Chapter 1: Escape

  In the second year of Chongzhen, October, Huang Taiji led 100,000 elite Later Jin troops to swiftly encircle the Khorchin Grassland, break through Da'an Pass, Hongshan Pass and Longjing Pass, and surround the Ming dynasty's military stronghold of Zhuozhou.

  A powerful enemy invades, as long as it is a personal matter, a major battle that will determine the life and death of the Ming Dynasty will unfold with Zhuozhou as its center.

  Thus, the once prosperous Zhuozhou was as if all its people had died out, and except for the Later Jin cavalry galloping in the fields, hardly a single Ming subject or merchant could be seen.

  Without merchants and common people, the bandits in Zhuozhou who made a living by robbery would lose their source of income.

  Under the threat of death and starvation, some bandits had to shift their looting targets to the elite rear golden cavalry.

  But without any training, without any organization, with only a passion, how could the bandits be the opponents of the golden knights who had been through many battles?

  In the wilderness about fifty miles away from Zhu Xian City, more than a hundred tattered bandits were protecting someone, fleeing frantically in the direction of the mountainous area under the pursuit of over a dozen golden armored cavalrymen.

  Although they exerted themselves to the utmost and threw away everything that could slow down their escape, two legs can run as fast as they may, but they cannot outrun four-legged warhorses.

  "Rumble, rumble….. As the sound of horseshoes drew closer and closer to them, more than a dozen Jin cavalrymen riding war horses directly raised their sabers with cold smiles on their faces, making gestures as if ready to slash down from horseback."

  "Kill..." A flash of knife light, more than a dozen high-holding cavalrymen of the Houjin tribe skillfully split in two, rushing past the eyes of over 100 bandits on both wings, and with ease slashed down with their knives towards their target.

  When a dozen or so Golden Riders broke away and made contact with the bandits, after the war horses' hooves kicked up dust that was quickly blown away by the wind. At least ten tattered bandits lay motionless on the ground, covered in blood...

  In this era where people are struggling to survive, death has long been an extremely ordinary thing.

  So, facing the fallen 'comrade', the remaining bandits didn't even give a glance and continued to flee forward.

  Because they knew that as long as they ran a few more miles into the mountains, the Golden Knights would no longer be able to catch up with them, for they had been constantly exhausting their own strength by following closely behind everyone and launching rapid attacks.

  Perhaps it was the dozen or so Golden Riders who were not familiar with the terrain here, and in unclear circumstances of the bandits' thoughts, they directly thought that the more than 100 Ming dynasty people who dared to launch a surprise attack on themselves had already become their own possessions, and they could eliminate them as they pleased.

  It's just like playing a game, consuming the physical strength of more than 100 people every morning.

  And so, after a dozen or more rear cavalry charges, the hopeful dense forest finally appeared in front of everyone.

  The bandit, who had been sprinting wildly and was already exhausted from hunger, subconsciously slowed down his escape speed. Seeing the forest, he seemed to see a glimmer of hope for survival, and with all his might, he ran towards the forest that was getting closer and closer.

  At this time, the dozen or so Jin cavalrymen who had been planning to continue dragging on with the hundreds of Ming dynasty soldiers finally realized that something was off. When one of the white-armored cavalrymen let out a loud shout, the dozen or so cavalrymen immediately formed a line, just like a giant plow, and swept across in the direction that the hundreds of bandits were fleeing, wanting to scatter the bandits and prevent them from rushing into the forest.

  The idea of the Golden Knights was good, but they underestimated the strong ability that people can burst out at the moment of life and death.

  Dozens of Jin cavalry came galloping, while the last dozens of bandits suddenly stopped fleeing and raised their crude weapons to launch a counterattack against the incoming Jin cavalry.

  At the same time, a loud shout also rose among dozens of bandits: "Brothers, how Big Master usually treats us kindly, I won't say more. For the sake of Big Master, we swear to die and block the Golden Army, brothers, charge for me..."

  More than thirty bandits, some grasping long spears, others grasping large swords, and even more, directly grasping a wooden stick as thick as an arm. Like a pack of wolves that dare not to die, they howled and rushed towards the dozen or so Jin cavalrymen.

  Although everyone's behavior is like moths flying into fire, their deaths are not without significance.

  Two minutes time, more than thirty bandits used their own lives to exchange a short two minutes for their comrades behind.

  With a face full of anger, more than a dozen golden cavalrymen finished off over thirty bandits and were about to continue the pursuit, washing away their hatred. The remaining sixty or so bandits had already taken the injured Big Master and fled into the forest, escaping in disarray.

  In the simple mountain stronghold consisting only of thatched cottages, after being hit on the head with an iron rod by Hou Jin Tao Zi during the raid, the chief Wei Zheng, who was knocked unconscious, lay motionless and calm on his back.

  The only few people in the village who could be said to have a conversation were surrounding Wei Zheng, pacing back and forth with anxious expressions.

  Just then, a faint cough suddenly came from Wei Zheng's mouth, and afterwards, a very faint voice came from Wei Zheng's mouth to everyone's ears.

  "Water... I want to drink water..."

  "Master's awake... Master's awake! Hurry up, what are you still dazing around for? Quickly go get some water, Master wants to drink water."

  Several people in the middle-aged man with the largest age difference excitedly said. Then, as calmly as possible, they lifted Wei Zheng who was lying on ** and prepared to feed him water.

  In the blink of an eye, ten minutes had passed. As Wei Zheng slowly opened his eyes as he gradually came to, what he saw was not a hospital, nor doctors, nor his comrades-in-arms, but rather a group of middle-aged men wearing clothes he had never seen before.

  As a special forces soldier, the first thing to do is to familiarize yourself with your surroundings, especially in an unfamiliar place you've never seen before.

  Just as Wei Zheng was about to speak, the middle-aged man standing opposite him suddenly said excitedly: "Master, you've finally woken up. If you hadn't woken up, our mountain stronghold would have been disbanded..."

  "Mountain stronghold....." Upon hearing these two words, Wu Jian suddenly paused, his face filled with confusion as he said.

  In the future China, only a few ethnic minorities will still be able to use the term "shanzhai". However, if the other party is an ethnic minority, how can they speak Mandarin and call themselves the "big boss"?

  With a thick and inexplicable sense of unease, Wei Zheng subconsciously opened his mouth to ask: "I am the master of the house...the mountain stronghold is going to disband...what's going on?"

  Upon hearing Wei Zheng's inexplicable counter-question, the middle-aged man furrowed his brow and exclaimed in desperation: "Great master, have you forgotten... Have you been hit by a Tartar with an iron rod and lost your memory? How can this be? Is heaven going to destroy our mountain stronghold and not let our brothers continue to live?"

  "Diaozi...." This was another useful term that Wei Zheng heard again.

  Associated with the history I know, there is only one place and time that can be used to describe the word "Tartar", which is at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Thinking of this, Wei Zheng was startled and quickly shifted his gaze to the middle-aged man in front of him, asking tentatively: "Is it now the Ming Dynasty... Is my head injury caused by being beaten by the Later Jin Tartars..."

  "The big boss, you remembered....." Suddenly, a hint of excitement appeared on the face of the middle-aged man who was just desperate.

  Facing Wei Zheng, he said with a affirmative expression: "The master of the house, now is the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen 2nd year, October... As for the wound on your head, it was when we launched a surprise attack on the typing warriors and were beaten by the Tartars, no mistake..."

  "In the second year of Chongzhen...the Tatars...". After getting confirmation from the other party, Wei Zheng's heart suddenly became a mess.

  To know, just before he woke up, he was still an excellent special forces soldier of the Huaxia, with a bright future ahead. But how did he suddenly return to the end of the Ming Dynasty... However, as an excellent special forces soldier, Wei Zheng's ability to accept reality was still very quick.

  Quickly putting aside the various unexplained thoughts in his mind, Wei Zheng, being a special forces operative by habit, first wanted to understand his current environment. After a brief moment of contemplation, in order not to arouse suspicion from the few people in front of him, Wei Zheng swiftly suppressed the various unexplained thoughts and confusion in his heart, and gave an order to the middle-aged man who seemed most friendly towards him.

  "Alright, I just have a slight headache, resting for a bit will be fine... You can stay behind alone, the others can leave first."

  Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him who showed genuine concern, Wei Zheng did not hide it and asked directly: "Brother, I have forgotten many things. In order not to worry our fellow villagers, I can only temporarily muddle through. Including your identity, I seem to have forgotten everything. So, you quickly give me a general introduction to the situation, otherwise if my amnesia gets out, our village will really be finished..."

  The middle-aged man did not hesitate and quickly told everything he knew.

  As time ticked away second by second, Wei Zheng's calm face had unknowingly turned solemn. As for Wei Zheng's heart, it was filled with regret and unwillingness.

  Although he had seen so-called traversals in later generations, others who traversed to ancient times were either emperors or generals. But himself? He actually traversed into the body of a bandit leader who couldn't even eat his fill of rice.

  Looking at the middle-aged Han man in front of him, who shared the same name as Zhao Yun, one of the famous generals of the Three Kingdoms, and had a silly face. Wei Zheng really wanted to ask back, if he couldn't even eat his fill, then what was the point of being a bandit...

  However, when Wei Zheng saw the helpless expression on his opponent's face, he swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

  After understanding his current situation, Wei Zheng's first thought was how he, with his weak strength, could survive the war against the Tartars in this battle of Zuozhou. Only if he could escape from this great war would he have a chance to talk about the future; otherwise, everything would be empty fantasy.