Late Ming Dynasty: From the Defeated Soldiers at Daling River to Ascending the Throne

Zhao Sheng reined in his horse, loading gunpowder into the cannon while looking north.

In the firelight, one could vaguely see about a dozen horses galloping in the northwest direction, with four figures on their backs.

Chen Feng and his group escaped.

Zhao Sheng had just breathed a sigh of relief when his heart tightened again. From the north gate of the camp, a dozen or so horsemen rushed out of the gate, their hooves pounding the ground as they chased straight after the horses.

"Damn it!" he cursed, his hands loading the contents even faster.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from the west.

More than twenty riders rushed out from behind the stockade wall. They were the Bayara troops that Orosechen had divided his forces into. They rushed out from the northeast corner of the camp and were no more than a hundred paces away from Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng turned his head and glanced at his side.

They managed to gather only forty or so riders; a little over half of them remained trapped in the camp.

Those people were blinded by their military achievements and ignored his invitations.

That's too late!

He turned his horse around, spurred it on, and the warhorse neighed and charged north.

At the same time, he lit the firecracker in his hand and fired it into the sky.

"Boom—Bang!!!" The cannon exploded in the night sky, flashing bright yellow light.

The night scouts, still fighting fiercely in the Mongol camp, finally came to their senses. Some looked up at the sky, some reined in their horses, and some began to rush out... but it was too late.

The twenty-five Bayara riders had already stormed into the camp.

Ignoring Zhao Sheng who was running north, they charged straight at the scouts in the camp who were still beheading people and setting fires.

The first rider thrust his spear, and the head of a night scout flew off. The body, still sitting on the horse, lurched forward a few steps before collapsing.

Immediately afterward, a flash of light appeared, and another night scout was cut down and fell from his horse.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" someone shouted.

The barbarians charged into the sheepfold like a pack of wolves, hacking and slashing with sabers and thrusting with spears. In a single encounter, more than a dozen night scouts fell from their horses.

Someone tried to retaliate, but just as he raised his three-eyed gun, he was shot in the throat by an arrow from Bayara and fell backward.

Corpses lay strewn about, and blood flowed like a river.

This group of Bayara people didn't care whether they were Ming people or Mongols; they killed anyone they saw, and if they were standing, they would all be hacked to death.

The night scouts finally began to flee.

They rushed out of the camp in a swarm, some through the camp gate, some by climbing over the fence, and some by riding their horses straight through the fence and running away.

Bayala pursued closely behind, cutting down seven or eight more before reining in his horse and stopping at the camp gate.

The leader of the Bayara raised his knife and shouted, and the Bayaras stopped their horses and did not continue the pursuit.

Their mission was to drive out the night scouts and then return to support Oroseson.

........................................................................

Selt had no idea how he had fought his way out.

All he remembers is the flashing of blades and the screams around him, his trusted men falling one after another, only to be replaced by new ones.

They protected him, fighting their way through the crowd at the camp gate.

When he looked up from the chaos, he found himself standing at the gate of his own camp.

The camp gate was smashed open, and half of the fence collapsed.

Inside, flames soared into the sky, tents burned into bonfires, and thick smoke made it impossible to open one's eyes. The ground was littered with corpses.

The living are still killing.

The Bayaras rode their horses and charged back and forth in the camp, cutting down anyone they saw still moving.

A buzzing sound went through Seltzer's mind.

His legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, trembling all over.

It’s over.

Bahrain is finished.

Leaving aside Huang Taiji's subsequent rage, right now, people are dead, the camp is burned, the horses have run away, and everything is gone.

A trusted aide tugged at his arm: "Taiji... Taiji!"

Seltzer did not respond.

His confidant tugged again, pointing southwest: "Taijiya! Look!"

Sethel looked in the direction he was pointing.

About a hundred horses were galloping wildly behind the slope from the southwest, with the leader riding a white horse at the very front.

Baldan.

It is Baldan.

That bastard who just disappeared is now fleeing southwest with his men.

Seltzer suddenly stood up, opened his mouth to shout, but only a hoarse "ah, ah" sound came out of his throat.

He ran two steps forward, then stopped.

Can't catch up.

Baldan seemed to sense his gaze and glanced back.

Then the white horse rolled over the hillside and disappeared into the night, followed by about a hundred riders who also rolled over and disappeared behind the hill one by one.

The sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance, until finally nothing could be heard at all.

"Ah—!!!" Setel let out a beastly howl, kneeling on the ground and pounding his hands on the ground.

Just then, a white light shone from behind.

Seltzer instinctively turned his head, but before he could turn it halfway, a shockwave carrying intense heat struck him.

What happened?

These were his last thoughts, and then his consciousness sank into darkness.

..................................................................

Wang Jie gripped the reins with one hand and supported Chen Feng with the other, urging the horse to gallop north.

Chen Feng lay prone on the horse's back, too afraid to move, clinging tightly to the horse's neck.

As the four of them broke through the guards at the camp gate and rushed out of the north gate of the camp, a cannon shot rang out to their right rear.

Wang Jie looked back and saw the standard cannons firing all night.

Zhao Sheng finally arrived.

"Damn you, Zhao Sheng... why are you so slow!" Wang Jie cursed and lashed out with his whip again.

The horse, in pain, strained to gallop, but with two people riding on one horse, it couldn't reach its full speed.

To the north of the camp are plains, and the altitude increases as you go further north. Looking from north to south, the view is wide open.

After escaping for about two or three miles, another cannon shot rang out behind them.

Wang Jie and Chen Feng looked back together and saw thirty or forty night scouts galloping towards them from the southeast.

Behind them, a dozen or so Bayara riders were chasing after them.

They'll be caught!

Although they had more horses, the horses that Wang Jie and Chen Feng were riding together couldn't pick up any speed at all.

Wang Jie turned to Chen Feng and yelled, "Have you recovered yet?!"

Chen Feng nodded vigorously.

He finally caught his breath after being hit on the ground, and his hands and feet regained some strength.

"Hold on tight!" Before Wang Jie finished speaking, he leaped off his horse and jumped toward the empty horse next to him.

Wang Jie's body traced an arc in the air, he grabbed the horse's mane with both hands, straddled it, and landed steadily on the horse's back.

With a sudden spur of his flanks, the warhorse beneath him gained speed.

The pressure on Chen Feng's warhorse's back decreased sharply, and its pace became noticeably lighter.

He glanced back and saw that Bayara behind him seemed to be getting closer.

Chen Feng raised his gaze and looked towards the Later Jin camp, which was ablaze with flames.

It should be about time.

He silently counted in his mind; it should be time to drink a cup of tea by now, from the time he lit the incense stick until now.

About twenty breaths later, a white light appeared in the southeast corner of the camp.

The white light was brighter than the sun, instantly tearing the night sky apart.

He instinctively squinted, but was still blinded by the bright white light.

Once my eyes adjusted slightly, I saw a ball of orange-red fire explode from the ground, rising higher and higher, expanding larger and larger, with countless black fragments mixed in.

Countless pieces of building debris, corpses, and pieces of wood were thrown into the sky by the explosion.

A mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke shot into the sky, tumbling and rolling in the air before finally exploding at its top.

Immediately afterwards, the ground began to shake, and the explosion triggered a small earthquake.

The horses beneath him became visibly restless, but being rigorously trained, they did not flee.

Two breaths later, the sound finally reached them.

"boom--!!!"

The deafening roar was like the sky collapsing.

The sounds of the wind, horses' hooves, and Meng Changgeng and his companions' exclamations were all drowned out by the deafening explosion.

Then came the shockwave. A gust of wind, carrying a scorching heat wave, swept across the area. Chen Feng felt a sudden shove on his back, and he was thrown forward, almost falling off his horse.

The horses neighed and galloped forward, running even more wildly.

He looked back again.

Those dozen or so Bayara riders had already been left far behind.

They were closer to the explosion's epicenter, and their warhorses were startled. Some spun around in place, some ran in the opposite direction, and some even threw their owners off and trampled them under their hooves.

It was a complete mess.

Wang Jie called out to him, but Chen Feng's ears were still ringing and he couldn't hear anything.

All he saw was Wang Jie laughing, grinning widely, pointing in the direction of the explosion as he laughed.

Chen Feng smiled too.

He lay on the horse's back, watching the mushroom cloud rise higher and higher, watching the flames turn half the sky red, watching the pursuers fall and tumble in the shockwave.

Then he turned his head, looked at the hills to the northwest, spurred his horse, and galloped into the mountains.

Chen Feng, a time traveler, an unknown soldier in the late Ming Dynasty.

He didn't know what this night would change, but he knew that he had finally flapped his butterfly wings.

In the early morning of September 25th, the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign, a giant mushroom was planted between Yizhou and Dalinghe City.