The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 294 Nighttime Forced March

After a full day of rest, Zheng Zhifeng felt much better, as the aches and pains all over her body had subsided.

Especially after the treatment, although there is still some discomfort when walking, it is no longer enough to affect mobility.

As evening fell, with Li Dingguo's order, his 1,200 detachments quickly assembled.

The soldiers sent out earlier have already returned, bringing detailed intelligence about the road ahead.

Another group had already crossed the Wujiang River ahead of time; they would become the army's eyes and guides in the darkness.

Without any rousing pre-battle mobilization, the troops, like a silent undercurrent, quietly left the camp and headed upstream along a pre-surveyed secluded path.

After a full day of traversing mountains and valleys, the army finally arrived at the designated departure point around noon the following day.

This is a secluded river bend upstream of the Chashan Pass ferry crossing.

The riverbank here is steep and densely forested, providing excellent cover for reconnaissance from downstream.

The Wujiang River makes a sharp bend here, the current becomes relatively gentler, the riverbed is narrow and covered with pebbles of varying sizes and deadwood smoothed by the river.

The troops rested on the riverbank for several hours, while the auxiliary soldiers used whatever materials were available to make bamboo rafts in preparation for crossing the river.

The auxiliary soldiers worked quickly, and by evening, more than a dozen simple bamboo rafts had been placed on the riverbank.

All around was quiet, with only the chirping of insects and the sound of water.

The river bend isn't very large, and there are several rapids in the center, so it's necessary to cross the river in batches to avoid dangerous areas.

Standing on the riverbank, Zhao Laoba looked at the dark, rushing river before him, his heart pounding with anxiety.

He couldn't swim, but he was sent to lead the charge.

There was no other way; most people in the army were like him, and very few knew how to swim.

The first batch of soldiers crossing the river numbered about a hundred. Each raft could carry five or six people, and two soldiers with good swimming skills were responsible for rowing.

Zhao Laoba and his men carefully boarded the raft. Once they were in position, the soldier wielding the oars pushed off with his legs, and the raft landed steadily in the water, slowly paddling towards the opposite bank.

Without any lights, they could only rely on the faint starlight and the oarsman's experience to determine their direction.

Zheng Zhifeng and Wang Laoshuan's team was in the second batch.

The group boarded a large bamboo raft, which was quite deep, with the river water almost reaching their ankles.

The oarsman struggled to maintain the steer, and the bamboo raft swayed gently away from the shore, sliding into the middle of the river.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but just as they were about to reach the other side, a loud crash suddenly came from not far to their right.

The raft Zhao Laoba was on struck an underwater reef. Caught off guard, he and three or four soldiers on the same boat splashed into the icy river water!
The group was wearing cloth masks. After falling into the water, they sank very quickly and didn't even have time to struggle. They were about to be swept away by the river!

Upon hearing the splash, Zheng Zhifeng immediately stood up from the raft and growled:

"Oh no! Someone has run aground!"

He spends most of his time at sea and is quick to react to dangerous situations on water.

He snatched the oar from a soldier's hand, handed it to his attendant, and shouted sternly:

"Quick, get closer!"

Before the soldiers next to him could react, Zheng Zhifeng and his three attendants picked up poles, skillfully adjusted the direction of the bamboo raft under their feet, and quickly moved to the right front.

The river was swift and the bamboo raft was heavy, making it difficult to control precisely.

But Zheng Zhifeng reacted quickly, spotting a soldier clinging to a rock in the water. She bent down, reached out, grabbed his armor strap, and shouted:
"rise!"

He gritted his teeth and managed to pull the soldier out of the water and onto the bamboo raft.

The three attendants beside him worked together seamlessly. One of them handed out a bamboo pole to probe the water, while the other two jumped straight into the dark river and, with a combination of scooping and pulling, managed to rescue Zhao Laoba and several soldiers who had fallen into the water onto the raft.

The entire rescue operation was swift and steady. After all, the Zheng family had been through rough seas, so the small Wujiang River was no problem for them.

The soldiers on the other rafts around watched this scene with bated breath, and only breathed a sigh of relief when all their comrades who had fallen into the water were rescued.

Their gazes toward Zheng Zhifeng and the others were filled with astonishment and gratitude.

After safely reaching the other side, Li Laoba and the others who had been rescued finally came to their senses and stood up to bow and thank Zheng Zhifeng and the others.

"Brother Zheng, we owe you so much this time, I can't thank you enough!"

Zheng Zhifeng waved her hand, a smile on her face:

"a piece of cake."

“Captain Zhao has been very kind to us these past few days, how can Zheng just stand by and watch us die?”

Although he appeared calm on the surface, he was secretly pleased, as Zheng Zhifeng had finally regained some of her sense of presence.

The mountain march with heavy loads in the previous two days made him look ridiculous, but now he has finally shown his skills in the area he is best at.

Soon, the news reached Li Dingguo, who was directing the crossing of the river.

After crossing the river, Li Dingguo hurried over and solemnly clasped his hands in greeting to Zheng Zhifeng, saying:
"Mr. Zheng, thank you so much!"

"If it weren't for your timely intervention, my brothers would probably be in grave danger."

"Dingguo admires the Zheng family's skill on the water!"

Zheng Zhifeng didn't dare to be presumptuous and quickly returned the greeting:
"Li Youji is too kind. It was just a small favor, nothing to mention."

"Captain Zhao has taught me a lot these past few days. They're all brothers, how can I just stand by and watch them die?"

During their exchange of pleasantries, the remaining soldiers successfully crossed the river bend and regrouped in the dense forest.

Seeing this, Li Dingguo quickly ordered his personal guards to bring shoes and socks, and handed them to Zheng Zhifeng and the other two.
"Mr. Zheng, please change into clean shoes and socks first."

"We still have forty miles of mountain road ahead of us."

Looking at the rushing Wujiang River not far away, Zheng Zhifeng suddenly remembered a question and couldn't help but ask Li Dingguo:
"Li Youji, now that we've reached the riverbank, why don't we take a raft and go downstream to Chashan Ferry?"

"Isn't traveling by water much faster than crossing mountains and valleys?"

Li Dingguo shook his head and pointed to the dark river surface, saying:
"The Wujiang River may look calm, but it is actually full of dangerous shoals and reefs, and it is extremely dangerous to sail at night."

"Nine out of ten of our soldiers are landlubbers, unlike you, sir, who is an expert in swimming."

"If the ship is destroyed, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Don't worry, we're not necessarily slower than boats with our own two legs."

"At most four hours, we should be able to reach the tea mountain ferry before dawn."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhifeng's face was filled with suspicion:
"Legs are faster than boats?"

"Are you kidding me?"

He thought it was a complete fantasy.

This is a night march; one wrong step and you could fall into a ravine. How could we possibly move this fast?

Li Dingguo seemed to see through his thoughts, but didn't explain further, only smiling faintly:
"If Mr. Zheng has any doubts, he might as well come with me."

"You don't need to bring your armor. Let my personal guards carry it for you. You just need to stay with the group."

Zheng Zhifeng looked at Li Dingguo with a mixture of belief and doubt, wondering where his confidence came from.

After a brief rest, the troops set off again.

This detachment needed to march forty li (approximately 20 kilometers) to reach the vicinity of Chashan Ferry before dawn the following day.

There was no moon that night, only sparse stars dotting the sky.

Zheng Zhifeng removed her heavy armor, carrying only a waist knife and bow and arrows to conserve her energy.

Even so, he still felt that the road ahead was difficult. The night was as dark as ink, and it was almost impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face in the mountains and forests.

Zheng Zhifeng followed behind Li Dingguo, her heart filled with doubt:

How can we ensure we don't get lost when it's pitch black and we're marching through completely unfamiliar mountainous terrain?
How do you keep the formation in place?
But soon, he witnessed the strict discipline of the Han army's night marches.

During the march, the thousand-strong army made no noise other than the rustling of footsteps and the occasional chirping of insects.

The orders from officers at all levels were relayed silently from one person to another through close whispers, guiding the troops forward without being noticed.

What surprised him most was the way the army guided directions.

In the queue, every thirty or forty people or so, there was a soldier holding a bamboo tube.

The bamboo tube may look ordinary, but it contains a hidden secret.

These bamboo tubes used for guiding people are open at one end, with lit incense sticks hidden inside, only a faint dark red tip showing.

Although the red light was faint, it was particularly conspicuous in the pitch-black night.

When the rear ranks need to catch up, the soldiers at the front will wave bamboo tubes in their hands to guide the ranks forward.

Torches are not allowed during night raids; the red light from the bamboo tubes is the only one-way signpost in the darkness.

Zheng Zhifeng pondered for a long time before she suddenly realized what was going on.

This method not only guides the comrades behind them but also prevents the firelight from leaking out and allowing the enemy ahead to discover the team's whereabouts.

At the same time, the spacing between the ranks was greatly shortened, and the soldiers followed one after another to avoid falling behind.

Even so, dangers still frequently occurred during the march.

Zheng Zhifeng witnessed a soldier not far ahead accidentally slip and tumble down a steep slope with a muffled groan.

To his shock, the soldier gritted his teeth and did not utter a single cry for help.

Seeing this, Zheng Zhifeng wanted to go up and help pull the person up from the embankment.

But the soldiers behind him stopped him, telling him to keep moving forward and not to stop, so as not to cause a blockage behind him.

Zheng Zhifeng was greatly puzzled. The person wasn't dead yet, so were they just going to abandon them like this?

Before he could ask a question, two auxiliary soldiers rushed up from the back of the line and quietly slipped down the embankment beside him.

The two men quickly checked the soldier's injuries at the bottom of the slope, then helped each other up the ditch, where the soldier, who was grimacing from the fall, was pulled up and followed behind the column.

The entire process was efficient and silent, without affecting the main force's progress in the slightest.

When passing through some complicated intersections, Zheng Zhifeng could still see guides standing by the roadside, using hand gestures to indicate the direction for the group.

At the very front and the very back of each column, Li Dingguo had arranged soldiers with the best night vision to scout ahead and to keep in touch with the rear.

Like owls in the night, they were constantly alert to their surroundings and maintained visual communication between the front and rear ranks to ensure that the entire marching column would not become separated.

The mountain road was rugged and bumpy, sometimes requiring climbing steep slopes and sometimes wading through streams, but the team seemed to be walking on flat ground, maintaining an extremely fast marching speed.

Zheng Zhifeng was deeply impressed by this sophisticated marching system.

He never imagined that an army could actually traverse the complex mountain terrain without using torches.

And so, this silent, black dragon moved along the towering mountains of the Wujiang River, stopping and starting, relying on its strict organizational discipline to keep moving toward its designated location.

The next day, at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), the sky was not yet fully bright.

After a forced march of more than three hours, Li Dingguo's detachment finally arrived near the Chashan Ferry.

This is a ravine on a back slope, about four or five miles from the ferry crossing.

News came from the soldiers at the front that they had discovered the Ming army camp and that the soldiers seemed to be cooking.

As agreed, the soldiers had tied a small triangular flag to an inconspicuous riverbank upstream of the ferry crossing.

This is to notify the main force on the other side that our troops are in position.

After listening to Tang Bing's report, Li Dingguo nodded in satisfaction.

Shao Yong set the time for the final assault as early as 7:00 AM this morning, and they arrived an hour early.

Li Dingguo summoned a messenger and gave the order:

"Quickly, have the entire army take cover on the spot and rest as soon as possible."

With his command, the surrounding soldiers finally relaxed completely, and many of them collapsed to the ground.

Meanwhile, the auxiliary soldiers split up and took action. Some set up tents and spread out blankets, while others took out steamed buns and dried meat and distributed them to everyone to fill their stomachs.

The soldiers quickly finished their steamed buns, grabbed their water bottles and took a few sips, then crawled into their tents and fell asleep immediately.

The soldiers seized the time to replenish their strength, while Li Dingguo, as the commander-in-chief, was still busy.

He led a few personal guards and quietly made his way to the vicinity of the ridgeline.

Under the cover of the woods, Li Dingguo personally observed the terrain and the situation of the garrison at the ferry crossing, and planned the attack route.

Chashan Pass Ferry is located on the south bank of the Wujiang River. The Ming army camp was built against the mountain and by the river, with a steep cliff behind it and facing the Wujiang River.

The stockade walls were mainly made of wooden palisades, supplemented with rammed earth, and watchtowers were set up around the perimeter.

The defenders focused their defenses entirely on the riverside, where the walls were high and there were even additional cannon positions and arrow emplacements.

After careful reconnaissance, Li Dingguo decided to lie in ambush in the dense forest on the side of the ridge for a while before rushing out.

This attack route requires descending a steep slope first, and then attacking the flank and rear of the Ming army camp.

The attack distance was about three or four miles, and his soldiers only needed one charge to reach it, leaving the defenders no time to react.

Just as Li Dingguo was surveying the terrain and planning the attack route, the main force on the north bank had already formed ranks and was preparing to launch an attack.

Shao Yong had already received the news that Tang Bing had found the flags left behind by Li Dingguo's troops on the riverbank.

He stood on the high ground on the north bank, holding up his telescope, constantly searching the terrain near the south bank, estimating from which direction Li Dingguo would launch his attack.

Shao Yong's location offers a perfect panoramic view of the entire Chashan Pass ferry crossing.

This location is treacherous, with a rapid river current and sheer cliffs on both sides, making it one of the key points of the Wujiang River's natural defenses.

If Li Dingguo hadn't arrived on time, Shao Yong really wouldn't have dared to cross the river here so easily.

This Tea Mountain Ferry is no ordinary ferry crossing.

During the Wanli Emperor's campaign to pacify Bozhou, Xie Chongjue, the deputy commander of the Ming army, was severely defeated at this ferry crossing by Yang Yinglong, the chieftain of Bozhou.

Yang Yinglong defended the strategic pass, and thousands of his officers and soldiers were killed or drowned, their corpses piled up and their blood staining the Wujiang River.

Xie Chongjue suffered defeats at Chashan Ferry and Wujiang Ferry, losing his army in succession. In the end, he was beheaded on the spot by Li Hualong, the commander of Pingbo, with the imperial sword. It was a truly tragic end.

Now, Xu Chengming, the general of Guizhou, has deployed three thousand Ming troops here, attempting to use the natural defenses to block the advance of the Han army.

After a careful search, Shao Yong finally discovered the unusual activity on the other side through the telescope.

On the ridge not far from the Ming army camp, he could see the shadows of the trees swaying and birds circling above them.

Upon seeing this, Shao Yong finally smiled.

He summoned a messenger and sternly ordered:

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

"Pass on my order: have the vanguard prepare to cross the river precisely at Chen Shi (7-9 AM)!"

(End of this chapter)