Chapter 340

The "Kill the Hu Order" also rapidly whipped up a hurricane in the north.

Those Jurchen Tatars fleeing for their lives dared not stop at all.

Almost every day they encountered people hunting them; if they ran too slowly, they would be caught and have their heads chopped off.

The old, weak, sick, and disabled could almost none of them escape.

In an instant, the number of fleeing Jurchen Tatars plummeted.

Originally, including the old, weak, sick, and disabled, there were seven or eight thousand people, but in an instant it became less than three thousand!

This still counts a portion of the heart-and-soul followers, the unfree servants who could not return.

195, Forest of Ice and Snow!

After Dorgon, Dodo, Ajige, and others led their clansmen to shake off the pursuers in a short time,

they gathered together, a rare occurrence.

Yet as everyone huddled around the fire, sorrowful expressions appeared on their faces.

"What do we do? The Great Ming Emperor is too ruthless; the Kill the Hu Order has driven these people mad. We must think of a plan quickly, or our clansmen will likely be completely annihilated before they even cross the mountains."

The other Princes were full of muscle, with fiery tempers.

They were basically warriors, utterly unable to make decisions.

Don't be fooled by their usual bluster; at this moment of life and death for the entire clan, they did not dare speak out of turn.

They only hoped their clever brothers would quickly devise a way to survive.

"Hiding in Mount Zhangbai now is useless; sooner or later we will be caught and killed. We must continue north, cross Mount Zhangbai, and flee further north. I heard there is a new country there, vast in land and sparse in people, yet very dangerous. The White Hair Disaster (the grassland tribes call frost blizzards 'White Hair Disaster' or 'White Disaster'). As long as we go there, we still have a sliver of hope."

"What about those Han dogs chasing us? They are pursuing us too closely!"

"Find a place to ambush them once, then do not linger in battle; leave immediately!"

A sinister expression appeared on Dorgon's face.

"Good!"

No one had any objections.

Everyone had been holding back a breath of anger during this period; now was the perfect time to vent it.

One day later, the wandering knights who had furiously pursued into the Mount Zhangbai mountain range due to the "Kill the Hu Order,"

as well as hunting teams formed by merchants, all discovered traces of the Jurchen Tatars.

The dense forests of Mount Zhangbai were truly too vast, with the peaks covered in thick ice and snow year-round.

After being ambushed several times by the Jurchen Tatars, these people cooperated with one another and provided mutual support.

Now, the trackers among their group discovered the place where the Jurchen Tatars had gathered to rest the previous day.

Even the fire pits they had buried while talking were dug up by them.

"Old Song, look, this should be where they rested; it seems there are quite a lot of them!"

After roughly estimating the number of people, everyone's faces lit up with excitement.

No wonder everyone was so happy.

At least nearly a thousand people were gathered here; according to the Kill the Hu Order, they were very likely to catch a big fish!

If they captured high officials like the Jurchen Tatar Princes or Beile.

Wouldn't the silver come pouring in?

"The enemy has too many people; we only have a few hundred combined, which is not enough!"

Old Song was an old man with one blind eye.

Don't let his age, which looked to be around fifty, fool you; his strength was extremely formidable.

Not only that, Old Song possessed rich experience; several times when they were almost ambushed by the Tatars, it was Old Song who led people to fight their way out and rescue them.

Therefore, everyone held Old Song in great respect.

"Then shall we call for people?"

"Yes, in any case, there are many people entering the mountains, at least ten thousand; calling for more people quickly is easy. I just fear the Tatars will smell danger and run."

Old Song said, brushing snowflakes from his beard.

"Then we must hurry!"

"Alright, everyone, hurry up!"

This group had clear divisions of labor; some tracked slowly at first, while the rest left marks, contacted people, stood guard, searched, and so on.

Before nightfall, in just a few hours, they had gathered from the original few hundred into a large force of over a thousand.

Thinking that the Jurchen Tatars were carrying many old, weak, women, and children,

everyone discussed it and felt they had enough manpower to quickly catch up and surround the Tatars.

Many new people had joined; with more people came more leaders, and opinions were chaotic and messy.

However, the majority opinion was to catch up immediately.

Only Old Song insisted on being cautious.

The newcomers disregarded Old Song's opinion.

They believed that with just these people, it was sufficient.

Even if there was an ambush, they could fight their way out.

Old Song's heart, however, was very worried.

At first he also thought it was an opportunity, but the subsequent tracking was far too easy.

How cruel the Jurchen Tatars were, he knew very well; in the past, his wife, children, and elders had all been killed by the Tatars.

To speak of hatred, Old Song's hatred for the Tatars was no less than anyone else's.

He understood the cunning and cruelty of the Tatars better than anyone.

If they were truly so easy to kill, could they have fought the Great Ming for so long?

Yet his group had the fewest people, and hardly anyone listened to his opinions.

He could still remind his subordinates to stay at the very back and urge those close to him to remain vigilant.

Many who had been saved by Old Song maintained a degree of caution.

Slowly, their group pursued the enemy into a mountain hollow.

The hollow was not large, but it could easily hide several hundred people...

Seeing this hollow, Old Song confirmed his judgment.

He shouted loudly, "An ambush!"

In the vast hollow, the shout echoed, causing the accumulated snow to fall.

The ranger group was startled, immediately dropping to the ground or hiding behind large trees.

Dai Shan, who was hiding, looked somewhat displeased.

"We've been discovered; shall we strike?"

Manggultai could not help but speak up.

Upon hearing this, Dai Shan shook his head. "Wait a bit longer; I feel they are trying a trick!"

After a while, indeed, there was not a single sound.

The leader at the front, with a displeased expression, flipped to his feet, walked over, and scolded Old Song:

"You bastard! Old Song, what are you shouting about blindly?"

"Yes, yes, you scared us. What if the Tatars heard and ran away?"

"It must be that the older one gets, the smaller the courage becomes. If you are so timid, just go back; do not cause trouble for us!"

Everyone spoke up, one after another; even those close to Old Song frowned tightly.

However, at this moment, Old Song was even more certain of his judgment.

Because just now, when the sound echoed in the hollow, no birds took flight.

The snow on the branches was only shaken loose on the side where they walked; conversely, the snow on the branches on both sides was scant, and no snow had fallen there.

They all faced the same sky, endured the same snow, and stood under the same large trees.

Why were the large trees on both sides so excellent, yet had so little snow on their branches?

Someone must have touched them beforehand!