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

Chen Feng maintained the position of twisting Orosechen's neck for a long time until Zhao Sheng stepped forward and gently pried his arms apart.

Chen Feng glanced at the villagers and Zhao Sheng around him, then at the corpse of Eruo Saichen.

He took the dagger from Zhao Sheng and slashed it down at Erosaichen's neck.

With one blow after another, it took four or five blows to finally cut off Orosechen's head.

When he first transmigrated, he thought that beheading people to record merits was too barbaric, but now he felt extremely happy.

After beheading Qin Shouyi, Chen Feng walked over to him. By this time, Qin Shouyi's body had already been collected by the villagers, who were all weeping uncontrollably.

He kowtowed deeply before Qin Shouyi's corpse, "This junior swears that I will definitely lead a great army back! And bring Huang Taiji's head to offer as a sacrifice to you!"

Only then did Chen Feng notice the commotion on the hillside. He staggered up the hillside, and Zhao Sheng and Meng Changgeng quickly helped him up.

When they arrived in front of Wang Jie, Old Pu was pressing on Wang Jie's abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding.

Seeing Chen Feng approach, Old Pu looked up at his commander and shook his head slightly.

Wang Jie's vision went black, his lips turned white from blood loss, and he felt the light dimming further. His lips trembled.

"Is it...is it...is it General Manager Chen?"

Chen Feng knelt down, grasped Wang Jie's hand, and said in a trembling voice, "It's me..."

"I...I can't go on..." Wang Jie gripped Chen Feng's hand, and with that movement, blood gushed from his abdominal wound. "Please...Commander Chen...take my brothers...back...back..."

"Okay." Chen Feng nodded, his face expressionless.

He and Wang Jie had only known each other for half a day, and there was no deep affection between them; their relationship was more about exploitation and scheming.

No one in the world is perfect. Although Wang Jie’s indifference to the villagers displeased him, that’s just how the world is. Human life is worthless, especially for a group of lonely ghosts wandering in Tartar territory.

However, none of this prevented Chen Feng from thinking that Wang Jie was a real man. At least he dared to risk his life to kill the Tartars, which was much better than those big shots who only hid in the rear and commanded.

"Please, Commander Chen... you must go and save... Commander Zu... Commander Zu is so kind to me..." Wang Jie's voice grew softer and softer, and the hand that was holding Chen Feng grew colder and colder.

Chen Feng grasped Wang Jie's hand, his tone resolute: "Don't worry, Commander Zu will be alright!"

"That's...that's good." Wang Jie's lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something, but his eyes had already slowly closed.

Chen Feng looked southeast, thinking to himself that Zu Dashou must be alright.

Historically, Zu Dashou killed He Kegang a month later and led more than 20 officers, including Zu Dabi, Liu Tianlu, and Zhang Cunren, to surrender to the Later Jin. Although he later surrendered to the Ming, he surrendered to the Qing again ten years later in the Battle of Songjin.

Now that his time travel has blown up the Later Jin's gunpowder depot, he doesn't know what impact it will have on the original historical trajectory. He just feels that, given Zu Dashou's personality, he shouldn't die.

After gathering his chaotic thoughts, Chen Feng said to the villagers present, "You should go back to the village first and give Old Qin a proper burial."

An older villager asked, "Commander, aren't you going back to the village?"

Chen Feng shook his head. "Time is tight, so I won't be going back. You go back and tell Chief Zheng to hold the stronghold well. I will definitely lead troops back!"

The villagers didn't say anything more; they naturally had no right to interfere with the decisions of these important figures.

Then Chen Feng turned to Zhao Sheng, Meng Changgeng and others, "Let's find a place to rest first, then get some horses, and go out of the pass from the fortress that Qin Lao mentioned. Right now, the Tartars should be too busy dealing with the grain and fodder camp to care about our crossing."

Everyone responded and went about cleaning up the mess.

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

At the end of the Mao hour (5-7 AM), at the Ming army camp at Xiaoling River.

Zhang Chun stood on the makeshift observation platform, watching the thick smoke that had risen all night in the northeast gradually thin out.

His intuition told him that last night's explosion would definitely have a significant impact on the battle, but he didn't know whether the decision to resist Qiu Hejia's pressure and insist on advancing would be a blessing or a curse.

"Report!" The messenger rushed over and knelt on one knee below the watchtower.

"Reporting to you, sir! General Wu is already waiting for you at the central command for a meeting! He says there is important news from the north!"

Zhang Chun's brow twitched, and he quickly walked down from the observation platform.

When Zhang Chun entered the main tent, all the generals had arrived, and Wu Xiang was all smiles.

Zhang Chun knew that was Wu Xiang's smile when he sensed an opportunity.

Song Wei sat to the side, his expression strange.

"Your Excellency has arrived at the right time." Wu Xiang turned around. "A few night scouts escaped back from the north earlier. Last night, the Jurchen's grain supply camp was indeed bombed, and it was done by General Song's men."

Zhang Chun looked at Song Wei, whose lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

"They say it was a captain surnamed Chen under General Song who led my scouts in to sneak in," Wu Xiang said, his eyes fixed on Song Wei. "They killed two Tatars from Niru and nearly a thousand Mongols. The Jurchens lost 100,000 shi of grain and 50,000 jin of gunpowder."

Zhang Chun gasped.

Two Niru consisted of five or six hundred Jianzhou Zhenyi people, and nearly a thousand Mongols. Adding the supplies lost by the Jurchens, what a great achievement that was!

"What's this person's name?" Zhang Chun asked.

"Chen Feng." Wu Xiang's smile remained unchanged. "According to the scouts who came back, this man claims to be a captain under General Song, and also an old acquaintance of He Mingxiao, the adjutant. He seems to be from the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

There was a moment of silence inside the tent.

He Mingxiao was also quite well-known in the military.

If this Captain Chen Feng was under Song Wei's command, it would be reasonable for him to know He Mingxiao, but why had no one ever heard of Chen Feng?

Adding the fact that he was a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, everyone became suspicious.

"General Song," Zhang Chun turned to Song Wei, "when did you acquire such a fierce general under your command?"

Song Wei's expression changed, but he quickly forced a smile: "The newly appointed commander of the Thousand-Man Army was originally a soldier in my unit. My unit suffered heavy losses in Dalinghe, so he is just right to fill this vacancy."

Wu Xiang chuckled, "General Song has such a valiant man under his command, yet I've never heard of him before? His surname is Chen? Which Chen?"

"What does General Wu mean by this?" Song Wei's face darkened. "I've spent half my life on the battlefield. Do I necessarily need to report to you, Wu Xiang, who all my men are?"

"General Song, this man seems to be from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Could it be that you are harboring remnants of the eunuch faction?!" Wu Xiang's tone turned stern halfway through his sentence.

Song Wei slammed his fist on the table. "Wu Xiang, don't make false accusations!"

"Alright, alright." Zhang Chun raised his hand to interrupt the two. "No matter whose people they are, blowing up the gunpowder depot and killing two Niru Tartars is a great achievement. Now that the Jurchens have lost their gunpowder and supplies, their morale will surely be in chaos, making it the perfect time to advance."

He turned to Wu Xiang: "General Wu, when will the army set off?"

Wu Xiang stopped laughing and said seriously, "We have already begun breaking up the camp at the beginning of Mao Shi (5-7 AM), and we can advance in half an hour."

"Alright." Zhang Chun nodded. "Pass down the order: the entire army is to advance straight to Dalinghe City, and we must advance to a point where Commander Zu can see us!"

As he spoke, he looked at Song Wei and said, "General Song, you must find this centurion named Chen Feng! I want to see him in person!"

Song Wei nodded, his face revealing neither joy nor anger.

The tent flap was lifted, and the generals filed out.

Wu Xiang summoned the scout who had brought the message and whispered in his ear, "Send everyone out. You must find Wang Jie and that Chen Feng! And be quick!"

Night Scout nodded in acceptance and quickly disappeared from the camp.

An hour later in Jinzhou, the governor of Ningyuan, Qiu Hejia, and the eunuch supervising the army in Ningyuan, Wang Yingchao, received the news almost simultaneously.

Qiu Hejia was furious about Zhang Chun disobeying his military orders, but upon hearing this news, he immediately perked up.

If he bombed the Jurchen's grain supply camp and killed thousands of Tartars, he could not only keep his position as governor, but also possibly be rewarded.

He immediately instructed his trusted confidants to bring Chen Feng to see him.

Wang Yingchao, however, was not as excited as Qiu Hejia when he heard the news; in fact, his expression was somewhat solemn.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had lost power by this time and had become a complete appendage of the eunuch clique. Now he had more than a dozen Embroidered Uniform Guards under his command.

If Chen Feng's identity as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard can be confirmed, and it can be said that this matter was instructed by Wang Yingchao, then he can claim all the credit, and the Emperor will surely be overjoyed.

Thinking of this, Wang Yingchao summoned his trusted eunuch and ordered him to send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate Chen Feng's identity, and to bring Chen Feng to see him at all costs.

------------------

At the same time, in the Later Jin camp.

Huang Taiji sat in the Han tent, discussing matters with important generals such as Daishan, Mangultai, and Tong Yangxing.

His face was so gloomy it could drip water.

Abatai has already returned and reported the matter of the grain and provisions camp to the various Beile and Ejen.

It is said that Ming spies infiltrated the camp, killed Gultai and Liang Siye, and the garrison was almost wiped out. Orosechen has been pursuing the Ming spies and has not returned.

At this moment, Darhan was kneeling in the tent, banging his head on the ground, "Great Khan, my eldest son failed in his duty to guard the camp and patrol, causing this disaster. I am willing to atone with my death!"

Huang Taiji's eyes swept over Darhan, then turned to Mangultai, and he slowly asked, "Third Prince, what do you think?"

Mangultai pursed his lips and instructed Darhan, "Darhan, get up first."

Darhan glanced at Huang Taiji, whose face grew increasingly grim; then he looked at his own prince and obeyed his prince's order, standing up behind Mangultai.

Mangultai glanced at Darhan, knowing that Darhan would certainly not be willing to die for this matter.

Everyone in the Great Jin Dynasty knew that Mangultai was famously protective of his own. Both Orosechen and Gultai were good children, and he couldn't bear to lose them.

He bowed to Huang Taiji with his hands clasped in salute. "Great Khan, the Ming army is pressing in at the border. Punishing the generals at this time would not be conducive to maintaining morale. In my opinion, the punishment of Darhan and Orosechen can be discussed after the war."

Huang Taiji narrowed his eyes, his chest heaving violently, looking as if he was about to explode.

His gaze fell on Dahai, who was standing to the side, and Dahai shook his head slightly.

He forced a smile. "What the Third Prince said is true. Executing generals in the midst of battle is indeed detrimental to the morale of the army. This matter can be discussed after the battle."

He turned to Tong Yangxing, who was standing to the side: "Your Highness, Tong Yangxing, how much gunpowder is left in the army?"

Tong Yangxing's face paled, and he forced a smile as he said, "Reporting to Master, the current inventory... is less than a thousand catties."

Huang Taiji's gaze grew increasingly hostile.

"Enough for two and a half rounds of artillery fire." Tong Yangxing quickly added, "We originally planned to transport another two thousand catties from the main camp today, but..."

Huang Taiji closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Gather all the gunpowder for the cannons." He opened his eyes. "We must suppress the Ming army with firepower. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

Huang Taiji then looked at Dahai: "Send someone back to Yizhou and bring over more grain, fodder, and gunpowder. Bring as much as you can."

Dahai said, "Your Majesty, I have already instructed Fan Wencheng to handle this matter."

Huang Taiji nodded. Fan Wencheng had persuaded the Ming army to surrender their fortified positions multiple times during this battle, which pleased him greatly. He was quite at ease entrusting this matter to him.

"Alright, all of you may leave." Huang Taiji waved his hand at the crowd. "The Ming army has begun to break camp. Go back to your respective units to supervise military affairs and make sure there are no more mishaps."

"Yes, sir!" The generals accepted the order and departed.

After the generals had left, Huang Taiji looked at Ning Wanwo and said, "Go and investigate who was responsible for this."

"Yes, sir!" Ning Wan knelt and withdrew from the tent.