SFS Chapter 268 Everyone's Playing Mind Games
Chapter 268 Everyone's Playing Mind Games
Deng Hong originally intended to harass Xu Sheng's camp to tire out the enemy, but he encountered Xu Sheng on the way and suffered a minor loss. Helpless, he slunk back the way he came.
But he couldn't say that in front of Shen Yininghuan, who came to meet him. After briefly recounting the battle, he concluded, "I didn't suffer any losses, and Xu Sheng didn't gain any advantage either. His casualties were greater than mine."
Shen Yi sensed the falsehood in his tone but didn't mind. He pulled Deng Hong back to camp to help him bandage his wounds and ordered the military doctors to treat the wounded soldiers from both sides.
Deng Hong's tiger's mouth was cracked by Xu Sheng's blow, and he was unable to write because it was wrapped in gauze. He had no choice but to ask Ning Huan for help: "Old Ning, I'll tell you what to write. Let's summarize our experience and lessons learned tonight. I'm afraid I'll forget it tomorrow morning."
During the reorganization at the end of the Great War, these high-ranking generals had to attend Guan Xing's classes every day. Guan Xing talked most about learning in class, learning from the enemy, learning from failures, constantly summarizing experiences and lessons, and trying to ensure that the same mistakes are not made a second time.
Guan Xing also said that one person's plan is short-sighted, and two people's plans are long-sighted. A bad pen is worse than a good memory. When you encounter a problem that you don't understand or can't figure out, write it down first to avoid forgetting it. Then ask others for advice and discussion. Maybe the problem that you can't figure out is not a problem for others at all. So don't trap yourself in an information cocoon. Go out and communicate more with others.
Deng Hong kept Guan Xing's teachings in mind, so the first thing he did upon returning was to write a summary report. After finishing, he immediately rested, and at four quarters past 1 AM, he hurriedly got up and, together with Ning Huan, led the Xuanjia Army and the scout battalion into the Wuyi Mountains in the south to infiltrate behind enemy lines.
It's worth mentioning that this time, heavy armored soldiers were not brought. Flanking maneuvers are physically demanding, and the Wuyi Mountains have complex terrain that requires traversing mountains and valleys, making it very inconvenient to bring heavy armored soldiers. Therefore, they could only leave them to Shen Yi.
Having already fought a battle, both armies were on guard, so there was no point in continuing to raid and harass the camp. Therefore, after sending Deng Hong away, Shen Yi did not attack Xu Sheng's camp again, but he also did not rest and remained on guard against Xu Sheng until dawn.
After daybreak, Shen Yi led his troops in retreat, digging traps as they went, leaving behind countless pits of varying sizes in the path they passed.
Shen Yi came prepared this time, so he brought thousands of shovels, pickaxes and other digging tools, and he worked very quickly.
The main problem is that the work is done rather sloppily. They just do the work without finishing it. They dig a hole, stick in a bamboo stick, cover it with fresh soil, and leave. They don't have any way to cover it up. Anyone who isn't blind can tell that there's something wrong with the soil.
In response, Shen Yi said that he wins by sheer quantity. The distance between the pits is less than half a foot, and they are as dense as stars in the sky. What can you do if you see them? You still have to fill them one by one.
So why bother trying to cover it up? Just leave it as it is.
Although Shen Yi was digging with great enthusiasm, he did not forget to guard against Xu Sheng's surprise attack. He divided his army into two parts, personally leading 7,000 men to guard against Xu Sheng's attack, and only sending 3,000 men to set up traps. After all, there were only so many tools, and it would be meaningless to send more people.
The beginning is always the hardest. The trap project was most vulnerable to Xu Sheng's attack at the very beginning, so Shen Yi was particularly careful. But strangely, no one knew whether Xu Sheng was afraid of Deng Hong last night or what, because he didn't appear until noon. This gave Shen Yi a bad feeling.
If something goes wrong, there must be a demon!
On his first time leading troops alone, Shen Yi, who believed that avoiding mistakes was a virtue, couldn't help but be cautious. Seeing that the traps had been set up four or five miles away, he knew that even if Xu Sheng launched a surprise attack, he couldn't possibly cross five miles of traps to reach him. He then decisively sent troops to replace the soldiers who dug the traps, allowing them to rest and conserve their strength. At the same time, he summoned Li Gousheng to assign tasks.
It is worth mentioning that although Ning Huan led the scout battalion and Deng Hong to infiltrate behind enemy lines, he left Li Gousheng's scout camp to Shen Yi before leaving, in case of emergency, since Shen Yi also needed scouts.
Shen Yi called Li Gousheng over and pointed to Huaiyu Mountain to the north, saying, "Huaiyu Mountain is the southernmost part of the Huangwu Mountain range, the closest to us, and its terrain is not as steep as the Wuyi Mountains. Xu Sheng is a famous general of Eastern Wu, and he has no shortage of people familiar with the terrain of the mountains. If he wants, he can easily infiltrate in front of us and block our way. If I am not mistaken, Xu Sheng is very likely to bypass the trap and attack our camp tonight."
Li Gousheng's expression changed slightly, and he quickly asked, "Then what should we do?"
Shen Yi pondered, “We have already set up a five-mile trap. If we set up another ten miles, it will be almost dark. You should retreat ten miles to find a suitable open area to set up camp, and then go into the mountains to familiarize yourself with the surrounding terrain. If Xu Sheng doesn’t come tonight, fine. But if he dares to come, I will definitely give him an unforgettable lesson.”
"Understood." Li Gousheng nodded in acceptance and ordered his soldiers to leave immediately.
Shen Yi then ordered the army to work in shifts and take turns resting until nightfall.
After dark, the army set up camp at the place Shen Yi had mentioned earlier. After dinner, they quickly went to sleep. Just as midnight arrived, Shen Yi woke up all the soldiers and secretly went into the mountains to ambush them at the place Li Gousheng had chosen.
The mountain terrain is irregular, and the army is scattered on the left and right hills. Li Gousheng, lying next to Shen Yi, pointed ahead and said, "General, I have led the brothers to search the area within a five-mile radius and found that this valley in front of us is the most suitable for passage. Moreover, it is the only way for Xu Sheng to get to our camp. If Xu Sheng doesn't come, fine, but if he does come, he will definitely have to pass through here."
Shen Yi nodded and asked, "Did you spot any Wu scouts during the daytime reconnaissance?"
Li Gousheng replied, "They found us, but they all avoided us. Wu's scouts probably didn't spot us."
Shen Yi rebuked, "The word 'should' shouldn't be used by scouts. I need definite information. Tell each hamlet that if they're sleepy, they can take a nap, but they must be half on guard and half resting. Don't let them all fall asleep."
Li Gousheng got up and left, quickly issuing orders to each village, and then waited patiently.
Meanwhile, Xu Sheng had already led his troops into the mountains. He had hunters from Huaiyu Mountain under his command who were very familiar with the terrain, so there was no need to worry about getting lost.
The moon was very full tonight. Although it didn't illuminate the earth as bright as day, it was enough to see the road clearly. The Wu army advanced with difficulty through the mountains by moonlight. After commanding the army, Deputy Commandant Lü Ju came to Xu Sheng and said, "General, wasn't tonight's attack a bit too abrupt? We didn't launch a surprise attack during the day, allowing the Han army to calmly set up traps. Any Han general who wasn't a fool would have realized there was something wrong with this. Therefore, I guess we'll definitely fall into an ambush if we go there now."
Sometimes, fighting a war is similar to fooling a fool; you have to keep bombarding the opponent's brain with a constant stream of information to keep them thinking.
After all, everyone is an independent individual, and once you start thinking, you have many ideas.
Therefore, Lü Ju's plan was to launch a full-scale surprise attack during the day. Even if he didn't expect to defeat the Han army, he had to make it look like a surprise attack so that the Han army, who had been busy all day, would not be on guard and it would be easier for them to launch a surprise attack at night.
But his suggestion was rejected by Xu Sheng. That damned Xu Sheng slept all day and then wanted to work at night. This isn't working; it's practically courting death.
Xu Sheng sneered, "I want to fall into an ambush and make the Han army mistakenly believe that they have seen through our scheme."
Lu Ju raised an eyebrow and quickly asked, "General, do you have another plan?"
Xu Sheng smiled smugly: "It's not just Grand Commander Lu who's studying Guan Xing; I've been studying Guan Xing these past few days as well. This man is good at flanking maneuvers and surprise attacks. The more skilled someone is at something, the more they're wary of it. When the Han army attacks others, they're definitely also on guard against attacks. So even if we do what you say—harass them during the day and launch a surprise attack at night—it definitely won't be effective. Not only will it not be effective, but we might even get ourselves killed."
"Therefore, my target was never the Han army digging the trap in front of me, but the Yushan County behind the Han army."