(a)

You arrived at the foot of Jingshui Pass and met Chen Shouye and the generals of the southern line after a long absence.

Chen Shouye led his troops to attack the city for dozens of days. They have reported to you the previous battles. They said that although they did not conquer the city as scheduled, they did not fail in several battles with Lei Shicheng.

You interrupt them right away.

You say, "Protracted is the greatest failure." ”

You demand that Jingshui Pass must be captured within half a month.

Chen Shouye and others found it very difficult. They said that the other side had been operating this level for many years, and the defense was tight, and it was difficult to find the opponent's weaknesses.

You say: "The weakness of the late inability to find the other side is the most serious weakness of our southern front." ”

You say, "You can't find the enemy's weaknesses, but you tell me so much about them." In fact, all strengths are weaknesses when viewed in reverse. You're all very accurate, but at the wrong angle. ”

You say, "They are well-defended and strong, and the other way around, they have imprisoned themselves in this wall." If they waste their forces here, they will inevitably have a shortage of troops elsewhere. That deficiency is a flaw, a weakness. ”

Say, "Let's start the siege from where the flaw is." ”

You said: "Our goal is to conquer Jingshui Pass, but this does not mean that our vision and consideration must be limited to Jingshui Pass. We don't have to fight the siege battle of Jingshui Pass. ”

(b)

On the night you arrived at Jingshuiguan, you invited Chen Shouye to dinner alone. You showed him a scroll of paperwork.

Chen Shouye asked, "What is this?" ”

You said, "It is the national capital that is consumed by the garrison every day." I specially made a list for Xu Zaitian and the magistrates. Every day we are stationed under Jingshui Pass, the finances of the entire country and all the people of the country need to pay so much financial, material and human resources to support us. ”

You said: "This is only one battlefield in Jingshui Pass, if you add up all the battlefields on the north and south fronts, every day, the price that the king of Han and the people of the whole country need to pay in order to support our battle is amazing." If you add the price paid by the people of the city and the grassland, that number will be very staggering. ”

You say: "War is very expensive. ”

You say, "If we end the war one day sooner, we will no longer have to spend the huge wealth on such a useless thing as killing each other, and let it be used to develop production, improve people's livelihood, and make the life of the people of the world richer and more satisfying." ”

You said: "As generals of our country, we should always be aware of the enormous cost of war every day, and we should not forget it." ”

You said: "As the chief general of the war zone, judging the success or failure of the war, we must not only judge the success or failure of the war from the military point of view, but must stand in the position of the king of Han, and must use the vision of the monarch and the people's livelihood." Otherwise, it is easy for us to get lost in the shadows of swords and swords. ”

You say, "General Chen, the victory or defeat of the battle is not equal to the success or failure of the generals. The success or failure of a general's life depends only on whether he has reduced or increased the suffering of the world on the whole. ”

You say, "As the commander-in-chief, we should be ashamed that we cannot end the war and return the peace of the world." We must fight in this way so that it will not become a scourge to the world. ”

You say: "When we judge whether we can act or not, whether we should take risks, we must not only count the losses of the troops under our command, but also the profits and losses of the books of accounts in this paperwork." ”

You say, "What is the difference between a general and a general?" That is, the chief general cannot judge the army, and the chief general must have both political and economic minds. ”

You say: "For the commander-in-chief, the war resources that can be used are not only troops and weapons, but also things outside of war. The environment, the weather, the folklore, the hearts of the people, the relationships, the enemy's superiors, the enemy's enemies, the enemies themselves, the resources that the enemy's enemies have, all of these, all of them, are all war resources that we can use, and they are also places where we can start to solve battlefield problems. ”

You say, "Let's not limit ourselves to a certain battlefield, a certain opponent, or a certain point in time, the vision of the main general should be unlimited." Never be led by the enemy, never be controlled by the enemy, always take the initiative to control the battlefield, and let the enemy fight the war against them at the time and place of our choosing, not the other way around. ”

When Chen Shouye heard your words, he was enlightened, and he was extremely excited about the war thinking and strategic possibilities you showed him. He admired you so much, was deeply ashamed that he had advised Liu Shen not to appoint you as the commander of the whole country, and he was also deeply moved by the fact that you had inspired him and guided him to a new level of military command, regardless of your past suspicions.

He sincerely admits to you that the Jingshuiguan war in the early stage was indeed delayed because his thinking was too narrow and he did not have the concept of the overall political situation, and he also sincerely apologized to you, he did not support Liu Shen's consciousness before, and did not support you to command the entire army of the Northern Han Dynasty earlier. He said that he now realizes that his shortcomings lie in his failure to consider the problems in war from the perspective of military affairs and from the perspective of the fundamental interests of the whole world.

(c)

Chen Shouye sincerely asks you how to solve the dead situation of Jingshui Pass.

You ask him, what do you think is the most difficult thing to deal with in the Jingshui Pass battle?

Chen Shouye thought for a while and said, "It's Lei Shicheng." ”

He believes that if the general is not Lei Shicheng, it will be much easier. Lei Shicheng has fought with the Northern Han army for most of his life, and he really knows too well the thoughts and reactions of the Northern Han army, and he has expected any siege tricks.

Chen Shouye's previous strategies to lure the enemy were all seen through by Lei Shicheng, and all kinds of surprises were also expected by him, and he took precautions in advance.

Lei Shicheng knew very well that the Northern Han army hated him to the root of his teeth, this time he learned the lesson of underestimating the enemy in the last round of warfare, no matter how the Northern Han army tried every possible way to provoke and provoke, he always hid behind the fortified city and sat in command, and did not show up at all, Chen Shouye was unable to get rid of him.

When you hear this, you say, "He can't get rid of him by hiding in the city, but what if he can't hide in the city anymore, he must be in the countryside?" ”

"That's much easier," Chen said. ”

You say, "Then let's let him come out and beat him again." ”

Chen Shouye said: "However, he is cunning and refuses to go out of the city to fight." ”

You say, "You can't let him out of the city, but someone can." ”

Chen Shouye said: "Who? ”

You say, "Liu Yan." ”

(iv)

Chen Shouye said: "How can the Han King of Dongcheng cooperate with us? Lei Shicheng is the minister of the old Han King and the dry city of Liu Yan's country. ”

You said: "It is precisely because he is the cadre of the country that Liu Yan's core interests will definitely think of mobilizing him when his core interests are threatened." If we hit Liu Yan's core interests and make Liu Yan feel panicked, Liu Yan will inevitably mobilize him out of the city to rescue. We have a chance. ”

You asked, "What are Liu Yan's core interests that we can hit?" ”

Chen Shouye followed your train of thought and fell into deep thought.

You say, "Good." We have to think step by step in this way when we fight. ”

You said: "Liu Yan has a good relationship with his wife, and Queen Liu Yan's mother's family is very powerful in the court, and she is the head of the top ten noble families in the Southern Han Dynasty." And most of her mother's family lived in one place. ”

"Ba Cheng?" Chen Shouye suddenly realized.

You say, "Exactly! Let's hit Bacheng first! ”

You unfold the map and look at it together.

You said: "You see, because Lei Shicheng is too concerned about the gains and losses of Jingshui Pass, and he is too familiar with our previous combat choices, he has deployed 60 percent of the troops in this theater in Jingshui Pass and its surroundings, and has also used 15 percent of his troops to ensure the transportation roads of Jingshui Pass and the grain-producing areas, so the troops in other areas in this area are relatively weak. ”

You said: "Ba Cheng is not strategically important, we have ignored it in the previous wars, and we have never shown any interest in Ba Cheng. Therefore, Lei Shicheng also neglected it. He did not arrange troops to protect Ba Cheng in particular. Now the troops near Bacheng are only the troops of Zhaoyang Hou, the younger brother of Queen Liu Yan. This army is accustomed to arrogance and lasciviousness on weekdays, and its combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the troops commanded by Lei Shicheng. ”

You say, "If we attack him violently, he will be overwhelmed, and he will definitely ask Liu Yan for help." Within a radius of 500 miles, the most likely force to rush to his rescue was Lei Shicheng's arrangement at Jingshui Pass to ensure the safety of the supply line and prepare to bypass the cavalry troops attacking the besieging enemy. Therefore, in order to relieve the crisis as soon as possible, Zhaoyang Hou must ask Liu Yan to mobilize Lei Shicheng. ”

Chen Shouye said: "But Liu Yan may not be able to move Lei Shicheng, and Lei Shicheng can see through the trap that Liu Yan can't see." He will definitely refuse Liu Yan's transfer and tell Liu Yan about our intentions. ”

You say, "So, we still need to do a little more work with Liu Yan." Liu Yan has no opinion, if the people close to him persuade him in unison, it will be difficult for him not to be affected. And he has been on discord with NVC for a long time, and we have a gap to take advantage of. ”

You say, "Moreover, Liu Yan is timid, we can still try to scare him." ”

(5)

The Battle of Jingshuiguan can be said to be a teaching demonstration battle for the former Northern Han army.

Under your inspiration and guidance, Chen Shouye finally understood why a general must care about politics and the intricate relationship between the enemy and the government.

He finally understood one important thing: problems that could not be solved on the battlefield could be easily solved far from the battlefield.

A general who will only fight on the battlefield will not be a real good general.

This night's conversation finally made Chen Shouye understand what kind of person you are. Xu Zaitian didn't look away at all, you are the kind of person who has the strength to compete with the Liu brothers for the world.

Now, he understands what a great self-sacrifice it is for you to give up fighting for the world and firmly support Liu Shen.

From this day on, Chen Shouye completely gave up all kinds of prejudices against you and became your close friend and staunch follower.

Your command of the national army was indeed given by Liu Shen. However, your absolute authority and heartfelt support in the New Army of the Northern Han Dynasty is not something that Liu Shen can give. It is earned by yourself through perseverance, with your own personality, with your own talent.