Famous elite troops in history, such as the Tuqi troops after the Xiongnu surrendered to the Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty said at that time: "People call the Tuqi troops the best soldiers in the world. Watching their battles now, I can't help but feel happy."; Tang Taizong Li Shimin's "Xuan Zao Cavalry"; Xixia's "Iron Kites"; Jin people's "Iron Buddha" and "Guaizima"; Yue Fei's "Beiwei Army". These troops are all available in historical materials and recorded in classics. Only the Not only is there no real evidence for this "Guan Ning Iron Cavalry", it is not recorded in various books of the Ming Dynasty. Tan Qian, a survivor of the Ming Dynasty, did not mention it in his book "Guo Que". It is mentioned in the text that Sangui has thousands of "Yi and Ding cavalry" who dare to fight, and Jianzhou is afraid of them. They are cavalry again, and they are composed of Mongolians, not Liao people. It is really puzzling where the "Ning Tieqi" came from. (The predecessor should be Li Chengliang's Liaodong Tieqi)
Among the historical books that have been read so far, only ""Ning Tieqi"" was written by Wu Weiye in the ninth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty. The words "Guanning Iron Cavalry" are clearly used in "Suikou Chronicle". However, according to the trend of public opinion at the time, it is unlikely that "Guanning Iron Cavalry" refers to the cavalry trained by Yuan Chonghuan, who were mainly Liao people. "It was not until the 49th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1784) that the Qing people compiled the "History of the Ming Dynasty" based on the "Records of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty". Qianlong issued an edict to overturn Yuan Chonghuan's case. This was already 150 years later. And "Sui" "Kou Ji Lue" was written in the ninth year of Shunzhi, and the sixty-eight volumes of "Taizong's Records" (compiled by imperial decree in the ninth year of Shunzhi, re-edited by the emperor in the twelfth year of Kangxi, and revised by imperial decree in the twelfth year of Yongzheng). Wu Weiye himself did not participate in "Taizong's Records". It is impossible for the editor to know the inside story in advance, so he himself would not risk the disapproval of the world and praise the Yuan family's army, nor could he be a close member of the Ding family of Zu Dashou, because only Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing Dynasty prematurely. He had the cleanest net worth and was one of the most dazzling generals in the late Chongzhen Dynasty. Until the fall of Beijing, he still guarded Ningyuan for the Ming Dynasty. Although he finally defected to the Manchus, his nature was different. Everyone understood that he avenged his country and hated his family. In addition, Sangui was praised more in unofficial history than Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou, which shows the direction of public opinion at the time.
In the late Ming Dynasty, on the issue of military training. , Yuan Chonghuan advocated "defending the Liao territory with Liao people". Yuan Chonghuan classified these guest soldiers as "the southern (Jiangnan) soldiers are weak." In the end, the Liao people who had strong folk customs, had immediate interests, and were good at riding horses were the most suitable. Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan selected the physically strong among the more than 100,000 Liao people who surrendered to strengthen the army. At the same time, he vigorously cultivated a large number of Liao generals such as Zu Dashou. After the victory of Ningyuan, the morale of the Ming army improved. Taking the opportunity to fight against the Hou Jin Army, Yuan Chonghuan worked hard to develop a small but powerful cavalry force. This unit was later called the "Guan Ning Cavalry".
On May 6, the 7th year of Tianqi, the army of Houjin, which had just conquered North Korea, marched westward under the personal command of the Great Khan. Huang Taiji believed that the defeat of Ningyuan was mainly due to underestimating the enemy and lack of preparation for attacking the enemy. With adequate preparation, the city is not impenetrable. Even if it is difficult to attack Ningyuan, it should still be possible to attack Jinzhou, which was just built. In the early morning of May 12th, the Hou Jin army launched a general attack on Jinzhou City from the west and north. The horse and infantry troops took turns attacking the city wall. The Hou Jin soldiers dragged shield carts and ladders and rushed straight to the city under artillery fire. Zhao led the army. , Zuo Fu, Zhu Mei and the eunuch Ji Yong all wore armor and braved the rain of arrows from the Jin army to supervise the battle in person, commanding the soldiers to shoot hard. (It was really rare for eunuchs to perform so well at the time. (What a thing!), and continued to attack for three days. The Jin army suffered numerous casualties but made no progress. Huang Taiji had no choice but to withdraw his troops, bypassing Jinzhou and directly attacking Ningyuan. At dawn on the 28th, the vanguard of the Hou Jin Army appeared at the north hill of Ningyuan City. Soon, the Hou Jin army holding various military flags set up nine camps along the periphery of Ningyuan, forming a siege of Ningyuan. Something surprising happened to Hou Jinjun. A large number of Ming troops marched out of Ningyuan City. General Sun Zushou and deputy general Xu Dingguo left the west gate; deputy general You Shiwei left the east gate. Together with the reinforcement troops and horses commanded by Mangui, Zu Dashou and others, the Ming army stationed the train camp along the inner side of the deep trench that had been dug. Huang Taiji led his younger brothers Azige and Geshiha to rush out at the lead. Tens of thousands of Eight Banners cavalry rushed towards Ningyuan City... "Boom!" With the sound of cannon, various firearms of the Ming army were fired at once. Li Chunhua, the commander of the chariot camp under the city, directed the Ming army to use "Hongyi" (possibly a smaller imitation of the red cannon), "Wooden Dragon Tiger", "Mie Lu" and other firearms to "attack together." And the more powerful It was the red cannons commanded by Yuan Chonghuan on the city. Row after row of Hou Jin cavalry fell down, but the ones behind were still rushing up. Slowly, the Hou Jin army was about to rush to the Ming army's trenches. Huang Taiji waited for the familiar scene of the Ming army fleeing in front of Hou Jin's cavalry. However, the Ming army did not flee. Instead, a large number of Ming army cavalry rushed forward under the command of Man Gui holding a red flag. The tanks rushed out from behind and started a close-quarters melee with the newly arrived Hou Jin army. The Ming army's firepower did not weaken as the hand-to-hand combat began. The gunners raised their muzzles and aimed at the Hou Jin army. The middle army and the rear team continued to bombard fiercely. The battle quickly became fierce. The Ming army and the Jin army cavalry at the front were fighting to the death, while the rear Jin army suffered a large number of casualties under the Ming army's artillery fire.
The soldiers of the Eight Banners fought desperately and attacked fiercely. Past experience told them that as long as they broke through the obstruction of the Ming army in front, they could immediately eliminate the firearms of the Ming army under the city. Then they could follow the retreating Ming army and rush into Ningyuan City. However, no matter how hard the Jin army attacked, the Ming army never retreated. They met a completely different Ming army than before. They were the Guan Ning cavalry under Yuan Chonghuan! The casualties on both sides were quite heavy. In the melee, Mangui was hit by several arrows, and both he and You Shiwei's mounts were shot to death. Later, the Jin army suffered even greater losses. Huang Taiji's uncle and brother Jierhalang, and the two sons of Dabeile Daishan, Sahafu and Wakda, were also seriously injured. Generals Jueluo Baishan and Bashi were shot. die! The corpses of the Ming and Hou Jin armies covered the wilderness outside Ningyuan City. The fierce battle lasted from morning to noon, and the casualties of the Jin army became larger and larger, but victory was still so far away! Huang Taiji received an urgent report just sent from Jinzhou. It was reported that Zhao led the army to take advantage of the opportunity for the main force of the Hou Jin Army to leave. He suddenly opened the city gate and rushed out, broke into the Hou Jin camp, and killed a large number of Hou Jin troops. And quickly withdrew into the city. Huang Taiji had no choice but to withdraw his troops again.
The Guan Ning Iron Cavalry won the first battle. In the battle under Ningyuan City, the Ming army, which had grown up with the cavalry - "Guan Ning Iron Cavalry" as its core, began to dare to follow the Jin army in field battles! Although there were Although the Ming army also paid a heavy price for the support of artillery fire on Ningyuan City, and "many soldiers died", after all, the Ming army dared to fight sword to sword and gun to gun, and they also won the victory. This is unprecedented. Miracle! Yuan Chonghuan pointed out that "in the past ten years, all the soldiers in the world have never dared to fight with the slaves. They have joined forces and fought with each other. Now they are fighting with swords and spears. I don't know how ferocious and fierce the barbarians are... Everyone dares to die, and there are dozens of battles, big and small." , rescued the siege and left, showing martial arts that had not been seen in thousands of years. "Although these thousands of years are a bit exaggerated, it still shows the importance of the Ningjin victory. The prestige of the Guanning cavalry has been established! Now it is still based on the city. If the war continues like this, in a few years we will be able to truly compete with the Jin army on the battlefield.