"Lord Jiang, Jiang Lingfeng?"
The merchant adjusted his black hat: "Yes, Lord Lü, they even robbed our caravan. I was quick on my feet and managed to escape. Lord Lü, you must stand up for me. You promised to ensure our trade routes remain open."
Lu Tu frowned upon hearing this: "This Jiang Lingfeng, how could he, a Minister of War, actually rob his own people's caravan? Guards!"
The surrounding generals also heard the merchant's words, and their hatred for Mo Tienan was now transferred to Jiang Lingfeng through his actions.
Especially when they heard Lü Tu shouting loudly, everyone knew that Lü Tu was about to call up his generals.
At this moment, all the mid- to high-ranking generals from Wuchuan, the former Red Turban Army, and the Longcheng garrison gathered in front of the command platform, their eyes filled with a desire for victory and to achieve great deeds.
In their eyes, Longcheng now belonged to Lü Tu, or rather, to everyone.
Lu Tu stood with his hands behind his back, pacing back and forth for a moment before speaking loudly: "Brothers, you all heard it just now, Jiang Lingfeng is here again. What do you think we should do?"
At this moment, the soldiers who were training also stopped. Everyone watched Lü Tu quietly, waiting for Lü Tu's order. From top to bottom, they were all united as one. If Jiang Lingfeng saw this, he would definitely not dare to bring the Shence Army here again.
Seeing that no one spoke for a long time, Nie Yun wanted to step forward, but was stopped by Lu Tu's eyes. He couldn't speak at this time; the generals of Yuanlong City had to speak.
Lan Kun spoke up at the right moment: "General! I think if Jiang Lingfeng were to regain control of Longcheng, we would only end up living the same kind of life as Mo Tienan before, or even worse. The brothers never want to live a life of uncertainty again, where we can't afford medical treatment when we're sick and can only wait to die!"
As soon as he finished speaking, tears welled up in the eyes of many soldiers. After all, Lan Kun's words were true. They had all experienced such days before, so they understood how hard-won their current good life was.
But this was not what Lü Tu wanted to hear. At this moment, Xiang Ze stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Brother, I don't think the other party is the Shence Army or Lord Jiang Lingfeng. After all, Lord Jiang is the Minister of War. How could he do such a thing?"
Upon hearing this, Lan Kun and the other former garrison soldiers exchanged bewildered glances. Everyone looked at Xiang Ze in disbelief, wondering how he, as one of Lü Tu's men, could utter such a statement.
Unexpectedly, the next second Lü Tu loudly praised, "Xiang Ze is right, so the other side is definitely not the Shence Army, but the rebels!"
Upon hearing this, Lan Kun and the others stared at Lü Tu in astonishment. The meaning behind Lü Tu's words was quite clear. Not only the generals, but even some soldiers nearby understood what he meant.
If Jiang Lingfeng came with righteous indignation and Lü Tu sent troops to attack, it would obviously be a violation of the imperial edict. After all, Jiang Lingfeng was able to mobilize the Shence Army this time and personally led the team. Even if he did not bring the imperial edict, as long as he spoke, who would dare to object?
The only way to deal with it then is to turn hostility into friendship. Lu Tu will even have to obediently hand over his military power, otherwise Jiang Lingfeng will label him a traitor.
But now, Lu Tu directly used the fact that the other party had robbed a caravan to define them as rebels, and the solution became very simple.
The generals stepped forward one after another, especially veteran generals like Zhu Zhaozhou, who spoke in a booming voice: "That's right! These rebels have some nerve, daring to let a merchant deceive us and try to get away with it?"
Everyone chimed in, saying, "These rebels know they're no match for us, so they deliberately resorted to such despicable tactics to launch a surprise attack!"
...
In an instant, everyone had already defined the nature of the other side. Lu Tu nodded in satisfaction. After all, only when there is a legitimate reason for the attack can the morale not be shaken, which is the most crucial point in large-scale military operations.
Even if the other side is truly the Shence Army of the imperial court, one must still make one's soldiers believe that one is on the side of justice!
Lu Tu pressed his palm down to signal everyone to quiet down, then shouted, "These rebels actually dared to disguise themselves as the Shence Army and attack Longcheng! They've really gone to great lengths to get revenge on us! Brothers, what should we do when facing the enemy?"
These words ignited everyone's emotions instantly, and they all raised their weapons, roaring, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
With a serious expression, Lü Tu declared loudly, "What did I promise you back then? We'll take back our lost dignity and slaughter these bastards until they flee in disarray!"
"kill!"
Of course, an army of 250,000 could not quickly convey information to everyone, but emotions are very contagious. Even many people who had not heard what had happened learned about the attack by impersonating the Shence Army through inquiries and word-of-mouth.
Already harboring resentment towards the previous Red Turban Army, the soldiers, both the garrison and the former Red Turban Army, were filled with rage upon hearing these guys dare to charge in with such righteous indignation. Their shouts of battle were deafening.
Lu Tu looked at all the generals in front of him. The ones he relied on the most were naturally the soldiers he had brought from Wuchuan. They were his trump cards and his ultimate weapon.
It's only natural that newly recruited soldiers would be assigned to manual labor; that's just human nature.
Therefore, when Lü Tu immediately ordered all the generals to prepare to meet the enemy, Nie Yun, Tuoba Yue and others did not leave immediately, but followed Lü Tu to the central army camp.
"Brother, are we really going to kill Jiang Lingfeng?" Xiang Ze asked.
Lu Tu shook his head: "It's definitely better for Jiang Lingfeng to be alive than dead."
Everyone nodded: "That makes sense."
Nie Yun cupped his hands and said, "I am willing to lead 1,000 elite troops to charge straight at Jiang Lingfeng and capture him alive!"
Lu Tu gave him a deep look and said, "This is no joke. The other side has 100,000 Shence Army soldiers. There is no room for jokes in the army."
"I understand, if I can't do it..."
Tuoba Yue reminded him, "It's not your turn to take risks yet. Let's see what Jiang Lingfeng has to say before making any plans. I estimate that this battle won't break out. Jiang Lingfeng probably has an imperial edict in his hands, which is very troublesome."
Upon hearing about such a high-ranking item as an imperial edict, everyone fell silent. None of those present were of high birth, and naturally, they had no experience in handling imperial edicts.
Lu Tu laughed loudly, "We've killed the Shence Army before. If Jiang Lingfeng brings it up, we can just deny it. At worst, we'll rebel against them!"
These words shocked everyone present. Although almost all of them had guessed that Lü Tu would rebel, hearing these words from Lü Tu's mouth was truly beyond their expectations!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
