On the morning of the fourth day of the fourth month of April, fifty miles southeast of Wanqiu City, in the Wu army camp, Huang Yunzheng convened all the generals to discuss the important affairs of the military aircraft.

Huang Yun pointed at the sand table with his sword and said: "Generals, it has been almost two months since we sent our troops, and now we have finally attacked Wanqiu City, and the destruction of Chen State is just around the corner!" ”

The generals applauded.

Huang Yun motioned for everyone to be quiet, pointed to a small hill on the east side of Wanqiu City on the sand table and said: "This small hill is called Luan Mountain, and it is located forty miles east of Wanqiu City, that is, thirty miles north of our army's garrison. Luanshan is the only high ground within a radius of 100 miles, and the Chen people have deployed heavy troops on Luan Mountain, trying to fight each other with the defenders in Wanqiu City. Generals, how can we defeat the enemy now? ”

Prince You smiled: "Although it is said in the art of war that when deploying troops, you should first live in the land of Gaoyang and condescend to benefit the grain road, but in my opinion, Chen Guoren is really stupid to do this, haha!" ”

Huang Yun was taken aback and asked, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has any high opinions, you might as well tell you clearly." ”

Prince You pulled out the sword from his waist and took a step forward, the golden armor on his body trembled and made the sound of metal collision, he heroically pointed the sword to Luan Mountain on the sand table, and said confidently: "Luan Mountain is a lonely mountain, there is no mountain range around it, there is a river on the north side of Luan Mountain, named Panshui River, which is the only water source near Luan Mountain." If we divide our troops to the north, completely surround Luanshan, cut off its water source, and block its grain route, within three days, the Luanshan defenders will inevitably be in chaos. At that time, we only need to set fire to the mountain, and we can annihilate the defenders on Luan Mountain in one fell swoop, and then the army will press the border and encircle Wanqiu City. In this way, Chen Guo will die! ”

Huang Yun listened to it and was amazed, "The prince is well versed in the art of war, and knows how to be flexible, it can be said that he uses soldiers like a god, this is the blessing of the king!" Blessings of the Kingdom of Wu! ”

The prince hurriedly returned the salute, "General Huang has won the award!" ”

"This battle will be fought according to the strategy that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said!"

Prince You stepped forward to ask for orders, "General, I am willing to lead 3,000 troops north to Luan Mountain, and within ten days, I will definitely capture Luan Mountain!" ”

"Good!"

Seeing that the strategic plan was so hastily decided, Zhang Xun was extremely anxious, he turned his head and glanced at Ji Zheng, and Ji Zheng's eyes also revealed the same concern. But the previous experience told Zhang Xun that it was meaningless to give advice at this time, and he could only suggest it to the prince in private.

After the end of the meeting, the prince returned to the camp to drink and rest, and just after a few drinks, a guard came in to report, saying that Zhang Xun and Ji Zheng asked to see each other, and the prince was very happy when he heard that the two were coming, and hurriedly ordered someone to bring the two in.

The two of them entered the camp and saluted, "I've seen His Royal Highness the Prince!" ”

"Two brothers, come and drink with me!" The prince grabbed Zhang Xun's arm, pulled him into the table, and motioned for Ji Zheng to sit in the second place. Prince You raised his glass to Zhang Xun and said: "This expedition, General Zhang has made a lot of contributions!" ”

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has won the award, how can he be virtuous in the next place, if there is really some credit, half of it is Brother Ji's."

"Yes, yes, how can I forget Mr. Ji, after returning home from this victory, I will definitely report to my father and ask for credit for Mr. Ji."

Ji Zheng hurriedly saluted, "I don't dare to take credit in the future, I'm just helping my brother with advice." ”

"Eh, don't say that, Mr. Ji has seen people from afar, he is a rare talent, and he will serve the country in the army in the future!"

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Xie for knowing the grace of the encounter!"

"Come, two brothers, drink!"

The three of them drank together, and the prince put down the wine glass and said happily: "When I go back, I will recommend Mr. Ji to my father as the right army Sima, so that you two brothers have a left army Sima and a right army Sima, just like my right-hand man, haha!" ”

Zhang Xun was very happy to hear this, he looked at Ji Zheng's unsmiling face with a trace of expectation and joy, he knew that Ji Zheng was also looking forward to the arrival of that moment.

After three rounds of drinking, the prince is already a little fluttery. Zhang Xun said with the strength of the wine: "His Royal Highness the Prince, in fact, the last general has some ideas, and it was inconvenient to talk about them in the military opportunity before, but now I want to mention it to His Royal Highness the Prince." ”

Prince You smiled: "General Zhang, but it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

"His Royal Highness the Prince, we have now taken a total of four county seats, Shu County, Hong County, Beiyang County and Baji County, and the four county armies have garrisons, 1,000 people in Shu County, 1,500 people in Hong County, 1,500 people in Beiyang County, and 2,000 people in Baji County, leaving a total of 5,000 defenders."

"I know, do you mean there are too many people left?"

"Well, I've told you about my concerns about the division of forces before."

The prince waved his hand, "General Zhang, you don't know that Chen Guoren's harassment of these four counties has never stopped. According to you, the Chen people want to force us to divide our forces and defend through constant harassment, and then weaken our main force to attack Wanqiu. But these four counties are all exchanged for the lives of the soldiers, so they can't give them up. Besides, it seems that there are a lot of people left behind, but in fact, many of them are wounded soldiers, and even if these people are brought over, they don't have much combat effectiveness. ”

"But in terms of troops, we have lost nearly 1,500 people in Shu County, 2,000 in Hong County, and nearly 2,000 people each in Beiyang and Baji.

"It doesn't matter, this number is already better than expected, and thanks to the chariot you built, if there is no chariot, we will pay a greater price for attacking Beiyang and Baji."

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, Wanqiu is the last capital of the Chen Kingdom, and it is also their last line of defense. At this point, the people of Chen will definitely do their best to defend, and I am worried that our existing forces are not enough to break through Chen Guo. ”

The prince laughed, "Hahaha, General Zhang is really worried." How many people are there in Chen Guo? The population of the whole country is only a few tens of thousands, and the standing army is only 7,000 or 8,000 people, and in the past month, we have lost more than 7,000 people, and they have also lost more than 3,000 people. ”

"But Chen Guo can mobilize a large number of militia at any time, and now that the country is about to be broken, all the people in Chen Guo are soldiers, and they share the same hatred of the enemy, and it is really not certain who is strong and who is weak at that time!"

The prince was immediately displeased, glanced at Zhang Xun with his eyes, and asked, "Why did General Zhang grow up with other people's ambition to destroy his own prestige?" Hmph, what is General Zhang's opinion? How are you going to increase your troops? ”

Zhang Xun held back his words, and just wanted to say something, but Ji Zheng suddenly interjected: "His Royal Highness the Prince, General Zhang's worries are not unreasonable, but what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said is also true. When it comes to military affairs, I shouldn't have talked too much, but maybe the bystanders are clear, I wonder if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can let me, a white-bodied person, talk about the current strategy to break the enemy? ”

"Say it."

Ji Zheng saluted respectfully, and then said: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, there is not enough food and grass in our army, only enough to last for a month, so we must fight quickly at the moment. If we can't resolve the battle within a month, we will inevitably fall into passivity, and this is probably the situation that Chen Guoren wants to see. ”

"You're right, the reason why Chen Guoren stationed troops in Luanshan and formed a corner is to make it impossible for us to concentrate on attacking the city, and then delay our offensive rhythm."

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. However, the siege strategy mentioned by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the Military Aircraft Council, the government, has some concerns. ”

The prince breathed a sigh of relief, suppressed the displeasure in his heart, and asked, "What are your concerns?" ”

"Although we can besiege Luanshan and block the grain and water routes, we still have to worry about the possibility of the Luanshan defenders struggling to break through. Luanshan is the last line of defense outside Wanqiu, and failure in this battle is the ruin of the country and the family, so their determination and courage must not be underestimated. ”

"You're right, but with no water, no food, and a fire burning the mountains, what can they do, no matter how determined and courageous they are?" The prince showed a hint of contempt.

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, it's the beginning of April, and it is not uncommon for it to rain in the Central Plains, and the defenders have already been stationed in the mountains, so they may have prepared sufficient food, grass and drinking water."

"Hehe, so what? I just need to trap him for a few more days, and I don't believe they can live in the mountains. ”

Ji Zheng didn't expect the prince to be so stubborn, and he was speechless for a while. At this time, Zhang Xun was a little anxious, and took over and said directly: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, what the two of us mean is that we can pretend to besiege, but in fact, we have set up an ambush between Wanqiu City and Luan Mountain. His Royal Highness can order a small number of troops to feign a siege of Luan Mountain, and then order a large army to feint to attack Wanqiu City. Within three days, the city will inevitably ask for help from Luanshan, at that time, we only need to let the defenders of Luanshan go down the mountain, and when they are halfway through, they will carry out an ambush, so that we can annihilate the defenders on Luanshan in one fell swoop. ”

The prince smiled and said: "I should be He Gao, isn't this an extra move?" Originally, they were cocooned and trapped in Luan Mountain, I just need to surround and set fire, can they still fly out? Besides, if you want to ambush, in addition to Luan Mountain, even a dirt slope is rare in this radius of 100 miles, how can you ambush on flat ground? ”

"There is a dense forest ten miles east of the city, which is the only way back to the city, and you can ambush in the forest."

"General Zhang, at first glance, what you said seems to make sense, but if you think about it carefully, what's the need for such a blind toss?"

Zhang Xun saw that the prince's friend had a firm attitude, and knew that this suggestion would never be accepted, so he no longer insisted, but brought up the old matter again: "Just now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me how to increase the army, I mean, can we transfer 3,000 defenders from Shuxian and other four cities to supplement our army's military strength. ”

The prince was afraid of a few cases, and said angrily: "Hmph, what kind of opinion should I have? So you mean you don't want these four cities?! ”

"Chen Guoren now only has the capital to defend, this battle will inevitably transfer all the troops back, even if there is still an intrusion on the four cities, it can only be a small-scale guerrilla harassment, as long as the officers and soldiers defending the city are ordered to hold out, the four cities will be safe."

The prince knocked on the lacquer case with a wine glass, and rebuked loudly: "You, why are you conservative for a while, aggressive for a while, what should you do if the people of Chen Guo concentrate on attacking the city?" What should I do if the people in the city mutiny? What if the four cities are taken and we have no way to retreat, and we are attacked on our backs? Don't say that General Huang won't agree, and I won't either! ”

"But, Your Highness the Prince! ……”

Zhang Xungang wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the prince, "Don't say it!" You two stand down! I will go north to Luanshan tomorrow, I wanted to take you to make meritorious deeds together, but now it seems that it is still over! You two are on guard in the big camp! Hum! ”

Zhang Xun and Ji Zheng saw that the prince was furious, so they had to bow and leave.

Out of the tent of the prince's friend, Zhang Xun was extremely depressed, and kicked a stone out of the distance, "His Royal Highness the prince really didn't take our suggestion. ”

Ji Zheng sighed, "Hey, this is inevitable, although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has the heart to be a virtuous lord, but how can it be an easy thing?" It's already a very difficult thing to say. Besides, after all, this is the first time that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has proposed a complete strategic measure, and if you directly deny him, he will definitely not accept it. ”

"I found out that the argumentation technique that Master taught me is useless!"

"How could it be useless? In the past, when you persuaded others, you were still very set, but just now you were clearly straightforward and didn't talk about skills at all. ”

"But these few times, I really want to put forward opinions and give advice, instead of being flattered and flattering!"

"In my opinion, it's not that your argumentative skills are not useful, but that once you show your sincerity, your emotions will disturb your reason, so you forget all about your skills. Brother Xun, you are a true person. ”

"Is that so? Then why did Master teach me this? Did Master just want me to be a villain? ”

Ji Zheng shook his head and said, "No, the master teaches you according to your aptitude, and what you teach must be the most suitable." Maybe one day, you will be able to control your sincerity and be able to separate your intellect from your emotions, and at that time, I think you will be able to use the art of argumentation well. ”