lcionline Chapter 702 Three-Party Game (Part 3)
Chapter 702 Three-Party Game (Part 3)
Faced with the provocative tone of the rebel soldiers, the soldiers of the Independent Regiment became somewhat impatient and rolled up their sleeves, ready to step forward to argue. It seemed that a small conflict was about to break out.
The soldiers acted impulsively, but the officers on both sides were aware of the situation. After all, they were quasi-alliances. One side needed the rebel army to provide manpower, while the other side needed the Qionghai Navy's military aid. Each side had an irreplaceable role, and the supreme leaders of both sides had made an agreement to fight for the world together. Even if they were wary of each other, they still had to maintain harmony on the surface.
Seeing that the two sides were staring at each other and it looked like they were about to fight, the rebel leader quickly stepped in front of the one who had spoken provocatively and forced a smile: "This guy always talks like that, don't take it to heart..." The officer on the other side also pulled back the soldier who was about to step forward to argue, "It's nothing, it's nothing, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."
Whether they were convinced or not, the soldiers on both sides were still dragged away, and behind their backs, they were all scolded.
"You idiot, those people over there are our God of Wealth. The liquor you drink, the cotton clothes you wear, the wound medicine you use—they all gave you that, and even the cannons. If you anger them, you can make do with other things, but what about the cannons? The rebel leader needs cannons to fight the government troops. If we run out of cannons, I'll shove you inside a cannon barrel and shoot you out!"
"Why are you acting so impulsively? Why bother with these bandits? Besides, now is the time for the general to expand his army. These refugees are very important to us. Don't let a small matter ruin the general's grand plan..."
After a potential minor incident was averted, the handover proceeded smoothly.
The refugees, treated like cattle, horses, pigs, and sheep by the rebel army, received vastly different treatment after entering the Qionghai Army. The Qionghai Army had a complete procedure for accepting refugees. Before the rebel army and the refugees arrived, people had already set up porridge sheds, iron pots, and were cooking rice porridge. The refugees, who hadn't eaten for days, smelled the aroma of the porridge and greedily inhaled the fragrance, unconsciously gathering around the porridge sheds. Someone came to guide them to line up in an orderly fashion.
"Folks, are you all hungry? Don't worry, everyone will have porridge, but don't rush, line up properly, the elderly and children in front, women in the middle, and able-bodied men in the back..."
The person distributing the porridge was kind and the arrangements were reasonable, so the elderly, women, and children felt relieved and lined up one after another in front of the porridge stall. Some of the young and strong were unwilling to give up and wanted to squeeze to the front to get some porridge as soon as possible—after all, when they were following the rebel leader, if you wanted to get a full meal, you had to rely on your own strength—but the soldiers responsible for maintaining order showed no mercy, kicking and shoving those who tried to cut in line to the back of the queue.
"If you dare to cut in line again, you will be executed on the spot!" an officer coldly announced.
Seeing the gleaming bayonets on the other side's guns, the able-bodied men swallowed hard, dared not cause any more trouble, and obediently lined up.
Holding the hot porridge, many refugees wept with joy, tears streaming down their faces. How long had it been since they had a proper meal?
Those responsible for distributing the porridge patrolled together with the soldiers of the Independent Regiment to prevent uneven distribution, ensuring that some people didn't get any or that others ate too much. This was to prevent conflicts among the refugees, which could affect their migration, and also to prevent them from overeating after being starved for too long, which could take a toll on their health.
Because there were too many people in this batch, the dozen or so soup kitchens couldn't keep up with the demand, which slowed down the handover between the two armies.
One of the rebel soldiers complained in a low voice, "Do they think they're living saints? So many people, and they insist that everyone have porridge? Let some starve to death, and the rest will be able-bodied men. Wouldn't that be more efficient? They're so fussy, wasting our time..."
"What can we do? They're our benefactors; we can't afford to offend them..."
The soldier who had nearly sparked a conflict between the two sides sneered, "They're just some nouveau riche from the countryside. If it weren't for the fact that King Li Zicheng liked these kinds of cannons, I would have already taken them down..."
Someone chimed in, "Exactly! I don't like these soldiers either. They're dressed so smartly, but they're probably all pampered pampered young masters. They can't compare to us, who crawled out of piles of corpses..."
Just as the handover was proceeding slowly and the rebel army was finding fault with each other, a cloud of dust rose in the distance, and the rumble of hooves echoed from the northwest.
Both the rebel army and the Qionghai army became more vigilant, gripping their weapons and staring at the northwest direction.
After a while, a large banner appeared on the horizon, embroidered with a huge character "Chen". The rebel army, having fought many battles with government troops after entering Henan, naturally knew whose men they were, and exclaimed, "The men of Chen Yongfu, the General of Kaifeng!"
Nearly 20,000 displaced people were thrown into chaos.
Logically, they should have been happy about the arrival of the government troops, after all, they were subjects of the imperial court, and the government troops were supposed to protect them. After being coerced by the rebel army, their lives were worse than death, with no idea when they would starve to death or be used as cannon fodder in sieges. However, in this chaotic world, the government troops were not necessarily any better off than the rebel army. In the eyes of the government troops, these coerced refugees were all "rebels" who had "joined the bandits," and their fate was only one—to be beheaded as bandits, and their heads would be taken as a reward.
An hour earlier, these numb refugees wouldn't have bothered to think about how to cope; following the rebel army offered no hope of survival, and falling into the hands of government troops would only lead to certain death. But now, the actions of the Qionghai Army rekindled their hope for survival. After a brief period of chaos, the refugees, regaining their senses, took off running towards the Qionghai Army, nearly breaking through the Independent Regiment's ranks. Su Cutui quickly ordered his men to clear the middle of the road, letting the refugees pass, and then reformed their ranks to block their path.
The handover was disrupted, and the rebel army was on high alert, raising their weapons to face the northwest, while secretly guarding against the Independent Regiment that was nearby.
A large group of cavalrymen charged forward, kicking up dust, and stopped a few hundred paces away. The leading general rode forward a few steps, looked at the rebel cavalry, then at the banners of the Qionghai Army, puzzled. He recognized the rebel army, and this other group, judging from their attire, were clearly government soldiers, but the two groups were mixed together, and he hadn't seen any fighting. What was going on?
The general shouted towards the Qionghai Navy: "Whose command are you? Why are you all mixed up with the rebels and yet nothing has happened to you?"
The rebel general's eyes darted around, and he preemptively shouted, "They're from Qionghai Town, doing business with our King Chuang. What's it to you?" This was clearly an attempt to drag the Qionghai Navy into the conflict, preventing the two sides from joining forces. Although the rebel army and the Qionghai Navy had a private alliance, it couldn't be openly discussed, especially in front of other soldiers. The rebel army was still uneasy and unwilling to entrust their safety to the Qionghai Navy's credibility.