The Ming responded by dispatching expeditionary forces led by Military Commissioner Yang Hao to besiege the Later Jin capital Hetu Ala from four routes.

Du Song was advised to camp for the night, but he refused and took 10,000 men with him across the river to attack Jin defenses, while leaving 20,000 with the artillery train and baggage on the other side.

When his forces were halfway across, Nurhaci ordered his bannermen to break the dams they had prepared and Du's men had to abandon their equipment to escape the current.

The commander in charge of artillery and baggage was supposed to coordinate the crossing following Du, but he refused due to the river's turbulence.

[7] The Sarhu camp held off the initial Jin assault but fell into an ambush while in pursuit of the enemy and were driven toward the river.

Ming musketeers tried to reform ranks and fire their guns but were flanked by Jin cavalry which broke their formation and shattered their morale.

Du and the other two generals, Wang Xuan and Zhao Menglin, were killed in combat while trying to occupy a high ground near the river.

He divided his forces in two and together with the remnants of Du Song's army, mainly supply units, formed three fortified camps at Xiangjiayan (Siyanggiyan), protected by cannons and trenches.

Then he ordered a thousand infantry to draw fire while Nurhaci led his banners to surround the Ming encampment and conduct a surprise attack.

The rearguard attempted to rally under Pan Zongyan and his Yihe (Jurchen) allies, but this proved futile, and the army's morale broke.

Liu took the bait and increased the army's pace which caused his troops to lose cohesion as they advanced deep into a valley.

[8] Liu Ting was ambushed in Abudali (阿布達里) Pass, not 60 li away from Hetu Ala, as his troops stretched themselves out to traverse the valley.

[10] Li Rubai received orders to retreat and withdrew his troop across Ming borders with minimal casualties, only losing a few hundred men in small Jin cavalry attacks.

Later on Gang would be led to believe that his family had died in the political turmoil that occurred during a coup in his native kingdom of Joseon.

The first emperor of the newly declared Qing dynasty later wrote: "The Koreans are incapable on horseback but do not transgress the principles of the military arts.