Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 382: The Jurchens Become Bandits Again

"Brother, do you think we can still defend Yidu Prefecture?"

On the top of the Yidu city wall, Kong Damu's confidant asked in a low voice.

Kong Damu could only smile bitterly when he heard this.

It was already November 23rd, the last day of the deadline given by Wei Sheng, and the situation in Yidu City had become completely chaotic.

After all, the Jurchens held a dominant position in the Jin Dynasty. When they gave an order and decided to do something, countless people in important positions would take action.

Therefore, the Yidu city was literally in chaos at this time, with fires rising from all directions. Kong Damu had no choice but to send his trusted troops, who were already scarce, to quell the rebellion.

However, the ones who caused the rebellion were either this nobleman or that county magistrate, all of them were Jurchens, and the ordinary Han army did not dare to deal with them at all.

At this moment, the scouts outside the city also reported back that nearly two thousand cavalrymen had gathered from a dozen Meng'an Mouke households and marched towards Yidu City in a swagger. They also told the scouts that they would assist Kong Damu in defending the city.

On the other side, the Wucheng Army and the Dongping Army, which had been stationed in Weizhou and Linqu, also began to attack Yidu City.

The situation deteriorated so quickly that Kong Damu was unable to control it for a while.

After all, he was just a Han Chinese in the Jin Dynasty's official system.

Soon, Kong Damu's confidants could no longer hold on and came to Kong Damu to seek countermeasures, allowing the situation in Yidu City to become more and more chaotic.

"We can't hold it," someone said angrily. "Besides, the Jurchens themselves want to surrender Yidu City. Why should we Han people risk our lives for the Jin Kingdom? Commander, Yidu City is now yours. Take us with you to join the Loyal Army!"

"Yes!"

"Let's rebel too!"

Kong Damu's face looked ashen.

He knew that it was not that these more than a thousand Han soldiers were disloyal. In fact, the fact that they were still trying to persuade him to turn against the enemy instead of directly tying him up meant that none of his trusted subordinates betrayed him, Kong Damu.
This situation was not only caused by the current situation, but also by the Jin Dynasty's perverse actions in Shandong for decades.

Kong Damu was not particularly loyal to the Jin Dynasty, at least not to the extent of being willing to die for it. However, he rose from an ordinary captain to the position of governor of a prefecture, all thanks to Wanyan Bendu's recognition and favor, and he had to repay him.

"Go, join the Loyal Army." Kong Damu waved his hands feebly. Seeing that some people wanted to persuade him again, he said again: "You are a bunch of ignorant people. I will show you a clear way. From now on, guard the city gates strictly and do not hold back. Anyone who dares to rebel will be killed. Do not let those Jurchens in. Especially protect the warehouse city and the armory. If you can hand over Yidu City intact to the Loyal Army, you may still have a future. When the time comes, I will leave my family in your hands."

As he spoke, Kong Damu bowed deeply, and several of his confidants hurried forward to support him in panic.

At this moment, someone beside Kong Damu shouted, "Didn't you hear the commander's order? This isn't just about the future of our brothers, it's also about the safety of our families and the lives of the people of this city. Hurry and do it!"

Driven away by this man, the others finally left, either sighing or stamping their feet.

However, the person who had just spoken was still standing beside Kong Damu.

Kong Damu asked in surprise: "Hu Er, why don't you leave?"

Hu Er grinned. "Qian Xia, don't you always praise me for being a meticulous person? I'm different from those idiots. They only think that Qian Xia will retire or return to the court, but I know that Qian Xia intends to die to repay the Duke of Chu for his kindness."

Kong Damu shook his head and laughed: "So you want to persuade me?"

Hu Er also shook his head: "I am a fatherless, motherless, childless rascal. If it weren't for the support of the imperial guard, I would have died in some sewer by now. I also want to repay the imperial guard for his kindness."

Kong Damu knew Hu Er's temper, opened his mouth, but ultimately did not try to persuade him.

The two wanted to continue talking, but were interrupted by a sudden scream from under their feet.

The Han army's reckoning with the Jurchens began. The first to be killed were the Jurchens guarding the city gates. They had originally planned to respond to the Meng'an and Mouke households outside the city and open the gates to surrender, but they had not expected the Han army, who had just been cowering, to suddenly strike back. Caught off guard, almost no Jurchens escaped and were chopped into pieces.

Afterwards, a thousand Han soldiers called on their friends, guarded the city gate, armory, and warehouse, and began a bloody massacre of the Jurchens in the city.

When the Jurchens just started to rebel, the Jurchens were the kings and the Han army was the subjects, so the Han army had no way to deal with these Jurchens.

However, now the Han army is a righteous army, and the Jurchens are invading Hu people. The status of the two sides is instantly reversed. The Han army no longer cares and directly raises the butcher knife.

At this time, the Jurchens in Yidu City were not top officials or dignitaries. The nobles who really had private soldiers had already fled. Therefore, when facing the Han army, they had no ability to fight back at all. In a blink of an eye, several large houses were razed to the ground.

Kong Damu had long forgotten about the matter. He opened the city gate and rode a horse with Hu Er, fully armed and holding bows and spears. They crossed the moat and came to the narrowest part of the official road.

After just a short wait, just as the "golden" flag was being pulled down from the city wall and replaced with a hastily made loyalty flag, smoke and dust billowed from the north, and it seemed as if a thousand cavalrymen were rushing towards them.

It turned out that the Meng'an Mouke households arrived first.

Kong Damu held the spear, shook his head and laughed, then he looked up to the sky and laughed out loud.

Hu Er asked in a playful manner, "Why is the commander laughing?"

Kong Damu wiped away tears of laughter and pointed his spear at the charging Jurchen cavalry. "In the end, it was the Jurchens who wanted to seize Yidu Prefecture and offer it to the Han people, while it was you and me who risked our lives to defend the Shandong Military Command of the Great Jin Mountain and even died for it. Isn't that funny?"

Hu Er also laughed so hard that he fell backwards and backwards, and had to hold on to the saddle to avoid falling off the horse.

Amidst the laughter of the two men, the Jurchen cavalry drew closer. One man emerged from the crowd and, about thirty paces from Kong Damu, reined in his horse and said, "Kong Damu, are you here to surrender?"

Kong Damu glanced at the man, without any intention of paying any attention to him. He just turned back to Hu Er and said, "It's hard for you. In order to preserve my reputation of loyalty and righteousness, for my own selfish reasons, I actually killed you."

Hu Er shook his head: "I said before, it's to repay the kindness of the emperor, and besides..."

At this point, Hu Erfu laughed again. "Besides, if anyone still remembers you and me a thousand years from now, they'll remember us as lackeys who worked for the Hu people. How could we have the reputation of being loyal and righteous? The reputation of loyalty and righteousness belongs to the Loyal and Righteous Army."

Kong Damu nodded. "What you said does make sense, but a true man born into this world should do what he should do and not do what he shouldn't do. When the world is in turmoil, one should act according to one's heart. That's all."

Hu Er nodded heavily: "What the commander said is exactly what I was thinking."

Seeing Kong Damu ignoring her, the Jurchen who had challenged her started yelling again, "Kong Damu, you are such a pervert, you deserve to die today! Hurry up... uh..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Hu Er, who had long felt that this person was noisy, drew his bow and shot an arrow through his throat. The Jurchen woman who had challenged him immediately fell off her horse, holding her throat.

"Charge!" Kong Damu said nothing more, raised his spear, and rushed forward.

Hu Er remained silent and shot arrows at the Jurchens in a continuous manner.

The Jurchen cavalry was only slightly panicked, then quickly gathered together and swarmed forward.

Two Han people loyal to the Jin Dynasty fought head-on with more than a thousand Jurchens who rebelled against the Jin Dynasty.

Even though Kong Damu and Hu Er were highly skilled in martial arts and fully equipped with armor, they were ultimately outnumbered. After slaughtering seven or eight Jurchens head-on, their horses quickly collapsed under the hail of arrows.

The two men staggered to their feet. The Jurchens did not dare to advance to fight, but only dared to circle around and shoot with bows and arrows. In just a moment, Kong Damu and Hu Er were drowned in the arrows.

Ironically, the last two loyal ministers of the Shandong Military Command of the Jin Dynasty died under the arrows of the Jurchens.

(End of this chapter)