324 Strategic dilemma

August.

Zhangye City, Taishoufu Garden.

Zhan Xiaobai is thinking about the future development plan of the Xiaobai Alliance, thinking about several major issues related to the future and fate of himself and the entire Xiaobai Alliance.

A large-scale war between Wuwei County and Zhangye County against the anti-thieves ended with the capture of the anti-thief master and the complete collapse of the Zhangye County Players Alliance. The forces of the Xiaobai Alliance have fully entered Zhangye County.

In August, Dong Zhuo had already entered Luoyang City and coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes. If there is no accident in the historical plot in the game, Dong Zhuo will soon subdue Lu Bu, the god of war under Ding Yuan's account, depose the young emperor Liu Wei in September, and support the succession of Emperor Liu Xie, and in January next year, it will be the eighteenth princes to crusade against Dong Zhuo.

The Battle of Tiger Prison Pass represents the real entry of the game into the era of the rise of princes.

According to the latest statistics from game operating companies, the total number of active players (players who are online for more than an hour a day) in China has reached 150 million. Obviously, the current Little White Alliance has been at the forefront of 150 million players.

At this time, the capture of Zhangye County, coupled with the original Wuwei County, based on these two rich counties, the Xiaobai Alliance will cultivate incomparably strong strength. This strength includes a series of aspects such as player population, NPC population, high-level craftsmen, skilled warriors, wealth, food, resources, and so on.

Except for the Little White Alliance, there is no other player alliance that can unify the player villages of a county, at most only one system city is taken down, and a group of player villages are united.

As for the three counties of Jiuquan County, Dunhuang County, and Xihai County behind Zhangye County, if he wants to unify Liangzhou, how can he let others take root in the deepest corners of their homes? In Zhan Xiaobai's heart, these three counties already belonged to his predetermined territory, and he would not allow any other players or NPCs to get involved.

It's just that I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, the alliance has just taken Zhangye County, and the financial and material resources are seriously consumed, and it will take at least two months to digest the results. Therefore, I am afraid that before the outbreak of the Battle of Tiger Prison Pass, he will not be able to send troops on a large scale to take these three counties. It's too late.

The main city of these three counties, which still belongs to the imperial court forces, is the three large counties in the northwest of Liangzhou, desolate and remote, far from the central power of the Luoyang Imperial Capital, and the player alliance power is not very strong.

How to seize the three northwestern counties of Liangzhou is the first question that Zhan Xiaobai pondered.

Do you use NPC armies or player armies? How large is the army?

Jiang Xu and Jiang Jiong's two NPCs are loyal to the imperial court, and it is impossible for them to conquer the cities subordinate to the imperial court. Because Jiang Xu and Jiang Jiong, the two historical generals, served him with the righteous purpose of "guarding the territory of the Han Dynasty, maintaining the tranquility of one side, attacking the Xiongnu in the north, and Qiangdi in the south", and his political position was very clear. It's naturally best to use them to deal with anti-thief horses. However, if you want to order them to attack the city that belongs to the imperial court, it may be 0 "sex".

If you can subdue Ma To, you may be able to send Ma Toshi to conquer the three counties, although the historical NPC generals of Ma Play are not very strong, but it is still possible to take the three county cities that are not guarded by high-level generals.

However, what made Zhan Xiaobai feel very sorry was that the captured horse did not surrender if he was alive or dead. If he doesn't surrender, even if he is a historical general, it is useless, chicken ribs, tasteless food, and it is a pity to abandon it. It is the second trouble that Zhan Xiaobai is worried about.

The three northwestern counties of Liangzhou can be cleaned up slowly, and there is no need to rush.

However, put these two questions aside. What really makes Zhan Xiaobai think carefully is the problem from the East of Liangzhou.

After unifying Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Xihai, Zhangye, and Wuwei, the "five counties of the Hexi Corridor" in Liangzhou, it was necessary to go to the east to have a way out. To step out of the Gulang Gorge in the east is the real problem, and the difficulty is extremely challenging.

Han Sui and Ma Teng were stationed in Jincheng County and Anding County respectively, blocking the way for the Xiaobai Alliance army to go out from the east.

Han and Ma, these are the two real NPC warlord characters, and they belong to the first-class NPC warlords in the game. The status is second only to Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao and other super-first-class princes.

In history, Han Sui had eight generals, and horse play belonged to only one of them. Compared with them, the horse play is not a little bit worse. Horse play is only capable of military generals, and there is not much wisdom and political influence.

If it weren't for the natural danger of Gulang Gorge, Zhan Xiaobai sent three generals and mobilized 3,000 heavy halberd soldiers to build a pass to protect it, I am afraid that any of these two figures would be enough to set foot in Wuwei County.

Zhan Xiaobai defeated Ma Wan, but it doesn't mean that he can compete with Han Sui and Ma Teng.

He was reluctant to engage in a serious military conflict with either of the two warlords, unless they took the initiative to invade Wuwei County.

Han Sui annexed 100,000 elite soldiers and horses of Han and Qiang such as Bian Zhang, Beigong Boyu, and Li Wenhou, and his strength skyrocketed. Jincheng County could no longer accommodate this powerful military strength, so Han Sui waved his troops to Xiping County and gave the unlucky leader of the Players Alliance in Xiping County, the city of the Earth Emperor. Poor Emperor Di, he didn't even sit on the throne of the city lord of Xiping City, so he stepped down in embarrassment and retreated to Xiqiang.

Ma Teng, after laying a foundation in Anding County, quickly took the Northland County, sitting on two large counties, and his power rose rapidly.

Xiaobai, Han Sui, and Ma Teng are nicknamed the three major warlords of Liangzhou by countless players, and their territories have reached two counties.

Xiaobai Alliance, at present, has normal diplomatic relations with Han Sui and Ma Teng, the two major warlords, one is a diplomatic degree of 50, and the other is a diplomatic degree of 48, and there is no deep hatred and blood hatred.

A diplomatic degree of 50 means that the two forces have no friendship. The higher the diplomatic value, the closer the relationship between the two forces, and the lower the value, the more hatred the two forces. The full value is 100 and the minimum value is 0.

Once the player's power and NPC's power drop below 30, it is a hatred relationship, and an attack war may break out at any time.

The Xiaobai Alliance and the Han Sui warlords hardly have any intersection, so it's 50. The Xiaobai Alliance and the Ma Teng Warlords, because they fought a small war in Gulang Gorge and did not cause much damage, reduced them by 2 points to 48 diplomatic degrees.

In addition, after Han Sui and Ma Teng rebelled against the imperial court, in order to unite against the encirclement and suppression troops of the imperial court commanded by Zhang Wen and Dong Zhuo a few months ago, they had formed a righteous alliance into heterosexual brothers, and the diplomatic degree between their forces rose to 60, which was more intimate. It wasn't until the 208th year of the game calendar that Han and Ma became mortal enemies because of the contradictions between their subordinates, attacking each other, and the brotherly alliance of Han and Ma completely collapsed. From 189 to 208, there are still 19 years, which is quite a terrifying long period. Looking forward to the collapse of the South Korean and Malaysian alliance, I am afraid that it will not be seen in a short time.

In terms of diplomacy, the three largest warlord forces in Liangzhou: Han Sui, Ma Teng, and Xiaobai, and the most likely to break out in war are Han Sui-Xiaobai, Ma Teng-Xiaobai. Given that Han and Ma had already established a brotherly pact, which was a very high-level pact, Xiaobai would almost certainly be attacked by the other if he went to war with either of them.

Even if Dong Zhuo was here, in the face of the two strong enemies of Han Sui and Ma Teng, he would retreat for hundreds of miles in shock, and he would not dare to fight. Cao Cao's campaign against Xiliang during the most powerful period was almost defeated by Han Sui and Ma Chao, and he was forced to use stratagem to break up the alliance between them.

Zhan Xiaobai knows very well that the Xiaobai Alliance is in an absolute disadvantageous position compared to South Korea and Malaysia. This was the third hurdle he faced.

As long as you are a player who knows a little bit about tactics, you know that you must not easily start a battle with Han and Ma, otherwise it will be over. And you must stick to Gulang Gorge and not take a step back.

Zhan Xiaobai was planning to do just that.

However, a big problem has arisen.

There was nowhere to retreat - there were only three barren counties left to the west to slowly annex, and when they were done, there was no other territory to expand.

There is nowhere to enter - the east is the territory of Han Sui and Ma Teng, the two tigers, but he can't shake them. If the Xiaobai Alliance can't step out of the gateway of the Eastern Gulang Gorge, it will not be able to participate in the battle of Tiger Pass, go to Chang'an and Luoyang, let alone compete for the world. Before 208 years, they will be trapped and die in Gulang Gorge. This is tantamount to announcing that the Xiaobai Alliance will not participate in the struggle for hegemony in the world, and the road of conquest will come to an end.

"There is no way to retreat, and there is no way to advance", this is the fourth problem faced by Zhan Xiaobai.

The first problem is that the Xiaobai Alliance annexed the three counties in the northwest of Liangzhou, and this problem can be solved slowly, and there is no need to worry at all, because there is no strong opponent to compete with these three counties with him. The second problem is to subdue the horse play, which can only be left to chance, but because success or failure does not affect the overall situation, this is only the slightest problem of all. The third issue is to avoid the outbreak of war and conflict with Han Sui and Ma Teng. This only needs to defend Gulang Gorge and maintain a diplomatic degree of no less than 30, and I believe that Han and Ma will not be dizzy, and they will frantically attack this dangerous pass in Liangzhou on the first day for no reason.

In other words, this fourth problem, "there is no way to retreat, there is no way to advance", is the real problem!

Zhan Xiaobai sighed.

He knew very well in his heart that the Xiaobai Alliance had fallen into a strategic dilemma. Yes, this is a "strategic dilemma", not a "tactical dilemma". The difference between strategy and tactics is something that many players can neither understand nor distinguish.

Players who don't understand tactics or strategy are ordinary players, who will only enjoy the game, or fight and kill in the game, or rely on brotherhood to form gangs, build villages, practice martial arts skills, and so on. I don't have any concept of tactics and strategy. About 98.8% of the players fall into this category.

Players who only understand tactics and don't understand strategy are players at the level of legion commanders, generals, and strategists. They know how to win hearts and minds, command battles, and achieve victory. 0.18% of players fall into this category.

And there are very few players who understand strategy. Players at this level are almost all alliance leaders and clever strategists. 0.018% of players, fall into this category.

Even if you understand strategy, there are clever and clumsy. Clever players are usually able to surpass Alliance Leader players and become leaders with great prestige in the game. In this category, no more than 0.0018%.

Players who are proficient in both strategy and tactics are unusually rare. 0.0002% of players, who fall into this category, can be described as one in a million. This type of player can almost always become a leader-level player, a top-notch strategist - as long as they want to.

Zhan Xiaobai can easily solve the first three tactical problems, but he is trapped by the last strategic dilemma - not that he is not proficient in strategy, there are very few people in the game who can fight strategy with him. It is precisely because he is so proficient that he will be stumped.

"Annexing the three northwestern counties of Liangzhou" and "avoiding war with Han Sui and Ma Teng" are problems at the tactical level. "There is no way to retreat, and there is no way to advance" is a problem at the strategic level.

However, Zhan Xiaobai faced tactical problems and strategic problems and clashed. Tactically, he was required to avoid clashes with Han Sui and Ma Teng, otherwise he would face a catastrophe of annihilation, with no life or death. Strategically, he was required to break through the barrier of Han Sui and Ma Teng and walk out of Gulang Gorge to fight for territory, otherwise the Xiaobai Alliance would be trapped in the five counties of the Hexi Corridor. This is a clash of tactics and strategy.

Tactical victory will never solve the strategic problem and embarrassment. Tacticians will never understand why they are still no match for strategists when they keep winning victories.

Just like Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. In the battle of Pengcheng, Xiang Yu's 30,000 elite soldiers rushed to Liu Bang's 300,000 army, and won a big victory, Liu Bang only had more than ten horsemen left to escape, Xiang Yu was a mess in terms of tactics, and he was invincible in the world. Later, Xiang Yu still won consecutive battles, more than 100 battles, and even in the last battle, he still beheaded hundreds of Han troops and won a tactical victory. But a series of tactical victories could not change the outcome of his self-slaughter of Wujiang, and finally fell at Liu Bang's feet.

It is undeniable that Xiang Yu has a magical talent in the use of tactics, which is rare in the world. But "Heaven will kill me, and it is not a crime to use soldiers", Xiang Yu's last words, it can be seen that he didn't understand how he died at the hands of another peerless strategic master, Liu Bang.

This is the gap between tacticians and strategists.

After going around in a big circle, I suddenly found myself back to square one, and all the victories I had won in front of me were useless. Tacticians often die very "confused" and "innocent".

Zhan Xiaobai is a master of tactics and is also proficient in strategy, at least he will not let himself lose without understanding. Therefore, while he had just won Zhangye County and won a huge victory, he did not show too much joy.

He clearly saw that the Xiaobai Alliance had fallen into a latent strategic crisis - the Xiaobai Alliance was trapped in the five counties of the narrow Hexi Corridor, and if it was trapped for a long time, it would be far behind the player alliance in the hinterland of the Central Plains. Unfortunately, Han Sui and Ma Teng lived very long in history, and it was not until the 208th year of the game calendar that the brotherly alliance of Han and Ma collapsed, and Han Sui even hung up in 215, and Ma Teng's son Ma Chao died even later. If nothing else, it's hard for them to finish the game easily. After all, they belong to the strongest boss-level NPC characters.

Zhan Xiaobai's tactical ability has increased tenfold, and in the face of Han Sui and Ma Teng's alliance, he will also end up being blocked in Gulang Gorge and unable to get out of this canyon. Unless he has more historical-level generals and a larger military force than Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao—but this is impossible. The five counties of the Hexi Corridor in Liangzhou can't produce so many NPC generals, nor can they produce so many troops.

Tactical victory can never solve a strategic dilemma. Strategic problems can always only be solved by means at the strategic level. People who mistakenly think that they can rely on tactical victory and can change strategic dilemmas will always be tactical players.

Zhan Xiaobai is very clear about the difference between tactics and strategy, without a trace of hesitation and hesitation. Therefore, he is much stronger than other player leaders, always at the forefront, most admired and loved by countless ordinary players in the game, and most suspicious and slandered by some rival alliances, eager to use conspiracy and trickery to bring down the Xiaobai Alliance.

It's a pity that they never understand that intrigue and intrigue are still tactical-level means, not strategic-level means. They will only be surprised, strange, and wonder why their "so clever" methods do not work, and they will never think that tactical means are only very good for ordinary people, but they have no effect on clever strategic players.

Tacticians always question Xiaobai's combat ability, believing that he is not very good at warfare, and in many cases relies on luck to obtain great gains. Just like the battle to conquer Zhangye, they will think that Xiaobai has picked up too much cheapness from the horse play and the Zhangye County Player Alliance, and some of them are not martial. I was somewhat unimpressed by the victory of the Little White Alliance in the war.

Strategic players are reluctant to be his enemy. Because, when a low-level strategist and a high-level strategist play a game, there will be irrepressible fear in their hearts. They don't want to be defeated and don't understand, but they can't escape the end of defeat without knowing it. This kind of frustrating failure will cause the gloom and fear in their hearts, and it will be difficult for them to achieve more.

There are not many players who have tried this kind of depressed defeat, and there are not many, such as the Warring States World, Blue Devil Tears, etc. The Warring States World is very depressed, because he is a strategic-level player, defeated, and after realizing it, he is a little sober, and he wants to vomit blood in depression. Blue Devil Tears is not too depressed, because he is a tactical-level player, defeated, can't figure it out, and is a little depressed. As for Fenyang Hou, he has never admitted that he has failed in his heart, and is trying to make a comeback with Xiaobai's strength. Is this power really that easy to borrow?

Because of this, the Silent Sword, the Prosperous Han and Tang Dynasties, Xiao Ye, the Yellow Turban World, the Lonely Twin Cities, and the Peerless Heroes...... Wait, the super-first-class alliance leader in the game, the player leader, no matter what they are doing, their eyes are always fixed on a certain place in Liangzhou, and they have never left.

As strategic players, they can more or less perceive the strategic dilemma that the Little White Alliance is about to face. I just don't know if they feel relieved about the strategic dilemma that Xiaobai is facing now? Or is it regret, regret?

Or is it anticipation? Looking forward to Xiaobai breaking out of the predicament, heroes from all walks of life are competing for the world?!