Plan to cut off the nine states

It was early morning when Xu Chu returned to his bedroom. He was still too excited to sleep. He kept thinking about what loopholes he might have.

Passing by Xue Jinyao's room, Xu Chu stopped for a moment, then walked over to his own room. He would not put himself in danger again.

Although they were married and shared the same bed, Xu Chu never knew his wife's true thoughts, just as Xue Jinyao could never guess the three points of her husband's thoughts.

Tang Weitian had been following Xu Chu. He was very sleepy and yawned as soon as he entered the room. The King of Wu did not let him make the bed, so he did not hesitate to fall on the couch and fall asleep without taking off his clothes and shoes. Before falling asleep, he reminded: "The stick of advent is still in Jinsheng..."

Xue Jinyao did not return the stick of advent, and Xu Chu did not ask for it at that time.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow morning." Xu Chu sat on the bed, still not wanting to sleep. He was not in a hurry to get the stick back, hoping to gradually dilute its significance and status in the rebel army.

Playing tricks is a shortcut, but it is also an unpredictable and dangerous road. Most of the power comes from gods and ghosts. Xu Chu can fight for it, so can others. It is like a sword. Whoever holds it in his hand will own it. There is no difference.

Xu Chu longs to win the power that belongs to him completely and to be truly respected. He does not want to be the successor of Xue Liujia or anyone else, and even wants to erase the identity of the grandson of Emperor Wu...

He stood up and quietly walked out of the room, whispering to a guard at the door: "Ask General Meng to the meeting room."

The meeting room was empty and filled with cold air. Xu Chu wrapped his cloak tightly and sat on the chair. He did not let anyone light the lights, and the light outside would soon come in.

Xu Chu sat silently for a while, and suddenly understood why Ma Wei sat slumped in the chair last night and waited for the guests to help him. That was a kind of confidence. Ma Wei obviously felt that he had won the recognition and loyalty of his subordinates.

Xu Chu also had the same confidence, but he still had to knock on some corners.

"Never again will such a thing happen on your own initiative." Xu Chu silently said, making his heart hard. He didn't need the reputation of "good man" now, and he didn't need the reputation of "soft-hearted".

Inexplicably, Xu Chu thought of the famous scholar Fan Bi who was far away in Yecheng. The two had only met once, and he remembered everything the old man said.

"Name and reality, name and reality... destroy the name, hey, what is considered destroying the name? He said it easily." Xu Chu forgot the feeling of enlightenment at that time, and only felt ridiculous. Although Fan Bi was knowledgeable and sharp-tongued, he was ultimately a scholar who only talked about war on paper. What he said sounded abstruse, but it was useless.

But Xu Chu just couldn't forget his words, and kept thinking about whether it was a "destroying the name" to get rid of the names of "good man" and "soft-hearted".

There is also a reputation of "resourcefulness", which he wants to keep, and he does not think it has much harm. If Fan Bi is just a paper talker, Fei Bing is just a rotten wood. The "army of benevolence and righteousness" he suggested can only be used to decorate the facade, but it is not of great use.

Who is of great use? Xu Chu's thoughts turned to this, thinking about all his generals, and couldn't help laughing. There are indeed people who can be entrusted with important tasks, but they are not his men.

"Call Tan Wuwei!" Xu Chu said loudly.

The guard at the door immediately responded.

Meng Senglun arrived first, sleepy, and bowed in the hall: "The ruling is up so early?"

"Yeah." Xu Chu did not explain that he did not sleep at all, pointing to the stool next to him, "Sit."

Meng Senglun noticed something strange, but did not dare to ask, and sat down obediently.

Xu Chu continued to think about his worries, thinking about who could be used and who could be of great use, thinking about the next plan after defeating the officers and soldiers and stabilizing the Eastern Capital. He was excited to get out of the cell. He had been trapped in this cell since the day his mother, Princess Wu, committed suicide.

Tan Wuwei arrived, not looking sleepy. He was left in the Eastern Capital by the King of Jin, but he did not participate in any battles and had enough rest.

"Tan Wuwei, the humble general, pays homage to the King of Wu." With outsiders present, Tan Wuwei did not address them as brothers.

Xu Chu invited Tan Wuwei to sit down opposite Meng Senglun, "The officers and soldiers suffered a heavy blow yesterday and lost their fighting spirit. The two kings of Xiangdong and Jibei went to Han and Jing respectively, inviting the general to besiege the Eastern Capital with the Xi family. I plan to gather troops and rush out of the city in a few days to break the siege in one fell swoop. What do you think, General Tan?"

Tan Wuwei held the hilt of the sword, his upper body straight, and his brows slightly frowned, "I told the King of Wu very clearly that I am a minister of the King of Jin and I don't give advice to others."

Xu Chu smiled and said, "This is not a suggestion. I just asked General Tan to comment on it. It's just a casual conversation."

Tan Wuwei was very interested in this kind of thing. After thinking for a while, he felt that it would not violate his oath, so he said, "Then I will start with yesterday's battle."

"Very good."

Meng Senglun sat there confused, his eyes lowered even lower, and he made up his mind that as long as the King of Wu didn't ask, he wouldn't say a word.

Tan Wuwei didn't notice anything strange and immediately said, "In yesterday's battle, the King of Wu won by luck."

"The rebels fought hard and repelled the officers and soldiers after a hard battle, but you think it was luck?"

"It's true that the rebels fought hard, but the officers and soldiers also made a big mistake. The officers and soldiers were obviously few in number, but they were ambitious. They had to set up an ambush in the north city to encircle and suppress the King of Ning, and enter the south city to capture the East Capital in one fell swoop. They had to take care of both sides, and they would lose the other and make the weaker side weaker. The fierce attack outside the west city was beyond the officers and soldiers' expectations. A large number of troops were tied up and could not take care of the north and the south."

Although Tan Wuwei did not participate in the war, he asked many people afterwards and knew everything about the war.

"General Tan, don't you believe that these "lucky" things are all designed?"

"The King of Wu was able to plan the siege of the North City and the street battles in the South City, but could not plan the onslaught in the west. That was the luck I was talking about. The battle outside the West City was not important at first, because the rebel army's continuous onslaught contained a large number of Jizhou's troops, leaving the north and south separated and unable to Supporting each other is the most important reason why the Rebels can win—it should be said that they can remain undefeated.”

Tan Wuwei paused for a moment, looked at the King of Wu, and then at Meng Seng Lun who lowered his head. This was his habit of speaking and had no other meaning. He continued: "Did the King of Wu expect that the rebels in the west would be so brave?" ?”

"The fierce attack in the west was originally my plan. General Meng got my instructions and chose the opportunity to act."

Tan Wuwei smiled, "The bad thing is this 'opportunity'. I understand what King Wu means. You want to see the situation on the north and south. If it is stable and attracts the attention of the officers and soldiers, you can take advantage of it and launch a fierce attack from the west. The west If we attack the enemy camp, the officers and soldiers will be greatly defeated, and the situation between the north and the south will be relieved. "

"Exactly."

"If you go by King Wu's original plan, you will never wait for the right opportunity. It is the original plan of the officers and soldiers to surround King Ning in the north and enter the city gate in the south. Watching King Tiemei's previous battles, although this person is not a general, he is He is not a reckless person and must be well prepared. How can the rebel army achieve a "stable" situation? If the north and south sides are still unstable and the west side does not dare to attack, the longer they wait, the lower their morale will be, and the King of Wu will suffer from the division of troops. "

"It was your idea to attack on all sides, but you say dividing your forces is harmful?"

Tan Wuwei said sternly: "What I said at the beginning was to attack in turns to tire out the officers and soldiers. My original intention was to provide an opportunity for the King of Jin. Although the Jin army is not large in number, they are all elite. After attacking in turns, the strength of the Jin army will be clearly demonstrated. The king of Jin has an advantage in the eastern capital."

"General Tan is indeed the one who protects the Lord." Xu Chu said with a smile.

Tan Wuwei let out a long sigh. Although he was protecting his master, he was not willing to protect him. "Also, taking turns to attack is just a test, not a real fight. It avoids the shortcomings of the rebel army and makes use of its strengths. When the officers and soldiers show fatigue, the morale of the rebel army will be slightly stronger." After that, we have a decisive battle. Although this method takes longer, it is the safest. King Wu only used half of my plan and used other strategies to win in one day. It is really impressive. King Jin learned the news here. Must be surprised."

"He should be surprised." Xu Chu said lightly. In his plan for the future, he did not join forces with King Jin again.

"But I still want to say that King Wu won by luck. The rebel army lacked morale the most and was afraid of fighting. Suddenly they were able to move forward bravely and fight without stopping. I don't believe King Wu could have predicted this in advance."

Xu Chu did not expect this. The morale of the rebel army came from the King of the World. No one could have expected it. He smiled and said: "Okay, even if yesterday's victory was a fluke, what next? What advice does General Tan have?" "

Tan Wuwei got excited and no longer cared about his oath of allegiance, "The officers and soldiers have indeed suffered a heavy setback. Asking for reinforcements cannot be done in a day or two. The King of Wu sends troops at this time, and the timing is perfect. Don't attack from all sides, this time we must concentrate Military strength, specialize in one aspect.”

"Yeah." Xu Chu nodded, he thought so too.

"But this is a so-called frontal attack, not a strange trick. The rebels only have a 50% chance of winning."

"Only 50%?" Xu Chu was a little surprised. He thought it was 70% to 80%.

"As long as Wang Tiemei is not too stupid, he will definitely adjust his strategy, take a defensive position with deep ditches and high bases, and at the same time concentrate his cavalry to attack the rebels from behind. If he can choose the right time, he will surely gain something. The morale of the rebels is already there, but not yet If you are familiar with the formation, it will be easily scattered if you are attacked by surprise. It is difficult to say whether the morale can be maintained. "

“How to increase your chances of winning?”

"If the enemy is caught unexpectedly and the officers and soldiers are unprepared, the rebels' chances of victory will be greatly increased."

"How to take things by surprise?"

"Um... I don't know. In war, you have to adapt to circumstances." Tan Wuwei probably thought of his oath again and refused to say anything more.

Xu Chu smiled and did not ask further questions.

Tan Wuwei frowned again, "The two kings went out to ask for help. It should have been informed by the officers and soldiers' messengers to King Wu, right?"

"yes."

"Strange, this move is tantamount to taking the initiative to show weakness to the King of Wu. If this is false news, the two kings are still in the army, I can't think of the use of this? Regarding the formation of troops, the two kings do not know Wang Tiemei. If Said there was some other motive - I can’t guess what the motive was.”

"The news that the two kings are sending envoys to ask for help will leak out sooner or later. The officers and soldiers' messengers are actually here to threaten me."

"What's the threat?"

"I once sent a Wu army to defect to Yecheng. The original plan was to let them gain the trust of the officers and soldiers and then find an opportunity to defect to Runan City. Unfortunately, this Wu army was bewitched by others and actually wanted to cause trouble in the officers and soldiers camp with thousands of infantrymen. They have all been captured. The officers and soldiers said that if I send troops out of the city, they will kill the Wu soldiers in front of the formation to worship the gods."

Meng Silun's face turned pale, and he finally understood the purpose of being called here.

Tan Wuwei only wanted to fight, and thought for a while, "This makes sense. If the King of Wu could not care about the lives of these thousands of Wu soldiers, he would be able to take things by surprise." After saying this, he smiled, "But King Wu won't. Wu Bing is your confidant, and you are a kind-hearted person. How could you give up their lives?"

"It's really hard to make a decision." Xu Chu said coldly.

Meng Nilun finally said, "Let me do it. You can't bear the unjust reputation of being in power. I can do it."