Battle of Ningyuan

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Battle of Ningyuan
Part of the Manchu conquest
Date 1626 Location Xingcheng, Liaoning Result Ming victory
Combatants
Later Jin	Ming Dynasty
Commanders
Nurhaci	Yuan Chonghuan
Strength
130,000- 200,000	3000-10,000

The Battle of Ningyuan (寧遠之戰) was a battle between the Han Chinese Ming Dynasty and the Manchurian Later Jin in 1626. The Ming won this battle.

After Sun Chengzong (孫承宗) was replaced by a new commander, the new commander was a coward and ordered all Ming Forces outside the Great Wall to retreat inside and abandon all lands out side Shanhai Pass. Yuan Chonghuan objected stronglly and was thus left to command a lone army guarding Ningyuan (modern-day Xingcheng, Liaoning).

In 1626 Kundulun Khan Nurhaci, seeing all Ming forces leaving, decided to advance towards Ningyuan, personally leading a force 130,000 (some say 200,000).

Yuan Chonghuan had only 10,000 men under his command. He burnt everything outside Ningyuan and wrote an edict of defience against Jin in his own blood; he also sent orders to guards at the Great Wall to execute any deserters from Ningyuan, thus greatly boosting City's morale.

20 days later, the Jin army arrived and immediately attacked the City. However, after two days of intense fighting, the citizens and soldiers of Ningyuan inflicted heavy losses on the Jin forces and Nurhaci himself was wounded by cannon fire and decided to retreat.

While retreating, Yuan Chonghuan chased the other and inflicted even more losses on the Jin army. Nurhaci retreated back to Mukden and died from his wounds. His eighth son or the forth Beilei (lord) Hung Taiji assumed the Khanate.