The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Upon hearing Yuan Jin's words, Yang Zhen immediately understood. He knew Yuan Jin was right; the sky was clear and blue, perfect for climbing to a high vantage point to enjoy the view.

If he were to follow his own plan and head straight to that sandbar to anchor, he would probably be discovered by the Tartars' patrols before he even reached the sandbar.

Unless, of course, the tens of thousands of Tartars besieging Songshan were completely unprepared for the sea.

But Yang Zhen dared not and was unwilling to take this gamble, especially at this point, where one wrong move could lead to failure.

"Brother Yuan's concerns are valid! I was just being impatient! How about this: since the large ship has a tall mast and big sails, making it quite conspicuous, let's leave it at that for now and wait until nightfall, then take advantage of the tide and darkness to moor near the sandbar, shall we?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Jin looked at Yang Zhen and knew that Yang Zhen understood his meaning immediately. He also noticed that Yang Zhen's anxious and impatient mood had just passed by, showing that he was quite composed. Yuan Jin thought more highly of Yang Zhen.

"That's right! I've been to Xiaoling River Estuary before. Given the current situation, if the Tartars are prepared, we could easily be discovered. Besides, there are many mudflats and waterways there, and the terrain is complex. Even if the Tartars are unprepared, our large ships could easily run aground if we rashly go there! How about this—"

At this point, Yuan Jin clasped his hands in a fist salute to Yang Zhen and continued, "Brother Yang! My idea is that I should take some men and board a small boat right now to personally check out that sandbar! If it's suitable for setting up camp, we'll head there tonight and anchor! If it's not suitable, we'll find another way to dock!"

"No! Brother Yuan! Directing the fleet to change course and anchor at the shore is your forte! As for taking a small boat to inspect the sandbar, I'll go myself!"

Upon hearing Yuan Jin's words, Yang Zhen immediately interrupted him. Although Yang Zhen had never served as a soldier or fought in a war, at this moment, he keenly sensed that this sandbar with the remnants of the old camp was crucial to his upcoming plan, and he should go and see it for himself.

After saying this, Yang Zhen waved his hand to stop Yuan Jin's rebuttal, and continued, "The fleet has dozens of ships, large and small. In terms of command, dispatch, advance, retreat, and stopping, I'm not as good as you, brother! However, I do have some experience in pre-planning the battlefield and maximizing the effectiveness of guns and cannons! I'll go! Don't worry, I'll draw the terrain around the sandbar on a board and have someone bring it back!"

Seeing that Yang Zhen had said all that, Yuan Jin stopped insisting and immediately ordered his men to prepare several small boats and a group of oarsmen and boatmen.

Yang Zhen didn't say anything more and immediately ordered Yang Zhan'ao to relay the order to Zhang Chen, instructing Zhang Chen and Zhang Guogan to lead the entire 40-man musketeer team to assemble on the deck.

These past two days, Yang Zhen has had a rare opportunity to get a complete rest on the ship, catching up on the sleep he missed in the previous days.

The affairs of those two cavalry units were to be managed by Zu Keyong and Xu Changyong respectively; Yang Zhen had neither the right to interfere nor the interest to do so.

As for the artillery, Zhang Degui and Yang Shen were in charge, with Zhang Degui on the left wing and Yang Shen on the right wing. Yang Zhen was quite at ease with this.

As for the affairs of the grenadier squad, the performance of the commanding officer Li Lu and the adjutant Pan happy has exceeded Yang Zhen's expectations, and there is nothing to be dissatisfied with.

The remaining musketeers were on the same ship as Yang Zhen, but Yang Zhen didn't concern himself with the specifics and left everything to Zhang Chen and Zhang Guogan.

The issue of the new type of ignition powder that he was most concerned about has been resolved thanks to the efforts of Pan Wenmao and Zhang Guogan. In particular, there are no longer any problems with the ignition powder itself.

The problem of ignition powder failing to ignite smoothly when there is no wind or the wind is not strong has disappeared with the improvement of the purity and quantity of gunpowder.

However, the problem of misfiring still exists.

However, the problem that caused the fire to fail is no longer the ignition powder itself, but the weather.

Even though the "Rumi Gun" had been modified to be flintlock, it still suffered from the same fatal flaws as other firearms in windy or rainy weather.

Fortunately, the Liaodong region in this era had been experiencing continuous drought and little rain, so Yang Zhen was not worried about rainy days.

Especially in the third month of spring, spring rain is as precious as oil in other parts of the north, but it will still fall to some extent. However, in Liaodong, spring rain is as precious as gold, or there is simply none at all.

However, the problem of strong winds is quite serious, especially by the sea, which makes Yang Zhen somewhat worried.

However, having come this far, Yang Zhen knew he had done his best, and the people under his command had already performed exceptionally well. To ask for too much would seem unreasonable.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chen and Zhang Guogan led the men of the left and right flanks of the musketeer team to the deck to assemble. Everyone was excited to hear that they would be following Yang Zhen to land first.

For two days and three nights in a row, everyone was on the boat and couldn't go anywhere. No matter who they were, they were all tired of sitting on the boat.

At Yang Zhen's command, Zhang Chen, Zhang Guogan, and several of Yang Zhen's personal guards quickly shouldered their modified muskets and small shovels with wooden handles. They also checked the satchels containing gunpowder and bullets at their waists. Then, one by one, they descended the large ship and boarded the small boat via the rope ladders hanging from the ship's side.

Yang Zhen personally carried his modified musket, as well as the shovel that he had personally ordered to be collected from the blacksmith shops in Ningyuan City. He carefully inspected the musket powder bag and bullets in a cloth satchel before finally disembarking from the large ship and boarding the small boat.

Three wooden centipede-shaped boats, carrying Yang Zhen and his three personal guards, as well as forty musketeers including Zhang Chen and Zhang Guogan, sailed with great difficulty toward the northwest.

The centipede boat has no sails; it relies entirely on oarsmen on board for power.

Although the wind was blowing in their favor, the journey was extremely difficult on the open sea, propelled by the turbulent waves and currents.

Upon seeing this, Yang Zhen quickly gave orders to the musketeers who were on the same centipede boat as him to take down their shovels and help the naval crew's boatmen and oarsmen row, which made the boat move a little faster.

Of course, there was a reason why Yang Zhen equipped every soldier in the musketeer team with a shovel, and it certainly wasn't for rowing.

The other members of the fire tongs team are still unaware of the powerful uses of the shovel, but Yang Zhen himself is very clear about them.

At that time, in Ningyuan City, due to the urgency of the situation, Yang Zhen was unable to explain the purpose of the shovel to Zhang Guogan, who had received the mission, nor did he have time to explain the final use of the shovel to the other musketeers in the musket team.

However, he believed that these people would quickly understand once they arrived at their destination.

Yang Zhen's order for the musketeer squad to help with rowing was quickly imitated by Zhang Chen and Zhang Guogan on the other two boats.

And so, the three centipede boats rowed northwest on the vast sea for almost an hour before the legendary high sandbar finally appeared vaguely in the sight of Yang Zhen and the others.

Another half hour passed, until Yang Zhen felt as if his arms were filled with lead and he could no longer lift them. Only then did their centipede boat finally come to a steady stop on the sandbar as a wave receded.

Immediately afterwards, the centipede boats led by Zhang Chen and Zhang Guogan also docked steadily at the shore.

Yang Zhen, who had been eagerly waiting, jumped off the centipede boat as soon as he saw it dock at the beach.

Whether it was because he had been on the boat for a long time and was not used to the feeling of land, or because the sand itself was soft, Yang Zhengang felt his legs go weak as soon as he jumped onto the beach and sat down on the wet sand with a thud.

However, he wasn't angry at all. On the contrary, he was very happy. After sitting on the boat for so long, returning to land made him feel very at ease.