Chapter 1778: Chapter 566: Entering Guangning, Reprimanding Yuwen Dao (2)

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"What is the charge for unauthorized military action without the order of the Commander?"

Amidst the fierce battle below, no one noticed that at the high altitude above Guangning Mountain, a dozen figures had already quietly arrived.

Xia Hong looked at the victorious Xia Army below, but his face showed little joy. He even frowned slightly, turned his head, and quietly asked a question to Yuwen Dao behind him.

Upon hearing this question, Yuwen Dao’s heart sank instantly. After pondering for a moment, he cupped his hands and replied, "My Lord, I gave Hou Bing twenty thousand troops. The order I gave him was to keep an eye on the Cai Qiu war prisoners. Before the battle began, he sent someone to inform me that he intended to take ten thousand troops to cleanse the area around the war prisoners’ camp.

As for Yuwen Yong, the twenty thousand troops under his command were assigned to him after the battle to the north of the valley entrance ended the night before last. At that time, I ordered him to clean up the remnants of the Cai Qiu army post-battle. Before attacking Guangning Mountain, he also sent a messenger to report that the remnants had fled to the Guangning Mountain area, and he wanted to lead troops to pursue and exterminate them.

I never expected these two to be so bold, daring to attack Guangning Mountain Camp with thirty thousand troops. The fault lies not with them, but with my oversight. Please, my Lord, punish me!"

Yuwen Dao was genuinely a bit stunned at this moment.

He indeed did not expect Hou Bing to be so eager for merit, using wordplay with him. More unexpectedly, his brother Yuwen Yong also deceived him.

Who could have imagined that with thirty thousand troops, these two would unite over ninety thousand rebels and dare to attack Guangning Mountain unauthorized?

Of course, the result now is favorable.

Guangning Mountain has been captured, and the ongoing battle below shows that the losses are definitely within an acceptable range. Therefore, the two of them can be viewed in two ways regarding their responsibility.

One way is to handle it officially, ignoring the achievements they’ve made and punishing them for defying military orders, which would be quite severe;

The other approach is to be lenient, as Hou Bing only took ten thousand troops to attack Guangning Mountain, leaving another ten thousand to watch over the prisoner camp, which indeed did not have any issues. Yuwen Yong had informed beforehand that he would come to clean up the remnants around Guangning Mountain, so strictly speaking, neither of them disobeyed military orders.

Since they neither disobeyed orders nor achieved such significant feats, naturally, they should be rewarded for their merits and not punished.

Of course, these two perspectives mainly depend on the stance of the Lord.

Defying military orders and unauthorized action, what is the charge?

Xia Hong’s question seemed to indicate his attitude, but Yuwen Yong sensitively perceived that although Xia Hong’s expression was serious, his tone lacked much anger.

Therefore, he chose to take a gamble, taking the blame upon himself and speaking a few words in defense of Hou Bing and Yuwen Yong. However, he was still uncertain about Xia Hong’s true stance, so he was naturally quite apprehensive inside.

Meanwhile, upon hearing Yuwen Dao’s words, Xia Hong raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at the battle below that was approaching its end. His previously gloomy expression gradually relaxed.

Leaving Hou Bing aside, Yuwen Yong was also below. Yuwen Dao siding with these two was inevitable.

Hou Bing and Yuwen Yong’s motivations to initiate the battle had been clear to Xia Hong during his flight from River Valley Village.

The size of Great Xia was now enormous.

Internal factional divisions and the establishment of various cliques had become much more severe compared to a few years ago. Although he wasn’t pleased with this situation, he clearly understood it was unavoidable.

Since it was unavoidable, it had to be accepted.

How to balance these different factions, allowing them to remain in competition with each other while contributing more to Great Xia, was what Xia Hong needed to consider.

Hou Bing was merely the Commander of the Fei Peng Army, and Yuwen Yong was merely the Vice Commander of the Dragon Martial Army, additionally serving as the General of the Five Camps of the Jinyang Alliance Army. With their positions, they couldn’t fully command the twenty thousand troops under their control.

The military system of Great Xia stipulated that soldiers must act according to the commander’s orders. Except under special circumstances, orders were typically conveyed clearly to every soldier.

This meant that the thirty thousand Xia troops currently attacking Guangning Mountain knew exactly what they were doing.

In other words, they willingly followed Hou Bing and Yuwen Yong in this gamble.

"Soldiers all yearn to establish meritorious service, but with the war against Cai Qiu almost over, they worry about being idle, fearing no more large-scale battles in the future. So, even under the pressure of possibly incurring my blame, they dared to engage in this battle..."

After mentally reviewing the soldiers’ mindset, Xia Hong revealed a slight smile, then looked at Yuwen Dao and slowly said, "I see, since the two did not disobey military orders and successfully captured Guangning Mountain, they naturally have done meritorious work and are blameless. However..."

Given Yuwen Dao’s character, he certainly wouldn’t lie to cover up for them, so this incident was likely Hou Bing and Yuwen Yong collaborating to outsmart him.

As it had come to this, Yuwen Dao, as the Director of the Military Department overseeing Great Xia’s military affairs, naturally needed to protect his two subordinates. If his authority were undermined, Yuwen Dao, as a director, would find it difficult to command the army in the future.

However, remaining silent would not suffice either.

This time, Yuwen Yong and Hou Bing seized on Cai Qiu’s assumption that Xia’s army would cease attacking, catching them off guard and successfully betting right. Without oversight, if other generals become greedy for merit and start emulating recklessly, it’s unlikely they would always make the right bets.

The battlefield situation changes in an instant, and having commanders rigidly follow orders is unrealistic, but military matters are of utmost national importance. Careless gambling with soldiers’ lives benefits neither the army nor Great Xia’s future.

The key is to find a balance between flexibility and discipline!

Xia Hong intended to give a reprimand, so his tone naturally turned stern as he continued, "Although Hou Bing and Yuwen Yong are faultless, you, as the Left Army Commander, are completely unaware of your subordinates’ movements. If it weren’t for the scouts reporting, you might still be in the dark about Guangning Mountain’s situation.

Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy ensures victory in every battle. If you cannot even manage your subordinates, you will suffer greatly in the future.

This fault must be punished, so I will task you with supervising the construction of Guangning City, and you will guard this place this year, taking full responsibility for defending against Cai Qiu!"

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Dao’s face immediately showed a trace of bitterness.

This punishment wasn’t severe, but the impact on him was significant.

First, since Xia Hong determined he was at fault, his year-end evaluation would certainly be affected. At the director level, differences in annual appraisal rewards could result in a disparity of millions of Contribution Value points, which even mattered greatly to him;

Secondly, if he guards this place for a year, he won’t have a part in the war with Chen Cang. This means his opportunities to gain credit in this round of battle are essentially over.

Xia Hong was already inclined to cease fire with Cai Qiu, and Hou Bing and Yuwen Yong’s seizure of Guangning Mountain clearly made Xia Hong a little unhappy, so it’s likely there won’t be another war with Cai Qiu for many years to come.

Additionally, a year without returning to Xia City means his spot at the Martial Arts Pavilion would also be lost. For him at this stage, every missed opportunity to enter the Martial Arts Pavilion is a loss.

Lastly, he could detect that Xia Hong’s tone was heavy with a sense of reprimand.

Hou Bing and Yuwen Yong’s little ploys didn’t fool him, so they certainly wouldn’t fool the Lord. The factional struggles were evidently making the Lord somewhat displeased, hence the reprimand.

"Once this matter concludes, I must have a serious talk with my brother—he cannot be capriciously manipulated by others anymore. Hou Bing resorted to gambling because the Longbei System fell from power, but the Mirror Valley Faction has no such need. Yuan Cheng’s attempt to persuade the Minister to appoint Xu Ning to replace me as the Director of the Military Department is utterly presumptuous—I didn’t rise to this position through the Minister’s help!"

Yuwen Dao was very clear-sighted about this. His standing as the Director of the Military Department depended entirely on Xia Hong’s recognition, and hardly at all on Xia Chuan.

His relationship with Xia Chuan was competitive, though Xia Chuan, as the Minister, was nominally the leader of the Eight Departments Directors. Deep down, he never truly respected Xia Chuan.

Therefore, even knowing Yuan Cheng and others were against him, intending for Xu Ning to replace him, he never panicked.

As long as the Lord still trusted him and recognized his ability, his position as Director would remain secure.

Yet now, Xia Hong’s reprimand served as a wake-up call for him.

He could vaguely perceive a looming crisis.

"The wars with the two vassal states should soon be drawing to a close. As the Camp scales up, a reshuffle of power is inevitable. At this critical juncture, no mishaps can occur. My brother, and the other members of the Mirror Valley Faction, must now be strongly constrained!"

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