PDLP Chapter 198
Chapter 198
Soon, darkness fell, and the entire Suzhou Prefecture seemed to fall into an eerie silence, with far fewer pedestrians on the streets than usual.
At this time, the Tiger Legion was fully prepared, each soldier carrying a flintlock pistol, equipped with ammunition, and fully armed.
The craftsmen of the Southern Garrison have been making not only guns and cannons in the past two months, but also armor. Since they are building an elite force, all the equipment is naturally top-notch. With this gear, even if those wicked servants come to cut, they won't be able to break through the defenses.
Looking at the Tiger Legion behind him, fully equipped and ready to go, Lin Lu thought of the troops she had previously served on the border. There is no harm without comparison.
Although the Tiger Legion only numbered around two thousand, Lin Lu knew that if the two armies were to clash, these two thousand Tiger Legion soldiers charging into the fray would be like a sharp blade piercing tofu, unstoppable by anyone.
Lin Lu couldn't think of any army in the entire Ming Dynasty that could fight against such an army. The more Lin Lu followed Zhou Chu, the more he admired this Lord Zhou who was much younger than himself. No matter how Lin Lu looked at it, he felt that Zhou Chu was terrifyingly strong.
It seemed there was nothing Zhou Chu couldn't do. Lin Lu was often baffled when Zhou Chu did things, but at some point later, he suddenly felt as if the clouds had parted and the blue sky had appeared.
The longer he spent with Zhou Chu, the stronger his admiration for him became.
Lin Lu knew very well that the reason why His Majesty was able to open up the situation so easily after ascending the throne was largely due to Lord Zhou. Without Lord Zhou, it would have been much more difficult for His Majesty to open up the situation, and it would have taken at least several years.
Putting everything else aside, those two old foxes, Yang Ting and Yang Yiqing, are not so easy to deal with.
Shen Lian and Lin Lu shared similar thoughts. The longer Shen Lian spent with Zhou Chu, the more terrifyingly strong Zhou Chu became, and the more he agreed with his teacher's words. Shen Lian knew very well that only Lord Zhou in front of him could change the current situation of the Ming Dynasty; no one else had the courage to do so.
Both the Tiger Legion and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were ready to act at this moment. The difference was that the Tiger Legion was the main force and could charge and kill at will, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard was only responsible for cleaning up the battlefield and had no part in the direct confrontation.
This couldn't be better for the Jinyiwei of Suzhou Prefecture. If they were to charge into battle, there would definitely be casualties. Now, they don't need to fight on the front lines. They only need to clean up the battlefield and get a share of the spoils afterward. Could there be anything better than this?
Zhou Chu had the Tiger Legion and the Embroidered Uniform Guard hidden away. Since Cui Wenkui and his men wanted to make a move, he let them make the first move. The one who made the first move would lose the initiative, and Zhou Chu could then act in return. It was a perfectly reasonable plan.
So everyone waited for a long time. Around midnight, a dozen or so people quietly crept over, carrying something in their hands.
Soon, Zhou Chu knew what these people were holding.
Kerosene.
As soon as these people poured kerosene, the smell of kerosene wafted over on the wind.
"Have your men hold them all down, don't let them escape."
Zhou Chu said to Chen Zhao beside him.
The Tiger Warriors must not move at this time, lest they alert the enemy.
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhao waved to the Imperial Guards behind him, and hundreds of Imperial Guards followed, silently surrounding the group.
It was midnight. These people were afraid of being exposed and didn't have torches for lighting, so they basically came in the dark. In addition, Chen Zhao's men had initially formed a large encirclement, so these people didn't notice them at all.
As the encirclement by the Imperial Guards tightened, these people finally realized what was happening, but it was too late. They didn't even have time to set fires before the Imperial Guards swarmed over them, pinned them down, and gagged them so they couldn't even shout.
After Chen Zhao had these people taken away, he returned to his original location and hid again.
On the other side, Cui Wenkui's men had already gathered nearly five thousand wicked slaves. Although they were called wicked slaves, they were actually private soldiers. These private soldiers were equipped with weapons, but they did not have armor.
In any dynasty, the control of armor was extremely strict. As for weapons, Cui Wenkui controlled the military and political affairs of the entire Jiangnan region, and with the help of maritime channels, he could always obtain some.
Cui Wenkui and Xia Yan will not be involved in tonight's operation. Whether it succeeds or fails, this kind of thing will leave a mess afterward, so someone will naturally have to be pushed out to take the blame.
The person pushed forward this time was none other than Wang Huai, the butler of Cui Wenshan, Cui Wenkui's elder brother.
Wang Huai was all alone. He had been adopted by Cui Wenshan since childhood and had never married. He was extremely loyal to the Cui family. Cui Wenkui only mentioned it to him, and he agreed without hesitation.
Wang Huai waited and waited, but he didn't see any fire in the direction of Zhou Chu's house. Half an hour had passed and there was still no news from those he had sent to set the fire.
"My lord, the arsonist should have been arrested. Zhou Chu is a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so it's normal that there are Embroidered Uniform Guard sentries at his residence."
One of the squad leaders among these private soldiers came up to Wang Huai and said...
Wang Huai already had a guess in his mind, and upon hearing these words, he immediately made up his mind.
"Let's not wait any longer, let's charge!"
After saying this, Wang Huai raised the torch in his hand, and the thousands of private soldiers behind him headed straight for Zhou Chu's residence.
These private soldiers came from diverse backgrounds and had just been assembled. Their charging formation was chaotic and disorganized, practically devoid of any structure. However, even so, Wang Huai was full of confidence. After all, they numbered four or five thousand men, and he could overwhelm Zhou Chu with sheer numbers and rescue his master and young lady.
Four or five thousand people, no matter how well they acted in unison, would still cause quite a commotion. What's more, these people were scattered and disorganized, almost shouting battle cries.
To prevent friendly fire, each of them had a yellow cloth strip tied around their arm.
Lin Lu watched these people charging forward from afar, wishing she could cover her eyes. This rabble dared to attack the adults; they were simply courting death.
These four or five thousand men, in terms of combat strength, were much stronger than the previous Japanese pirates, but that depended on who they were compared to.
They might be able to win against those Japanese pirates, but against the Tiger Legion, their firepower was even less than that of the Japanese pirates.
Moreover, the current Tiger Legion is no longer the same as the original Tiger Legion. Every single one of them is armed to the teeth. Lin Lu even witnessed the Tiger Legion annihilating all these people without suffering any losses.
It seems those people were really driven to desperation by the adults, otherwise they wouldn't have resorted to such a foolish move.
Or perhaps they felt that Jiangnan was their territory, where they could do whatever they wanted. As long as the adults were dead, what would happen afterward would be entirely up to them.
Before Lin Lu could finish her thought, Wang Huai had already led his men to the gates of Zhou Chu's house. Just as Wang Huai was about to order his men to throw the torches into the Zhou residence, the gates of the Zhou residence suddenly opened.
In an instant, countless fully armed Tiger Legion soldiers poured out of the courtyard. Not only those in the courtyard, but also those who had been hiding outside attacked the rabble from both sides.
The Tiger Legion soldiers all wore masks with blue faces and fangs, and their armor reflected a cold light under the firelight. This made the Tiger Legion soldiers look like demons who would devour their prey. At just one glance, many people were so frightened that they trembled and stood frozen in place.