Chapter 3 Refusal to Accept Orders

  Inside the castle hall, General Tong spread out a map on the table and examined it carefully, occasionally pointing and gesturing. Mr. Wen and Qin Hao furrowed their brows and remained silent beside him - this was because General Tong had instructed them not to express their opinions yet, waiting until everyone had arrived before speaking, so as not to affect the mood.

  An hour later, a messenger came to report: There is a large team of Jin soldiers and horses coming from afar outside the city. Ask how to deal with it. General Tong ordered not to worry, it was a reinforcement army, he would go to meet them himself.

  Tong Dashuai turned to face the two still frowning Wen and Qin Hao, saying: "Don't think about it first, let's go together to welcome General Luoyang Tian outside the city." Mr. Wen and the two nodded silently.

  When Commander Tong and the other two men arrived at the city gate, they heard a rumbling sound of footsteps coming from the southeast in the distance. There was no hubbub. This was a well-disciplined army, its commander was not bad. Commander Tong nodded his head and said to Mr. Wen and Qin Hao: "Listen to this footstep, there is not a single discordant note, what a strict army!"

  Qin Hao's heavy heart slightly eased, and he said, "With such elite troops, attacking the city should be somewhat easier."

  "Hmm..." Mr. Wen also nodded in agreement, "General Luo is indeed General Luo!"

  Not long after, a black horse came riding in the wind, "dang dang" sounded, and soon arrived at the city gate. The rider stopped his horse and turned out to be Luoyang Tian. Luoyang Tian dismounted his horse with a hearty laugh, saying: "Wen Zheng brother, we're fighting side by side again! Haha!" After finishing speaking, he walked towards Tong Dashuai who was coming towards him, the two men hugged each other and laughed loudly.

  Tong Dashuai patted the shoulder of Luo Yang Tian and said: "Old brother, long time no see! How have you been lately?"

  "Alas, let's not mention it. The fact that I can fight side by side with you says it all." Luoyang Tian and Tong Da Shuai stood apart, shaking their heads in a sigh.

  Tong Dashuai was choked for a moment, and laughed: "Isn't this an opportunity for you to make merits?" He pulled Luoyang Tian's right hand and walked into the city, saying: "Come, follow me inside to rest."

  "My troops outside..." Luoyang Tian couldn't help but feel worried.

  Tong Dashuai shouted: "Qin Hao, arrange for our brothers outside to come over later!"

  "Yes!" Qin Hao immediately set out to implement it.

  "Now you can rest assured..."

  "Don't worry."

  "Come on, tell your brother how you've been doing these past few years."

  Back in the city master's hall, after separating the guests and hosts and sitting down, General Tong said to Luoyang Tian who was sitting opposite him: "Brother, come, let me introduce you to this person beside me. This is Mr. Wen, he's the one we rely on for planning and strategy."

  Luoyang Tian heard the noise and quickly got up, bowed and said: "I've long heard of your great name, I didn't expect you to be hiding in my elder brother's place."

  Mr. Wen bowed and returned the courtesy: "I don't dare, I don't dare. It's General Luo's demeanor that is truly impressive!"

  "Haha, you two can stop flattering each other." Tong Dashuai interrupted the two and continued, "Come on, Yang Tian, tell me your thoughts on being appointed as the vanguard." Tong Dashuai struck at the crucial point.

  Luoyang lowered his head, clasped his hands to his chest, and thought for a moment before saying: "I think He Zhengshan is seeking revenge in the name of justice. We have 30,000 men plus your 7,000 soldiers here, totaling 37,000 troops. These troops can take down one or two cities without issue, but after that, we'll be like stray dogs with nowhere to hide."

  "Hmm, I think so too. So we're in a dilemma... " Tong Dashuai sighed and continued, "But there's one person who gave me hope, maybe this person can lead us out of trouble!"

  "Who? Who is so fierce?" Luoyang Tian asked tightly.

  Tong Wen Zheng mysteriously smiled and said, "Not long from now, you will be able to see." Luoyang Tian looked at Mr. Wen. Mr. Wen smiled and said, "Because we are people who have died once already."

  Luoyang Tian was puzzled and couldn't understand, scanning back and forth on both of their faces, only seeing a trusting smile.

  "Come, don't guess anymore, sit down and have a couple of cups of tea first." Tong Dashuai had Luoyang Tian sit down again. Luoyang Tian knew that he couldn't ask anything for the time being, so he patiently sat down to drink tea.

  Half an hour later, Qin Hao brought Huang Chu in. Qin Hao nodded to Luoyang Tian and then said to Tong Dashuai: "General Tong, General Luo's subordinates have been settled." At this time, facing outsiders, Qin Hao did not dare to call him Dashuai again.

  Tong Da Shuai stroked his chin and said, "Mm, not bad, pretty quick movements."

  At this time, Huang Chu also stepped forward and bowed to the crowd: "I am Huang Chu, I have met General Tong, fellow colleagues."

  "This man is my military advisor..."

  "Report! General Lei and Yang have arrived!" A messenger ran in, panting.

  "Hurry up! Hurry up!" Tong Da Shuai was overjoyed.

  As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of horseshoes "got it~got it" stopped outside the door. Then, two little children with short hair to their ears appeared, carrying "swords" and stepped in silently with big strides. Luoyang Tian's eyes widened, a master!

  Lei Meng swept his gaze over the crowd, noticing two more people, and cupped his hands in greeting before asking General Tong: "I don't know what business you've summoned me for, General?" Luoyang Tian saw that the two newcomers didn't seem to be subordinates, and couldn't help but look at General Tong with a puzzled expression.

  Tong Dashuai smiled and said with a sense of humor, "Waiting for the stars and waiting for the moon, you two have finally arrived." Seeing Yang Tian roll his eyes in disdain, he didn't think much of it. He then pointed at Luo Yangtian and introduced him, "This is General Luo Yangtian, who has just brought three thousand troops." Next, he pointed at Huang Chu and said, "And this is his military advisor, Huang Chu."

  "This is Lei Meng." Tong Dashuai pointed at Lei Meng and then turned to Yang Tian, "This is Yang Tian."

  The four of them nodded at each other and considered it a meeting.

  Tong Dashuai continued: "Everyone sit down! Guards! Bring some chairs!"

  After a while, everyone sat in the hall. General Tong continued to introduce the current situation, saying: "Let me talk about the latest situation..."

  He started from being appointed as the vanguard commander, with Luoyang Tian as deputy commander, and then to the vanguard mission - attacking cities, while the 120,000-strong army behind only guarded two cities, Wujijiang and Bairen...

  Yang Tian clenched his fists tighter and tighter as he listened, his knuckles turning white one by one. When he finally heard that the 120,000-strong army was only defending the city, he couldn't help but curse loudly: "Shameless!"

  Tong Dashuai stopped speaking, and everyone looked at him. Yang Tian said: "This is a shameless villain, we absolutely cannot follow his orders, that would be a dead end." Everyone fell silent.

  Lei Meng saw everyone's silence and opened his mouth: "Let's continue listening to General Tong's lecture."

  Tong Da Shuai shrugged and said, "That's all, I've finished saying what I wanted to say. Now it's everyone else's turn to express their opinions."

  Everyone fell silent again, Tong Dashuai saw the awkward atmosphere and asked Mr. Wen: "Mr. Wen, what do you think?"

  Mr. Wen sighed and said, "I don't have any good strategy, taking down one or two cities is not a problem; it's just that afterwards, there will obviously be no way out. The support behind us is a big problem, it's easy to get cut off and surrounded." General Tong and Qin Hao were deeply moved, both nodded in agreement.

  Luoyang Tianhe and Huang Chu were lost in thought. Yang Tian sneered and curled his lip, while Lei Ming remained unmoved.

  After a moment of silence, Luoyang Tian said brightly: "Then let's take it one step at a time, as long as we're still alive, we have hope!" Huang Chu nodded.

  Tong Dashuai did not express his opinion, he looked at Lei Meng and asked: "I wonder if Lei Meng has any good strategy?"

  "No." Lei Meng denied it very decisively, and now he didn't have the mind to get involved in these troops at all, because he hated the corrupt bureaucracy inside.

  Tong Dashuai bowed down and said: "Just help us out, considering how we've been together for so many days."

  Lei Meng glanced at Luoyang Tian and Huang Chu, who were looking puzzled beside him, and said, "Then tell me about the grudge between He Zhengshan and you two."

  "Hmm..." Tong Da Shuai's face showed embarrassment, and then he let out a deep sigh, saying: "Well, I'll just talk about old times then." He had no choice, but if he didn't speak up, he knew Lei Meng would absolutely ignore him.

  He Zhengshan was originally one of Tong Dashuai's subordinates, always diligent in his work, but slightly mediocre and never promoted. Luoyang Tian was a close friend of Tong Dashuai, only two years younger than him, so he always called Tong Wen Zheng "Old Brother". The two led 50,000 soldiers together. One time, Luoyang Tian visited Tong Wen Zheng, who warmly entertained him. When the wine had reached half its height, they chatted about the talents in their army, and Tong Dashuai said that most of his subordinates were fine, but He Zhengshan was somewhat lacking and didn't have any special skills. Luoyang Tian chuckled a few times and said that those without special skills in the military might as well go home and farm. Unbeknownst to them, their conversation was overheard by He Zhengshan, who was passing by, and it greatly enraged him, triggering his desire for revenge against the two. He Zhengshan was not particularly talented in the military, but he was a narrow-minded person who held grudges, so he found fault with Tong Dashuai and reported it to the Minister of War, bringing Tong down and promoting himself to Tong's position due to his meritorious exposure. Luoyang Tian repeatedly went to the Minister of War to protest, but He Zhengshan hated him even more, pulling him down as well. From then on, there were later events.

  Tong Dashuai and Luoyang Tian were wronged by the villain, but they only harbored resentment in secret and didn't have the intention to bite back; however, since good people are often bullied and good horses are ridden, He Zhengshan thought that the two had lost power and could be arbitrarily bullied, and now it was even possible to push them into a desperate situation.

  Yang Tian gritted his teeth and indignantly exclaimed: "Villain! Villain harming people!" After a brief pause, he continued to shout: "General, we cannot follow his orders!"

  "Uh, just call me General Tong... What! Not following orders!"

  Everyone was shocked and stared at Yang Tian, but only Lei Meng thought it was a matter of course.

  Yang Tian shrugged and said, "You know it's death, but you still want to jump into the pit? That's stupid!"

  Everyone fell silent, pondering Yang Tian's crazy idea - they had never thought of disobeying military orders before, because that would be treason!

  Yang Tian saw that everyone had no reaction, and continued to persuade: "It's clear that the merits of war obtained by death will soon become those of a small person, and one will get nothing. It's better to commit suicide now." Yang Tian's harsh words pierced the hearts of the crowd sharply. Ah, what's the point of listening to his orders if you can't even get anything in return for your life?

  Luoyang Tian looked up and met Tong Wen Zheng's gaze, nodding in agreement. Luoyang Tian said: "That makes sense!"

  "I agree!" Tong Dashuai also expressed his stance at the same time.

  Huang Chu, who had been silent for a long time, raised a question: "But if we disobey orders now, where will we go? With an army of 120,000 charging at us, we'll be done for."

  "Perhaps we don't need an army of 120,000, just a few die-hards from among us charging forward and we're done for!" Luoyang Tian sighed despondently as the sun lost its radiance.

  Tong Dashuai stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "We don't have this problem because our team is made up of people who have died once." Then, under the astonished gaze of Luoyang Tian and Huang Chu, he told the story of Lei Ming and Yang Tian's great achievements, such as burning down the Huan Tian Army, galloping through the enemy ranks, beheading enemy generals, retreating from the enemy with flying guns, and routing the enemy army...

  Lei Meng was quietly drinking tea, while Yang Tian yawned repeatedly. Neither of them were very concerned about the past events, because in these days, they found that their internal energy had become more refined and stronger.

  Luoyang Tian and Huang Chu were full of admiration for each other, no wonder Tong Wen Zheng would place such high expectations on them.

  Tong Dashuai finished speaking in one breath, his mouth dry and tongue parched, and hastily picked up the teacup to take a big gulp. Then, he said to Lei Meng again: "Lei Meng, it's your turn to come up with a solution now." Tong Dashuai confidently threw the difficult problem at Lei Meng, not expecting him to become dependent so quickly.

  Lei Meng rubbed his head and said, "General... Tong, since we're afraid of the 120,000-strong army charging over, we can drag it out first; after all, He Zhengshan won't come to wipe out this army of over 30,000."

  Seeing the crowd stunned, Lei Meng continued to throw out a feasible plan: "We can send out trustworthy people, and Tong Da Shuai has many going to supervise, see if there are any spies lurking, find one and kill one, so no one will be able to rebel..."

  Tong Dashuai and Luoyang Tian both lowered their heads in thought, one stroking his beard, the other rubbing his head...

  "Alright, it's settled then!" After the great army barely escaped destruction, General Tong's mind was freed from many constraints. He looked at Luoyang Tian and saw that Luoyang Tian clenched his fist and nodded heavily.

  "Yang Tian, you be the military advisor and see what our next move is. We're all just a bunch of blockheads now." General Tong was getting more and more muddle-headed.

  "In the midst of thunder, Ah Zhi said: 'General Tong, General Luo, you two are also too irresponsible.' The two shrugged and made a helpless gesture."

  The thunder rumbled and the air was released. If Yang Tian wasn't interested, he really wanted to throw away these scoundrels and run away. Yang Tian was excited and ran over to look at the map...