With a million soldiers, the empress begged me not to rebel

Those five hundred elite soldiers were the most effective force under his command.

Now they have been sent to launch a surprise attack on the rear of Jianmen Pass, but their actions have been like a stone sinking into the sea, with no news at all.

A soldier covered in blood stumbled into the tent.

He fell to his knees with a thud and shouted in horror:

"Report... Report to the General, five hundred elite soldiers... have been completely wiped out!"

"what?"

Mu Qing roared, grabbed the soldier by the collar and lifted him up like a chicken.

"What did you say? Say it again!"

The soldier was strangled and his face flushed. He spoke incoherently:

"I...we are...the team responsible for picking up...the...five hundred..."

"Five hundred elite soldiers... were ambushed... Not one... survived..."

Mu Qing threw the soldier to the ground.

The soldier rolled to the side like a rag doll, holding his throat and coughing violently.

There was dead silence in the tent, and you could hear a pin drop.

Mu Qing's face turned ashen, veins bulged on his forehead, his fists were clenched tightly, and his knuckles turned white.

"Lu Yan! Damn Lu Yan!"

He growled with gritted teeth and slammed his fist on the table with a loud bang.

The wine jugs and dishes on the table jumped up and splashed wine everywhere.

"General, calm down!"

Upon seeing this, several generals in the tent immediately knelt on the ground, trembling.

Mu Qing took a deep breath, tried hard to suppress the anger in his heart, and asked in a cold voice:

"Have you figured out the casualties?"

A short, fat general with a face full of flesh replied tremblingly:

"Reply...Reply, General, during the first siege, our army...our army suffered 10,000 casualties...over 10,000..."

"Today... today we lost another five hundred... five hundred elite soldiers..."

Every time he spoke a word, his body couldn't help but tremble, for fear of angering Mu Qing who was in a rage.

Mu Qing waved his hands weakly, fell into the chair and sighed.

He thought that with his military talent, it would be easy to capture the small Jianmen Pass.

However, they did not expect to suffer setbacks one after another and suffer heavy casualties.

This Lu Yan is indeed not to be underestimated.

"Everyone get up," Mu Qing said tiredly.

"Tell me what you think. How should we take Jianmen Pass now?"

The generals looked at each other, and no one dared to speak for a while.

Before, they were all confident about capturing Jianmen Pass.

But now, with successive defeats and low morale, who would dare to express an opinion easily?

"What? Are you all mute?"

Seeing that no one spoke, Mu Qing's tone was filled with anger.

The short and fat general spoke cautiously:

"General, in my opinion, Lu Yan is full of tricks. A frontal attack will probably not be effective. How about..."

"Not as good as what?"

Mu Qing interrupted him impatiently.

"It's better...it's better to surround rather than attack."

"Send 50,000 troops to Shannan Prefecture to cut off their food and grass supplies."

"When they run out of ammunition and food, we'll attack them in one fell swoop!"

The short and fat general said bravely.

"fart!"

Another tall and thin general with a mustache snorted disdainfully.

"Do you think Lu Yan is a fool? He wouldn't think of this?"

"He has already made all the necessary preparations. You can surround him for ten days or half a month."

"Maybe they have already brought food and fodder from other places!"

"Then what do you think we should do?"

The short and fat general retorted unconvincedly.

"In my opinion,"

The general with a mustache stroked his beard and spoke in a pretentiously profound tone.

"Why not send someone to sneak into Jianmen Pass, cooperate with the enemy from inside and outside, and attack them by surprise!"

"Sneak in? How? Do you think Jianmen Pass is a vegetable market?"

“You can come in as you like and leave as you like?”

The short and fat general sneered.

"You..." The mustachioed general was choked and speechless, staring at him angrily.

"Enough!" Mu Qing shouted angrily, interrupting their quarrel.

"What are you arguing about? You all have no skills, and all you know is blaming each other!"

The tent fell into dead silence again.

Mu Qing rolled up the map on the table in annoyance.

The map was crumpled in his hands, just like his anxious heart at the moment.

He paced back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back, his boots making a dull sound on the carpet.

It beat like a drum, beating the hearts of the generals.

Several generals stood by with their hands hanging down, not daring to breathe.

The atmosphere in the tent was suffocating.

Only the candle flame flickered, making a slight "crackling" sound.

The short and fat general saw that Mu Qing's expression had eased slightly, and spoke cautiously, like a mouse seeing a cat:

"General, I have a plan that may help us resolve this difficult situation."

Mu Qing glanced at him sideways and snorted without comment.

The short and fat general quickly mustered up his courage and said:

"Lu Yan is full of tricks. A frontal attack will result in heavy casualties. It would be better to divide our forces and attack other cities in Shannan Prefecture."

"If Lu Yan hides in hiding, our army can encroach on his territory and cut off his food supply."

"If he sends his troops back to reinforce, Jianmen Pass will be left empty-handed, and our army can take advantage of the situation and break through."

"Humph!"

Upon hearing this, the mustache-wearing general snorted in disdain.

He glanced at the short and fat general and said sarcastically:

"You're a military commander, what an idiot!"

"Wouldn't it be right for us to fall into Lu Yan's trap by dividing our forces?"

"He's hoping we'll split up so he can defeat them one by one!"

"In my opinion, we should concentrate our forces and attack Jianmen Pass, find its loopholes, and break through in one fell swoop!"

As he spoke, he stroked his mustache out of habit, his eyes full of contempt.

"You're talking shit!"

The short and fat general blushed.

"Concentrate your forces? Didn't you see how our brothers died?"

"Given this terrain, even if we piled a hundred thousand lives into it, it would be useless!"

"You're useless! You don't know shit about strategy!"

The mustachioed general rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight.

"you……"

The short and fat general was so angry that he couldn't speak.

The finger pointing at the mustachioed general kept shaking.

The two men started arguing again, neither of them giving in, and the atmosphere in the tent became even more tense.

"That's enough! Shut up, everyone!"

Mu Qing stopped abruptly and shouted harshly.

He glared at the two of them, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"What are you arguing about? It's already this late, and you still have the mind to fight among yourselves!"

The two men were frightened by Mu Qing's roar and trembled all over. They quickly knelt on the ground and dared not say anything.

He snatched the map from the short and fat general's hand and threw it to the ground.

The map rolled several times in the air and fell to the ground helplessly like a kite with a broken string.

"Map! Map! All you do is look at the map! Is it useful?"

He pointed at the map on the ground and roared.

Mu Qing pointed at the short and fat general's nose and cursed:

"You! Continue organizing the siege equipment and prepare for a strong attack!"

"Within three days, I want to see new catapults and ladders!"

The short and fat general replied "yes" timidly, quickly stood up, and walked out of the tent with his body hunched.

As he walked, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, secretly thanking himself for having escaped.