User:Zrnstnsr/Battle of Tong Pass (1645)

The Battle of Tong Pass in 1645 saw another major failure of Shun dynasty's military campaign against Qing dynasty. The battle was started on Janurary 26 and lasted for about half a month, ending with retreat of Shun troops. After the battle, Li Zicheng was forced to relinquish Xi'an and the whole Shaanxi Province, and his dynasty fell de facto after his death at Mount Jiugong.

Prelude
After his failure at Shanhai Pass, Li Zicheng retreated from Beijing and moved into Shaanxi. Rebellion broke out in Shanxi, and the rebels surrendered to Qing soon after, which exposed Shaanxi to Qing troops. Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi, was captured on 1 November, 1644, before Dorgun, Qing's de facto ruler, decided to attack Shun and Southern Ming concurrently. He ordered Ajige, Wu Sangui and Shang Kexi to assault northern Shaanxi through Datong ,and Dodo, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming to march south to conquer Southern Ming. Li Zicheng also decided to defeat Qing in northern Shaanxi, his army marching from Xi'an to Luochuan.

However, Shun troops in Pingyang and western Henan launched a campaign. Starting from 10 November, Shun captured Jiyuan and Meng County, and defeated Qing troops at Baixiang Town, annihilating almost all of Qing forces. Shun forces then besiege Qinyang, capital of Huaiqing Fu. Dorgun was shocked by the defeat, and immediately decided to reorder Dodo to move west to attack Qinyang and Tong Pass. Li, learning that Dodo was also approaching, stopped at Luochuan for ten days, waiting for further information.

Dodo defeated Shun troops in Huaiqing, crossed Huang River at Mengjin, and entered Shǎn Prefecture on 12 January, 1645. He further encamped 20 li away from Tong Pass a week later. Li Zicheng then immediately led his troops to Tong Pass.

Battle
Qing valued Tong Pass so much that Hongyipao was supplied for attacking, and additional enforcement marched through Pu Prefecture in January 1645. On 26 January, Li's troops reached Tong Pass, and Liu Zongmin attacked against Qing, though, defeated. He attacked again five days later, but was defeated either. Li Zicheng then ordered his cavalry and infantry to fight, but was countered by Eight Banners. During 1–2 February, Shun attempted to strike Qing barracks at night, but ended with no effect.

On 5 February, Hongyipao reached the battlefield, and Qing besieged Tong Pass two days later. Qing troops fired their Hongyipao and attacked violently. Shun troops countered with cavalry and ordered troops to attack from Qing groups' back, but neither succeeded.

During this time, Li Guo was defeated at Yan'an by Ajige, which was captured in January 1645, and Yulin guarded by Gao Yigong ran a risk of being besieged. Li Zicheng learned that he was unable to defeat two Qing armies, so he retreated from Tong Pass on 7 February. On the next day, Ma Shiyao, guarding the pass, pretended to surrender to Dodo, and sent message to Li, requesting for a converging attack, which was snagged by Qing troops. Dodo declared a banquet and disarmed Ma's troops on the following day, but ambushed them, killing Ma and all his armies.

Aftermath
On 9 February, the same day Ma died, Li Zicheng and his army reached Xi'an. He further abandoned Xi'an and retreated to Jingzhou and Xiangyang. Dodo captured Xi'an on 14 February, shortly before Ajige entered Xi'an. Dodo was ordered to conquer Southern Ming by Dorgun, and Ajige was allowed to continue attacking Shun troops. Ajige was annoyed failing to capture Xi'an first, and assaulted Shun troops violently, winning eight battles from Dengzhou to Jiujiang.

About in April 1645, Li Zicheng retreated to Jingzhou with about 130,000 troops. He decided to further abandon Jingzhou and Xiangyang and conquer Southern Ming before Qing troops could do. On 19 April, he captured Wuchang, but was besieged soon after by Ajige. Li abandoned Wuchang and continued to march east, but was defeated devastatingly about 20 km west of Jiujiang in May, forcing him to turn to west. He was then killed at Mount Jiugong, in present-day Tongshan County, and his dynasty was de facto ended. Li Zicheng's remnant armies continued to march west, entered Hunan in June, and joined with forces of He Tengjiao, viceroy of Huguang, approximately in August.

After Li Zicheng's retreat from Xi'an, Gao yigong abandoned Yulin on 10 February. He joined with Li Guo's forces at Huianbao (in present-day Yanchi County), and retreated with Shun troops in Gansu and Qinghai through Hanzhong. Since He Zhen, guard general of Hanzhong, had surrendered to Qing, Li and Gao had to fight with him and managed to reach Kuizhou. They then started to besiege Jingzhou on 9 September. Li Zicheng's remnants, learning that Li and Gao had retreated to Jingzhou, joined with them, and they selected Li Guo as their leader. They were designated with Zhongzhen Battalion thereafter, becoming a part of Ming troops.