Chapter 67: The Great Melee

Rebel camp.

As the news fermented, the chaos in the camp continued to expand.

Unlike previous rebellions driven to a dead end, this rebellion was triggered by the Lianghuai noble families, and the lives of the lower-class people were still manageable.

Having not experienced the miserable life of eating grass roots and gnawing on tree bark, nor the human tragedy of swapping children to eat, everyone's moral bottom line still existed.

With food in the camp, directly escalating to eating human flesh was simply unacceptable to everyone.

Explanations had no effect; everyone only believed what they saw.

Facing the enraged soldiers, Huang Renlong, as the Regional Commander, dared not show his face at this time.

Seeing the camp fall into chaos, Zong Guangtai, as the strategist, also had a massive headache.

He didn't know which god he had offended; since entering Yangzhou Prefecture, he had been having a streak of bad luck.

It was clearly an impeccable brilliant plan, completely in line with military strategy, but every time it was applied, something would go wrong.

"Mr. Zong, the General invites you over!"

Hearing this familiar voice, Zong Guangtai instantly realized the situation was bad.

He was only half-competent at fighting wars, but his skills in conspiracy and power struggles were not bad.

With such a thing happening, the most important thing to do was to quell internal conflicts as quickly as possible.

The longer it dragged on, the greater the harm caused.

Huang Renlong did not come forward to solve the problem but instead sent someone to invite him, the strategist; it felt like the sensation of Cao Cao borrowing a head.

Once this thought arose, it could no longer be shaken off.

"You go back and report; I'll change my clothes and come over!"

While stalling with his words, deep in his heart, Zong Guangtai had already developed the idea of running away.

It was true that the idea was his, but he had suggested stewing pork.

It turned into human flesh during the execution stage, which triggered the subsequent series of storms; why should he be held responsible?

In any case, the Huang fellow was not worth molding and was destined not to achieve great things; leaving early was the right path.

In a crisis, Zong Guangtai was also a decisive person.

After deciding to run, he didn't even care about packing his things.

Carrying some silver and a forged travel permit, he directly took two family death warriors and quietly left the tent.

When a person is having bad luck, even drinking cold water makes their teeth ache.

Just as he walked out of the camp, he heard two screams in his ears, and the two accompanying death warriors had already fallen into a pool of blood.

"Who is it, daring to kill my Zong..."

Before he could finish speaking, the blade held against his neck forced Zong Guangtai to swallow his anger.

"General, spare my life; I was captured by the rebels, I didn't want to join the rebels.

Seeing the rebel camp in chaos tonight, I seized the opportunity to come out, wanting to escape this devil's den!"

In a short time, he had fabricated a reasonable excuse; Zong Guangtai even admired his own wit.

"Cut the crap; if you want to live, show your value. Now I ask, you answer.

If you answer correctly, I'll take you back to claim credit.

If you answer incorrectly, I'll immediately behead you, scholar!"

While speaking, Zhou Chuanfa made a throat-slitting gesture, scaring Zong Guangtai into breaking out in a cold sweat.

When a scholar meets a soldier, reason cannot be explained, let alone when he had no reason.

As a scion of the Zong family, once falling into the hands of the imperial court, even if not subjected to death by a thousand cuts, it would be waist-chopping and public execution.

"General, whatever you want to know, just ask.

I am familiar with the rebel camp; I will definitely satisfy you!"

Zong Guangtai said uneasily.

How he would die later was a future matter; the top priority was to survive first.

The person in front of him had a capital accent, likely from the Wucheng Infantry Division.

Falling into the hands of the Wucheng Infantry Division was better than falling into the hands of the local government.

His name was famous in Jiangnan, but few people in the capital knew him.

Fabricating a new identity in these chaotic times could not be verified in a short time.

With the time difference, he would just act according to the situation later.

"First tell me, what happened in the rebel camp?"

Zhou Chuanfa asked with concern.

Along the way, they hadn't even encountered a single night-patrolling soldier.

In this bizarre situation, he even suspected this was an enemy conspiracy to lure them in.

"Replying to the General.

That damned rebel leader stewed over a hundred pots of human flesh today.

The aroma was too rich, and the soldiers below found out, so they are causing trouble."

Zong Guangtai said indignantly.

A perfectly good plan was ruined by a pig teammate, turning into its current state.

If it weren't for Huang Renlong trying to be clever and causing a huge mess, he wouldn't have needed to run away in the middle of the night, nor would he have fallen into the hands of the imperial army.

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was greatly shocked.

He originally thought it was a crime forced upon the rebels by their own battalion commander to appease military morale, but he never expected these rebels would actually dare to do it.

Being so insane as to not even spare the corpses of their own comrades, no wonder the soldiers couldn't take it.

"Take me to the rebel granary!"

Zhou Chuanfa said coldly.

Deep in his heart, Zong Guangtai refused.

Leaving the rebel army was a last resort, but that didn't mean he wanted to see the rebel army finished.

Once the granary was burned, the rebel army certainly wouldn't last long.

Without the rebel army stirring up the world, how could they overthrow the rule of the Great Dayu?

"General, the granary is a critical area, guarded very strictly by the rebels..."

"Don't worry, General, I'll take you there right now!"

The refusal didn't come out; his body's instinct made Zong Guangtai make a decision against his heart.

That gleaming, cold broadsword was simply too intimidating.

The rebel army had a complex origin, with people from all walks of life, including many recruited imperial soldiers.

The chaos in the camp created favorable conditions for the death squad to sneak in.

There were too many people coming and going, and it was impossible to tell which unit they belonged to.

It just so happened that the death squad was also temporarily assembled.

The team included both imperial soldiers and recruited militia, and their clothing was also varied.

Except for a stronger aura, there was no substantial difference in appearance.

When encountering someone asking for the password, Zong Guangtai would open his mouth to deal with it, and they actually fooled their way through along the way.

"General, this is where the granary is!"

Zong Guangtai pointed his finger at the camp in front.

"Very good, if this operation can succeed, I will record you for the top credit.

You two watch this gentleman; don't let him be harmed by the rebels!"

Zhou Chuanfa's words extinguished Zong Guangtai's thought of running away in the chaos.

The accompanying members spontaneously dispersed, approaching the granary location from all sides.

"The granary is a critical area, unauthorized personnel are forbidden from approach..."

Before the scolding was finished, they were met with a blade.

At almost the same time, the imperial soldiers participating in the raid launched attacks on the rebel soldiers guarding the granary.

"Enemy attack!"

When they realized this, the battle spread to the granary camp area.

The bonfires illuminating the surroundings became the best tools for burning the granary, and soon a raging fire ignited in the camp.

The sneak attack on the granary made the already chaotic rebel camp even more chaotic.

In the pitch-black environment, the lower-level soldiers were confused and had no idea what was happening.

Especially those friendly troops who came to visit from nearby; they hadn't figured out the situation before being treated as enemies.

Some who had grudges also jumped out to settle scores, making the situation even harder to control.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 68 =====