The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 5 Mutiny
At this moment, the central command tent was brightly lit, and Wu Zimian was drinking and eating meat with several commanders and lieutenants, completely unaware of the commotion outside.

One of the commanders, Li Xuan, glanced at Wang Jun, who was bound hand and foot in the corner, and looked somewhat puzzled:
"Commander, what crime has this man committed? Why is he tied up so tightly?"

Wu Zimian snorted coldly, a hint of disdain on his face:

"This man intended to incite a mutiny, but I apprehended him on the spot!"

"After dealing with those soldiers who are protesting for their pay tomorrow, we'll hand him over to the court to take the blame and get rid of him!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jun's eyes turned red, and his face was filled with grief and indignation.

He struggled desperately, kowtowing repeatedly to the ground, making muffled noises, but his mouth was stuffed shut, so nothing could be heard.

Upon hearing this, Commander Li was taken aback and put down his wine cup.
"A mutiny? I haven't heard anything about it."

Wu Zimian smiled smugly, picked up his wine glass, and raised it towards the clerk beside him:

"This is all thanks to Juren's brilliant plan, which prevented the mutiny from happening."

"Juren advised me to first use gold and silver to appease those soldiers, and then lure them all to the drill ground early tomorrow morning and kill them all! This will prevent any future trouble."

The clerk humbly raised his glass and bowed slightly.

"You flatter me, sir. I was merely offering a suggestion."

"Thanks to the General's decisive action, the mutiny was nipped in the bud!"

Upon hearing this, Commander Li clapped his hands in praise:

"Lord Wu is quick-witted and decisive, truly worthy of being a garrison commander! Ju Ren is unparalleled in wisdom and strategy! He will surely become a pillar of the court in the future!"

Another commander chimed in with a smile:
"With such a capable military officer and a strategist in our army, we are sure to defeat the Eastern barbarians on our mission to defend the capital! It will be only a matter of time before the General is promoted to a high-ranking position!"

He laughed loudly and raised his wine cup: "Come, come, drink this cup to the brim, to celebrate the General! To celebrate the Great Ming Dynasty!"

Just as the group was basking in their pride and praising each other, a bodyguard suddenly rushed into the tent in a flustered manner, his voice urgent:

"General Wu, something terrible has happened!"

Wu Zimian frowned, put down his wine glass, and said with displeasure, "What's the matter that you're so flustered?!"

The personal guard knelt on the ground, his voice trembling: "The rear camp... the rear camp soldiers have mutinied! They're now attacking the central camp!"

The tent fell silent instantly. The smiles on the faces of the people at the table froze, their wine glasses hung in mid-air, and the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

Wu Zimian was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then suddenly stood up, smashed the wine glass in his hand on the ground, his face ashen, and roared angrily:

"These filthy soldiers! They dare to cause trouble!?"

In a moment of shock and anger, he even cursed himself.

But Wu Zimian couldn't care less about that right now, and hurriedly waved his hand and ordered, "Quickly! Put on my armor!"

He then turned and glared at Li Xuan and the other officers at the table, and gave a stern order:

"You lot, go and gather men immediately to stabilize the situation!"

"Li Xuan, you carry the general's flag and go out to gather the remaining troops! You must hold the line at the front!"

Li Xuan accepted the order with a cupped hand and calmly left the main tent. He then immediately instructed the other commanders to return to their camps and mobilize their troops.

After seeing off his other colleagues, Li Xuan's expression suddenly changed, and he cursed under his breath:
"You idiot! The enemy is about to reach your main camp, and you still expect me to risk my life for you?"

He looked toward the rear camp and saw that a large number of troops had approached the central camp, only a few hundred paces away. Startled, he turned around and prepared to flee without thinking.

Coincidentally, he happened to catch a glimpse of several military horses tethered not far away. One of them was pure white, standing out from the crowd and particularly eye-catching. It was Wu Zimian's mount.

"Damn it, does that idiot Wu Zimian deserve such a magnificent steed?"

Li Xuan sneered and, taking advantage of the servant guarding the horses' inattention, slit his throat with a single stroke.

He then mounted the white horse, deftly gripped the reins, drew his knife, and stabbed the other horses in the rump and thighs several times.

The warhorses, in pain, neighed and scattered wildly; while Li Xuan, riding his white horse, took advantage of the chaos to head straight for his left camp.

Upon arriving at Zuoying, he quickly gathered his soldiers and, under cover of night, broke away from the camp and headed straight for the north of Pingshan County.

Li Xuan, riding his white horse, stood atop the hill, gazing into the distance at the central army camp ablaze with flames, and shook his head.

"Lord Wu, you'd better pray for your own good fortune!"

Meanwhile, in the central army camp, flames soared into the sky, and shouts of battle were deafening; the camp was already in complete chaos. Jiang Han took the lead, leading the soldiers of the rear camp like tigers released from their cages, breaking through the loose defenses and heading straight for Wu Zimian's camp.

Wu Zimian was utterly ruthless in his pursuit of wealth, not only completely withholding the rations and pay of the garrison soldiers.

He didn't even spare his own directly subordinate battalions. The border troops were exploited to the point of unbearable suffering, and their resentment had long been accumulating.

At this moment, the mutinous army swept through the land with unstoppable momentum, and wherever their slogans were shouted, crowds gathered in response.

The long-suppressed anger of the five thousand elite soldiers in Yansui Town erupted completely at this moment, spreading like wildfire throughout the entire military camp.

At this moment, only Wu Zimian's personal guards and retainers were still putting up a stubborn resistance.

Their rations and rewards were never withheld, so they were all loyal and fought to the death.

But their sporadic resistance against the mutinous soldiers was nothing more than a desperate struggle.

As soon as these servants raised their weapons, they were overwhelmed by the enraged soldiers, but they continued to advance wave after wave, just to fight for a chance of survival for their patriarch, Wu Zimian.

With the help of his servants' desperate cover, Wu Zimian fled the camp in a sorry state, fighting his way out.

"Quick! Prepare the horses! Let the master go first!" a servant with a blood-covered face roared at the others.

But at that moment, another servant suddenly scrambled over and knelt down, trembling all over:

"Sir, something terrible has happened! The horse... Commander Li has let the horse escape! And he's ridden the Jade Horse away too!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Zimian's vision went black, and a metallic taste rose in his throat:
"You son of a bitch, Li Xuan! I've always treated you well!"

He gritted his teeth, digging his nails into his palms, wishing he could tear Li Xuan to pieces, but saving his own life was more important at the moment, so he could only continue to retreat in the chaos.

All the servants closely protected Wu Zimian, covering his fight as he battled through the chaos of the army.

They were all Wu Zimian's adopted sons, his trusted confidants raised from childhood. They were Wu Zimian's true asset, all fully equipped and armed elites.

But the torches that surged in from all directions were like a pack of bloodthirsty wolves. Even though the servants were highly skilled in martial arts, they were no match for the overwhelming force.

A burly man wielding two hammers had just smashed the heads of two men when he was instantly riddled with holes by five long spears.

Seeing the critical situation, the head of the household servants, Duan Rong, frowned and shouted, "Quickly! Form a formation around me!"

"Swordsmen and shieldmen, protect the general; archers and musketeers, take the center; everyone else, rest your spears on your swallowtail shields! Even if you die, you must hold them off!"

Upon receiving the order, the servants around him quickly moved towards Duan Rong, and amidst the clanging of armor, a three-layered killing formation was formed.

After Duan Rong finished making the arrangements, he suddenly grabbed a young servant and urgently instructed him:

"Xiao Qi, find a chance to sneak out and bring back a few horses. Be sure to send Lord Wu out of here."

He gritted his teeth and added, "Remember, you can die, but the horse absolutely cannot be harmed! It must be delivered safely!"

The servant called Xiao Qi nodded, and a muffled thud came from under his mask.

"Father, don't worry, as long as I'm here, the horse will stay with me!"

After saying that, he lowered his helmet and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, quietly slipped into a corner and disappeared into the darkness.

Duan Rong glanced at the direction where Xiao Qi had disappeared with a complicated expression, then led the remaining servants to form a battle formation and break through the encirclement.

Ten men held shields, five drew bows, five raised muskets, and ten held spears. Their formation was tight, and they took turns attacking, like a mobile fortress, standing firm amidst the chaotic mutinous army.

As everyone knows, on the battlefield, formation and formation are life itself. Once they break apart, even the most elite soldiers will become lambs to the slaughter, relentlessly pursued and killed.

Compared to the well-organized military formation of the household guards, the mutinous soldiers were the chaotic side. Although they outnumbered the enemy, they fought individually.

Many people surrounded this impenetrable fortress, wanting to rush in and take Wu Zimian's head.

Driven by bloodlust, upon seeing the army formation, they charged forward recklessly with their long swords in hand, only to be shot down from a distance by a single musket shot.

Those who were lucky managed to dodge the rain of arrows and lead bullets, only to be blocked in front of the army by spears as sharp as hedgehogs, unable to advance an inch. In their hesitation, they were pierced through by a spear and died on the spot.

Those with good agility dodged the spear and slashed at the cowhide-covered swallowtail shield with their swords, leaving only a white mark on the shield, while their own skull was smashed open by a hammer.

Seeing their comrades who had charged into battle dying one after another, the chaotic soldiers finally came to their senses. They retreated twenty paces away, completely surrounding the ironclad formation, but no one dared to step forward and risk their lives.

Seeing that they couldn't get the turtle shell off, a voice came from the crowd:
"Quick! Go and ask Jiang Xiaoqi for help; he'll definitely have a solution!"

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(End of this chapter)