dognovel Chapter 111 Both are fraudsters
Chapter 111 Both are fraudsters
Warfare is like solving a riddle; often it's a psychological battle, a contest of wits between the two commanders.
To put it simply, it's about whether you can fool the other party, similar to telecom fraud in later generations.
After listening to Xie Chong's analysis, Guan Xing called over Ning Huan and Guan Yan and said, "Guan Yan, pick a few Yue guides, go into Kuaiji Mountain, circle back to Zhuji City, and investigate the movements of the Wu army along the way."
"Ning Huan, you take your men from Shan County to Shanyin to investigate the situation in the coastal counties. Remember, secrecy is the most important thing. You may not be able to find out any information, but you must never reveal your whereabouts."
The generals of Eastern Wu were incredibly shrewd, even more so than monkeys. Any slight movement could arouse their suspicion, and once they were on guard, they could easily analyze the Han army's intentions from the slightest clues. Therefore, secrecy was essential.
The two bowed deeply and said, "Yes..."
After seeing them off, Guan Xing continued, "If we really implement the second plan, who would be suitable to launch a feint attack on Shanyin?"
Xie Chong pondered, "How about I go? I am from Yuyao and familiar with the coastal area. If I take Wang Tao with me, even if we can't recapture Shanyin City, we can retreat back into the mountains with ease. As for the troops, five thousand is enough."
Guan Xing immediately said, "Okay, you take Wang Tao's fifth division with you. These people are all from the mountain tribes and often rob around Shanyin. They are familiar with both the mountains and the plains. There is no one more suitable than them. You go and work with Wang Tao now, and leave the rest to me."
"Yes..." Xie Chong clasped his hands in a fist salute and left.
Guan Xing closed his eyes and simulated the battle in his mind, trying to find loopholes and fill in the gaps.
Just as he was pondering this, a scout came in and bowed, saying, "General, the Wu soldiers clearing the traps at the front have been replaced, and they are clearing them much faster than we are digging them."
Guan Xing waved his hand and said, "Understood."
After dismissing the scouts, Guan Xing opened his eyes and said with a cold smile, "Zhang Cheng, Zhang Cheng, I didn't expect you to play the game of turning the tables on me. You want to deliberately fall into my trap and lure me into attacking Shanyin, right? In that case, I'll grant your wish."
For a battle plan to be executed smoothly, the most important thing is to control the details. How many soldiers to send and how much food to carry, how many miles to march each day, when to launch the attack, and when to retreat—all these aspects need to be carefully calculated.
While it's not as extreme as the political dramas of later generations where even a two-second delay could lead to the failure of a plan, the more detailed the better.
Just like when Cao Cao launched a surprise attack on Wuchao during the Battle of Guandu, he couldn't win if he brought too few men, and his base would be vulnerable if he brought too many. So he had to plan carefully.
In the following days, the Han army dug pits while the Wu army cleared mines. Both sides retreated continuously across the pit area, and the battle raged until 9 PM before they finally rested.
At daybreak, Xie Chong and Wang Tao led their troops out. Guan Xing personally gave a pre-battle pep talk, and finally patted Xie Chong and Wang Tao on the shoulder, saying, "Be careful on the road, and remember to run if you can't win."
Xie Chong nodded emphatically and said, "General, rest assured, after learning from you for so long, it's time for me to show off my skills."
After saying this, he clasped his hands in a bow and led his army away at breakneck speed.
Guan Xing then called Meng Jun over and instructed him, "You should also pack up and return to Shan County. Your mission this time is also very important. If Wu Jun doesn't show up, fine. But if he does, you must keep them pinned down in Shan County to buy us time to encircle and annihilate Wu Jun."
Meng Jun bowed deeply and said, "Yes..."
After seeing Xie Chong and Meng Jun off, Guan Xing went back to continue digging traps and played a cat-and-mouse game with Zhang Cheng, chasing and escaping.
On the surface, Zhang Cheng was very cooperative, but in private he was showing off his skills by sending tens of thousands of troops to the front line and letting them roam around under Guan Xing's nose. At night, he secretly ordered a portion of the troops to retreat back to Zhuji City.
At the same time, Chunyu Shi, who had already returned to Shanyin, was ordered to build a temporary beacon tower between Zhuji and Shanyin to ensure that Shanyin could receive news and react quickly if it was attacked.
In just two nights, tens of thousands of troops were reduced to only seven thousand.
These 7,000 men not only had to clear the traps and play games with Guan Xing, but also had to make a show of force with tens of thousands of troops to prevent Guan Xing from finding out the Wu army's movements. Their task was undoubtedly heavy.
Meanwhile, Xie Chong led his army on a two-day march, finally emerging from the narrow ancient road sandwiched between Kuaiji Mountain and Siming Mountain, and entering Shanyin territory. They then spent another day building simple siege weapons before launching the attack.
Late that night, at the hour of Yin, Xie Chong led his army, carrying ladders, to the foot of Shanyin City. After observing for a moment, he sent two hundred men to swim across the moat and used crossbows to shoot out iron hooks to hook onto the battlements, attempting to use ropes to climb the city walls and launch a surprise attack.
A successful sneak attack would be ideal, but failure wouldn't be a big deal, but the sneak attack itself is something that must be done.
As expected, the moment the iron hook caught the battlements, it alerted the defenders on the city walls, and the two hundred vanguards in the moat were attacked before they even showed themselves.
Shortly after the battle broke out, Prefect Chunyu Shi led his troops to the scene and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Brothers, cheer up and drive the Han army back!"
While speaking, he didn't forget to pick up a torch and throw it at the pile of firewood that had been prepared on the city wall. The firewood was lit and quickly illuminated half the sky, and was seen by the guards on the beacon tower outside the city.
The garrison immediately lit the beacon tower they were guarding, passing the signal to the next beacon tower, and so on, relaying the message to Zhang Cheng, who was far away in Zhuji.
Chunyu Shi sneered as he saw the beacon fires burning outside the city. Two days ago, he was ordered to return to Shanyin City, where he divided the army into two shifts to take turns on guard duty, and personally took charge of the night patrols to prevent the guards on night duty from falling asleep and being ambushed by the Han army.
It now seems that our perseverance paid off; the damned Han army, just as General Zhang Cheng predicted, actually came to launch a surprise attack on Shanyin City.
Since that's the case, I won't hold back. I, Chunyu Shi, will soon show you damned Han soldiers what true impregnability means. You think you can attack my Shanyin? No way!
Xie Chong also smiled with triumph. Seeing that the night raid had failed, he decisively stood up and shouted, "Brothers, attack! Take Shanyin City for us!"
As the order was given, thousands of soldiers, under the cover of arrows, carried ladders and charged towards the city wall, drawing the attention of the defenders on the city wall and Zhang Cheng, who was far away in Zhuji.
His mission was to launch a feigned attack on Shanyin to lure Zhang Cheng back to reinforce it. Naturally, he couldn't just turn around and leave because the attack failed; that would be too fake.
Even when fixing a match, you should still play with professional ethics.
While directing the army's attack, Xie Chong did not forget to look back at the beacon fires. These beacon towers must have been set up by Zhang Cheng, and the message would reach Zhuji City in no more than 15 minutes.
Moreover, Zhang Cheng must have already made preparations to rescue Shanyin, and he will probably set off as soon as he sees the beacon fire.
Zhuji is only 120 li from Shanyin. If we set off now and march quickly, we can arrive before dark tomorrow. In other words, I don't need to hold out for too long. Just hold out until tomorrow evening.
Having clarified his strategy, Xie Chong continued the attack on the city, holding out until dawn before retreating. Moreover, he did not retreat far, continuing to forge weapons right under the noses of the defenders, adopting a posture of fighting to the death at Shanyin to prevent the defenders from discovering anything amiss.
At the same time, a large number of scouts were sent towards Zhuji to search for Zhang Cheng's whereabouts, in preparation for fleeing at any time.
They lingered like this until late afternoon when they launched another attack on Shanyin. After less than two hours, a scout came running in panic, shouting, "General, something terrible has happened! Zhang Cheng is leading his army to attack! No, Zhang Cheng has gone around to Shan County!"
Xie Chong couldn't help but marvel at how fast Zhang Cheng was, almost an hour faster than he had expected.
But now that the fish had taken the bait, there was no need for him to continue acting like a bait. He decisively ordered, "Retreat! Retreat quickly..."