The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Yang Zhen attributed the success of this battle to everyone's joint efforts. This was not just empty talk, nor was it simply to continue to win over the few people currently with him.

Zukeyong's troops, including Zukeyong himself, totaled 101 men. Of those who survived the retreat, 70 men, including Zukeyong, survived. Of these, 31 men were either trapped in the Tartar camp or died in battle during the retreat.

These people were neither the Mongol rabble under Xu Changyong's command, nor the boatmen and oarsmen under Yuan Jin's command who had little experience in battle.

The men under Zu Keyong were all elites in Zu Dashou's army, and each of their deaths took several others down with them.

Without the fighting and casualties of these men, Yang Zhen's musketeers would likely not only be unable to play a significant role against the organized Tartars and their followers, but would even struggle to protect themselves.

Even though they failed to organize effectively during this night raid, Xu Changyong's and Yuan Jin's troops, which had been scattered and disorganized, actually played a significant role.

These people ran around the Tartar camp, going wherever there was no one, setting fires and looting whatever they could get their hands on as they ran.

Not only were many haystacks and grain stores burned, but the stables, which had few warhorses, were also burned down, and even the tents where many Tartars were encamped were burned.

Their chaotic attack initially confused the Tartar prince, Lord Loto, leaving him bewildered as to who was raiding the camp, where the main force was, and what their objective was, thus delaying his ability to react appropriately.

This created a rare opportunity for Yang Zhen's main force for arson—the grenadier squad.

In particular, the tung oil and the fleet provided by Yuan Jin were both strategic. Without these two conditions, no matter how good Yang Zhen's plan was, it could not be implemented smoothly.

Of course, the things Yang Zhen thought of were not the things that ordinary people in this era would think of. In their eyes, they only looked at who charged ahead and who retreated behind, and judged the size of the merit based on this.

From this perspective, it was Yang Zhen's grenadier squad that destroyed the Tartar camp, Zhang Chen's musketeer squad that was the first to scale the walls and enter the camp, and Yang Zhen's artillery and musketeer squad that stayed behind to hold off the enemy and cover the rear.

If we calculate based on the merit of "slaying a general", then the team that killed the Tartar general, Loto Beizi, with a musket in the Tartar camp was Yang Zhen's musket team.

Xu Changyong and Yuan Jin could pretend not to know this, but Zu Keyong was open and aboveboard and made a clear distinction.

That night, in the latter half of the night, the generals led their troops back from a hard-fought battle. They were all exhausted. After a brief celebration of their victory, they returned to their respective camps to assess the casualties, calculate their spoils, and get some rest.

It gets light early at the seaside. In just over an hour, it was already bright, and half of the bright red sun had already risen above the eastern horizon.

Having achieved the success of the night raid on the camp and the burning of supplies last night, the soldiers were more confident. They knew that this battle would not last long, and they slept soundly.

The cooks in each unit were no longer stingy with food, and they no longer worried that the smoke and fire from cooking would be discovered by enemy patrols. So they started cooking early in the morning, some boiling water, some cooking porridge, and some making pancakes, all busy and happy.

Although the sun was shining brightly, the morning was still chilly. The sea breeze wasn't strong, but it still felt biting on my face and body.

Yang Zhen woke up from his deep sleep and was still in his shack when he heard several people talking outside.

A loud voice suddenly rang out, "Hey Zhan'ao, is Brother Yang awake yet? If not, don't sleep anymore, go wake him up! We have things to discuss!"

Upon hearing the voice, Yang Zhen recognized it as Xu Changyong and said from inside the shack, "No need to call! Get up right now!"

In a short while, Yang Zhen climbed out of the shack and onto the ground.

The rising sun and its brilliant rays made it hard for him to open his eyes for a moment.

These past few days, he has been moving around at night and sleeping during the day, as if he has become accustomed to the darkness and is no longer used to the sunlight.

Yang Zhen went to sleep not long after returning home last night. The custom of "washing before sleeping" that people in later generations had become a distant memory in his dreams.

He now reeks of disgust. Since leaving Ningyuan City, he has never changed or washed his clothes, and there is no one around him to do so.

Not only were their clothes never changed or washed, but their hair was never washed either.

Fortunately, the men of that era, though their hair was long, all wore it on top of their heads in a bun, much like the bun hairstyle that was popular in later generations.

As long as it's tied tightly and not let down, he himself can't smell the greasy, smelly odor.

Although Yang Zhen was dressed in tattered clothes from head to toe and was extremely filthy, no one could deny that he possessed an aura of dignified inviolability.

Most importantly, almost everyone in the advance camp was like this; as the saying goes, the eldest brother doesn't criticize the second brother, so no one has to laugh at anyone else.

As for the Mongol soldiers under Xu Changyong's command, they were even more filthy than Yang Zhen's. Anyway, everyone was equally filthy, so who are you laughing at?

Yang Zhen emerged from the shack looking exactly like this: his hair was disheveled, dirty, and pitiful, like a beggar leader who had been begging for a living for many years.

However, Xu Changyong, Yuan Jin, and Zu Keyong did not pay attention to those superficial things. When they saw Yang Zhen, they all bowed and clasped their hands in greeting.

After the ceremony, Xu Changyong said, "Brother! When we returned to camp last night, after a headcount, we found that out of the three hundred Mongol soldiers under your command, plus the thirty-odd personal guards and servants, only two hundred and eight people returned alive! I didn't notice it at the time, but upon reflection, that's more than a third of the men lost!"

"There were some spoils, but we didn't bring back a single head. The brothers only brought back some gold, silver, pearls, and other valuables! I've calculated that they're worth about a thousand taels of silver! You said before the battle that all the spoils would belong to the public and be divided up! As the older brother, I can't keep them! I'll have someone deliver them in a bit, and then we'll divide them up!"

"Furthermore, my brother, Brother Yuan, and Brother Zu have also had a brief discussion! The sooner we report our victory, the better! Ningyuan is eagerly awaiting our report, hoping we'll make a splash! This time we've created such a big commotion; we can't let them not know as soon as possible! Commander Zu and Governor Fang also need to give the court an explanation, don't they? If you have no objections, let's have Brother Yuan send a boat back today to report the victory! As for how to report it, we can discuss that!"

Upon hearing Xu Changyong's words, Yang Zhen sighed inwardly. This was nothing; the rescue of Songshan was barely begun, and they were already thinking about how to claim credit.

However, before he could even speak, Zhang Degui, who was standing to the side, said, "Guerrilla Commander Xu! Our Commander Yang is the commander of the vanguard battalion! Commander Yang hasn't even given the order yet, and you've already made these decisions?! Isn't that a bit too unfair?"

Anyone could hear the displeasure in Zhang Degui's words.

"No! No! No! Brother Zhang! Don't be upset! Guerrilla Xu—Brother Xu didn't mean that! We just met briefly on the way here, just exchanged glances! We did do something good last night, right? That's true, isn't it!"

"But if you don't report this credit quickly, who knows who will get it in the end! We're protecting Brother Yang! We're protecting ourselves too! We've fought to the death, risked our lives, and if we don't get anything in return, how can we face our fallen brothers?!"

"Especially my brother's naval battalion, there was no order to participate in the battle before we set off from Ningyuan! Now more than a hundred brothers have died or been wounded, and their bodies have not been brought back. If we don't quickly explain this matter to our superiors, how will I explain it to Physician Yuan in the future? And how will Physician Yuan explain it to the court!"

"Of course, speaking of which, I also have to mention the spoils! We didn't bring back a single head, not even a single Manchu braid! But like Brother Xu's men, the naval camp also captured some gold and silver items, probably worth three to five hundred taels of silver! We'll hand them all over in a bit and divide them up!"