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Chapter 3: Sisterhood and Childly Infatuation [Act 3] Intricacies (4)

The so-called 'man is fish and meat, I am a sword', and the ancients did not deceive them. Eric flicked the ashes of his fingers and spoke a language that no one in the room could understand.

Wilkes blinked his steel-blue eyes curiously and met Eric's gaze, "Sir, what did you just say?" He turned his eyes to the handsome man and asked, "Venerable Count Stauffenberg, you are also fluent in various Chinese, can you translate it into German?" ”

Count Klaus von Stauffenberg, a captain in the Stuttgart-Württemberg royal family, shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Wilkes: "Will (Wilkes's nickname), I can only judge that it definitely does not belong to any of the European languages, but more like Oriental Japanese." He immediately cast an admiring look at Eric, "Ricky (Eric's nickname), when did you learn this strange oriental language?" ”

"You're half right, Klaus. It's a pity it's not Japanese. Eric snuffed out his cigarette butt and explained to his two friends with a smile, "It's an ancient Chinese sentence. It means that at the moment Poland is like a tender and fatty trout, which is cut on the chopping board of our German army and burned into a delicious dish. He looked at the two of them smiling, but his eyebrows frowned slightly, and he said worriedly, "But 'rabbits bite when they are in a hurry', do you only see the enemy retreating, and don't you think that there will be counterattack firepower in the near future?"

Before the words fell, Lieutenant General Petzel, who was immersed in studying tactics, had already raised his eyebrows and smiled. He turned around and patted Eric on the shoulder, approvingly, "Good analysis, Ricky!" I didn't expect that when you first arrived in Posen (i.e., the Polish Corridor and the Free City of Danzig), you were completely familiar with the whole situation. So what do you think our army should arrange? ”

Eric immediately approached the huge combat map on the conference table, pointed to a place near Warsaw with a pencil, and said slowly: "Besieging the enemy and forcing him to surrender has been tired of China thousands of years ago. However, since the enemy is unwilling to lose, he will definitely concentrate his forces to counterattack, and our side will suffer unnecessary losses. Therefore, in the "Art of War" that has been handed down to this day, the military has been repeatedly warned that 'besieging the army must be que' [87]. That is, deliberately leaving a gap for the enemy in the siege, so that the enemy hesitates between fleeing or fighting to the death, and his fighting spirit is weakened. After all, fighting an enemy who has fled is much less difficult and costly than fighting an enemy to the death. ”

"In your opinion, the evacuation of Polish troops from here must be deliberately arranged?" Petzel stared at the pencil mark on the town and groaned, "Ricky, if this Chinese tactic really works, why are they still being forced to retreat by the Japanese army, and they are almost dying?" Moreover, even if the Art of War is indeed profound and profound, you must note that it was thousands of years ago, how can it be compared to today? If we let the Polish army go, you and I will have a lot of responsibility. ”

Eric glanced at the marker, and a strange smile appeared on the corner of his lips: "Sir, the Sino-Japanese war will definitely be a protracted war: China is a vast territory and a large population, even the Eight-Nation Coalition Army back then could not swallow it in one bite, let alone an island country?" And our army is not left alone, if an ambush is predetermined here, will not the enemy army who fled in a hurry will have to lose its skin if it does not die? It will be much easier to capture Warsaw. ”

Exegesis:

[87] "Besieging the division must be que" is from "Sun Tzu's Art of War: Military Contention Chapter VII", the original text is "Therefore, the method of using soldiers, do not go to Gaoling, do not reverse the back hills, do not follow the north, do not attack sharp soldiers, do not eat bait, do not stop returning to the division, besiege the division must be que, and the poor do not be forced, this method of using soldiers is also." ”

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