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

Chapter 441 Who is causing the chaos and who is pacifying it

"Are you having a seizure?" Ji Cheng, the commander of the Wucheng Army, looked at Zeng Ji with red eyes. "Or maybe you drank too much and finally ruined your brain?"

Just half a minute ago, Zeng Ji, drunk, broke into his camp and went straight into the general's tent. If he had not been surrounded by a dozen of Ji Cheng's personal guards in front and behind him, a fight might have broken out on the spot.

Even so, Ji Cheng managed to figure out what was going on after listening to Zeng Ji's confusing words.

However, Ji Cheng's first reaction was disbelief.

You said that Huyan Nanxian's people, the Zhongyi Army, and the Song State came to you together and made promises to the Wucheng Army as a whole.

You must have drunk too much and are hallucinating.

As a last resort, Zeng Ji quickly asked his personal soldiers to call Jin Wenyan, which made Ji Cheng believe that this was true.

But after Ji Cheng confirmed the truth, he became a little hesitant. He ignored Zeng Ji's objection and called the last commander Hu Yue over.

After Hu Yue found out what was going on, he became furious.

Opportunities are fleeting, so why hesitate now? Why don't you hurry back to Shandong?
Let alone the kindness of Su Baoheng and Su Shangshu, now Su Shangshu himself is in trouble. I heard that he was seriously injured in a battle with the Song navy a few days ago and is still unconscious!

Besides, why did Zhang Liang, who made the greatest contribution to the split of Wu Chengjun, commit suicide after the matter was settled?
Isn't it because if he follows Su Baoheng and becomes a villain in the political struggle, he will be immediately abandoned by everyone in Wu Chengjun? Look at Zhang Liang's subordinates, are there any who are clamoring for revenge?
The current situation is that all the members of Wucheng Army want to go home. If they force themselves to stay on the north bank of the Yangtze River, those who come to stir up the morale of the army again may target the captain level. What can the commander do then? With the public outcry, who can go against the tide?

Therefore, the three commanders immediately took action, secretly gathering their own personal soldiers and launching a surprise attack on the military supervisory camp in the center of the camp.

Su Baoheng naturally knew that Wu Cheng's army was unstable, so he left behind two Jurchen soldiers from Mouke as military supervisors, and reported to Su Baoheng if anything happened.

Now Su Baoheng was seriously injured and in a coma, and the Wanyan Zheng family was in a panic because of the river crossing. They had no time to take care of the huge mess of Wu Chengjun for a while, and the two Mouke military supervisors were almost useless.

Generally speaking, if there's a mutiny in the army, there's bound to be some rumors. Those involved can easily spot which units are acting out of character or are a bit overly nervous.

However, Zeng Ji and others made a decisive decision. From the time Jin Wenyan and Lu You entered the camp to the time Zeng Ji and the other two gathered their personal guards to launch a surprise attack, it took no more than an hour. Before the two Jurchen Mouks noticed anything, the camp gate was blocked by armored soldiers. Then, the soldiers with pills in their mouths dragged the Jurchen men out of their beds naked and tied them up tightly.

At this time, no matter how slow Xu Wen was, he discovered that a big change had occurred in the military camp. He quickly asked the military envoy to pass on the order and beat the drum to gather the generals.

A moment later, the camp was brightly lit, braziers and fires were lit, and the soldiers on night patrol, wearing armor, lined up at their respective positions to await the enemy. Under the command of the military flags, the troops from various units gathered towards their respective captains and commanders.

After hearing the report from his personal guards, Xu Wen mounted his horse and, while dispatching troops, headed towards the most chaotic military camp.

From beginning to end, Xu Wen did not see the three commanders arrive, nor did he even hear the three send military envoys to communicate military intelligence, but he knew that things were going to be bad.

In addition, commanders continued to gather along the way, and people kept whispering and disappearing into the night. In the end, although Xu Wen had nearly two hundred soldiers by his side, most of them were personal guards, and there were only a handful of commanders who came to follow him to quell the rebellion.

When he arrived at the Military Supervision Camp, Xu Wen was surprised to find that not only the three commanding officers and four deputy commanding officers, but also many commanders and team leaders had come to the gate of the Military Supervision Camp to welcome Xu Wen.

Among these Wucheng Army officers were nearly two hundred naked, shaved-headed Jurchen soldiers kneeling on the ground, tied up and shivering in the cold wind.

Xu Wen rode forward and shouted, "Who is causing trouble tonight?"

Under the accumulated pressure, not only the commanders and captains, but even the three commanding officers Zeng Ji, Hu Yue, and Ji Cheng were too dumb to speak.

Just as Xu Wen was about to unleash his might and rebuke his subordinates, someone shouted, "The ones causing the rebellion tonight were none other than the Jurchens. They've already been apprehended by the Wucheng Army. Chief Steward Xu, do you have anything else to say?"

Xu Wen glared angrily, but saw that under the bright or dim light of the fire, a scholar stood out from the crowd and came directly to a position three steps in front of Xu Wen, standing with his hands behind his back, confronting Xu Wen.

Although he was not wearing armor and was relatively thin, and looked not very tall next to the group of fierce warriors, his words were firm and his voice was loud, as if he had a mountain at his back, which made Xu Wen, who was riding high on the horse, feel breathless.

Xu Wen shouted, "Who are you?"

"I am Lu You, the military advisor of the Shandong Loyal Army and the magistrate of Haizhou!" The commanding officers and captains who did not know Lu You's identity were all shocked, and then they began to whisper to each other.

"Now your General Huyan has joined our Loyal Army and is leading the detached Wucheng Army back to your hometown to rescue your fellow villagers." Lu You shouted loudly. Although he kept his eyes on Xu Wen, he was actually speaking to all the lower-level officers: "And you are still wasting time here. Do you really not want to care about your fellow villagers?"

"Ridiculous!" Xu Wen shouted, "We are the Great Jin Heavenly Army. How can a Song Dynasty soldier like you put down anyone who is causing rebellion? Don't I know what kind of people the Loyal Army is? I think it's you who is causing rebellion today!"

Normally, after the commander had spoken so far, someone would have already stepped forward to capture Lu You without specific orders. But at this moment, not only the Wucheng Army officer standing in the distance behind Lu You, but even Xu Wen's personal guards dared not move, fearing that any movement would trigger a full-scale internal conflict.

"Hahahaha!!!" Hearing Xu Wen's scolding, Lu You laughed out loud, as if he had heard a huge joke.

"Everyone in the Wucheng Army wants to return home. Anyone who's trying to stop them is just trying to cause trouble for them." Lu You pointed his halberd at the bound Jurchens behind him, then narrowed his eyes and looked at Xu Wen. "Or is it General Xu who's trying to cause trouble too?"

Xu Wen was slightly startled, and felt an incomparable sense of absurdity hit him, making him feel a little dazed in the cold wind.

An outsider, alone, questioned in front of his own army whether the commander-in-chief was planning to cause rebellion.

It's so ridiculous.

What was even more ridiculous was that Xu Wen discovered that after hearing this, only a few people scolded him, while the vast majority of the grassroots officers just looked at him with complicated eyes in the dim firelight, as if they were waiting for him to make some decision.

The two sides stood face to face for what seemed like hours, or perhaps just a moment. Zeng Ji stepped forward, torch in hand, and said, "Mr. Lu, you're going too far."

Before Xu Wen could even breathe a sigh of relief, Zeng Ji knelt on one knee and shouted to Xu Wen, "General, the rioters have all been apprehended. I beg you to execute them!"

Almost instantly, all the officers knelt before Xu Wen and said, "I beg you to execute the thief!"

Xu Wen was breathing heavily. He knew that this was the final compromise that Zeng Ji and his men made with him because they did not want to break up with him, but also did not want to work for the Jin Kingdom anymore.

As long as he can go home, Xu Wen will still be the commander-in-chief of Wucheng Army. As for whether he can establish himself as an independent or directly join the Zhongyi Army at that time, it doesn't matter. Anyway, Wuchengjun really doesn't want to work for the Jin Kingdom anymore.

On that day, Su Baoheng forcibly consumed Xu Wen's prestige to maintain the situation. Although it ensured that Wu Chengjun did not rebel directly in one breath, it laid the groundwork for today's chaos.

Xu Wen's prestige was no longer enough to forcibly quell the unrest.

If Xu Wen still wanted to forcibly suppress his troops, the best result would be house arrest. Without this experienced veteran, Wu Chengjun's already dangerous journey home would become even more difficult, and he might even be wiped out on the way.

Xu Wen's lips moved, his face turned pale, and he seemed to have returned to decades ago.

It was also a dark night like this when Xu Wen made up his mind to rebel against the Song Dynasty and join the Jin Dynasty. The difference was that at that time, he had brothers who were Shandong bandits and rebels by his side, as well as his brother Li Cheng, who was both a man of literary and military strategy, to make decisions for him.

Now Xu Wen is alone.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Wen finally sighed: "Ah... then... let's kill these thieves!"

"Follow the general's order!"

Zeng Ji stood up, walked forward, dragged out a Jurchen man who was tied up tightly, and beheaded him with a single blow.

Ji Cheng and Hu Yue followed suit, each dragging out a Jurchen and beheading him on the spot.

The other officers suddenly realized what was happening, and whether they were trying to show their loyalty or because they hated the Jurchens to the core, they all stepped forward with their knives and attacked the Jurchens wantonly.

Lu You watched the scene with his hands clasped, then sneered, bowed to Xu Wen, raised the torch and left leisurely.

(End of this chapter)