Jǐnzhōu

Jinzhou stood at a critical point on the Ming defensive corridor outside Shanhai Pass. Its garrison formed part of the line running through Ningyuan toward the frontier, where fortified towns supported the defence of the route into northern China. In the final years of the Ming, the city became the focus of sustained Qing pressure.

The siege brought a major relief army under Hong Chengchou into the country around Songshan in 1641. Attempts to reach Jinzhou failed as Qing forces disrupted the Ming position and its supplies. The defeat of the relief forces left the garrison commander Zu Dashou without a realistic prospect of rescue. After Songshan fell and Hong was captured, Zu surrendered Jinzhou in 1642. The outcome removed an important Ming stronghold and shifted the frontier balance before the Qing advance through Shanhai Pass two years later.