Chapter 1074: For the Sake of Our Ancestors! (Please Subscribe)

"Bang, bang, bang—"

Another volley of gunfire came rolling across the vast white snowfield, reaching the ears of Duoni, who was fretting inside an abandoned village.

"Those are flintlocks!"

"At least several hundred of them."

"Weren't we told the Ming army landing at the Liao River mouth had no cavalry?"

"They probably didn't come from the Liao River mouth."

"Could they have come from Jinzhou?"

"What are we supposed to do now?"

The Manchu generals around Duoni began talking all at once, and what they were discussing was something utterly terrifying — a large Ming relief force seemed to have arrived!

Not long after Duoni and Yue Le had joined forces and begun advancing toward Zhao Family Village, the cavalry screening the main army had come under attack from numerous detachments of Ming black cavalry.

Now the combined army of Duoni and Yue Le was caught in a dilemma. Nikan's army was not far from them — it seemed they could reach it in a single stride. Yet that single stride seemed to mark the line between life and death.

For Nikan's army had already been battered by the Ming forces to the point of collapse. Nikan had more than twenty thousand men and Zhao Family Village to anchor his defense, yet in less than a day he had lost more than half the village, his troops had suffered over half casualties, and messengers pleading for help were streaming toward Duoni like running water. Fortunately there were no telephones back then, or Nikan would surely have grabbed the receiver and shouted at Duoni: "For the sake of our ancestors, give a brother a hand!"

But the problem was this: the cavalry Duoni had sent out from the Elite Cavalry Camp kept getting shot from ambush, so how was it that every one of Nikan's messengers managed to reach Duoni's army unscathed?

The Ming black-gun troops were plainly picking their targets! They were deliberately letting Nikan's men through to beg for help — this was besieging one point to strike the relief force!

Duoni could already picture a Ming pocket formation spread out ahead of him, waiting for him to walk into it!

To walk in was certain death!

But if he did not walk in, Nikan would die! And once Nikan died, the morale of the Great Qing would utterly collapse. If Duoni could stand by and watch a Prince like Nikan die with more than twenty thousand troops, what hope could anyone else have? It would prove that Duoni was a Regent who simply could not be relied upon!

But if he did go to the rescue — at this moment Duoni almost wished Nikan would just drop dead on the spot.

If Nikan died, Duoni could immediately lead his army in flight toward Shenyang!

In truth, even if he fled at once, Duoni had little confidence he could bring his thirty thousand-odd men back to Shenyang intact. The Ming black-gun cavalry were all around his army, and some survivors of the Elite Cavalry Camp who had escaped the Ming guns reported that they had encountered something even more terrifying — Ming foreign-horse cavalry!

Against the black-gun troops one could still run, but against the foreign-horse cavalry, there was truly no escape in heaven or on earth!

Moreover, the Ming foreign-horse cavalry were few in number and extremely precious. They always moved with the main force and were used as the decisive shock cavalry in pitched battles.

Their appearance around Duoni's army now meant that a large Ming main force was already advancing from the direction of Jinzhou.

"Regent," Yue Le had somehow already reached Duoni's side and lowered his voice, "even if the Ming main force has not arrived yet, it cannot be far. The longer we stay, the greater the danger of total annihilation!"

Duoni said in a low voice, "But if we leave, morale will collapse."

"We must leave anyway," Yue Le said. "As long as we withdraw to Jianzhou City, we can still keep maneuvering against the Ming. If worse comes to worst, we can still fly far away!"

They could still fly far away!

Yue Le's words struck straight into Duoni's heart. This time he had rebelled, and his situation was different in nature from that of the King of Joseon, Duo'erbo. Strictly speaking, Duo'erbo had not rebelled but merely refused to obey an imperial edict — it was a vassal king breaking his covenant, and more than half of it had been brought about by the schemes of Princess Dong'e. So Zhu Cilang could not make things too ugly; he had to leave Duo'erbo some face, lest the other vassal kings grow cold at heart.

But Duoni was an internal vassal in rebellion!

And he had openly raised the banner of the Great Qing, and even brought out the Shunzhi Emperor, who was hiding no one knew where. The crime of rebellion could not be escaped no matter what, and if he fell into Zhu Cilang's hands, he would be executed by slow slicing!

Judging by the present situation, there was no longer any hope of victory. Even if Duoni could rescue Nikan and retreat with him to Shenyang, it would only be a lingering half-life; holding out for three to five years would already be quite good. If Duoni wanted to live longer, he had to prepare to fly far away.

And to fly far away, he needed a seaport!

Therefore Duoni could not remain long in Liaodong. He had to withdraw toward the Amur River or Jianzhou, so that he could advance or retreat freely.

"But what about Nikan?" Duoni's voice was very soft, as though he did not want the others in the dilapidated ancestral hall to hear. Yet the hall, which had been buzzing with noise just moments before, instantly fell silent.

Duoni felt a flash of embarrassment, and his face grew slightly warm — he was the son of the Brave King, and this was truly too shameful!

"Without Nikan pinning down the Ming main force, how could we possibly get away?" Yue Le was far thicker-skinned, and simply raised his voice. "Nikan is the son of the eldest son of the founding emperor's eldest son, and so he is wholeheartedly devoted to the Great Qing. Even if he were ground to dust, he would have no complaint. He is now nailed down alone in Zhao Family Village, tying up tens of thousands of Ming troops — is that not precisely so that the Regent and the rest of us can escape to safety? If we let this opportunity slip away, how could we face Nikan, how could we face our ancestors?

Regent, the survival of the Great Qing rests on this single decision of yours!"

At that, Yue Le dropped to his knees with a thud, kneeling before Duoni, and cried out loudly: "Regent, for the sake of our ancestors, you must not fail Nikan's wholehearted loyalty!"

The others in the dilapidated ancestral hall knelt as well, shouting in unison: "Regent, for the sake of our ancestors, you must put the Great Qing realm above all else!"

With ancestors invoked, the Great Qing realm invoked, and Nikan willingly blocking the gun muzzles, Duoni could only heave a long sigh: "So be it, so be it. One must always answer to one's ancestors! As for Nikan — he is truly worthy of being a descendant of the founding emperor. I, Duoni, admire his wholehearted loyalty. When I return to Shenyang, I shall memorialize His Majesty and request for him the posthumous title 'Loyal.'"

"The Regent is sagely wise!"

"The Respectful and Loyal Prince can now rest in peace."

Well now — Nikan was not even dead yet, and already he had become the Respectful and Loyal Prince. They might as well write it on his spirit tablet.

"Regent," Yue Le had already risen to his feet and said to Duoni, "it is already late in the day. By the time we finish packing up, it will be about dark — and dark is exactly the right time to move. Besides, we have the wind and snow as cover. The Ming troops are mostly southerners and surely cannot endure this bitter cold. We will certainly be able to withdraw safely."

Duoni sighed. He knew perfectly well that Yue Le was talking nonsense. How could they possibly withdraw safely now? The Ming foreign-horse cavalry might not endure the bitter cold, but their black cavalry were originally night-prowling mounted scouts — what was a bit of wind and snow to them?

"Very well," Duoni nodded. "All of you go down and prepare! We break camp as soon as it is dark. Infantry in front, iron cavalry in the rear — we return to Shengjing!"

"Zha!"

Duoni's army was in fact not far from Zhao Family Village, where Nikan was — only five or six li. If they really set out, they would arrive in no time. Had there been no obstruction, Nikan could have seen Duoni's army. But seeing it was one thing; reaching it was quite another.

For between Duoni's army and Zhao Family Village, great swarms of Ming cavalry had appeared at some unknown moment. Some were black cavalry armed with flintlocks. Others were even more terrifying — mounted on tall warhorses, clad in iron armor, carrying long lances, formed into one shock formation after another, scattered across the snowfield.

Nikan stood on the roof of a ruined temple all afternoon, watching helplessly as the messengers he had sent out for help rode one after another into Duoni's camp, yet Duoni's army never stirred. At last, when darkness fell and the wind and snow had eased a little, countless torches suddenly flared to life in Duoni's camp, twinkling like the Milky Way descending from the sky.

Are they coming to save me? A surge of excitement rose in Nikan's heart — but what happened next completely doused his hopes: the fiery dragon formed by countless torches was moving northward!

(End of Chapter)