Chapter 68: If There Is Misfortune, I Will Take Care of Your Wife and Children!

The next day.

“Who is that man?”

Yang Xin looked at the man in his thirties who was being brought before the city walls and asked Zhou Yuji in confusion.

“He’s probably Jin Taiji’s eldest son, Dergele. Last year when the Jiannu attacked Qinghe, Dergele led the Yehe Tribe’s army to cooperate with the imperial court in attacking Hetu Ala from the flank, but he was defeated and captured when Wild Boar Skin turned back his forces.”

Zhou Yuji said.

“Who is that beside him?”

Yang Xin looked at the man around thirty years old next to Dergele.

The latter was talking with Jin Taiji, but the two were speaking in Manchu, which neither Yang Xin nor Zhou Yuji understood. They could only tell that the two talked a lot, but it was easy to guess the content: either persuading Jin Taiji to surrender, or else they would kill his son. Yang Xin wasn’t very concerned because he knew Jin Taiji had refused to surrender even unto death; in fact, he had set himself on fire. There were also claims he didn’t die by fire but had tried to trick Wild Boar Skin and escape, only to be captured and killed. In any case, he hadn’t surrendered, so this time likely wouldn’t either. For a ruthless leader like him, killing his son might not matter—after all, he had more than one son.

His youngest son, Ahun, was still on the city wall.

As expected, the man below soon turned hostile and ordered Dergele, who was initially not bound, to be tied up.

The latter angrily shouted at him.

That man hesitated, then waved away the people preparing to bind Dergele, but still pushed Dergele towards the city wall. Dergele walked over while speaking to his father on the wall, then simply sat down on the ground, turned his head, and sneered at the man, saying a few words. The man paid no heed and signaled the executioner to step forward, then looked up and shouted at Jin Taiji. Jin Taiji replied with a cold sneer.

He seemed rather agitated.

Yang Xin gave Zhou Yuji a meaningful look.

Zhou Yuji looked at him blankly, but Yang Xin hunched over and quietly moved toward a position directly opposite Dergele.

Jin Taiji’s brother, Qin Chen, was the first to snap to attention. He stared at Yang Xin in astonishment. Then Zhou Yuji also came to his senses and looked at Yang Xin with equal shock. The latter glanced back at them.

He flashed them a brilliant smile.

The next moment, he suddenly leaped up, vaulting over the arrow slit like a pouncing leopard…

“Shoot the arrows!”

Qin Chen roared abruptly.

Almost at the same time, Zhou Yuji fired an arrow. As the arrow shot through the air, Yang Xin, who had landed below the wall, flipped over, leaped up, and sprinted forward at full speed.

This scene left everyone above and below the walls dumbfounded.

Both that man and the executioner stared wide-eyed at Yang Xin, watching as he closed the distance in the blink of an eye. The man had just turned his head to urge the executioner to act when Zhou Yuji’s arrow struck the executioner’s chest. The executioner fell backward. By then, Yang Xin was less than a hundred feet away. To communicate clearly with Jin Taiji, they were positioned less than a hundred meters from the wall—a distance Yang Xin, accelerating to his limit, could cover in mere seconds. He was upon them almost instantly.

The man snatched a long spear from a subordinate and lunged forward to stab.

But Yang Xin was too fast; the spear stabbed into empty air behind him.

Dergele also snapped to his senses.

Without hesitation, he threw himself forward. At the same time, archers behind him fired arrows in confusion, but just then Yang Xin kicked off the sprayed earth and dropped down. All the arrows flew over their heads…

“Run!”

Yang Xin roared.

Dergele immediately leaped up and dashed forward like mad.

The man turned to flee, but Yang Xin pounced on him from the side, knocked him down, swiftly placed the executioner’s blade against his neck, then turned and grinned at the army of thousands facing him. The archers on the other side, about to fire, immediately halted…

“You must be quite important!”

Yang Xin said.

That man had some courage, glaring at him angrily.

“Everyone, stay still! Anyone who shoots, I’ll spill his blood!”

Yang Xin arrogantly shouted.

While speaking, he quickly glanced back. By now, Dergele had reached the wall, and ropes were being lowered to hoist him up.

Yang Xin, holding the man hostage, began to retreat.

The man didn’t dare resist and obediently backed toward the wall with him. Ahead, the Jiannu’s army of thousands advanced forward, but from the wall, Jin Taiji’s shouts rang out, followed by a dense volley of arrows whistling through the air. The Jiannu in front raised shields for protection, but some were still struck down. The man in Yang Xin’s arms immediately shouted loudly, and those Jiannu stopped advancing. An older general stepped forward…

“Release him immediately, and we can withdraw our troops!”

He said in Chinese.

“You really are that important?”

Yang Xin curiously asked the man in his arms.

“Our Jianzhou warriors never abandon a single brother!”

The man sneered.

“Ha, as if Shurhaci wasn’t killed by Wild Boar Skin.”

Yang Xin said.

“Traitors naturally cannot be left alive!”

The man said.

“Spoken as if you yourselves are not traitors to the Great Ming. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty took you in, gave you land, granted you official positions, and bestowed rewards, yet you still betrayed the Great Ming. Such traitors indeed should not be left alive!”

Yang Xin sneered.

By now, Dergele had climbed the wall.

Zhou Yuji had some men lower several ropes from the wall. Yang Xin quickly retreated to the base of the wall. Thousands of bows across from him were aimed at him, but he paid no heed. Standing beside a rope, he kept the blade pressed against the man’s neck and quickly grabbed the rope with his other hand…

“I’ll send you to meet Shurhaci!”

He said.

With that, he was about to draw the blade.

But at that moment, the man suddenly produced a dagger and stabbed backward toward Yang Xin’s side. Without hesitation, Yang Xin released the hand holding the blade and swiftly slammed it downward. The dagger scraped across his side, making a grating sound against the forged iron of his full iron armor. At the same time, the man rolled to the right and fell. Immediately, dozens of arrows whistled from across the way, and the thundering hooves of cavalry followed. Yang Xin had no time to deal with him further; he hurriedly turned and, amid the sound of arrows clattering against his full iron armor, leaped upward and swiftly scaled the wall. As soon as he reached the top, he snatched a long spear from a soldier and hurled it at the man. The man had already gotten up and was sprinting forward. The spear, lacking the precise aim of a bow and arrow, only struck him in the buttocks—right in the center.

The man screamed and fell forward.

But almost instantly, the charging cavalry from across swept over him. When Yang Xin hurled a second spear, he could no longer locate him.

Yang Xin turned to look at Jin Taiji.

If Jin Taiji had ordered the archers to shoot earlier, that man wouldn’t have escaped.

“He is, after all, my sister’s son!”

Jin Taiji said slowly.

“Your sister’s son?”

Yang Xin said, startled.

Then he understood.

“Oh no!”

He exclaimed, snatching the bow and arrow from Zhou Yuji’s hands, and without hesitation turned to search, but the man was already deep within a dense formation of cavalry, moving away. Furious, Yang Xin shot and killed a Jiannu with an arrow, then irritably tossed the bow and arrow back to Zhou Yuji.

That was Hong Taiji!

“Grand Beile, tonight I will break through. You write to Chahua and Xiong Tingbi!”

Having missed the chance to kill Hong Taiji, Yang Xin spoke to Jin Taiji in a foul mood.

“How will you break through?”

Dergele, who had just been rescued, asked.

“I rescued you. I can surely break out.”

Yang Xin said.

“Fifteen days is the limit. I can hold out for fifteen days at most, or else even if you bring reinforcements back, you’ll only be able to collect my corpse.”

Jin Taiji said.

He was actually speaking to his subordinates, telling them to hold on with him for another half a month. In truth, if they fought to the death, Wild Boar Skin might not take Yehe City, but he could starve them out. The loyalty of Jin Taiji’s followers had its limits. So Jin Taiji gave them a deadline: if Yang Xin didn’t bring reinforcements within fifteen days, then there would be none. Otherwise, such a span of time would be sufficient for Chahua’s tens of thousands of cavalry to assemble and arrive; even the Ming Army from Shenyang would have enough time to counterattack.

If no reinforcements arrived in half a month, that meant no one would save them.

At that point, Jin Taiji would not force his subordinates to be trapped and die with him in the city.

But until then, they must unite.

“Agreed!”

Yang Xin said straightforwardly.

“Brother Zhou, I cannot take you with me!”

He then said to Zhou Yuji.

“If I die here, I ask Brother Yang to care for my family!”

Zhou Yuji said.

He knew that following Yang Xin would only hold him back.

“Rest assured. If there is misfortune, I will take care of your wife and children!”

Yang Xin said.

Zhou Yuji was already married and also came from a military household—likely the same wife who later died defending Ningwu Pass with him.

“Do you know how to build trebuchets?”

Yang Xin suddenly asked.

“Brother Yang, I come from generations of military service. We have military manuals at home. When it comes to defensive weapons and equipment, I understand most of them. True, Yehe City has no cannons, but it lacks nothing else. And the Jiannu have no proper siege weapons; at most, they have some gunpowder, captured from the government troops, and not in large quantities. If we truly hold firm, even half a year wouldn’t be a problem, let alone fifteen days.”

Zhou Yuji said.

As he spoke, he looked at Jin Taiji.

“In that case, I leave it to you, Brother Zhou!”

Jin Taiji said.

Yang Xin felt reassured. Though this Zhou Yuji was not yet the Zhou Yuji of Ningwu Pass, the soldiers of the Yehe Tribe were also not the Ming Army troops of Ningwu Pass. With Wild Boar Skin’s primitive siege methods, if Zhou Yuji helped Jin Taiji build enough defensive equipment, Wild Boar Skin might well fail to capture the city within six months.

After all, Wild Boar Skin’s siege tactics at this time were truly primitive.

The rest was simple. Jin Taiji quickly wrote letters to Xiong Tingbi, Zaisai, and even Chahua and another important figure among Chahua’s five encampments—Ebudegui of the Barin Tribe—and also to Dongge’s famous father-in-law, Nuantu, who was lurking near Tieling with Zaisai, asking each for help. Among them, Ebudegui’s strength rivaled Chahua’s; he commanded ten Noyans. Essentially, if Chahua, Ebudegui, and Zaisai joined forces, it would be enough to force Wild Boar Skin to withdraw.

If Xiong Tingbi then marched north with his troops, that would be sufficient to confront Wild Boar Skin in a decisive battle.

All these letters were entrusted to Yang Xin. That night, amid a continuous autumn drizzle and in pitch darkness, he quietly descended the city wall.