The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Because the Ming army was on tight guard, Huang Taiji had no choice but to lead his troops away from Gubeikou and march eastward. Along the way, they also observed forts along the route such as Caojiazhaiguan and Yangjiabao, and finally arrived at the Quanshui River.

"Let the soldiers rest."

The horse stood by the river, Huang Taiji ordered.

With the weather in August and September, such a march is also a kind of torture for the soldiers.

There is a river right now, which is a good place for the soldiers to rest.

However, this place was close to the Great Wall, so Huang Taiji ordered Baodu'er to send out a large number of scouts to observe the movements of the surrounding Ming army and guard against detection by Ming army sentries.

While Huang Taiji was still resting by the river, he arranged for Du'er and Da Laisun to join his troops and then returned here to discuss the next step with him.

"Taiji, go down the Quanshui River to Modao Valley and Qiangziling Pass. Should we go there and have a look?"

Baoduer said.

Qiangzilingguan Great Wall has complex terrain, and because the Quanshui River passes by it, the Ming Dynasty took great pains to build this section of the wall.

Although the mountains here are not steep, they have extremely unique topography. The V-shaped Great Wall was built in these mountains.

Huang Taiji and Da Laisun have never been here, but Bao Du'er has and has observed this section of the city wall up close.

To be honest, with that complex landform, the Ming army only built dozens of piers and platforms, and almost the entire area could be seen at a glance.

Therefore, the Mongols never regarded this place as a pass that could be attacked.

Only this time, after Huang Taiji inspected Gubeikou and other Ming army passes, Baoduer had an idea. He felt that the Ming army here would not have a relaxed mentality, so he had never seen the Mongolian army here.

"Modaoyu, Qiangziling?"

Huang Taiji murmured in a low voice, then raised his head to look at the sky and said, "Let's go over and have a look in a while. If it doesn't work, we will continue going down. I don't believe that we can't find a place where we can break the barrier in Zunhua."

Huang Taiji and his party, only about ten people, quietly walked to the edge of the Great Wall in a light carriage. Along the way, they encountered several teams of scouts responsible for covering the scouting horses.

Mongolian men are quite good at conducting reconnaissance, and they are not weak at counter-reconnaissance.

Continuing to walk down from the Modaoyu city wall, when approaching the Qiangziling city wall section, Huang Taiji's eyes finally lit up.

Due to the complex terrain of this section of the Great Wall, the wall was not built on the top of the mountain, but on the middle of the hillside. Because of the crisscrossing ravines, many sections of the wall went straight up and down, especially the section at the bottom of the ravine. The defense was lax and almost There was no sign of the Ming army.

If you pass through this ravine, you won't encounter strong resistance.

After the army enters the pass, it only needs to send a small group of troops to capture the hills on both sides, and the passage for the army to enter and exit the border wall will be available.

Huang Taiji pointed to the section of city wall in front and told Da Laisun and Bao Du'er about his plan in mind, and they supplemented and improved it.

The two of them led people to attack the hills on the left and right.

After the passage was opened, Huang Taiji led his army directly into the pass and headed straight for Miyun.

"Taiji, after attacking Miyun, do you want me to lead people north to capture Gubeikou?"

Bao Duer suggested again.

Huang Taiji understood Badu'er's thoughts. Although the wall in front of him was low and easy to climb and capture, it was still quite time-consuming for him to bring nearly 10,000 troops across the border.

Most of them are cavalry. To pass such a city wall, they either have to tear off a section for the cavalry to enter or exit, or fill in the soil to create a passage. There is no city gate to pass through here.

And Bao Duer's suggestion was that he lead people to attack Gubeikou from behind.

Why Gubeikou has always been a battleground for military strategists, we have to start with this terrain.

To the north of the capital and east of Huairou, there is a city of Miyun located on fertile soil.

The county is surrounded by mountains in the east, north and west. The only smooth road to the southwest is to Huairou. To the west is the Emperor's Mausoleum, and to the south is the capital.

About a hundred miles northeast of the county, there are tidal rivers and grasslands outside. One pass in Gubei can accommodate ten thousand horses, so it became the only way home for the Mongolians in the Yuan Dynasty.

As long as Gubeikou is captured, it will be as easy for the army to enter and exit the Ming Dynasty as searching for something.

"What's going on with this section of the city wall? It seems to be different from other places."

Huang Taiji did not answer Badu'er's question, but asked.

"I heard that this wall existed a long time ago. When I came here last time, I heard from the guide that this wall existed here when the Mongols ruled the Ming Dynasty. I don't know when it was built.

Later, the Ming Dynasty only renovated this section of the city wall and did not build it from scratch.

Qiangzi Ridge, as the name suggests, there is a wall on the ridge.

But it is true that this section of the city wall is much lower than the one built later by the Ming Dynasty, which means that this section of the road is not easy to walk. If we bring tens of thousands of troops, it is really inconvenient to transit here. "

Badu'er replied.

Huang Taiji thought for a long time before speaking: "There are a lot of Ming troops gathered at Gubeikou, and it is not easy to capture them in one battle, not to mention that the men and horses we brought this time are not enough.

If Gubeikou were to be attacked, the capital of the Ming Dynasty would definitely be on guard. "

"What does Taiji mean?"

Jiangduer asked curiously.

"After passing the city wall, I led my troops directly to find the river, and rushed along the river towards Miyun. If I could capture the city, I would seize it. If the Ming army was well-defended, I would directly send my troops south to attack Huairou and Shunyi, and then rush down the river.

If possible, capture Tongzhou. I heard that it was the granary of the capital of the Ming Dynasty. As long as Tongzhou is captured, there is no fear that the Ming Dynasty emperor will not surrender. "

Huang Taiji said.

"I followed the same route last time with the Great Khan, but when I got there I couldn't find a ferry. The army couldn't cross the river. Otherwise, let alone Tongzhou, we could capture most of it."

Da Lai Sun recalled that it was the first time they approached Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty. It had been more than ten years. He did not expect that he would be able to revisit his old place this time.

In the 29th year of Jiajing, Anda Khan personally commanded tens of thousands of troops to break through Gubeikou, capturing Miyun, Huairou, and Shunyi along the way. The troops reached the capital, but they were blocked by two large rivers, preventing them from approaching the city. Seize Tongzhou.

Of course, they later learned that Tongzhou was the granary of the capital, with a large amount of grain stored in it. They really regretted it and felt that they had missed a good opportunity.

"After so many years, the people of the Ming Dynasty have already managed Tongzhou again. It will be even more difficult to capture it again now."

Du'er answered: "I heard that in the past few years, the people of the Ming Dynasty also rebuilt the city walls of the capital and expanded the capital a lot."

"Don't even think about capturing the capital of the Ming Dynasty. We didn't bring that many troops."

Huang Taiji said, "People in the Ming Dynasty are more careful now. At the beginning of the year, my father Khan led his troops to raid the Xuan Mansion, but they didn't grab much. They hid all the food in the city, so it was not easy to seize it."

"Well, this time our main purpose is to teach the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty a lesson, mainly to plunder food. This is what the Great Khan meant.

Attacking a city consumes the lives of soldiers and is not worth it. Our Mongolian warriors should be galloping on the prairie instead of dying here. "

Bao Duer nodded and said.

"There are a lot of people from the Ming Dynasty around the capital, so the harvest should be bigger than that in Liaodong. Remember, there are many market towns around the city, and we can grab a lot of food."

Calling Sun also smiled, perhaps because he thought that this trip would be fruitful and a happy smile appeared on his face.

"We have a rest today and will start fighting tomorrow."

Huang Taiji looked back at the section of the city wall in the ravine and ordered.

Soon, a dozen people quietly returned to the camp along the same route, and their whereabouts were not discovered by the Ming army.

The Great Wall is so long that even though it was heavily defended along the nine sides during the Ming Dynasty, it still couldn't be tight everywhere.

In fact, the entire length of the Great Wall is not a city wall. In many places with steep mountains and complex terrain, only a slightly thicker wall is built according to the mountains, and there are no heavy troops deployed around it.

There were only scattered piers and platforms to observe the surroundings. When they found Tatars entering the country, they set off beacon fire signals to notify the Ming army behind the city wall to resist.

Of course, although such an area is easy to break, due to terrain reasons, it is impossible for large armies to enter and exit. It can only be said that small groups of troops can move. If there is an army of tens of thousands, they can only use the passes on the Great Wall.

"I just came back from the teacher's place. I heard that the Ministry of War has found out that Yang Xuan transferred the army from Jizhen to Shanhaiguan, saying that he would support the Tatars when they attack the cities in Liaodong."

As soon as Zhang Juzheng returned to the Imperial Academy from the cabinet, he told Wei Guangde the news.

The place chosen to copy the canon was in the large courtyard next to the Imperial College.

Wei Guangde rubbed his temples and said lightly: "I just hope that we are overly worried this time. Maybe the Tatars really just want to attack Liaodong."

At this time, most of the Ming army was almost at Shanhaiguan. Even if the troops were transferred back to Santun Camp, it would take several days.

The men and horses were tossing back and forth, the men were tired and the horses were exhausted. Even if the men came back, it would take a few days to repair, and there was no morale to fight at all.

Wei Guangde could only sigh. He thought of this two days too late.

"Are you going to send the news to Prince Yu's Mansion later?"

Zhang Juzheng said again that this was already a habit. When they heard any news, they would always think of passing it on to Prince Yu's Mansion.

"Forget it, King Yu knows, what if you are worried?

What if the Tatars didn't think of this and didn't invade?

You still have to trust the Ministry of War, they should know what to do. "

Wei Guangde opened his mouth to answer, and then after thinking for a moment he asked: "Has the Ministry of War ordered the recovery of Jizhen soldiers and horses?"

Although it was a little late, Wei Guangde still asked. After all, he was in the capital. If his home was stolen by Tatars, it would be a big deal.

As for the troops of the Ming Dynasty in the capital, if they expect to fight in the capital, they might as well forget it.

Just when they were talking to each other, clusters of beacon smoke had been lit on the north side of the capital, east of Miyun, on the walls of Modao Valley and Qiangziling, and thick smoke rose straight into the sky.

The beacon towers arranged along the Great Wall now served as the fastest way of communication in this era, quickly transmitting the news of the Tatar invasion to the surrounding areas.

The first ones to discover that the Tatars were invading were naturally Gubeikou General and Miyun Deputy Commander-in-Chief.

The beacon tower will continue to convey the enemy's situation to the rear, and what they have to do now is naturally to order the city to be under martial law as soon as possible to guard against Tatar sneak attacks.

At this time, at the gate of Miyun City, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were pushing the people who wanted to squeeze into the city. They wanted to close the city gate. As for those who could not enter the city, they could only stomp outside the city and then run into the surrounding mountains. , to avoid this military disaster.

In fact, the people living on the edge of the Great Wall have already had their own means of survival.

In the past, everything at home was neatly arranged, and if something happened, they could quickly pack up the necessities and take them away. They didn't have much possessions themselves.

It's best to be able to enter the city. If you can't get in, you can only hide in the surrounding mountains. Many villagers even find special shelters in the mountains to avoid the war.

Shortly after the gates of Miyun County were closed, bursts of smoke appeared in the east. The Ming soldiers on the city tower looked at this scene with fear.

They knew that the Tatars had really invaded, and they wanted to attack Miyun.

When the people under the city saw this scene, they no longer dared to stay near the city gate. They scattered along both sides of the city wall and hid in the mountains.

They gathered here just hoping that if no enemies appeared for a long time, maybe the city gate would be opened to let them in. But now that the Tatars have appeared, the Ming army in the city will never open the door for them.

Huang Taiji stood on horseback within a stone's throw of the city and observed the Ming army on the lower city wall. It was obvious that they were on guard and could no longer complete the raid plan.

He sighed secretly in his heart, then left a small number of cavalry to observe the enemy's situation, and led most of the troops to attack southwest for a while. After leaving the mountains and entering the plain, they did not rush westward to attack Huairou, but went south to Shunyi.

With insufficient troops, Huang Taiji had no intention of looting all the surrounding cities when entering the pass this time. Forget about Huairou, Tongzhou and Beijing were more attractive.

At this time, the deputy general soldiers and Ming soldiers on the Miyun City Wall looked at the Tatar cavalry rolling away, and they all quietly stretched out their hands to wipe sweat.

"I'm going to inform you that no one is allowed to open the city gate before the Tatars leave the customs. I'll keep a double guard at night. Anyone who dares to cheat or cheat will be blamed on me for being ruthless."

The deputy commander gave orders to several guerrilla generals around him.

Most of the Tatars left, and I knew with my backside that they were going to rob Huairou, maybe Shunyi, and Jing.

Forget it, he is just Miyun's commander-in-chief. As long as Miyun remains intact, his guilt is not great.

As for the remaining Tatars outside the city, let's forget it. Although there are not many of them, if they really want to kill them, they will run away immediately when they see that the enemy is outnumbered, and they may attract the Tatars again.

At this time, the situation outside Huairou City seemed to be a replica of Miyun.

The city gate was quickly closed, and a large number of people gathered at the city gate and could not enter the city.

Some people could only curse a few words and leave in a hurry, heading towards the mountainous area to the north. Others could only avoid the main road and head south.

They didn't know that Huang Taiji, who invaded this time, didn't regard this place as his target at all.

However, if there is a war, who is willing to bet on this eventuality? Naturally, he can hide as far away as possible.

However, those who still knew how to take refuge were the people around the city. More people living in the countryside did not know that the devil was approaching.

The Tatar cavalry passed through Miyun and headed straight for Shunyi. Villages and towns along the way were quickly overwhelmed by the Tatar cavalry. Amidst the panic and screams of the people fleeing for their lives, screams were heard.

On October 11, the 42nd year of Jiajing, Xin Ai, Ba Du'er and others broke through the wall from Qiangziling and Modao Valley and invaded. They broke through the pass and ran to the capital, plundering Shunyi, Tongxian, Sanhe and other places.