The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

Yang Zhen pondered in his heart that if Zhang Chen was confident, he might let Zhang Chen go and give it a try, but if Zhang Chen was not confident, he would not consider it anymore.

At this moment, Zhang Chen said again, "I am 30% confident that I can find and destroy the Tartars' heavy artillery, but as for escaping unscathed after destroying the Tartars' heavy artillery, I am not even 10% confident! However—if Your Excellency gives the order, I am willing to go and try!"

"No need to try!"

Hearing what Zhang Chen said, Yang Zhen had already made his decision.

He looked at Zhang Chen and said slowly but firmly, "There's no need to try! Even if all the Tartars' cannons are destroyed, if something happens to you and you can't escape unscathed, it will definitely be a loss for me!"

"The cannons that destroyed the Tartars are important, but no matter how important they are, they are far less important than you, Zhang Chen, are to me, Yang Zhen! They are not as important as you are to me, Yang Zhen!"

Yang Zhen spoke these words with utmost sincerity, which moved Zhang Chen himself, as well as Yang Zhan'ao, Yan San, Guo Xiaowu, and others behind him.

At that moment, everyone looked at each other, and soon, with Zhang Chen as the leader, one after another, they knelt down and bowed to Yang Zhen.

Zhang Chen spoke first: "My lord has never treated us as equals because of our humble origins, and has always regarded us as brothers. Now he cherishes our lives even more!"

"I, Zhang Chen, have been in the army for over twenty years and have experienced many ups and downs. I have never seen anyone who values ​​the lives of his subordinates as much as you, sir! You have treated me like a true brother, and I, Zhang Chen, have no way to repay you. From this day forward, I will only follow you faithfully, even unto death!"

After saying this, Zhang Chen bowed again.

Yang Zhen quickly stepped forward to help him up, patted his shoulder, and then pulled him up from the ground.

The others followed suit, bowing deeply to Yang Zhen and repeating Zhang Chen's words: "From this day forward, we swear to follow you faithfully, even unto death!"

Yang Zhen watched as his subordinates bowed deeply to him one by one, and did not stop them; this was the outcome he desired.

Looking at these people, he knew that the vast majority of them were sincere and honest, because he was very clear that he was an absolute anomaly among the Ming Dynasty's military generals in this era.

It's perfectly normal in this era for people like Zhang Chen to have never seen a superior who respects them so much.

In order to win over their subordinates and get them to risk their lives for them in critical moments, some generals will sometimes show their care and respect for their subordinates.

However, only a time traveler from an era of equality could truly and habitually respect them in a way that is as genuine as he himself.

This fact could not be hidden from the eyes of people like Zhang Chen.

Whether you're faking it or not, whether you only care about your own promotion and don't care about the lives of others, it's easy to tell at a glance.

Of course, Yang Zhen also knew that there might be followers among them.

For example, Ma Liu might not have figured out what was going on yet; he just saw that everyone was doing it, and he couldn't do it otherwise, so he followed suit.

However, Yang Zhen didn't care about this. As the saying goes, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish; if a person is too discerning, he will have no followers." There was no need to take this so seriously.

Yang Zhen helped the last Ma Liu up, patted him on the shoulder, then turned to face the crowd, looking at each one before finally saying:

"If I, Yang Zhen, achieve anything in the future, I will certainly not fail the brothers who have sworn to follow me to the death today!"

Yang Zhen knew very well that saying too much at this point would be meaningless; only by saying this could he win people's hearts.

After Yang Zhen finished speaking, without waiting for anyone to respond, he immediately turned around, looked at the distant Tartar camp, and then gazed at the majestic Songshan City standing in the moonlight to the east of the Tartar camp. He just looked and didn't say anything.

After a long silence, Yang Zhen suddenly said, "Let's go! We shouldn't stay here any longer; there's no point in lingering. Let's go back to the island to pack our things. I reckon we can land and head into the city by tomorrow afternoon!"

At this moment, what Yang Zhen didn't know was that it was fortunate he didn't risk going into the Tartar camp. Even if they had only risked approaching the Tartar camp, they might have run directly into the Tartars' guns.

At this moment, in the Tartar camp, whether it was Daišan and the Three Princes who had long been ready to set off, or Ajige and Abatai who had only arrived to join them in the middle of the night, their troops were all in a state of readiness and ready to go.

The Ming troops defending Songshan City and Jinzhou City remained completely still.

This also shows that at this time, the Qing army besieging the city was at a critical juncture of "not stopping the retreat." Anyone who dared to attack would be asking for trouble and would definitely run into a brick wall.

The way back was much easier.

The Qing army camp outside Songshan City was ready for a full retreat. Moreover, the Tartar commanders were not worried at all about the Ming army that had been besieged for more than two months coming out to fight, so they withdrew the patrol cavalry that had been sent to the south and east.

As dawn broke, Yang Zhen and the others finally made it back to their small boat without incident. They rowed with the current at a rapid pace and soon reached the mouth of the Xiaoling River.

On their way back, as the group passed the Tartar camp outside the south gate of Songshan City, Yang Zhen briefly considered contacting the city's garrison, but Zhang Chen and the others stopped him.

Zhang Chen's reasoning left him speechless, because apart from their disheveled hair proving they weren't Manchus, they couldn't prove their status as government troops.

They were disheveled and dressed in tattered clothes. Apart from the weapons they carried, they looked like a group of refugees fleeing famine, or even more like a group of beggars begging for food.

Even if they managed to get close to Songshan City and weren't shot dead by the guards on the city walls, they still wouldn't be able to gain the trust of the city's government troops.

Moreover, it was nighttime, and knocking on the city gates was a highly suspicious and taboo act. Furthermore, the Tartar army was still stationed outside the city. The Ming soldiers guarding the city would have to be crazy to let them in!

However, this scouting trip ashore was not without its gains. In addition to gaining the unwavering loyalty of these few companions, Yang Zhen also learned about the terrain and topography outside Songshan City in advance.

On his way back, he had already begun to think about how to make use of the large camp left behind by the Tartar army after their retreat.

Furthermore, the fortresses on the high ground outside Songshan City, although destroyed by the Tartars' artillery fire, can still be used after some repairs, or at least continue to serve as sentry posts outside Songshan City.

Of course, on his way back, he was thinking more about how he could make sure he could successfully enter Songshan City and become the commander of this fortified town after the successful rescue mission in the north.

Only by achieving this first can his various ideas, whether real or imagined, be put into practice and become reality.

Yang Zhen and his group set sail west at nightfall to scout ashore, but then disappeared without a trace. As dawn approached, they still hadn't returned.

Zhang Degui and Li Lu were extremely worried about this and didn't sleep well until late at night. They had already sent people to wait at the place where Yang Zhen and his party boarded the ship to leave.

As dawn broke, the small boat carrying Yang Zhen and his group finally appeared on the coastline.

When Yang Zhen and his group landed, Zhang Degui, Li Lu, and Pan Wenmao all came to greet them.

"My lord! You shouldn't do such dangerous things yourself in the future! Scouts should be scouts. You are the commander of a battalion, how can you always be doing scout work! If we encounter danger, who will our vanguard battalion and our rear garrison be able to rely on in the future?!"

From a distance of a dozen steps, Zhang Degui's complaining voice could be heard. Yang Zhen knew that he meant well, so he just smiled and went to meet him without arguing.

Those who came to greet Yang Zhen were all old men from his former subordinates, so there was no need for formalities. As soon as they met, Yang Zhen said, "Old Zhang, Old Pan, Li Lu, the Tartars are about to withdraw! After breakfast is prepared, it's time to pack your bags!"

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to enter Songshan City this afternoon! Tonight, we'll have proper barracks where we can get a good night's sleep!"

"What?! My lord, you saw with your own eyes that the Tartars were preparing to withdraw?! Did they really just withdraw after besieging Songshan and Jinzhou for so long?!"

"My goodness! We actually did it?! The siege of Songshan, really, was lifted by our advance team?!"

As soon as Yang Zhen spoke, he immediately drew a series of questions from Zhang Degui, Pan Wenmao, and Li Lu. These questions contained not only surprise and doubt, but also delight and admiration.

Hearing their exclamations and questions, Yang Zhen smiled and nodded, then said to the group, "It's absolutely true! The Tartar camps north and south of Xiaoling River are now empty! We saw it with our own eyes!"

"As for the Tartar camp outside Songshan City, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will surely withdraw by dawn today! By 9 AM, we can send men ashore to contact Jin Guofeng and the others!"