Swords emerge from Mount Hua, sweeping across the heavens from the world of Swordsman.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on his lips, and he was about to nod when he saw two more people walk in from outside the door.

The leading man was burly, with piercing eyes that exuded an air of dominance.

Following behind was a pretty woman dressed in white.

Second-in-command Li Mi and the beautiful strategist Shen Luoyan!

"Li Mi greets the chieftain!" Li Mi stood in the main hall, first bowing to Zhai Rang, and then smiling at Yue Zhuoqun, "Mr. Yue is here too?"

"Greetings, Second Master Li." Yue Zhuoqun nodded with a smile, his gaze lingering on Shen Luoyan for a moment longer.

Shen Luoyan, true to her name, possesses a beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall from the sky.

"Beautiful strategist" is how Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling call her, and that's no exaggeration.

There are many beautiful women in the Twin Dragons world, and countless others with superb martial arts skills.

Shen Luoyan was also skilled in martial arts, but she was most famous for her wisdom and military tactics. No woman in the world could surpass her in this aspect, not even Princess Li Xiuning of the Li Clan.

Zhai Rang raised an eyebrow. He had just arrived when they were talking about Li Mi: "Second Master, did you come to see me because you have something important to discuss?"

Li Mi looked at Yue Zhuoqun with a hesitant expression.

"Mr. Yue is also one of our own brothers, so please feel free to speak."

Li Mi nodded and said, "I want to ask the chieftain for a military order to attack Zhang Xutuo and occupy Xingyang."

Zhai Rang narrowed his eyes, becoming wary, wondering if Li Mi had overheard their conversation.

"The second-in-command and Mr. Yue seem to be on the same wavelength. He just offered me a suggestion to personally lead an army to attack Xingyang, and you arrived right after that."

Li Mi and Shen Luoyan raised an eyebrow, surprised that Yue Zhuoqun had such insight and courage.

"Haha, I only knew that Mr. Yue was knowledgeable about the Daoist philosophy of heaven and man, but I didn't expect him to have such insights into the battlefield situation as well."

However, commanding troops in battle is different from merely discussing principles. How can someone of your refined character personally step onto the battlefield? Let's leave such matters of commanding troops to Mi!

Yue Zhuoqun smiled without saying a word, but looked at Zhai Rang.

Zhai Rang was deeply wary of Li Mi, and now that he had another option, he would never allow Li Mi to attack Xingyang alone and continue to strengthen his forces.

Sure enough, Zhai Rang waved his hand and said, "Second Master, don't underestimate the gentleman. The fact that he was able to come up with this plan shows that he is no ordinary scholar."

Seeing that Li Mi still wanted to speak, he continued, "How about this, the battle to attack Xingyang will be carried out by you and the Second Master together."

I've transferred two thousand troops from the mountain stronghold, and the second-in-command has also allocated three thousand from the Pushan camp to Mr. Yue. You two will attack Xingyang from two directions; this way, there will be no chance of failure."

Li Mi's fist hardened instantly.

How could they not see that Zhai Rang was intentionally weakening his own strength?

But seeing Zhai Rang's smiling face and sharp eyes, he could only endure it.

Ultimately, Wagang is still in the hands of Zhai Rang. He doesn't have enough strength now, and it's not the right time for him to overthrow them.

He took a deep breath and smiled, "That's fine then. I look forward to Mr. Yue's performance on the battlefield."

"Easy to say!"

snort!

Li Mi snorted coldly and left with Shen Luoyan.

After leaving the main hall, Shen Luoyan frowned and said, "Lord Mi, Zhai Rang is intentionally supporting Yue Zhuoqun to oppose us."

"He's just a scholar who cultivates Taoism. Does he really think that being called one of the Three Heroes of Wagang means he can oppose me? Battlefield warfare is not just about talking on paper!" Li Mi sneered disdainfully.

"He has the strategic vision to take over Xingyang, and he should not be an incompetent fool."

"It doesn't matter, what's wrong with giving him an army to lead?"

The troops of Pushan Camp only recognize me as their lord.

"If they don't ruin my plans on the battlefield, fine; but if they dare to, they can forget about ever returning to Wagang."

Chapter 160 Reorganizing the Army and Breaking Xingyang

In September of the twelfth year of the Daye era, Wagangzhai launched an attack on Xingyang.

Zhai Rang allocated two thousand soldiers from Wagang's main camp, and Li Mi allocated three thousand soldiers from Pushan Camp, which were led by Yue Zhuoqun to form an army.

Li Mi led the remaining 5,000 soldiers of the Pushan Camp into one army.

(When the previous chapter was first updated, I wrote that each side should allocate 5,000 troops, but Wagang probably didn't have that much strength before they took Xingyang, so I've revised it.)

To prevent Yue Zhuoqun from stealing the credit, Li Mi, along with Shen Luoyan and Xu Shiji, divided their forces into three routes and marched at breakneck speed, attacking towns around Xingyang at an extremely rapid pace.

Conversely, Yue Zhuoqun's army slowed down after leaving Wagang.

The leader of the three thousand soldiers that Li Mi entrusted to him was Wang Bodang, who was a staunch loyalist of Li Mi.

Not only did he intend to sideline Wang Bodang and monitor him, but he also harbored the idea of ​​subduing the other two thousand men as well.

Even the two thousand men that Zhai Rang gave him had many problems.

The leader of these two thousand men was Tu Shufang, who was originally Zhai Rang's steward.

Yue Zhuoqun was nominally the commander-in-chief of this army, but all orders had to go through Wang Bodang and Tu Shufang before they could be passed down.

Furthermore, in the eyes of the Wagang people, he, as the parachuted commander, was nothing more than a weak scholar skilled in Taoism, and had little credibility.

The soldiers in the army treated him somewhat as someone who obeyed orders but not summons.

He summoned Wang Bodang and Tu Shufang daily to discuss the advance of troops and relayed orders to them, but they both dealt with the matter perfunctorily.

Yue Zhuoqun was not angry about this.

On the fifth day, he summoned the entire army again and publicly ordered them to conduct drills at dawn the next day, and established strict military discipline.

The two remained unconcerned. Tu Shufang led his troops to assemble at 3:45 AM, while Wang Bodang did not arrive until 6:45 AM.

The two men glanced at Yue Zhuoqun, who stood calmly on the command platform, and both curled their lips in disdain, showing even greater contempt for him.

Wang Bodang's lips curled up, and he said loudly, "Mr. Yue, the army has been fully assembled, and you can order the training."

Two days prior, he had addressed Yue Zhuoqun with a degree of respect, referring to him as "head coach."

This time, they didn't even bother with pretense, addressing him as "sir" in public and completely ignoring Yue Zhuoqun's status as the commander-in-chief.

Yue Zhuoqun remained calm, his voice flat yet clear, reaching everyone's ears: "Wang Bodang, are you the commander-in-chief of this army or am I?"

“Of course it’s you!” Wang Bodang said with a sneer.

"In the military, are my orders given or yours?"

It's you too!

"What time did I set for the troop mobilization yesterday?"

"At the hour of Mao."

"Please be more specific. Is it exactly 5:00 AM, 3:40 AM, or 6:40 AM?"

Wang Bodang's face instantly darkened, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Yue Zhuoqun like a hawk, but he remained silent.

"Hmph! Tu Shufang, you answer."

Tu Shufang's expression was also very unpleasant, but unlike Wang Budang, he was acting on Zhai Rang's orders.

Knowing that Yue Zhuoqun was intentionally supported by Zhai Rang to counterbalance Li Mi, even though he despised Yue Zhuoqun, he could not completely break off relations with him.

He could only squint and say, "Right at the hour of Mao."

"According to the military discipline I have established, what should be done to those who are late?"

"Ordinary soldiers are punished with thirty strokes of the cane. Generals are punished with eighty strokes of the cane."

"You two, as the left and right lieutenants, have led the way in disobeying the law. I, the commander, demand that you be punished according to military law. Do you accept this?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Bodang could no longer contain himself and shouted, "Yue Zhuoqun, do you really think you're the commander-in-chief? Let me tell you the truth, the brothers of Pushan Camp only recognize Lord Mi. We'll let you play house with us, but if you really take this for granted, I, Wang Bodang, will shoot you dead and take your place."

“Disregarding the commander-in-chief and plotting rebellion. Wang Bodang, you deserve to die!” Yue Zhuoqun smiled, but his eyes were icy cold.

This was what he was waiting for.

"Fine, fine, if you won't listen to reason, then don't blame me, Wang Bodang, for being impolite."

Wang Bodang roared, spread his arms, and drew a large bow to its full extent, sending a black and sharp arrow straight at Yue Zhuoqun.

Li Mi had instructed him before he arrived that if Yue Zhuoqun behaved himself, he should just go through the motions.

If Yue Zhuoqun shows any talent, then find a way to kill him and take over this army.

Only six days after the troops were dispatched, Yue Zhuoqun used him to establish his authority.

Since that's the case, he was no longer willing to play along and wanted to kill Yue Zhuoqun directly.

Wang Bodang's archery skills were indeed exceptional.

His arrows were always accurate, extremely fast, and incredibly powerful, making him a master at killing enemy commanders on the battlefield.

However, Yue Zhuoqun did not have much affection for him. With a wave of his hand, before the arrow could even get within five meters of him, an invisible force shattered it into the void.

Upon seeing this move, the expressions of the soldiers in the arena all changed.

They only knew that Yue Zhuoqun was proficient in Taoist philosophy, but they had never seen him use his martial arts skills and always thought he was a weak scholar who couldn't even kill a chicken.