diskusbooks Chapter 8 The Battle of Beijing II
Chapter 8 The Battle of Beijing II
"After learning of Esen's attitude, Yu Qian said, 'Who cares? This is war, not friendship. I don't care about you!' Esen was furious when he heard Yu Qian's reply. 'Do you think I'm easy to talk to?! I didn't kill your emperor, so you think I'm a good person?... You just wait!'"
"Esen directly dispatched his brother to lead 10,000 cavalrymen straight to Deshengmen, clearly intending to take down Yu Qian."
Esen: I'm so angry, bro, let's just take him down!
Yu Qian, holding a large net: Come on, brother, we've been waiting for you!
"Yu Qian first sent Shi Heng and his Shenji Battalion reserves to wait for the Oirat cavalry in the houses outside Desheng Gate. He also sent a small cavalry squad to loiter around the houses. Why was this? Obviously, it was bait in a big net."
"When Esen's brother led the Oirat cavalry onto the field, he happened to see the cavalrymen sneaking away. You might want to guess what this clever Esen's brother was thinking?"
A villager from the Ming Dynasty: I know, he's definitely hooked! It's just like fishing in my pond, I catch him every time!
The father of a villager in the Ming Dynasty: I was wondering why there were fewer fish in our fishpond. It was you, you brat! I'll beat you to death!
A schoolteacher in the Song Dynasty: This plan is brilliant! Mr. Yu is truly talented!
"That's right, Esen's brother really thought the Ming army was a bunch of idiots, and he charged forward without hesitation!"
"When the Oirat army rushed into the houses, they found a large group of Ming soldiers waiting for them. Then they heard gunfire and cannon fire. The area was a residential area with complex terrain, which meant that the Oirat cavalry, who were used to raiding on the plains, had no chance to fight back."
After learning about the situation at Deshengmen, Esen was very puzzled. What happened? How did they become a ferocious army?!
"But since we've already reached the outskirts of Beijing, it would be a huge loss of face for me to suggest retreating. So, after learning from the previous two experiences, Esen successfully changed his mind and ordered a full-scale attack on Xizhimen."
"The generals at Xizhimen were dumbfounded. Wait a minute!? They finally managed to repel one wave, and now a big one is coming? This isn't Deshengmen, the big boss shouldn't be charging towards me!?"
"After several military exchanges between the two sides, they successfully forced Sun Tang, the general at Xizhimen, to abandon his post. He directly replicated Zhu Qizhen's tactic—knocking on the gate."
Sun Tang: Open the city gates quickly, I can't hold on any longer!
Zhu Qizhen: If you want to start a fight, then I'll admit defeat!
Gatekeeper Cheng Xin: No, no, I won't open it! Sun Tang, you can do it! I believe in you! Get ready to cheer! x86
Sun Tang: You son of a bitch!
Seeing this, Sun Tang had no choice but to lead the remaining soldiers and charge towards the Oirat. Meanwhile, Cheng Xin, who was standing on the city wall, did not stand idly by and directly fired cannons at the enemy's head.
"Perhaps it was because of the resistance of these soldiers that they bought time for the arrival of reinforcements and successfully forced Esen to retreat to his own base camp in a sorry state."
"On the 14th of October in the 14th year of the Zhengtong reign, Esen's several defeats caused him to have an emotional breakdown in the middle of the night. Esen finally realized that the Ming army was now unstoppable and that he needed to change his strategy!"
"On the fifteenth day of the tenth month of the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong reign, Esen, having figured things out, led Zhu Qizhen toward Juyong Pass. Juyong Pass was generally known to be a strategic location, and although Yu Qian sent reinforcements, they were still no match for the speed of the Oirat cavalry."
"When faced with the overwhelming force of the Oirat army, Luo Tong, the general guarding Juyong Pass, did not panic. He first ordered his soldiers to pour water on the city walls. This action did not attract the attention of Esen, the brute of the steppe. However, by the next morning, Esen regretted it deeply. The city walls were completely covered with a layer of ice, and even climbing a ladder would be slippery."
"Although this method is a bit unethical, Esen was uneducated, so this uneducated Esen came up with what he thought was a brilliant plan—to wait for the ice to melt. Several days passed, but what came was not the melting ice and snow, but reinforcements sent by Yu Qian."
"Here I must mention one person—Yang Hong, the general of Xuanfu. During the Battle of Beijing, Yang Hong rushed to support Beijing. This old man, who was almost seventy years old, took several days to get to Beijing. When he saw that Esen had already fled, he ran from Beijing to Juyong Pass. So I say that our ancestors were really in good physical condition!"
"After Luo Tong harassed them with artillery several times, Yang Hong, the old man, also joined in. Esen was really humiliated in this battle, and in the end he simply gave up and went home at dawn! But he didn't think that Beijing was a place where you could just beat them up whenever you wanted and go home whenever you didn't want to. So, in the middle of the night, while the Oirat people were still fast asleep, the reinforcements blew up their dreams with a few cannon shots."
"However, I really didn't expect that in such a chaotic situation, Esen would not forget to take the retired Emperor Zhu Qizhen with him when he fled. Zhu Qizhen, look at you, you have completely given up. You are already at your own doorstep and you still want to study abroad! Which prisoner of war lives as well as you! Here, the defense of Beijing is declared a complete victory."