The Dashing King led troops to attack the Stone Gorge Pass. The Ming troops were defeated in the first battle, losing the camps. The rebel troops swarmed to the foot of the Pass. The Dashing King knew well that speed was the soldier’s assets. He would not be able to break through the Pass if the enemy’s Badaling relief troops were to arrive. So he ordered the rear troops to encamp and the front armies to attack the Pass. He personally led the middle troops to direct the front army.

The rebel troops set up ladders and, under supporting cannon fires, climbed up the walls with knives on hand. A general guided cannon fires with his sword. Ming Dynasty soldiers, fewer in numbers, fought back from the well-stuffed steep walls with ash vases and rolling timbers. The bold rebel forces lost their vigor of clean sweep. The two troops fought hard for hours into a stalemate. The Dashing King became worried. To prevent Badaling troops from making reinforcement, he secretly ordered the feign attack troops to exert all efforts to attack Badaling, making it impossible to divide forces to back up Stone Gorge Pass. Meanwhile, he ordered to halt attacking Stone Gorge Pass.

An hour later, the Dashing King saw the defenders losing their vigor on the walls and ordered the rear troops to push to the front the stone-flinging vehicles and imported cannons. Under his order, stones flung across the sky and all cannons fired. The defenders were unprepared on the walls and suffered from heavy damages in fighting back. When the cannons faded, the war drums were beaten for three times. The Dashing King, with sword in hand, took the lead to rush forward in a galloping horse. Full of mettle, the soldiers followed the example of the Dashing King and went all out in attacking the Pass. Two hours later, the remnants on the walls saw the game was up, and surrendered. The red sun sank westward, and the smoke of battle was not fully dissipated yet. The rebel soldiers climbed onto the walls, shouting in cheers to shake the valley.

Time slipped along fast. Now that hundreds of years have passed in a twinkling, the ancient roads of the Dashing King remained, but the Great Wall saw no beacon smoke anymore. The walls have decayed to fragments, and yet they retained the pride. Tourists might take the opportunity to pay their respect to the ancients in this tranquility.