Yuan Chonghuan - Early Military Career

Early Military Career

He passed the imperial examinations in 1619 and was appointed to the minor post of magistrate in a remote place. In 1619, the imperial Ming army was defeated by the Manchus in the Battle of Sarhu. The Chinese armies suffered successive defeats and in 1622 they were forced to retreat to Shanhaiguan, abandoning all of Liaoning to the Manchus. After a visit to the front, Yuan was appointed second-class secretary on the Board of War, then promoted almost immediately to secretary and supplied with funds for enlisting troops. (Yuan's rapid promotion was quite notable as he did not have any formal military training at all, save for studying the Confucian classics in order to pass the imperial examinations.)

Yuan Chonghuan worked harmoniously with the commander-in-chief Sun Chengzong and pushed the frontiers steadily northward, fortifying Ningyuan in 1623. The elderly Sun was an able commander but refused to bribe the Emperor's eunuch. Consequently,Sun was recalled in 1625 and replaced by Gao Di (高第), who ordered a general retreat to Shanhaiguan. However, Yuan flatly refused to leave Ningyuan.

Early in the next year, Nurhaci led the Manchus back across the Liao River. Yuan Chonghuan and his deputies successfully held Ningyuan with the newly-mounted and modified "red-barbarian cannon" (紅衣大炮, 紅夷大炮), and only 9,000 soldiers (mostly militia) against Nurhaci's 130,000 (some estimates say 200,000). The victory at Ningyuan prevented China from being conquered and boosted the hopes of Ming and its allies that the Manchus might be defeated.

It is noted that Yuan was said to have studied every aspect of the cannon for it to fire accurately at the position he wanted, and this is given as the reason why the Manchu ruler Nurhaci, although well-protected by his elite guards in a safe position, was wounded by cannon fire. It is said that after the battle, Yuan sent letters to ask the well-being of Nurhaci, as traditionally done by Chinese generals, but Nurhaci returned an insult by calling him a faker.

As a result of this victory, the Imperial Court at Beijing appointed Yuan as the Governor of Liaodong on 27 February 1626, with full authority to handle all forces outside the passes.

During this time, he executed Mao Wenlong, a Ming commander regarded as ruthless but talented. Various texts have different opinions of his actions. Many stated this was a mistake since Mao could still be used against the Manchus. However, Yuan took into account how Mao ran his battles: Mao's tactics usually involved using civilian settlements as a shield for his troops, and during the occupation the civilians suffered tremendously. Mao also used Korea — Ming's ally — as a base to launch expeditions against Manchuria. When the Manchus entered Korea, Mao ordered a general retreat of Ming forces. This angered many merchants in the Beijing area who traded in the Korean Peninsula. In addition, Mao was known to bribe many corrupt eunuchs and officials. Consequently, by executing Mao, Yuan made enemies with some of the most influential and corrupt people in China.

Taking advantage of Nurhaci's death later in the year, Yuan reoccupied Jinzhou. The Manchus reappeared in June and withdrew after a series of indecisive battles. (Note: This is known as the Battle of Ningyuan-Jinzhou or the Second Battle of Ningyuan.) Yuan was criticised by the partisans of the eunuch official Wèi Zhōngxián, who stated that he took too long to fight off the "barbarian" Manchus. Shortly thereafter Yuan was forced into retirement.