My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 334 Daring Not to Rebel
Yuwen Shu looked at Yu Zhongwen in astonishment.

"What does the old general mean by this?!"

"We are loyal and devoted to our ruler, how can you accuse us like this?!"

Yu Zhongwen was so angry he almost laughed.

He pointed at the two scoundrels in front of him and cursed, "It was indeed His Majesty's fault for delaying the attack on Liaodong City, which is why I followed you and led the troops on my own. But now Liaodong City has been captured! What did you mean by what you just said?"

"Especially you! Li Xuanba!"

"What do you mean, 'the petty people are afraid of us'? Do you know what you're saying?"

"And you, Yuwen Shu, His Majesty has always favored you the most, entrusting you with the command of the entire army. Is this how you repay His Majesty? You are clearly trying to coerce the generals and force the Emperor!"

"If you two really want to rebel, then kill me now."

Yu Zhongwen said excitedly, "I have spent my whole life on the battlefield, and I do not wish to die with the infamy of a traitor!"

Yuwen Shu's face immediately darkened. "Given the current situation, do I even need to kill the general?"

"If the general wants to die, that's too easy. He just needs to do nothing and wait here!"

"I'll either die in battle because of the emperor's foolish orders, or I'll be executed for poor performance in battle! Do you think it's my place to kill a general?"

Yuwen Shu angrily clenched his fist, "A million-strong army!"

"A million-strong army marched to Liaodong, only to arrive in this godforsaken place, where thousands die, are wounded, or maimed every day!! Why the hell did they conscript a million soldiers to this godforsaken place? Just to show off their power?"

"Currently, there are only about 400,000 soldiers participating in the battle. What about the rest? They're just sitting around in various places! Moving! Waiting to die!"

"How many of the old generals died? How many of the soldiers died?"

"If that were all, it would be one thing, but look at this order! All important matters must be ordered by the emperor? What use are we generals then? Why not just dismiss us and let him give orders directly to the captains and soldiers?!"

"If he hadn't stopped the vanguard during the Liao River incident and had let Mai Tiezhang handle it alone, how could the Right Garrison Army have suffered such heavy casualties?!"

"If he hadn't stopped us four times in a row during this attack on Liaodong City, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy casualties! Do you know how many soldiers I have left?!"

"My elite troops are all capable of taking on ten or even a hundred men each! Back when we were fighting the Tuyuhun, a few thousand elite soldiers could chase down and slaughter tens of thousands of enemy troops. But now? They've all died in vain in this godforsaken place! Their bodies will have to be buried here!!"

Yuwen Shu finally began to vent his anger, roaring as if he wanted to unleash all his fury.

"Yu Zhongwen!! We started our campaign last year, and many soldiers have been away from home for almost a year now!! Those who came from the south, they just traveled for a whole year! And then they fought on the front lines for another six months!"

"When Duan Wenzhen was dying, he held my hand and said that if we wanted to win, we had to finish the battle quickly!"

"And now? A quick battle?"

"Let me tell you! His Majesty still doesn't understand why the war has turned out this way! He still thinks it's because we weren't working hard enough or brave enough, and he thinks it's all our fault!"

"You don't want to collude with us? Fine, come on!"

Yuwen Shu drew his sword and handed it directly to Yu Zhongwen, saying, "Stab us both to death now! Take our heads to Liuhe City!"

"In that case, His Majesty will favor you greatly and appoint you as commander. Perhaps he will even let you lead the vanguard to attack Pyongyang! By the way, be careful at that time. His Majesty is very impatient and might send you on a lightly armed attack to reach Pyongyang within a month! If you fail to complete the mission, remember to commit suicide with this sword!!"

Yuwen Shu gave him a sudden push, and Yu Zhongwen stumbled back several steps.

Yu Zhongwen was completely bewildered by Yuwen Shu's words. He stared wide-eyed at Yuwen Shu in astonishment, then looked at the sword in his hand, at a loss for words.

Li Xuanba looked at Yuwen Shu in surprise; he had never expected this old warrior to be so eloquent.

Yu Zhongwen threw the sword to the ground in grief and anger, and sat down in despair.

“Duke Xu, you and I have both experienced great turmoil. The world was finally unified, and those upheavals have only just ended. Do you want our descendants to go through those times again? I would rather die than become such a sinner.”

After venting his anger, Yuwen Shu's complexion improved considerably, and he slowly sat down. "I had no intention of rebelling, and even if the people in the army had such an idea, they wouldn't be able to carry it out."

Yuwen Shu seemed to glance at Li Xuanba.

“The soldiers’ families are all in the rear, and we have no food supplies. How could we possibly rebel? So you have absolutely no need to worry.”

"What I want to do is very simple: I just want to go back alive and bring more people back with me."

"You know that the emperor cannot listen to any advice. If it were me or you who stepped forward to advise and propose the correct approach, we would definitely be rejected. Only if we all unite and submit a joint petition will it be accepted."

Yu Zhongwen's lips trembled. "I understand what you mean, but what should we do next?"

“What we’re doing will definitely anger His Majesty. We’re all together now, so he won’t say much, but what about after the war? Will those of us who led the charge survive?”

Yuwen Shu shook his head. "I don't know."

"I haven't read many books, and I can't be as frugal as those southerners. I'll just live one day at a time, and if I can't live, I'll die."

What does General Yu think?

Yu Zhongwen's eyes flickered.

Liuhe City.

The emperor's carriage was slowly moving away.

They were protected by a large army from the front and back.

For some reason, the recent troop movements have been very strange. Troops that were fighting in various places have received orders to retreat to the emperor's side.

The army fighting on the front lines was not just Yuwen Shu and Yu Zhongwen's force; other armies were also battling the rebels, capturing cities and territories, and achieving considerable results. Unfortunately, these efforts had little impact on the overall war situation, but instead resulted in significant losses.

These troops began to move back and gathered around the emperor.

Suddenly, the number of generals around the emperor increased significantly.

Among them were General Mai Tiezhang of the Left Guard, who had just suffered a crushing defeat and was reorganizing his army, and was even unable to ride a horse due to injuries; General Jing Yuanheng of the Left Valiant Guard, who came from a prominent family in Henan; General Zhang Jin of the Right Imperial Guard, who came from the Zhang family of Wu County; and General Cui Hongsheng of the Left Martial Guard, who came from the Cui family of Boling.

Wei Xuan, who was born in Guanzhong but had a distinct scholar-official style, was the Inspector General of the Right Imperial Guard; Guo Rong, who was born into the Guo family of Taiyuan, was the General of the Left Guard; Zheng Yuanzhu, who was born into the Zheng family of Xingyang, was the General of the Right Guard; Fan Zigai, who was born into the Fan family of Lujiang, was the General of the Right Martial Guard, and so on.

These generals arrived at the emperor's side in an endless stream, crowding around the carriage, and their numbers grew larger and larger.

With the return of these generals, the emperor's good temper gradually turned sour.

When Yang Guang arrived at Liuhe City, his army was stationed outside the city, with various camps densely packed together. The scale of the camps made the distant Liaodong City look much smaller. Yang Guang was overjoyed and held a banquet to entertain the generals. He drank and ate meat with them and watched the performance of dancing girls.

Yang Guang sat on the throne, holding a wine cup in his hand, looking at his generals with a smug expression.

He raised his wine cup and said, “I am overjoyed to have captured Liaodong and wanted to reward the generals in Liuhe City. However, the generals of Liaodong probably think that their military achievements are too great and have not come to pay their respects to this day.”

"Does this mean I should go and pay my respects to them?"

Upon hearing the emperor's question, the generals exchanged glances. In truth, they were all well aware of the emperor's sudden order, but they dared not get involved. With a million troops piled up at the front lines, causing chaos would be bad for everyone.

Mai Tiezhang then spoke up, saying, "Your Majesty, Liaodong City has just been captured, and there is much to be done. Your Majesty has only just arrived in Liuhe City, and I expect the generals will come to pay their respects soon."

Yang Guang snorted coldly and was about to speak when a soldier hurriedly walked in.

The soldier's face was grim, even somewhat fearful.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Duke of Rong has sent someone with a battle report."

(End of this chapter)