There was a slight chill on the riverside in the October night. For Li Hualong, it was not only his body that was cold, but also his heart.
He would never have thought that he would face such a situation.
Chai Guozhu looked at him calmly.
"Governor Li, why do you have so much prejudice against the generals? Or rather, why do you scholars always look down on the generals? Are the generals really so despicable? Do they really not know how to do a good thing? What the civil officials do is right, and what the generals do is wrong?
The coup of the civil officials is called reshaping the dynasty, and what the generals do is called rebellion. Why is this so? Hsiao Jixin wholeheartedly served the country and the emperor. How did he become a traitor? How did he get harmed by Shen Yicheng like that? "
Li Hualong was so shocked that he couldn't say a word for a while. In the process of Chai Guozhu's words, Chai Guozhu's personal guards had already pulled out their swords and rushed behind Li Hualong to kill all the guards and officials who were caught off guard.
Just like that, a group of unlucky people lost their lives without even knowing who killed them. They didn't even know why they were killed because everything happened too suddenly.
Shouts of killing rang out. Li Hualong didn't understand the situation, but his side actually started killing. He didn't know who was killing who, anyway, it was killing. A group of people started killing together, and there were screams and shouts everywhere.
Then, in front of Li Hualong, five of Chai Guozhu's personal guards lit torches together, stood by the river and shook the torches in their hands towards the opposite bank.
The light of the fire was so dazzling in the night.
Li Hualong suddenly thought of a very terrible possibility.
"Chai … Chai Guozhu!! What are you doing? Do you know what you are doing?! "
Li Hualong roared very excitedly.
Chai Guozhu looked at Li Hualong calmly, and there was no fluctuation on his face.
"Of course I know, of course I know what I am doing, I am doing what I should do, Governor Li, to put it simply, I am a general, how can I help the civil officials and not the generals?"
Li Hualong's face was full of horror.
"You … when did you collude with the rebels?"
"Last night."
"What?"
"Last night, I took the initiative to contact them and told them that I'm willing to mobilize my troops to take Yangzhou and create the conditions for the Imperial Army's northern expedition. They agreed to cooperate with me tonight. They should be on their way now. You see?"
Chai Guozhu pointed at the other side of the river. Li Hualong turned his head, and suddenly, a burst of fire lit up on the river, illuminating countless Zhennan Army warships. They were aggressively heading towards them.
"Not only that, my subordinates are basically willing to help me. As long as I capture you and Governor Li, everything will be fine. Now, there are also my subordinates in charge of the defense of Yangzhou City. Other than the few thousand useless Imperial Guards and the soldiers from the capital, everything is under my control.
Governor Li, you didn't expect it, did you? Shen Yicheng had forced Hsiao Jixin to rebel, and Hsiao Jixin had taken over half of Jiangnan. Soon, it would be the whole of Jiangnan, and then the whole of Daming. What about you? What can you do? "
In the light of the fire, Li Hualong's expression was extremely colorful. He seemed angry, frightened, on the verge of collapse, and he seemed to be laughing.
"Chai Guozhu … you … you're rebelling … you're rebelling!!!"
"Rebelling? Perhaps! But what of it? As long as we fight our way to the capital and kill Shen Yicheng, won't we be the ones to decide who the traitor is? Isn't that right, Governor Li? "
Li Hualong instantly had nothing to say.
He could only watch helplessly as everything sped towards an uncontrollable direction. He could only watch helplessly as everything sped towards an even more powerful direction for Xiao Ruxun, and he could do nothing.
That night, Yangzhou City was captured by the Zhennan Army's navy. It was peacefully captured, without firing a single shot or cannon to kill a single guard.
The more than six thousand soldiers of the Imperial Garrison did not put up any resistance. They very straightforwardly kneeled on the ground and surrendered, only asking for a path to survival. After being ambushed by the soldiers of Li Zhennan, the majority of the soldiers surrendered, a small number were killed, and only an extremely small number escaped north.
The prefectural magistrate of Yangzhou was killed in the chaos, the Fellow Prefectures of Yangzhou were captured alive, and none of the officials brought by Li Hualong or the officials of Yangzhou managed to escape. All of them were captured.
The vast amounts of military resources that had been stockpiled in Yangzhou were all given to Jiang Dahai, helping Jiang Dahai to fatten up. With this, the road to the north was cleared. At this moment, Jiang Dahai even believed that he could lead an army north to attack the capital.
On the same night, Jiang Dahai stationed himself in Yangzhou and held a cordial meeting with Chai Guozhu.
When Chai Guozhu took the initiative to send someone to meet with him, Jiang Dahai found it somewhat unbelievable. If the difference in strength was too great, which forced him to surrender, then it would be more believable. But Li Hualong clearly had the advantage in military strength, and Jiang Dahai did not dare to face Li Zhennan head-on. He only dared to constantly harass him on the water.
But Chai Guozhu said that he could gather Li Zhennan for Xiao Ruxun's use. This situation was different. If Li Zhennan changed sides, then only about ten thousand soldiers in Yangzhou would listen to Li Hualong's command. How many chances would that be?
As for the reason, Chai Guozhu did not say much. He only said that he had enough of Li Hualong's command. As long as Jiang Dahai was willing to believe him, he would send the navy to cross the river tomorrow night when the five torches were lit on the north bank.
For the whole night, Jiang Dahai personally stood by the river and looked at the opposite bank with the monocular. When he saw the five torches swaying, he was still hesitant. But thinking that fortune came with danger, this bold guy decided to stake everything on one throw.
The fact proved that he had made the right decision. He believed Chai Guozhu, and what Chai Guozhu had given him was not fake, but genuine good stuff.
He was very afraid of Li Hualong, his entire army, and over forty thousand elite soldiers of Ji Town.
Now, the imperial court in the north was truly at a dead end. The last strategic main force had been annihilated, the main force had changed sides, and the Commander-in-Chief Li Hualong had been captured alive. If this news were to spread to the capital, it was hard to tell how Shen Yicheng would crumble.
"Commander Chai, thank you for understanding the principle of righteousness. With this, the outcome has been determined. That traitor Shen is powerless to reverse the situation!"
Jiang Dahai tightly grasped Chai Guozhu's hand, his face filled with excitement.
"Admiral Jiang is overpraising me. I just couldn't stand the treacherous actions of traitor Shen and Li Hualong. That's why I decided to surrender. I hope Admiral Jiang won't mind the battle between our two armies."
Chai Guozhu seemed to be a little worried.
Jiang Dahai laughed.
"That doesn't exist. At that time, we all had our own masters. But now, we are in the same boat. Commander Chai is an old subordinate of Marshal Xiao. If Marshal Xiao knew that Commander Chai has abandoned the dark side and joined the light side, he would be very happy. Hahahahaha!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
