My Sexy CEO Wife

Chapter 375 - 372: The Furious Wind

"Don't spread alarm here!" a commanding officer loudly exclaimed, "In just half a month, we have annihilated tens of thousands of bandits; those remaining are petrified, coiled up, and dare not come out! How many bandits could there be in the hills and great plains altogether? A hundred thousand at most, and now more than half have been eradicated by us. The rest are not worth our concern!"

"How do you know there are a hundred thousand bandits?" Gao Fei asked indifferently.

"Uh... It's a guess..." the officer admitted.

"A guess?" Gao Fei curled his lip: "This is the first time I've heard of relying on guesses in conducting a military campaign."

"You..."

"May I ask, sir, what if your guess is wrong?"

"Impossible! I will definitely not guess wrong!"

"Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. If, by chance, you are wrong... it could bring us immense trouble..."

"What's with all these 'ifs'! To put it plainly, you are just a coward, afraid to fight the bandits."

"I am a coward? Today I led hundreds of soldiers against tens of thousands of bandits, fully prepared to die in battle... If I were a coward, I would have fled long ago, not stayed to fight the bandits," Gao Fei retorted.

"You wouldn't dare flee! Cao Buwei ordered you to cover the rear; if you ran, he would never let you off easily."

"You..."

"What 'you'? Am I wrong? Military orders are as weighty as mountains. Should you dare defy them, you would face severe punishment. At the very least, you would be stripped of your post for investigation, or at worst, beheaded," Gao Fei stated firmly.

As they argued, the two of them began to quarrel.

"Enough, both of you, stop talking," Wan Fuchang Miao Kuangfeng waved his hand: "Let's not fall out over this." Pausing, he added, "What Gao Fei says... does make some sense."

"Sir..." the officer who had argued with Gao Fei suddenly became anxious: "I..."

"Shut up," Miao Kuangfeng glared at the officer: "I've been investigating for years and still haven't figured out how many bandits there are in the hills and great plains, yet you speculate there are a hundred thousand! This is a military campaign, not child's play. A wrong guess could result in enormous casualties among the soldiers. Can you bear such a consequence?!"

"I... I..." After being reprimanded by Miao Kuangfeng, the officer's face flushed red.

"Until we have a clear understanding of the bandits' capabilities, we must not act rashly," Miao Kuangfeng stated gravely. "Our tens of thousands of troops assembled may move slowly, but they can respond to dangers. Even if all the bandits of the hills and great plains unite, we would still be able to fight. But if we separate... our strength would be greatly diminished.

Should we encounter a large-scale group of bandits then, we would be in trouble."

"The general speaks truly; I was confused just now," the officer hastily admitted his mistake, lowering his head. He could argue with Gao Fei, even insult him, but he dared not contradict Miao Kuangfeng.

"Issue the order for the soldiers to rest for a day; we will set out to search for the bandits tomorrow," Miao Kuangfeng commanded.

"Yes!" chorused the officers.

"Alright, that's all, everyone may leave," Miao Kuangfeng dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

Just then, a soldier rushed in: "Reporting to the general, Chiliarch Cao Buwei has arrived, waiting outside the main tent..."

"Cao Buwei?" Miao Kuangfeng's expression darkened: "He dares to see me! That coward... Let him roll in here!"

"Yes, sir." The soldier turned and left.

Shortly after, a man clad in armor walked into the tent; it was Chiliarch Cao Buwei.

"This subordinate pays respects to the general... Eh, Gao Fei? What are you doing here?" Cao Buwei asked, his face full of surprise when he saw Gao Fei.

Gao Fei twitched the corner of his mouth: "You must be surprised to see that I'm still alive, sir."

"You..."

"It was Wan Fuchang who saved me."

"...You really do have good luck."

"Yes, I am indeed very lucky, to have encountered Wan Fuchang when I was on the brink of death."

Seeing that Gao Fei was still alive, Cao Buwei felt very frustrated. He had left Gao Fei behind in the hall in the hope that he would die, but Gao Fei's luck was so good that he was eventually rescued by Wan Fuchang. It seems that man's plans can't truly match the workings of fate.

"Cao Buwei," Miao Kuangfeng's gaze was icy as he looked at Cao Buwei, "you actually have the face to come see me."

"Ah... Sir, please listen to my explanation..."

"What else is there to explain?"

"Sir, I was really left with no choice... The bandits numbered over ten thousand, while we had only a little over two thousand people. The strength disparity was too huge..."

"How have I taught you usually? Haven't I told you that when you encounter bandits, you must not show cowardice, better to die fighting than to run away in fear. Did you take my words as nothing but wind passed your ears?"

"No... I firmly remember your teachings, Sir, it's just that I... I didn't want the soldiers to die in vain..."

"Not wanting the soldiers to die in vain?" Miao Kuangfeng snorted coldly: "That sounds so noble! I almost believed you!" With that, his tone suddenly turned chillier: "Then why did you let Gao Fei and the others stay behind to cover the retreat? Weren't you the one who didn't want soldiers to die for nothing?"

"This... that... the situation was critical at the time, and it was necessary to leave a group behind..."

"Nonsense about covering the retreat! It's clear you wanted Gao Fei and the others to die!"

"I... It was my only option..."

"Cao Buwei, Cao Buwei, I always thought you were someone with responsibility and backbone. Now I see I was wrong, and outrageously so. You have no sense of responsibility, not an ounce of backbone. When you make a mistake, you only try to shirk it. Confronted with bandits, your first thought isn't to fight but to flee... You have disappointed me deeply."

"Sir, I... I did make a mistake this time, and I apologize to you. Please give me another chance, I promise I won't make a similar mistake again."

"You realize your mistake? Then tell me, where did you go wrong?"

"I... I shouldn't have run away. I shouldn't have left Gao Fei and the others to cover our retreat..."

"Is that all?"

"Ah? I shouldn't try to deflect the blame..." Cao Buwei's face turned pale, his forehead covered with beads of sweat.

"Chiliarch Cao did wrong this time, but he has recognized his mistake. Let's give him a chance to make amends."

"Yes, give him a chance."

"Let Chiliarch Cao redeem himself with meritorious deeds."

...

Several officers stepped forward to plead for Cao Buwei.

"Cao Buwei! Your desertion in the face of the enemy has caused a terribly bad influence. According to military law, your head should be chopped off!" Miao Kuangfeng said coldly: "In consideration of the other officers pleading for you, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself through meritorious deeds."

"Thank you, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

"I will observe your behavior from now on. If you perform well, I will let bygones be bygones. If not, I will settle both old and new scores with you. Then don't blame me for turning heartless."

"Yes, yes, I will certainly perform well."