Zhuozhou City looked particularly dark and quiet at night, but the lights in the garrison mansion were brightly lit at the moment, and the atmosphere was high. Although there was no wine to drink, and all they ate were cold and hard dry steamed buns, the generals of the ever-victorious army were still... Their faces turned red as they listened to Fan Qi and others who had just returned from outside explain in detail how they took the initiative to leave the city and slowed down the Liao army's journey.
It turns out that everyone who came down from Dong Kuang had a lot of opinions on Sun Tu's decision. After all, sending only a thousand people to delay tens of thousands of Liao army elites halfway was just a fantasy. . But as a result, after listening to the performance of playing with the enemy at the palm of their hands, everyone was so excited that they wished they were in front of the battle.
"General Sun has really convinced me this time. You are really a master of strategizing and mastering almost all the reactions of the Liao army." Lin Fan, the general of the Ever Victorious Army, sighed again, and then looked at Looking at his own coach, he continued: "Actually, we were quite frightened when we saw the Liao army at the beginning. We didn't even dare to sound the trumpets and drums as ordered. But it was General Fan who insisted on following the order and had to do it. As a result, they really didn't dare to chase them out. And by the next day, they really slowed down their march."
"This is not the most powerful thing. What convinced me even more is that our subsequent harassment and luring of the enemy were actually successful one after another. The general even figured out where they would suddenly camp, which allowed us to calmly deploy our troops. Trap, kill the Liao army by surprise." Fan Qi also said with emotion. To be honest, he never thought that fighting would be so easy. You must know that what they are facing this time is the elite Liao army, which has always been the trouble of the Song Dynasty.
"You don't need to praise me too much. I just came up with a few ideas. If you really want to talk about the credit, it belongs to all the soldiers who went on the expedition." After listening to their praise, Sun Tu finally said with a smile: " Without your risk-taking attack, this result would not have been possible. Especially you, Fan Qi, deserve to be credited with the first credit!"
This is a good thing, because it was under his leadership that the coalition of more than a thousand Qingzhou soldiers and Changsheng Army dared to take action against the Liao Army. Moreover, the last trap in the mountain forest was also carefully laid by him and a group of brothers. It was precisely because of the guidance of people with rich hunting experience that those mechanisms and mines could exert their maximum lethality, thus completely frightening the Liao army.
It can be said that in order to slow down the advance of the Liao army and buy time for the arrival of the Shandong army, Sun Tu used all his tricks, the most critical of which were the small number of firearms and mines. Because in the original preparation, these were used to deal with enemy cavalry. Once used in advance, the future effect will be greatly reduced.
Of course, judging from the results, it is still worth it. At least it has greatly slowed down the march of the Liao army. According to the news brought by Fan Qi and others, it will take at least three days before the Liao army arrives in Zhuozhou. This is enough for The reinforcements have gained seven or eight days.
"What I said is all the truth, and I don't mean to flatter at all." Lin Fan chuckled and said: "Even if what General Sun said is true, he may accurately grasp the enemy's movements and even accurately predict their next decision. , even knowing how they will advance next, this is the key to our success."
"Ah
Oh, but I don’t dare to take credit for this, because to be honest, this is all the credit of General Dong. He told me about Xiao Qian’s character and his past military methods, so that I can come to these conclusions. Sun Tu said, picking up the coarse porcelain bowl and greeting Dong Kuang across from him: "General Dong, I'll give you a bowl of water instead of wine." "
Dong Kuang smiled, drank a bowl of cold water as wine, and then said: "General Sun, you are still too modest. Although what you said is the truth, without you strategizing, deciding the strategy, and adding With the strong execution ability of the Qingzhou Army officers and men under your command, it is impossible for us to succeed this time."
These words immediately won the unanimous approval of all the generals present, and dozens of people raised their bowls to toast Sun Tu almost at the same time. Seeing this, Sun Tu lost his modesty and took the bowl and drank the water. Then, Dong Kuang stared at him with curiosity and said: "Actually, compared to others, what I admire most is General Sun's various tactics to tire out the enemy and drag him down. This is something I have never heard of before. I wonder if the fighting technique was passed down from a certain famous general in the Song Dynasty?"
"Oh? Well, I learned this from the works of a great man." Sun Tu replied generally: "He called these tactics guerrilla warfare. It can be said that this is the most conducive to familiarity with the terrain, and in This is a tactic used by an army that is at a disadvantage in terms of military strength."
"Guerrilla warfare..." Dong Kuang thought about the wording, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "This is really an extremely appropriate term. You can travel in all directions and leave with one strike. In this way, you can avoid head-on confrontations and not destroy our army's The weakness is exposed in front of the enemy. Wonderful, indeed wonderful."
Sun Tu was really impressed by Dong Kuang. He could actually grasp the essence of guerrilla warfare from just one word, and he indeed had the potential to become a famous general. After thinking for a while, he added: "Actually, there are still sixteen keys to this guerrilla tactic. If you can really master it, even if you can't completely win, it will be enough to protect yourself and disturb the enemy."
"Oh, but which sixteen characters are they?" Dong Kuang became more interested and asked quickly.
"That is, when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we pursue; when the enemy is stationed, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack!" Sun Tu immediately explained this classic tactical trick of later generations. This time, not only Dong Kuang's eyes were shining brightly, but all the generals in the hall showed deep thoughts and excitement. Some of them didn't even notice that the water bowl in front of them was knocked over. They just looked at Sun Tu blankly, with eyes filled with excitement. It's respect.
"When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we pursue; when the enemy is stationed, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we fight..." After repeating this several times, Dong Kuang immediately stood up and bowed deeply to Sun Tu: "General Sun, please." Please accept my obeisance, these sixteen words have already explained the essence and mystery of this guerrilla warfare, you should be my teacher!"
Seeing this, other people also stood up and saluted, and their attitude towards Sun Tu became more and more respectful. This is obviously not only because of his ability, but also because of his mind, because he can actually teach everyone these military skills without reservation.
This time, Sun Tu was really stunned. After a while, he stood up and helped Dong Kuang: "General Dong's words are serious. This is too much courtesy. It's just some small tips in using soldiers, and it's not If it is not my original creation, I am really ashamed of myself."
But his reaction made people even more respectful. This time, Sun Tu really won.
It was recognized by the generals of these ever-victorious armies. In fact, he still ignored that some of his habits as a time traveler were different from most people at this time, although over the years, these habits have been slowly covered up. For example, Sun Tu had never paid attention to this habit of knowledge sharing that only people in the 21st century had.
In other aspects, it was actually fine, but as for the use of soldiers, for the generals thousands of years ago, it was completely the foundation for their livelihood. For many people, a copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War can be regarded as a treasure-like secret book, let alone advanced tactics such as guerrilla tactics.
What's even more valuable is that the sixteen-character essence of guerrilla warfare summarized by a great man is really concise and concise, allowing every general who knows a little about military affairs to quickly understand the truth. In the eyes of many people, this is even It is better than any military book. But now, Sun Tu told everyone present completely, without hiding anything secretly, which was enough to make them heartbroken.
Feeling this, Sun Tu's spirit was lifted again. Although this incident was somewhat beyond his expectation, it was undoubtedly an excellent result, which would give him more say in the victorious army. At that moment, he decided to strike while the iron was hot: "Generals, I have something to say that I hope you can listen to. Although our plan this time was successful and delayed the Liao army at a very small cost, it is still very important to us. As far as Zhuozhou is concerned, the real threat has not yet been eliminated. Our reinforcements have not yet arrived, but the enemy's army will appear in front of us within a few days. By then, we will have to rely on the Victory Army's more than 20,000 troops to defend the city. I hope that by then At this time, everyone can do their best to live up to General Dong's great trust in you, and to live up to the hard work of our Song Dynasty soldiers who came here day and night."
Having said this, he solemnly bowed and said, "Please, Sun Tu!"
If he had said this before, even if the generals agreed on the surface, they would have had different thoughts in their hearts. But now, everyone is convinced of Sun Tu, and when they hear these words again, their reaction is completely different. After a moment, Dong Kuang clasped his fists and said: "Don't worry, General Sun. Now we have become one with the Song Dynasty. The Liao people have been our enemies for many years. Even if you don't tell us, we will go all out to fight with them." Fight and defend Zhuozhou City!"
Other generals also followed suit and said: "We shall obey the orders of General Dong and General Sun and defend Zhuozhou with all our strength without giving any chance to the Liao army."
Feeling the crowd's slowly rising fighting spirit, Sun Tu also became excited and said loudly: "Okay! If you all have such confidence, we, Zhuozhou, will definitely be able to defend it, and we will definitely be able to achieve the final victory. Let us work hard for the final victory. , cheers!" As he said this, he picked up the water bowl again.
Others were also infected by this emotion, and they raised their glasses one after another and drank the water in the bowl as strong wine boldly. Many people's faces turned red and their expressions were excited because of this, as if they wished that the enemy would appear at the gate of the city now. Able to fight head-on.
When Sun Tu saw this, a big stone fell from his heart. Even he didn't expect that this guerrilla tactic of blocking the enemy and delaying it would actually boost the morale of the generals and truly gain the recognition and respect of the victorious army. This may be the best situation at the moment.
From now on, it just depends on when the Liao army will arrive, and when the elite soldiers and horses under his command will arrive and defeat the frontal enemy.