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

Chen Feng suddenly opened his eyes.

It was already dark outside. Above them were jumbled rocks from the kiln roof, and the cold mountain wind seeped into the abandoned kiln through the cracks in the rocks.

He lay there without moving, feeling his heartbeat gradually slow down and calm down.

The images from my dream are still flashing before my eyes: the figures of my parents, the face of my old squad leader... and myself from my past life.

Yes, there's no going back...

He slowly sat up and looked outside the kiln; most people were awake at this time.

Meng Changgeng was instructing Hao Dadao on how to dig a smokeless stove, while Lao Putou was examining Sun Ergou's wounds. Only Zhao Sheng and the two night scouts were still asleep.

He got up and walked out of the kiln, where he found Aji and a night watchman tending to the horses.

Judging from the horses and their tack, they were horses that hadn't been collected overnight. They must have abandoned their horses and followed them all the way here. There were seven or eight of them, which solved most of the transportation problem when leaving the pass.

Chen Feng's lips twitched slightly.

After being transmigrated for so long, I've finally had a stroke of good luck this time.

When everyone saw Chen Feng wake up, they all gathered around him, their expressions ranging from excited to confused.

They were excited because they had just accomplished a great feat and even killed a Jiala Ejen; they were confused because they didn't know what to do next.

Looking at the faces in front of him, Chen Feng thought of He Mingxiao, Qin Shouyi, and all the things that happened after he traveled through time and his memories of the Qing Dynasty in later generations. His fists clenched tightly.

Regardless of whether they can eventually conquer the world, the Manchu Qing dynasty must be destroyed!

This was a promise he made to Old Qin, and it had to be kept.

But now, he still needs to keep these people alive; their survival is his greatest asset.

Chen Feng kicked Zhao Sheng and said, "Let's go."

Zhao Sheng woke up with a start, his waist knife unsheathed two inches from its sheath. Seeing that Chen Feng was awake, a hint of joy flashed across his face, but he quickly regained his usual serious expression, nodded, and began to pack his things.

Meng Changgeng got up expressionlessly and tightened the cloth strip in his hand with his teeth.

Old Pu sighed and tightened the bandage on Sun Ergou's shoulder, causing Sun Ergou to howl in pain.

Aji sheathed the broken bow back on his back, revealing his simple, honest smile: "Boss, let's go!"

The five night scouts exchanged glances and then looked at Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng nodded, "I'll do as Commander Qian does."

The night scouts said nothing more and led the horses over.

The group headed north in the dark, without torches, and turned into a ravine by starlight.

Because they didn't have enough horses, Chen Feng and his men staged another scene on the road, where they pretended to be Ming spies and attracted a troop of cavalry from the vicinity of Yizhou, successfully capturing six horses.

The eleven men rode their horses for another night, and as dawn broke, they arrived at a river valley thirty miles northwest of Yizhou.

In late autumn, the Daling River flows gently from north to south through the valley.

Between the two valleys, a small fort stands out conspicuously; that is the fort Qin Shouyi had mentioned earlier.

The two valleys extend to the north and northwest respectively. The one to the north leads to the upper reaches of the Daling River, which was later developed into the Baishi Reservoir. The other valley leads northwest to the northern foothills of the Yanshan Mountains.

According to Chen Feng's memory, this should be the location of the Jiuguantai Gate in later generations. It was an important pass on the Willow Palisade of the Qing Dynasty and was named after the nearby Jiutai Mountain.

According to historical records, Jiuguantai Gate was first built during the Kangxi era. Unexpectedly, in the fourth year of the Chongzhen era, the Later Jin dynasty had already built a fortress here.

The fortress was not large; the rammed earth walls were about 1.5 feet high, and there was only a small platform in the northeast direction.

The fort gate faces south, with five or six horses tied up in front of it, and only two soldiers stationed there.

Only two people with torches were walking on the fortress wall. From a distance, you could see the patrolmen constantly covering their mouths and yawning.

"Two roads, which one should we take?" Zhao Sheng asked.

Chen Feng pointed to the valley on his left, "Go that way, walk along the valley for fifty or sixty miles, cross a mountain, and then turn back five or six hundred miles southwest to reach Xifengkou."

Zhao Sheng nodded, ignoring the surprise on the faces of the night scouts, and led the group toward Taibao.

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

The morning mist rose from the river, growing thicker and thicker until it gradually submerged the entire Taibao fortress.

This is the rear of the Later Jin, and there is only a small squad stationed here. Because not many people pass through here, the defense has always been very lax.

Hearing the sound of horses' hooves coming from the southwest, the Later Jin soldiers guarding the gate gripped their spears tightly and shouted at the figure in the mist, "Who goes there?!"

Three riders emerged from the mist, each clad in red armor and wearing a plumed helmet, their armor stained with blood.

The warhorse beneath him kept snorting, as if it had been running all night.

The guard at the gate froze for a moment, then realized his offense against the official before him and quickly knelt on one knee, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency!"

A Mandarin-speaking Jurchen with a Shengjing accent came from behind the leader, Bayala Dunxiang: "Tell your leader to come out and see me."

His tone was calm, but it carried an air of life and death authority.

"Yes, sir!" The two soldiers didn't even dare to raise their heads and hurriedly ran into the fort.

The leader, Bayara, led one person into the fortress, while the other remained at the entrance.

After a short while, a bashku (a type of Japanese scholar) came running out of the fortress, disheveled and clearly having just gotten out of bed, reeking of alcohol.

Smelling the alcohol on Bashiku, the leader, Bayara, frowned and lashed Bashiku's bald head with his whip. "How dare you drink during wartime!"

When Bashiku heard that a high-ranking official from the Khan's camp had come to the fortress, he rushed over to check the situation, but before he could even speak, he was whipped.

The whip lashed half his face and forehead, leaving his skin torn and bleeding. He rolled on the ground in pain, and warm fluid flowed from his groin.

The leader, Bayara, looked at Bashiku rolling on the ground, pulled out a waist token from his robes, and said, "I am Gurtai, the chief of the Plain Blue Banner! Call out your men!!"

Upon hearing the identity of the visitor, Bashiku immediately stopped struggling despite the pain, and knelt down in fear, trembling so much that he didn't dare to lift his head.

Before his commander could give the order, the soldiers around him scrambled to the barracks and called everyone out.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, about thirty people were scattered around the middle of the fort, and two soldiers from the fort's walls also joined the ranks.

Only fifteen of them were soldiers; the remaining twenty or so were bondservantes.

Bashiku knelt on the ground, glancing at the number of people out of the corner of his eye, and said in a trembling voice, "My lord, everyone in the fortress has arrived."

"Very good." The Niru's chieftain uttered a single sentence in Chinese, "Let's do it!!"

When Bashiku heard a sentence in Chinese, he immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked up abruptly and saw the Bayara at the gate wave his hand, and the sound of horses' hooves rang out outside the fortress. Seven riders charged in from outside the gate.

Bashiku was shocked, "A Ming spy!!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a mace smashed into his head, shattering his skull.

With the leader dead, the remaining soldiers and bondsers were thrown into chaos and were completely unable to deal with the charge of these ten riders.

In less than ten breaths, all fifteen battalions of soldiers were slaughtered.

A bondservant ran out of the crowd and repeatedly kowtowed to the leader, Bayara, pleading in broken Jurchen, "Master, spare my life! Master, spare my life!"

He was so focused on kowtowing that he didn't even notice that most of these "masters" were Han Chinese.

The leader, Bayara, removed his helmet, revealing a stern Han Chinese face—it was Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng looked at Chen Feng beside him, who also had a troubled expression.

Chen Feng was ruthless in killing Tartars, but he found it hard to bring himself to order the massacre of these Han Chinese bondservants.

But if these bondservantes are let go, someone might report to the Tartars, exposing their use of the identity of Gultai, and then things like Liang Siye and Long Piao would be exposed.

Unable to make up his mind, he delegated the task to his subordinates.

He patted Zhao Sheng on the shoulder, "It's up to you now."

Zhao Sheng pointed his index finger at his nose, his eyes wide, "Me!?"

After saying that, Chen Feng rode his horse out of the fortress gate and met up with Old Pu, who was waiting outside the fortress.

The sounds of pleas for mercy and cries for help came from inside the fortress, and only stopped after a cup of tea had been brewed.

Faced with these voices, Chen Feng became like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, staring motionless at the fog in front of him.

Escape is shameful, but useful.

Old Pu heard the cries and opened his mouth but didn't speak, only shaking his head helplessly.

After another cup of tea, Zhao Sheng led his men out of the fortress and became completely silent.

Chen Feng did not order the destruction of the fortress, because the towering flames would attract the attention of any cavalry that might be present in Yizhou and the valley.

Composing himself, Chen Feng turned to face the eleven people behind him and said, "Let's go! Home!"

The twelve riders, along with a dozen or so spare horses, galloped off to the northwest and disappeared into the morning mist.

As Chen Feng emerged from seclusion, the final battle of the Battle of Dalinghe began outside the city.

(End of Volume 1)