Chapter 208

Late at night, sobbing sounds echoed in the refugee camp.

Having been forced to leave Guilin, they had not only lost all their property but also their livelihoods.

The imperial court's relief was limited to keeping them alive; their standard of living was far from what it had been before.

Thinking of their lost homes and their uncertain future, tears fell uncontrollably from many people's eyes.

"Big Brother, the situation is looking bad!

These people in the camp now only know how to cry; they are not cut out for big things.

Plus, the imperial army is on high alert and has separated all the refugee camps. Even if we mobilize, it will be hard to form a concerted effort in a short time.

With manpower unable to gather, wanting to use the refugees as cover to storm the imperial army's camp is likely impossible."

Zheng Zhou Lao Liu said, filled with worry.

From the moment he accepted this miserable task, he had felt lost about his own future.

A night raid on an enemy camp—if it were so easy to succeed, it wouldn't be so highly regarded in military terms.

Things the main force in the army couldn't do—expecting them, these fringe figures of the sect, to lead a group of refugees to storm the imperial army's camp empty-handed was clearly using them as cannon fodder.

"That is only natural!

The higher-ups have promised a marquisate; if it were easy to do, how could such a great merit fall to us?

But no matter how difficult, we must complete the mission.

The families of those participating in this operation are being held by those bastards; if we don't execute the orders, neither your wife and children nor mine will survive."

Zheng Laoda said helplessly.

He was already over fifty, with children and grandchildren filling his house, which in Great Dayu was considered a ripe old age.

If he could live a few more years and reach sixty, he would be eligible for the imperial court's preferential treatment.

However, a Bai Lian rebellion had ruined all of that.

Deep down, he was filled with regret. If he had known joining the Bai Lian Sect was so miserable, he wouldn't have dared to believe in any Unborn Venerable Mother.

One careless move, and the whole game is lost.

Having reached this point, it was no longer up to him to choose. Even if he could harden his heart to abandon his wife and children, it didn't mean others could.

As long as someone took action, the imperial army could follow the clues and find them one by one.

Zheng Laoda did not believe that all believers were loyal souls who could face death without blinking under the enemy's torture.

"Big Brother, it's not that I'm afraid of death. It's just that being forced to go to our deaths is truly too stifling.

Besides, even if we execute the mission as agreed, I'm afraid those masters in the Holy Kingdom won't let your family or mine go.

They are able to hold high positions because they are ruthless; they will absolutely not leave any hidden dangers for themselves."

Zheng Zhou Lao Liu said indignantly.

He knew nothing of state affairs, but small people have their own wisdom.

They were being forced to go to their deaths; once they died here, how could their descendants not harbor resentment toward the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom?

The resentment of small people is worthless; even if they are unhappy, they can only bottle it up.

But the Holy Kingdom's high command would not think so; to solve the problem once and for all, they would choose to cut the weeds and dig up the roots.

"Old Six, sometimes knowing too much is not a good thing.

Understanding nothing and dying in a daze—at least there is still a solace in one's heart."

Zheng Laoda said bitterly.

Having lived for more than half a lifetime, he had seen too much blood and carnage.

The Bai Lian Holy Kingdom was never a paradise of kingly rule. The internal infighting was even worse than in the Great Dayu bureaucracy.

Small people like them, in the eyes of the big shots above, were just pawns that could be discarded at any time.

"Kill..."

Hearing the shouts of battle, the two, whose resolve had been shaken, suddenly became hesitant.

Should they participate in this suicide mission?

This was a difficult dilemma.

Just as Zheng Laoda made up his mind, the shouts of battle in his ears suddenly stopped.

"Everyone rest peacefully in your positions; anyone moving without authorization—will be killed!"

The murderous command ended the chaos.

Except for a string of heads added to the camp's flagpole, it was as if nothing had happened.

The Zheng brothers, who had reacted a step too slowly, saw the courage they had finally mustered suddenly deflate.

The defeat had been too fast; the patrolling imperial soldiers had suppressed the chaos without any effort.

Even if they added the two of them, the outcome would not change in the slightest.

"Big Brother..."

"Don't say anything more, let's sleep!"

Before Zheng Zhou Lao Liu could finish, Zheng Laoda spoke first.

Having traveled north and south for half a lifetime, he wasn't just wasting his time.

From the beginning, he felt this mission was wrong, as if they were being driven to their deaths; now, he understood it all.

The imperial army receiving so many refugees couldn't possibly not screen them. It would absolutely not be easy for their people to successfully infiltrate.

Rather than being suspected and targeted by the enemy, it was better to arrange a wave of cannon fodder to die and divert the imperial army's attention.

The chaos that just erupted, besides a few insiders participating, was mostly ordinary people who had been duped.

Regardless of the reason, as long as they participated in the riot, the imperial court would certainly launch an investigation around them.

The government's power is not infinite; the more time they spent on these people, the safer the other secretly hidden people would be.

As a professional rebel organization, the Bai Lian Sect had been able to pass down through the ages because they put great effort into hiding their identities.

……

The next day, early morning.

Learning of the incident in the refugee camp last night, everyone was both shocked and angry.

The rebel army had no bottom line; for their own interests, they would dare to do anything.

The original sympathy for the refugees had now turned into suspicion and doubt.

Just a few rebel agents were enough to incite thousands to participate in a riot. This was enough to prove that after being brainwashed by the rebel army, these people's sense of belonging to the imperial court had significantly decreased.

Under normal circumstances, if someone incited a rebellion, those around them would have long since arrested them and sent them to the government office to claim a reward.

"Rebellious subjects and traitors!

They are truly not to be trusted; we..."

Zhang Sihan was the first to start cursing.

To provide relief to the refugees, he had been busy running around. The result was not gratitude, but a riot.

If possible, he would have loved to dump this mess and leave immediately.

But rationality ultimately prevailed.

The chaos before them was entirely orchestrated by the rebel army. If they really did that, it would be playing right into the enemy's hands.

"Governor, calm your anger!

The rebels doing this just proves they are at their wit's end.

History will give a fair evaluation; the rebels inciting refugees to riot will be forever ridiculed by the world.

We should meet all changes with constancy and wait for the rebel army to make a mistake."

Li Mu spoke up to advise him.

Whether history is fair depends entirely on who holds the pen.

Now that the world belongs to Great Dayu, when recording this history, the historians would naturally give a fair and objective evaluation.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Bai Lian rebel army, as the villains, would be branded with all sorts of heinous crimes.

"Many thanks to Commander Li for the reminder; I know what to do.

The disaster relief operation will not undergo any changes; everything will proceed according to the previous plan.

However, the rebels who have infiltrated the refugee camp must also be found. If they are not resolved, I will not be able to eat or sleep in peace!"

Zhang Sihan said, feigning composure, as if it weren't he who had lost his composure just moments ago.

The skillful face-changing technique let Li Mu see what it meant to be a professional. Whether it was a genuine outburst or a deliberate performance, he simply couldn't tell.

Fortunately, he was a military general and not on the same path as the civil officials. Otherwise, just learning this face-changing skill would be enough to make one collapse.

"The two of you should not waste time on these trivial matters; calculating by time, the rebels' Western Expedition Army should have entered the Guilin region by now.

But the scouts we sent out have not received any news of the enemy's tracks.

There must be a conspiracy behind this!"

Jia Bo then changed the subject.

In his view, the little chaos in the refugee camp was not worth mentioning at all.

Let alone a riot of a thousand people, even if the refugees rioted collectively, it wouldn't be a big deal.

If they were really all rebels, dealing with them would be even simpler.

Since ancient times, suppressing rebellions has never lacked slaughter.

They were considered restrained.

From the time they sent troops to Guangxi until now, there had been countless battles, large and small. No matter what happened during that time, they had never engaged in a massacre.

If someone else had come, Guangxi would have long since been turned into a river of blood.

The imperial court was already short of money, and spending a large amount of money and grain on refugee relief was, in the eyes of many officials, a complete waste of the court's resources.

To these masters, rebels should be suppressed ruthlessly. The more ruthlessly they were killed, the more awe they would inspire.

"From the moment we besieged Guilin, there were not many choices left for the enemy.

They either return to reinforce Guilin immediately or take a detour directly to Huguang to rendezvous with the Northern Expedition Army there.

Since the enemy army hasn't come, they must have gone to Huguang to rendezvous.

The Huguang front line is too far from us, and we cannot reach it now.

Just send someone to tell the Grand Secretary to let the Huguang side strengthen their defenses; we will continue to attack Guilin."

Jing Yifeng answered calmly.

It was all common sense, and there was no need to think about it at all.

The larger the military operation, the harder it is to conceal. As long as the rebels' Western Army moved, they could only play with their cards face up.

For an army of over two hundred thousand to move quietly was impossible in the age of cold weapons.

Even mobilizing just tens of thousands of troops is hard to keep secret. The upper limit for a general surprise attack is at most a few thousand.

Everyone looked at the Great Dayu map hanging on the wall; for a time, the command center was deathly quiet.

The rebel Western Expedition Army didn't come to Guilin but instead ran to the Huguang battlefield; the military pressure the Huguang side would have to bear next would be great.

Even if the rebel army was filled with a large number of rabble, that was still an army of over two hundred thousand.

Even if they did nothing, just placing them there was enough to scare people.

A slight carelessness, and the great situation on the Huguang front would be ruined.

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact.

Once it reached that point, no one's days would be easy.

Once Huguang was turned into ruins, the direction of the imperial court's resource investment would change. They would have to find a way to solve the mess in Guangxi themselves.

"Commander Li, can we capture Guilin as soon as possible?"

Jia Bo asked with concern.

If the Huguang front collapsed, Xu Wenyue, as the person in charge of the suppression, would certainly have to bear the responsibility.

Given his status and position, while he might not lose his head, being forced to resign and return home in disgrace would be unavoidable.

Mixing in the Great Dayu bureaucracy, once the backer in the court fell, subsequent development would become extremely difficult.

Whether considering the overall situation or from a personal standpoint, he had to find a way to stabilize the Huguang front.

The most hopeful thing to do in the short term, and the most morale-boosting, would be to capture the rebel capital—Guilin.

"The rebel army built Guilin as their capital; after occupying the city, they repaired and reinforced the walls.

There are also tens of thousands of troops stationed in the city, filled with a large number of fanatics whose fighting will is far stronger than an ordinary army.

We can try to attack, but when the city can be broken, no one knows."

Li Mu answered steadily.

The battlefield is not a place to show off; every word spoken as a commander requires responsibility.

Rashly promising to break the city quickly, only to fail to complete the mission on time, would be a tragedy.

Throughout history, there have been countless generals who were ruined by their own arrogance.

"Do your best!

For the sake of the overall situation, we must recover Guilin and pacify Guangxi as soon as possible, then send troops to Huguang to deal a heavy blow to the rebel army!"

Jia Bo said with a firm tone.

This was his bottom line.

Regardless of whether they could capture Guilin quickly, they had to try.

On the issue of maintaining Great Dayu's rule, everyone's stance was consistent, so they naturally would not object.

……

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The roaring sound of artillery fire signaled the start of the Guilin siege. A large number of shells poured down on the rebel army's heads like a torrential rain.

The heavy artillery just transported from the rear became the main force on the battlefield. Solid shot after solid shot was fired from the barrels, striking the city walls heavily.

The violent shaking caused by the impacts made the city walls tremble.

"Artillery, counterattack!"

Shi Qichuan, the Marquis of Gui responsible for defending the city, hurriedly issued the counterattack order.

Deep down, he was already panicking. The imperial army's siege mode was completely different from what he had imagined.

The enemy started bombarding wildly the moment they attacked, and the standard siege defense equipment was of no use at all.

With a loud "boom," a cannon suddenly exploded, taking out several artillerymen responsible for operating it.

"What happened?"

Shi Qichuan asked angrily.

Unlike other units, the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom's artillery training was mainly simulated; there were too few opportunities for live-fire practice.

The cannons on the city walls were almost all antiques. Some of the aging cannons were left over from the previous dynasty, older than his eighteenth-generation ancestors.

"Marquis, the artillerymen operating it were too nervous just now and filled it with slightly too much ammunition, causing the cannon to explode."

Hearing this answer, Shi Qichuan's already ugly face became even gloomier.

"Tell the artillerymen to operate strictly according to regulations, and the cannons will not have accidents."

Shi Qichuan said, trying to soothe them.

The Bai Lian Holy Kingdom's artillerymen mainly came from the incorporated garrison artillery. These units usually struggled just to fill their stomachs, so one could imagine their military training.

Even after joining the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom, their situation had improved, but the bad habits formed by the old soldiers were not so easily corrected.

(End of Chapter)