Three puzzles before and after the change of the civil fort: Who saved the Ming Empire?

The battle of the civil fort should start with the absurd pre-war preparations of the Ming army. On July 16th, 14th year of orthodoxy, Ming Yingzong led less than 160,000 Ming troops to formally embark on the road of personal expedition. After Ming Yingzong announced his personal expedition on the road, the Ming army miraculously completed a series of preparations such as mobilization, grain and ammunition in just two days. From then on, the Ming army had no discipline during the March. Even when the army marched for two days, Ming Yingzong had to send a letter to the accompanying officials to show the marching discipline.

The layout and contest of the civil war fortress battle led to the fiasco of Wang Zhen? Soon after, the Ming army rushed to Datong. So Guo Jing, the eunuch guarding Datong, secretly told Wang Zhen that if the Ming army continued to arise, it would be the first move. This record shows that Ming Yingzong's original personal expedition plan was to take Datong as a stopover and continue to go north to seek a decisive battle with the main forces outside the Ming Empire. After the personal expedition troops stationed in Datong, the former army was sent from Datong to attack actively, and the Vara army proved Ming Yingzong's plan from another side. However, Guo Jing's tip-off was not a bluff, because during Ming Yingzong's March, all the Walla troops who had swept the Ming border towns and previously defended troops withdrew to the Great Wall. At the same time, Yu Qi, who was in charge of Academia Sinica, began to harass Xuanda Road. This kind of situation, combined with Guo Jing's tip-off, can only show that when Ming Yingzong's personal expedition army marched, it had already made corresponding preparations beyond the Great Wall, only to be further explored by the personal expedition army. In the end, the Ming army returned from Datong and the army returned to the East.

However, at this time, the command of the Ming army was divided because of the Li route. Deng Guo, then the commander-in-chief of Datong, suggested to Cao Nai, a university student, that the personal expedition army should return to Beijing from Zijingguan. After Cao Nai reported to the emperor, Ming Yingzong did not adopt it, and finally decided to move eastward and enter the customs from Juyongguan, which eventually led to the tragedy of the Neibao War. From Datong to Zijingguan, you must pass through Yuzhou, the hometown of Wang Zhen. According to Lu, the reason why the Ming army didn't return from Zijingguan was that it was afraid that the army would trample on Jiahe in its hometown. However, this statement is actually a bit far-fetched. In the Ming History of the Qing Dynasty, it was also considered that this record did not conform to historical facts, so it was not adopted. The Ming History further demonstrates that Ming Yingzong refused to accept the advice of returning from Zijingguan and insisted on going to Juyongguan. Coincidentally, Fu Xuan Town Records also recorded that after the invitation, Ming Yingzong was also invited to return to Li, without saying anything about fear of damaging crops in his hometown. Then the context of the whole thing is very clear. After inviting Li to personally expedition from Zijingguan, he also asked Ming Yingzong to personally expedition Li from Zijingguan, but Ming Yingzong did not listen and insisted that Li personally expedition from Juyongguan. In order to avoid taboo, Lu shifted the responsibility of not returning from Zijingguan to Wang Zhen.

On the other hand, entering Zijingguan from Yuzhou is actually a risky plan. Although after the Battle of Civil Fort, most commentators blamed the defeat of the Ming Army on its wrong decision to return to Juyongguan. Because according to the map of Datong area between Jiajing and Wanli in Ming Dynasty, there were many castles on the road from Datong to Yuzhou City at that time, such as settlement city, Xujiazhuangbao, Guangling City, Shunshengchuan East City, Lingqiu City and Hunyuan City, which could be used as shelters.

But in fact, more than 70% of the castles in Jiubian area of the Ming Dynasty were gradually built after the orthodox years. Before the Tianshun period of the Ming Dynasty, most of these castles did not exist. Fourteen years ago, on the way from Datong to Yuzhou, there were actually only two cities, Hunyuan City and Guangling City. As I said before, the Jiubian area in the early Ming Dynasty was like a big sieve leaking rain everywhere, which was very empty. And Datong town is mostly plain. Once the Ming army and hundreds of thousands of cavalry in Valla were ill-prepared and marched, the consequences would undoubtedly be devastating on the plains with almost no military facilities.

So is it feasible to stay in Datong? The answer is still no, because soon after Ming Yingzong returned Li, Datong suffered a devastating blow, and Datong was almost breached. It can be seen that the offensive and defensive war in Datong at that time was very fierce. During the two months from June to August in 14, when Ming Yingzong returned to Li, he first led an army to invade Datong town, and never dared to take risks to attack the impregnable Datong town again. Why did Ming Yingzong's personal expedition troops first station in Datong, and then just returned to Li and went straight to Datong Town, almost maiming Datong City? This reveals a very terrible message: it has thoroughly understood the shortcomings of the defense system in Datong town and even the whole northern border town, that is, once the town is beheaded, the Ming army will have no power to fight back. At the beginning of the Ming dynasty, if the town is broken, the whole defense system will be paralyzed. After that, you can also feel at ease to seek the best opportunity for a strategic decisive battle with the Ming army. It can be seen that destroying Datong City is also the first step of the strategy, that is, making Datong Town unable to effectively support the surrounding areas.

After destroying Datong town first, they really searched around for the movement of the Ming army in order to fight a decisive battle. If you stay in a big city at this time, the personal expedition army can really strengthen the defense of Datong. However, the terrain around Datong is not suitable for fighting with Vala warriors. Song Ying, the governor of Datong, suffered a fiasco, which is a lesson from the past. Therefore, the Ming Army Command decided to abandon the Bauhinia route and adopt the Fu Xuan route only because it first discovered the intention.

At that time, I also explored the route of this personal expedition army. As soon as the Walla army gets the news, it will immediately gather its troops to attack. Therefore, shortly after the personal expedition army left Datong, Datong was beaten and barely self-sufficient, and it was impossible to do any support. This is also the first move. In other words, no matter which route the personal expedition army chooses to return to Li, Datong is bound to be attacked. This also verifies the infeasibility of the route from Datong to Yuzhou and then to Zijingguan from another side.

1449 Battle of Civil Fort: March, Li and Varavamin Road Map: Defending Beijing.

At the same time, Datong town is inextricably linked with the Walla army, but the process of returning to the Li army seems to be smooth, and there is no interception by the Walla army along the way. On August 13, when the personal expedition troops arrived at Leijia Station (now Xin 'an Town), the death knell finally began to ring. Wu Kezhong and Zhu Yong two armies, * * * 50,000 people, suffered two disastrous defeats in Yaoziling and were completely annihilated.

On July 15, Yang Hongzeng, commander-in-chief of Fu Xuan, reported that the Mongolian army had besieged Maying for three days and cut off the river, and there was no water in the camp. In this paper, there is actually a terrible news, that is, Dushi Town on Shangbei Road in Fu Xuan has fallen. However, the fall of Du Fu's poems and the siege of Maying in July were not the end, but the beginning. After the fall of Du Shicheng, Maying did not dare to fight and abandoned the city to escape. Yunzhou defenders led the army to support them, but they were defeated and Yunzhou was trapped. Dushi, Maying and Yunzhou, the strongest military fortresses in Fu Xuan Zhenshang North Road, were successively lost, causing panic in Fu Xuan Zhenshang North Road. In addition, the news was blocked and the fire could not be heard, so that the defenders of Huailai and Yongning finally abandoned the city and fled. It can be said that the fall of these three cities directly led to the collapse of the whole Shangbei Road in Fu Xuan. Since then, the news of the fall of Shangbei Road and Donglu Road in Fu Xuan Town, because there were no smoke mounds and castles along the way, the Ming army knew nothing about it on the way back to Li!

On August 12, when nearly 200,000 Ming troops and a large number of their followers came to Lei Jia Station, they had completely entered the encirclement of Walla. So, what was the final battle in the civil fort?

On August 13, after the defeat of Zhu Yong and others, the Ming army moved to the civil fort, and quickly built trenches and fortifications that could meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people in a very short time, and confronted the Walla army, making it impossible for the army to approach first. Because the Ming army built a moat, the Mongols could not get close, and the Ming and Mongolian sides were deadlocked for nearly three days. On August 15th, Vala suddenly sent an envoy to the Ming army camp, holding a book to make peace. Ming Yingzong ordered Cao Nai to agree to their peace talks, and then sent two people back to Warra envoys. I didn't intend to make peace with the Ming army at all. I was prepared to eat this Ming army completely from the beginning. First, he pretended to make peace and sent messengers to the Ming army camp to show his kindness, which led the Ming army commander to make a wrong decision: he finally believed their sincerity and began to walk out of the fortifications and enter the marching state.

But unexpectedly, just after the Ming army crossed the moat, the vanguard troops suddenly turned around and attacked in all directions, taking the Ming army who was crossing the moat by surprise. One hundred and thirty thousand infantry and a large number of accompanying non-combatants left the fortifications and failed to form a queue. They were attacked by one hundred and thirty thousand cavalry on the plain. The result can be imagined. At that time, the Mongolian army shouted: Those who surrender their weapons and throw their blades will not kill! The first move became the last straw to crush the hungry Ming army. The Ming army lost its fortifications and gave up its last resistance. In the battle of Civil Fort, the Ming army was defeated and Ming Yingzong was captured.