Chapter 68: One General Succeeds, Ten Thousand Bones Wither

"Stop!"

"Everyone stop for me!"

Huang Renlong's angry cursing not only failed to have an effect but instead attracted a group of soldiers whose eyes were red with killing.

If it weren't for the personal guards around him fighting desperately to cover his withdrawal, he might have been trapped in the chaotic army.

The rebel army was a temporarily assembled team, and the soldiers didn't even recognize him as the Regional Commander.

Of course, if they really all recognized him, it's estimated that even leaving alive would be difficult.

Except for a few soldiers who were truly willing to follow the rebellion, more soldiers were coerced into it.

To cut off the soldiers' retreat, they not only took away their food but also burned down their houses.

In the eyes of many soldiers, Huang Renlong was not only the Regional Commander of the army but also the enemy who destroyed their homes.

Human flesh was just the fuse; the chaos in the camp was essentially a concentrated outbreak of internal contradictions within the rebel army.

"Big Brother, the army is in a mess, and the situation is beyond saving.

Besides, the granary has been burned; even if we can quell the chaos, we can't conjure up food.

If there is no food, those allies will tear us apart.

Taking advantage of them not reacting, if we leave now, it's still in time!"

Huang Renliang advised vigorously.

They were originally a group of private salt peddlers; participating in the rebellion initially was just to make a profit in the chaos.

All their ambition and lofty aspirations were instilled by Zong Guangtai during the process of rebellion.

When encountering difficulties, the way to solve problems was also the thinking of private salt peddlers.

"Leave, but where to?

Taking a group of remnants and defeated soldiers, either be annexed by other rebel armies or be wiped out by the imperial court.

Regardless of the situation, you and I, brothers, will find it hard to escape death!"

Huang Renlong said with a bitter smile.

If he could do the first day, others could do the fifteenth.

Earlier, when he annexed other rebel armies, for the sake of the team's stability, he liked to eliminate the leaders.

Judging others by himself, he simply didn't dare to defect to other rebel armies.

"First return to Taizhou; there is still an army of ten thousand left behind there.

Then gather some more scattered soldiers, and we will still be a rebel army.

Later, don't touch big cities like Yangzhou; pick small places to attack and slowly restore strength.

It's all the fault of that bastard surnamed Zong; if it weren't for his messy ideas, we wouldn't have fallen into this awkward predicament!"

Huang Renliang said indignantly, shifting the blame.

With such a big change, the rebel army also needed to give an account.

Their brothers didn't want to take responsibility, so they could only throw the black pot to the strategist Zong Guangtai.

Moreover, this wasn't wronging him; if Zong Guangtai had planned more meticulously or spoken up to dissuade them, there wouldn't have been tonight's tragedy.

"Hmph!"

"That bastard Zong Guangtai is just a useless person with a false reputation; if it weren't for the Zong family being the main culprits of the rebellion, I would suspect he was a person from the imperial court.

If it weren't for this kid running fast, I would have skinned him alive!"

Amidst the cursing, the Huang brothers took a group of trusted aides and embarked on the path of escape.

Without the Regional Commander's intervention, the chaos in the camp began to spread in all directions, and several rebel armies in the surrounding area were also implicated.

For a time, the sounds of shouting and screaming soared into the sky, clearly visible even in Yangzhou City.

On the city gate tower.

Watching the fire rising from the rebel camp and listening to the movement coming from the opposite side, Li Mu's tense nerves slowly relaxed.

Tonight's sneak attack was likely a success.

Now it depended on whether the team could successfully withdraw.

One general succeeds, ten thousand bones wither.

It sounds easy to say, but when it comes to doing it, it's still very difficult to remain calm.

"Battalion Commander, Squad Leader Zhou has brought people back."

Hearing this good news, Li Mu's hanging heart dropped.

"Notify the kitchen to prepare a victory banquet immediately."

After speaking, he got up directly to welcome these meritorious officials.

Looking at the soldiers returning one by one, Li Mu began to count in his heart. Of the five hundred people who set out, fewer than two hundred returned now.

The rest either died in the night raid or were separated from the team during the withdrawal, lost in the chaotic army.

Whether they could return later depended entirely on luck.

"Battalion Commander, this subordinate did not fail the mission and successfully burned the rebel granary!"

Zhou Chuanfa said excitedly.

Don't look at the stories of "robbing the grain route" and "burning the granary" that often appear in plays; in reality, there are very few successful real-life cases.

Anyone with a little common sense knows the importance of grain and fodder.

To ensure the safety of grain and fodder, besides heavy guards, some fake granaries are usually established to deliberately confuse the enemy.

Li Mu sent the death squad for a night raid mainly to create greater chaos for the enemy and let the rebels kill each other.

"Burning the granary" was the highest expected goal, not a mandatory task.

In the pitch black, it was difficult to even find the enemy's granary in the rebel camp.

"Quick, tell me, how did you do it?"

Li Mu asked with pleasant surprise.

Creating chaos for the rebels could only reduce the pressure of defending the city. But once the enemy's granary was burned, the siege of Yangzhou would be directly lifted.

"Battalion Commander, when we went over, the rebels were in chaos, and the camp was very loosely guarded.

We grabbed a scholar who wanted to escape; this scholar knew the situation in the rebel camp very well.

Under the guidance of this scholar, we successfully mixed in, touched right up to the enemy granary, and then, hehe..."

After listening to Zhou Chuanfa's explanation, the generals present were stunned.

Touching right up to the granary, this was too legendary.

No wonder the sneak attack could succeed; the rebel soldiers guarding the granary could never have dreamed that they could be attacked by the enemy inside their own camp.

Calculating against the unprepared, by the time they discovered it, the fire had already been lit.

If nearby troops had come to rescue, the granary could still have been saved.

But the rebel army had internal problems, with people deliberately causing trouble inside, missing the best rescue time.

As the commander, Li Mu thought of more things.

First the accident in the rebel artillery camp, now the accident in the rebel camp; with two accidents superimposed, it was no longer an accident.

The rebel army was of mixed quality, and its internal organizational structure was very chaotic, making it impossible to verify the identity of every soldier.

Mixing in a few people from the imperial court was simply too normal.

Gentry who were loyal to the imperial court, imperial soldiers who were coerced into it, or spies planted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, could all be people helping them.

Who exactly helped, could only be investigated slowly; in any case, the credit was in hand.

"En, very good!

Officer Zhou, you have made a great contribution this time; just prepare for promotion!

All participating officers and soldiers will be heavily rewarded.

Besides the originally promised reward silver, I will also fight for you all; just wait for the good news!

The victory banquet is already prepared; Battalion Commander Deng, you first entertain these meritorious officials for me.

The Regional Military Commissioner is very concerned about the results of the night raid; I must go and report first!"

Knowing what everyone wanted, Li Mu didn't talk nonsense and directly gave everyone a reassurance.

Since the night raid was a great success, it was time to solve the problem of acting first and reporting later.

Sending troops without authorization, hiding it from superiors, was a major taboo in officialdom.

Such things could be done, but absolutely could not be said out loud.

It must be done before the news spread, first handling the Marquis of Wuyang, and solidifying this legendary military achievement.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 69 =====