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

Seeing He Kegang kneel down, Chen Feng was greatly alarmed and quickly reached out to help him up, "General He! You mustn't!"

Chen Feng tried to pull him up, but He Kegang seemed to be nailed to the ground and refused to get up no matter what.

He looked up, his eyes bloodshot.

"General Chen," He Kegang's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, "let me finish."

Chen Feng's hand froze in mid-air.

He Kegang straightened up from his knees. His right hand was still wrapped in bandages and slinged across his chest, so he could only support himself on his knees with his left hand, his body trembling slightly.

He took a deep breath, a long breath, as if trying to suppress something in his chest.

"Mingxiao, he..." His voice trembled slightly as he spoke, "is the only son of my elder brother He Xing."

He Kegang's eyes were looking out the window, as if he were looking at a very, very far place.

"My eldest brother... died in the Hun River in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign." His voice was calm. "In that battle, our He family lost seven people. My eldest brother, my third brother, my two nephews, and my brother-in-law..."

Chen Feng listened in silence without saying a word.

He Kegang's Adam's apple bobbed, and he continued, "Of my elder brother's lineage, only Mingxiao is left. I advised him to quit the army, get married, and continue my brother's lineage. But he said..."

Suddenly his voice choked.

He Kegang lowered his head, swallowing hard several times. After a few breaths, he managed to squeeze out a few words: "He said... he will never start a family until all the Tartars are killed and his father is avenged."

As soon as he finished speaking, his shoulders slumped down.

Chen Feng saw tears falling on the blue bricks, one drop, two drops, three drops.

Chen Feng turned his face away; his throat tightened and his nose stung.

He recalled He Mingxiao's dying words by the Xiaoling River: "Tell my father that I didn't disgrace him."

He Kegang knelt on the ground and cried silently for a long time.

Each sob was accompanied by a violent tremor in his shoulders, and a patch of bright red blood seeped from the bandage on his right hand.

Chen Feng tried to help him up again, but He Kegang pushed him away as soon as he reached out.

It took He Kegang quite a while to finally calm himself down.

He wiped his face hard with his sleeve, raised his head, and said in a hoarse voice, "President Chen, bring back Mingxiao's belongings and last words... You are a benefactor to the He family."

He paused, took a deep breath, and his tone became solemn: "Besides, you are my savior, He Kegang."

"The Later Jin's grain and ammunition depots were bombed, and the Tartars' cannons were silenced. If it weren't for that, I and Commander Zu would never have been able to break through successfully." As he spoke, he was about to bow again, "So you deserve this bow."

Chen Feng hurriedly helped him up again, this time using all his strength to lift him up.

"General He, you flatter me." Chen Feng's voice also grew stronger. "Commander He died fighting against the Jin, a worthy death! What we need to do now is kill more Tartars and fulfill his last wish! I went to burn the Tartar camp to defeat them! I truly cannot accept your bow, General!"

He Kegang was helped to his feet by Chen Feng. After a moment of stunned silence, he sighed deeply, "Sigh... I never thought that after living most of my life, I would still need a junior to enlighten me. I'm really getting more and more senile as I get older."

He Kegang sat back down at the table and, after a while, his expression gradually returned to its usual composure.

After venting his emotions, he looked at Chen Feng and said, "Commander Chen, do you know why I came to see you?"

Chen Feng nodded. "I've guessed part of it. It's probably about Wang Jie, the centurion."

He Kegang nodded: "Commander Wang didn't come back with you, he must have died loyally in Yizhou... but there's another matter."

Chen Feng looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

He Kegang looked him straight in the eye: "Commander Zu intends to recruit you. If you are willing to leave Song Wei and join Jinzhou, Commander Zu can recommend you to the Ministry of War as a commander of a thousand men. After two years of training, he will recommend you for promotion to guerrilla commander."

Chen Feng's heart skipped a beat. A commander of a thousand men was a fifth-rank official, while a guerrilla was a third-rank official. Was Zu Dashou really that generous?

But a few thoughts flashed through his mind: Zu Dashou is the core of the Liaoxi military family. If he were to promote an outsider like himself out of thin air, would the old men under him be dissatisfied?

These conditions sound tempting, but they seem like empty promises. Two years of probing... who can say for sure what will happen in two years?

Seeing that he remained silent, He Kegang asked, "Does Commander Chen have any concerns?"

Chen Feng remained silent for a moment, then raised his head instead of answering directly: "General, could you please tell me what exactly happened at Dalinghe?"

He Kegang looked at him, a strange light flashing in his eyes, and then nodded.

"If you want to know, I will tell you."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and slowly recounted the battle that day.

On September 26th, Zhang Chun led his army to Changshan, fifteen li outside Dalinghe City, and began filling in the trenches. Later, the Later Jin Zhenglan Banner and the Mongol Jarud tribe came to harass them, but were repelled by Song Wei's artillery.

On September 27, Zhang Chun advanced to within eight li of Dalinghe City, where the Ming army's flags could already be seen on the city walls.

In order to achieve a swift victory, Zhang Chun ordered his troops to fire upon the Later Jin camp first.

Unable to effectively retaliate against the Ming army's artillery fire, the Later Jin camp quickly descended into chaos.

Zu Dashou made a decisive move, leading the last thousand elite soldiers and three thousand laborers in the city to break out of the siege by opening the city gates.

But as soon as they rushed out, they fell into Heshuotu's ambush.

When Wu Xiang saw that Zu Dashou was in danger, he abandoned Zhang Chun's central army and led all the Guan Ning cavalry to meet Zu Dashou.

Wu Xiang rescued Zu Dashou, but the troops suffered heavy losses. In order to preserve their strength, Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou retreated to Jinzhou.

However, the central army where Zhang Chun and Song Wei were stationed quickly fell into a disadvantageous position without the support of the Guan Ning cavalry.

At 5 PM on September 27th, Song Wei's troops collapsed.

Zhang Chun, unable to hold out alone, died in battle at the hour of Hai (9-11 PM) on the 27th of September, exhausted.

In this battle, the Ming Dynasty lost hundreds of breech-loading cannons and tiger-squatting cannons, four red-coated cannons, ten general cannons, and more than 20,000 elite troops, as well as 12,000 civilian laborers.

The Later Jin suffered equally heavy losses due to the lack of artillery support. The Plain Blue Banner and Bordered Yellow Banner were almost completely wiped out, more than half of the Han soldiers were lost, and more than 10,000 Mongols were killed or wounded.

Huang Taiji is currently confronting Zu Dashou outside Jinzhou, and Dalinghe City has been demolished.

Qiu Hejia and Wang Yingchao reported that Wu Xiang's troops fled first, followed by Song Wei's troops, which led to Zhang Chun's death in battle.

Sun Chengzong also believed that Wu Xiang and Song Wei were responsible for Zhang Chun's death, but he believed that Qiu Hejia was primarily responsible for repeatedly dividing his troops and missing opportunities.

Chen Feng was deeply shaken.

In an instant, he understood Zhang Lan's unusual behavior. If it was simply to steal credit, there was no need to force his way into the Jinyiwei Hundred-Household Office, let alone risk falsifying military records.

No wonder Zu Dashou offered such generous terms; Wu Xiang was his brother-in-law and a major financial backer of Zu Dashou. If Wu Xiang fell from grace, Zu Dashou would also be in trouble.

The desertion of the deputy general led to the death of the commander-in-chief, a crime punishable by death. Both sides wanted to grasp at the last straw, so they desperately tried to win each other over.

As for Qiu Hejia, although he wasn't directly involved in Zhang Chun's death, Sun Chengzong's opinion was still fatal. It's just that his group was too stupid and unacceptable.

In other words, apart from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the eunuchs, the other three families were all fighting for a chance to survive.

Having figured this out, Chen Feng had an idea in mind.

Chen Feng raised his head and suddenly spoke: "General, I have a favor to ask of you."