"Principal, although I know nothing about leading troops in battle, I feel that if this news gets out and the alliance leaders are unable to do anything about it, mutiny will probably spread beyond the troops on the front lines."

"It's ridiculous! The group of people who are now at greatest risk of mutiny swore to me a month ago that they weren't afraid of the epidemic and that they were ready to die!"

"Principal, courage and fear are not opposites. They are just ordinary people."

"Okay, take a break first and let them come in to discuss matters."

That night, after an urgent high-level meeting, Lin Hai contacted the still-ill Long Qiu and Han Qinhu via telegram...

"Ahem... Duke of Yan, His Majesty Lin Hai has explained the situation clearly to us, but the heads of state don't seem to have... ahem... any good solutions."

Han Qinhu said as he tried his best to suppress the urge to cough.

"General Han, you are also an experienced leader of soldiers. You know how to deal with the plague in the army."

Long Qiu gasped for breath as he spoke. His condition was progressing rapidly, and he was already experiencing some difficulty breathing. Based on experience with other sick soldiers, within three days at most, Long Qiu would be unable to exercise vigorously due to breathing difficulties, and within another two days...

"Hahaha, cough cough cough, Duke Yan is joking. According to military regulations, soldiers infected with the disease should be executed on the spot and then covered with lime and buried deep. Cough cough cough... Don't ask if we have the ability to execute hundreds of thousands of people. Let's talk about you and me. Do you think it's more appropriate for you to chop off my head or for me to execute you? We're both infected."

Seeing that no one else was present, Long Qiu quickly found a place to sit down without getting nervous. Even if he was sick, he would have pretended to be strong in front of the soldiers. Not only could he not cough, but he also had to force himself to wear his imperial armor while patrolling around...

"I didn't expect General Han to be such a humorous person. How rare! Why didn't I find you so funny back then?"

"Ahem...Interesting? You certainly wouldn't have noticed it back then. After all, the last time we met was on the Central Battlefield, where the Crown Prince asked me to lead the army against you..."

"Oh... ahem... I remember that time, you left a very deep impression on me."

Long Qiu seemed to have remembered something funny, and he managed to force out a rare smile.

"Oh? My little fighting skills are really worthy of Yan Guozhong?"

"Oh...that's impossible, ahem...I just remember you running very fast. Before I could close the circle of encirclement, I looked up and saw you had already retreated ten miles away. I thought about it for a long time and couldn't figure out how you did it. I clearly surrounded you."

"Hahahahahaha, Duke Yan is a famous general of the time, yet there are things you don't understand."

"You're almost dead, hurry up and tell me, ahem, or I'll die with regrets."

"Because you didn't surround me, I wasn't in the encirclement. It's not that I ran ten miles away in an instant, but I was always ten miles away. Hahahaha... cough cough cough..."

Han Qinhu's triumphant laughter was interrupted by a cough, which made him feel very depressed. This was a hard-earned opportunity to show off to his former enemy, the recognized famous general of the time.

"Ah? You..."

"Right, you've figured it out now, right? I knew I couldn't beat you before the fight even started, so the one in front was just a stand-in, wearing my armor and carrying my banner. I was always behind. Ahem... Ahem... Actually, I have three such stand-ins. Even if you see through me and send armored cavalry to hunt me down, you'll only catch another stand-in..."

"General Han, you are really... ahem... cautious..."

"That's all, I'm just a coward. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter whether I'm brave or cowardly now. Although I still have a substitute... ahem... it's the guard who has been following me all year round... but he has contracted the disease and passed away before me... It seems that the substitute method can deceive you, but it can't deceive the King of Hell..."

"Emperor Qinghe's sworn brother Sun Deyou and his apprentice Bao Gu will arrive with a medical team tomorrow..."

"Duke Yan, if they really had a solution, they would have taken you and me, especially you, out for treatment long ago... cough cough cough... Not only do they have no solution for this disease, they're even worried that we might infect others if we went out."

Han Qinhu saw it clearly, but how many senior officers on the front lines couldn't guess it? They still didn't say anything until now, which was simply because they couldn't let go of the loyalty in their hearts.

"What's General Han's plan?"

Longqiu sat back slightly, looking as if he was a little exhausted, but Han Qinhu keenly observed that Longqiu was only moving himself a little closer to his sword.

"Duke Yan, please rest assured. I've been on the run my whole life, but I'm not going to run away this time... cough cough cough... Of course, I can't escape either... If I could save my life by escaping, I don't know if I would be able to hold on..."

"That?"

Long Qiu did not choose to stay away from his weapon, just as he said to Xia Junao in the telegram: "I will definitely be able to maintain the front line, and I will definitely not let the empire be humiliated."

"Hold on for two more days, allowing the medical team to collect the data they need. Then... ahem... I wonder if Duke Yan will still be able to perform surgery by then?"

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