Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

On the thirteenth day of the first month of the first year of Qiongyuan, the Daping Army's entire Dashan Division took the lead in occupying Xi'an.The next day, Xue Yong's troops from the direction of Tongguan came to join them.After entering the city of Xi'an, Xue Yong, Quan Dashan and others were pleasantly surprised to find that there were actually a large amount of grain, grass and supplies left in the city, which could fully supply the Western Expedition Army in several provinces in the northwest.So after some rest, the Zhengxi Army continued their Northwest Raiders.

The fall of Xi'an, like a signal, caused the complete collapse of the Dashun regime in the northwest region.Especially a group of demoted officers and generals from the original Ming Dynasty. They showed their true colors one by one and took advantage of the provocation.There was an endless stream of envoys who went to the camp of the Western Expedition Army to express their surrender.

Dong Xueli, who had served as the deputy general of Huamachi in Ningxia in the Ming Dynasty, had attacked Beijing with him after he surrendered to Dashun.Later, because of Yutian's disastrous defeat, he withdrew from Beijing and surrendered to Xue Yong's Zhengxi Army on the way to retreat westward.

Dong Xueli was eager to make meritorious service after his surrender, so he sent someone to bring a letter to ask the Ningxia Jiedu envoy of the Dashun regime, Chen Zhilong, to raise troops to act as internal support.Chen Zhilong used to be the supervisor of the army in the Ming Dynasty. His surrender to the Dashun regime had ulterior motives. In his own words, he "leveraged his military power to wait for the right time."

However, Dong Xueli's secret letter was intercepted by Niu Chenghu (who used to be the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, and was ordered by the Dashun regime to guard Ningxia at this time).Niu Chenghu disapproved of betraying the Dashun regime and beheaded all of Dong Xueli's family members.But Chen Zhilong kept silent, and when the Daping army entered Shaanxi, he used his authority to win over some of the troops, advocated the leadership of civil and military soldiers and civilians, and forced Niu Chenghu to surrender to the Daping Dynasty together.

In addition, Zheng Jiadong, the former commander-in-chief of Lanzhou, Zuo Yi, the commander-in-chief of Ganzhou, and Xie Zhenrong, the deputy commander-in-chief, all defected to the Daping Dynasty after the fall of Xi'an.Li Yutian (formerly the governor of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty), Ma Ke (who was named Huairenbo after surrendering to Dashun), deputy commander Ma De, Gao Ruli and Shi Guoxi, were the Sichuan Jiedu envoy Li Yutian (formerly the governor of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty) who led the army into Sichuan under the order of Li Zicheng.He also led more than 1 soldiers to rebel against the Daping Dynasty under the surrender of the Zhengxi Army.

In addition, more than [-] soldiers from Hannan Deputy General Hu Xianghua's troops, Huangfuying General Gao Luan, and the Ten Battalion Fort Frontier Army from Xiangshui to Ningsai in northern Shaanxi also defected to the Daping Dynasty.

It can be seen that when Li Zicheng was racing in the Northwest.The generals of the original Ming Dynasty who were forced to surrender to the Dashun regime almost all turned their backs, and all of them surrendered to the Daping Dynasty.As a result, the total strength of the Western Expeditionary Army suddenly soared to 25.

Moreover, the political opposition of these former Ming generals caused great harm to the Dashun Army.When they had an ambiguous attitude and had not openly rebelled, Li Zicheng and others had to leave a considerable number of old Dashun Army troops under surveillance to prevent them. These people are often eager to attack the Daping Dynasty.Either launch a surprise attack on the Dashun army perfidiously, or use the area where they are stationed as a gift, or even a combination of both.

So the Ming Dynasty in the northwest region rebelled by demoting officials and generals.What's more, the rear area that Li Zicheng and others have painstakingly managed is suddenly full of wars and can't stick to it.And the conquest of northern Shaanxi by the Western Expeditionary Army was as effortless as pushing dominoes.The entire territory of Shaanxi.Except for Yulin and Yan'an guarded by Gao Yigong and Li Guo.The other generals from the original Ming Dynasty who were in charge of defending the castles along the border were quickly pulled over by the Daping Army, leaving Yulin and Yan'an in a helpless position.

It is precisely because of the rebellion of a large number of demoted officials and generals that the Western Expedition Army does not need to consider dividing troops to garrison in various places; it does not need to consider supplies; Increase investment in military offensives in the northwest.

Facing the great situation, Xue Yong, Quan Dashan and others should immediately pursue Remnant Yong to the poor.On the 12th day of the first lunar month, the Western Expeditionary Army was divided into three groups: Xue Yong personally led the main force of [-].Followed and pursued the Dashun army going south; Quan Dashan was awarded the rank of General of Sichuan (posthumously awarded by the Daping court on the way), and led an army of [-] into Sichuan.Annihilate Zhang Xianzhong's Daxi Army; while Jiang Cheng and Zhao Degong each led [-] troops, went north to join Jiang Yu in Yulin, with a combined force of nearly [-], chasing Gao Yigong and Li Guobu's Dashun Army who fled westward from Yulin and Yan'an .

However, Gao Yigong and Li Guo's troops saw that the northwest region had been occupied by the Daping Army successively, and they could no longer gain a foothold in northern Shaanxi, so they could only be forced to retreat in the end.Afterwards, this Dashun army had to join up with Dangshousu and other ministries guarding Gansu through a detour, and then went south to Sichuan via Hanzhong, and then down the river.It was not until more than a year later that this remnant of the Dashun Army with more than 1 people joined forces in Yunnan with the rest of the Dashun Army who followed Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin to the south.By that time, both Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin had died in battle.

The rise of the Dashun Army did not have a solid foundation, nor did it have time to settle down, so once it was unfavorable, the Dashun regime collapsed like a building built on the beach.

In particular, the Dashun regime did not have a stable rear, and the key point was that Li Zicheng and others ignored and even hostile to the gentry and landlord class.Therefore, it is possible to conquer the country without culture, but it is impossible to defend the country without culture.The main reason for the retreat of the Dashun Army after the Battle of Yutian was not that the Daping Army was invincible, but because of its own internal instability.

And Xue Yong, Quan Dashan and others took the initiative to expand the Northwest military strategy, which also accelerated the pace of the Daping Dynasty's unification of the country.

Especially the main force of the Zhengxi Army led by Xue Yong to pursue the Dashun Army. They will try their best to attack the remnants of the Dashun Army led by Li Zicheng together with the Zhengnan Army led by Zhou Xun and Zhang Biao.Of course, if they can take advantage of the trend and attack Nanming, they will never stop.Although the main attack direction of the Daping Dynasty is the Manchu Qing Dynasty in Liaodong, if they can invade the Jiangnan area without spending too much troops, why not do it?

The rapid defeat of the Dashun Army also led to the rapid death of Li Zicheng.Since Li Zicheng didn't want to get entangled with the Daping Army stationed in Xiangfan, the Dashun Army marched west of the Han River, then crossed the Yangtze River, and headed eastward to Nanjing, occupying the Southeast Caifu area before the Daping Army.

At this time, in the southern Henan and Huguang areas, the strength of the Daping Army is actually very empty.Therefore, Zhou Xun could only divide his troops into two groups. He asked Zhang Biao to lead the garrison troops, while he personally led Xiong Chui Town's [-] troops to attack the remnants of the Dashun Army.

In comparison, at this time, the Dashun Army still far outnumbered the Daping Army, but after successive defeats, their morale was low, and when they retreated, they dragged their families and moved slowly.On the 29th of the first lunar month, after the main force of the Dashun Army withdrew to Fangxian County, they stayed here for a long time until Xue Yong's Daping Army caught up with them.

During this long rest period, Li Zicheng suspected that Li Yan was rebellious, so he set up an ambush to kill Li Yan.Li Yan's original partner committed suicide.The whereabouts of Hong Niangzi are unknown. There are rumors that she has lived in seclusion in the rivers and lakes.

From March to April of the first year of Qiongyuan, the Daping Army fought eight times in Fangxian, Baode, Jingmen, Jingzhou, Honghu, Xianning, and Jiujiang, Jiangxi, and the Dashun Army was defeated.The eight battles mentioned here are not all the head-on confrontations between the main force of the Dashun Army and the Daping Army, but only some of the larger battles.

In April, the Dashun army arrived in Jiujiang, and Zuo Liangyu, who was guarding Jiujiang in Nanming, was in a hurry.Yuan Jixian, governor of Jiangxi in the Southern Ming Dynasty, thought that the Dashun Army would march towards Nanjing along the south bank of the Yangtze River, so he took part of the army to Jingdezhen, echoing the Zuo Liangyu tribe in Jiujiang.

However, although the Dashun army was vulnerable to the Shang Daping army, it was more than enough to deal with Nanming's Zuo Liangyu tribe.The main force of the Dashun Army defeated Zuo Liangyu's generals Ma Jinzhong and Wang Yuncheng's garrison in Ruichang, which shocked Hongguang's government and the public.

And Zuo Liangyu was also frightened out of his wits, so he had to make a big fuss about the "prince from the north" and raised the banner on the side of the Qing emperor, claiming to fight against Ruan Dacheng and others in Nanjing. (This event will be described in detail later).After the left army went eastward on April 23, there was no garrison in Jiujiang, and Li Zicheng took the opportunity to occupy the city.

Li Zicheng's plan at the time was to seize the southeast as the base of the Dashun Army, so in order to concentrate his forces, he incorporated the remaining Dashun Army and other battalions of peasant troops along the way into the army.But in this way, when Zhou Xun and Xue Yong's Daping Army chased after them, the Dashun Army's rear was empty, and there was no strength at all to hinder the Daping Army's advance.But Li Zicheng and others could only flee all the way, and they couldn't even find a time to rest.

Because the Dashun Army did not leave more troops to guard the place, nor organized the necessary counterattack in a timely manner, but just blindly marched eastward, this kind of heedless approach finally led to a disastrous failure.In May, when the Daping Army chased to Yangxin Fuchikou, they took advantage of the Dashun Army's unpreparedness and rushed into the camp, causing the Dashun Army to lose again.

At the end of the same month, the Dashun Army captured the old camp [-] miles away from Jiujiang, Jiangxi. The two uncles Zhaohou and Xiangnanhou, as well as a large number of family members of the generals who accompanied the army, were also captured by the Qing army.

Unwilling to surrender, Zhou Xun, who was afraid of trouble, ordered the beheading of Liu Zongmin and Li Zicheng's two uncles, while Song Xiance and Zuo Guang surrendered first.Around this time, Prime Minister Niu Jinxing also thought that the general situation was over, so he left without saying goodbye and deserted.And Niu Jinxing's son, Niu Quan, was originally the Governor of Shangluo under the Dashun regime. When the Dashun army was retreating steadily, he surrendered to the Daping Dynasty long ago. He was first appointed as the magistrate of the Daping Dynasty, and later gradually promoted to the Daping Dynasty. Governor of Shaanxi.

After Niu Jinxing escaped from the Dashun Army, he lived in Niu Quan's government office, enjoying the blessings of the old man, until he died at the age of 83.What a dramatic life!

In early June, when Li Zicheng traveled to the foot of Jiugong Mountain in Tongshan County, Hubei Province, he was suddenly attacked by armed local landlords.At that time, only his adopted son Zhang Nai and 28 soldiers followed him.Seeing that there were not many soldiers and horses, the armed landlords rushed forward. 28 soldiers were killed one after another, and Li Zicheng was also killed in the battle.

It is true that its prosperity is also vigorous, and its death is also sudden! (To be continued..)