weaving

Eighteen miles northeast of Tancheng, there is a place called Xiejiaying, located in the hilly area on the southern slope of Maling Mountain. Legend has it that during the Warring States period, Sun Bin of Qi ordered his soldiers to remove their armor to lure the enemy in a battle against Pang Juan of Wei, hence the name Xiejiaying Village.

Maling Mountain is a low mountain and hilly area composed of five peaks: Fengshan, Doushan, Hushan, Nainaishan, and Huanghuacailing. It stretches for more than 200 li from Caozhuang in Tancheng in the north to Luoma Lake in Suqian in the southwest.

Although this mountain is not very high, steep, or precipitous, it is still characterized by its overlapping peaks and crisscrossing ravines. The ancient road to Maling is particularly famous, as it was the site of the ancient battlefield of the Battle of Maling during the Warring States period.

Back then, Sun Bin, a guest minister of the State of Qi, offered the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao". He then used the strategy of "retreating troops and reducing the number of cooking fires" to lure the enemy deep into the territory, leading the Wei army led by Pang Juan into the Maling Pass.

Finally, at Dulongjian, taking advantage of the terrain with its jagged rocks and dense forests, Sun Bin ambushed and killed Pang Juan, a general of the Wei Kingdom. As a result, the place is also known as "Pang Juan Gully". In addition, the cliff where Sun Bin buried his troops is also called "Ambush Cliff".

…………

On the third day of the second month of the sixteenth year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, at the hour of Si (9-11 AM), a Ming army of about three thousand men entered Xiejia Camp.

"Brother Wang, why don't the Tartars leave troops to garrison such a dangerous place as Dulongjian?" Qianzong Lü Jiqing asked casually.

Wang Shikui, deputy commander of Xiao Yuan's camp and commander of the vanguard, replied with a look of disdain: "Just as Military Advisor Zhu said, the Tartars are used to being arrogant and look down on our Ming army. They never expected us to take the initiative to attack, so why would they set up defenses here?"

Yuan Shitai interjected, "There's another point. The Tartars have a large number of horses and mules, plus the people, cattle, and sheep they've captured. Naturally, they would want to camp near a river to get water. In such a narrow place as this, where it's inconvenient to get water, the Tartars would certainly not camp here."

Lu Jiqing scratched at his helmet with his riding whip, still looking puzzled and suspicious. "But... even if we didn't camp here, we should have left one or two hundred men to garrison here. If that were the case, how could we have crossed the Dulong Ravine so easily and arrived at this armored camp?"

Wang Shikui glanced at him: "Luckily you're not a Tartar leader, otherwise... we would have lost countless brothers by now."

Upon hearing this, Lü Jiqing gave a slightly embarrassed smile and remained silent.

"Alright, instead of discussing why the Tartars didn't defend Dulongjian, let's save our strength and get on the road quickly. It's more important not to miss Commander Yuan's orders."

Wang Shikui stopped talking to the two of them and directly ordered: "Lü Jiqing, you lead the left wing to advance first, cross the Shu River through the narrow section with slow current that we scouted earlier, establish a defensive line, and cover the rear army to continue crossing the river."

"Yes, sir!" Lü Jiqing loudly accepted the order, then whipped his horse and led his troops back to his own unit.

Wang Shikui looked at Yuan Shitai and said, "Shitai, I will lead the vanguard to advance in the center, and you will lead the central force as the rear guard. Make sure to mark the route so that Commander Yuan and his men don't take the wrong path."

Yuan Shitai clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes. Please rest assured, Brother Shikui, I will definitely mark it properly."

…………

About two miles east of the Shu River, at Wangjiazhuang, a unit of the Manchu Han Army's Plain Yellow Banner, numbering over two hundred, was stationed, serving as the southernmost outpost of the Manchu's continuous camp along the Shu River.

At 3:45 PM, the sun was high in the sky. Although it had already begun to set slightly in the west, the sunlight was still abundant, shining comfortably on people and horses. This was also the time when people and horses were tired and exhausted.

The Manchu soldiers of the Plain Yellow Banner of the Han Army were stationed in Wangjiazhuang. They had only made simple repairs to the existing village walls and had not built a new camp, using the dilapidated old houses in the village as their tents. Scattered figures moved on the village walls; they were all Han traitors who had surrendered to the Jurchens. Some were local Han Chinese military households from Liaodong, some were originally Ming soldiers from Liaodong, and others were originally civilians captured from the capital region and Shandong.

Perhaps it was out of a desire to survive that they surrendered to the Tartars and became traitors and collaborators with the enemy.

But as they spent more and more time as traitors and soldiers, they actually grew to like this job, following the Tartars around, robbing and harming their own compatriots, without feeling that there was anything wrong with it.

At this moment, although they were originally members of the Han ethnic group, their inner nature has changed over time. They have been assimilated by the Tartars and become thorough traitors.

They even considered themselves members of the Manchu Eight Banners of the Jurchens, willingly serving as their lackeys and wholeheartedly dedicating themselves to their Jurchen masters.

"Ergou, you know, that girl last night was such a pity. She had such a great figure, such a beautiful face, and such smooth skin. If we used a little force, we could squeeze water out of her. How could she just die like that?"

A traitorous soldier, clutching a musket, hunched over against the inner wall of the village, muttering complaints to another traitorous soldier beside him. He then added, "Tell me... isn't it a pity to waste it?"

The traitorous soldier called "Er Gou" turned and glared at him, sneering, "Hey, you black-hearted bastard, at least you managed to get some juice out, but me... I only got a glimpse, and then I lost interest. Sigh..."

"Haha..." The traitorous soldier laughed loudly, then turned to look at the patrolmen who were still far away, and said again: "The women of our Great Ming are still the best, each one of them has delicate skin and tender flesh, unlike those rough ones from Liaodong."

"Hmph. You have the nerve to say that? You only brought four young women with you, and in such a short time, you guys have already ruined them all. How are we going to survive from now on?" Er Gou complained bitterly.

"Ha ha……"

The traitorous soldier laughed loudly as he got up and loosened his belt, intending to urinate outside the village wall. But for some reason, his laughter suddenly stopped, as if he had just witnessed something as shocking as a jaw-dropping event.

The traitorous soldier nicknamed "Er Gou" sensed something was amiss, so he quickly stood up, leaning against the wall, and also began to look outside...

But it would have been better if he hadn't looked. Once he did, Er Gou opened his mouth wide, but couldn't make a sound. It was as if something was choking half of his throat, preventing him from uttering a single sound.

Fear—this is a reaction that only occurs when fear reaches its extreme, but they don't know what terrible things they saw.

A loud bang came from the wall of the village, about twenty paces to the left of the two traitorous soldiers. Amidst the rising smoke, terrified screams rang out: "Enemy attack... the Ming dogs are here... enemy attack... the government troops are here..."

…………

Wangjiazhuang was not large to begin with, and now it was surrounded on all sides by the soldiers of Xiaoyuan Camp, leaving not a single gap.

It seems Yuan Shizhong is determined to annihilate all the Tartar soldiers in Wangjiazhuang—but at this moment, he is unaware that Wangjiazhuang is filled with utterly depraved traitors! (End of Chapter)