The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

That night, the fire in the reeds burned continuously, and the entire reed marshes north and south of the mouth of the Xiaoling River were ignited by the spread of the fire, turning the area into a fiery red.

The ashes from the fire drifted in the wind, falling like snowflakes endlessly across the land.

The fire finally died down the next morning, when the east was already turning white and the rising sun was faintly visible on the horizon. The flames gradually died down, but thick gray-white smoke still billowed out.

The once tall, dense, and boundless reed marshes, swaying in the wind, have been burned into an ugly, blackened coastline, leaving only patches of reed roots near the sea.

Yang Zhen spent the whole night worrying about Yang Zhanao and Guo Xiaowu. After lying down, he would wake up every now and then and never relive his previous dream again.

As dawn approached, Yang Zhen thought about how Yang Zhan'ao and the others hadn't returned all night and wondered if they might have perished in the fire in the reed marshes.

After all, fire is merciless, and the thick smoke produced by the fire is even more merciless. If you are not careful, you may get trapped in the reeds.

Just as he was becoming increasingly pessimistic about the problem and felt that Yang Zhan'ao and the others were in dire straits, he suddenly heard voices coming from outside the shack:

"Commander Yang!? You're back! That's wonderful! The magistrate was worried all night and just fell asleep again! He'll be so happy to know you're back!"

Although Yan San tried to lower his voice, it still reached Yang Zhen's ears clearly.

Upon hearing this sound, Yang Zhen threw off the tattered quilt covering him and quickly crawled out of the dugout. As soon as he climbed onto the ground, he saw two men, one tall and one short, one strong and one thin, with messy hair and blackened faces, standing not far away in front of Yan San, laughing and talking quietly.

The two men, who looked like they had just crawled out of a coal ash pile, smiled when they saw Yang Zhen, revealing a set of bright white teeth.

Upon closer inspection, the two men were none other than Yang Zhanao and Guo Xiaowu!

Overwhelmed with emotion, Yang Zhen didn't even bother to put on his worn-out boots and ran barefoot over to give Yang Zhan'ao and then Guo Xiaowu a big hug.

Yang Zhen didn't say anything, nor did Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu, but Yang Zhen's hug as a greeting was enough to say everything.

Yang Zhen never hesitates to express his feelings to his current subordinates, wanting them to know that he considers each of them a brother.

These people were his only asset for surviving and developing in this chaotic world, so he couldn't help but value them.

His actions had a very good effect, not only quickly inspiring his old subordinates to serve him, but also winning the heartfelt support of his new subordinates.

Guo Xiaowu was just like that. When he saw Yang Zhen, the deputy general appointed by the imperial court and the commander of the temporary Ningyuan vanguard battalion, running out barefoot in the freezing cold to greet him upon hearing that he had returned, and embracing him, a temporary subordinate who had been transferred to help, just like he would embrace his old subordinate Yang Zhan'ao, his excitement and admiration were beyond words. He only regretted that he had not met such a superior earlier, and that he did not have the good fortune to serve under Yang Zhen for a long time.

"My lord! We have failed in our mission this time! We were unable to return in time to deliver the message! I just heard that there was some chaos on the island because of this! Fortunately, you managed to stabilize the situation! Otherwise, our sins would be unforgivable!"

After exchanging greetings with Yang Zhen, Yang Zhanao immediately said to Yang Zhen, "We really didn't expect that the Tartar leader would act so quickly! Guo Xiaowu and I were at the edge of the reeds, wanting to get a closer look at what the Tartar leader looked like! But we never imagined that after he arrived, he would order the reeds to be burned down after only a few words!"

"Luckily, we reacted quickly. Although we couldn't understand the Tartars' language, as soon as we saw the Tartar cavalry preparing fire arrows, we immediately ran back! And thankfully, the wind was blowing from the west; otherwise, no matter how fast we ran, we wouldn't have been able to outrun them!"

"After that, Guo Xiaowu and I thought about how to atone for our sins, and we were also worried that the Tartars might take advantage of the chaos to attack, so we stayed on the boat and deliberately went into the reeds that were not on fire. We persisted until dawn!"

"Actually, it's good that the Tartars burned the reed marshes. We no longer need to bother scouting to the west. As long as the weather is clear, standing on this high ground, we can see the Tartars' movements directly if they make a big fuss!"

Yang Zhan'ao's last words were indeed correct. After hearing what he said, Yang Zhen turned his head and looked west. He saw that the view, which had been blocked by the reeds, was indeed much more open now.

However, the reed marshes are shrouded in mist, so visibility is limited. But if the Tartars dare to attack today, they won't get far before they are exposed to Yang Zhen's forces.

Therefore, the Tartars burning the reed marshes had both disadvantages and advantages for Yang Zhen's side.

Yang Zhen stood beside Yang Zhan'ao, listened to him finish speaking, patted him on the shoulder, and said to him and Guo Xiaowu, "There's no need to say anything more! You haven't committed any crimes, nor have you failed my trust! Your safe return is more important than anything else!"

After Yang Zhen finished speaking, Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu bowed again. Yang Zhen quickly stopped them and continued, "What's the deal with the Tartar leader you just mentioned? Is it the Tartar leader Huang Taiji himself, or one of the other Tartar generals commanding the siege of Songshan City?"

This time, it was Guo Xiaowu who answered first: "Reporting to your Excellency! After noon yesterday, after you led the vanguard to withdraw, two groups of Tartar soldiers came one after another! Not long after you withdrew, the first group of Tartar soldiers, numbering about a thousand, arrived! However, they lingered outside the reed marshes and dared not enter! They only collected the Tartar corpses outside!"

"I also saw that Mongol general who was under General Xu's command in our camp before. It should be Nomqi who defected to the enemy! That Tartar leader asked Nomqi a lot of questions in front of the reeds, and Nomqi answered them all! But for some reason, they never dared to come in. If they had dared to come in, we would have been the ones setting the fire!"

"After this group of people cleaned up the Tartar corpses, more than an hour later, when it was getting dark, an even larger group of Tartar soldiers arrived outside the reed marshes, probably no less than three or four thousand! Among them was a fat Tartar, riding a tall horse, who was surrounded by people wherever he went. Yang, the battalion commander, and I guessed that the man was probably the Tartar leader outside Songshan City!"

"When the Tartar leader saw the piles of Tartar corpses we had killed, he almost fell off his horse! Later, the Tartar leader was helped by a group of people to a sand dune in front of the reeds. He just stood there looking east for a while, and before we could even prepare to shoot him with an arrow, he directly ordered the fire to be set!"

"As Commander Yang just explained, that's what happened after that! In short, that's the situation in the reed marshes after the magistrate left!"

Guo Xiaowu was quite eloquent; he explained a rather complicated situation clearly in just a few words.

"What color clothes is that Tartar leader wearing? What color hat is he wearing? Is he taller and fatter than the average person? What kind of beard does he have? Is his complexion dark red, sallow, or fair?!"

Yang Zhen had learned something about Huang Taiji in his later years, and now he was eager to know who this bold and decisive Tartar leader was.

Guo Xiaowu didn't keep Yang Zhen waiting long. As soon as Yang Zhen finished speaking, he heard Guo Xiaowu say, "Why isn't the lord there? You've guessed about 70-80% of it! That Tartar leader—he's not just tall and fat! I think he's so fat he can barely walk! After getting off his horse, he needed several people to help him walk just a few dozen steps!"

"When we were closest to him, we were only a few dozen steps away! The Tartar leader was wearing a black fur cloak over a bright yellow brocade robe and a black sable hat. He was not wearing any helmet or armor!"

"As for his complexion, it's neither sallow nor fair; I think it's rather dark and red! If he wasn't angered by seeing those hundreds of Tartar corpses, then he must have some kind of hidden illness!"

"And his beard—I saw he had a mustache and a full beard on his chin, so he was probably around fifty years old! If he hadn't been surrounded by layers of heavily armored Tartar cavalry, one arrow would have been enough to send him running for his life! Thinking about it now, it's such a pity!"