Chapter 78

Lan Yu had already rushed out of the central command tent on his own.

He turned to the personal guards behind him and issued an order:

"Notify all camps: bring only seven days' rations, cotton clothes, armor, and weapons; abandon all other baggage. Follow me to break out and rush to Songshan's aid!"

The surrounding personal guards immediately began transmitting Lan Yu's orders to every camp.

With that single thunderous shout from Lan Yu,

the entire Ming army seemed, in an instant, to suddenly find its backbone.

Everyone gradually found what they ought to do.

Meanwhile, Lan Yu gripped his long spear, his gaze locked tightly onto the forward army camp.

Dorgon, locked in fierce combat within the forward army camp, suddenly shivered.

Then he could not help but feel a killing intent soaring to the heavens.

Just as Dorgon wondered at this,

he suddenly heard the rapid pounding of hooves approaching.

It was followed by a thunderous shout laced with a Huaixi accent.

"Dog Tartar, yield your life to me!"

Immediately after came the whistling rush of the long spear cleaving through the cold wind.

A sharp "Crack!" rang out.

The horseman's saber in Dorgon's hand was smashed clean in two at the waist by the long spear in Lan Yu's grip.

Without the slightest hesitation, the spear shaft slammed into the heart-guarding mirror on Dorgon's chest.

A deafening "Bang!" exploded.

Dorgon felt his body go light, and his entire person flew off the warhorse.

Then he crashed heavily onto the ground, already frozen hard by ice and snow.

"Protect the Master!"

"Master, are you unharmed!"

"Master, your slave is here!"

"..."

78, Hong Taiji: Kill, kill, kill; leave not one alive!

At the very moment Lan Yu charged out,

a sudden fear arose in Dorgon's heart.

It was the fear of death!

Having grown up in the army since childhood, Dorgon felt for the first time that death was so close to him.

Lan Yu's long spear fought through the chaotic ranks again and again,

yet under the desperate protection of several dozen Bannermen from the Plain White Banner,

he simply could not get close to Dorgon.

While Lan Yu was locked in fierce battle with the Bannermen,

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan, inside the tent, had already climbed onto a warhorse and, pointing at the Bannermen in the distance, shouted himself hoarse:

"Lads, avenge us!"

With that, Zhu Zhu Shenxuan, tears and snot streaming down his face, led several dozen Fengguo Commandants from the Jin Prince's Manor and charged out on their own.

In camps everywhere,

these "spoiled scions," who usually lived in luxury, mostly cried as they grabbed weapons and threw themselves into slaughter against the Bannermen.

If their blades were knocked away, they would bite with their teeth.

When flesh-and-blood kin fell dead one after another before their eyes,

death itself ceased to inspire fear.

The Bannermen, whose momentum had been so fierce, were gradually beaten into a decline by these Ming troops.

Gradually, their strength began to fail.

It was precisely at this moment

that several warhorses galloped out from Hong Taiji's dragon tent.

They found Dorgon, still fighting on the front lines.

"Beile, His Majesty has issued an edict ordering us to withdraw at once!"

Stunned by Lan Yu's assault, Dorgon cast a cold glance at Lan Yu, who was still cutting a path through the camp,

then gritted his teeth and issued his own command:

"Withdraw!"

"Withdraw!!"

Under the protection of several bond servants, the wounded Dorgon was lifted onto a horse and fled in disarray toward Songshan.

The moment the Qing army began its retreat,

the morale throughout the entire Ming camp shifted abruptly.

Zhu Zhu Yujian and Zhu Zhu Shenxuan vaulted onto their horses, pointed into the distance, and roared themselves hoarse:

"Lads, today we of the Zhu clan will fight these dog Tartars to the death!"

"Those who fear death are no kin of the Zhu!"

In an instant, bursts of battle cries erupted from the tents.

"Those who fear death are no kin of the Zhu!"

Hearing the battle cries of these imperial clansmen.

A trace of relief finally arose in Lan Yu's heart.

They are indeed Old Zhu's offspring!

After leaving behind more than twenty thousand corpses at Xingshan, the 250,000 Ming soldiers continued killing their way toward Songshan.

However, it was clearly far from going as smoothly as Lan Yu had imagined.

After this great battle, quite a few soldiers in the Ming camp had already contracted wind-cold.

Those suffering from unrelenting high fevers were countless.

Nearly every day, someone died of illness within the tents.

Lan Yu's brows knitted tightly.

Lan Yu knew.

At such a critical juncture, the march absolutely could not stop.

Once they stopped, nothing but total disaster awaited the entire army.

Before being cut down by the Tartars, at least half the army would perish from wind-cold.

Just as Lan Yu was forcing a high-intensity march to quickly close the distance to Songshan.

A canyon never marked on any map suddenly appeared before their eyes.

Upon seeing this canyon.

Lan Yu's heart immediately gave a heavy thud.

As expected.

Shortly after the vanguard entered the canyon.

Waves of battle cries immediately erupted from the hills on both sides.

Countless Eight Banners soldiers shouted from the valley slopes in clumsy Han speech:

"Kill the Han dogs, slaughter the Zhu kings!"

Countless rolling stones and flaming oil tumbled down the hillsides.

In an instant, the entire canyon became a sea of fire.

Seeing this scene, Lan Yu's originally taut nerves finally relaxed.

Just as troops from various camps poured into the canyon and charged up the foothills on both sides.

Lan Yu, with a grave expression, looked at two personal guards beside him and ordered:

"From here north to Jinzhou is no more than a hundred li; run fast, and you can reach Jinzhou before noon tomorrow."

Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang froze upon hearing this.

"General, what do you mean by these words?"

Lan Yu cast a cold glance at Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang and gritted his teeth as he spoke.

"A child of a thousand gold pieces does not sit beneath an eaves; for Your Highness to have followed us this far is already enough!"

"I beg Your Highness to proceed to Jinzhou!"

"I will not go."

With that, Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang's expression darkened; gripping his sword, he stepped forward to engage the Qing troops in battle.

Before Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang had taken more than a few steps,

he heard a somewhat weary voice from behind.

"Crown Prince, do you wish for us to die in vain?"

Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang's body instantly froze in place.

For no other reason

than that this statement carried too heavy a weight.

For the people of the realm,

those who fell in battle were all imperial clansmen of the Great Ming.

But for Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang,

these men were all his elders.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang struggled to turn his head.

Only then did he realize

that the one standing behind him was none other than the Prince of Tang, Zhu Zhu Yujian.

"Great-Uncle..."

Zhu Zhu Yujian looked coldly at Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang and rebuked him.

"We are of no use to the state; if we die, we die."

"The Crown Prince is the foundation of the state."

"If you were to die, and disputes over the state's foundation were to arise again at court,"

"could Your Highness truly find peace in your conscience?!"

Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang immediately opened his mouth to speak.

"But..."

"No 'buts'!"

"Now, immediately, proceed to Jinzhou!"

Zhu Zhu Yujian stared fixedly at Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang, brooking no dissent.

One moment ago, Zhu Zhu Yujian was the Prince of Tang and Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang the Crown Prince.

But in this moment, Zhu Zhu Yujian was the great-uncle, and Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang merely the grandnephew.

Before Zhu Zhu Zhu Cilang could offer any explanation,

two Personal Guards dragged him directly onto a carriage.

Within moments, they vanished into the night.

Lan Yu scrutinized Zhu Zhu Yujian carefully; the two exchanged no words, then immediately charged toward the distant canyon, one following the other.

At that moment, the entire canyon was already ablaze, flames piercing the sky.

On the hillside, Hong Taiji stared fixedly at Jirgalang, Ajige, and others behind him, shouting harshly.

"Where is the oil I ordered you to transfer from Shengjing?!"

"Your Majesty, Shengjing has no oil left; let alone fire oil, even the petroleum from the fire oil workshop has been shipped here directly!"

The firelight flickered continuously across Hong Taiji's face.

Hong Taiji's features appeared increasingly grotesque.

"Then transfer more! Bean oil, lard—anything that can burn, send it all here!"

"Yes!"

In any case,

these Ming troops outnumbered the Qing forces several times over.

Without a fire attack, it was nearly impossible for the Qing army to annihilate this group of Ming soldiers completely.

Just at that moment,

Kong Kong Youde's Deng-Lai New Army completed reloading their ammunition.

Amid the rumbling sound of cannon fire,

the entire canyon transformed into a sea of flames.

Just as all Eight Banners troops were successively committed to the battlefield,

Fan Fan Wencheng, who stood atop the canyon overlooking the battle, gradually turned ashen.

There were simply too many unusual aspects about this Ming army.

They were clearly all new recruits.

Yet their fighting spirit far exceeded that of any other Ming force.

Even among the elite troops of the Nine Borders, once a battle had reached this stage,

they should have been routed by now!

Was it truly just because these men were all relatives by blood or marriage?

If that were truly the case,

What a massive family this must be.

Thinking of this, Fan Fan Wencheng's heart suddenly gave a thump.

(PS: Petroleum was named by Shen Kuo of the Northern Song Dynasty in "Dream Pool Essays".)

79, Fan Fan Wencheng: Where on earth did this army come from?

Where in the world could such a huge family come from?!

An ominous premonition instantly arose in Fan Fan Wencheng's heart.

He immediately waved his hand, summoning several Personal Guards.

"Mr. Fan."

With an ugly expression, Fan Fan Wencheng looked at the few men before him and whispered,

"Have the Ming troops at Xingshan collected the corpses yet?"

"Not yet. With the battle raging like this, who would have time to collect corpses?"

Fan Fan Wencheng clenched his teeth tightly and ordered in a low voice,

"Immediately send people to Xingshan to find the waist tablets of those slain Ming soldiers."

"In short, anything that can prove their identity—the more, the better. Quick!"

"Yes!"

Several Personal Guards were dispatched by Fan Fan Wencheng.

The entire canyon was filled with the smell of burning corpses.

By now, the Eight Banners soldiers had also gone red-eyed with killing fury.

Even the candles in the military camp had been melted down into wax oil and splashed down.

"Report! The Second Beile has beheaded the Great Ming Prince of Chu!"

"Report! The Fourth Beile has beheaded the Great Ming Prince of Shu!"

"Report! Oboi has beheaded the Great Ming Prince of Lu!"

"Report! The Gushan Beizi has beheaded the Great Ming Prince of Zhao!"

"Report! The Sixth Beile has beheaded the Great Ming Prince of Fu!"

"..."

Listening to the frontline reports, that ominous premonition in Fan Fan Wencheng's heart grew ever stronger.

But Huang Taiji had already been blinded by this great victory.

The fire in this canyon was so immense it nearly illuminated the entire sky, turning night into day!

On the walls of Songshan City.