noveltune Chapter 51 Discussing Military Strategy
Chapter 51 Discussing Military Strategy
Liu Shan, returning disappointed from his study of archery at the mountain, encountered Zhao Guang on the way.
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
Zhao Tong frowned, stopped him, and scolded, "Second brother, you must not be reckless in front of His Majesty."
Liu Shan showed no sign of blame, but instead asked with interest, "Second son of the Zhao family, what terrible thing has happened?"
Zhao Guang took a few deep breaths and said, "Your Majesty, that brat Zhang Bao is bragging at the academy that he ranked in the top five in horsemanship in this month's exam, and Your Majesty agreed to come and teach at the academy. Now the news is spreading like wildfire."
After the last lesson, all the martial arts classes in the Imperial Academy hoped that Liu Shan would personally teach them a lesson as well.
But this is also a cause for concern.
Liu Shan had never been on the battlefield and had no experience in commanding troops. How could he teach those experienced veterans?
"That brat Zhang Bao, didn't he embarrass His Majesty?" Zhao Tong also felt that the matter was biased.
Liu Shan, however, disagreed, saying, "It's alright. I promised Zhang Bao that if he could get into the top five in riding skills in this monthly exam, I would give him some pointers. Zhao Guang, what classes are held in the afternoon?"
Zhao Guang was stunned.
He actually went to give a lecture!
"Let me think... The second session is a practical training lesson, and the speaker is General Liao Hua."
As a permanent lecturer at the Imperial Academy, it seems that the saying "In Shu, there are no great generals, so Liao Hua is the vanguard" is very valuable.
This is a good opportunity to see just how capable this "evergreen" military commander really is.
"Very well, after I return to the palace and rest for a while, I will go to the Imperial Academy this afternoon to give a lecture to you all."
Although he had no experience in leading troops into battle, he had the thousands of years of Chinese battles etched in his mind.
The history of the Three Kingdoms period is only a small part of it; there are countless classic battles that followed, which we can easily cover.
Moreover, as a modern elite, inspiring people through lectures is second nature to him.
Understand the applause!
After a short rest, Liu Shan, accompanied by Zhao Tong, went to the Imperial Academy.
The afternoon sun was quite strong, making people a little irritable.
But the lush greenery inside the Imperial Academy immediately lifted one's spirits.
After the monthly exam results were released, the students' fighting spirit was reignited, and their interest in studying grew even stronger.
Liu Shan approached the martial arts class classroom and found the school where Zhang Bao and others were studying. He heard a heated argument coming from inside.
The lecturer was dressed in brocade robes and wore a square scarf on his head, looking every bit the scholar, with an elegant demeanor.
He sat on the podium, listening to the students arguing below, completely at ease.
interesting.
Liu Shan became interested; what kind of lesson was being taught today that had the students so engrossed?
Moreover, the teacher's teaching style is quite similar to that of the Imperial Academy.
Open discussion is a common practice in the school, indicating that everyone is engaging in collective brainstorming.
How boring it would be if classroom discipline was forced to be quiet by the teacher.
However, the students in the classroom were so loud that Liu Shan couldn't hear what they were arguing about at all.
I only vaguely heard terms used in warfare, such as "encircle," "ambush," and "annihilate."
Seeing the continued chaos, the lecturer finally spoke.
"Quiet!"
Just two words, powerful and authoritative, immediately silenced the entire school.
The students, who were used to being unruly and rude in the military, all obediently returned to their seats.
This is not just respect, but a deep-seated reverence.
Earlier, Liu Shan learned from Zhao Guang that the lecturer was Liao Hua.
Compared to that well-known saying, Liao Hua's life can also be described as legendary.
Liao Hua was from a powerful and influential family in Miannan. After following Liu Bei, he served under Guan Yu as a chief clerk, and was one of the earlier "veteran officials" of Shu Han.
After Guan Yu carelessly lost Jingzhou, Liao Hua, as a defeated general, had no choice but to surrender to Sun Wu.
However, he missed his former lord Liu Bei, so he faked his death and took the opportunity to travel west day and night with his mother. In Zigui, he met Liu Bei, who was leading an army to attack Sun Quan, and joined the Han army again.
From then on, he fought for Shu Han in all directions until Chengdu was attacked by Deng Ai and the whole country surrendered. He died of illness on his way to Luoyang.
Loyalty and righteousness were the guiding principles of his life.
At this moment, he was still a refined and scholarly general.
"You've been discussing this for a long time, each holding your own opinion. Raise your right hand if you think any method is feasible. Each person can only vote for one method. I will announce the final answer at the end."
"A: Our army numbers 200,000, and we have surrounded 10,000 enemy troops. Could we ambush them halfway and intercept their reinforcements?"
Many students raised their right hands and gave their reasons for choosing this option.
"The art of war says, 'If your forces outnumber the enemy by ten, surround them; if they outnumber the enemy by five, attack them; if they outnumber the enemy by two, divide your forces.' Now our army is twenty times the size of the enemy's, so we can surround them without attacking, divide our forces to set up an ambush, and annihilate the reinforcements."
Liao Hua nodded, then continued, "B: We have 40,000 infantrymen and the enemy has 10,000. Could we ambush them along the way to intercept their reinforcements?"
This time, no one raised their hand.
The reason is also very simple.
Although their forces outnumbered the enemy four to one, besieging a city required multiple layers of encirclement on all sides, leaving no extra troops for ambushes.
The principle of "surrounding ten" has been clearly stated. If anyone violates this major taboo in military strategy, they will surely be ridiculed by those around them.
"C: Our army has 40,000 troops, while the enemy has 10,000. Our army has already surrounded the enemy using tactics such as digging deep trenches and using shields and swords. The enemy has 10,000 reinforcements. Can we set up an ambush?"
Quite a few people raised their hands this time as well.
Hearing this, Zhao Tong outside was a little confused.
Although A and C have different conditions, in his view, both can ambush and defeat the reinforcements, meaning they are both correct answers.
But Liao Hua said that only one could be chosen, isn't that a contradiction?
He wanted to get to the bottom of it, but Liao Hua's fourth option followed immediately.
"Ding: As Bing observed, the conditions for both sides remain unchanged, but due to repeated battles, the enemy has lost its ability to retaliate, while our army still has combat strength. At this time, if 10,000 enemy troops come to reinforce, can we set up an ambush?"
This left Zhao Tong completely stunned.
All three options, A, C, and D, are possible, but you can only choose one. So how do you choose?
Looking around the classroom, many students had raised their hands.
So this is why their argument was so intense just now.
All three strategies are feasible, but only one is correct, so each side is trying to persuade the other with its own reasons.
Zhao Tong was in a state of confusion and had no choice but to seek help from Liu Shan.
"Your Majesty, this..."
Liu Shan smiled, clearly understanding the trap in Liao Hua's option.
He pointed at Zhao Tong's little head and said in a reproachful tone, "Never mind which is right or wrong, tell me first what General Liao's plan is?"
"Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao!" Zhao Tong blurted out.
Liu Shan nodded and said, "That makes sense, but it's not entirely true."
Zhao Tong was stunned again.
Liu Shan said, "You read military books, but you only read the surface and don't know how to apply what you've learned to other situations. Therefore, you don't understand the key to this problem."
"Let me tell you the answer first, the correct one is Ding."
"While A and C seem correct, they're both missing some necessary conditions. If you can't see through it, then go back to the regular class and study harder."