These words have already been said to their fullest extent. After hearing this, who would dare to stand up? Anyone who stood up would be opposing imperial power, which would not only be a crime punishable by beheading, but also by the confiscation of their property and the extermination of their entire family.
Mo Tienan's face turned ashen. He had imagined many possible scenarios, but he never expected that Lü Tu would use such domineering methods and intimidate all the garrison troops of Longcheng in such a short time.
Although Lü Tu had 2,000 elite cavalry behind him as a deterrent, only Lü Tu actually made the move.
One man, with only a knife, killed more than a dozen people in front of the entire Dragon City garrison, completely frightening all those with ill intentions.
At this moment, more and more of the defending soldiers completely gave up any will to resist. After all, Lu Tu had a legitimate reason to attack, and any further struggle would only lead to death.
These people join the army just to support their families; who would really risk their life for such a small monthly wage?
"Greetings, Commandant Lü!"
At this moment, a scarred man among the former garrison captains shouted out first, and the other soldiers echoed his cry.
Lu Tu waved his hand and said, "Everyone, assemble outside the city without weapons. I want to review the troops!"
The remaining captains quickly did as instructed. They were completely disappointed in Mo Tienan and didn't even bother to look at him again before leaving. In their hearts, Mo Tienan had practically betrayed them.
Lu Tu called out to the scarred man: "You stay."
The scarred man nodded without any hesitation, as if he had known all along that Lü Tu would keep him. After all, he had been doing his best to push for Lü Tu's handover, which could be considered as a pledge of loyalty.
That's why Lu Tu was willing to keep him here. He needed to leave some veterans among the Longcheng garrison so that he could take control of the army more quickly.
In an instant, all the soldiers in the central army camp came out of their tents. Even if they were unwilling, they knew the principle that a new broom sweeps clean. At this critical moment, they dared not provoke Lü Tu, after all, the bodies of the dozen or so people who dared to disobey Lü Tu were still warm.
Lu Tu turned to Xiang Ze and Tuoba Yue and whispered, "Go back and have our men take control of all the major transportation routes and city gates of Longcheng."
"Yes, sir!"
Mo Tienan asked in shock, "Lu Tu, what are you going to do?"
Lu Tuli ignored him and looked directly at the scarred man: "What's your name?"
The scarred man cupped his hands in greeting: "This humble general, Lan Kun, greets General Lü."
Instead of being called a captain, he was addressed as a general. Lü Tu nodded and asked, "What position do you hold in the garrison of Longcheng?"
"A ninth-rank Polu Colonel, commanding 100 men."
Lu Tu gave him a deep look. Although the man had a long scar on his face, his eyes shone brightly, clearly indicating that he was a very ambitious person.
What do you think of my actions?
Lan Kun pondered for a moment: "If it were me, I would do the same as the general. After all, the dozen or so people we just killed are obviously not enough to completely deter those with ulterior motives."
Lu Tu nodded: "Alright, come with me out of the city. Let's go see how well the Longcheng garrison is equipped and whether they can win the battle."
Lan Kun agreed and quickly followed, while Nie Yun led 2,000 elite cavalry, following behind Lü Tu, swaggering past the central army camp and directly out of the barbican.
At this moment, Lü Tu sat alone on his warhorse, gazing proudly ahead.
Even when the lazy Dragon City garrison tried to muster their energy, their assembly speed was still extremely slow.
Lu Tu didn't urge them at all; he didn't care. Today, he wanted to see how long it would take to successfully gather these tens of thousands of people.
Finally, in the afternoon, a total of 120,000 people gathered here, but the crowd was still disorganized, and there were constant whispers, complaints and grumbles among the crowd.
Because Lu Tu had previously killed almost all the high-ranking officers in the garrison, only Lan Kun and a dozen other captains stepped forward to report: "Reporting to General Lu, the garrison of Longcheng totals 150,000 men, and they are all present. What are your orders?"
Lu Tu didn't finish speaking, but just scanned their faces one by one. He knew that he had killed too many generals before, which caused many of the garrison to be unruly. This was one of the reasons why it took so long to gather them together.
Then Lü Tu rode forward, and as soon as he moved, the 2,000 elite cavalry behind him also moved in unison, standing straight in front of the 150,000 soldiers.
Seeing such an oppressive scene, all the soldiers stopped talking and obediently shut their mouths, waiting for the new captain to speak. But they were full of complaints in their hearts. After all, the most annoying thing in the world is listening to the leader's meeting, no matter the era.
Lu Tu said loudly, "I believe many people don't know me, so let me introduce myself. My name is Lu Tu, and I come from Wuchuan!"
Hiss! Many of the garrison rushed over when they received the assembly order, and had no idea who he was. After all, it takes time for news to spread in an army of hundreds of thousands.
Upon hearing the name Lü Tu of Wuchuan, he felt as if he had heard a thunderbolt from the blue. After all, Longcheng and Wuchuan were not far apart, and even the most ignorant person had heard of Lü Tu's great name.
"I am the new Commandant of Longcheng, appointed by the Emperor and Prince Duan. From now on, you are my soldiers. Do you understand?"
"Understood." 150,000 people responded lazily.
Not only was Lu Tu dissatisfied, but even the 2,000 elite cavalrymen behind him frowned. They had all undergone long-term training to qualify as Lu Tu's personal guards. People with outstanding abilities are naturally arrogant, so why would they look down on these ragtag soldiers?
Lu Tu roared, "Didn't you eat? Screw your voices up!"
"Understood!" After hearing Lu Tu's reprimand, they felt a little better, but it was still not satisfactory.
"From now on, you don't need to go back to the central command tent. You will now be stationed outside the south gate!"
"What!?" These words caused an uproar throughout the room!
Not only were the soldiers at a loss, but even the remaining generals, including Lan Kun, were dumbfounded.
They have always lived in the central army camp in the barbican. Now that they are being made to sleep outdoors, isn't that a bit too poor a treatment?
A captain stepped forward and suggested, "General Lü, the Red Turban rebels have only recently marched south. If we leave our main force outside the south gate, aren't we just waiting for them to come back and kill us?"
Lu Tu nodded: "Yes, are you afraid?"
This question stumped him. He chuckled awkwardly, "The other side has over 500,000 people. How could I not be afraid?"
Lu Tu shook his head. Even the leaders of the defending troops were so cowardly. They were so afraid of a bunch of rats. No wonder that even with hundreds of thousands of soldiers fully armed and equipped, they were completely blocked by Zhang Chengyan and his men.
Without turning his head, Lu Tu shouted, "Are you afraid?"
The 2,000 elite cavalry behind them shouted in unison, "Kill!"
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