Chapter 522

First Volume, Chapter 522: Seizing Military Command

Meanwhile, at the mountain waist's suppression camp, the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive; the entire encampment lay silent, as if everyone had lost all vitality.

No one remembered how many assaults had been launched since the Tianji Camp Guards retreated to Qingyu Mountain, or how many men had died.

This lopsided battle had drained all the soldiers' spirit, transforming their initial rage into despair, then into pure numbness.

Inside the ying zhang, Xu Qian likewise pressed his forehead, his will crushed, his eyes filled with despair and confusion.

He didn't understand—there were only two hundred men on the mountain; why, despite exhausting every tactic, could he not break through?

Even if the enemy were elite soldiers and fierce generals, facing relentless, furious assaults, they should have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

Xu Qian, who once held absolute confidence of victory, grew increasingly lost.

His troops had suffered heavy casualties, morale had shattered completely, and they could no longer form any effective combat effectiveness; forcing further attacks would only mean suicide.

Must he really continue drawing troops from every county city?

"Your Excellency, after this battle, the enemy must also have suffered heavy losses; the fire on the Shan Po has already died out—we must launch an immediate assault and grant the enemy no chance to recover," Liu Qing bowed and urged.

For Liu Qing, the soldiers' deaths meant nothing; as long as he could slaughter every enemy on the mountain, even if he killed a thousand and lost eight hundred, or even ten thousand, he would welcome it gladly.

How could the worthless lives of these common soldiers compare to his own political future?

Xu Qian hesitated—if he abandoned the assault, the enemy would regain breath; if he pressed on, his concern was not whether he could capture the enemy, but whether a mutiny would erupt.

Since the mountain assault began, mutinies had grown increasingly frequent; initially, the Supervisor of the Army could suppress them, but now even many Supervisors had defected.

Just as Xu Qian wrestled with this dilemma, a dozen figures appeared at the rear camp at Mountain Foot.

The guards stationed at the camp noticed the intruders approaching, but they abandoned their alarm—the men were all veterans of the Xiongying Brigade.

"You're not up the mountain hunting bandits—why are you down here?" the guard asked, baffled.

The Xiongying Brigade veterans advanced, answering casually: "The Frontline assault has failed; the Supervisor ordered us to seek out General Chen for tactics to defeat the enemy."

Hearing this, the guard burst into laughter: "Didn't your superior order brutal torture for General Chen? Why the sudden change of heart? General Chen hates him too much to ever lend a hand."

Learning of Chen Ping's inhuman treatment, several Xiongying veterans' eyes instantly blazed with fury; as they closed in, they drew their swords and slashed down with gritted teeth.

Before the guard could react, his head fell to the ground; as the bronze gong clattered down, the remaining guards panicked, scrambling to grab it—only to be speared to death by the veterans' chaotic lances.

After killing the guards, the Xiongying veterans stormed into the ying zhang and found Chen Ping curled on the ground, hands and feet bound with rope, his body covered in countless wounds; the once-heroic general, who had won countless battles and towered over rivals, now looked like a withered old man, spirit broken.

"General!"

The veterans rushed forward, catching Chen Ping in their arms, their eyes filled with fury and grief: "That bastard Xu Qian, to silence the General, resorted to such vile cruelty!"

"General, you fought for Great Di, slew countless enemy commanders—yet you've been betrayed by treacherous ministers and reduced to this! How infuriating! If Great Di is ruled by traitors, what worth is there in our lives to defend it?"

Chen Ping slowly came to, looking at the righteous fury of his comrades, weakly asking: "How did you get here?"

The veteran clenched his teeth, not hiding: "The Beixi County Jin Yi Wei secretly contacted us, saying you were suffering in the rear camp—we left the Frontline Camp. Seeing you like this, we're heartbroken and burning with rage!"

Learning his comrades had allied with the Jin Yi Wei, Chen Ping's eyes widened in disbelief: "The Jin Yi Wei are elite imperial spies trained by Qin Feng—each possesses extraordinary skills and ruthless hearts. If your superiors find out you've allied with them, you'll all be executed!"

The veteran shrugged: "So what? The Jin Yi Wei may be enemies, but they're better than that dog Xu Qian! General, since your arrest, our army has lost seven or eight thousand men—and Xu Qian doesn't care about his soldiers' lives. He knows morale has collapsed, yet still orders the Supervisors to force men to charge to their deaths."

"Our Xiongying Brigade had three thousand men—we're down to five hundred!"

"General, if you give the order, we'll immediately reunite with the rest of our comrades and kill Xu Qian, that dog!"

Chen Ping hesitated; though unjustly framed, he was a Chen Family scion, raised with unwavering loyalty to the state—turning traitor now would make him a rebel. Even in death, he refused to bear the shame of treason and bring dishonor to the Chen Family.

At that moment, footsteps sounded outside the ying zhang.

Then the Jin Yi Wei pulled back the curtain and entered.

Chen Ping's listless eyes suddenly turned fierce: "Comrades, allying with the Jin Yi Wei is like making a pact with a tiger. If you still consider me your brother, kill this Jin Yi Wei now!"

The veterans exchanged glances—if not for the Jin Yi Wei's secret contact, they'd never have known of Chen Ping's suffering; now to repay kindness with murder was unthinkable.

Facing Chen Ping's furious command, the Jin Yi Wei remained calm: "General Chen, Xu Qian's madness exceeds your imagination—he even dared kill your prized spy, Ye Xiao. Chen Si has issued a written order for you to execute Xu Qian and reclaim military command; Chen Si will bear full responsibility."

"Ye Xiao was ambushed and killed by Xu Qian's men before reaching Qingyu Mountain."

As he spoke, the Jin Yi Wei pulled a xuelang lv command scroll from his sleeve and tossed it before Chen Ping: "I've killed Xu Qian's men—this is Chen Si's order. Judge for yourself whether it's real or fake."

The Jin Yi Wei left without looking back.

Chen Ping picked up the xuelang lv command scroll, glanced at it once, and recognized Chen Si's handwriting.

Chen Ping closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them—his gaze now sharp and resolute: "Contact the remaining comrades. Execute Xu Qian and his hounds!"

The Xiongying Brigade veterans had waited too long for this moment; they were ecstatic, turning swiftly to depart.

Only Chen Ping felt no joy, for all of this clearly had been arranged by the Jin Yi Wei—and… Chen Si's order explicitly named the Main General on Qingyu Mountain as Qin Feng of Beixi.