George Wood saw that the soldiers looked pitiful and sighed, saying, “Hang in there a bit longer. Our Jinzhou army isn’t lacking in provisions, it’s just this damned cold weather—heavy snow has blocked the roads and supplies can’t get through. Once you’re off duty and back at camp, there’ll be hot food waiting for you.”

The squad leader quickly cupped his hands and said, “Young General, this old servant is a Wu family standard-bearer. Now that the master is in the city, we’ll be extra careful and dare not make any mistakes.”

George Wood laughed and said, “That’s right. Being a soldier is a job where you tie your head to your belt. Once you become a Wu family standard-bearer, even if you die in battle, your parents, wife, and children will at least have food to eat—they won’t starve to death in this world.”

Then he turned to the other soldiers and said, “Do your best. The Wu family has once again been granted large tracts of land by His Majesty, and we can’t even farm it all ourselves. My father is kind-hearted—he might use the recruitment of standard-bearers as an excuse to get everyone a meal without having to pay grain taxes.

All of you, work hard. If you can bring back the head of a slave bandit of the first rank, I don’t know about other places, but in our family, you can exchange it for three taels of silver and become a standard-bearer. If you don’t want silver, you’ll get five mu of land. In no time, you’ll be better off than this old dog of a squad leader.

This old dog only has his position because he’s served the Wu family for so long! He’s got no other skills!”

Everyone found George Wood’s words amusing and laughed along. The old squad leader puffed out his chest with pride and said, “That’s because this old servant has good judgment—these blockheads can’t compare.”

George Wood smiled, put away the wine flask, weighed it in his hand, and feigned anger: “A bunch of filthy rascals! There’s barely any wine left in this flask. This was good wine I stole from my father’s study!

You lot guzzled it down and wasted it!”

Saying this, he hung the wine flask at his waist, glanced westward, and said to the squad leader, “Sixty mounted slave bandits—since they’ve come, they shouldn’t expect to leave!

Keep a sharp lookout. If you notice anything unusual, light the wolf smoke. Today, I’m going to take down these sixty mounted slave bandits!”

The squad leader grabbed George Wood’s horse’s reins and said, “Young General, don’t underestimate the enemy. This old servant heard the hoofbeats of the slave bandits’ horses—they sound very heavy. I’m worried there are armored soldiers among them, and where there are armored soldiers, there are sure to be eagle archers. You only have two hundred riders under your command—it may not be enough to guarantee victory!”

George Wood looked down at the squad leader’s battered face and said, “Hold your positions. You might get a chance to pick up a few slave bandit heads!”

Before the squad leader could say more, George Wood spurred his horse and rode off, leading his two hundred retainers westward in pursuit.

In the white mountains and black waters of winter, it was the domain of the slave bandits. These wild men, who couldn’t be frozen to death, became especially active in winter.

Ever since the slave prisoner George Washington died in Liaodong in July from wounds caused by cannon fire, infighting had immediately broken out among the slave bandits.

In Andrew Jackson’s view, as long as the slave bandits hadn’t fully established a new leader, the defensive line from Shanhai Pass to the Daling River should be secure.

But now, with slave bandit scouts suddenly appearing along the Daling River line, it was not a good sign.

Galloping on horseback, cold wind lashing his face, Andrew Jackson suddenly recalled the inexplicable explosion that had occurred in the capital this year.

As a member of a noble family, he knew far more than ordinary people. Just from the letter that the eunuch Matthew Lewis of the Directorate of Ceremonial sent to his father, he could see how bizarre that explosion had been.

Matthew Lewis was a direct witness to the event and the chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial—his account should be closest to the truth.

“On the sixth day of the first month of the sixth year of Tianqi, at the hour of Chen, there was a sudden, thunderous explosion, fiercer than lightning. More than twenty large trees were uprooted, some with roots pointing up, others down. There was a pit several zhang deep, smoke and clouds shot straight up, like a lingzhi mushroom, rolling northeast.

From the area around Xian’an Gate, iron debris rained down like bran or rice, and only stopped after a while. From Xuanwu Gate westward, and south of Xingbu Street, nearly to the factories, houses suddenly collapsed, earth and timber on top, tiles below.

Thousands of people with known names were killed, and as for entire households who died, their names unknown, who knows how many thousands more.

All the collapsed houses had their fires extinguished. Only the wooden sheds of the wine seller Zhang Si’s family burned, the rest were untouched by fire. Most of the dead were dismembered, regardless of gender, all were naked, and even the survivors had their clothes and hats blown off…”

“This explosion—could it be Heaven’s punishment?”

As soon as he spoke, the cold wind stuffed the words back into his mouth. George Wood coughed and shouted for the vanguard to speed up. He was eager to catch these slave bandits and find out what was happening on their side.

Soon, they reached the banks of the Daling River. The black water flowed slowly, whimpering, and there wasn’t a single footprint in the snow along the shore.

George Wood didn’t split his men to search for the slave bandits’ whereabouts. He only had two hundred men—if he dared to divide his forces, even into two groups, those bold slave bandits might attack their hundred-man squads!

Ever since the slave bandit George Washington ascended the throne in Hetu Ala in the forty-fourth year of Wanli, the Ming had poured vast sums of silver into Liaodong, building fortress after fortress. Unfortunately, most of these fortresses were now occupied by the slave bandits. Only Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass remained.

The Ming army was familiar with the Daling River, and George Wood knew every blade of grass and tree here like the back of his hand.

Likewise, the slave bandits were just as familiar with this place—whether it was George Washington, Hong Taiji, or the slave bandit generals, they all knew this land just as well.