The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Yang Zhen certainly wouldn't overlook the contributions of his brothers in his camp, such as Zhang Degui. Yang Zhen attributed the credit for killing Arsalan, the chief of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, to Zhang Degui.

Although Arzalan could have died at the hands of any musketeer or grenadier on the scene, or even by arrows from the heavy cavalry archers under Zuk'yon's command, the most likely outcome was that he would have died from the scattershot attack from the left and right flanks of the artillery.

Therefore, Xu Changyong and Zu Keyong had no objection to Yang Zhen's actions, and Yuan Jin was even less likely to have any objection.

Such a feat of beheading a general on the battlefield is far more meritorious than simply taking the head of a Tartar.

He didn't miss any of the others, such as Li Lu, Pan happy, Zhang Chen, Zhang Guogan, Pan Wenmao, Yang Zhanao, Yan San, Guo Xiaowu, and Deng En.

The only person who made a great contribution but was overlooked, and the only person who made a great contribution but was never mentioned, was Yang Zhen himself.

But as the commander-in-chief of this battle, was it really necessary for him to mention his own contributions in the document he dictated and signed?

Wouldn't it be better to leave the credit to Fang Yizao, the governor of Liaodong?

Therefore, he simply laughed off what Zukeyong said to him, especially his words of sympathy for him, and paid no attention to them at all.

After everyone had left, the sun had already set, and the light of day had dimmed again.

The fire in the reed marshes west of Shazhou Island has already burned far away, with only wisps of smoke still lingering over the mudflats where the reed marshes are located.

On the reed marshes burned by the fire, only patches of blackened reed roots and some remnants that had escaped the ravages of the fire remained.

The original beauty has been ruined, like the few remaining strands of hair on a bald man's head, extremely ugly.

It looked like a battlefield that had just been ravaged, and it was incredibly desolate.

As dusk fell and night descended, Yang Zhanao and Guo Xiaowu finally returned.

The news they brought back confirmed some of Yang Zhen's suspicions.

"My lord! This morning we followed the waterway through the reeds, using the remaining reeds for cover, and reached the shore. Apart from observing some Tartar scouts, we did not see any large Tartar troops! There was no indication that a large Tartar force was gathering eastward to attack us!"

"After noon, Xiao Wu and I both felt that since it was past noon, the Tartars had lost the best opportunity to attack our camp and would not come again! In order to find out the Tartars' movements, Xiao Wu and I took a boat and detoured into the mouth of the Xiaoling River. We followed the Xiaoling River upstream, stopping and starting along the way, hiding here and there, and we actually stumbled upon the vicinity of the Niangniang Palace by accident!"

"Right there, we discovered that the troops from the Tatar Empress Palace camp were leaving the camp one after another and heading north across the river! There were many Tatar troops crossing the river at that time, and they were all on warhorses. Xiao Wu and I dared not make any rash moves, so we hid in the reeds and waited!"

"Later, after the Tartars passed through, Xiao Wu and I were worried that the Tartar army might leave the camp and take a detour to the north bank of the Xiaoling River to sail out to sea and outflank us. So, we went down the river and went north along the coast from the mouth of the Xiaoling River to scout around!"

"We found nothing! The reeds there are still burning fiercely, and the fire keeps spreading northward with the wind! Even if the Tartars wanted to find a place to build a dock, it would be very difficult for them! So, Xiao Wu and I have a bold idea—"

As Yang Zhanao finished speaking, he stared at Yang Zhen with excitement, wanting to say something but afraid of saying the wrong thing, so he hesitated and didn't say it.

At this moment, Yang Zhen smiled at him and said, "The Tartars are withdrawing! Is this the audacious idea you've been talking about?!"

"How did you know, sir?!"

As soon as Yang Zhen finished speaking, Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu stared wide-eyed at him in disbelief.

In their minds, the Tartars hadn't captured Jinzhou or Songshan; they'd only lost their supply depot and suffered the deaths of several hundred elite Bayara soldiers. And now they were about to withdraw?!

Did they really think that the advance team killed hundreds of their men, burned their supply depot right under their noses, and then just withdrew without retaliating?!

These are things they can't understand and can't figure out.

It was only after they had spent a whole day scouting and discovering that a large contingent of troops from the Tatar Empress Palace camp had crossed the river and headed north that they dared to make this conjecture.

"That's why we've been running around outside all day! But so far, apart from this conjecture, the actions of the Tartar Empress Palace's troops are utterly illogical! But why would the Tartars retreat after surrounding Songshan so well?!"

At this point, Guo Xiaowu seemed to realize he had said something wrong, and quickly waved his hands, saying to Yang Zhen, "This humble servant is not speaking for the Tartars! This humble servant just feels that there is something fishy about this?!"

"Could it be that the Tartars, with tens of thousands of troops, only lost a few hundred men here before retreating?! Could it be a diversionary tactic to lure us ashore, or to lure the government troops from Jinzhou and Songshan out of the city?!"

"Yes, my lord! This is also a thought that we have been pondering all along! The Tartars may have really abandoned the Empress's Palace camp, but what exactly are they trying to do? Are they really just going to withdraw their troops like this?"

"Or is the Tartars plotting something else, to lure us ashore or to lure the government troops from Jinzhou and Songshan out of the city? We can't figure it out, so we rushed back to report to our superiors!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen once again looked at Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu with new respect.

They were able to guess the exact result that I had deduced based on historical trends, based on my observation posts and reconnaissance in front of the enemy!

"Who can truly understand the thoughts of the Tartar leader?! It's already quite remarkable that you could guess that the Tartars might be withdrawing their troops! The only reason I was able to guess this is because the Tartars were supposed to attack us today, but they didn't!"

"As for why they withdrew, it might be because they felt their supplies had been burned and their army couldn't continue! Or it might be because they felt Jinzhou and Songshan were no longer easy to conquer! Of course, it's also possible that reinforcements were sent from Ningyuan by land! In short, anything is possible!"

Historically, Huang Taiji led a large army to garrison outside Songshan City until early April when they ran out of food and had to retreat.

This time, it happened almost a month earlier than expected, which is quite bizarre.

If we simply say that Yang Zhen and his men burned down the Tartars' grain and fodder camps, leaving them without food and the besieging army unable to continue, then Songshan and Jinzhou are only about 300 li away from Guangning City, which is under Tartar control, and only 500 to 600 li away from Shengjing City. If the grain and fodder were burned, wouldn't it be easy to just send another batch?

According to Yang Zhen's boldest conjecture, it is very likely that Huang Taiji felt that the plan to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements had failed, and that he himself had no intention of actually taking Jinzhou and Songshan at present.

His real goal was to eliminate the last military force of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong, and then have the Ming Dynasty continuously mobilize other troops from within the Great Wall to march north.

In this way, the interior of the Ming Dynasty would become increasingly chaotic, while he and his Manchu and Mongol Eight Banners armies could wait in comfort for the Ming Dynasty to send its troops from within the Great Wall to their deaths.

Logically speaking, Huang Taiji's little tricks should not have been able to fool someone like Zu Dashou. However, this time Zu Dashou withstood the pressure and refused to send a large army north to rescue him. In the end, he could not withstand the pressure and sent an outsider as the commander with 600 men to the north to rescue him. This actually shows that Zu Dashou guessed Huang Taiji's intentions, but was unwilling to give in.

However, although Huang Taiji's tricks could not be hidden from the civil and military officials in front of the Liaodong army, they were enough to throw the Ming Dynasty court into chaos, and enough to prompt Emperor Chongzhen and his Minister of War to help Huang Taiji, constantly urging and forcing the Liaodong army to go north to rescue and relieve the siege, falling into the trap and snare set by Huang Taiji.

The most frightening possibility is that Huang Taiji and Zu Dashou had already reached a tacit understanding.

Yang Zhen really didn't want to think in this direction, but his current situation forced him to.

This time, Huang Taiji besieged Songshan and Jinzhou for more than two months, and Zu Dashou did not send any reinforcements. The reinforcements that finally came were not only easy prey, but also bones that almost broke a tooth.

Did this result completely shatter Huang Taiji's illusions about Zu Dashou's cooperation, and did he realize that this time it might really be in vain, thus making him determined to withdraw his troops?

Besides this, Yang Zhen couldn't think of any other more convincing explanation.

But this reason involved Commander Zu, the top general of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong, so how could he easily say it out loud?!