Why did the Eight Banners fighters, who were invincible and despised the Han army, suffer a crushing defeat at Jiangning's first stop?

1659, Zheng Chenggong led a great army to attack Zhoushan, take the Yangtze River, and surround Jiangning from east to west, 83rd battalion170,000 troops. Jiangning was caught between Scylla and Charybdis.

Before the Eastern Route Army surrounded Jiangning (now Nanjing), it was not smooth sailing. When tearing Guazhou defense line, they confronted the Eight Banners fighters who despised the Han army.

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Zheng Jun's warship sailed for Guazhou, and without waiting for Zheng Jun who landed one after another to camp, the loyalty of the prefect in the south of the Yangtze River had been beheaded by heavy troops. Guan Zhongzhong is an old standard-bearer of the Han army. Before the Eight Banners entered the customs, he surrendered to the Qing army and was promoted to the prefect of Jiangnan by slaughtering his compatriots.

Guan is loyal to the enemy and dare not neglect him. In a short time, he assembled a team of fifteen thousand people and arrived in Guazhou. As soon as Zheng Jun landed, he showed a well-trained and leisurely military accomplishment, and various arms quickly formed a formation. The first team held spears, while the second team held rattan cards in one hand and the popular Yunnan horse-cutting knife in the other. The second array is a "foreign gun team" with unified equipment, and the troops behind it are armed with broadswords. According to different arms, each team has its own flag. Colorful flags and centipede flags are dazzling and magnificent.

Because it was getting late, Guan Zhongyi did not attack rashly, so he retreated slightly. Zheng Chenggong didn't dare to be careless, which made Zheng Jun seize the favorable terrain overnight. By dawn the next day, the deployment had not been completed, but the Qing army had already adjusted its state and raided.

According to information, the Qing army knew that although there were many Zheng troops, most of them were "help soldiers", that is, logistics supply soldiers, stationed on ships. There are only 30,000 truly elite field soldiers, almost all of whom are infantry, and not all of them have landed.

Among the 15,000 Qing troops, cavalry accounted for half, about 7,000 people. Therefore, in terms of actual combat numbers, Zheng Jun has little advantage, and the Qing cavalry is dominant. Therefore, the Qing side not only treated Zheng Jun's infantry lightly.

From the beginning of entering the customs, "Enemy at the Gates, the thief will be defeated" has been invincible for many years, forming the psychological stereotype that the Eight Banners of Manchukuo despise the Han army and people and are arrogant and domineering. Many people attacked Zheng's military camp, riding 1800. As usual, the full soldiers shouted three times in unison, creating a shock of "seizing the air superiority first." This 1800 ride is divided into three waves, and the order is strict. In the fierce impact, rows of sharp arrows are expertly shot at each other.

With such momentum, the general anti-Qing armed forces are psychologically shrouded in tension and heavy pressure before confrontation. When the other side's orderly and aggressive iron hooves rumble and tremble under their feet, the bloody Han army will inevitably be out of breath if it has not been baptized by blood and rain.

Panic in the other side's rain of arrows, followed by the other side's head wave horse team, the second wave of killing, formed a burst of banks-like rout, and then let the Manchu cavalry behind them trample and kill like sheep.

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But at present, Zheng Jun has only sent three infantry classes to fight. There are only 200 people in the first row. They are Zhou Quanbin's right-hand men, the Military Department and the Ministry of Health. Zhou Quanbin was a rare general in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. He is not only brave and good at fighting, but also rich in strategic planning and comprehensive in military literacy. Its strategic vision and overall analysis ability are even above Zheng Chenggong.

As the first wave of death squads to meet the enemy, with the attention of the whole army, Zhou Quanbin posed as a do-or-die posture. Put the long rope behind the soldiers and stipulate that those who withdraw the rope will be beheaded! ''。 The arrangement was certain, and the first wave of Manchuria's 800 fighters rushed up instantly and ran into Zheng Jun who was' standing still, hiding with a group card and looking like a block'.

All the soldiers who ran to the front were frightened. This time, they met a' ferocious devil' that their ancestors had never seen before. Wrap your opponent in a 40-kilogram armor from head to toe, or simply stuff the whole body into an iron shell. Armor' arrows can't be pierced', and after countless arrows, not a hair can be hurt.

Man Bing panicked for three points from the beginning. According to the style of play at that time, if encountering a solid formation, the cavalry would' retreat a few feet' and then' whip forward', trying to break through the opponent's formation and then ravage it in one fell swoop.

However, no matter how full soldiers gallop and shoot arrows at it, it is in vain, but they are killed by their opponents with horse-chopping knives. Fortunately, there are not many opponents in the first row. Finally, 300 soldiers rode through the gap and the edge and took the second team away.

The second team, Zheng Jun, is also an iron soldier, with several times more people. They are a more terrible and efficient killing machine. With a knife, 300 soldiers, both men and horses, were chopped up.

The amazing bloody scene deeply shocked the soldiers full behind. Since entering the customs, all opponents have been defeated, and I have never seen such a cruel demon.

As soon as the psychological defense line was shaken, it turned around and fled, but it blocked the second wave of full riding. However, since ancient times, the Jurchen army has had the disciplinary quality of "losing and not dispersing".

What's more, after 40 years of fighting, experience has stopped like the wind. When the situation is wrong, everyone immediately stands firm and there is no chaos. Reorganize, and then shoot rounds of arrows at Zheng Jun, trying to disrupt Zheng Jun's formation.

All Manchus who have experienced the war know that the fatal flaw of the heavily armored infantry is'' you can't catch up if you win, and you can't retreat if you lose''. So I adjusted my tactics, shot from a long distance and waited patiently for my opponent to come out. However, no matter how many arrows were poured out, Zheng Jun remained unmoved.

Manchu cavalry is also very calm, sophisticated and unhurried. Behind them, there are groups of camel teams full of bows and arrows, which is enough to ensure the continuity of their firepower.

The Qing army took the initiative in the battle, especially found the relative weakness of iron-blooded soldiers: feet.

three

Sure enough, Zheng Jun was finally shot impatiently. As soon as he reached the critical point, the solid formation immediately became loose, and Tai Zheng fled from his original position.

But Manchu found each other in the chorus roar, and they rushed up in the rain with heavy armor! What makes them even more creepy is that these iron men not only run slowly, but also "run like flies"! Even before he came to his senses, Bing Zheng had joined the cavalry.

As early as the founding of the armored force, Zheng Chenggong conducted high-standard physical training for the shortcomings of heavy armor. Heavily armored soldiers are athletes who have been repeatedly selected through the examinations of the whole army. They are fully armed twice a day in the morning and evening, and they have been used to it for many years.

What is particularly striking is that they have always maintained the formation of "three men and one weapon" in the front. At the end of the battle, soldiers with rattan cards covered two teammates, and one soldier cut Ma Yibing and others. The long knives in their hands are particularly sharp, and some of them are full of military forces and horses, which have become two sections!

Under this inhuman slaughter, Manchu people were killed and the rest fled for their lives. But fortunately, with the agility of Manchu and solid riding skills, it didn't take long for ironman to throw an arrow. After such a terrible blow in a row, the general team would have collapsed, but before the full number of soldiers dispersed, they reunited with the third wave of cavalry to fight again.

Guan Zhong's loyalty and righteousness were defeated in a row, so he quickly filled the ranks with the guns of the Han army and went to the back of the temple. Once he was defeated again, he stopped Zheng Jun with a firearm to cover his retreat. All the other three cavalry units were transferred, and only more than a thousand people from the Eight Banners of Han Dynasty were used to contain other Zheng troops. Four or five thousand Manchu cavalry rallied and once again launched a sharp impact on the ironman team!

Lien Chan's two iron men were a little tired and were caught off guard by the sudden counterattack of the Qing Dynasty. However, seeing the white flag flying in the array and Tai Zheng fleeing from both sides, many people were too scared to retreat.

The Qing army accelerated its "riding forward" with great fanfare and was about to take over. Unexpectedly, behind the opponent's "rout", there is already a neat gun team? "The shotgun, the cannon, the bow and arrow are all fired, and the guns are deafening." "Gun spear like rain. " "

Under this kind of artillery fire, the soldiers of the Manchu banner went belly-up, and were killed by' more than a thousand people, Yu Bingzhen', and fell into a state of chaos for a while. The Zheng infantry who had just "escaped" quickly turned back and killed them. They rushed into the rout, hacked to death many Manchu Xie Ling and Zuo Ling, and beheaded two vanguard generals of the Eight Banners of the Han Army, Bai Xing and Wang Xing.

In the rear, the Guanzhi Qin Bing team transferred from the rear was also hit by the defeated troops, but the Eight Banners still did not give up fighting. After the initial panic, they quickly stabilized, maintained their formation again, and finally fell back to Yinshan. After completing the formation, they launched a counterattack again!

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It should be admitted that the discipline and organizational endurance of the Qing army are amazing. Why do the Qing army and the rebel army often fail to beat them?

The horses that rushed several times were trembling, so the Eight Banners had to give up their horses to fight. It is a historical tradition that the hand-to-hand combat level of northern minorities is not as good as that of Han nationality. On the contrary, when Zheng Jun saw the soldier dismounting, he became more energetic and pushed him back with a hundred strokes. Although some people were hit in the foot by the Qing army, they didn't care. It's even harder to draw an arrow.

As a result, a one-sided massacre was staged. The impact of full soldiers hit the iron wall head-on and backed on the hillside, making it difficult to escape. Under the inhuman push of Iron Man Array, all of them were crushed by the front. This is a whole piece of melon and vegetables. Such a powerless killing made the Manchu generals feel desperate, and even the leader who gave the title of' Batulu' (Manchu warrior) abandoned the army and fled, regardless.

Guan Zhongyi is also trapped. Three times he was hacked to death by iron soldiers, and once he was simply whipped by iron bars. He is desperate to break free and let his best friend find life hard.

The commander's escape competition declared that the organizational strength of the Eight Banners' "perseverance" finally collapsed completely and morale collapsed like a mountain. What can't escape is the ghost under the sword, and what escapes uphill is the past. Those who didn't hurry to get on the horse crowded together with those who just got on the horse, and rushed into the chaos with green camp's firearms soldiers and teams.

Everyone merged into a torrent of escape, rushing down from the hillside behind Yinshan Mountain, where the slope was steep, and the escapees stumbled and stumbled, rolling like the raging waves of Hong Chao.

But the Qing army chased us, and the team rushed down the hillside, killing and injuring their associates. However, the slope is a typical landform of Jiangnan water town, with narrow roads and vertical and horizontal rivers. What's more, it coincided with the heavy rain, and thousands of soldiers and horses in cotton armour were huddled in the mud with green camp infantry. Those who cross the ditch die in the ditch, and those who cross the river die in the river'', which is terrible. The weak were pushed off the horse, and people and animals stepped into the deep mud and became meat. The strong are stuck in the mud and can't get away.

Zheng Jun pursued relentlessly behind his back. These victors skillfully took off their armor and combat boots, rushed barefoot into the routed troops, and killed the flag soldiers. Everywhere he went, rivers of blood flowed, and soldiers were everywhere in blood shed. The ruthless Zheng Jun had chased him for miles.

Not only were all the soldiers killed, but there were not many left in green camp. According to statistics after the Qing Dynasty, only 37 of the 300 people in green camp escaped, and only 80 cavalry in Zhenjiang green camp escaped.

Only 140 Manchu cavalry loyal to their loved ones fled back to Jiangning (Nanjing), and everyone's soul was particularly shocked, and the tactician bowed his back. The worst hit was the mighty Eight Banners stationed in Jiangning Manchuria.

At present, there are officials who surrendered from the Qing Dynasty, whose names can be verified from the incomplete historical materials of the Qing Dynasty, namely, Zuo Ling Bao Jintai of Zhenghuang Banner, saltet of Heshuo Frontal Attached Zhenglan Banner, Meng Getu, the second-class caravan captain, Bahari of Huang Qixiang Xiaoqiao School, Ahani of Zhengbai Banner and others. (The situation of the killed Eight Banners military attache is taken from the Eight Banners' Records, etc. Qing government editor. )

In addition, 1000 Han Qi cavalry, who are engaged in containment tasks, are used to following Manchu people and pretending to be tigers. When they saw the Manchurian master being beaten like this, they also fled to the depths of Yinshan Mountain and were searched by Zheng Jun's "gang soldiers", killing most of them.

A large number of horses, camels, armor, bows and arrows, bird's nest, etc. used by the Qing army to carry equipment were seized. Such a brilliant victory, Zheng Jun himself was seriously injured, only a few people died, and the victims were also hit by the gunfire of the people of Han Qing.

In other words, Zheng Jun killed thousands of Manchu soldiers at a very small death cost, which is probably the only casualty ratio in the history of the Han-Manchu War.

The battle of Zhenjiang, I am afraid, was the most cowardly defeat of Manchu soldiers, and was crushed by opponents from the front without cost. The influence is too bad, which has a great influence on people's morale.

The commander-in-chief of Zhenjiang in Qing Dynasty and the magistrate Dai witnessed the whole process of the battle on the wall, and raised the white flag to Zheng Jun without temper after the war. Zheng Jun entered the city'' the city is not easy to be arrogant, and people don't know the soldiers''. Fifteen thousand Manchu troops were wiped out in the field, and the excitement of the north and south of the river can be imagined.

In Hezhou, a group of poor rogues pretended to be the flag of Zheng Jun, intimidating the Qing army in a cunning way, scaring off the garrison commander and the magistrate, and getting a big state at your fingertips.

It has been fifteen years since the Qing dynasty entered the customs, but the painting style is undergoing such a reversal, which is a blow to the young Manchu emperor Shunzhi and makes him crazy and close to despair.

five

Jiangning was besieged, and Shunzhi had only two choices: either defending or surrendering. There are only 3,000 defenders in Jiangning, including only 500 in the Eight Banners. Whether the rest of the Han army is reliable is unknown. The main force of the Qing army is far away from Yunnan and Guizhou, and it can't quench its thirst. Jiangning is in danger.

Jiangning is the ruling center of Qing Dynasty in Jiangnan. To give up Jiangning is to give up Jiangnan. The loss is not only half of the country and most of the taxes, but also the rise of the northern forces that have seen the light of day, which will bring disaster to the Qing Dynasty.

The news that Jiangning was besieged came that people in Beijing were in chaos, shops were closed, and the downtown area was closed. Many Manchu nobles were preparing to retreat to the customs, and some children of the Eight Banners sharpened their swords and prepared for the last fight.

At this point, the palace Shunzhi is really anxious. He first had the idea of fleeing back to the Commissioner, and was scolded by the Queen Mother Xiao Zhuang. Later, he announced his intention to use personal expedition. This time, everyone was shocked and discouraged. Under the palace, it was dark and kneeling. The dissuasion of personal expedition is full of imperial cases.

Escape means complete collapse; Personal expedition failed or killed, even the retreat is gone. Shunzhi was so anxious that he lost his mind and let out cruel words: Who dares to stop me from making a personal expedition, just like this dragon chair? Then he cut a dragon chair into pieces with his sword. This time, the ministers were even more confused. The whole court seems to be plunged into darkness.

However, the siege of Jiangning was lifted before the plan of personal expedition was put into practice.

After Zheng Chenggong surrounded Jiangning, Lang Zuoting, the governor of Jiangnan in Qing Dynasty, sent people to surrender. Lang proposed that according to the Qing law, those who surrendered within 30 days of guarding the city should destroy the three clans. My family are all in Beijing. In order to save my family, I beg to wait another 30 days, and then I will surrender in Kaesong.

Unfortunately, Zheng Chenggong was carried away by victory at this time and actually believed such nonsense. He felt good about himself and thought that the army was besieged. Even if you break your word, I can defeat Jiangning. So he indulged in drinking and singing in the company camp, while Lang secretly sent people to Chongming Island for help.

When Zheng successfully entered the Yangtze River estuary, he attacked Chongming Island, but he didn't take advantage of this opportunity.

The commander of Chongming Island is Liang Huafeng, the company commander of Susong. As soon as he heard that Jiangning was besieged, he immediately led three thousand troops to the rescue. Liang Huafeng and Lang cooperated with each other and attacked Zheng Chenggong's company at night, which achieved great victory. Zheng Chenggong suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat to Xiamen and Zhangzhou, and the counties he occupied were recovered.

Zheng Chenggong had full confidence to win Jiangning, but unfortunately he was arrogant, underestimated the enemy, overestimated his political and military deterrent and misjudged the situation.

Since then, Zheng Chenggong Group has been weakened, unable to carry out the Northern Expedition, and turned to drive away the Dutch colonists and recover Taiwan Province Province as a new anti-Qing base.

postscript

After Jiangning was cleared, the Qing court still sent Jiang Guan, the governor of Jiangning, to Beijing and severely punished him. The prefect cut off all positions in charge of loyalty, lost his possessions, was sent to slavery, and disappeared from the historical records. Manchu Xie Ling (Zhengsanpin) and Batulu Fei Yazhu and Salb; Zuo Ling Dundu, Bayou and Budash were strangled immediately, and their families and property were confiscated. Assistant leaders Kafuna, Chadu, Tuohui, Buyan and Schiffner were expelled as slaves, flogged by 100, and their families and property were confiscated. (For details, please refer to Records of the Qing Ancestor (Volume 133).

There were less than 20 lieutenants and Lu Niu lieutenants stationed in Jiangning. Except for about 10 people who died before and after (including the later clearing war), five lieutenants were hanged by survivors and five lieutenants were dismissed as slaves, which shows that the whole garrison was basically exhausted.