I was living at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and I dealt a brutal blow to the Eight Banners!

late at night.

Zhang Jingchuan sat cross-legged in his tent, pondering a way to break the deadlock.

It is now July of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen's reign. To aid Zu Dashou, who was besieged in Jinzhou, the Governor-General of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, together with eight generals, personally led 130,000 troops to Songshan City and clashed with the Qing army besieging Jinzhou on several occasions.

According to the course of history, Huang Taiji, who was in Shengjing, would lead the main force of the Qing army to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army in August.

The Ming army would suffer heavy losses in this battle and would no longer be able to come to the aid of Zu Dashou in Jinzhou.

Zhang Jingchuan knew that if he continued to stay in Songshan City, he would be heading step by step into the abyss with the Ming army. Given his current status and position, it would be extremely difficult for him to reverse the defeat.

Therefore,

The only way to break the deadlock was to leave Songshan City and find a place to settle down. Only by taking advantage of the fact that the Qing army's attention was drawn to the main force of the Ming army could he have an opportunity to develop.

Then, in the course of this development, we should try to influence the situation little by little. We don't need to reverse the defeat, but at least we should delay the time of the Ming army's defeat. The longer it is delayed, the more advantageous it will be for Zhang Jingchuan.

Just as Zhang Jingchuan was pondering how to legitimately lead his troops out of the city...

[Ding!] The system's voice rang in my mind.

[The "Survive Today" mission is complete; the host will receive one chance to win a prize.]

[Automatic lottery activated! Ding! Congratulations, host, you have obtained: "The Art of Talking Non-Stop"!]

Before Zhang Jingchuan could even figure out what the art of "talking away" was, the description of it flashed through his mind:

[Effect: Eloquent, able to influence enemies, and unite teammates.]

[Host Skills: Template of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu; The Art of Persuasion.]

Just as Zhang Jingchuan was speechless at this new skill, the system's voice rang in his mind:

[Quest triggered: Earn 100,000 taels of silver!]

Zhang Jingchuan frowned and fell into deep thought as he looked at the task details that appeared in his mind.

……

The next morning.

Zhang Jingchuan was leading Li Daniu and the others in drills on the parade ground when he learned from a messenger that Wu Sangui wanted to see him.

Arriving outside Wu Sangui's military tent, there weren't many soldiers guarding the area, indicating that this was not the military meeting from the previous night, but rather an informal audience.

Without any announcement from the guards, Zhang Jingchuan had just reached the entrance of the military tent when a guard beside him reached out and lifted the curtain, indicating that Zhang Jingchuan could go in.

Inside the tent, besides Wu Sangui sitting in the seat of honor, there were two other people. One of them was Song Ben, the guerrilla general, who was in charge of Wu Sangui. The other person was a stranger.

Upon seeing Zhang Jingchuan walk in, all three turned their gazes toward him.

Zhang Jingchuan noticed that Song Ben had a smile on his face, which was completely different from his gloomy expression last night. Zhang Jingchuan had a bad feeling.

The unfamiliar middle-aged general squinted, a smile playing on his lips. For some reason, Zhang Jingchuan felt there was something strange in the way he looked at him.

As for Wu Sangui, there was nothing unusual about him.

Zhang Jingchuan hesitated for a moment, then bowed and clasped his hands in greeting, saying, "Greetings, esteemed lords."

"Hehehe," Wu Sangui said with a smile, introducing the middle-aged general: "General Ma, this is Zhang Jingchuan, who led the vanguard battalion to repel the Qing army and kill the enemy general Enahai yesterday."

As he spoke, Wu Sangui urged Zhang Jingchuan, "Hurry up and pay a private audience with General Ma!"

"Greetings, Lieutenant General Ma," Zhang Jingchuan bowed respectfully.

"Hmm," Ma Shaoyu nodded with a smile, "General Wu's forces are indeed full of talented people!"

"Hehehe," Wu Sangui grinned and said, "It's all for the sake of serving the imperial court."

Ma Shaoyu was very satisfied with Wu Sangui's answer. He then turned his gaze to Zhang Jingchuan and asked, "What position do you hold now?"

"Reporting to the General, I am deeply grateful for the General's kindness. I am currently serving as a centurion," Zhang Jingchuan replied truthfully.

"Commander-in-Chief?" Ma Shaoyu was taken aback at first, then looked at Wu Sangui with surprise, his face darkening as he said, "Donghai Fort is regarded by the Governor-General as the second lifeline of our army, and General Wu intends to fool us like this!?"

Zhang Jingchuan slightly raised his head, looking at the three people in front of him, paying attention to their expressions.

Wu Sangui didn't say anything, but just smiled and looked at Song Ben.

Song Ben smiled slightly, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ma Shaoyu, and said, "General, you have misunderstood."

As he spoke, Song Ben walked to the hanging map, pointed to a spot on the map, and slowly said, "Although Donghai Fort is remote, it is still under the watchful eyes of the Qing army. If our troops send too many soldiers, it will attract the attention of the Qing scouts. Therefore, in order to avoid alerting the enemy, our troops plan to send an elite force there."

Ma Shaoyu raised an eyebrow. Although he felt that Song Ben's words made sense, he still questioned, "So you plan to send a hundred elite soldiers?"

“General Ma may not know this,” Song Ben explained with a smile, “Although Zhang Jingchuan is a centurion, he has four hundred brave soldiers under his command, which is enough to guard Donghai Fort.”

"Four hundred people?" Ma Shaoyu looked at Zhang Jingchuan in surprise.

Then, Wu Sangui explained that the remaining four hundred men of the vanguard battalion had been assigned to Zhang Jingchuan.

As Wu Sangui explained, Zhang Jingchuan looked at the location of Donghai Fort on the map. It was about two hundred miles away from Songshan City and Jinzhou, and it was located at the mouth of Liaodong Bay.

From a geographical perspective, Donghai Fort was indeed under the watchful eyes of the Qing army. If the Qing army wanted to take Donghai Fort, the Ming army located in Songshan City would certainly not be able to come to its aid in time. As for escaping by sea, the crime of dereliction of duty would cost him his life.

...Heh, what a dead end!

Zhang Jingchuan glanced at Wu Sangui and Song Ben, a flash of coldness crossing his eyes.

Sure enough, his intuition last night was correct. He had thought that Song Ben would target him, but he did not expect that Song Ben planned to use someone else to kill him, using the Qing army to get rid of him.

One thing that was unexpected was that Wu Sangui also tacitly approved Song Ben's proposal.

It seems that although I have brought honor to Wu Sangui, I am still not considered one of his own. Whenever needed, I am just a pawn in Wu Sangui's hands, cannon fodder that can be thrown out at any time.

After hearing Wu Sangui's explanation, when Ma Shaoyu looked at Zhang Jingchuan again, his eyes were filled with indifference and coldness, as if he were looking at a piece of grass about to die.

He opened his mouth and said:

"The Governor-General plans to open a sea route for grain supplies, transporting them from Shanhaiguan to Donghaibao. This will reduce losses along the way and greatly reduce the risk of harassment and threats from Qing cavalry."

At this point, Ma Shaoyu gazed at Zhang Jingchuan and asked in a deep voice, "Are you willing to go?"

Although Donghai Fort was a dead end, it was an opportunity for Zhang Jingchuan to lead his brothers away from Wu Sangui and the main force of the Ming army.

Although the risks are great, the opportunities are much greater than staying in Songshan City.

but,

If you want me to go and die, then you'll have to pay a price!

"I am willing to repay the court, but unfortunately my troops are a group of poorly trained soldiers. It doesn't matter if we die on the battlefield, but I am afraid that we will fail to fulfill the governor's mission and fail to defend Donghai Fortress," Zhang Jingchuan said sincerely.

After hearing Zhang Jingchuan's words, Wu Sangui and his two companions exchanged bewildered glances. For some reason, Wu Sangui had a bad feeling.

Ma Shaoyu frowned and couldn't help but ask, "Then what do you intend to do?"

Zhang Jingchuan bowed, raised his head, and looked expectantly at the three of them.

whispered:

"If you could give me some firearms, I would be confident that I could hold Donghai Fort."

Wu Sangui raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but ask, "What kind of firearms do you want?"

Zhang Jingchuan pondered for a moment and said:

"Red-barbarian cannons, Portuguese breech-loading cannons, muskets, the more the better!"

……