Fu Shanhe

Chapter 93 Breakout
Taizhou City.

From the third day of the offensive and defensive battle, the city became shaky.

The city walls, which had been in disrepair for a long time, collapsed in many places under the artillery fire of the government troops.

It was only thanks to the desperate efforts of the soldiers that the gap was barely blocked.

In order to stabilize the front, the supervisory teams were busy.

Every day, more than three digits of soldiers died at the hands of their own people.

When the situation developed to this point, everyone in the rebel army realized that the situation was not good.

Having noticed the change in their subordinates' minds, the Huang brothers, who had long wanted to escape, no longer had the will to stay.

“Brothers, Huang is incompetent and cannot lead you to defeat the government troops.

I feel ashamed of the trust that many of my brothers have placed in me, and I, Huang, would like to apologize to everyone here.

I think all of you brothers have realized that the fall of Taizhou is about to become a foregone conclusion.

Huang is unable to lead everyone to accomplish the great cause of overthrowing Dayu, nor will he force everyone to stay and be buried with the city of Taizhou.

These boxes in front of you are all filled with treasures.

These are all what we have gained in recent days.

We have never distributed it to everyone because we intended it to be our capital for fighting for the world and to lay a foundation for our descendants.

Now that the situation has changed, it seems that Dayu’s destiny is not over yet.

It is not advisable to go against the will of heaven. All the sins are on Mr. Huang and have nothing to do with you brothers.

These treasures will be distributed to everyone later, as a farewell gift to our brotherhood.

Take this money and leave Yangzhou, this sad place, and hide your identities!

If we use it sparingly, it should be enough for everyone to enjoy the rest of their lives, and it will be worth our lives as brothers.

At midnight, Huang will lead the team to break out and try to carve out a bloody path for the brothers.

Huang will not say any more unnecessary nonsense, let's drink the last bowl of wine together!"

Huang Renlong said with a tragic look on his face.

It was totally beyond his expectation that it would come to this.

The tragedy nowadays, apart from deceiving people into working for their lives, is more about the confusion about the future.

Others can hide their identities and start a new life in another place, but he, the leader of the rebels, cannot do that.

Even if the rebellion was quelled, the court would not stop hunting him down.

The local gentry also hated his existence.

There are too many people in the world who want to kill him, and he doesn't dare to fully trust anyone around him now.

"General, when a man dies, the birds fly up to the sky, and he will live forever.

Now that it has come to this, there is no point in talking about breaking up or not.

All under heaven belongs to the king. Even if you go out and hide your identity, where can you hide?

Don't forget that each of us has the blood of court officials on our hands, and they will not let us go.

From the time you raised the banner of rebellion until now, have you ever heard that the imperial court is willing to recruit you?
No matter what we do, the imperial court is going to kill us all, so we might as well just fight them.

If we can’t defend Taizhou, then we’ll move to another place to continue our rebellion.

Jiangnan, a land of plenty, is not suitable for rebellion, so let's go to the barren northwest.

Perhaps most of us brothers will die on the way, but as long as we brothers persevere, someone will definitely see the day when Dayu will be destroyed!"

A scarred man said proudly.

Unfortunately, such a performance is destined to be in vain.

If lost confidence could be restored with just a few words, there would be no such term as "military morale disintegration" in the world.

Even if they didn't care about the current situation, everyone knew that the massive Lianghuai Uprising was nearing its end.

The rebel forces in various places were brutally suppressed, and their remaining troops alone were completely powerless to turn the tide.

It is now late autumn and the climate no longer restricts the combat effectiveness of the government troops.

The rebel army had none of the advantages of time, place and people, so how could they overthrow the imperial rule?

Realizing that people's hearts could not be changed, Huang Renlong picked up the bowl and drank the wine, then threw the bowl to the ground.

After a "bang" sound, Huang Renlong gave a cold order: "Divide the money!"

As a rebel commander who has been afraid of poverty since childhood, if he has any choice, he will not give away the money he has earned.

But it’s different now. It’s impossible to escape smoothly with such a large amount of wealth.

Choosing to distribute the money to everyone is not only to win over the hearts of the people, but also to arrange scapegoats.

Having been engaged in the private salt business for more than ten years, he had dealt with the government troops countless times and knew very well that these people would not do anything without profit.

He was not a world-famous figure, and it was difficult for the government soldiers to recognize the real person at a glance based on the portrait on the wanted poster.

With a little makeup, you can pretend to be an ordinary soldier and escape.

It was impossible to distinguish who was the leader of the bandits or who had more money, and who would become the primary target of the government soldiers.

A person carrying a large amount of money may not be discovered, but when a group of people carry a large amount of money, they will definitely be exposed.

If the personal soldiers around him carried a large amount of treasures, they would easily be mistaken for the leaders of the rebel army by the government troops.

Even if the plan fails, it doesn’t matter. If you travel light, you can always run faster when you are escaping.

There were nearly 100,000 men, women, old and young in Taizhou city, and the government troops could not capture them all in a short time.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t outrun the soldiers, as long as you outrun your teammates.

……

At midnight.

"What's going on outside?"

Li Mu was awakened from his sleep and asked the guard hurriedly.

"Master Qianhu, the enemy troops have broken through!"

After receiving this news, Li Mu could no longer sleep.

"Pass the order down, inform all soldiers to prepare for battle!"

While giving the order, he stood up and put on his armor.

Although in this Taizhou attack and defense battle, he played the role of a spectator and a part-time reserve.

Under normal circumstances, he would not need to take any action without the military order from Marquis Wuyang.

His colleagues in charge of the siege were also unwilling for him to intervene in the battle.

But when you are on the battlefield, it is always better to be cautious.

It is better to prepare in advance and wait for the commander's order than to be asleep when the commander's order comes. Although Wuyang Hou seems to be easy to talk to, if he really delays the military operation, he will change his face in the blink of an eye.

The shouting and screaming became louder and louder. Judging from the noise outside, the friendly forces nearby were fighting with the rebels who had broken through.

"Wu Da Ge, please ask Mr. Zhou to come over. I have something to ask him."

When there was chaos outside, Li Mu suddenly remembered that there was someone in his camp who knew the rebels.

……

"Mr. Zhou, the commander invites you over!"

Hearing this name, Zong Guangtai, who had just been awakened, was shocked.

He has been restless since his last meeting with Li Mu.

His intuition told him that Li Mu had discovered the problem with his identity, but for some reason he did not expose it on the spot.

In the days that followed, the two did not meet again, but deep down Zong Guangtai became more and more frightened.

Someone who sees through the problem of his identity and does not choose to expose it on the spot must have other intentions.

He tried to escape several times, but the guards in the camp were too strict and he failed every time.

"Sir, I wonder why the captain called me over?"

Zong Guangtai asked doubtfully.

The days he spent in the camp were not spent in vain.

I still found out about Li Mu's background.

Although in the Dayu Dynasty, civil officials were valued and military officials were despised, that was only an overall trend. This rule did not apply entirely to individuals.

A military commander like Li Mu, who has a prominent background and holds real power, cannot be underestimated even if the clan is in its heyday.

Having fallen to this point, the only thing worth coveting is the wealth hidden outside by the clan.

Unfortunately, this wealth was scattered and hidden, and was kept by multiple people. Given his identity, he only knew about one of them.

It mainly consists of book collections. The gold, silver and jewelry inside are an astronomical figure for ordinary people, but it is nothing for wealthy families.

It’s not that the clan has no money, it’s mainly because they couldn’t foresee that they would encounter a catastrophic disaster so soon.

The family's wealth mainly exists in the form of industries and has not yet been transferred.

“If I tell you to go, then go quickly.

How would I know what the captain is thinking?

I call you Mr. Zhou because I am giving you face. You really think of yourself as a gentleman!"

Hearing the complaints of the soldiers outside, Zong Guangtai's courage, which he had finally mustered, suddenly dissipated.

There was no way, Li Mu didn't take him seriously.

Master Lan, who originally looked at him differently, decisively distanced himself from him after realizing that there might be problems with his identity.

With no one paying special attention to him, Zong Guangtai's position in the camp suddenly became awkward.

"The student will be there soon. Please lead the way, sir!"

Zong Guangtai said in panic.

People have to bow their heads under the eaves.

Even though he was once famous throughout the south of the Yangtze River, he is now just a prisoner.

If you anger the soldier in front of you, you might get beaten up.

In the past, I had experienced the fists of patrol soldiers because of my failed escape attempts.

He came to Li Mu with trepidation and was greeted by a pair of sharp eyes.

"Mr. Zhou, are you used to living in the camp recently?"

Hearing this familiar yet unfamiliar voice, Zong Guangtai suddenly lost his balance and almost fell to the ground.

It would be a miracle if one could get used to the life as a prisoner.

It can be said that all the suffering he had endured in his previous thirty years was not as much as what he had experienced in recent times.

Even in the rebel camp, Mr. Zong was so high and mighty that no one dared to provoke him.

"Thank you for your care, Master Qianhu. I am doing well!"

Zong Guangtai replied while suppressing the urge to complain.

Reason told him that there was no point in filing a complaint.

His miserable life in the camp would never have happened without the tacit consent of the person in front of him.

“Since Mr. Zhou is used to living here, there is no need to move for the time being.

The rebels are trying to break out. With your intelligence, I think you should be able to guess where Huang Renlong will go next.

If you can catch the culprit, you will have made up for your crime."

Li Mu said with a smile.

With the support of the Dayu Dynasty, a large amount of intelligence about the rebels has been collected in recent days.

Combining information from various sources, it is almost certain that the Mr. Zhou in front of us is the great talent who disappeared from the bandit camp.

He deliberately didn't reveal his identity because the moment it was revealed, it would be the end of the person in front of him.

As a second-generation descendant of the Dayu Dynasty, it was impossible for Li Mu to get involved with the rebels.

No matter how talented Zong Guangtai is, he must die once his identity is exposed.

It was simply a question of whether to execute him on the spot or hand him over to the court for execution.

"Sir, the rebel Huang Renlong is cunning by nature and has many hideouts.

The students don’t know where to escape to now.

However, students know a few secret locations and can provide them to adults!"

Zong Guangtai said through gritted teeth.

The Zong family was Huang Renlong's benefactor. If it weren't for their support, Huang Renlong would have been just a salt boiler and would never have had the glory he had later.

As a result, the younger brother whom they had helped to rise to power not only turned the tables on the clan, but also massacred the entire clan.

When he thought of his wife, children and the elderly, Zong Guangtai could no longer control his hatred for Huang Renlong.

Even if he cooperates with the court, he must kill this traitor.

"Bring me a pen, ink, paper and inkstone. Mr. Zhou, please write down the thief's secret hideout on paper!"

Li Mu said with a smile.

For some things, it's definitely better to prepare in advance.

If it is of no use, it is just a waste of ink and paper; if it is put to use, it will be a merit.

(End of this chapter)