Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

Late that night, the campsite by the sea in Dongning was brightly lit.

Inside the tent, wounded soldiers groaned incessantly, and the candlelight flickered in the medic's tent as basins of bloody water were brought out.

This battle was won brilliantly, but it was not an easy victory.

The heavy arrows of the Later Jin Tartars caused enormous casualties to the elite battalion, especially during the last wave of the charge. The Later Jin Tartars fired a large number of heavy arrows at a very short distance, each arrow piercing through the armor of the Imperial Guards. Most of the seriously wounded were in that wave.

In addition, the artillery battalion suffered the heaviest casualties.

They were at the very front of the column and took the brunt of the attacks. Not a single member of the artillery unit survived unscathed. Fortunately, Dongning won; otherwise, the artillery unit would have been almost completely wiped out.

Even so, the artillery unit's final death toll exceeded 30%, with a large number of seriously wounded.

In addition, the Rangers also suffered over a hundred casualties. Cavalry and artillery training is not easy, so it can be said that this wave of losses was actually extremely heavy.

However, the results achieved were also extremely impressive.

The two banners of the Later Jin Tartars were defeated. More than 800 Tartar heads were counted on the battlefield, along with more than 300 prisoners and wounded soldiers.

The pursuit of the Tartars continues, and the gains will continue to expand.

Shortly afterward, news arrived from the north that the Later Jin commander Degelai had been captured. This meant that the Later Jin's attack had been a complete failure, with heavy losses and the capture of their commander. This was almost the most devastating defeat since Nurhaci started his rebellion.

Lin Er could already imagine the shock this message would cause throughout Liaodong.

The reaction of those former Jinzhou and Jinzhou officials today proves this point.

A few days ago, although the Dongning Kingdom easily defeated their army, they did not actually believe that the Dongning Kingdom could defeat the Tartars.

Many of them were even thinking about their future.

But after the battle during the day, everyone was convinced and their gaze towards Dongning Kingdom changed, filled with awe.

Lin Er was in high spirits when he saw Degelai being brought back. "Good, well done."

Lin Er immediately returned to his tent and began writing a letter.

Now that Degelai has been captured, the battle situation is clear, and we can report the victory to the court.

A moment later, the two letters were written, and Lin Er summoned the messenger.

"This letter should be given to the Duke of Kang in Beijing, and the second letter should be given to Wei Zhongxian. Our merits need to be exchanged for tangible benefits."

The messenger departed with the order, and Lin Er began writing his third letter, a report on the battle situation to Lin Hao, who was still on Nanri Island.

Lin Hao had previously devised contingency plans for the war in the north, and now, given the current situation, the best possible scenario can be implemented.

On the afternoon of the third day, the Dongning army officially arrived outside Fuzhou City.

At this time, Fuzhou City was already in complete chaos.

Sangguji's remnants of the Later Jin army arrived a day earlier than the Dongning army.

Sangguji knew that Fuzhou could not be defended, and dared not defend it.

He immediately ordered his men to plunder grain, fodder, and horse feed. The method of plundering was to order his men to loot the city. As the looting progressed, a massacre became inevitable.

When the Dongning forward appeared on the south side, Sangguji ordered the fire to be set again.

The fire started first in several warehouses in the city, followed by the government offices, armories, and streets.

Thick smoke billowed up, and people cried out as they fled from the alley.

Some people were holding children, while others were dragging elderly people.

The gates of Fuzhou were wide open, and the remnants of the Later Jin army fled north with the grain, fodder, and mules they had looted.

When Lin Er arrived at the South Gate, his face was gloomy.

The entire city of Fuzhou had been burned beyond recognition, leaving it in ruins.

"Save lives, put out the fire."

The Green Standard Army soldiers and Imperial Guards soldiers immediately rushed into the city and began dismantling houses to keep out the fire. Some people even drew water from wells to gradually extinguish the flames.

The people of Fuzhou did not initially trust these soldiers; they were terrified by the Later Jin.

Many people, upon seeing the Dongning Army, immediately knelt down by the roadside and begged for mercy.

However, the Dongning army did not commit any offenses, neither robbing property nor abusing women, but instead began to fight fires and distribute porridge.

Subsequently, officials from Jinzhou came out to appease the people. They were originally from southern Liaoning and spoke with the same accent as those from Fuzhou, so they were very persuasive.

An old soldier, trembling, asked Li Mao, "Sir, are we really leaving?"

Looking at the old man with a face covered in cigarette ash, Li Mao felt a mix of emotions.

"Yes, we must leave. The Tartars will come again. Fuzhou City is now destroyed. We can't stop them here. We must leave."

"But our home is here, so where can we go?"

"Don't worry, Dongning Kingdom has arranged a very good place for you, and will also give you enough land to cultivate."

Your lives will be a hundred times better than they are now.

"This! Is there really such a good thing in the world? Could it be some kind of trap? Sir, please don't lie to us. Just tell us the conditions. What do we need to give up?" The old soldier was clearly experienced and very cautious.

"Hehe, of course there are conditions." Li Mao pointed to the braid at the back of the other person's head.

"If you want Dongning Kingdom to accept you, remember to cut off your queue. Anyone who refuses to cut off their queue will be treated as a Tartar spy."

The old man touched the braid that had just been tied at the back of his head, and tears suddenly welled up in his eyes.

"I don't need the adults to tell me what to do. I don't want to keep this braid for even a second longer."

Without hesitation, the old soldier borrowed scissors from someone nearby and cut off his braid at the back of his head.

When the surrounding people saw this, they also began to cut off their braids.

Subsequently, Dongning Kingdom began distributing porridge to everyone and registering them.

When the Tartars left, they not only harmed ordinary people, but Sangguji realized that the Later Jin would likely have difficulty returning to Fuzhou in the short term. So he carried out a systematic purge of the officials in Fuzhou, in order to prevent the Dongning Kingdom from taking over Fuzhou smoothly.

This did cause some trouble for Dongning Kingdom in the early stages, but Lin Er immediately selected the officers of Fuzhou from the previous prisoners and had them lead Dongning Kingdom soldiers to various garrisons to arrange for the evacuation of personnel one by one.

With the top-ranking officials gone, these lower-ranking officers are actually more useful.

More than a dozen large Fujian-style ships docked in Fuzhou Bay, continuously picking up and taking away the people of Fuzhou.

It is about thirty miles south of Gaizhou.

Sangguji led the remaining Eight Banners troops across a small river called Shahe.

"Once the entire army has crossed the bridge, immediately destroy the pontoon bridge." Sangguji looked at the pontoon bridge and then gave the order to burn it.

At the same time, he looked to the south, and soon after, the Dongning Kingdom's cavalry appeared there.

However, they clearly dared not get too close. During the days of pursuit, Sangguji successfully took advantage of the enemy's underestimation and launched a brilliant ambush, which also slightly salvaged their morale.

Moreover, according to Sangguji's observation, after passing Fuzhou, the enemy no longer had infantrymen with muskets following behind them, and the cavalry alone no longer posed a great threat to the Jurchens.

However, these people were like leeches, relentlessly pursuing him from afar, leaving Sangguji no time to sleep.

Fortunately, as far as he knew, there was only one bridge across the river. Once the bridge was burned down, the other side would be unable to catch up.

Sure enough, when the Dongning cavalry on the other side saw the bridge being burned, they cursed anxiously, but there was nothing they could do.

"Let's go! Home." Sangguji reined in his horse and turned north first.

"Going home?" The Tartars were overjoyed, finally escaping the demons in the south, although most of them still didn't know who they were fighting.

But as long as they could go home, they were fearless; they were not afraid of the Ming army in Liaodong.

The group walked north for several miles with relaxed expressions and soon arrived at a valley passage.

Sangguji instinctively reined in his horse and looked at both sides of the valley. Although the valley was not steep, his previous painful experience at Shilipu still left him with lingering fear.

"Master, should we take another route? There's another passage not far to the east," someone suggested when they saw Sangguji hesitate.

"No need. How could the opponent possibly use the same trick twice? Besides, if we were to set up an ambush, the terrain in the several valleys ahead would be much better than this."

"Gaizhou is just ahead. The enemy can't possibly outrun us. Let's just go straight through and get back to Gaizhou as quickly as possible; that's the important thing."

As Sangguji led his team into the valley, a taxi driver in camouflage put away his binoculars on a treetop at the top of the valley.

"The enemy has entered the ambush point. Go and report to the commander immediately so that the brothers can prepare."