In March of the fifth year of Chongde (1640), the Qing army began to build the city of Yiju, marking a shift in their strategic focus from the scattered invasion of the fortress to the more concentrated Battle of Songjin. The Qing army concentrated all their efforts on this, showing that they attached great importance to this campaign.
In August of the sixth year of Chongde (the fourteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1641), the battle situation became more and more tense. Seeing that the situation was critical, Huang Taiji resolutely decided to go on a personal expedition despite his nose bleeding. After six days of rapid marching, he finally reached Matsuyama. Huang Taiji's personal expedition greatly boosted the morale of the Qing army and strengthened their belief in victory.
Under the careful deployment of Huang Taiji, the Qing army marched from the south of the Wuxin River to the sea, crossed the main road, and continuously camped. They also set up an ambush at Gaoqiao to encircle and chase and intercept them, ensuring that they were prepared everywhere. On 18 February, the Qing army successfully attacked Songshan and captured Hong Chengchou, an important general of the Ming Dynasty. This victory further weakened the military power of the Ming Dynasty.
On the 8th day of the following third month, Zu Dashou in Jinzhou City also chose to surrender after being isolated and besieged for a year. In April, the Qing army redoubled its efforts, conquered Tashan and Xingshan, and destroyed these two cities. At this point, the decisive battle of Songjin ended in the complete victory of the Qing army. The annihilation of more than 50,000 Ming troops in this battle showed the strong combat effectiveness and strategic superiority of the Qing army.
In the seventh year of Chongde (the fifteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1642), Huang Taiji launched the last entrance battle of his life, that is, the Renwu Change. He made unique and profound demands for this military operation, especially emphasizing the need to pay close attention to the movements of the Ming Dynasty and the peasant army, and advocating a cooperative attitude to deal with it.
The commander of this march was the general Abatai and others, and the two wings of the army led by them broke through the walls of Jielingkou and Huangyankou respectively, and then drove straight into the south, all the way south to Yanzhou, Shandong. In this battle, the Qing army achieved brilliant results, conquering a total of three prefectures, eighteen prefectures, sixty-seven counties, and defeating the enemy in thirty-nine places. In addition, they also obtained a large amount of booty, including ** 2,250 taels, platinum 2,250,270 taels, as well as 369,000 prisoners and a large number of cattle and horses, clothing and other materials.
The generals of the Han army, Li Guohan, Tong Tulai, Zu Zerun, Zu Kefa, Zhang Cunren and others, after achieving such brilliant achievements, put forward a proposal to Huang Taiji to pursue and seize Beijing by victory. However, after careful consideration, Huang Taiji still adhered to the established national policy and was unwilling to take risks easily. He made it clear: "Taking Yanjing is like cutting down a big tree, you must first cut down the branches from both sides, and the big tree will naturally fall." If I don't first capture the four cities outside the pass (Ningyuan, Zhonghousuo, Qiantunwei, and Zhongqiansuo), how can I immediately conquer Shanhaiguan? Now that the elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have been exhausted, our army is besieging on all sides, their national strength is declining, but the strength of our army is increasing day by day. From then on, Yanjing can be easily obtained. ”
During Huang Taiji's life, although the Qing army never passed through the Shanhai Pass, it was they who cleared the way for the later Qing soldiers to enter the customs. In October of the same year, ** V sent Ilaguk Sanhu Tuketu and Erut Mongol Daiqing Erji and others to express their friendship to the Qing Dynasty.
When Huang Taiji was fifty years old, he experienced a huge blow in his life - the death of his beloved Concubine Chen, which made his originally strong body quickly become weak. Concubine Chen, Borzigit, was the wife of Huang Taiji in the eighth year of Tiancong (the seventh year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1634), and was named the concubine of Guanju Palace in the first year of Chongde. She is virtuous and quiet, and she is deeply favored by Huang Taiji. The two had a son after marriage, and Huang Taiji was so overjoyed that he even issued the first amnesty decree of the Qing Dynasty. However, this son unfortunately died at the age of two, which brought great grief to Huang Taiji.
In September of the sixth year of Chongde (the fourteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1641), when Huang Taiji was commanding the battle on the Songjin front, he suddenly received the news that Concubine Chen was critically ill. He was so anxious that he immediately rushed back to Shengjing, but in the end he still failed to see Concubine Chen for the last time. The death of Concubine Chen made Huang Taiji grief-stricken, and since then his body has deteriorated, sometimes in a coma, sometimes with a loss of appetite, and often "holy bows to disobey the peace".
After six years in Chongde, Huang Taiji's health deteriorated, and he issued amnesty decrees several times and reduced the burden of handling daily affairs. He even prayed to slow down aging and disease. However, the arrangement of fate cannot be changed.
In the eighth year of Chongde (the sixteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1643), on the night of the ninth day of August (September 21), Huang Taiji died suddenly in the harem of Shengjing at the age of fifty-two. His death brought great shock and grief to the Qing Dynasty. He was called Emperor Yingtianxingguo Hongde Zhangwukuan Wenren Shengrui Xiaowen, and later accumulated as Emperor Yingtianxingguo Hongde Zhangwukuan Wenren Shengrui Xiaojing Min Zhaoding Longdao Xiangongwen Emperor, temple name Taizong. His body was buried in Shenyang Zhaoling (Beiling), which became a holy place for future generations to remember and respect.