In A.D. 16 16, Nurhachi unified most of the Jurchen ethnic groups, established the Eight Banners system, and established the post-Jin Dynasty. The Manchu people ended their division and had a perfect social order. 16 18, Nurhachi issued a "seven hates" for an Expo, which kicked off the entry into the customs. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the Qing army captured the capital, and the Ming and Qing wars lasted for 26 years. During the period, the Eight Banners fighters defeated Daming outside the customs, and only a few castles such as Ningyuan were still under the control of the Ming Dynasty.
The Qing army crossed the Great Wall defense line for many times and entered the Central Plains, but each time it went further and further, choosing Daankou, xifengkou and Dushikou as the breakthrough points, and never dared to attack Shanhaiguan, the throat fortress connecting Liaodong and the Central Plains. It was not until Wu Sangui surrendered that the Qing army was able to enter the customs for the first time. What is the magic of Shanhaiguan, which can make the brave and skillful Qing army avoid it?
It turned out that it was very wise for the Qing army not to attack Shanhaiguan for no reason. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the only thing that could resist the Eight Banners was probably the Great Wall. The Great Wall starts from Shanhaiguan in the east and ends at Jiayuguan in the west, with a total length of 6,300 kilometers. It consists of continuous city walls, passes, beacon towers and various obstacles. Despite thousands of years of bonfires, the Great Wall has made great achievements in resisting the harassment of northern cavalry.
Hundreds of Xiongguan passes and tens of thousands of piers and abutments form an organic whole, which is stronger and more perfect than the Great Wall of any previous dynasty. Although Shanhaiguan is at the easternmost end, it is not an isolated city, including a series of complementary castle communities such as Dongluo City, Xiluo City, South Wing City, North Wing City, Weiyuan City, Ninghai City, Laolongtou, Nanshuiguan, Beishuiguan, Hanmen Pass and Jiao Shan Pass, which are closely connected by the Great Wall.
The first stroke must have a tail, and the first stroke must have a tail. Both offense and defense can advance and retreat freely, and it is difficult to break through any of them. Shanhaiguan has always been regarded as the barrier of the capital by the Ming Dynasty, so it is difficult to pay more attention to the defense of this place. In its heyday, the Shanhaiguan city wall was 14 meters high and 7 meters thick, and the moat was 50 feet wide and nearly 30 feet deep. Common siege methods, whether ladders or digging walls, are extremely ineffective.
Shanhaiguan is also unique in the supply of logistics food. In order to ensure sufficient food in wartime, Shanhaiguan garrison extensively carried out the system of reclaiming farmland, including the combination of military, civilian and commercial villages, and reclaimed more than 6,200 hectares of farmland, ensuring that Shanhaiguan garrison had enough troops and food, and did not care about it for ten years or eight years, and there was no worry about food shortage. Since Xu Da, a general in the 14th year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, built Shanhaiguan for the first time, after hundreds of years of operation, Shanhaiguan has become a veritable impregnable.
If the Qing army stormed Shanhaiguan, it would be a protracted battle and may not be won. The Eight Banners don't care about farming and mulberry, and usually make a living by fishing, hunting and looting. It relies on rapid progress and fighting to support the war, not protracted war and war of attrition. Moreover, after the beginning, Jin did not expect to enter the Central Plains. At that time, there were hundreds of thousands of people in the Qing dynasty, who attacked the Daming border and robbed some materials. He didn't even think about winning the Central Plains!
Therefore, Huang Taiji and Dourgen have been working hard in Liaodong, the Commissioner, to clear Liaodong first and stabilize Liaodong. On the one hand, it plundered the Ming dynasty, stepped up primitive accumulation, weakened the power of the Ming dynasty and strengthened itself; On the other hand, strengthen the construction of base areas and wait for the chaos of the Ming Dynasty. As long as the Ming Dynasty was not torn by Li Zicheng, the Qing Dynasty would not easily occupy the cities within the Great Wall. If you storm Shanhaiguan, you will undoubtedly suffer heavy losses. If you don't attack, you can still come and go freely Wouldn't it be better to wait until the fruit is ripe?
Because the Qing army has raided the route west of Shanhaiguan five times and entered the mainland for large-scale plunder. Perhaps many people will think that the Qing army does not have to break through Shanhaiguan. Bypass Shanhaiguan, enter Shanhaiguan from the weak pass of the Great Wall, and just hit Beijing directly. But this is impossible, because it is impossible for the Qing army to enter the Central Plains without taking Shanhaiguan. You know, looting belongs to looting, and entering the Central Plains are two completely different concepts.
Early Qing cavalry were good at field operations, but not at siege. For the Qing army whose rear area is outside the customs, although it can rob money and population inside the customs, it is difficult to maintain food and military supplies inside the customs. If you stay for a long time, once the grain delivery route is cut off by the defenders of the Ming Great Wall, and then you close the door and beat the dog, you may be wiped out in minutes, which is really dangerous. Therefore, as long as the Qing army has grabbed enough, it will often return to the north and never dare to stay in the pass.
However, history always likes to play jokes on people, and the strongest fortress is often broken from the inside. Wu Sangui's surrender not only cleared the only obstacle for the Qing army to enter the customs, but also handed over Ning Guan fighters, an elite border guard of the Ming Dynasty, to the Qing army. Shanhaiguan was originally an obstacle that the Qing army could not cross, but in the end it ended its historical role in this way!
In A.D. 1644, the Qing army, led by Regent Dourgen, arrived at Shanhaiguan, joined forces with Wu Sangui, the company commander of the Ming Dynasty, and defeated Dashun Army led by Li Zicheng, thus opening the curtain for the Qing Dynasty to enter the Central Plains. Prior to this, the Ming Dynasty had been very weak, and even powerful people like Nurhachi and Huang Taiji in the Qing Dynasty repeatedly blocked the Shanhaiguan defense line.
The key to the Twin Cities is unparalleled, and the Great Wall of Wan Li is the first pass. For the Ming Dynasty, if Shanhaiguan did not fall, it would be more difficult for the Qing Dynasty to enter the Central Plains. If Wu Sangui hadn't handed over Shanhaiguan, the Qing army would not have finally entered Shanhaiguan so quickly and easily. Shanhaiguan is very important to both the Ming and Qing Dynasties. When the Ming army guards Shanhaiguan, it can keep out the enemy. If the Qing army gets Shanhaiguan and the capital is wide open, there is no danger to defend, and the whole North China Plain is like no man's land.
It can be said that Shanhaiguan in Ming Dynasty is equivalent to Tongguan in Chang 'an, and its geographical position is extremely important. Shanhaiguan is known as "the first pass in the world", "the throat of the border county and the guarantee of the capital", which is by no means a hollow reputation. It is enough to prove that the late Jin Dynasty failed to attack Shanhaiguan from its rise to its occupation of the Central Plains.
Shanhaiguan is sandwiched between the capital of Ming Dynasty and Shengjing of Manchu Dynasty, which is about 400 kilometers apart. Before the Ming Dynasty, Shanhaiguan was called Guan Yu, which was established during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. It is located 20 miles east of Funing County, Qinhuangdao City. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Xu Da to rebuild Guancheng and move the site 60 miles eastward. Because Guancheng is surrounded by mountains and seas, it is named Shanhaiguan. Shanhaiguan is not a simple checkpoint, it consists of seven cities, and together with the Great Wall extending to the seaside, it forms a complete defense system.
Of course, this was not completed during the Hongwu period, and the construction process ran through the whole Ming Dynasty. From Shanhaiguan Guancheng, Jingbian Building, etc. In the peripheral cities such as Dongluo City, South Wing City and North Wing City, which were newly built, this defense body was constantly improved in the late Ming Dynasty. It was not until the last years of Chongzhen that the whole impregnable Shanhaiguan defense system was finally built. During these hundreds of years, countless people have contributed to the construction of Shanhaiguan, such as Xu Da, Qi Jiguang, Sun Chengzong and so on.
When Shanhaiguan was first built in the Ming Dynasty, Hou Bo had a guard, 10,000 families and 10,000 troops. With the change of the situation, Shanhaiguan gradually upgraded from a Guancheng to a Lucheng. After the accident in Liaodong in the late Ming Dynasty, it was upgraded to Shanhai Town, and its status was equivalent to Liaodong Town, a major town in Jiubian. The people guarding Shanhaiguan are all important officials, which shows that the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to it.
After the rise of the Manchu Dynasty in Liaodong, the western Liaoning corridor along the Ning Guan Golden Line was the main battlefield of wrestling in Ming and Qing Dynasties. For the Ming Dynasty, Shanhaiguan was the core and top priority of this western Liaoning defense line, and it was also the last fortress and pillar. As long as Shanhaiguan is here, even if the city outside Shanhaiguan is lost, there is still a chance to get it back. If Shanhaiguan falls, the cities outside Shanhaiguan will be completely hopeless. For the Qing Dynasty, Liaoxi Corridor was the Avenue of Stars that occupied the Central Plains, and Shanhaiguan was the gate at the end of the avenue, which could not be broken or entered.
On the east side of Liaoxi Corridor is the sea, and on the west side are Yanshan Mountain, seven old Tushan Mountain, Nurul Tiger Mountain and other continuous mountains. This narrow and relatively flat passage is about 200 kilometers long, but the widest part is only a dozen kilometers and the narrowest part is only a few kilometers. At the southern end of the Hexi Corridor, the narrowest place is Shanhaiguan. The city is strong, so it can be said that 10,000 can't be forced, but one person keeps it. The narrowest place in the middle section of Liaoxi Corridor is near Xingcheng, Huludao, which is Ningyuan City, which is the key guarding city of Yuan Chonghuan in Ming Dynasty.
The first line of defense at the northern end of Liaoxi Corridor is Jinzhou. With these three strongest cities guarding the western Liaoning corridor, as long as the commander is not too stupid and there is no problem within the Ming Dynasty, it is almost impossible for the Qing army to break through the whole line of defense. Actually, it's true. Even though there were serious problems in the Ming Dynasty, Nurhachi could do nothing about the strong fortress and submit to humiliation. Huang taiji was also unable to attack again and again, so he had to bypass the mountainous area in western Liaoning for three transgressions and five times, capture the capital and plunder it.
Some people may say, since Huang Taiji can bypass this mountain, why should he hang himself from a tree in Shanhaiguan? That's right. In ancient times, in addition to the western Liaoning corridor guarded by Shanhaiguan, there were other roads from the northeast to North China. From east to west, there are three passes around the capital: xifengkou, Gubeikou and Juyongguan.
This road in xifengkou, called "Lulong Road" in ancient times, starts from Chaoyang, Liaoning, and travels southwest along valleys such as Daling River until xifengkou. This road is very famous. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao made an expedition to Wuhuan and took Lulong Road, because the western Liaoning corridor was impassable in rainy season. If you take Gubeikou Road, start from Shenyang, enter Horqin Sandy Land in the north, turn to Chifeng along Xiliaohe River, then go down to Pingquan along Laohahe River, cross Luanhe River to Luanping, and then go to Gubeikou. Or take Lulong Road in the first half, and then turn to Pingquan-Luanping. If you take the road of Juyongguan, you should start from Shenyang, enter the Inner Mongolia Plateau along the West Liaohe River, bypass Zhangjiakou, and then go south to Juyongguan. Try to take this road and bypass 1000 kilometers.
These three roads have to go over mountains and mountains, and the difficulty can be imagined. Soldiers in the Central Plains may be fine, but it is undoubtedly a kind of torture for soldiers who are used to riding horses and whipping on horseback. More importantly, the front line is too long and logistics supply is difficult. According to the literature, only Juyongguan can pass the reimbursement road 3, while Lulong Road and Gubeikou Road only pass people and cannot drive.
In other words, these three roads are not only long detours, but also difficult to walk. More importantly, grain transportation has become a big problem, and siege equipment and artillery can't be brought. This is the reason why the Qing army entered the customs on a small scale after several circuitous trips, only plundering and not attacking the capital. This is also the reason why the Qing army invaded Shanhaiguan, because if the Qing army wants to attack on a large scale and break through the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Shanhaiguan is an insurmountable road.
After the change of dynasties in Ming and Qing dynasties, Shanhaiguan's strategic position declined rapidly, and it withdrew its general troops and towns. Finally, only 300 soldiers and horses were left, led by more than a thousand people. In the second year of Qianlong, Shanhaiguan was finally abolished and merged into Yulin County until the demise of the Qing Dynasty.
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