Chapter 88

There is no dynasty under heaven that does not perish.

These gentry had long since prepared themselves for the Great Ming to end with Chongzhen's reign.

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But the Han people of the realm absolutely will not allow the Great Ming to perish in such a manner, at the hands of an alien race!

This is the Great Ming — the very one of "When shall the rivers and mountains belong again to the land of Huaxia? When shall the sun and moon shine once more in the heaven of the Great Song?"

In the span of a single night.

All of Liaodong was draped in white mourning.

……

……

Within Huang Taiji's central commander's dragon tent.

At this moment, Fan Wencheng, his eyes wide and unblinking, stared at Huang Taiji, who had not slept all night, and remonstrated to the death:

"Your Majesty, this is now a matter of survival or annihilation."

"We must not yield a single step!"

"I implore Your Majesty to swiftly transfer the garrison from Shengjing, and in one decisive strike, annihilate the Ming army in Liaoxi, then breach the barrier at Ning and sweep across the Central Plains. We absolutely must not give the Han people of the realm any chance to catch their breath!"

Fan Wencheng knew full well.

With the war fought to this point.

It was no longer possible for the Great Qing to bleed the Great Ming to death at its leisure, as it had done before.

Over two hundred thousand of the imperial clan had perished in battle in Liaoxi.

What a monstrous shame and humiliation this was.

Once the Great Ming was given a chance to catch its breath — it need not be long, merely a year or a year and a half.

That would be more than enough for the hundreds of millions of Han people under heaven to crush the Great Qing in Liaodong as easily as crushing an ant.

Huang Taiji's sole remaining chance was to seize the moment while the news had not yet fully spread.

To swiftly devour the elite Ming forces in Liaodong.

To take advantage of the thin garrison at Shanhai Pass and march in with overwhelming force, sweeping across the Central Plains.

Otherwise, he could obediently go back to Mount Changbai to dig for ginseng.

Huang Taiji naturally understood the deeper implications of all this.

With hollow eyes, he issued his decree:

"Send word to the General of Shengjing — tell every Manchu of our Great Qing who can still lift a blade to rush to reinforce Liaoxi at once!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Three.

Eighty-one, to the death!

Within Songshan city.

Even the Regional Commanders, such as Wang Pu, who were as greedy for life as they were fearful of death.

Were at this point swept into battle by their own troops.

Greedy for life, fearful of death.

Was merely for the sake of a wife, children, and a warm kang.

If they fled back from this battle.

They would not even be allowed into the ancestral graveyard.

If even the graves were gone, who would still want that wretched warm kang!

Hong Chengchou was further forced to abandon Songshan city outright, leading the entire garrison out to fight.

The forces of Bai Guang'en, Tang Tong, and others dug in stubbornly at the Xiao Ling River.

The Ming army's intent was crystal clear.

It was to pin down these over one hundred thousand Bannermen in Liaoxi and utterly destroy them.

The Deng-Lai New Army, after switching sides, was annihilated to the last man.

The naval warships that had originally followed Kong Youde across the river to surrender to the Qing, upon receiving the news, scarcely hesitated at all.

They immediately killed the Bannermen Army Supervisors, scuttled their warships, and at Haizhou and Gaizhou threw themselves into battle against the Qing forces on the spot.

From Liaodong to Liaoxi, beacon fires rose from virtually every stretch of land.

However, the Han people of Liaodong, enfeebled over decades, would not reverse the tide simply because of a single act of switching sides.

As for the common folk of Liaodong.

Nurhaci, first because of years of natural disasters and lack of grain, issued the "Kill the Poor Order," slaughtering the impoverished Han who lacked winter provisions to conserve food.

Later, Mao Wenlong, stationed on Pi Island, led Nurhaci to suspect that the wealthy Han households of Liaodong were colluding with Mao Wenlong.

He issued yet another "Kill the Rich Order," executing the Liaodong gentry and confiscating all their property.

Both the poor Han and the rich Han were nearly all slaughtered.

Only a handful of bond-servants remained, and at this point nearly all of them were serving in the army.

Even if they wished to stir up any trouble, it was swiftly crushed by the Qing forces.

The wheel of history still retained its tremendous momentum.

Nikan, who had remained to hold Shengjing, leading Huang Taiji's last fifty thousand Bannermen reserves, first broke Bai Guang'en, then broke Tang Tong, and by sheer force carved a bloody path for Huang Taiji.

Nikan, his armor already soaked red with the blood of men, stubbornly blocked Huang Taiji, who sat astride his warhorse, and urged him with all his might:

"Your Majesty, we can fight no more."

Huang Taiji fixed his gaze fiercely upon Nikan and said in a harsh voice:

"If we do not fight this battle, my Great Qing will perish without a burial place!"

"But Your Majesty, if we continue fighting, our Great Qing will soon have no place left to bury our dead!"

"The Han people in Liaodong have all risen in rebellion; if we continue to drag this out, I fear even grain and fodder will no longer be able to reach us!"

Hearing Nikan's words.

Huang Taiji stared fixedly at the Ming army's banners in the distance.

He felt only a sweetness rise in his throat.

With a "pfft," he spat out a mouthful of black blood.

Then he fell straight down from his horse.

Under the leadership of the beiles Dorgon, Jirgalang, and Daisan, the Qing army barely managed to retreat to Dalinghe City.

After this battle.

Although the Qing army suffered heavy losses, the Ming army could hardly be considered victorious.

Over two hundred thousand members of the imperial clan were utterly annihilated.

Hong Hong Chengchou's thirteen thousand border troops also suffered heavy casualties, with only over seventy thousand remaining after the battle.

Just as Fan Wencheng had predicted.

When these news reached inside the pass.

That was when the war truly began.

……

……

Countless scouts, having run many warhorses to death, delivered all the battle reports from Liaoxi to the Forbidden City.

Beneath the Fengtian Sect.

Zhu Youjian was holding the morning court.

Just as the hundred officials had finished discussing matters.

Two ragged scouts burst into the Fengtian Sect.

"Your Majesty, urgent report from Liaoxi!"

The previously noisy morning court fell silent in an instant.

Seeing the appearance of those scouts.

The civil and military officials immediately guessed what had happened on the battlefield.

Zhu Youjian's lips trembled slightly.

In the end, he squeezed out a single word between his teeth.

"Read it!"