The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

At this moment, Yang Zhen had come to his senses. Seeing that several people around him were looking at him, waiting for his command to decide the next step, he composed himself slightly and said in a low voice:

"I suspect this Tartar camp might not be the camp of the Tartar Heavenly Blessed Soldiers or Heavenly Aid Soldiers; on the contrary, it's more likely the camp of the Tartar elite armored men!"

As soon as Yang Zhen finished speaking, Yan San, Zhang Chen, Yang Zhan'ao, and the others all let out a soft "Ah!" It seemed that Yang Zhen's words had really startled them.

"My lord! The elite Tartar armored men are far more formidable than those second-rate Tartars! These are genuine Tartars! Should we continue?! What if we alert the elite Tartars—"

Before Yang Zhanao could continue, he saw Yang Zhen glaring at him through gritted teeth, his face contorted in the moonlight, his gaze malevolent. He quickly changed his words, saying:

"My lord! That's not what I meant! What I meant was, if we alert the enemy, it will be even more difficult for our vanguard to achieve anything, to make a surprise attack and establish merit! Besides, you are the commander of the vanguard. If we disturb the Tartars, I may risk my life, but you cannot be harmed!"

Yang Zhanao was about to say something more, but seeing Yang Zhen's expression soften and his hand wave at him, he quickly shut his mouth.

At this moment, Yang Zhen said, "There are mountains of knives and seas of fire ahead. Now that we've come this far, there's no reason for us to turn back empty-handed! Although I've figured some things out, to be sure, we must go and see for ourselves!"

"Furthermore, I suspect that this Tartar camp may not contain the Tartars' elite main force, but rather the rear camp of their armored elite troops! If my judgment is correct, then those bondservant aqqas who help manage camp affairs, guard valuables, and transport provisions should be inside right now!"

After hearing Yang Zhen's words, these people seemed to understand something, but not quite. Yang Zhen wasn't sure, so he didn't explain further.

At this moment, Zhang Chen whispered, "Does Your Excellency mean that the elite Tartar troops are all outside Songshan City, and the people left in this rear camp are just bondservants to handle miscellaneous tasks for them?!"

Yang Zhen didn't speak, he just nodded.

He knew that Zhang Chen, a former garrison commander who came from the Yizhou border army's night scouts, understood the tricks of the trade.

Seeing Yang Zhen nod, Zhang Chen continued, "If that's truly the case, it's a godsend! We can take advantage of the fact that the Tartars' elite forces are all outside Songshan City, or rather, on the south bank of the Xiaoling River, to find a way to destroy their rear camp! Burn their granaries and destroy their supplies! In that case, the siege of Songshan, and even the siege of Jinzhou, might be lifted immediately!"

This time, Yan San and Yang Zhan'ao understood a little. They both opened their eyes wide and looked at Yang Zhen, waiting for him to speak.

"If—I mean if—my judgment is correct, then what you said is exactly what I'm thinking now. Our next task is to consider how to destroy this rear camp of the Tartars!"

Yang Zhen knew Zhang Chen understood his meaning, and continued, "The most urgent task now is to determine as soon as possible whether my judgment is correct! With so many men, we can't possibly stay on that sandbar at the sailors' camp for long! Once the Tartars discover us, we'll lose this opportunity! This opportunity could very well be a once-in-a-lifetime chance!"

After saying this, Yang Zhen turned to look at Yan San, pointed to the open mudflats to the west of the reeds, and asked him in a low voice, "Did you get to the front this morning by passing through this patch of wasteland?"

"No! This morning, the sky was clear and blue. There were no reeds, no trees, and no cover whatsoever. We dared not go through here!"

At this point, Yan San pointed south and whispered, "When we got here, we knew we couldn't cross, so we turned south and headed west along the north side of the river! When we reached the grove of trees ahead, where the mudflats met the river, there was no cover, and the water was cold and deep. We lay in ambush for a while, but there was no chance to cross, so we turned back! It was while we were lying in ambush there that we encountered that group of two Tartars fetching water—no, I mean, Aha!"

After listening to Yan San's words, Yang Zhen lowered his head and remained silent, pondering a solution. At this moment, Zhang Chen said, "Sir! Going across the river won't work. Not only is it cold now, but the water is also cold, and we're wearing so many layers. If we really swim across, we won't be able to do anything!"

After saying this, Zhang Chen noticed Yang Zhen looking at him, then pointed to the sky and said, "The moon does have light, but it's not bright! Even if there are Tartar patrols in the woods across the way, we can still climb over when the moon is obscured by clouds, though it will take some effort! Besides, that wasteland isn't all water! The tide hasn't reached here yet!"

Hearing this, Yang Zhen knew he couldn't delay any longer and decisively said, "Alright! Let's crawl across this patch of wasteland ahead!"

After saying this, Yang Zhen asked Zhang Chen, "Are you confident that you'll be leading the charge this time?"

Yang Zhen knew that Zhang Chen had been a scout in the Yizhou border army, and this kind of dangerous situation was certainly not the first time he had encountered it. He felt more at ease letting him go first.

Zhang Chen looked at Yang Zhen, nodded firmly, and without saying a word, put his bow and arrows back on his back. Then he turned around, squatted down, looked ahead, picked up the thickest part of the dry grass, and crawled over.

Fearing that having too many people would cause problems, Yang Zhen turned to Yang Zhan'ao and two other personal guards, saying, "You take these two and guard this place. Keep your bows and arrows ready and await my command. Be prepared to provide support at any time! Without my orders, you are not allowed to leave your posts, and you are absolutely not allowed to take action without authorization! Even if the Tartars discover our movements, you are absolutely not allowed to take action without authorization!"

Yang Zhan'ao and his two bodyguards quickly agreed, and then watched as Yang Zhen turned around, bent down, and followed Yan San, crawling forward.

In his later years, Yang Zhen certainly underwent military training and also practiced crawling on the football field during his university days.

However, the wasteland in front of me was definitely not the football field of my university days. Although the football field in my university days was artificial turf, it was at least very flat. When I put my elbows and knees on the ground, it was still uncomfortable, but it was much better than the wasteland in front of me.

The area is full of potholes, some filled with sharp, hard pebbles, while others contain cold, wet pools.

However, no matter what situation he encountered, he could do nothing but silently endure the pain or cold and grit his teeth to crawl through it.

Even when sharp, dry grass hits their eyes, they only dare to close that eye, enduring the pain and tears, and continue crawling forward.

Most importantly, you can't just climb forward recklessly. If you climb onto a mudflat where grass is on top and swamp is below, you'll be in big trouble.

He could only slowly crawl forward following Yan San, while Yan San quietly and firmly followed Zhang Chen forward.

The most difficult task was for Zhang Chen, who had to determine whether the area ahead was hard, barren grassland or a swampy pit with grass on the surface but water underneath. One wrong judgment could not only ruin the mission but also endanger his life.

At the same time, he also had to observe the changes in the moonlight, and only when the floating clouds temporarily blocked the moonlight could he crawl forward like a gecko.

When the moonlight shone on the barren grassland, he immediately lay there motionless, like a piece of wood rotting in the swamp.

Everything that could reflect light had long been removed, including helmets, armor with iron plates, and even the worn-out goose-feather sword at the waist, which was deliberately wrapped inside the clothes.

Thus, it took him almost an hour to travel from the edge of the reed marshes to the edge of the black forest, a stretch of mudflat only a little over two hundred paces wide.

It was later proven that there were no sentries planted by the Tartars in that dark forest, but Yang Zhen still felt that he had done the right thing.

Perhaps because the Tartars had heavily besieged Jinzhou and Songshan, they never expected that the Ming army would come to Songshan by sea to relieve the siege. Therefore, there were no fixed watchtowers or sentries or night patrols arranged behind their important rear camp.

After Yang Zhen followed Yan San slowly across the barren grassland and then slowly across a slope covered with gravel and shrubs, they could see the lights of the Tartar camp not far ahead through the dark forest.

"My lord! It seems the Tartars haven't set up any sentries in this grove! This is absolutely our chance! We can ambush them here, and then break through their camp at nightfall. That would be a great achievement, reaching the ears of the emperor, and an immense fortune!"