Sweep Yuan

Chapter 81 Unexpected Disaster Destroys the Five Capitals

"Enemy attack! Get up quickly!"

"Light them all! Light them all!"

"Stop running around like a madman! Damn it, grab your knife!"

Commander Zhang Yangui was woken up by his personal guards and saw soldiers running around outside the tent like headless flies. After finally calming the commotion and summarizing the situation of each unit, he discovered that it was actually a camp mutiny.

"So, there was no bandit attack on the camp tonight. Your timely actions, and my incredible luck in escaping death from the camp mutiny, are all thanks to you all! Hahaha! Which idiot camp leader started this chaos first?!"

The officers and soldiers lowered their heads and shrank back, not daring to answer. The deputy general could only bite the bullet and try to smooth things over.

"We asked many officers and soldiers, and they all said they heard the bells ringing urgently and thought they were under attack—"

Bang!

Zhang Yangui slammed his helmet to the ground and began cursing loudly.

"Garbled, all gamblers!"

Zhang Yangui was no ordinary man. His vanguard consisted of three commanders with a total of 1,500 men, and was known as a 3,000-strong army. As long as they did not rush into battle for personal gain, it would not be difficult for them to recapture Qingyang Station.

He was cautious by nature, and before nightfall he sent scouts to search twenty miles to the north, so as not to give the enemy any opportunity to take advantage.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Zhang Yangui also rejected his subordinates' suggestion to drive the villagers away and move into civilian houses, insisting on setting up camp outside the village.

Because trees were scarce along the Huai River, the camp wall was just a thin volley of guns. A trench was dug around the perimeter, and a wooden stake was driven into the ground every two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) and connected with thin ropes. A copper bell was hung on the ropes so that the enemy soldiers could trigger the bells when they sneaked into the camp in the dark.

To prevent the bell from ringing falsely when it was windy, Zhang Yangui specially set up the camp on the leeward side of the slope.

Unexpectedly, a strong wind arose in the middle of the night, which caused the bells to ring and triggered a riot in the camp, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries. In the chaos, more than ten military tents were burned down, and some of the soldiers and civilians also took advantage of the chaos to escape, which really hit morale hard.

The original plan was to quickly attack the city after disembarking at Qingyang Station tomorrow, but this incident will have to be postponed.

Having made such a huge mess, if we don't quickly execute some people to establish our authority, there's a risk of a mutiny!

Seeing that Commander Zhang's face was becoming increasingly ferocious, some of his quick-witted subordinates immediately offered their advice.

"My lord, the boys can still recognize the sound of the wind chimes. Could it be that the villagers of Wudu Village are resentful of the army's grain requisition and are secretly causing trouble? In this pitch black, only those familiar with the terrain can avoid being discovered!"

Zhang Yangui's temples throbbed for a while before he calmed down.

Killing some villagers to serve as raiders would provide an explanation after the battle and also restore morale—a win-win situation.

"Commander Zhao, you take one hundred, no, three hundred men. If you leave any loose ends, I'll take your head!"

The Yuan army's commanders were divided into three ranks: superior, middle, and inferior. Zhao Kang was also a commander, but he only commanded three hundred men and was under the control of Zhang Yangui.

"Please rest assured, sir!"

Chaotic times are not like peaceful times; officials and bandits are in cahoots, and the massacre of villages and households doesn't even need a reason.

The government troops were camped outside the village and could enter at any time to cause trouble. Even without Hu Dahai's reminder, the villagers of Wudu Village dared not sleep too soundly.

After the wind picked up, Hu Dahai simply wrapped himself in a quilt and stood guard at the entrance of the village. The moment he discovered the commotion of the government troops, he ordered his eldest son, Hu Deji, to wake up the clansmen and villagers and gather them in the ancestral hall to prepare for any eventuality.

After a long and anxious wait, the riot was finally quelled.

Before Hu Dahai could even catch his breath, he saw many torches lit up in the camp and heading towards the village.

The person is not good!
Only by living can one uncover the truth behind the government troops' midnight raid on the village; if one dies, one can only become fodder for gossip.

In the pitch black, if we just run, dragging our families along, we definitely can't outrun the well-prepared government troops. Someone has to cover our retreat.

"Brother, we entrust our family to you. If we manage to get away, we will come looking for you."

"Tongfu—"

"Don't look back, keep going!"

For the first time in his life, Hu Dahai yelled at his elder brother, and immediately turned to look at his brothers and nephews.

"Fourth brother, fifth brother, each of you take fifty villagers to the north and south of the village. Prepare plenty of torches, spread them out and stick them in the ground. When the ancestral house catches fire, light them all. Then each of you carry two torches and rush into the village while shouting."

"The rest of you, listen to my command!" Zhao Kang realized something was wrong before he even stepped into Wudu Village—he couldn't hear any dogs barking in the village. But he didn't take it seriously. It was just a small village of a hundred households. What could they do even if they were on guard?

After walking for a short while, Hu Dahai stood under a big tree at the entrance of the village, holding a shovel.

"Our village has never neglected you, sir. What has happened that you would bring so many armored soldiers into the village in the middle of the night?"

"Capture the thieves who raided the camp! I hope Chief Hu will cooperate and not make things difficult for me."

In Zhao Kang's mind, the entire Wudu Village was already dead. If the person in front of him wasn't the village head, he wouldn't bother to say a word—only by capturing Hu Dahai could he quickly find out where the money, grain, and valuables were.

Otherwise, why would Old Zhao bother to take on this job in the middle of the night?
"I am willing to cooperate with you, sir. However, if the villagers see so many government troops in the middle of the night, I am afraid there will be trouble. I would like to ask you to leave most of your men outside while I lead you to search each house."

"So best."

Zhao Kangchao gave a wink to those around him and said:

"You two teams stay behind. I will only take a hundred men. President Hu, lead the way!"

Hu Dahai stepped forward, planted the shovel in the ground, and bowed to invite him.

"Sir, please!"

Zhao Kang approached and asked questions, trying to lull Hu Dahai into a false sense of security.

"How many households are there in the village? Besides the Hu family, what other miscellaneous families are there—take them down!"

More than twenty government troops surrounded Hu Dahai, whose expression changed drastically. He pulled out his shovel and retreated quickly, but he was too slow and was about to be entangled by the government troops.

Pfft!Pfft!
Ah!
what--

Suddenly, the road to the left and right of Hu Dahai collapsed, and more than ten soldiers who rushed to the front fell into the pit, screaming in agony.

A few people were lucky enough to cross the pit, but Hu Dahai's shovel came whistling through the air, slicing them away like vines and melons, splattering blood and brains all over the ground.

One of them was Zhao Kang's fourth brother. Zhao Qianhu, enraged, instantly forgot about the money, grain, and goods, and roared:
"Fire arrows! Fire arrows! Kill him!"

The shouts of battle continued for a while, and finally, a fire broke out in the ancestral home. Outside the village, the brothers Hu Mei and Hu Jian, who were waiting anxiously from the south and north, immediately shouted:

"ignition!"

In the main tent of the camp, Zhang Yangui finally managed to fall asleep again, only to be shaken awake by his personal guards.

"Sir, sir, there are bandits in Wudu Village! Commander Zhao has been ambushed!"

After being tossed and turned several times in the middle of the night, Zhang Yangui was a little dazed.

"Thieves! Thieves have ambushed us! Quickly help me onto my horse and we're fleeing—wait, how many thieves are there in the village?"

"There should be several hundred."

"Zhao Kang, you son of a bitch! You good-for-nothing!"

Despite his cursing, Zhang Yangui knew he couldn't abandon the rescue. Fortunately, there were only a few hundred bandits in the village. In the dark, it would be difficult to kill them all, but it would be easy to help Zhao Kang retreat.

"Beat the drums! Gather the generals, muster the troops!"

To the north of the camp, Fu Youde led four hundred infantry and cavalry, men gagged and horses hoofed, and had already stealthily made their way here.

The night raid was originally proposed by Li Wu, but the government troops unexpectedly broke out in their camp in the middle of the night, disrupting the night raid plan.

When Fu Youde led his team to the scene, the riot had already been quelled, and the government troops were on high alert.

Li Wu suggested abandoning the raid on the camp and immediately joining the melee in Wudu Village, but Fu Youde remained inactive.

Seeing that the commotion in Wudu Village was getting quieter and quieter, Li Wu finally couldn't wait any longer.

"Commander Fu, how about we abandon the attack on the camp and wipe out the government troops outside the camp first?"

"Wait a little longer—the opportunity has arrived!"

(End of this chapter)