dognovel Chapter 257 How should we deal with Lu Xun?
Chapter 257 How should we deal with Lu Xun?
Are these shoes for us?
Those brand-new shoes were like heavy hammer blows, leaving the returning soldiers dizzy and disoriented.
They wanted to abandon the general in his time of crisis, but instead of blaming them, the general gave them shoes.
These shoes weren't even left for the soldiers; they were just given to them like that?
The soldier returned home with ringing in his ears and feeling completely disoriented.
The soldiers left behind were equally mesmerized, looking at Guan Xing's back as if they were seeing a god. Even the back of a god couldn't compare to the majesty of General Guan. General Guan was the true god.
They weren't jealous that the new shoes were given to the soldiers returning home first. General Guan had said that everyone would get them; it was just a matter of time. So why be jealous?
If General Guan treats the soldiers who returned home this way, how could he possibly mistreat these loyal and righteous men who stayed behind?
While the soldiers left behind watched in silence, they were thinking about how to defeat the Wu army and repay the general's kindness. However, the soldier who was about to return home hurriedly said, "General, you mustn't. It would be disloyal of me to leave now. How can I take your things again? Besides, we are about to go to war. The brothers who are left behind need the shoes more than we do."
Guan Xing picked up a pair of shoes and shoved them into the soldier's hands without saying a word, saying in a forceful tone, "Take them. I don't like being rejected. Old Shen, distribute the shoes to everyone."
The shoes were quickly distributed to everyone. Some people chose to put them on immediately, while others carefully put them away to take back to their families.
Guan Xing did not interfere in this matter; how others deal with their own things is their own business and has nothing to do with him.
After making sure every soldier returning home received his shoes, Guan Xing waved and said, "Alright, go home now. Hurry up, it'll get dark soon."
Under the watchful eyes of Guan Xing and tens of thousands of soldiers, the soldiers left the camp, turning back again and again. Some regretted it before they even reached the camp gate, turning around and shouting, "General Guan, I don't want to leave. I want to stay and fight the Wu army with you."
Upon hearing this, the others turned around and changed their minds. At a glance, there were as many as a thousand soldiers who changed their minds. This would not do. Why would they come back after they had all left?
Guan Xing laughed and said, "Then consider it a holiday. Go back and take a trip before coming back. From now on, we will take turns giving holidays in the army so that all the brothers can have a chance to get together with their families. You are the first batch of people to take leave, so go back."
After Guan Xing's repeated persuasion, the soldiers finally left reluctantly.
As they left the camp, a group of soldiers marched against the flow towards the military camp, led by Ning Huan, the commander of the scout battalion.
Ning Huan squeezed through the crowd into the camp gate and asked Guan Xing in surprise, "General, what's wrong? Why are you all crying as you leave?"
Guan Xing gave a brief explanation and then asked, "Why are you back?"
Upon hearing this, Ning Huan instinctively leaned close to Guan Xing's ear to whisper something, but Guan Xing pushed him away in disgust, saying, "Speak up if you have something to say. There's nothing shameful about this."
Ning Huan rolled his eyes and deliberately raised his voice, saying, "News has come from Nanchang that Lu Xun, the acting Grand Commander of Eastern Wu, has gathered 200,000 troops to attack us, accompanied by Pan Zhang, Xu Sheng, and Zhuge Jin. The Wu army is currently gathering in Nanchang and will probably attack soon."
Two hundred thousand is an absolutely terrifying number, and it's led by the famous Lu Xun. How could these ragtag soldiers not be terrified?
Ning Huan thought that the 200,000 Wu soldiers would intimidate everyone, so while speaking, he also observed the soldiers' expressions. However, he was surprised to find that the soldiers were unusually calm. They showed no fear or even surprise on their faces, as if they had known all along.
Guan Xing, on the other hand, looked somewhat astonished. He hadn't expected that the 200,000 he had casually made up would actually come true. This was unbelievable...
Ning Huan didn't notice Guan Xing's expression, but instead faced the army and asked in surprise, "You all knew all along?"
The soldiers in the front row nodded in unison, which made Ning Huan wonder what was going on. Did General Guan have an intelligence system under his command that he was unaware of?
He went to great lengths to find out about this matter. He made a special trip to Qian Yun to get information about Jingzhou, asked Qian Yun for his old network of contacts from when he was a merchant, and then contacted Qian Yun's merchant friends to ask them for help in finding out about Wu Jun's whereabouts. Only then did he learn about Wu Jun's movements from merchants traveling to and from Nanchang. He was surprised that General Guan knew about the information he had gone through so much trouble to find out before him.
This is too outrageous.
After struggling internally for a long time, Ning Huan finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked in surprise, "General, how did you know?"
In front of all his soldiers, Guan Xing couldn't admit that he knew nothing about it, so he could only ask in return, "Is 200,000 just a claim?"
Everyone knows the current situation of Eastern Wu. Even if Sun Quan were to chop himself into dumpling filling and sell himself, he still wouldn't be able to sell an army of 200,000. At most, he could only sell 50,000.
You call it 200,000 when you're only asking for 50,000? You're really daring to open a dentist.
Ning Huan shook his head and said, "I don't know, but it's highly likely that they're calling themselves General. How should we deal with this?"
Guan Xing laughed easily, "Just deal with it as it comes. It's not like the sky is falling just because Wu Jun is here. Eat and drink as usual, and life goes on. Dismissed."
Seeing Guan Xing so calm, the soldiers naturally didn't worry and all dispersed and returned to camp as usual.
After they left, Guan Xingcai chuckled and said, "Yesterday, to boost morale, I casually made up an estimate of 200,000 Wu soldiers. I didn't expect it to be correct. You should go and rest first. In half an hour, I will summon all officers of the rank of colonel and above to my tent for a meeting."
He needed time to sort out his thoughts and consider a battle plan against Lu Xun, so he did not hold a meeting immediately, but instead scheduled it for half an hour later.
Back in his tent, Guan Xing lay down on his cot and fell into deep thought. Everything is based on people, and the core factor that determines the outcome of a war is always people.
Therefore, to win, you must start with the people. You need to understand the enemy's strength and the enemy commander's fighting style. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
Moreover, he was facing Lu Xun, a figure who was renowned throughout China's five-thousand-year history. To win, he had to be cautious and understand Lu Xun's fighting style.
Lu Xun is most famous for the Battle of Yiling in history, so to understand Lu Xun, one must start with this battle.
In the Battle of Yiling, Lu Xun dealt with Liu Bei by first reluctantly handing over Wuxian and Zigui, two bridgeheads leading out of Sichuan, to Liu Bei, thus avoiding a direct confrontation with the Shu army when their morale was at its peak.
Secondly, while retreating to Yiling and confronting Liu Bei across the river, they trapped the Shu army in the Yiling mountainous area, which stretches for 200 miles, forcing Liu Bei to set up camps for 100 miles. This not only dispersed the Shu army's forces but also lengthened their supply lines.
Finally, the strategy was to wear down the Shu army's morale and wait out the long, rainy season before launching a full-scale attack, delivering a fatal blow to Liu Bei.
From this perspective, Lu Xun's combat style is somewhat similar to Li Shimin's. Both of them first wear down the enemy's morale by engaging in a standoff, and then deliver a thunderous blow when the enemy reveals a weakness.
The decisive Battle of Yiling broke out. Lu Xun pursued and blocked Liu Bei from both sides, not only giving Liu Bei no chance to counterattack, but also forcing Liu Bei to cross hundreds of miles of mountains overnight, which exhausted the old man to death.
At the end of the second year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin quelled the rebellion of Song Jingang. He chased Song Jingang on horseback for three days and three nights, forcing Song Jingang into Queshu Valley, but he still did not give up and continued to pursue him. During Song Jingang's retreat, he organized eight counterattacks in succession, but Li Shimin repelled them one by one. He really bit him to death when he caught him. Look how similar Lu Xun's and Li Shimin's fighting styles are.
If I want to defeat Lu Xun, I can't let Lu Xun bite me like a venomous snake. But first, I need to stay clear-headed and not make the same mistakes that Liu Bei made.
But then again, what mistakes did Liu Bei make in the Battle of Yiling?