Chapter 186

"My lord, about a company."

The subordinates who went out to scout returned and reported to Wang Yan.

Nodding, Wang Yan turned around and looked at the bunch of big-headed soldiers with different expressions: "Li's eldest son, stay here and watch the horses. I'll take the lead in a while, first kill the Later Jin soldiers on guard in the tower. You are basically all veterans, no need for me to say more. When you see my signal, move nimbly and don't make any big noise."

Everyone responded in a low voice: "Yes, my lord."

"Follow."

Wang Yan drew his knife, circled around, and touched over.

At this time, the few soldiers on guard at the gate were listlessly chatting with each other at the gate. After all, it was so cold at night now, and everyone else was eating and drinking inside, while they were freezing outside. Although it was a normal rotation, they were definitely uncomfortable.

Taking advantage of these people not paying attention, Wang Yan assisted in running, kicked his legs, and flipped over the two-meter-high fence as light as a swallow. He made a little noise, but those people didn't notice; they were all chatting distractedly.

Quietly touching under the tower, listening to the chatting above, Wang Yan had to say that he had overestimated them. Given the current situation, he could take people and kill his way in without any problem.

However, since he was already here, it was better to be steady. After all, the fifty people under his command were the elite of one in twenty, all smashed out with silver; the fewer who died, the better.

Carrying the knife, Wang Yan crouched, slowly and gently walking up the solid wood steps one by one.

Two people were chattering there. Wang Yan didn't understand Manchu, and now these people were speaking the old Manchu script that Nurhaci had people make, which was based on the Mongolian script; he didn't know either.

Waiting until he reached the must-kill range, Wang Yan took a deep breath, his waist exerted force, a series of human engineering transmissions, from his thighs to his feet, kicked hard, and with the speed of lightning, he fiercely crossed the last few steps, jumped onto the tower, and then bullied his way up, directly wiping the neck of the person closest to him with one knife, then drew the knife and turned around to the back of this person, using his other hand to forcefully push this person toward the other person beside him to avoid making noise.

Then he exerted force again and rushed forward, and in the wide-eyed eyes of the other person, he stabbed the knife through his neck. Drawing the knife, blood sprayed, Wang Yan dodged the gushing blood and circled behind this person to drag him, and at this time, the other person also happened to cover his neck and pressed over, and the sound of the armor plates colliding did not surprise anyone at all.

Thus, Wang Yan touched another two intersecting observation towers and solved them cleanly, then took out a fire-starter and flashed it with starlight-like light. Seeing the response from the ambush position in the distance, Wang Yan went down the tower, hid in the dark, closed his eyes, and quietly listened to the movement.

Not long after, after a burst of messy footsteps and the "Uh-ah" sound of suppressed repression like in a movie, a bunch of people carrying knives sneaked in.

There was no one just happening to come out to pee, no one seeing them unintentionally. Battalion Commander Wang pointed his finger at the barracks, and the bunch of people carrying knives grouped themselves and went over.

Not long after, the sentry post became lively. The Later Jin soldiers just symbolically resisted for a while and it was over. Although the weapons were at hand, after all, they were all drunk, and they were dizzy; what combat effectiveness could they have?

Wang Yan didn't even move his hand, just stood outside with his knife, watching them kill. Not long after, more than a hundred people were killed.

The bunch of people groped around for a long time to see if there were any fish that slipped through the net, and finally, the five small flag officers very sensibly counted the battle damage and reported to Wang Yan.

"Reporting to my lord, the brothers under my command have suffered some skin injuries more or less, no one died."

Wang Yan nodded: "Arrange it, count the harvest, and then make some hot food with the things here. Also, go and bring our horses over."

"Yes, my lord."

Everyone accepted the order and arranged it in an orderly manner. Those who cooked cooked, those who cut heads cut heads, those who fed horses fed horses, those who treated wounds treated wounds, and those who vomited vomited.

In fact, at first, Wang Yan didn't want to bring heads, because tying so many heads behind after fighting was a bit... that. But Wang Yan thought about it and decided to bring them, because this thing was military merit, and he came out for military merit; without heads as proof, he couldn't justify it. How could he ask for rewards from Zhu Youjiao? How could he rise to power?

After seven days of rushing, and another battle of nervous tension, after eating, arranging for people to keep watch at night, everyone slept soundly...

The next day, after breakfast, Wang Yan didn't rush to leave, but had people make dry rations for a week, and sent people out to scout other sentry posts nearby as the next target.

While they were resting, a messenger came, adding another head.

Now they had just made a move, and until now only one messenger had come; it was estimated that it would be tonight at the earliest before they were discovered. So Wang Yan sat outside in the sun with a bunch of little brothers, chatting and laughing, waiting for the little brothers who went out to return with news.

That night, they destroyed two sentry posts in a row.

This was because they had moved before, and they were relatively tired from the urgent march, and there were those who hadn't killed anyone and weren't very skilled. Now this second time, not to mention being familiar with the road, they had already gone through the business process once.

It was also at this time that the Later Jin higher-ups here discovered the matter of the previous sentry post being slaughtered. After all, the messenger didn't return, and the sentry post commander who should have gone to report for work didn't go; anyone who wasn't a fool knew something had happened.

And by the next day, they found that two more sentry posts had been slaughtered. The *Jiala Ezhen* (commander of 1,500) stationed here, the big brother of the 1,500 people under his command, saw the headless corpses of 300 subordinates, hmm... he was angry.

He had a total of 1,500 people under his command. Now, in two days, without fighting a single battle, without even seeing the enemy, he directly lost a *Niu Lu* (company) of troops. The commander of one of the sentry posts was his younger brother; this was a damn blood feud.

Immediately, he left 200 people to guard, and all the remaining 1,000 were sent out, just to catch this group of people and skin them. At the same time, he didn't forget to report this news upward to prevent this group of thieves from repeating the old trick.

Coming out to catch people here, Wang Yan definitely noticed such a big movement, and he wasn't afraid at all. He led thousands of people to be surrounded and intercepted by the Japanese in various ways back then, and it didn't work; what was this little battle?

And they were only fifty people, with a small target and no burden; even the worst one, Physician Li's eldest son, had been specially trained by Wang Yan. Perhaps he couldn't fight, but he was definitely very good at running.

So Wang Yan took a bunch of people and plunged into the mountains, well-versed in the essence of Mobile Corps Commander warfare, occasionally coming out to pull a cold shot, grab some heads, and run.

There were no Han people in the Later Jin territory, but to tell the truth, Han people here were just big livestock. Those numb faces, empty eyes—how miserable they were, I won't say much. So occasionally encountering villages without protection or with weak protection, he would also slaughter them. Of course, he didn't kill children and women, only adult men or those who would become adults in a few years.

Because women were good helpers for ethnic integration in the future, and children would be strong laborers when they grew up in a few years. As for hating them when they grew up? That might be because they didn't work hard enough; if it didn't work, just send them to Sichuan to build roads, and the natural moat would become a thoroughfare.

Only adults were the biggest short-term threat. Doing this could also weaken the Later Jin's war potential. Although the number of people killed was almost negligible, he couldn't stand that he came often.

The loss was cumulative. The *Gushan Ezhen* (flag master) holding 7,500 people, the flag master of the Later Jin, watched the battle damage increase day by day, and he couldn't sit still either. These people were all elite veterans who had fought all the way to the present, not new recruits who didn't understand anything.

And now it was a sensitive period of power transfer and a new round of interest competition. If he lost too many subordinates, how could he straighten his back when speaking? So this flag master directly sent out more than 5,000 people to catch Wang Yan, and most of them were elite cavalry...

Whether they could fight or not, they would only know after fighting. Facing the Later Jin iron cavalry that was awesome and unconvinced by anyone today, they found an opportunity, caught a lone fifty-person small team, and started fighting one-on-one.

The final result was naturally the total annihilation of the opposite side, but thirteen of Wang Yan's subordinates also died, six were seriously injured, and the rest were injured to varying degrees.

Because cavalry fighting was all about counter-charging, several of his subordinates died in the first wave of charging, and the rest were caused by later entanglement. This was still with Wang Mou, such a big livestock, otherwise, eight out of ten would have died.

However, strictly speaking, although this result was not very ideal for Wang Yan, it did indeed prove his achievements during this period. After all, in the past, the Later Jin cavalry basically slaughtered the Great Ming cavalry one-sidedly.

Of course, it didn't mean that the Great Ming didn't have iron cavalry that could rival them; it could only be said that it was this period of time. The Liaodong Iron Cavalry once trained by Liaodong Regional Commander Li Chengliang chased and beat the Mongols and Jurchens, but after Li Chengliang was gone, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry that dominated the north for forty years was also abolished. And the Guanning Iron Cavalry that could fight field battles was currently being trained; this was one of the political achievements of Regional Inspector Yuan.

Whether it was an achievement or not didn't matter much; mainly, the elite little brothers he had worked so hard to train, the first forty-nine, were crippled in one battle, which was a bit uncomfortable. Of course, the remaining twenty-odd people must be stronger than before, which could be considered another screening.

Manpower was halved, and the rest were also injured. Neither running away nor fighting could be endured. So Wang Yan took the remaining people and corpses, drove the forty or so captured warhorses, and with a long string of heads tied to the horses, after another toss, finally returned to his station.

And at this time, since the last departure, a month had passed.

Ignoring Sun Fugui's shock, Wang Yan let him take people to deal with the five hundred or so heads for long-term preservation, and the next day directly pressed the heads to Shanhai Pass to find his big brother.

After the usual reporting and requesting an audience, Battalion Commander Wang skillfully and naturally knelt on one knee.

This time General Man Gui didn't sit there steadily, but stood in front of Wang Yan. Seeing him salute, he held him up: "Alright, no need for courtesy. Quickly tell me, was this trip smooth? What was the harvest?"

Agreeing to let Wang Yan go out, he regretted it the next day; it was still too reckless, how could he be like a child? If it was smooth, naturally everything was easy to say. But if it wasn't smooth, then who could say well? Only die in battle, not be captured? Then who could believe empty words? Everything was afraid of "what if"; if there really was a "what if," he didn't doubt that Yuan Chonghuan and a bunch of people supporting peace talks would kill him, and even the Emperor wouldn't care about him...

During this month, General Man Gui was trembling with fear every day, praying that Wang Yan could exert his strength normally, and praying that Wang Yan, the little calf, could have some blood and just die in battle.

And he wasn't surprised by Wang Yan's sudden request for an audience, because the people he sent yesterday had already told him early, otherwise he would still be a little happy. After all, when he knew the news yesterday, he wanted to go directly, but fortunately, he had been floating for many years and had calm energy, and held it back...

Wang Yan nodded: "It was quite smooth, your subordinate's fifty cavalrymen suffered more than half losses. My lord, rest assured, the corpses were all brought back, and no traces were left. As for the harvest, please move to the backyard, my lord..."

"Oh? The heads were all brought?" General Man Gui smiled and said: "Then let's go, let's see what your results are this time, and later I will use my channel to submit a memorial to the Emperor to ask for credit for you."

As he spoke, he walked quickly in front.

Yesterday his little brother reported, saying dozens of warhorses, and quite a few heads, but he really didn't know the specifics.

And the channel he said he would use was to submit a memorial separately without going through the Cabinet channel, directly presented to the Emperor for imperial review, which could maximize confidentiality.

As for the fifty cavalrymen suffering more than half losses... where in war are there no deaths? Is that even a thing?

Wang Yan followed General Man Gui unhurriedly. After all, the situation was complex, negotiating peace at the front, stealing the home at the rear; he didn't know how Zhu Youjiao viewed this matter. But the worst was just no reward, and being scolded. After all, five hundred heads were there, so the problem was not big.

"You all go down."

Not long after, the two came to the backyard of the Regional Commander's mansion. Wang Yan let his subordinates stop the carriage. Without him saying much, General Man Gui waved away the little brothers guarding the backyard. Although he could trust them, it was better not to take risks.

After everyone left, General Man Gui looked at Wang Yan.

Wang Yan nodded to show he understood, and then said to the two little brothers driving the carriage: "Open the boxes and let the Regional Commander see our harvest."

"Yes." The two little brothers responded and nimbly opened the five large boxes: "My lord, please look, there are 528 heads in total."

Nodding with a smile, General Man Gui stroked his beard and stepped forward to look. At this look, he lost a small tuft of beard...

General Man Gui stared with wide eyes, blankly looking at the heads arranged neatly according to the size of the face and with different expressions in the box. After a long time, he let out a long breath and turned to look at Wang Yan: "These were all harvested by you leading fifty people in this month?"

He didn't doubt that Wang Yan killed the innocent to claim credit. After all, having dealt with the Later Jin so much, wasn't identifying heads the most basic thing? More than five hundred heads... that was more than five hundred...

In the Battle of Ningyuan, they bombarded for two and a half days, and quite a few died. The result? The number of heads was less than five hundred. Now this Wang Yan led fifty people, went out for a stroll for a month, and brought back more than five hundred? And brought back dozens of warhorses? This damn...

"Reporting to my lord, that is exactly the case." Wang Yan nodded: "If it weren't for your subordinate's eagerness for meritorious service, and fighting a battle with a fifty-person cavalry squad of the Jianzhou Jurchens, resulting in too many losses, and having to come back, there would be more in another period of time."

General Man Gui was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but ask a nonsense question: "Was it a cavalry battle? What was the result?"

"Total annihilation, no one escaped, captured forty-three warhorses."

"Hiss..."

It was not that General Man Gui was ignorant, but that the Great Ming had not had such a record for many years in a one-on-one cavalry counter-charge; they were often defeated in one blow. Although it was only fifty people, a two-to-one battle damage was quite enough.

"Can the others under your command also do this?"

"Reporting to my lord, no." Wang Yan shook his head honestly: "The fifty people this time were the top fifty decided by your subordinate from a thousand people."

"Good, very good. With such a record, I will submit a memorial to ask for credit for you when I go back."

General Man Gui didn't care and grinned, stroking his beard and praising. This was enough; what else did he need?

"Haha, where, where, isn't your subordinate's action still under your wise command?" The two looked at each other with tacit understanding. Wang Yan hesitated for a moment and said: "My lord, should we... send some silver to Wei Zhongxian... to express... express..."

"Hmm..." General Man Gui pondered for a moment: "You don't need to worry about this, I have my own ideas. Alright, leave the heads, you haven't returned for a month, and there must be a lot of military affairs accumulated. Go back and handle them quickly, I won't keep you. Also, don't go anywhere recently, just stay honestly at the station and wait for my news."

Wang Yan cupped his hands: "Yes, my lord. Then your subordinate will take my leave first."

General Man Gui waved his hand: "Go."

Wang Yan cupped his hands and saluted, turned around and left. Calling the little brothers who came with him, they rode fast horses back to the station.

He knew what General Man Gui meant; after all, they were tacit. That was to say, this action was perfectly harvested under the wise command of the great Regional Commander Man. So accordingly, if Zhu Youjiao was not satisfied, he would scold General Man Gui, and it had nothing to do with Wang Mou. If he was satisfied, then it was the Regional Commander Man receiving the Emperor's favor, and Wang Mou rising to power.

The reason he let him go was because he didn't know what Zhu Youjiao's idea was, and he couldn't act without authorization again; that would truly be losing his head.

As for him saying he would express it to Wei Zhongxian, it was just because little ghosts are difficult to deal with, not to mention Wei Zhongxian was a damn big ghost. Their business here was booming, no reason Wei Zhongxian and others in the court didn't know.

However, General Man Gui had truly tied up the entire Liaodong civil and military, Regional Inspector Yuan Chonghuan, Grand Coordinator Wang Zhichen, another Regional Commander Zhao Zhendong, Vice Regional Commander Zu Dashou, etc., all had a share. Not to mention Wei Zhongxian, even Zhu Youjiao wouldn't be easy to deal with; no one had the guts to offend the entire Liaodong.

If the old Zhu Taizu was there, it might not be certain; after all, he really had troops in his hands, and he really dared to kill. Of course, if old Zhu Taizu was there, Wang Yan wouldn't follow and mix in.

Returning to the station, he didn't need to find anyone; Sun Fugui came to his door directly. He didn't ask any more questions; Wang Yan had been away for so long, and he could find out by asking others.

Wang Yan pointed to the chair in the room: "Sit."

The conditions were good now. Throwing aside extravagance, it was mainly comfortable. Anything in his room, at worst, would be worth hundreds of thousands in four hundred years...

After the little brothers served the brewed tea, Sun Fugui tactfully poured a cup for Wang Yan first, and then poured one for himself.

Wang Yan drank a sip of hot tea and said: "Tell me, how has the development been recently? How much money is there? How much grain and medicinal materials have been stored?"

"Reporting to my lord, in the month you were away, several more batches were released..."

After Wang Yan left, General Man Gui let people watch the heads, then walked back to the room with light steps, humming a little tune, and without a word, picked up a pen and wrote a report document with dragon-flying and phoenix-dancing strokes. Although he had been mixing with Zhu Youjiao's subordinates for several years, he couldn't grasp the pulse of this Emperor, so he didn't dare to write a memorial for credit. Although he didn't care about being scolded, there were ways to be scolded heavily or lightly, so he just reported the facts.

The fact was that he was wise and martial, saw that the Jianzhou Jurchens were unstable during the power transfer, and sent Battalion Commander Wang, whose individual combat ability was the best in the nine borders, to lead a small team of elites to the enemy rear to cause destruction and contain part of the Jianzhou Jurchens' energy. Finally, under his invincible calculation, Battalion Commander Wang spent a month and harvested more than five hundred heads...

Then, after sealing it with a secret seal, he found his trusted subordinates to send it to the capital along with five large boxes of heads and three thousand taels of silver notes... galloping to the capital.

The silver notes were of course for Wei Zhongxian, not asking him to speak good words, just asking him to shut up and not talk nonsense, that was all...