The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

After finding a water source in the reed marshes to the west not far from there, Yang Zhen entrusted Yuan Jin and his fleet with the daily water supply for people and livestock in the camp.

Yuan Jin's twelve large ships could not enter the reed marshes to the west, but his dozens of small boats could travel freely. The boatmen and oarsmen were idle anyway, so they could be used to provide some logistical support.

Now that Yuan Jin and his fleet had come all this way, they certainly didn't want to just sit around and wait. Moreover, he was becoming increasingly optimistic about Yang Zhen's success on this mission.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have proactively recommended his close associates to follow Yang Zhen in achieving great deeds.

Therefore, when Yang Zhen gave him this task, he readily agreed.

With the water source problem solved, Xu Changyong, Zu Keyong, and Yuan Jin were all relieved, and Yang Zhen also felt relieved and stopped thinking about it.

However, as soon as one matter was settled, another immediately surfaced: his earlier determination to personally investigate the terrain around the Niangniang Palace area tonight, to find out exactly what kind of camp was set up there, and which force was stationed there.

If it were truly as Yan San and others suspected, that Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming's Tianyou troops were stationed there, then his advance battalion might not have needed to go down to Songshan City to attempt a rescue.

The direct destruction of the artillery possessed by the Tianyou soldiers immediately lifted the siege of Jinzhou and Songshan by the Tartar army.

The reason the Tartars were able to attack Jinzhou and Songshan was because they now had artillery. If they lost their artillery, they would not have been able to capture Jinzhou and Songshan unless the garrison inside the cities surrendered.

But if the Tartars had no cannons and no hope of capturing the city, would the garrison inside surrender voluntarily?

After considering all this again, Yang Zhen said to Xu Changyong, Zu Keyong, and Yuan Jin, "Brother Xu! Brother Zu! Brother Yuan! Military strategy says, speed is of the essence! Tonight, we've just arrived, and the Tartars outside Songshan City can't possibly be prepared in this direction! However, it's hard to say what the situation will be like tomorrow! Therefore, I want to take advantage of our arrival tonight and personally lead some men to check the situation around Niangniang Palace!"

"Hey—brother! It's not that I, Old Xu, am being nosy, but sending some men out for guard duty or patrols is the proper thing to do! But how can you, the battalion commander, lead men out on patrols before the camp is even firmly established?"

No sooner had Yang Zhen finished speaking than Xu Changyong shouted.

"That's right! Guerrilla Commander Xu is right! Yang Xiezhen, you are the commander of a battalion, and so many things require your approval. How can you go at a time like this! Here's what we'll do! I'll take the men! It's just arranging sentry posts, right?! What about visible sentries, hidden sentries, checkpoints, patrol posts, and ambush posts? I'm not bragging, but as the commander-in-chief, arranging these things is my specialty!"

Hearing this, Yang Zhen gave a wry smile. Seeing that Yuan Jin was about to speak, he immediately interrupted them, saying, "That's right! Of course, I know Brother Zu's abilities! In that case, once we've set up camp tonight, the sentry posts, hidden sentry posts, patrol posts, and ambush posts on this sandbar will be handed over to my cousin! —But—"

At this point, Yang Zhen's expression turned serious. After a pause, he continued, "Tonight, I will personally lead men out to approach the enemy camps around the Niangniang Palace area. We need to see if we can find out who is stationed in the connected camps on both sides of the Xiaoling River around the Niangniang Palace! If we can find out, perhaps our advance team won't need to risk heading towards Songshan City! This matter is of great importance, and only I can go personally!"

After saying this, Yang Zhen noticed that the men were silent and seemed lost in thought. He continued, "Furthermore, some of you are not yet fully assembled, while others have other important duties and cannot leave. Besides, everyone is responsible for their own tasks, and I believe that nothing major will happen in just one night! If the Tartars discover this place, Brother Yuan Jin is here with his fleet, so you can retreat at any time! Unless it is a matter of life and death, everything on the island will be temporarily under the command of Lieutenant General Zukeyong!"

Yang Zhen was a deputy general, Zu Keyong was a brigade commander, and Xu Changyong and Zhang Degui, though old, were both guerrillas.

As for Yuan Jin, who led the fleet and held a special position, although he was old, his rank was even lower, and he was just a garrison commander.

If Yang Zhen is not present, it is perfectly reasonable and legal for Zu Keyong, who is a brigade commander, to temporarily take charge of matters in the camp.

In fact, everyone knew that Zu Dashou arranged for Zu Keyong to lead a hundred soldiers to accompany him in order to supervise or monitor Yang Zhen.

Perhaps Zu Dashou was worried that Yang Zhen's troops would desert in the face of battle, or that Yang Zhen would not carry out his orders to go north to rescue them.

In short, Xu Changyong knew this. Although Yang Zhen respected him and subtly placed him ahead of Zu Keyong in their daily interactions, he was well aware that in terms of official rank, he was a guerrilla commander while Zu Keyong was a brigade commander. In terms of personal relationships, it was true that he was deeply trusted by Zu Dashou, but Zu Keyong was, after all, a member of the Zu family.

Therefore, Xu Changyong had no objection to Yang Zhen's arrangement.

As for Yuan Jin, after spending a few days with him, he had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

Besides, he wasn't even a member of the advance team, so he had no right to make decisions on the spot. Only when it was truly time to retreat would he lead the fleet, and naturally, he would be the most powerful.

Moreover, he thought Zukeyong was a decent person, not the kind who said one thing to people and another behind their backs.

Therefore, after Yang Zhen finished speaking, apart from Zu Keyong being surprised and repeatedly declining, Xu Changyong, Yuan Jin, and Zhang Degui, who had already arranged the camp and rushed over, all agreed.

It just so happens that the entire camp's guard and patrol duties have been handed over to Zukeyong, and apart from this task, there is nothing else that requires his attention for the time being.

The musketeer squad, artillery squad, grenadier squad, Xu Changyong's cavalry, and Yuan Jin's fleet each had their own set of well-established rules and regulations. They just needed to follow the rules and didn't need anyone else to supervise or command them.

Having settled these matters, everyone went back to their respective tasks according to the division of labor.

Subsequently, Yang Zhen summoned Zhang Chen, Yan San, Yang Zhan'ao, and others, along with the oarsmen from Yan San's original centipede boat, a total of twelve people. Under the cover of night and the moonlight, they boarded a centipede boat and rowed towards the mouth of the Xiaoling River, which was two or three miles away.

Under the moonlight, in the sea, the rising tide crashed against the sandbar, making a loud noise. Twelve people, regardless of whether they were oarsmen before, picked up oars and worked together. The sound of the oars cutting through the water was completely drowned out by the waves.

The old, dark brown centipede-shaped boat, like a black ghost, was carried by the rising tide towards the wide mouth of the Xiaoling River.

Then, under the command of Yan San, the helmsman, it was propelled by the surging tide at the river mouth, bypassing sandbars of varying sizes, and accurately rushed into the main channel of the Xiaoling River estuary.

Yang Zhen had his own plan for rescuing Songshan, but now he was no longer satisfied with simply delivering the news of the approaching reinforcements into the city.

He wanted to see if, with his intervention as a time traveler, he could change the situation in this parallel universe on his own.

In the original history, it is very likely that a few days later, he led his troops in a fierce battle and finally broke into the foot of Lühong Mountain, a few miles away from Songshan City, where he was once again surrounded by the Tartars and eventually died there.

More than half a month later, although the Tartars used heavy artillery, they still could not break through Songshan. Zu Dashou of Ningyuan showed no signs of sending reinforcements. The Tartars' plan to besiege the point and attack the reinforcements also failed, and in the end, Liangshan withdrew on its own.

Only Yang Zhen and his 600 men were completely wiped out. He died, Li Lu died, Xu Changyong died, and Zu Keyong was captured and surrendered.

In this life, Yang Zhen traveled by sea, which is equivalent to changing history. Does that mean that the ending that happened in history will not happen again in this life?

Yang Zhen himself answered that it was not necessarily true.

Although he had successfully reached Xiaolinghekou by sea, the situation was much better than in history when he had to fight his way to the foot of Lühong Mountain. At least it was much more advantageous to him. However, if he, like in history, recklessly charged and fought his way to the foot of the mountain, hoping that his bravery and invincibility could break through the Tartars' encirclement, he would surely repeat the same mistake.

Therefore, while Xu Changyong, Zu Keyong, and even Zhang Degui were starting to become more optimistic, Yang Zhen himself became even more cautious.