Yanmen Pass, famous for its treacherous terrain, was hailed as the "First Pass Under Heaven," with the saying: Among the Nine Strategic Passes of the realm, Yanmen stands first.
During the early Ming Dynasty, in 1374—the seventh year of Hongwu—Marquis Ji'an, Lu Xiang, oversaw the construction of a new pass ten li northeast of the old one, making the position even more formidable than before.
Yet despite its grandeur, this magnificent fortress had never truly fulfilled its role.
When the Manchu invaders arrived, the defending troops fled without a fight, allowing the Manchus to march straight into Daizhou and nearly seize it outright.
After the Gao Family Village Militia finished stationing troops in Daizhou, their very first objective was to retake Yanmen Pass.
Gao Chuwu rode at the head of the vanguard. He was dressed in plain cloth robes and mounted on a powerful, fine horse. It wasn't that he didn't own armor—he did—but he dared not wear it. His massive frame and astonishing weight already pushed the limits of any warhorse. If he added his absurdly heavy armor on top of that, no horse alive could endure it. So whenever he was marching rather than fighting, Gao Chuwu wore civilian clothing, while his outrageously thick armor was carried separately on another horse.
The Puppet Tianzhun, its neck now perfectly repaired, sat perched on Gao Chuwu's shoulder. Its two tiny wooden legs swung back and forth cheerfully in midair.
Gao Chuwu flashed a foolish grin.
"Dao Xuan Tianzhun, is my mission just to take Yanmen Pass and then hold it?"
The Puppet Tianzhun nodded.
"Yanmen Pass is a critical stronghold of the Great Wall. Only by reclaiming it can we truly safeguard the Central Plains."
Gao Chuwu's eyes lit up.
"Wow, the Great Wall!"
A group of his personal guards—many of whom had never ventured this far north—instantly looked thrilled.
"The Great Wall? We get to see the Great Wall?!"
Like falling dominoes, their excitement rippled outward. All two thousand soldiers behind them erupted into cheers.
"The Great Wall! We're going to see the Great Wall!"
These militia soldiers regularly watched Gaojia News broadcasts and absorbed all sorts of patriotic cultural programming. Under Li Daoxuan's deliberate cultivation of national awareness, they had already begun a conscious awakening. Now, just hearing the words "Great Wall" filled them with a powerful sense of awe—this is a priceless legacy of our Chinese civilization.
This was, without question, a positive development, and Li Daoxuan was quietly pleased.
However…
The artillery platoon leader accompanying Gao Chuwu suddenly went pale. He clutched his head and wailed,
"Oh no! I can't bring myself to fire the cannons at Yanmen Pass! If we damage the Great Wall, even being hacked to death a thousand times wouldn't atone for that sin!"
The moment he said it, the entire artillery platoon panicked.
"Heavens! We didn't even think of that until the platoon leader spoke up. If we start firing, the Great Wall will definitely be damaged! We'll be sinners for all eternity!"
As the artillery platoon spiraled into panic, the flintlock riflemen began to grow restless as well.
"Oh no—if my bullet hits the Great Wall, it'll punch a hole in it! I don't want to damage the Great Wall!"
"This is a treasure our ancestors left for future generations!"
"It's one of the symbols of our Chinese nation. How could it be destroyed by my own hand?!"
The morale of the entire army wavered.
Gao Chuwu turned around and shouted,
"All of you, fix bayonets! I'll use my great axe! We'll charge in with cold steel!"
The soldiers immediately brightened.
"Oh—oh, right! That's an option!"
"My Ghost-God Fist finally has a use!"
Hearing all this, Li Daoxuan couldn't help but smile wryly. He spoke up,
"Quiet. All of you, listen to me."
The army fell silent at once.
Li Daoxuan continued,
"Although the Great Wall is a priceless treasure, once you're on the battlefield, you cannot be distracted by such thoughts. If the Great Wall is damaged, it can be repaired. Throughout history, it has been repaired by generation after generation. Do not throw away your lives so cheaply over this."
The soldiers roared in unison, acknowledging his words.
At that moment, the army rounded a mountain bend, and the Great Wall appeared in the distance—the majestic wall winding across the peaks of Yanmen Mountain like an enormous dragon.
Li Daoxuan immediately synchronized his senses with the reconnaissance hot air balloon.
From high above, he looked down and saw that Yanmen Pass was indeed occupied by Manchu troops. There weren't many—only five or six hundred. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This place should have been a key stronghold for our Chinese nation to guard against northern barbarians. Instead, because its defenders fled, it has become a fort used by those very barbarians to defend against us. How utterly absurd.
"Chuwu," he said, "one and a half li to your front-right. A squad of Manchu scouts is moving through the woods."
"Understood!"
Gao Chuwu turned and issued an order. A squad of Gao Family Village scouts quietly slipped into the forest.
Each scout wore a Tianzhun emblem embroidered on their chest, allowing for real-time, seamless information sharing.
They fanned out through the woods, yet their communication remained as smooth as if they were walking side by side.
Before long, several rifle shots rang out, followed by a few short screams. That Manchu scout squad entered eternal slumber right there in the forest.
The Gao Family Village Militia advanced into the woods afterward.
With the enemy scouts wiped out, the Manchu garrison at Yanmen Pass was effectively blinded.
Two hours later, the Gao Family Village Militia was fully concealed in the forest south of Yanmen Pass, quietly observing the imposing stronghold in the distance.
Gao Chuwu asked curiously,
"The last stretch toward the pass doesn't have a single tree. We can't sneak any closer. Why doesn't anything grow there?"
The Puppet Tianzhun chuckled.
"That's only natural. Defenders would have cut down any trees near the pass to keep a clear field of view. It's man-made."
Gao Chuwu nodded.
"So that's how it is! Feels like I learned something… but also like I'll never use it."
The Puppet Tianzhun laughed.
"You certainly won't. But perhaps your son, Gao Zhengjing, will. When he grows up, he'll surely be a clever general—no longer a simpleton."
Gao Chuwu grinned widely.
"That's right! I'll learn it for my son and teach him when he's older."
A bead of sweat seemed to appear on the Puppet Heavenly Lord's wooden head.
"You really shouldn't teach him. Wait until Gao Family Village establishes a military academy. Otherwise, you'll only make things worse."
Just then, the artillery platoon leader hunched over and approached, crouching beside Gao Chuwu. He stared at Yanmen Pass in the distance and whispered,
"Heavenly Lord… are we really going to bombard it? If we open fire, this section of the Great Wall will definitely be shattered. I don't want to become a historical criminal."
The Puppet Tianzhun voice was resolute.
"Bombard it. We can repair it afterward."
The artillery platoon leader clenched his teeth.
"Alright!"
He retreated to the artillery position, where a cluster of small mortars—each no thicker than an arm—had already been set up.
The artillerymen adjusted the mortars to a forty-five-degree angle, aiming them directly at Yanmen Pass.
One by one, their faces took on strange expressions.
"Ancestors, please don't blame us. We don't want to bomb it, but… to reduce casualties among our comrades, we have no choice."
"Load the gunpowder!"
"Load the small grenades!"
With practiced motions, the artillerymen poured black powder into the bases of the mortars, then inserted the small grenades—wooden casing first, Wooden Tube Delayed Fuze end down—into the barrels.
"Ready!"
"Fire!"