The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Yang Zhen paused here, looking at Wang Shoutang, who sighed and nodded, and said no more to him. Instead, he turned to Pan Wenmao and said:

"Old Pan! I didn't ask you to go last night because you were too tired, but you deserve a lot of credit! Without the excellent gunpowder you brewed and the excellent gunpowder you formulated, the grenadier squad, artillery squad, and even the musketeer squad wouldn't have been able to play such a significant role! I know your contribution! In other words, your contribution is the greatest, and everyone has to admit it! Tell me, what are you worried about?"

When Pan Wenmao suddenly heard Yang Zhen say this, and that he valued Yang Zhen's contributions so highly, even saying that Yang Zhen's contributions were the greatest, he was immediately very moved.

"My lord! This humble servant—this humble servant is unworthy of such praise!"

Pan Wenmao choked up as he said these words, then took a deep breath and continued, "This humble servant is not worried about the Tartars attacking! This humble servant is worried that the Tartars will come too quickly, and we will not have enough time to prepare enough new gunpowder!"

"The grenadier unit almost used up their newly issued gunpowder last night! To deal with the Tartar attack, we must start adding more pots and stoves today and speed up the boiling of saltpeter!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen knew that Pan Wenmao had assumed the role of ammunition depot ambassador. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Given the current conditions, there's no other way! Here's what we'll do—Old Zhang! You personally go to each unit of the advance battalion to relay the order, and also talk to Yuan Jin. From now on, let them eat together at the same kitchen!"

"We'll keep one stove here, one for Xu Changyong, one for Zu Keyong, and try to combine the stoves at Yuan Jin's as well. We'll bring all the other stoves under Pan Wenmao's command for unified use!"

After Yang Zhen arranged these matters, everyone went to carry out their respective tasks, leaving him and his personal guard captain and deputy captain behind.

By this time, the sun was already high in the east. Yang Zhen looked up, estimated the time, and then said to the two people beside him, "The tide has almost receded! I want to go check out the reed marshes to the west. If possible, we can also venture deeper into the area and take a look towards the Niangniang Palace!"

As Yang Zhen spoke, he pointed to the distant reeds and continued, "There's no one else with me! Just the two of you! Come with me!"

Yang Zhanao and Yan San are now both captains without any subordinates. However, being able to stay by Yang Zhen's side and take direct orders from him is much better than being an adjutant.

These two men were both seasoned veterans; they knew this principle all too well. When Yang Zhen offered to take them to the west to survey the terrain, they immediately agreed.

At this moment, Yang Zhen looked at Yan San and said, "Go first and get your boat, including the oarsmen! If Yuan Jin needs me to put in a good word, come back and tell me! I'll talk to him! Once everything is ready, wait for me at the southwest corner!"

Yan San accepted the order without hesitation and went to carry it out.

As for Yang Zhen, he took Yang Zhan'ao back to his own shack in the left flank camp of the musket team, went in to get the long musket and ammunition pouch, took them out and carried them on his back, then called Yang Zhan'ao, said goodbye to Zhang Chen and the others, and headed southwest of the sandbar.

At the same time, just as Yang Zhen led Yang Zhan'ao and Yan San to set off again to survey the terrain along the coastline on the south bank of the Xiaoling River, in the camp of the Tatar Goddess Palace, a fat man with a rat tail was raging and venting his boundless anger.

"Speak! All of you, speak!! How exactly did this Ming army manage to reach the north of the Xiaoling River right under my nose, right under the noses of you princes, dukes, beile, ministers, and servants?! And how did they manage to burn down my grain supply camp right under your noses?! You useless lackeys!"

The fat man was furiously cursing and scolding the servants kneeling on the ground in front of him, while he also swept his arms and knocked the gold wine pot, gold wine cup, and a pile of white meat and pastries off the table in front of him!

Everyone kneeling in the hall—princes, dukes, and beile—kept their heads down, silent as cicadas in winter, and not one dared to utter a sound.

This fat, burly man with a rat tail was around fifty years old. He was very tall and had a majestic appearance. He had a fat head, big ears, a lion's nose, a wide mouth, a mustache, and a goatee. His eyes were particularly long and narrow, with a sinister and sharp gaze. At this moment, because he was furious, his face was dark red, like a pig's liver, exuding a terrifying aura.

This person was none other than Huang Taiji, the current ruler of the Manchu Tartars who had proclaimed himself Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Huang Taiji's temporary palace at this time was located in Niangniang Palace, between Songshan City and Xiaoling River.

The Tartars set up their camp at Niangniang Palace, about five or six miles south of Xiaoling River. The area was so large that there was no way to erect any walls or fences or other obstacles.

The layout of the entire camp resembled a constellation surrounding the moon, with several camps in each of the four cardinal directions and the center, where the elite Bayara and Aliha Chaoha of the Plain Yellow Banner, Bordered Yellow Banner, Plain Red Banner, Bordered Red Banner, and Bordered Blue Banner were stationed respectively.

Bayara means personal guard or guard. They were the most elite soldiers drawn from the Eight Banners. Although their numbers were small, each one was the most elite among the Jurchen Tartars.

Aliha Chaoha was an elite cavalry force selected from the Manchu Eight Banners armored soldiers and the Mongol Eight Banners cavalry, also known as the Tartar heavy cavalry.

At present, the various Bayara battalions and "Aliha Chaoha" battalions of the Manchu Eight Banners have become the main force of the Manchu Eight Banners army after Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor.

All these elite Eight Banners camps were scattered around a building, and this central building was the Niangniang Palace.

The Niangniang Palace outside Songshan City today is certainly not as large as it will be 380 years later, but it is still quite impressive, especially the second main hall, which is considered the best and largest building in the area.

Currently, the clay and wooden statues of deities in the second hall of the Niangniang Palace, namely the Tianhou Hall, have all been cleaned up and hung with curtains and other items brought from the Shengjing Imperial Palace by Huang Taiji's imperial guards, giving it the appearance of an imperial palace.

Late at night on the eighth day of the third month, Huang Taiji received the report that the grain and fodder camp on the north bank of the Xiaoling River had been burned down in this hall that had temporarily served as his bedchamber.

In the same hall, Huang Taiji, who hadn't slept all night, summoned all the Tartar princes, dukes, and beiles who commanded the armies of Songshan, Jinzhou, Xingshan, and Tashan to a meeting early in the morning.

Before launching the siege of Jinzhou and Songshan, Huang Taiji considered all aspects of the situation. He not only had the Three Princes transport the only "Hongyi Cannons" to the front line, but also sent many fierce generals to lead heavy troops to set up ambushes in places such as Tashan and Xingshan, preparing to besiege the points and attack reinforcements.

For him, even if he couldn't capture Jinzhou and Songshan, if he could use Jinzhou and Songshan as bait to lure Zu Dashou's main Liaodong army stationed in Ningyuan to relieve the siege, and then ambush and annihilate them all, then this mission would be justifiable.

Without Zu Dashou and the elite Ming army under his command, Songshan and Jinzhou, and even all the cities and forts in western Liaoning, would sooner or later fall into Huang Taiji's hands.

However, to his utter surprise, all his ingenious arrangements failed to defend against a Ming army force that probably numbered no more than a thousand men.

Moreover, he allowed this small Ming army to pass through the defenses he had personally deployed and set up, which he had always thought were ingenious and impeccable, and burned the food supplies that the troops stationed at Tashan, Xingshan, Songshan, and Jinzhou had stored for months.

This incident was utterly intolerable to Huang Taiji, the Qing emperor whose authority was growing and who was increasingly self-righteous and invincible. It was as if he had been slapped hard in the face in public by an unknown nobody. In his eyes, this was an utter disgrace!

In particular, this event was beyond all his previous expectations, making him feel that some developments had gone beyond his control, which even made him feel a little scared for no reason.

Therefore, Huang Taiji at this moment did not have the demeanor of a wise and powerful emperor who was always in control. Instead, he lost his usual composure and became angry, irritable, willful, and reckless.

"Speak! Why are you all silent?! When did Ningyuan City send out such an army? How could none of you know?! When did this army cross the Xiaoling River without anyone noticing?! I ask you, what is the origin of this advance team? Still none of you know?! You—one by one, princes, dukes, beile, ministers, when did you all become deaf and blind?!"