Chapter 358: Lu Bu: Move aside, I'm about to start showing off!【2】

North of the Yinshan Mountains.

As the sun set, the crimson sunlight dyed the entire Yinshan range red.

A troop of several hundred riders emerged from the Yinshan Mountains, and before them lay the boundless Mobei grasslands.

"Report!"

Behind the several hundred cavalry, a fast horse rolled up dust and smoke as it galloped to the very front of the troop.

"The General has ordered to set up camp and head to Shoujiang City early tomorrow morning!" the messenger said loudly.

The leading generals, Chen Qing'an and Zhang Liao, raised their arms, and the several hundred riders behind them immediately came to a silent halt.

As the troop stopped.

In front of Chen Qing'an and Zhang Liao, the dozen or so riders led by Lu Bu also stopped their horses and turned to look at Zhang Liao and Chen Qing'an.

Lu Bu, wearing armor, draped in a hundred-flower battle cloak, and holding the Painted Halberd of Heaven, turned around, frowned slightly, and asked: "We are only a few dozen miles from Shoujiang City; we could arrive before dark, why not continue forward?"

Chen Qing'an frowned slightly, his expression somewhat unhappy.

Even Zhang Liao, who was beside Chen Qing'an, also frowned as he looked at Lu Bu.

He thought to himself that this person was probably a fool.

"The General is in charge of marching and formation; how can you question it?" Chen Qing'an said with a straight face: "You are responsible for guiding the way to Shoujiang City; you are not allowed to participate in military matters."

Chen Qing'an looked at Lu Bu with a cold expression.

"You!"

Lu Bu's eyes widened, and he was immediately choked with anger.

"What about me?" Chen Qing'an said, not caring at all: "You are just a Thief-Catching Official of the county; how could you understand the General's use of troops?"

"Just do your job honestly."

It wasn't that Chen Qing'an was deliberately saying this to humiliate Lu Bu.

Since they set off the day before yesterday, Lu Bu had really acted as if he were someone important all the way.

He had to participate in marching and setting up camp.

At first, Chen Qing'an didn't say anything.

But now Lu Bu was actually questioning Duan Yu's military orders.

As a subordinate, obeying orders and following the army is basic.

Furthermore, the army was going to Shoujiang City to display the military might of the Han army.

The army had traveled a long distance, and their military appearance was not neat; even if they arrived at Tanhanshan early, what if the Xiongnu had evil intentions?

Dealing with a rested enemy with a tired army is a major taboo in marching.

If he didn't even understand this, then there was no point in talking about marching.

"Qing'an, let it go; they are just county Thief-Catching Officials and don't understand the elements of marching." Zhang Liao advised from the side.

Chen Qing'an then nodded and ordered the entire army to dismount and organize the camp.

Lu Bu, who was walking at the very front, was so angry his face flushed red.

Song Xian spurred his horse forward two steps, approached Lu Bu, and lowered his voice: "My lord, don't lower yourself to their level."

"This person is named Chen Qing'an; he was just a farmer in the village before, and now he's been granted the title of Sima by riding on Duan Yu's coattails."

"How would he know what 'speed is the essence of war' means."

Lu Bu took a deep breath, calmed his mood, and then nodded.

After the cavalry dismounted and set up camp, they began to light fires and cook food, waiting for Duan Yu's main force to arrive.

The dozen or so people Lu Bu brought were all from Jiuyuan County.

So when they sat in the camp, they formed their own small group.

They were far away from the three hundred vanguard cavalry led by Chen Qing'an and Zhang Liao.

Sitting by the fire, looking at the porridge boiling in the pot, Lu Bu's gaze fell on Chen Qing'an and Zhang Liao in the distance, his eyes extremely unconvinced.

And at this moment, Song Xian and the others sitting beside Lu Bu started making trouble again.

The porridge in the pot was boiling; Song Xian picked up a wooden spoon, stirred it, and then threw the wooden spoon into the pot with a look of disgust.

"Drinking porridge every day, my mouth is going to go bland."

"We had meat at every meal in the county; not only did we get this bitter job, but why can we only drink porridge every day?"

Hou Cheng, who was beside him, took off the water bag at his waist and shook it, smacking his lips.

"There's not even any wine; it's really annoying."

With the two of them shouting like this, the dozen or so companions who came from Jiuyuan County all started to stir up trouble.

The sound naturally attracted the attention of Chen Qing'an and Zhang Liao.

Chen Qing'an frowned deeply.

Zhang Liao lowered his voice and advised: "Qing'an, don't pay attention to them."

"These small county officials are used to acting like tyrants in the county; if they really went to the battlefield, how many of them could endure the hardships of the battlefield?"

Speaking of enduring hardships, before Chen Qing'an followed Duan Yu, he could barely eat one meal a day in the village, and it was good enough if he could get full.

Now that he could eat his fill three times a day, this life was something he hadn't even dared to imagine before.

As for what kind of life the small county officials lived, Chen Qing'an didn't know before.

But Chen Qing'an understood one thing: being in the army, one must obey military orders.

The three hundred cavalrymen he and Zhang Liao led were all descendants of the Zhang family of Mayi.

In terms of living, it was certainly no worse than the small officials of Jiuyuan County.

But in terms of military orders, these dozen or so small officials of Jiuyuan County were worlds apart from the three hundred descendants of the Zhang clan of Mayi.

So this was not a question of where they came from.

But a fundamental flaw.

That made this group's military discipline poor.

Just as Zhang Liao was persuading him, someone spoke up on Lu Bu's side again.

"My lord, let the brothers go behind the mountain to hunt some game to improve our meal."

"We haven't eaten meat for two days; we don't have any strength at all." Song Xian said to Lu Bu.

Lu Bu glanced at the tasteless porridge in front of him and was also somewhat annoyed, so he nodded.

Getting Lu Bu's consent, Song Xian immediately winked at his companions, grabbed the bow and arrow beside him, and stood up.

"Hold on."

Chen Qing'an, who could no longer bear it, stood up from beside the fire, pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword, and looked at Lu Bu and the others, saying: "After the army sets up camp, without military orders, no one is allowed to leave the camp; violators will be dealt with by military law!"

"You..."

Song Xian, who had already picked up his bow and arrow and stood up with several small officials, froze in place.

"Why, why is that? We're just going to hunt some prey to improve our meal; is that not allowed?" Song Xian said unconvinced.

"No!" Chen Qing'an's voice was firm: "If everyone were like you, wanting to go into the mountains to hunt some prey to improve their meal, would there be anyone left in the army?"

"Military orders are like mountains; those who do not obey will be beheaded without mercy."

Chen Qing'an had a dark face.

He had endured this for a long time on this journey.

Although Lu Bu and this group were county officials of Jiuyuan County, since they were ordered to follow the army, they had to be managed by the army.

Lu Bu and the others had loose military discipline on this journey, and they had questioned Duan Yu's military orders; now they wanted to enter and exit the military camp at will after setting up camp. This kind of behavior was a provocation to military regulations.

This was something Chen Qing'an absolutely would not allow.

From the day he learned military law and military strategy from Gao Shun, Gao Shun taught him an iron rule.

That is, military orders are like mountains, and orders must be obeyed.

Looking at the dark-faced Chen Qing'an, Song Xian didn't dare to move at will for a moment, but his eyes looked at Lu Bu for help.

At this time, Zhang Liao no longer persuaded him.

Military orders are the bottom line; this time Zhang Liao chose to stand on Chen Qing'an's side.

Lu Bu stood up with a frown.

His tall and straight posture immediately exuded a sense of oppression.

The atmosphere around them suddenly turned cold.

"Chen Qing'an, don't go too far." Lu Bu said with a cold face: "We are officials of Jiuyuan County, not soldiers under your command; you don't need to use military law to pressure me." ===== CHAPTER 360 =====