The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Upon hearing Yang Zhen's words, Zu Keyong immediately smiled, knowing that Yang Zhen must have understood his meaning.

As one of Zu Dashou's closest confidants, Zu Keyong was well aware of Zu Dashou's intentions in sending people north this time.

To put it bluntly, it was just a way to send a message and make a gesture, to show that Ningyuan had not forgotten about the besieged Jinzhou and Songshan, and also to show the pro-war civil officials in the court that Ningyuan had sent reinforcements to relieve the siege.

Although the number of people was small, they were 100% reinforcements.

As for whether the reinforcements could achieve their goal of relieving the siege, even a fool would know the outcome. But this outcome was also within Zu Dashou's calculations.

If this group fails, it will prove that my previous insistence on not sending troops was correct. Sending troops would inevitably lead to falling into the trap of the Tartars besieging the city and attacking reinforcements. It will also be a good opportunity to shut up the mouths of the pro-war civil officials in the court who keep demanding that troops be sent.

As for the issue of defending Jinzhou and Songshan, in the end, it still depends on the efforts of the garrison troops in the cities.

Therefore, Zukeyong was ordered to follow the army north. His biggest worry was that Yang Zhen, the newly appointed deputy general of Ningyuan, was unaware of the situation and would still be stubborn as before, charging northward with force and reckless attacks, regardless of the consequences, and rushing into the Tartars' encirclement.

After listening to Yang Zhen's words, Zu Keyong realized that Yang Zhen was not as aggressive and reckless as he had previously heard. It seemed that his worries were unnecessary.

Thinking of this, Zu Keyong continued, "This afternoon, after the military meeting, the Commander-in-Chief summoned me and secretly instructed me on a route. After much deliberation, I realized that this is the only way to survive between Ningyuan and Jinzhou/Songshan—"

Zu Keyong paused briefly at this point, and Xu Changyong and Zhang Degui, who were engrossed in eating meat, and Li Lu, who was constantly serving wine with a wine jar, all stopped what they were doing and looked up at Zu Keyong.

After a pause, Zu Keyong rearranged the plates and earthenware bowls on the kang table, then pointed to them and said:

"This is Jinzhou, this is Songshan, this is Xingshan, Tashan, Lianshan, Zhaierbao, this is Ningyuan—"

As Zukeyong spoke, he walked around all the plates and earthenware bowls, then drew a line on one side of the kang table with his hand, and continued, "This used to be the border wall between Liaodong and Mongolia! Inside the border wall, all the way east to the sea, it is now filled with Tartar scouts! But outside the border wall—there is a vast world!"

At this point, Zukeyong clapped his hands, removed the bits of beef and mutton from his hands, and then looked intently at Yang Zhen, saying, "This road, going through the border, is much longer, but it's currently our only way to survive heading north!"

Yang Zhen had also considered Zu Keyong's northward route, because that was the route that Yang Zhen and his group had taken in history.

As Zu Keyong said, after leaving Ningyuan, the route does not go north at first, but goes west along the Ningyuan River (now Xingcheng River), crossing the original Liaodong border wall, and then turns north until reaching the south bank of the Wuxin River (now Nuer River), and then turns east along the Wuxin River.

Jinzhou is just a few dozen miles to the east.

This route is the same one that Yang Zhen led 600 men north to rescue Songshan in history. Moreover, it was at the mouth of the Wuxin River that Yang Zhen and his men were ambushed by the Tartars and quickly surrounded, ultimately resulting in the annihilation of the entire army.

Therefore, this time, he absolutely cannot take this path again.

Yang Zhen also thought that since he had been ambushed here in his previous life, he could go earlier this time and ambush the Tartars. Would that be a good idea?

He had thought it through carefully; even if he ambushed the Tartars here, his fate wouldn't change much.

Because a tactical victory cannot salvage a strategic defeat.

As long as he continues down the same old path as in history, he will not escape the Tartars' ambushes time and time again.

Because by the twelfth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, all the Mongols outside the border wall had submitted to the Jurchens, and those Mongols outside the border wall were now all spies for the Jurchen Tartars.

This is one of them.

Secondly, if he chooses the land route, the firearms he relies on for survival will be rendered useless.

Riding horses across mountains and valleys for long journeys is certainly not a problem, but countless bloody battles have proven that the current government troops, relying on archery and horsemanship, are no longer a match for the Jurchen Tartars.

No matter how well you practice archery and horsemanship, you can't reach the level of proficiency of the Manchu and Mongol cavalry in a short time. So using the Ming Dynasty's official army's archery and horsemanship to fight against the Manchu and Mongol cavalry's archery and horsemanship is, at present, absolutely using your own weakness to attack the enemy's strength. This is a suicidal tactic.

Therefore, in future battles, Yang Zhen must gradually lead his troops to shift towards firearms, including this time.

However, a large number of artillery pieces and ammunition could not accompany their 600-strong team on their long journey over mountains and valleys.

Even the muskets that Yang Zhen currently relies on most, such as the Lumi gun, are not very effective in mounted combat, nor are they very effective in skirmishes.

In order for firearms of this era to be fully effective, it was essential to carefully select the position, ideally by constructing a position in advance to lure the enemy to the pre-set position.

In other words, the strategy was to ambush the Tartars in a pre-selected position or wait for the Tartar army to attack; only in this way could the strategy be effective.

However, the northward route that Zu Keyong relayed, which was envisioned by Zu Dashou, had no chance of being achieved.

After Zu Keyong finished explaining Zu Dashou's proposed route to the north, Xu Changyong, Zhang Degui, and Li Lu, who were present, all applauded and cheered.

Xu Changyong exclaimed, "Brilliant! The Commander-in-Chief is indeed farsighted; this route he suggested is absolutely perfect! Many of my Mongol cavalrymen are familiar with the terrain outside the border, so this route will surely be a breeze for them! Brother Yang, what do you think? Let's settle on this!"

Zhang Degui and Li Lu also agreed repeatedly, their faces beaming with smiles. After listening to Xu Changyong's words, they looked up at Yang Zhen with anticipation.

As a result, Yang Zhen remained silent.

Seeing that Yang Zhen remained unmoved and showed no sign of joy, Zu Keyong was puzzled and quickly asked, "What does Commander Yang think?"

Yang Zhen ignored Zu Keyong's questions, staring at the plates and earthenware bowls on the kang table without saying a word, gradually drawing the attention of everyone present to himself.

"Yang Xiezhen! Is there anything wrong with the method the Marshal taught us? Can you find a better one?!"

Xu Changyong stared at Yang Zhen and saw that everyone agreed with the route, but Yang Zhen, the general who was heading north, remained silent. Xu Changyong was puzzled and asked a question.

"It's not that the commander-in-chief's method is bad, but if our six hundred men head north, we'll have to cross the border wall, traverse mountains and valleys, and undertake a long march. How will we carry our firearms, ammunition, and supplies?"

Yang Zhen looked up at the others and, seeing that they were all staring at him, continued, "If we travel along the border without firearms, ammunition, or military supplies, we can advance lightly and quickly head north. However, if we turn back east after reaching the Wuxin River, we will be in a deadly situation at every step!"

"We, six hundred men, are facing tens of thousands of Tartar troops. If we rely solely on horseback archery, once we are surrounded by the Tartars, it will not be a matter of nine out of ten chances of survival, but rather a complete loss of all hope and certain death!"

"I'm not afraid of death! What I'm afraid of is dying in vain, dying without purpose! Failing to complete the rescue mission would be a sin if I died!"

Yang Zhen's words left Xu Changyong speechless.

Xu Changyong is the kind of person who is simple-minded but physically strong. He may be good at charging into battle, but he is an amateur when it comes to strategic planning before a battle, or to put it simply, he doesn't have the brains for it.

Staring in disbelief, Xu Changyong said to Yang Zhen, "Brother, if I may be so bold as to call you Brother Yang, tell me, besides this path, what other path do we have to take?"

By this time, Zu Keyong, Zhang Degui, and Li Lu also realized that Yang Zhen probably already had a decision.

Zhang Degui and Li Lu simply followed Yang Zhen's every word. Unless something was extremely unreliable, they would never oppose Yang Zhen's decision.

Therefore, the two men looked at Yang Zhen in silence, waiting for him to speak.

At this moment, the straightforward Zu Keyong couldn't help but say, "Since Yang Xiezhen is not satisfied with the strategy personally taught by the commander-in-chief, then tell me, do you have a better strategy?"

"This journey north is fraught with danger, and my life is tied to everyone's! If there is a better way, I will not object! If it is truly safe and feasible, I will not only not object, but I will definitely agree!"

Yang Zhen, who was pondering how to explain, felt relieved after hearing Zu Keyong's words. He stretched out two fingers, dipped them in the wine bowl, and then, based on the city layout that Zu Keyong had just arranged, he drew a line on the opposite side of the Liaodong border wall that Zu Keyong had drawn, across a pile of plates and wine bowls, that is, on the other side of the kang table.

"At sea! We'll head north by sea! No matter how many or how powerful the Tartar cavalry are, they can't reach the open sea without a navy!"