weaving

March 4th, afternoon.

The Jurchen general Abatai led his troops to the Dulei camp outside Su Village, but because it was already late, Abatai did not launch another attack on the Ming army camp in Su Village that day.

He simply led a group of generals, including Gushan Ejen, Meile Ejen, and Jiala Zhangjing, with several hundred guard cavalrymen to circle around Su Village, taking in the entire defensive layout of the Ming army camp in Su Village.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Abatai began to assemble a large army and surround the Ming army camp in Su Village from all sides.

The four banners of the Jurchen army each attacked one side, but the Jurchens' main attack was on the west side defended by Zhang Dengke. Apart from Abatai's Jurchen Bordered Blue Banner Tartars, the other three banners each sent a thousand troops, and they were the main force attacking Zhang Dengke.

In particular, the Han army Bordered Blue Banner led by Li Guohan was the first wave to attack Zhang Dengke, while the Han army Bordered White Banner led by Tong Tulai was the main force of the second wave of attacks.

At any time, these traitorous soldiers who surrendered to the Jurchens were just cannon fodder. They were always the first to attack cities and kill enemies, but when it came to dividing up the spoils, they were left to pick up the leftovers at the end—how pathetic!

To be fair, Zhang Dengke really put in his all. He even went into battle shirtless. It was because of his personal presence on the front lines and his leading by example that they were able to withstand the Jurchens' offensive for an entire morning.

However, a crisis occurred in the afternoon when the Jurchens breached Zhang Dengke's defenses. Although he commanded his soldiers to fight desperately, they could not withstand the Jurchens' fierce offensive.

As the breach widened, the Jurchens managed to break into Su Village through it. Just as the entire defensive line was about to collapse, Zhou Yuji personally led 700 elite cavalry to provide support.

Zhou Yuji and Zhang Dengke led their soldiers in a fierce battle, finally driving out the Jurchen Tartars who had rushed in and barely managing to hold onto Su Village.

After a day of fierce fighting, the Jurchens were unable to break through the enemy lines. Although the battlefield damage was not significant, night was falling and they could no longer continue fighting. They had no choice but to cease hostilities, retreat, and return to their camps to rest.

Zhou Yuji and Zhang Dengke then directed their soldiers to demolish the houses in the village and rebuild and reinforce the breach that had been opened by the Jurchens during the day.

…………

"My brother Zhou, if you ask me, we should withdraw our troops tonight."

Zhou Yuji had already guessed Zhang Dengke's intentions, so he was not at all surprised that Zhang Dengke could say such things, as could be seen from the fact that his expression did not change.

However, despite their anger, they could only keep it to themselves and could not show it on the surface. After all, if Su Village wanted to be able to defend itself and hold on, it had to remain united and work together to resist the Jurchens.

"Brother Zhang, don't worry. In today's battle, the Tartars attacked my Su Village with twice the number of troops, but they suffered a crushing defeat. Their morale will surely be low and their fighting spirit will be weak in the future. Even if they attack my Su Village again, what is there to fear!"

Although Zhou Yuji spoke with great passion, Zhang Dengke remained unmoved, saying, "General Zhou, you don't know this, but my brother's camp has suffered heavy casualties, and we have very few soldiers left. We're already stretched thin, otherwise... we wouldn't have let the Tartars break in today... alas..."

"Brother Zhang, there's no need to worry. Su Village is a small place. Although the Tartars have many soldiers, they can't all come up here. We also have strong fortifications to rely on. With our strong crossbows and powerful attacks, why should we worry about not being able to stop the Tartars?"

To reassure Zhang Dengke, Zhou Yuji took his hand and said, "Brother Zhang, we need to hold out in Su Village for at least another three to five days. General Liu of Jizhou and Liu Zeqing of Shandong are on their way. With reinforcements on their way, what is there to fear from the Jurchens?"

"General Zhou, I... I'm just afraid we won't be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive."

Zhou Yuji gripped Zhang Dengke's wrist tightly and said in a deep voice, "With our hearts united, how could Su Village not be defended?" To further strengthen Zhang Dengke's confidence, he continued, "Brother, I have sent Guo Yuzhong with five hundred cavalry to your camp to await orders. It is entirely up to you to command and direct them."

Zhou Yuji suddenly released Zhang Dengke's wrist, his face solemn, and clasped his hands, saying, "I hope that General Zhang can join me in resisting the Tartars and defending Su Village to the death."

Having already said all that, what more could Zhang Dengke say?

He also looked solemn, clasped his hands in a deep salute, and said loudly, "Since General Zhou speaks like this, I, Old Zhang, am also ready to go all out and accompany General Zhou in a good fight against those dog Tartars."

Seeing how readily he spoke, Zhou Yuji was overjoyed. He quickly pulled Zhang Dengke to the large table in the middle, picked up a water bowl from it and handed it to Zhang Dengke. Then he picked up another water bowl for himself and said, "Brother, you are so bold. I truly admire you. Let's drink this bowl of water instead of wine now, so that we can work together to kill the slaves on the battlefield tomorrow."

"Very well, Dengke will stand with General Zhou through thick and thin, defend Su Village to the death, and fight together to kill the slaves!"

…………

March 6th, early morning.

The Jurchens ate breakfast early, preparing for a more intense offensive against the Ming army camp in Su Village. However, before the Jurchen attack even began, Su Village itself descended into chaos...

On the western defense line of Su Village, a raging fire suddenly broke out, and the camp gates were wide open. More than two thousand government troops rushed out of Su Village and charged toward the Jurchens who had not yet fully assembled.

Among them were seven or eight hundred Ming cavalrymen who, after charging more than two hundred paces out of Su Village, suddenly turned north and sped away, raising a trail of dust that drifted away in the wind.

Zhou Yuji was unaware of this sudden turn of events. He was inspecting the defenses south of Su Village when he noticed the soldiers on the camp wall looking suspiciously to the west. He turned to look as well, and his expression immediately changed...

Just then, three fast horses galloped up, about to reprimand them for riding so recklessly north of the village, when a junior officer dismounted and rushed up to them.

Zhou Yuji had already guessed that something must have happened on Zhang Dengke's side, but in order not to affect the morale of the troops, he remained calm and stood in place waiting for the junior officer to come up.

The junior officer was also very well-behaved and sensible. Although he seemed very anxious, he did not show much panic. He quickly came to Zhou Yuji and whispered, "General, Zhang Dengke has escaped."

Zhou Yuji was taken aback and asked, "Where is Guo Yuzhong?"

"General Guo led his troops to guard the west gate to prevent the Tartars from breaking in. He specially ordered his men to come and report to the commander-in-chief and request military orders."

Zhou Yuji's face was contorted with rage. He suddenly drew his saber and slammed it into a large log protruding from the camp wall beside him, roaring in a low, hoarse voice, "Zhang Dengke ruined me! You scoundrel, I will never forgive you!"

Although Zhou Yuji was furious that Zhang Dengke had fled without notice, he also knew that this was a life-or-death decision. He forcefully pulled back his steel knife and shouted in a deep voice, "Go and tell Guo Yuzhong that Su Village cannot be defended. Tell him to bring his troops back so we can break out from the east."

He then grabbed another of his personal guards and whispered, “Go quickly to the north to find Li Deng and tell him that Zhang Dengke has escaped. Also, convey my military order that he lead his troops out of the north gate and head east along the camp wall. I will meet him at the northeast corner and we will break out together.”

After they left, Zhou Yuji quickly gathered the soldiers stationed to the south and hurriedly headed east... (End of Chapter)