I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

Dongping County, Tai'an Prefecture, Nanwang section of the Grand Canal.

The fleet was slowly passing through the narrow waters, accompanied by a large number of troops on the shore.

Nanwang Town is the highest point along the entire canal. During the dry season, there are often situations where there is a river but no water, which hinders navigation.

During the Wanli era, Song Li, then Minister of Works, was appointed to a critical mission. Together with Bai Ying, a river worker from Buyi River, he built the Daicun Dam to intercept the Wen River and excavated the winding Xiaowen River to divert the Wen River to Nanwang. He also excavated the Nanwang water diversion hub to divert the Wen River into the north and south waterways, which solved the problem of water shortage in the Grand Canal due to its high location.

However, this section of water has a serious hidden danger: it is too narrow.

Passing ships must line up in a row and pass in order. If the waterway is blocked, they can only wait for it to be cleared and all ships must wait at the shore.

During the Chongzhen era, natural disasters and man-made calamities were frequent, and the imperial court was already running a deficit. There was simply not enough money to build water conservancy projects. The Nanwang section would get blocked every now and then, and the local government could only organize manpower to maintain it.

With the world in turmoil, Emperor Chongzhen was too busy to care about anything else, let alone dredging a short stretch of waterway.

This section of the waterway became even more congested, making passage extremely slow, which led to the emergence of a large number of bandits who would lie in wait near the river to plunder passing merchant ships.

On the riverbank, guerrilla general Miao Gang asked impatiently, "Why is it so slow?"

The guard behind him said, "General, the river ahead is narrow and severely blocked. The boatmen are doing their best to clear it."

"Damn it, the river is so badly blocked, why isn't it being cleared sooner?"

"This... I don't know..."

Miao Gang looked around and said, "It's getting late. Send word to set up camp on the spot, and all soldiers in each camp should go and help dredge the river."

"General, bandits frequently roam this area. Should we increase security?"

"snort!"

Miao Gang gave a nonchalant snort and said, "I have five thousand elite soldiers under my command, what do I have to fear from mere bandits?"

The guards dared not say anything more and hurriedly went to relay the order.

As night fell, several bonfires lit up the riverbank, and a large number of soldiers and laborers were working hard to dredge the river on both sides.

They dug all night, but the fleet only moved forward less than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

"Damn it, the blockage is too bad, we can't dig any deeper!"

A soldier angrily threw down his hoe and sat down on the ground.

The negative mood quickly spread, and seeing this, others dropped their tools.

"I'm a soldier fighting battles, and now I have to dig canals for others. What bad luck..."

"It'll probably take at least ten days to two weeks to dig it open."

"What are those officials in the imperial court doing? The river is so blocked, why don't they send someone to clean it up?"

"Don't even mention it, where would the imperial court find the money to control the floods..."

The soldiers were exhausted, covered in sweat, and full of resentment.

No wonder, no one brought food or even a drop of water all night.

Even livestock need to drink water and eat, and they need to sleep at night!

As dawn approached, everyone was thirsty, hungry, and sleepy, so they simply lay down on the ground and gasped for breath.

At this point, someone asked, "What do you think are on these ships?"

A veteran standing beside him, long accustomed to such things, remarked, "What else could it be? It's all Grand Secretary Chen's fortune!"

"Grand Secretary Chen? Isn't he leading troops in battle?"

"What's wrong with leading troops into battle? Can't you send your family and property to Nanjing when you're leading troops into battle?"

"I heard that Grand Secretary Chen was against moving the capital south..."

Upon hearing this, the veteran sneered, "That's because they're opposing His Majesty's southward relocation. They've even moved their own families. Do you see that ship over there? Those are General Miao's family members!"

"Is General Miao also moving his family to Nanjing?"

"That's nonsense. Beijing is almost certainly doomed. If we don't run now, we won't be able to escape when Li Zicheng arrives!"

"Oh dear, what do we do?"

"Why are you worrying about this? We soldiers, as long as we get paid, it doesn't matter who we serve."

"That's true."

Da-da-da, da-da-da...

A faint sound came from afar, like raindrops falling on the ground.

What was that sound?

The veteran on the ground suddenly sat up, looking flustered and at a loss.

Someone nearby asked, "Is it raining?"

The veteran looked up at the sky, shook his head, and said, "No, there's still the moon in the sky, how could it be raining?"

"Whatever, even if the sky falls, I'm still going to sleep!"

The veteran pressed his ear to the ground, listening intently, and then said, "It sounds like horses' hooves!"

"Where did that sound of horses' hooves come from in the middle of the night? Are you dreaming?"

"It's the sound of horses' hooves, listen!"

Da da da……

Da da da……

The sound gradually became clearer as it approached from afar.

Everyone finally realized something was wrong and got up from the ground.

"Could it be troops from Baoding Prefecture?"

"Are you stupid? What are the troops from Baoding doing at the Grand Canal?"

"Damn it, could we really have run into bandits?"

Some people instinctively wanted to look for weapons, but when they came to dredge the canal in the afternoon, all the weapons were left at the camp.

Da da da……

Da da da……

The sound of horses' hooves grew clearer, and the ground beneath their feet trembled.

By this point, even the slowest person would know something was wrong.

If the troops coming were from Baoding Prefecture, they wouldn't be accelerating as they approached the camp.

That leaves only one possibility: an enemy attack!

The soldiers were in a flurry of activity, rushing towards the camp.

"kill!"

"Rush!"

Under the tranquil night sky, shouts of battle suddenly erupted.

The charging cavalry charged straight into the crowd, like hungry wolves rushing into a flock of sheep, baring their sharp teeth and claws, and slaughtering indiscriminately.

The Ming army was completely unprepared and was killed in a frenzy, scattering in all directions.

Zheng Siwei, mounted on his horse, kept a close eye on the battlefield ahead.

Of the five thousand men on this long-distance raid, only eight hundred were cavalry.

Because the Shun army's weapons and equipment were inferior to those of the Ming army, and cavalry was a scarce resource.

Unexpectedly, the Ming army reacted too slowly, and these eight hundred cavalrymen played a remarkable role, catching the enemy off guard.

"A rabble, utterly vulnerable!"

Zheng Siwei smiled contemptuously and continued, "If I had known this would happen, I would have only needed eight hundred cavalry!"

Finally, torches were lit in the Ming army camp, and the neighing of warhorses could be heard.

Guerrilla General Miao Gang led his personal guards out to fight, while the others took advantage of the chaos to find weapons and begin a counterattack.

Zheng Siwei smiled and ordered, "Pass on my command: the entire army is to attack!"

After saying that, he drew his sword, spurred his horse, and charged towards the Ming army's position.

Miao Gang fiercely cut down a Shun soldier, shouting, "Who are you bandits? Do you know my name?"

Da da da……

In the midst of the chaos, Zheng Siwei quickly approached Miao Gang and slashed him with his knife.

Miao Gang noticed something amiss with the sound of wind near his ear and quickly raised his knife to parry. With a crisp clang, the two steel blades clashed, sparks flying everywhere.