The reason for the defeat of the Ming army in the Battle of Sarhu

The Battle of Sarhu was a strategic decisive battle between the Ming and Later Jin dynasties that took place in the 47th year of Wanli (1619) of the Ming Dynasty, in which the Ming suffered a crushing defeat and eventually lost control of the Liaodong region.

Troops on both sides: The Ming Dynasty mobilized about 110,000 troops in the Battle of Salhu, commanded by Yang Hao, the Liaodong Jinglu, and divided its troops into four routes to attack Houjin. Later, Kim concentrated about 60,000 troops, commanded by Nurhachi, and adopted the tactics of concentrating forces and breaking them individually.

The Ming Dynasty's Western Route Army, led by Jun Song, set out from Fushun and marched along the Hunhe valley to Salhu. In the Battle of Salhu, Juniper was in a hurry to attack and did not wait for the support of the Northern Route Army and the Eastern Route Army, so he launched an attack alone, but was surrounded by the Houjin army and annihilated. The Northern Route Army of the Ming Dynasty, led by Ma Lin, set out from Kaiyuan and marched along the Songhua River valley to Salhu. In the Battle of Salhu, because he was worried about Juniper's safety, he did not wait for the support of the Eastern Route Army, so he launched an attack alone, but was also surrounded by the Houjin army and the whole army was annihilated. The Ming Dynasty's Eastern Route Army, led by Liu Ling, set out from Kuandian and marched along the valley of the Hunhe River to Sarhu. Liu Ling achieved some victories in the Battle of Sarhu, but because he did not receive support from other armies, he was eventually defeated by the Later Jin army. The Southern Route Army of the Ming Dynasty, led by Li Rubai, set out from Lushun and marched along the valley of the Yalu River to Sarhu. Li Rubai did not participate in the battle of Salhu because he was slow to move and did not arrive in time for Salhu. The entire battle plan was drawn up by Yang Ho, the secretary of the military department. He planned to divide his troops into four routes and attack Houjin from different directions to achieve the encirclement and annihilation of Houjin.

Here's the plan. The Western Route Army, led by Juniper, set out from Shenyang and marched along the Hunhe valley towards Salhu in order to attract the main forces of the Later Jin.

Northern Route Army: Led by Ma Lin, it set out from Kaiyuan and marched along the Songhua River valley to Salhu to cut off Houjin's retreat.

Eastern Route Army: Led by Liu Ling, starting from Kuandian, marching along the Hunhe River valley to Sarhu to cooperate with the attack of the Western Route Army.

Southern Route Army: Led by Li Rubai, it set out from Lushun and marched along the valley of the Yalu River to Salhu to cut off the grain route of Houjin.

The plan may seem reasonable, but in reality there is a big problem. First of all, the strength of the Ming army was scattered, and the strength of each army was not enough to oppose the main force of the Later Jin. Secondly, the Ming army was too slow to move and did not reach Salhu in time, giving the Later Jin army plenty of time to prepare.

Therefore, the battle plan of the Ming Dynasty army was too complicated, and the troops were divided into four ways to attack the Later Jin, resulting in the dispersion of the troops and being broken by the Later Jin army individually. This was one of the main reasons for the defeat of the Ming army in the Battle of Sarhu.

The generals of the Ming army lacked unified command in the battle and fought in silos, resulting in low combat efficiency.

The Ming Dynasty's command system was chaotic, and the lack of effective coordination and cooperation between the various armies led to a situation in which they fought in silos.

For example, in the Battle of Sarhu, Juniper of the Western Route Army launched an attack alone because he was in a hurry to attack and did not wait for the support of the Northern Route Army and the Eastern Route Army, but was surrounded by the Later Jin Army and annihilated. In the Battle of Salhu, Ma Lin of the Northern Route Army launched an attack alone because he was worried about Juniper's safety and did not wait for the support of the Eastern Route Army, but was also surrounded by the Houjin army and annihilated. Although Liu Ling of the Eastern Route Army achieved some victories in the Battle of Sarhu, he was eventually defeated by the Later Jin Army because he did not receive support from other armies.

The internal contradictions of the Ming Dynasty in the Battle of Salhu were mainly manifested in the following aspects:

In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, political corruption was serious, which led to a lack of funds and equipment for the army.

There were serious contradictions among the generals of the Ming army, which led to a lack of unity and coordination in the army.

In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the society was in turmoil and the people were struggling to make a living, which led to a lack of morale and combat effectiveness in the army.

To sum up, the defeat of the Ming Dynasty in the Battle of Salhu was caused by a variety of reasons. Among them, the command errors and internal contradictions of the Ming Dynasty army were one of the main reasons.

The Battle of Sarhu ended in a crushing defeat for the Ming Dynasty, which lost about 50,000 troops, including a large number of generals and **. Later, Jin won the Battle of Sarhu, consolidated his rule in the Liaodong region, and began to march into the Guannai region of the Ming Dynasty.