Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 257 Smoke of War [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

“Hmm——!”

Whether they were stunned by the sound of the shells or overwhelmed by the surreal, magical reality, it was hard to tell.

At that moment, all Yan Shifan could hear was a buzzing sound that drowned out everything else.

And so, Anda, such a powerful Tatar leader, died so easily?!
He didn't even have the chance to leave a last word, and his body wasn't even preserved. He just became history like that!
What's the situation now?
Anda died, and the leaders under his command had already had their throats slit by him.

Now, this force of Anda, which could rival Ji Nang on the grasslands and make the little prince feel like he had a thorn in his side, is now without a leader.
What does it mean to be leaderless?
This is truly a situation of leaderlessness, even more absolute than what Yan Maoqing did when he was in Taiyuan Prefecture.

After all, back in Taiyuan, Provincial Governor Guan Jieshan was only isolated at first...

Yan Maoqing, that monster, is truly a monster!
Every word he sent back by the Tatar messenger was malicious, every sentence was a calculated attempt to understand and manipulate Anda's mind, to the point of leaving no stone unturned.

He even managed to seize this fleeting opportunity and send Anda to his death with a single shot.

How did he manage to calculate even this exact moment?

of course.

There's also an unspeakable element of luck involved.

In the first bombardment, only two out of six shells hit the city wall.

During the second bombardment, only one of the six shells hit the city wall, and coincidentally, it struck Anda, who had just climbed back onto the wall.

Such a hit rate is undeniably low; it has even reached the point where the Hero Battalion artillerymen try their best to aim, leaving the hit to fate.

But with such a low accuracy rate, they achieved such unimaginable victories.

Also.

Yan Maoqing's good calculations were one aspect, the Heroes' Camp's excellent fighting was another, and Anda's skillful response was also a crucial factor.

If it weren't for the fact that Anda had just happened to climb up the city wall.

If Anda hadn't stopped at the top of the stairs after climbing the city wall and looked at him, but instead returned to his previous position where he had been watching the battle with the other Tatar leaders...

If Anda hadn't been a beat too slow to react and noticed his struggle earlier, turning his doubts into suspicions sooner...

The outcome would probably be very different now.

He was also lucky to survive.

Even if he had climbed the city wall a breath or two earlier, Anda might have already reached another position, and he would have been the one directly hit...

"Hu-hu-hu-"

Thinking this through his mind, Yan Shifan felt an unprecedented sense of dread, and his breathing became rapid and heavy.

The ringing in his ears was gradually subsiding, and his mind was becoming clearer.

After this incident, Yan Maoqing will surely become a powerful figure on the grasslands and in the northern deserts!
Before this, no one had ever been able to wipe out a Khan and all his leaders so cleanly and efficiently. Even the Marquis of Champion of the Han Dynasty had never accomplished such a feat.

Although this event cannot be compared with the Marquis of Champion's sealing of the wolf's lair, it is definitely an extremely awe-inspiring event.

Two thousand soldiers!

With only two thousand soldiers, almost all of them were infantry, and even the support from Ma Fang and Zeng Xian did not arrive.

Anda's troops had already been beheaded by the Hero Camp, completely and utterly beheaded!

Yan Shifan could hardly imagine how inspiring this would be once the news reached the Ming Dynasty, and how Yan Maoqing would be hailed as a national hero.
Don't say that granting titles to civil officials in the Ming Dynasty was against ancestral rules.

And don't say that the current emperor has never granted any official a title of nobility since he ascended the throne.

It's simply unacceptable not to grant them a title; the military households of the Ming Dynasty cannot agree to this, and neither can the people of the Ming Dynasty!
If court officials oppose it, they will be condemned as traitors to the nation!

If the emperor does not agree, he is a foolish ruler who chills the hearts of the soldiers and the people!
Yan Shifan felt that only one question remained:
What about the tribute system that the Emperor has been so eager to establish? How can the coal trade continue?

After all, the Tatars' mineral resources are currently controlled by Altan Khan's forces, and the coal trade also needs to be conducted with Altan Khan.

But now that Anda is gone, and all the tribal leaders under his command are gone, his tribes will inevitably face internal strife as they vie for power, while the little prince and Ji Nang's side will fight to divide Anda's territory.

It remains to be seen how long this civil unrest will last, so will the coal trade also have to be put on hold?
and so……

From the Emperor's perspective, did Yan Maoqing accomplish something, or did he botch it?
But this is all for later.

Yan Shifan's mind became increasingly clear, and he felt an indescribable pain all over his body.

But he felt he shouldn't just lie there; he had to do something to make Anda's death serve its proper purpose.

Even in the army of the Ming Dynasty, once a general is killed in battle, his soldiers will fall into chaos without a leader, morale will waver instantly, and the entire army will lose the will to fight.

Moreover, the Tatars' social and military structure relied almost entirely on the personal prestige of the Khan and his leader to maintain cohesion.
Once the news of Anda's death spreads, the consequences will be unimaginable; the Tatars will surely be routed!

"Ah... Anda..."

Yan Shifan opened his mouth with difficulty, feeling a burning, tearing sensation in his throat.

He wanted to shout loudly so that everyone nearby would know the news, but the impact he had just experienced left him powerless for the moment.

at this time.

"Anda Khan has passed away... Anda Khan has passed away... Anda Khan has passed away!!!"

Even Anda's trusted guards finally recovered from the bombardment and began to scream in terror.

The first tone indicates a question.

The second tone indicates a flustered or panicked manner.

The third tone encompasses a complex tone that simultaneously conveys shock, fear, grief, and despair.

"Anda Khan has passed away?!"

Inside and outside the camp, people immediately heard the voices of the trusted guards, and everyone's face showed astonishment.

It was the shelling just now!

Anda Khan died in the shelling just now?! "Anda Khan is gone!!!"

This news spread like a terrible contagious disease; any Tatar who heard it immediately fell ill with fear and dread.

"what should we do?"

Whom should we listen to?

How can this battle continue?

Anda is dead, and all the tribal leaders under his command are dead. At this moment, there is no one with enough prestige to take charge of the situation.

The city gate, which was already half collapsed, immediately burst into flames, and the oil that had been poured on the tribal chief beforehand caused the flames to spread rapidly.

In an instant, it turned into a raging fire, engulfing the corpses of Anda and the other Tatar leaders, some intact and some so badly dismembered. A thick, black plume of smoke rose into the azure sky with only a few white clouds, much like the beacon fires that were often lit on the Ming Dynasty's borders when Tatar invasions occurred.

And these raging flames and the thick smoke reaching into the sky were silently confirming this news to every Tatar.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Once Yan Shifan's neck was loosened, he lay down on the ground in peace. After letting out two miserable laughs, he tilted his head to the side and, taking advantage of the bloodstains covering his body, closed his eyes and began to play dead.

Now no one should be able to spare the time to clean up the battlefield; just stab him twice to confirm his death.

Moreover, the place where he's lying is quite nice; no one should be riding by on horseback and accidentally stepping on him.

Now all he had to do was pretend to be a corpse killed in the bombing, so that no Tatars would be able to accept Altan Khan's death and take their anger out on him, the Ming envoy.

As for his servant who was tied up and taken away somewhere...

Who cares about anyone else now? Just pray for your own good fortune.

If I survive, but he unfortunately dies here, I will bring his family to the Yan residence, and I will take care of your wife as compensation for him...

……

On a desolate plain more than twenty miles away.

"General Ma, look! Smoke is being lit in the direction of the Anda King's court!"

The guard beside her pointed to a black column of smoke that had suddenly risen on the horizon and reported to Ma Fang with a tense expression.

General Ma.

This is giving Ma Fang too much credit; without an official appointment from the imperial court, he would still be the same captain.

It was only because General Zhou Shangwen issued a death order based on his prestige and power that these Ming cavalry soldiers obeyed him; otherwise, he would be nothing.

His mission this time was clear enough: to lead the cavalry to support the Heroes' Camp, and most importantly, to ensure Yan Maoqing's safety.

According to the previous agreement.

Once the Heroes' Camp lights the beacon, it means they are in a precarious situation.

He must lead his troops to provide support at all costs; otherwise, if anything goes wrong with Yan Maoqing, this once-in-a-lifetime promotion will become a sin that he can never recover from.

"Pass on my order: the entire army is to launch a full-speed raid, splitting up to encircle and outflank the Altan Khan's court, thus relieving the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao!"

Ma Fang dared not delay and immediately gave the order loudly.

"Order!"

The messenger immediately complied.

"drive!"

Ma Fang also lashed his horse's rump with his whip, leading his personal cavalry in a galloping charge towards the direction of the beacon fire!
At this moment, his heart was also clenching, filled with indescribable worry and anxiety.

"I knew this move was too reckless; sure enough, we've already run into a dead end in no time!"

“I am only a year or two older than this Yan Maoqing, but I would never do something so ill-considered. An incompetent general can lead to the death of an entire army. It is a pity that his soldiers gave their lives to the Tartars for nothing!”

"Drive! Drive! Drive!"

"Faster, all of you, faster! If we delay even a single breath, a group of our friendly troops will lose their lives!"

……

More than fifty miles away.

"General Zeng, our scouts report that beacon fires have been lit in the direction of the Anda King's court!"

Zeng Xian received the same report shortly afterward, and immediately couldn't help but jump up and curse:

"If I ever see that wretched brat Yan Maoqing again, I'll give him a good beating with a horsewhip, even if I don't want this official position. Otherwise, I'll harbor resentment and he might even develop a mental illness!"

"Immediately issue an order to the entire army: leave the infantry to guard the provisions and supplies, and have all the cavalry follow me to the rescue!"

He felt that he was the one who was most aggrieved.

By the time he received the message, Yan Maoqing had already led the Heroes' Battalion out of the pass without a word.

He was dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, and in his shock and confusion, even though he knew that the journey was likely to end badly, he had no choice but to lead the supply troops out of the pass overnight to follow.

He had never met anyone in his life who was so good at causing trouble, and only big trouble at that.

Let's not talk about the matters of Taiyuan Prefecture and Ying County. Those were, after all, officials, powerful figures, and merchants of the Ming Dynasty. With his status as an imperial envoy, he could at least rely on the emperor's support to legally overpower them.

But how do we calculate Anda?
After arriving in Datong, the matter of establishing tribute relations was already settled, and they would soon be able to return to the capital.

As a result, just because Anda shot a message arrow, threatening to march south and raid the pass, he was about to overestimate his abilities and launch a surprise attack on Anda's royal court.

What kind of fake alcohol did this young man drink to become so arrogant?!

Wang Yangming, who emphasized self-confidence in his philosophy, probably never became as arrogant as Yan Maoqing in his entire life!

(End of this chapter)