Refuse to trample on the pride of heaven

Chapter 212 Mutiny

Lin Yue said nothing more as he entered the city in the face of the snowy wind. In fact, he had long been resentful of the orders from his superiors, which required him to compromise and yield to the grassland in order to contain the rebel forces.

He was the original general of this city. Although he was nominally a deputy general, he actually had a lot of say. He also disliked Yan Buhuan, who was above him. No one would like a boss who was parachuted in, let alone a lackey who worked for him? Did the lives of these generals and soldiers not matter?

What was frustrating was not that they were at a disadvantage when fighting against the grasslands, but that they retreated and gave up without moving a single soldier, giving the city away in vain - I have fought wars for so many years, but I have never seen anything so ridiculous.

Yan Buhuan at least has some skills, otherwise he would not have been valued and won over by his superiors. However, considering various circumstances, Lin Yue felt that the other party only had talent, but was actually a coward who was afraid of death.

"The two paths of Yin and Yang separate life and death, and from now on there is no distinction between the noble and the humble - after a journey through the world, at the end of the long road, you will end up as a pile of dry bones. This is fate, and no one can escape it."

As he spoke, he saw Yan Buhuan's figure in the distance. Lin Yue snorted coldly and took a detour on purpose. General Wang hurriedly followed him - he was not used to General Lin's sudden elegant words.

Yan Bu had not yet put on his armor. He was in plain clothes, walking around the military camp, watching the soldiers coming and going, listening to the faint sounds of drills, and was actually very confused.

He was grateful for the recognition and support from the person above him. He was ruthless enough to kill a talented general like Yan Xunfeng. At the order, he withdrew his troops even if he had to bear the blame. Even though he had anticipated the result, he was still terrified when he heard about the grassland people's massacre in the city.

"The barbarians rode in on horseback, wielding their swords to slaughter everyone, young and old, no one was spared. The cries of infants ceased, and the tears of women and children turned to blood. The men fought desperately, but they were outnumbered and fell to the sword one after another.

The fire was raging, all the houses were burned, black smoke blocked the sun, corpses piled up like mountains, blood flowed like rivers, and the smell of blood filled the air. It was a horrible sight. The scene was so miserable and terrifying that it made people shudder. The sky and the earth changed color, and the ghosts and gods wept.

He couldn't sleep all night as he read the letters coming from the evacuated city.

He was not only sorry for the people, but also for the soldiers under his command.

Those poor soldiers who were drafted into the army were treated as consumables on the battlefield. They were not well fed or clothed, but when faced with a powerful enemy, they were the first to be picked out and lead the charge.

I forgot which battle it was, but I watched the stones falling from the sky. Those thin figures, holding up their broken iron shields, went up against the rain of stones to protect the people behind them. Amid the loud noise of falling rocks, the sound of the iron shields completely shattering was as light as falling leaves, and only made a dull sound after carrying the human body down.

He had been constantly questioning his own heart, but from the moment he gave the order, he had no way to retreat. He was a complete lackey of the emperor, and even if he bore the eternal infamy, it was all his own fault - he himself knew that his crimes were too numerous to list.

So what if it is to repay a favor? It cannot offset the sins committed.

People always have many things that are beyond their control and are forced forward by the outside world.

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Lin Yue was just about to enter the tent when he saw a familiar messenger covered in snow crystals. He was looking around, not knowing what he was looking for. He ran over so quickly that he almost fell.

"You kid, are you in such a hurry to reincarnate? Come in and warm up, it's very windy outside."

After helping the man into the tent, Lin Yue patted his snow-covered shoulder.

"Oh my, why are you still worrying about this at this time?! Have you seen General Yan? An urgent document has arrived from the capital, demanding the withdrawal of troops!"

"Withdraw?!" Lin Yue paused, somewhat incredulous.

"Did I hear it wrong, or did you hear it wrong?"

"It's written in black and white, how could there be any mistake?! There's also an imperial edict inside!" After the messenger said this, Lin Yue noticed that the other party was actually holding a yellow scroll in his hand.

"Withdraw?! Don't you want the city anymore? What about the people in the city? Withdrawing now is tantamount to handing our weak spot to the enemy for nothing!"

"But the court has already reached an agreement that we should order a withdrawal."

Lin Yue snatched the imperial edict, spread it out and read it carefully, without caring about crossing the line. After reading it, he felt a heat rushing up from his forehead.

Most of the barbarian nations are nomadic, and their people are all good at riding and shooting. They occupy lakes, mountains, and grasslands, and directly threaten the 48 cities of Linzhou. Now that they are in a dying situation, we should spare no effort to wipe out the barbarians and achieve eternal success.

The emperor, however, was determined not to fight, and sent an envoy to issue an edict: "Withdraw the camp and retreat, and march to the border of Yongzhou."

Once, they retreated because they couldn't win the battle. Another time, they retreated to let the grassland and the rebel forces exhaust their strength. As a result, the grassland people entered the city and killed people. Now they are retreating again. What the hell! - Over and over again, Lin Yue was completely annoyed.

"No! How can we retreat? There are old people, weak women and children behind us. What will happen to them if we leave? Then we will go back in disgrace and continue to suffer from the hidden arrows of those bastards?"

"But, disobeying the order will result in death! Besides, General Yan is now the highest commander and a close confidant of that person. Our words are not taken lightly..."

"Open your eyes and look. Behind us are your mother, wife, and children. If we leave, they will be bullied by the enemy. How can you bear it? Yan Buhuan is a coward, but I am not! If you spread that message, I will call on my brothers to rebel!"

Lin Yue was furious. He slammed the imperial edict in his hand to the ground and angrily opened the curtain - but saw Yan Bu still standing there, with a thin layer of snow on his body. He didn't know how long he had been listening.

The movement paused, and the angry expression on Lin Yue's face froze for a moment, but his throat rolled and his eyes became sharp and resentful.

"It's just right. You lackey have heard enough. You can think whatever you want. I keep my word! I won't obey your order! If you want to report it, that's fine. Anyway, I don't want to follow that stupid emperor anymore."

Yan Bu did not show the shock or anger that Lin Yue imagined. He lowered his eyes slightly, but his voice was not blown away by the wind.

"Well, go ahead." He suddenly didn't want to submit to a meaningless fate anymore. The imperial edict couldn't save his soldiers, the court couldn't feed his horses... He didn't want to die for this anymore.

As soon as Yan Buhuan said this, everyone in the tent fell silent.

"A civil official dies for his remonstrance, a military official dies for his battle. This has been the case since ancient times. As a general, I should protect the people and die on the battlefield!" Yan Buhuan muttered to himself, not knowing whether he was talking to himself.

Outside the grassland, the flames of war raged, and the flags blocked the sun to guard the pass. He would not return until the barbarians were annihilated, and his iron-blooded ambition would guard the border - that's why he said he would not return.

Seeing that the man was still standing there in bewilderment, Yan Buhuan raised his eyes and scolded with a smile: "Why don't you prepare yourself for battle? If anything goes wrong, you will be held responsible!"

"Yes! I'll go right away!" Lin Yue was a little surprised. Without caring about anything else, he saluted with his fists, grinning uncontrollably with tears flashing in his eyes.

(Sharpen weapons and feed horses: sharpen weapons and feed horses. Describes preparation for battle.)

(Subordinates.)

(勤竹难书: Originally meant that there were too many things to write about and it was impossible to write them all down. Later it was used to describe the crimes that were so numerous that they could not be fully recorded.)