Chapter 430: Standing Alone in the Bloody Journey
Author: Soy Sauce Mixed History
Chapter 430: Standing Alone in the Bloody Journey
"King Xiang's army was squatting on the wall. The few soldiers had eaten at night and heard that the Han army was besieged on all sides. King Xiang was shocked and said, 'Have all Han already conquered Chu? How many people are there in Chu.'"
This sentence is excerpted from "Historical Records" and tells about a strategy set up by Han Xin to defeat Xiang Yu.
Based on this strategy, later generations came up with the idiom "Besieged on all sides".
Although Shi Hui came from a well-known family, "Historical Records" was not officially recognized during the Han Dynasty. Coupled with the closed nature of knowledge in the world, what Shi Hui had in his hands were only fragments of "Historical Records".
Obviously Shi Hui had never heard of the tactic of being besieged on all sides, which would become famous in later generations.
But after Yu Fan read out the original text about being besieged on all sides in "Historical Records", Shi Hui quickly understood what kind of strategy this was.
In all battles, attacking the heart is the most important thing. This is a truth that almost every leader understands.
However, it is not so easy to attack the mind.
And being besieged on all sides is an excellent example of psychological warfare.
After reading part of the original text to Shi Hui, Yu Fan then told Shi Hui his thoughts.
"It can be seen from the letters obtained by the general that Deng Ai had already learned the news when the general's army approached Yelang.
According to common sense, Deng Ai's army was a guest army and had no idea of the terrain. In addition, the number of Han troops was far smaller than ours. Therefore, after learning about the arrival of the general's army, Deng Ai should adopt a retreat strategy.
But Deng Ai didn't do this. Deng Ai was Mi Yang's favorite general. Even though his ability was not one-tenth of Mi Yang's, there was no reason why he couldn't make such a simple judgment.
Deng Ai was not a fool, so there must be a deep reason why he did not lead the Han army to retreat in time.
From the intelligence collected by the general before, we can know that there is only one possibility why Deng Ai adopted the strategy of standing firm despite knowing that the situation was unfavorable.
That is, the Han troops who had been infected with miasma had not yet recovered, and even more people were infected than before.
Only for this reason can Deng Ai not dare to break camp and retreat rashly."
Yu Fan's analysis made Shi Hui nod involuntarily.
But what Shi Hui didn't understand was, what does this have to do with the embarrassment introduced by Yu Fan?
Seeing the puzzled look on Shi Hui's face, Yu Fan showed a confident smile on his face, and then explained to Shi Hui:
"What kind of hero is King Xiang? Even he couldn't stop the morale of the army under his command from wavering when the soldiers were few and exhausted, let alone Deng Ai?"
"Although I don't know how long the Han army's food and grass can last, I do know that Deng Ai is worried about the Han army's miasma.
Sickness in the army can sometimes shake the morale of the army more than lack of food."
"So the situation that the Han army faces today is very similar to that of Xiang's army back then?
Since the morale of the Han army is unstable, our army should take advantage of this.
The reason why the Marquis of Huaiyin used Chu songs to further undermine Xiang Jun's fighting spirit was that everyone was homesick.
Deng Ai's troops are all the elites of Liangzhou, so our army today can imitate the story of the Marquis of Huaiyin and use people's homesickness to defeat the Liang army's fighting spirit."
When Yu Fan explained his thoughts step by step, Shi Hui's face turned red.
He asked Yu Fan impatiently: "Since Mr. Yu has a brilliant plan, please tell me quickly."
Yu Fan felt a little anxious to despise Shi Hui, but in order to save his life, Yu Fan did not let Shi Hui wait too long.
"Back then, the Marquis of Huaiyin did this with Chu people's folk songs, and today our army can do it with a piece of news."
"This news is to spread the news in advance that the Wei army is about to launch a large-scale attack on Liangzhou."
"Liangzhou is the lifeblood of these five thousand Liangzhou troops. If their lifeline is in trouble, how can we prevent the morale of those thousands of Liangzhou troops from being thrown into chaos?
Deng Ai was not Mi Yang, and his prestige was not enough to dispel the doubts of thousands of Liangzhou troops.
In addition, the morale of the thousands of Liangzhou troops is already unstable. If this happens, within half a month, the fighting spirit of the thousands of Liangzhou troops will be destroyed.
But once their fighting spirit is gone, even if there are tens of thousands of soldiers, what will our army have to fear?"
After Yu Fan finished speaking all his thoughts, Shi Hui couldn't help but clasped his hands and laughed.
He repeatedly praised Yu Fan: "So the treasure of the Marquis of Wu is truly worthy of its reputation!"
What Yu Fan presented as the emblem was a strategy to defeat the enemy without fighting. The important thing is that this soldier was the Liangzhou Army, which was famous all over the world.
If Yu Fan's plan can come true, then Shi Hui will definitely become famous all over the world with this battle.
And this kind of prestige will undoubtedly greatly increase the success rate of Shi Hui's inner ambition.
Facing Shi Hui's praise, Yu Fan's face became more confident.
Because he was very satisfied with Yu Fan's strategy, Shi Hui's attitude towards Yu Fan became much better after he praised him.
As long as Yu Fan is valuable, Shi Hui, who wants to be emperor, will not mind showing his amiable and courteous side.
Shi Hui first asked people to bring Yu Fan down to entertain him, and then he quickly summoned a group of generals to discuss how to turn Yu Fan's strategy into practical actions as soon as possible.
You have to become famous early.
Shortly after Shi Hui led his army outside Yelang County, at the request of the Yelang County Magistrate, he led his army into Yelang City.
Deng Ai would be worried about Magistrate Yelang's invitation, but Shi Hui, who had Zhu Bao's support, was not.
The news that Shi Hui led his army to settle in Yelang County was quickly detected by Deng Ai's scouts and reported to him.
After learning about this, Deng Ai couldn't help but frown a little more.
If Shi Hui leads the army and is stationed outside the city, then no matter how well his camp is built, it will still not be as strong as the city wall.
But now that Shi Hui led his army to settle in Yelang City, he naturally gained a strong fortress, which made the Han army's next step even more difficult.
The number of people is smaller than that of the enemy. It is not easy to fight in the field, let alone siege a city?
However, worries are worries, and now is not the time to worry too much about this. Deng Ai quickly gathered his mood and continued his inspection of the camp.
As one of the first generals to follow Mi Yang, except for Deng Aiwei, who participated in the Public Security War, he followed Mi Yang in all other battles.
Deng Ai regards Mi Yang as his idol, so it is inevitable that he will always imitate some of Mi Yang's behaviors when leading troops.
For example, when the morale of his own army was unstable, Deng Ai would personally patrol the camps like Mi Yang, in an attempt to use his prestige to stabilize the morale of the army as soon as possible.
However, it was obvious that Deng Ai did not have as deep-rooted prestige in the Liangzhou army as Mi Yang did, so after an inspection, the situation of shaken military morale in the camp did not improve much.
After Deng Ai returned to the camp after his inspection, he originally wanted to take a rest, but soon an urgent shout from outside the tent made him suddenly stand up from his seat.
Deng Ai recognized that the cry was made by his good friend Shi Bao.
And based on Deng Ai's understanding of Shi Bao, he knew that Shi Bao would not be so anxious if there was something important.
After realizing this, Deng Ai immediately summoned Shi Bao into the tent.
The moment Shi Bao entered the tent and saw Deng Ai, he immediately reported a piece of news to him that shocked him.
"The enemy troops are distributed around our camp, shouting loudly that "the Wei army is attacking Liangzhou in a large scale". Now this matter has been heard by many people in the camp."
After Shi Bao reported what Shi Hui's army was doing to Deng Ai, Deng Ai immediately understood the reason why Shi Hui's army was doing this.
"The thief is following the strategy of being surrounded on all sides!"
Deng Ai was born into a poor family. He had never read "Historical Records" before, but after joining Mi Yang's staff, the studious Deng Ai often asked Mi Yang to borrow books and read them.
Xiang Yu can be said to be one of the most brilliant generals hundreds of years ago. Deng Ai had studied his deeds carefully, so Deng Ai knew the strategy of being surrounded on all sides.
He also knew the subtlety of this strategy.
Being besieged on all sides is not to induce the enemy's military morale to waver, but to further expand this mentality infinitely on the basis of the enemy's already shaken military morale.
Just like what the Shihui army is doing today.
If the Han army had not been infected by the miasma and its morale was turbulent, then the news spread by Shihui's army would not have caused Deng Ai any trouble at all.
He didn't even bother to answer.
But when the morale of the Han army was already shaken, the destructive power of this news would be very great if it spread.
When one is infected with a serious disease in a foreign country, people's homesickness is strongest at this time, and returning fallen leaves to their roots is the desire of everyone in the world.
Under such circumstances, even if the news cannot be confirmed, it will inevitably arouse suspicion in the hearts of the Han army.
People's hearts are complex and ever-changing. Sometimes people's hearts don't need exact information to have doubts. They just need appropriate guidance at the right time.
Otherwise, would Xiang Yu be so stupid as to conclude that Chu Di had been captured by Liu Bang based on just a few songs?
Perhaps Xiang Yu had the same thought as Deng Ai back then, so he made that pessimistic conclusion.
Shi Bao had never heard of the strategy of being surrounded on all sides, but he could intuitively feel the viciousness of this strategy.
When the news gradually spread in the Han army camp, many soldiers couldn't help but ask their superior generals whether the news told by the enemy outside was true.
Although generals at all levels are denying it, this current situation is enough to prove that this news has further shaken the morale of the army.
It was because of this situation that Shi Bao came to look for Deng Ai anxiously.
Deng Ai learned about the current status of the Han army camp from Shi Bao. After learning this, Deng Ai kept thinking about countermeasures in his mind.
And Shi Bao inside the tent was also anxiously pacing around.
It's obvious that Shi Bao is also thinking about countermeasures.
After walking for a while, Shi Bao made a suggestion to Deng Ai to retreat.
During the previous discussions, none of the generals had any intention of retreating. That was because they felt that the current situation facing the Han army was not a last resort.
But after the enemy army resorted to the strategy of being surrounded on all sides today, Shi Bao felt that this situation had already arrived.
But regarding Shi Bao's suggestion to retreat, Deng Ai subconsciously rejected it: "We cannot retreat. Our army must not leave the camp at this time."
Seeing that Deng Ai categorically rejected his suggestion, Shi Bao became anxious and wanted to persuade him again, but Deng Ai took the lead and explained to him:
"The morale of our army is in turmoil, and the soldiers infected with the miasma have not yet recovered. If our army leaves the camp rashly at this time, without the protection of the camp, the enemy will take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, and our army will be in danger!"
After explaining this to Shi Bao, Deng Ai said to Shi Bao again:
"Although the enemy's strategy is quite vicious, this strategy is not a temporary one.
Everyone in our army is familiar with the Seven Cut Orders. The Seven Cut Orders are where the majesty of the king lies. With the deterrence of the Seven Cut Orders, the morale of our army will not collapse immediately.
It is precisely because of the critical situation that our generals must not be in chaos. As I expected, there may be a large number of enemy troops ambushing our army on its way back, hoping to ambush our army.
Our army must move step by step, otherwise it will be a trivial matter for you and me to die, and we will live up to the expectations of the prince. Then what face will you and I have to face the prince in the future?"
Deng Ai mentioned Mi Yang in his words, which made the panicked Shi Bao calm down instantly as if a basin of cold water had been poured on his head.
Death is not terrible, but if he fails to live up to Mi Yang's kindness to him, it will be more uncomfortable for him than killing him.
After calming down, Shi Bao also began to seriously analyze the dangerous situation facing the Han army today.
Soon Shi Bao told Deng Ai what he was thinking.
"No matter how turbulent the morale of our army is, if the enemy wants to defeat our army, it still needs to be in a head-on battle."
The strategy of being besieged on all sides can only greatly increase the enemy's winning rate in the battle, but it will not allow them to win directly.
"In this case, our army should continue to hold on to the camp and prevent the enemy from taking advantage of it."
"The key to calming down the morale of our army is whether the soldiers infected with the miasma can recover during the period of time our army is holding on."
Shi Bao's analysis gave Deng Ai a clear picture of his brain.
"What Zhong Rong said is true. The plan of embarrassment on all sides will only add fuel to the fire. As long as we can draw fuel from the bottom of the cauldron, the enemy's plan of embarrassment on all sides will be self-defeating."
After Deng Ai finished speaking, Shi Bao immediately continued: "I will work with Meng Huo to jointly supervise the treatment progress of the doctors in the camp.
During this period of time, Shizai should remain calm and continue to patrol the camps as usual to calm down."
At this moment, Shi Bao did not regard Deng Ai as his superior. He was just like discussing the art of war with Deng Ai when he was a child, telling his friends one by one his opinions.
When Deng Ai saw Shi Bao say what he wanted to say, a smile appeared on his face.
Perhaps the current situation is very unfavorable to the Han army, but fortunately, he is not responsible for this dangerous situation alone.
Deng Aiyun approved Shi Bao's suggestion.
After Deng Ai agreed, Shi Bao left to fulfill his duties.
But before Shi Bao left, Deng Ai asked Shi Bao: "Does Zhong Rong have confidence?"
Faced with Deng Ai's question, Shi Bao fell into silence.
Although his analysis with Deng Ai just now was very clear, the dangerous situation facing the Han army has not changed at all. Under this situation, anything can happen.
However, after a moment of silence, Shi Bao pondered: "The difference between survival and death depends on you and me. How can we say yes or no?"
After saying this, Shi Bao bowed to Deng Ai and left the tent.
After Shi Bao left, Deng Ai carefully thought about what Shi Bao had just said, and he couldn't help but laugh.
Only at this moment did he truly understand why Mi Yang sent him south that day.
What Mi Yang needs is a general who can act alone, and being alone does not mean fighting a smooth battle.
Just when the Han army outside Yelang County was in trouble, a messenger covered in blood was quickly heading towards Yizhou County.
Neither Deng Ai nor Shi Hui knew about this matter.
What they didn't know even more was that in February of the third year of Emperor Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty, the Wei army was really going to attack Liangzhou.
In a time of strife and chaos, the rivers flowing eastward are filled with endless blood of heroes.
The general trend of the world is ever-changing.
It is foreseeable that the next Liangzhou will be soaked in the blood of countless heroes.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!