Chapter 1093: The Final Battle

"Go back to Beijing!"

This time Dorgon did not hesitate, and immediately ordered the whole army to go north to rescue Yanjing.

It was this order that completely ruined the Qing Dynasty.

Just when the Qing army pulled out its camp and headed north, Li Jing's and Guo Ziyi's troops were like two packs of wolves that had locked on their prey early on.

Generals of the Qing camp such as Dorgon, Azige, and Lian Po are veterans who have experienced many battles, so they may not be unprepared.

The second is that Li Jing's and Guo Ziyi's departments have long been ready to go, and they have been preparing carefully for a week. Even if the Qing army is on guard, they will not be able to resist.

A decisive battle came suddenly.

The southern allied forces seized on the weakness of the Qing army's eagerness to go north, and launched continuous offensives one after another. If the Qing army did not stop and forcibly marched northward, the coalition forces would step forward and bite.

If the Qing army stopped and fought on the spot, the coalition forces would retreat with one blow and would never love to fight. If the Qing army deploys a broken army, the coalition army will swallow it without hesitation.

Such "rogue" tactics made Dorgon extremely annoyed.

If it wasn't for Yanjing's tightness, Dorgon would still have the mind to stop and deal with the coalition forces. However, at the moment when they learned that the Qing army was going north, the Daxi army's attack became more violent.

Zhang Xianzhong is greedy, but he is also very sober.

Regardless of whether they were fooled or not, the Daxi army was already riding a tiger, and if they retreated at this time, they would only be killed by the Qing army who rushed forward. Even if the Qing army let them off for the time being, the two major forces have become sworn enemies, and there is no possibility of relaxation.

That being the case, it is better to go one step further and attack Yanjing before the Qing army arrives, and then rely on the Yanjing city defense and Shunzhi Emperor and other heavyweight prisoners to restrain the Qing army in turn.

This is exactly what it means: "put it to death and then live."

Faced with the onslaught of the Great West Army regardless of cost, the Qing army staying in Yanjing had tried their best, causing heavy casualties. Even the guards in the city and the imperial guards in the palace were driven to the battlefield.

Even so, there is still panic in the city.

In Yanjing City of Nuoda, although the Manchus are at the top, the people in the city, including civil and military officials, are still dominated by Han Chinese.

Naturally, there is no shortage of soft bones, but there are also lurking generous and elegiac people.

And even if they are soft bones, there may not be people who are repentant. Just like Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Jiangnan gentry mentioned earlier, after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, he inexplicably raised the banner of anti-Qing.

The complexity of the human heart can be seen.

Shanhaiguan fell, the old land of the Qing Dynasty was robbed, the main force of the Qing army was held back by the southern allied forces, and Yanjing was besieged... One after another, one after another, the nerves of the Han people in the city were constantly impacted.

Something seems to be breaking through.

The court of the Qing Dynasty seemed to have also noticed this sign. Even when defending the city was the most difficult time, it did not relax its control over the order in the city and was always on guard.

The whole city was filled with uneasiness and undercurrents.

…………

When Dorgon led his troops to rescue Yanjing, the 180,000 Qing troops who had already arrived at Shanhaiguan received an order not to return to Yanjing, but to go all out to take Shanhaiguan as soon as possible.

The Qing court seemed very sober.

They realized that Yanjing was in the most dangerous time, and the city might be broken at any time. At this time, Shanhaiguan, which was located in the hub of the Qing Dynasty's retreat to the outside of the pass, became more important.

If Shanhaiguan was recaptured, the Yanjing court would still have a way out; if Shanhaiguan could not be recaptured, the Qing court would be finished.

Which is more important is naturally clear at a glance.

Therefore, when the Southern Allied Forces bit Dorgon's troops, a war broke out in Shanhaiguan.

The Qing army wanted to recapture Shanhaiguan, but the Great Xia Royal Fleet would naturally not let it do so. In order to defend the pass, the three thousand guards who were active outside the pass have quietly returned to Shanhaiguan to assist the Royal Fleet in defense.

In this way, the defense is stronger.

The attack of the Qing army was not resolute. While bombarding with artillery, they were still leaning on the siege equipment and engaged in close combat, in order to win Guancheng as soon as possible.

However, in front of the P1 artillery, the Hongyi cannon of the Shenji Battalion of the Qing Army is really too weak, no matter in terms of range or firepower, it is far inferior to the P1 artillery.

Also, the P1 artillery is condescending, and the Hongyi cannon is often destroyed before it has fired two shots, and it is completely reimbursed. Coupled with the aerial cooperation of mimic aircraft, the Qing army's magical machine revenue has little effect.

This time, they suffered enough.

After a day and night of fierce fighting, more than 30,000 people were killed in the 180,000 Qing army, and Shanhaiguan is still standing. To make matters worse, the Qing army's Hongyi cannons have been exhausted.

Without the help of artillery, it is wishful thinking to break through Shanhaiguan.

Despair, panic, pessimism...

All kinds of negative emotions spread within the Qing army, unstoppable, like the end of the day. The morale of the Qing army has plummeted, and some soldiers have already slipped away without a trace.

The first deserters to appear were the puppet troops in the Qing army sequence.

Their loyalty to the Qing Dynasty is the lowest. Seeing that the big ship of the Qing Dynasty may capsize at any time, they naturally do not have the determination and ambition to "live and die with the Qing Dynasty".

During the Shunzhi period, the Qing Dynasty was first established, and the policy of obscuring the people had not yet started, and it had not had time to tamper with history to cover up the numerous crimes committed by the Qing army in China.

Among the Han people at this time, there were very few who truly identified with the Qing Dynasty.

What's more, there were speculators like Wu Sangui and Shang Kexi among the Qing army. Seeing that the Qing Dynasty itself was in danger, they naturally thought of starting anew.

Whoever takes the lead will follow.

The deserters were sporadic one by one at first, then in groups, and later developed to the point where the entire battalion of officers and soldiers disappeared overnight.

Among them is Wu Sangui's department.

With the fleeing of the "puppet army", the morale of the Qing army fell to the bottom. The pessimistic soldiers of the Qing army knew that they might never be able to conquer Shanhaiguan.

"What should we do?" The soldiers panicked.

At this critical moment, the Qing army, which had shrunk to a size of 100,000, split again. The one who fled this time was Meng Baqi, an elite cavalry soldier of the Qing army.

As the saying goes: "In the face of adversity, fly separately."

Manchus and Mongolians are very close, after all, they are not really a family.

Seeing the fall of the Qing Dynasty, it seems that they have settled down, and the Mongols will naturally not foolishly go all the way to the dark. Although Shanhaiguan is the core hub leading to outside the customs, it is not the only passage.

The Mongolian Eight Banners decided to retreat to the outside of the pass on Raoyuan Road, and no longer participate in the muddy waters of the Central Plains.

This was simply fatal to the Qing army.

A half of the elite troops went there, their combat strength was greatly reduced, and it was completely hopeless to break through Shanhaiguan. The hearts of the Second Army were fluctuating, and even the "child soldiers" like Man Baqi had fluctuations in their hearts.

Some want to learn from the Mongolian Eight Banners and withdraw to the outside of the pass; some want to return to Yanjing to rescue their families.

The battle of Shanhaiguan ushered in the most critical turning point.