Chapter 1048: Henan is Lost
....
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
This group of mobs had gathered together and occupied an area of land in a grain farm. Moreover, they had used their numbers and terrain advantage to dig traps, set up roadblocks, and roll rocks nearby. There were three to four thousand mobs who had partic.i.p.ated in the interference, ambush, and encirclement of the Third Battalion of the capital, which had a thousand people. It could be said that they had exhausted all their methods.
No matter how powerful the Third Battalion of the capital was, they could not do anything for a moment under the many interferences, traps, and suspicious arrays.
The general immediately released the distress signal and ordered, “All soldiers, return to protect the supplies. You’re not allowed to leave the range of the carriages. Anyone who approaches will be killed without mercy.”
This order was clearly effective.
This group of mobs was naturally not a match for the Third Battalion of the capital, which were an elite trump card. If they wanted to plunder items from the Third Battalion of the capital, they had to approach with their lives.
For a moment, corpses were everywhere in the area with the Third Battalion of the capital as the center, and blood flowed like a river.
The mobs lying in ambush nearby did not give up and ordered arrows to be shot.
A dense rain of arrows shot towards the soldiers of the Third Battalion from all directions. The soldiers of the Third Battalion waved their swords, forming a stream of air that blocked the arrows outside. For a moment, they could deal with it calmly.
This was not a long-term solution.
However, as long as they could hold on until reinforcements arrived, they could resolve their current predicament.
Under the endless attacks of the mob, the soldiers’ stamina was quickly depleted. Some of them were already exhausted, and their movements slowed down. Some people began to be shot.
Reinforcements never arrived.
Looking at his brothers who had fought side by side and were lying on the ground one by one, one soldier’s eyes turned red with anger. He was so angry that he cursed, “F*ck, there are so many rioters. Why wasn’t there any news previously? Could it be that there’s a traitor…”
“d.a.m.n it, do you dare to fight me head-on? If it weren’t for the sake of protecting this batch of things, I would have rushed over and attacked as if I was cutting vegetables. Not to mention a group of mobs, even an army would have to lie down.”
“Alright, save your energy. This batch of supplies is to help King Yue Fei defeat the Di people and protect our Han soil. We can’t afford to lose. Save your energy. It’s also profitable to attack another person.”
This battle lasted for a full two hours.
There were people everywhere.
Batches of people died one after another.
At this moment, the Third Battalion of the capital had already sacrificed more than 700 people, and there were still more than 200 people. They were still firmly surrounded. The ten carriages of supplies they had escorted caused them to be like trapped beasts fighting desperately, but they still tried their best to hold on and fight to the end.
The knife in their hands slashed at the gap, and their arms kept waving. They were already numb, as if their bodies weren’t their own. The blood splattered into their eyes and blurred their vision…
Just as they thought that they were going to die here today—
Out of nowhere, a group of black-clothed and masked people appeared. They held long sabers in both hands and rushed into the crowd. Every time they waved, cut, stabbed, and slashed, they would take a life.
The screams of the mob wailed in the cold wind.
When the news reached Yu Youyao, the Hidden Dragon Army had already eliminated the mob and escorted the Third Battalion of the capital to Huludao, reaching the territory of Liaodong.
More than 5,000 rioters partic.i.p.ated in the siege.
The 1,000 troops from the Third Battalion of the capital fought until they were left with 213 people.
Yu Youyao’s heart ached. She had long considered that an accident would happen to the Third Battalion of the capital before they arrived in Liaodong, so she had sent the Hidden Dragon Army to secretly cross Liaodong.
However, she was still a step too late.
The time, place, and route of the transportation were all kept secret.
Yu Zongshen was meticulous. When the group confirmed the transportation route, they must have sent someone to scout the designated route in advance to confirm the safety of it.
There were so many traps, roadblocks, and suspicious arrays. This was not a small project. It would take a lot of time to complete. No matter how careful they were, they would cause a commotion.
Could it be that they hadn’t noticed anything amiss before this?
Also, how could this group of mobs accurately know the transport route and even ambush the designated place in advance?
Digging traps, setting up roadblocks, setting up deceptive arrays, rolling rocks, and so on were all set up against the Third Battalion of the capital. They even knew all the subsequent reactions of the Third Battalion of the capital.
Relying on their numbers, the mob relied on tempting fate to exhaust the stamina of the Third Battalion of the capital.
It was obvious that they were confident that the Third Battalion of the capital would not abandon the escort.
It had been more than four hours since the distress signal of the Third Battalion of the capital had been released. There were patrol guards stationed at intervals on the official road. At most, the patrol guards would arrive in half an hour.
It was impossible for the patrolling guards not to see the signal, but no one came to help for a long time. Why was that?
Traps and roadblocks made it impossible for the escort vehicles to pa.s.s. There were gold and silver items on the escort vehicles, and there were also a large number of them. Humans could not carry them through.
The movement of the Third Battalion of the capital were obstructed and they became trapped beasts.
In order to protect the items and not lose them at all, they could only guard the escort carriages to the death. Even if they had been through hundreds of battles, they could only be willing to tie their hands and feet.
Other than a traitor, she couldn’t think about anything else.
There was a traitor under Yu Zongshen’s nose!
Yu Youyao was in disbelief, but she also clearly realized that the Marquis of Yongle’s rebellion had caused the hearts of the court to fluctuate, and the capital was completely in chaos.
Yu Zongshen’s illness was unbearable, and his control over the Imperial Court was becoming weaker and weaker. Someone was causing trouble under his nose. Perhaps he had found out about all of this, so he decisively abandoned the capital to protect the north.
The most terrifying thing was that the Imperial Court actually knew nothing about this mob gathering right under the eyes of the capital.
Did they really not know, or was there another secret?
Not long after, Yu Zongshen received this news. He was sick and no longer had the energy, let alone the time to chase after the traitor. The most important thing was to transport this batch of things safely to Liaodong.
As there were too many things, it was impossible to transport them all in one go. Since there were spies in the court, no one knew what would happen next. They should be on guard early.
He made a decision and ordered a portion of the You army, who were in charge of receiving them, to enter the capital to escort the supplies with the Third Battalion.
His move intimidated most of the thieves, and the transportation of the subsequent batches of supplies also became very smooth.
Batches of supplies were transported to Xiangping City.
After Yu Youyao counted and registered the items, they were stored in the warehouse of the Yue Fei King’s Residence. Gold, silver, jewelry, and other items that could not be directly used as military supplies were sent to the front line in batches.
This work lasted until the Spring Festival.
News of the collapse of Henan spread throughout the Great Zhou on New Year’s Eve. The day, which was originally celebrated to see the old year out and the new year in, was also covered in a shadow.
When Thief Liang captured Hunan, he immediately issued a public denunciation against the Imperial Court.
The long and complicated denunciation explained that the current emperor had personally conquered the north. The old case of the Ning Residence, Grand Tutor Yang’s entire family, the injustice of King Li of Zhou, the tragic death of Prince Liang, and all kinds of ridiculous and unreasonable actions were revealed to the world one by one, and they were reasonable.
It was obvious that Thief Liang had prepared for this day.