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CHAPTER XXXIV.

WARS BETWEEN THE MINGS AND MANCHUS.

THE Manchus, under their great leader Noorhachu, crossed the frontier into Chinese territory in the year 1618, and they first advanced against the border town of Fooshun, where an annual fair used to be held for the Tartar tribes. This open. invasion of the Empire took the local officials by surprise, and the slight preparations they had made to resist such raids as it was alone thought possible that the Manchus might organize appeared insignificant in face of Noorhachu's well-appointed army. The governor was slain while attempting to defend Fooshun, and the town surrendered to the Manchus. After this encounter, Noorhachu sent to Pekin, through the governor of Leaoutung, a list of his grievances, and it was said that he even promised to lay down his arms on his just demands being satisfied. The Pekin Government did not appreciate the situation, and turned a deaf ear to the protests and minatory language of a petty Tartar chieftain, of whose name even the Court chroniclers pretended to be ignorant. Far from showing the least disposition to comply with his terms, the Chinese despatched an army to retake Fooshun and to expel the invader. Its movements were marked by little prudence, and the over-confidence and want of skill of the commanders were justly punished by their complete overthrow on the field of battle. The charge of the Manchus proved irresistible, and carried everything before it.

Noorhachu passed a portion of the summer in inaction, to see whether the Celestial Government would make any move towards coming to a pacific arrangement with him, and while

he remained in his quarters the report of his first successes over the Chinese brought him many fresh recruits to swell the numbers of his already elated soldiery. But when the autumn came without any sign of concession from Pekin, Noorhachu broke up his camp and resumed his advance into China. This time he marched in an opposite direction from that which he had taken on the first occasion, and laid siege to Tsingho, where some preparations had been made for a siege. The place was in fact resolutely defended, and the Manchu assaults were several times repulsed. But a traitor opened one of the gates to the foe, and the Manchus thus succeeded in capturing the town when they seemed on the point of failure. More than 6000 of the garrison and 10,000 of the townspeople fell by the edge of the sword. Other successes should have followed from this signal victory, but the clamour of his soldiers, who were anxious concerning the security of their homes, because of the presence in their rear of the hostile state of Yeho, obliged Noorhachu to return to Hingking for the purpose of dealing with this neighbour.

The invasion of Leaoutung had, therefore, little more than commenced when Noorhachu found himself compelled to turn aside from it, and to resume his operations against the last of the independent Niuche districts. The campaign against Yeho had only entered upon its first stage, when tidings reached Noorhachu that a large Chinese force threatened his own capital, and he had to hastily retrace his steps for its defence. The successes of the Tartars at Fooshun and Tsingho had at last roused the lieutenants of Wanleh to some idea of the formidable character of the chief with whom they had to deal, and of the military force which he had created. When they heard, therefore, that Yeho was about to feel the full weight of the Manchu attack, they resolved to hasten to its assistance, and to assail Noorhachu before he had crushed his last opponent among his own race.

Yangkao, the viceroy of Leaoutung, realized the full significance of the situation at a glance, and placed in the field an army of more than 100,000 men according to the lowest computation, but it was unfortunate that he assumed the command in person, for his incapacity in the art of war

SKILFUL STRATEGY.

507

was notorious. His very first step showed that he had not learned one of the simplest traditions of military science both in his own and other countries, to the effect that victory generally goes with the big battalions; for he at once nullified the advantage he possessed from superiority of numbers by dividing his army into four divisions without any secure means of communication between them. The advance of the Chinese naturally produced a great panic among the Manchus and their allies; but Noorhachu's confidence, if it was ever shaken, returned as soon as he detected the fatal blunder of his opponent. The Manchu army consisted of about 60,000 trained soldiers, but it is doubtful if on the field of battle it would have proved a match for a well-equipped Chinese army of double its numerical strength. That point never arose, however, for practical decision, as Yangkao voluntarily surrendered his advantage by the distribution of his army in divisions, each of which was inferior in numbers as well as in other respects, to the Manchu force that could by rapid marching be brought against it.

Noorhachu proved his claims to be considered a great general by the skill with which he turned his central position to the most advantage. His tactics emulated those practised at epochs long after his by the two great European captains of modern times, Frederick the Great and Napoleon, who, in the crises of their careers, supplied the want of numbers by the rapid movement and concentration of their troops; and on the occasion we refer to the same strategy thoroughly disconcerted the torpid measures of the Pekin commanders. Yangkao had entrusted the command of the western and most important detachment to Tousong, an officer who craved to distinguish himself, and who set little value on his foe while he held a high opinion of his own abilities. His division was instructed to advance direct from Fooshun on Hingking, but the enterprising Noorhachu perceived that could he disperse it the flank and line of retreat of the other portions of the Chinese army would be exposed to his attack. Tousong moved by forced marches, but exact information of his approach reached Noorhachu's camp ;' and the Manchu advance to meet him was so timed as to make the meeting

on the banks of the national stream of the Hwunho. Tousong, anxious to secure for himself all the glory that would accrue to the man who gained the first victory over the Manchus, hastened to cross that stream without reconnoitring the further bank. The passage was not effected without difficulty, as the waters were swollen, and neither bridges nor boats were available. Yet, notwithstanding the inadequate means of regaining the western side in the event of a reverse, the Chinese commander recklessly continued his advance; but he had not much farther to march, for the Manchu army was drawn up in battle array close to the Hwunho.

Tousong entrenched himself on Sarhoo Hill, while Noorhachu, whose disposable force comprised almost the whole of his army, made his final preparations for attack. Tousong, apparently ignorant of the impending storm, further weakened himself by detaching a small force from his main body to attack the neighbouring town of Jiefan. Here also the Manchus had been too quick in their movements and too well-informed for the Chinese, whose assault was repulsed with some loss. Noorhachu then no longer deferred his attack upon the position round Sarhoo Hill, and after some hours' desperate fighting he drove the Chinese in irretrievable confusion into the Hwunho, where most of those who had escaped from the arrows and swords of the Manchus met with a watery death. Tousong paid the penalty of his rashness with his life, and, instead of being the first to obtain fame by the overthrow of the Tartars, his defeat contributed more than any other achievement to spread their military fame.

Noorhachu then hastened to attack the other divisions in turn. That under the command of a general named Malin was the next to receive the brunt of his onset. At first Malin remained on the defensive in a position situated between two hills which he had fortified. On each of these heights he placed a strong detachment, and his main body was drawn up in the valley behind a triple tier of waggons. The position was chosen with judgment, and considerable art had been expended in rendering it more formidable. But

MANCHU VICTORIES.

509

the Imperialists had not yet learnt the habit of standing on the defensive, and the sight of the enemy outside their entrenchments proved too irksome to be endured. Malin left his position and advanced to meet Noorhachu in the open. So vigorous was the charge of the Chinese general that for a moment the Manchus recoiled, and Noorhachu himself was in danger; but the superior discipline of his soldiers restored the day. The Imperialists suffered a severe defeat, and Malin was able to rally only a very small portion of his troops at Kaiyuen after the combat had concluded. The cup of Chinese misfortune was now full. to overflowing, but yet another battle was to be lost before the disasters of the year 1619 were to end for the unhappy Wanleh. The third Chinese division under Liuyen, the officer who had distinguished himself by the prompt punishment of the Miaotze, had obtained a few successes while Noorhachu had been overthrowing his colleagues in the west. The turn of Liuyen to be attacked at last arrived, and his defeat, despite his valour, was not less complete and crushing than those of his brother generals already described. The Manchus triumphed in this battle as much by means of a stratagem as by their own courage. They dressed a portion of their army in the clothes taken from the dead bodies of Tousong's soldiers, and Liuyen's troops admitted them into their ranks in the belief that they were friends. In this they were soon undeceived, and, attacked on all sides, Liuyen's followers fled in utter rout after the fall of their gallant commander.

Signal as were these victories, and great as was the effect they exercised on the destiny of the Manchus, Noorhachu did not waste much time in idle ceremonies at his capital. Within a month of these triumphs, which astonished even the Manchus, and which terrified the Chinese, Noorhachu again took the field. His first object of attack was the fortified town of Kaiyuen, whither Malin had retired with the relics of his force. Kaiyuen was carried by assault, and the Chinese had to mourn the loss of a large number of prisoners besides many officers, including their commander Malin himself, and soldiers slain in the fight. The Manchus then pressed on to fresh conquests, of which the last and

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