The New Destiny of the Ming Dynasty

After arriving at the mouth of the Xiaoling River by boat, Yang Zhen fought two battles in three consecutive days and won both.

He was well aware that he had accomplished what he had today with his small force, and that the mission to rescue Songshan City had been successfully completed.

Whether he brought up these two battles in Ningyuan City or in the imperial court of the Ming capital, he could explain them in a way that was acceptable.

If the first night raid burned the Tartars' supplies, and the Tartars hadn't retreated yet, and that's a matter that's unclear, then the ambush that just ended yielded over four hundred genuine Tartar heads—a result that's undeniable and fair.

These victories are in our own hands, and they are by no means counterfeit, made by killing innocent people and then shaving our heads to impersonate the Tartars.

With these achievements already made, Yang Zhen is now very confident and has no worries about not being able to deliver results in the future.

Moreover, he was well aware that the explosions made during the ambush of the Tartars this morning were loud enough for Jin Guofeng and others in Songshan City to hear clearly.

In the days that followed, he only needed to wait quietly for the Tartars to withdraw their supplies; he no longer needed to take any more life-threatening risks.

Besides, after several days of intense labor, marching, and fighting, even Yang Zhen, who was determined to survive, felt extremely exhausted and thought he was about to collapse.

So, that afternoon, after returning to his shack, he didn't think about anything, and went straight to sleep. He fell asleep very quickly and slept very soundly and deeply.

In his deep sleep, he had an unprecedentedly wonderful dream, when he was suddenly awakened by a violent shaking and shouting:

"Brother Yang! Brother Yang! Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened! Fire! Fire! The reeds to the west are on fire! It's a huge fire!"

Yang Zhen's "good thing" was interrupted, and a surge of anger was rising rapidly. Just as he was about to explode, he was forcefully suppressed by the shouts he heard afterward.

The person who shook him awake from his dream was Yuan Jin, the garrison commander of the naval camp. Behind Yuan Jin were Yan San and several unfamiliar faces.

When Yang Zhen opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was several torches, and then he saw Yuan Jin's somewhat flustered face under one of the torches.

Yang Zhen woke up from his deep sleep, feeling a little dazed, but when he heard someone shouting "Fire!" in his ear, he immediately became much more alert. When he opened his eyes and saw Yuan Jin's somewhat panicked face, he became even more alert.

Yang Zhen didn't bother to ask Yuan Jin any questions. Instead, he snatched the torch from Yuan Jin's hand, pushed Yuan Jin and the others aside, and quickly crawled out of the shack, looking up at the outside.

At this moment, the sky above the shacks was ablaze with a fiery red light, illuminating the panicked and chaotic crowd on the sandbar island.

Things were still falling from the sky, landing on his head and face. Yang Zhen wiped them with his hand and, in the torchlight, saw that they were ashes from falling grass and wood.

Yang Zhen was startled and quickly stepped out of the ditch where the dugout was located. Standing on the ground, he looked west and saw that the reed marshes to the west had turned into a sea of ​​fire.

"What time is it?! Has the tide come in yet?! How high is it now?!"

Upon seeing the scene before him, Yang Zhen immediately turned to Yuan Jin, Yan San, and the others who had followed him, and loudly demanded, "Have Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu returned yet?! What are they doing? Why haven't they sent anyone back to report?!"

"My lord! It is now 7:45 PM, and the tide has already risen! Moreover, the tide has reached the reed marshes! Rest assured, my lord! There is no need to rush! Although the fire on the west side of the reed marshes is large, it is separated from us by a body of water and cannot reach our island!"

Yan San, who was closely following Yang Zhen, immediately understood the meaning behind Yang Zhen's words. He quickly reported the most important situation to Yang Zhen first, and then added:

"This fire shouldn't have been set by Commander Yang or Guo Xiaowu! Even if the Tartars wanted to retaliate against us, they would never dare to come at night! I suspect that the Tartars set this fire!"

"The Tartars wanted revenge, but they were afraid that if they ventured deeper into the reeds, we would set them on fire and surround them. So they set a fire first, clearing the way and eliminating the potential threat!"

Yang Zhen, who had been somewhat flustered, had now fully regained his composure. Hearing what Yan San said, he agreed and nodded repeatedly.

By this time, the teams on the sandbar island, who had been awakened from their sleep by the firelight, had all returned to silence.

Zhang Degui, Li Lu, Zhang Chen, Pan Wenmao, and others who were relatively close to Yang Zhen also rushed over and gathered around Yang Zhen.

A short while later, Xu Changyong and Zu Keyong had also reorganized their men and arrived at Yang Zhen's side one after the other.

"Brother Yang! This fire was almost certainly set by the Manchus! Since that bastard Nomqi surrendered to the Manchus, he must have betrayed us all!"

Before Xu Changyong even reached Yang Zhen's side, he shouted from a few steps away, "We're not afraid of them setting fire tonight! My brother just went to check, and the tide has already come in. We're separated from that reed marsh by a huge body of water. The Tartars can't possibly burn us alive!"

As Xu Changyong spoke, he quickly approached Yang Zhen and the others. Once there, he lowered his voice and continued, "My biggest fear is that the Tartars will burn down the reeds tonight to prepare for a strong attack tomorrow when the tide recedes! If the Tartars do launch a full-scale attack tomorrow, do you have any good ideas on how to deal with it, brother?"

"Brother Xu! How much does Nomqi know about the situation in our advance camp?"

Yang Zhen did not rush to answer Xu Changyong's question, but instead asked him a question first, which was also the question that everyone gathered around Yang Zhen was concerned about.

By this time, everyone had learned that Nomuqi had defected to the Jurchens while delivering the message. If Nomuqi told them everything he knew, then there would be no secrets left on this sandbar island.

Not only is the situation of Yang Zhen's advance battalion well known, but there are probably no secrets about how many people and ships Yuan Jin's naval camp has either.

Therefore, after Yang Zhen asked Xu Changyong, everyone focused their attention on Xu Changyong, hoping to hear the answers they wanted from him.

However, Xu Changyong didn't care about these people's feelings or emotions. After a moment's thought, he said, "Everything that brother knows, that bastard probably knows too! If he wanted to, he probably would even know about the situation in Brother Yuan Jin's camp! We didn't expect this kid to dare to defect to the enemy, so we didn't hide anything from him! Although he doesn't have many family members, they're all in Jinzhou City now! Who would have thought that this kid would be such a bastard, abandoning even his family!?"

As soon as Xu Changyong finished speaking, everyone sighed and then turned to look at Yang Zhen, waiting for his decision.

"Let him know if he wants to! The less he knows, the better for us! But if he knows everything and tells the Tartars everything, we have nothing to fear! We've already won two battles against the Tartars, and we have no plans to go ashore for a third time!"

Yang Zhen paused briefly at this point, then continued, "But if the Tartars dare to attack first, let's win again!"

The generals surrounding Yang Zhen were taken aback by these words, thinking to themselves: "You changed the subject way too quickly. How come the Tartar army's strong attack has become a good thing?"

Knowing the confusion in everyone's hearts, Yang Zhen didn't wait for anyone to ask again before saying directly: "We come from the military and have fought for many years. We always ask about the odds of victory, but the odds of victory are nothing more than three factors: the right time, the right place, and the right people!"

"Now we have the advantage of timing and location, while the Tartars only have the advantage of manpower! That is, we have fewer people and they have more people! But in the face of the advantage of timing and location, their advantage of manpower is nothing!"

"Because our advantage in terms of timing and location is far too great, there is absolutely no way the Tartars can defeat us!"

At this point, Yang Zhenxian pointed to the direction of the still-burning reeds and said, "The Tartars burned the reeds, which certainly deprived us of the opportunity to burn them! But it doesn't change the fact that we have an absolute advantage in terms of timing and terrain! The tide still rises and falls, and the reeds are still muddy! The Tartars' warhorses and cannons still can't get through!"

"Of course! Some of you might be thinking, wouldn't the Tartars learn from us and cut down timber to build piers or pontoon bridges? Maybe they will, maybe they won't!"

"If they dare to do that, what do we have to fear? How wide can their piers be? How many pontoon bridges can they build? We'll just guard this side of the bridge, and no matter how many Tartars come, they'll just be offering us heads and war merits!"

After saying this, Yang Zhen turned around, pointed to the sea to the east, which was glowing red from the firelight, and continued, "In case—and I mean in case—the Tartar army builds many piers and pontoon bridges, and disregards casualties to annihilate us, even if the Tartars do land on the island, we have nothing to fear! If that happens, we can board ships and evacuate at any time! Don't worry, I'll cover the rear!"