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

They couldn't stay in Damaobao. After a quick search, Chen Feng led the seven or eight newly assembled men into a hilly area called Niuxin Mountain to the north.

Niuxin Mountain is not high, but it is densely forested, which can easily hide these people and a few horses.

Once he found a sheltered rocky hollow to settle down, Chen Feng's taut nerves snapped, and his eyelids became so heavy he couldn't lift them.

After two days and two nights of fleeing and fighting, even the strongest person couldn't withstand it.

He instructed Meng Changgeng to arrange for guards to take turns, saying he needed to take a nap. He wrapped himself tightly in his cotton armor and robes, rested his head on the saddle, and fell into a deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

Chen Feng slept very soundly and had a dream.

The whole dream was chaotic; I dreamt of many people and things.

The first dream I had was of my past life in the recruit camp. I was caught smoking in the toilet with a group of new recruits by the sergeant. The sergeant stuffed a whole pack of cigarettes into my mouth and lit them, making it impossible for me to open my eyes all day.

Then he dreamed that he was confronting soldiers from a neighboring country on the border, with steel pipes, machetes, and axes taking turns to fight;

The dream shifts to his first real shooting experience. The instructor comes to talk to him several times, and he almost gets kicked out of the company because he failed his self-assessment.

The scene abruptly shifts to a comrade-in-arms carrying two children, who is struck in the back by shrapnel and dies before his eyes;

The explosion then engulfed everything, leaving only scorching steam and a silent ringing in the ears...

In the blink of an eye, the scene transformed into the wilderness of the late Ming Dynasty, where the Later Jin cavalry swept over the routed Ming army like a black tide, their gleaming swords rising and falling, bringing with them a bloody storm.

He Mingxiao's pale, blood-stained face suddenly drew closer, his lips moving but no sound came out.

Then came Meng Changgeng's shifty eyes, Aji's bewildered face, and Hao Dadao's gang, who grinned maliciously as they rushed forward, binding him tightly with rough hemp ropes and leading him toward the roaring campfire in the Later Jin camp...

In the distance, he could faintly hear voices calling his name, growing louder and louder: "Boss! Commander Chen! General Chen!"

Chen Feng suddenly opened his eyes, and Meng Changgeng's ugly face was very close.

With a sharp "smack!", Chen Feng instinctively slapped the other person.

Meng Changgeng cried out "Ouch!" and staggered back two steps, clutching half his face. He was both aggrieved and anxious: "Boss! It's...it's me!"

Chen Feng's forehead was covered in cold sweat. He shook his head violently to clear his mind of the dream and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

"It's been about two hours, let's not worry about that for now." Meng Changgeng got up from the ground, grabbed Chen Feng, and pulled him outside. "Something's happened! Aji and Hao Dadao are fighting! You have to go check it out!"

Chen Feng took a deep breath of the crisp, cold air, fully waking up. Hearing Meng Changgeng say this, he recalled the scene of his men's mutiny in his dream.

He stood up, picked up the knife, and hissed, "Go!"

Outside Shi'aozi, a commotion had broken out, with several people gathered around, cheering Hao Dadao on.

Hao Dadao, like a furious black bear, pinned Aji to the withered grass, his fist, as big as a bowl, slamming into Aji's face while cursing, "You little Tartar! You've gone too far! You haven't even grown your hair yet and you dare to touch my people!"

Aji was beaten so badly he couldn't fight back at all, he could only use his arms to protect his head and face, and occasionally he would shoot out a fierce look like a wolf cub from between his arms.

"Stop!" Chen Feng shouted, rushing forward and grabbing Hao Dadao's arm as he raised it again.

Hao Dadao was furious and turned to struggle, but Chen Feng's hand pressed on his numb veins, making it impossible for him to exert any force.

Seeing that Hao Dadao was being held by Chen Feng, Aji struggled to break free and bit Hao Dadao's thigh.

Hao Dadao let out a pig-like scream: "Ah!! You son of a bitch! Let go of me!"

Chen Feng shouted sternly, "Aji! Stop!"

After much effort, Chen Feng finally managed to separate the two.

"What's going on?!" Chen Feng stood between Aji and Hao Dadao, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

Hao Dadao, panting heavily, pointed at Aji and roared, "This brat started it! He bullied my two brothers while I was out taking a leak!"

"No...no!" Aji stammered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, gesturing frantically as if to take something, then pointing at Chen Feng's horse, "They...took...meat..."

Chen Feng's eyes sharpened as he looked at the two defeated soldiers that Aji was pointing at. "You two come here for a moment."

The two young defeated soldiers avoided eye contact, hiding behind Hao Dadao and refusing to go over.

Seeing Chen Feng's strange expression, and glancing at his two brothers whose eyes were darting around and who seemed to be hiding something in their pockets, Hao Dadao became suspicious as well. He roared, "What do you two mean by this? Disobeying the commander? Get over here!"

The two men still hesitated and refused to come forward. Hao Dadao, losing face, went up and kicked each of them over, quickly finding several pieces of dried meat and two dry biscuits in their arms.

Seeing this, Chen Feng looked at Meng Changgeng, who quickly ran to check Chen Feng's satchel, then turned back and nodded to Chen Feng, "Something's missing."

The truth came out.

Hao Dadao's face flushed bright red, even more so than during the fight. He felt he had been tricked, especially in front of his newly allied commander.

His anger was directed at his own men: "You two damned thieves! I'll chop you up!" he said, reaching for the knife that was lying by the tree.

The two fleeing soldiers were terrified and knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly: "Master Hao, spare our lives! Master Hao, spare our lives! We were starving and bewitched..."

"Enough!" Chen Feng shouted.

He glanced at the two men paralyzed with fear on the ground, then at Hao Dadao, whose face was filled with shame and indignation, and Aji, who stubbornly wiped his mouth. "A little dry ration. We're all brothers-in-arms; it's not worth risking our lives for such a small amount of food."

His voice wasn't loud, but it froze Hao Dadao's sword in mid-air.

The two fleeing soldiers, as if granted a pardon, repeatedly kowtowed to Chen Feng, saying, "Thank you, sir, for sparing our lives! Thank you, sir!"

"He may be spared the death penalty, but he will not escape punishment," Chen Feng said to Hao Dadao. "Since he's your man, you decide what to do."

Hao Dadao, holding his anger, threw down his knife and swung his hand, giving the two men a thorough beating until they cried out in pain before he finally vented his anger.

After he finished, Chen Feng looked at Hao Dadao and said, "Go apologize to Aji."

Hao Dadao, neck stiff and face turned to one side, grumbled, "You want me to apologize to those Mongolian barbarians? Do you think he deserves it?! I won't!"

Chen Feng frowned. Hao Dadao's idea was the common idea of ​​most people. In this era, there was no concept of a greater Chinese nation. In the eyes of Han people, Mongols were foreigners, and many people even hated Mongols.

Thinking of this, Chen Feng's brows gradually relaxed. He patted Hao Dadao on the shoulder and said in a calm tone, "He is a Mongol, but not a barbarian. Like you, he lost his home and his family scattered. Now he is someone who is risking his life to fight the Tartars. He is a comrade-in-arms who fights alongside you. He is your comrade-in-arms."

Hao Dadao was still unconvinced and stepped aside. "He's just a Mongolian barbarian! Mongols and Tartars are no different! Mongols follow Tartars to do evil deeds; they're just Tartar lackeys! He might even be a Tartar spy!"

Chen Feng sighed. "Do you know why we can't beat the Tartars?"

"The Tartars have better armor! Better weapons! More horses than us! And they have the Mongols helping them, so naturally we can't win!"

Chen Feng said earnestly, "Are the scouts of our Great Ming Dynasty worse equipped than the Tartars? Are the personal guards and retainers of our generals better equipped than the Tartars? When small groups encounter each other, both sides suffer casualties, so the losses are about the same, right?"

Hao Dadao was speechless for a moment, "What you said is true, but... but our ordinary soldiers are not as well-equipped as the Tartars..."

"We don't suffer losses in small-scale battles, but we crumble at the first contact in every major battle. Why is that?"

"That's because they're cowards! If they all charged forward like me, they would have crushed the Tartars long ago!"

"No matter how brave you are, you still lost, didn't you?"

"This..." Hao Dadao's dark face turned red with frustration.

Seeing his opportunity, Chen Feng slowly began, "The reason we can't win against the Tartars in major battles is because we're not united and don't trust our comrades. In small skirmishes, everyone's a familiar face, and you trust that they'll follow you and won't abandon you, which is why you dare to push forward. But in major battles, tens of thousands clash, with several battalions mixed together. Don't you ever wonder: 'Won't those Henan soldiers run away first?' The old guard of the Beijing garrison usually looks down on us; why should we be their scapegoats? Those Mongol vassals will definitely be the first to flee!"

Hao Dadao's face turned even redder, and he protested, "I...I didn't!"

"I believe you, Hao Dadao, aren't a coward, but it's unavoidable that everyone thinks that way." Chen Feng walked up behind Hao Dadao and patted him on the shoulder, his tone becoming somewhat stern: "It's precisely because most people think this way that they look down on Aji and don't trust him just because you're a Mongol. Aji is also wary of you Han Chinese, so you can't work together as a team! That's why the Ming army is such a disorganized mess! Seven thousand men are scattered by a mere hundred or two!"

"I..." Hao Dadao opened his mouth, but couldn't find any more words to refute it.

"What, do you really want to wait until the Tartars have chopped off your and Aji's heads, tied them to their saddles like bells, and let the Tartars point at them and laugh: 'Look! These are the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, soldiers made of clay!'"

"Me!" Hao Dadao turned around and glared fiercely at Chen Feng. Chen Feng did not avoid his gaze, and the two stared at each other for a long time.

In the end, Hao Dadao gave up, his shoulders slumped, "I...I understand."

"So what?" Chen Feng's tone remained stern.

Hao Dadao walked past Chen Feng, stood before Aji, suddenly knelt down, and kowtowed heavily, saying, "I'm sorry!"

The commotion startled Aji and everyone around him.

Chen Feng then looked at Aji, "Aji, you! Apologize too!"

Aji seemed to understand Chen Feng's meaning and knelt down to kowtow to Hao Dadao.

Chen Feng's expression softened somewhat. He looked around at everyone and said, "I'm now establishing my first rule here! From this day forward, in this unit, there will only be one kind of comrade-in-arms, those who fight alongside us! Anyone who uses terms like 'Tartars' or 'barbarians' to justify their actions, acts as a bully among themselves, or undermines the unity of the unit, won't be able to escape the ruthlessness of military law!"

When his gaze swept over everyone, they couldn't help but restrain their expressions.

Aji seemed to understand that Chen Feng was protecting him. His eyes were a little red. After getting up, he walked up to Chen Feng again and kowtowed, saying to Chen Feng, "Sir... a good person."

Chen Feng helped Aji up. "Call me 'boss,' or 'squad leader,' but don't call me 'master' anymore. Also, don't kowtow all the time; we don't do that here."

Aji seemed to understand but not quite, then smiled and kowtowed again, saying, "Boss!"

Chen Feng shook his head, too lazy to waste any more words with him, and turned to Meng Changgeng, "Take out the remaining dry rations and divide them up. Eat quickly, we still have to keep going after we finish."

Chen Feng didn't want to establish a so-called equal society for everyone in this resource-scarce era; that was too idealistic.

However, when faced with danger, people tend to stay in their familiar environment, and Chen Feng's most familiar environment is the military unit where he has served for more than ten years.

He couldn't build the modern army of later generations in this era, but he could try to move in that direction.

Moreover, only a united team can form a fighting force. Within one's own team, there can only be one enemy, and that is the Tartars.

Meng Changgeng responded and untied his satchel.

When the few pieces of dried meat and biscuits were carefully poured onto a relatively clean stone in the middle, everyone subconsciously swallowed, their eyes following Meng Changgeng's hands as he cut the food.

Each person received only a small strip of dried meat, about the length of a finger, and a small pancake, about half the size of a palm. No one fought over it, and no one complained.

Hao Dadao silently gnawed on his portion, chewing vigorously.

Aji carefully held the food, glanced at Chen Feng first, and then took a small bite.

The two defeated soldiers, who had been beaten, huddled in a corner, eating quickly with fear on their faces.

The rocky hollow was very quiet, with only the sounds of chewing and the rustling of the mountain wind through the treetops.

Seeing Chen Feng alone sitting on a rock fighting with dried meat, Meng Changgeng went up to him and chuckled, "General, you're really something! Even more awesome than those real generals!"

Chen Feng glared at Meng Changgeng with a hostile look. "Eat your food! No one will think you're mute if you don't talk!"

Meng Changgeng shamelessly sat down next to Chen Feng, tilting his head and looking at Chen Feng with a wicked grin. "Boss, you're not really a commander, are you?"

Chen Feng glanced at Meng Changgeng. "What do you mean? I am the commander-in-chief! No doubt about it!"

"You don't even have an official seal... your horsemanship is terrible... and what kind of captain makes someone apologize to the Mongols? A proper captain doesn't lead troops like that..."

Chen Feng wasn't annoyed at being exposed. He just smiled lightly, turned his back, and said, "The seal was lost during the retreat! Besides, who says a captain has to be a skilled rider?"

"I'm not going to expose you in public, what are you panicking about?"

"I am a legitimate commander! If you keep making noise, I'll charge you with the crime of bewitching the emperor."

"Yes, Commander, you're right." Seeing that the jerky in Chen Feng's hand was hard, Meng Changgeng tore it open and handed it to him. "Boss, where did you learn these skills?"

Chen Feng took the dried meat. "What? Want to learn?"

"Teach the little brat a few tricks!"

"I won't teach you!" With that, Chen Feng snatched the remaining jerky from Meng Changgeng's hand and ran away.

"Hey! Again! You son of a bitch! I haven't eaten yet!"

The two chased each other through the woods, and the atmosphere of the whole group became much more lively.

Chen Feng wasn't really craving his jerky; he just felt that everyone's nerves were too tense and he needed to do something to distract them.

After a while of playful banter, the two sat down. Chen Feng slowly chewed the dry rations in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the ragged, emaciated faces of the men.

Meng Changgeng is shrewd, Aji is honest and straightforward, Hao Dadao is rough but loyal, and there are also those few bewildered but desperately wanting to survive defeated soldiers...

In his previous life, he led a disciplined and modern army, but now, he only has this battered and bruised remnant force that he has barely managed to cobble together.

In the original history, this group of people should have wandered this battlefield like lost souls, and were eventually captured and slaughtered by the Tartars.

But things are different now. Ever since his soul from the future traveled to this time and space, from the moment he distributed the food in his satchel to everyone, this group of people were no longer completely wandering ghosts.

They had shared hunger and been hunted together, and now they were eating together again.

An invisible, extremely fragile thread bound them together. And the one holding this thread was this mysterious "General Chen."

As his team continued to grow stronger, Chen Feng began to have other thoughts.

This team is still very inexperienced, but as long as they can escape, they will all be veterans. Perhaps then I can use these veterans as the foundation to build my own team.

Chen Feng swallowed the last bit of dry, hard biscuit crumbs, clapped his hands, and stood up.

"Pack up, and we'll set off in about half an incense stick's time."