The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Having learned some things, Yang Zhen felt more confident. Looking back, he saw that the Tartar camp was in complete chaos, with gunfire, explosions, and shouts of battle filling the air. Flames were shooting into the sky, and people were running around in disarray.

Yang Zhen was worried that the seven hundred or so men he had brought would be completely lost in the vast sea of ​​Tartar bondservants and could not get out, so he quickly ran back to the camp.

Before he had gone far, Yang Zhen, with his sharp eyes, spotted Zhang Degui and his nephew Zhang Guogan, each with their own men, crouching behind a burning grain bin in the camp, firing sniper shots at the Tartars who came to put out the fire!

Yang Zhen, carrying a musket and crouching low, quickly ran past from the side. Yang Zhan'ao, holding Ma Liu in one hand and waving the vanguard battalion's flag in the other, followed closely behind.

While the flag raised by Yang Zhan'ao allowed his own people to distinguish friend from foe and prevented Yang Zhen from being shot by Zhang Guogan and his musketeers, it also brought Yang Zhen a lot of trouble.

The Tartar soldiers who came to put out the fire saw someone running by carrying a flag and immediately started shouting and yelling. One of them shouted, "Quickly report to the Prince! The raiders are the vanguard from Ningyuan! It turns out to be Ming troops from Ningyuan!"

Yang Zhen had just run to Zhang Degui's side, still catching his breath, when he heard this shout. He smiled bitterly to himself, then quickly shouted back to Zhang Degui:

"Quickly! Old Zhang! Have the scouts shoot him dead! Shoot the one in command! Don't let the Tartars figure out our situation!"

Zhang Degui readily agreed, but before he could make any arrangements, Yang Zhen heard a loud gunshot, and the shouts from the Tartar troops abruptly ceased.

Then a series of gunshots rang out, and several more members of the small squad surrounding the man—about twenty or thirty Tartars—fell, while the rest scattered and fled in an instant.

At this moment, Zhang Guogan's ugly face, illuminated by the firelight, approached Yang Zhen, and he said with a beaming smile:

"My lord! How was my marksmanship?! To be honest, the range of this Lumi gun is no joke. It can hit exactly where you're looking, even from a hundred paces away! After my modifications and with the gunpowder Old Pan prepared, it's simply divine! Every shot is a hit! It's fucking exhilarating!"

The person who just fired a shot near Yang Zhen's ear was Zhang Guogan.

Yang Zhen hadn't actually heard Zhang Guogan's words clearly, because his ears were still ringing with the afterglow of the previous noise, and he couldn't hear what others were saying at all.

However, at that moment, Yang Zhen saw Zhang Guogan approaching, immediately shoved him aside, and shouted, "Quickly send someone to give the order! Tell Zhang Chen, Yuan Jin, Zu Keyong, and Xu Changyong to fight and retreat! Assemble here!"

The northeast corner of the Tartar camp is a high ground within the entire camp.

Although Liaodong has been suffering from drought for several years with very little rainfall, the rules for the Tartars' marching and camping have not changed, especially regarding the setting of camps for storing grain and fodder, which they are very particular about.

The north bank of the Xiaoling River is high, so they chose this location. Within this camp, the northeastern part is also high, so all the Tartars' grain storages were located in the northeastern area of ​​the camp, which is on higher ground.

Yang Zhen was standing here, which made it easier for him to look towards the southwest of the Tartar camp.

At this moment, the hundreds of Tartar troops who had rushed back to defend the southwest after hearing the explosions in the direction of Xiaoling River had turned back again.

Moreover, not only that, but standing here and looking south, something seems to have changed in the direction of Niangniang Palace on the south bank of Xiaoling River. The night sky looks red, indicating that at this moment, a large army carrying torches is rushing towards Xiaoling River in the distance on the south bank of Xiaoling River.

Yang Zhen knew that the pontoon bridge over the Xiaoling River should have been destroyed by Yan San, but he was still worried about the real Tartars in this camp.

The Tartar camp was in complete chaos. Xu Changyong and Yuan Jin's men were scattered and disorganized. Only Zhang Chen and Li Lu, each leading their own troops, were fighting alongside Zu Keyong's forces against the real Tartars who had arrived earlier. The battle was fierce and evenly matched.

If, at this time, the Tartar army were to suddenly join the fray, unforeseen changes might occur that we do not wish to see.

Yang Zhenzheng had just thought of this, so he quickly sent his men to relay the order.

Yang Zhen's order came at just the right time for Zhang Chen!

Upon entering the Tartar camp, Zhang Chen, who was at the forefront, initially covered Yuan Jin's and Pan happy's troops as they set fire to the grain and fodder.

However, during the cover, Zhang Chen stopped firing at the Tartars who came to intercept him, while the troops under Yuan Jin and Pan happy responsible for setting fires quickly disappeared.

After a while, Zhang Chen encountered Xu Changyong, who was leading a team, and then continued to advance with Xu Changyong's troops.

However, Xu Changyong's Mongol soldiers were also wild. As soon as they entered the Tartar camp, they quickly scattered. Some set fires everywhere, while others took the opportunity to loot. Apart from Xu Changyong's own personal guards, not many people obediently followed Xu Changyong.

If Zhang Chen had enough men, even a hundred, he would have dared to charge in on his own. Unfortunately, he only had twenty men under his command.

He divided these men into two ranks. While the front rank fired, the soldiers in the back rank quickly reloaded their ammunition. Once the front rank had finished firing, the back rank immediately moved forward and continued firing in formation. They moved forward in this alternating manner.

If it weren't for the availability of pre-packaged medicine packets that greatly speed up the filling process, his twenty musketeers would probably have been overwhelmed by a large group of Tatar bondservants.

Musketeers of that era were actually quite vulnerable in open battle and needed the protection of archers, swordsmen, or spearmen.

However, neither Yuan Jin nor Xu Changyong had this awareness, and their subordinates were even less likely to have it.

Without the support of archers or other infantry, Zhang Chen's few musketeers dared not venture too far. They could only advance slowly in formation, constantly paying attention to their rear and flanks. As you can imagine, their movement was slow.

Fortunately, after Xu Changyong's men scattered, Zhang Chen and his men were soon reunited with Zu Keyong and his men.

Zukeyong's men were few in number, only about a hundred, but they were very well-organized.

They formed 20 squads of 5 men each, totaling 100 men. In a large area, they cooperated with each other, slowly but steadily dividing, encircling, and annihilating the scattered Tartar soldiers they encountered on their way.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen immediately integrated his musketeers into the team, with each musketeer basically following a small squad.

Zukeyong's heavy infantry were able to hold off small groups of Tatar soldiers who rushed up to them, which essentially protected the musketeers who were less capable of self-defense.

The addition of the "Rumi Gun" musketeers allowed them to quickly eliminate any troublesome opponents the "five-man squad" encountered.

Thus, although Zhang Chen's numbers were small, after he joined Zu Keyong's side, he cooperated seamlessly with the five-man squads under Zu Keyong's command.

However, although Zhang Chen and Zu Keyong cooperated well, this was only when they encountered the two Tartars. When they finally met the real Tartars who were charging in with great momentum, this tactic immediately became like kicking a hot iron plate.

This Tartar army numbered only about three hundred men, just one Niru (a unit of military rank), yet their charging momentum made it seem as if they had thousands of troops behind them.

Previously, Zukeyong's troops, who were invincible against the two Tartar bondservant aha, immediately began to struggle when they encountered the real Tartars, and began to suffer casualties.

Especially when faced with the rain of arrows coming from behind the Tartar troops, Zhang Chen and Zu Keyong's side had no better option than to draw their bows and shoot back at them.

While they were fighting desperately against the Second Tartars who were being driven forward by the real Tartars, they also had to be ready to dodge the rain of arrows thrown by the real Tartars from behind the Second Tartars at any time. It was a situation where they could not take care of both ends and were in great danger.

Fortunately, the Tartars guarding the camp were all infantrymen, not cavalrymen; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Even so, if Li Lu and Pan happy hadn't arrived in time with their grenadier squad, Zu Keyong and Zhang Chen's troops would probably have been surrounded by this Tartar infantry.

Li Lu and Pan Xi's grenadiers were left with only "grenades" made from conch shells. Although these "grenades" were loud enough, their power was only so-so. They could hurt people, but not kill them, unless they hit a vital spot.

Therefore, although they managed to scare away the Tartar troops who were trying to surround Zukeyong and Zhang Chen with a barrage of grenades at a crucial moment, they were not able to truly repel or disperse the Tartars.

The heavy arrows that the genuine Tartar infantrymen indiscriminately hurled from behind the cannon fodder of the two Tartars continued to rain down on Zukeyong's side, causing terrible casualties among his men.

Although Zhang Chen's musketeers were incredibly skilled, their numbers were too small and their reloading took too long, so they couldn't turn the tide of the battle.

Only Li Lu, Pan happy, and their grenadier squad, who were close by, were able to cause trouble for the Tartar troops wave after wave, repelling the attacks of the Tartar cannon fodder—the bondservant aha—time and time again.