Fang Yun was extremely cautious because he only had three chances to demonstrate his talent and if he failed three times he would not be able to integrate into the holy way of wisdom.
At the same time, Fang Yun was also extremely happy.
Once the talent show is completed, the power of the plan to conceal the truth will be greatly increased. Moreover, because of the power of the Holy Way, although it is impossible to have the destructive power of war poetry, it is inevitable that a "soldier soul" similar to the "poetry soul" will appear, with unexpected miraculous effects.
In the past, Sun Tzu, Sun Bin, Wu Qi and other semi-saints of military strategists were able to enter the demon world as if they were in an empty space, relying on the power of military books. Even the sub-saints were far inferior to the descendants of military strategists in this regard.
The mystery, strangeness and cunning of the military strategists far surpass those of the other hundreds of schools of thought, and even the political tactics of the miscellaneous schools cannot be compared with them.
"General, are you awake? We are saved!"
The generals cheered.
Fang Yun nodded, glanced at these people, said nothing more, and continued thinking.
"Don't disturb General Fang from thinking of a plan, let's go out together."
"I'll take my leave now." Everyone left one after another.
Fang Yun looked at his legs and guessed that it was probably a limitation of the talent performance, so he suppressed his physical aspects to the minimum and only tested his military tactics.
This was the first time for Fang Yun to lead troops, but he was not nervous at all. He was even a little excited and confident. This confidence came from his studies in recent days. Not to mention that military books such as "The Art of War" belong to the classics of all saints, he had already memorized and fully understood them. Just consuming his talent in study and research in this one night was more efficient than studying for a year without consuming his talent.
"Someone, take me out!" Fang Yun said.
Immediately, soldiers came and carried a chair to carry Fang Yun out.
"Go up to the tent and report for duty!"
Fang Yun naturally knew that this test could not be purely about the strategy of concealing one's true intentions, because no military tactics existed independently, and he did not have any extra memories after entering the Talent and Martial Arts Exercise, so he should get to know his subordinates first.
“Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Simple. But also absolutely true.”
After entering the central military tent, Fang Yun sat in the main seat, with officers and soldiers standing on both sides. Fang Yun personally called out the names of the officers and soldiers one by one.
During the roll call process, Fang Yun carefully observed each general's movements, tone, and expression, so as to vaguely infer their personalities and gain a preliminary understanding of them.
"This is a simplified usage of the 'eight expeditions' in the Six Secret Teachings. The Six Secret Teachings, also known as the Taigong Military Strategy, was written by a great scholar in the Warring States Period under the guise of Jiang Ziya. In fact, he used the question-and-answer session between Jiang Ziya and King Wu to explain his own military strategy. Although this book did not make him a semi-saint, it also became a true military book, and he also passed on his talent and martial arts to future generations."
"The Eight Tribulations are not complicated. They are to examine a general's thinking, adaptability, loyalty, integrity, temperament and other aspects through various means. It's just that I can't use them at this time. I can only make quick judgments through some psychological techniques, which are not accurate enough. But they must be useful."
Fang Yun soon discovered that one of the camps seemed a little nervous and took note of it.
"General Fan, describe the detailed situation of our army and the enemy army, including morale, ordnance, food, environment and all the details. There must be no mistakes!" Fang Yun was extremely serious and not at all stage frightened, with the demeanor of a great general.
This is one of the great benefits of the Book Mountain Illusion. If he had been in the Book Mountain before, he would never have been able to adapt to his new identity so quickly.
"Yes, sir!"
The soldier quickly explained the whole situation.
It turned out that the Jing army had just fought a fierce battle with the Langman, with casualties on both sides. The Jing soldiers were very tired and their morale was low, so they were preparing to retreat.
The most terrible problem is the shortage of food and fodder. Since yesterday, everyone can only eat 30% full. Today, let alone fighting, even training may not be able to proceed.
Although the barbarians are not as intelligent as humans, they are much smarter than the monsters, and there are also rebellious scholars serving as military advisors among the wolf barbarians. If they go to war, they will surely lose. Therefore, even the soldiers know that they must conceal the weakness of Jing’s army and make the enemy think that Jing’s army still has spare strength so that Jing’s army can evacuate safely.
After listening to the instructions for joining the army, Fang Yun thought carefully.
"There have been many schemes to deceive the heavens and the sea throughout the ages. Among them, the most famous one is the plan of the semi-saint Sun Bin to reduce the number of stoves. The enemy could not count our soldiers one by one, so they could only judge by other factors. Soldiers need to make fires and cook. The amount of food that a stove can cook for a certain number of people is fixed. So when Sun Bin was retreating, he left stoves for 100,000 people when he set up camp for the first time, 50,000 when he set up camp for the second time, and 30,000 when he set up camp for the third time. Pang Juan thought that the morale of Sun Bin's army had collapsed, so he went to chase Sun Bin, but he was ambushed and had to commit suicide. This made Sun Bin famous for his wisdom."
"Reducing the number of camps is really strong but pretending to be weak, but this time the talent show is the opposite, letting me lead a truly weak army. If I want to retreat, I must give the barbarians a false impression, making them think I am strong. This... is definitely more difficult than Sun Bin's. If the reduction of the number of camps fails, Sun Bin's army will not suffer a big loss, but it will be equivalent to wasting some food and grass. If I fail, then the whole army will be wiped out."
"This is a talent show. If you only know how to deceive the world, you only have a 50% chance of winning. Because even if a person knows how to plan, if he doesn't know how to use the plan step by step, he can't win. There is a world of difference between empty talk and actual practice!"
"Since this is a talent show, I must be in charge of all the details of the plan to conceal the truth. These officers are probably just puppets now. They may do bad things, but they will never take the initiative to help me accomplish things. If I can just come up with some strategies and they can help me complete them, then the way of wisdom is too simple."
"So, next I have to go around the military camp and get to know every place, so that I know myself and the enemy thoroughly. Then, I have to think about what method I can use to complete the plan of concealing the truth from the world, and finally I have to test my specific implementation plan and details."
After careful thinking, Fang Yun already had a vague outline in his mind.
In the central military tent, Fang Yun asked a few more people, and it turned out to be just as he had guessed. These people would not give him any advice, but would only carry out his orders. Judging from the situation, their execution ability was probably only average.
Finally, Fang Yun looked at the panicked Yingxiao, and suddenly slammed the table and shouted, "Yingxiao Yu, you still don't plead guilty!"
Yu Yingxiao was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed, begging for mercy: "Please forgive me, General. Please forgive me, General! I shouldn't have embezzled military rations! The actual military rations now are only half of what was reported. In two days at most, the military rations will be exhausted."
The officers were shocked. Some cursed, some despaired, and some tried hard to think.
Fang Yun originally thought that the situation was bad enough, but he did not expect that the actual situation was more difficult than he had imagined. If it were normal times, he would choose to kill the battalion commander in charge of food and grass immediately, but if he killed him now, it would be equivalent to telling the entire army that there was a problem with food and grass, and even without the barbarians attacking, the morale would inevitably collapse.
"Although you have committed a serious crime, considering that you have served the country for many years, I will give you a chance to atone for your sins. If you can do it, I will spare your life. If you don't do well enough, you will be adding insult to injury! Are you willing?" Fang Yun said.
"Thank you, General, for not killing me! I will repay your kindness by doing anything I can to repay you!" Captain Yu burst into tears, feeling extremely grateful.
"Just stand aside first, and I'll tell you what to do later."
"Understood!" Captain Yu stood up hurriedly.
At this moment, Fang Yun had a clearer outline of his plan to conceal the truth, but it lacked some details, so he said, "Take me to check the military camp!"
So, the officers took Fang Yun to check every place in the military camp one by one. Fang Yun understood everything, from the external defense measures to the visible and hidden sentries, and all the arms and so on.
The whole process was too time-consuming, and Fang Yun didn't get to know the situation in the military camp until the afternoon. Because he was talented and had the help of strange books, he had a photographic memory even though he was not a Jinshi, so he remembered every detail clearly.
With enough details, Fang Yun finally came up with a plan in his mind. Although it was not perfect, it could be considered a plan to conceal his true intentions.
Fang Yun was just about to deploy his troops and make plans to conceal the truth when the barbarians on the opposite side of the camp suddenly launched a general attack. Then he felt dazed and some scenes flashed before his eyes, including the barbarians killing people and burning down military camps, and finally "his own" body was hung high up for public display.
Fang Yun opened his eyes with difficulty and found that the military camp had disappeared. He was sitting at the table, holding the brush in his hand. The brush covered with ink was pressed on the paper. The whole piece of paper was completely ruined and needed to be rewritten. He felt sore all over and his right arm was numb.
"This weather..."
Fang Yun turned his head and saw the sun hanging in the middle of the sky.
It was still early in the morning when I picked up the pen and the sun had not yet risen, but now it is already noon.
"It seems that the time here is the same as the talent and martial arts performance. Oh no! We have to see General Zhang off today!" Fang Yun hurriedly rubbed his arm and stood up, pushed the door open, and saw Yang Yuhuan and everyone in the family outside the door.
"Xiaoyun, are you okay?" Yang Yuhuan hurried over and asked.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "It's okay, and there's good news. I won't tell you the details." Fang Yun didn't want to make Yang Yuhuan and others worry.
Yang Yuhuan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. No wonder Nunu wasn't worried."
Nunu, who was lying beside the flower bed basking in the sun, opened his eyes, yawned lazily, waved his little paws at Fang Yun as a greeting, and then continued to sleep.
"I'm going to Deyue Tower now, Daniel, prepare the car."
"The car is parked outside and we can leave now. However, Commander Zhang's personal soldiers have been here and have gone back to report," said Fang Daniu.
"What did you say to him?" Fang Yun asked.
Yang Yuhuan said: "We don't know what happened to you, we just said it's really inconvenient for you to come out now."
"Yeah. I'm leaving first, don't worry!"
Fang Yun and Fang Daniu left in a hurry. When they got in the car, Fang Yun calmed down and quickly remembered what happened yesterday. He had promised to write a farewell poem to Zhang Poyue.
Fang Yun opened the curtains and looked out the window, thinking what a pity.
"If it doesn't rain, then the morning rain in Weicheng moistens the dust, and the ice-cold heart in the jade pot doesn't work. He traveled by land, not by water, so the fireworks in March in Yangzhou doesn't work. Let me think about it carefully..." (To be continued.)
ps: Ahem, I'm really sorry, I've been very busy these past two days, the next chapter will be updated before 0:00. Three updates tomorrow!