gradually spread to western Liaoning.
It is said that after the Chu thieves entered the city, they looted the city wantonly. Many dignitaries and even ordinary gentry in the city had their homes confiscated and their families exterminated one by one without exception.
Those damned Chu thieves stole tens of millions of taels of real gold and silver from the capital!
And one of these gold and silver belongs to their Wu family!
Although Wu Xiang surrendered, he was only a general and could not protect the Wu family's property in Youzhou City. All the Wu family's property was confiscated.
Not only that, but they also heard that except for a handful of officials and eunuchs in Youzhou City, the rest of the officials were killed one after another by the brutal Chu thieves. It was simply inhumane!
The phrase "when the country dies, the king dies and his ministers follow him" frightened many remaining officials of the Ming court, and the civil and military officials in western Liaoning were no exception!
Whether it is Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui, or other civil and military officials in western Liaoning, they are also very worried that after surrendering to Chu, forget about having no power or influence. In the end, they will not even be able to save their property and lives...
This can be considered a price of thirty million taels!
But even if they knew it would cause such a negative impact, the monarchs and ministers of the Chu Empire would still do it without hesitation.
That's at least 30 million taels of real money and silver, and countless other valuables and soft bulk materials.
For so much money, the Chu army dared to fight another war to destroy the country. The negative impact of recruiting surrender was nothing!
Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui hesitated and struggled for a long time in Jinzhou, until they finally made a decision on August 17.
There was no room for them not to make a decision, because at this moment, an urgent report came from Shanhaiguan. Those damn Chu thieves had already used heavy artillery to bombard Shanhaiguan. It was looking at the Chu thieves who were about to capture Shanhaiguan.
At this time, whether you decide to surrender to Chu or decide to surrender to Dongluo, you have to make a decision.
As for not investing in either side and simply carrying it to death, it would be impossible to give Zu Dashou several times more troops, money and food...
On the Jinzhou front line, Huang Taiji personally led more than 100,000 troops.
On the front line of Shanhaiguan, there are now more than 40,000 Chu troops and a large number of heavy artillery.
It is impossible for Zu Dashou and the others to resist the two-sided attack of the Chu army and the Donglu at the same time.
After repeated struggles and quarrels all night long, with Wu Sangui's strong support, Zu Dashou finally decided to surrender to the East.
Of course, this does not mean surrender or surrender, but the decision to join forces with Dongji to enter the pass and eliminate the thieves, and avenge Chongzhen and the many ministers who died in vain.
On the morning of August 18, Zu Dashou led Wu Sangui and other Liaoxi generals out of the city to kneel down and worship Huang Taiji.
Huang Taiji named his ancestor Dashou the King of Liao and Wu Sangui the King of Pingxi.
Immediately, a total of 200,000 people from both sides of the coalition began to march towards Shanhaiguan day and night.
At this time, the 20,000 remaining troops at Shanhaiguan had been violently bombarded by the Chu army for three days, but Zhu Xingfa looked at Shanhaiguan in the distance, gritted his teeth and said, "Let the First Division attack!"
This poor place is really difficult to attack, easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even though our side has received fire support from a heavy artillery regiment and a mortar regiment, the bombardment effect is still not very good.
But Zhu Xingfa had already learned that Dongli had joined forces with Zu Dashou, and that hundreds of thousands of troops from the east were coming from Jinzhou, according to the news reported by the navy.
The opponent's army was now less than five days away from Shanhaiguan.
He must capture Shanhaiguan within five days and build defensive positions, so that he can rely on Shanhaiguan to block this army of nearly 200,000 people!
Therefore, even if the effect of the artillery bombardment in the previous three days was not obvious, he would still let the infantry launch an attack, even if he had to pay a certain amount of casualties for it, otherwise it would be too late!
He couldn't really have a big melee in the wilderness of Shanhaiguan with less than 40,000 troops and an army of 200,000 opposite!
On the same day, Zhu Xingfa ordered the First Division to launch a strong attack on Shanhaiguan, but failed, resulting in hundreds of casualties.
The next day, the 11th Division took over from the 1st Division and continued to launch a strong attack on Shanhaiguan, but failed, resulting in hundreds of casualties.
On the third day, the Army's 23rd Mixed Brigade crossed the sea and landed at Shanhaiguan to reinforce various units of the Third Army.
On the fourth day, Zhu Xingfa became ruthless and directly launched the attack with both the 1st Division and the 11th Division.
More than 20,000 troops, supported by more than 100 artillery pieces of various types, launched a joint attack on Shanhaiguan.
In the evening of that day...the Chu Army's First Division Commando successfully stormed Shanhaiguan after a bloody battle!
On August 23, the fourth year of Chengshun in the Chu Empire, the Chu army successfully captured Shanhaiguan.
At this time, the coalition forces of Dongji and Zu Dashou were less than 20 kilometers away from Shanhaiguan!
