"The art of war states that when strong, feign weakness; when weak, feign strength. True strategy lies in the interplay of illusion and reality!"
"Your Highness, I believe a night raid at the third watch tonight would be most effective!"
Fan Ju suggested immediately.
Due to Chu Chen's arrival, Li Mengdie, the King of Liu, summoned her ministers to discuss countermeasures.
However, Fan Ju's suggestion caused many to frown.
"Fan Ju, you are merely a scholar, what do you know of military matters? Any general setting up camp upon arrival would surely guard against a night raid. Yet you suggest His Highness order a night raid tonight? Are you not simply handing the enemy merit points?" Cai Guangyao taunted.
"You, what do you know!" Fan Ju, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, exploded in anger.
Cai Guangyao looked him up and down with amusement, scoffing, "I don't know? That's hilarious. I have spent my life on the battlefield, fought in seven or eight major campaigns, big and small. I know far more than a scholar who couldn't even lift a chicken."
Sensing he couldn't win an argument with this brute, Fan Ju turned to the King of Liu and said, "Your Highness, I believe precisely because everyone thinks this way, a night raid tonight is necessary. Consider this: if we all think this way, would Chu Chen not also believe it? He would then order his subordinates to sleep, confident that we would not launch a night raid."
Li Mengdie and the others were stunned. What he said seemed to have some logic.
Indeed, everyone knew that an army setting up camp upon arrival would guard against night raids. In other words, the defenders knew the attackers would be on guard, so they would certainly not launch a night raid. The attackers, anticipating the defenders' anticipation, would choose to sleep.
And now, they were anticipating their anticipation of their anticipation.
Although it sounded like a tongue-twister, there was a sliver of truth to it.
Seeing the King of Liu hesitate, Fan Ju pressed his advantage, "Your Highness, we have gathered three counties and fifty to sixty thousand civilians. The daily consumption of rations is considerable. If we do not seize the opportunity for a night raid, in a war of attrition, we may not be able to match the current imperial court."
"..."
The King of Liu's mouth twitched. Damn it, after rising in rebellion, the noble families and powerful officials only told her that the Ministry of Revenue was rich, with an annual income of twenty-three million taels of silver. If she had known this news earlier, why would she have rebelled at all!
But now that things had come to this, there was no choice. They certainly couldn't outlast the court. Who knew if the court would become even richer in the future? As long as they had money, they could purchase grain from the noble families and powerful officials hoarding it within the country, or even from neighboring countries. Although the quantity might not be large, it would be enough to exhaust her.
Li Mengdie glanced at Fan Ju and sighed, "Doctor Fan's words are reasonable. General Cai, you will have to work hard tonight. Arrange for a thousand men to conduct a night raid for reconnaissance."
"Yes!"
Cai Guangyao reluctantly accepted the order, and as he lowered his head, he glared fiercely at Fan Ju, startling Fan Ju into looking away.
It was the third watch of the night. While the first half of the night was spent nervously anticipating a night raid, it never came.
By this time, the remaining soldiers still on duty no longer believed the enemy would launch a night raid. They all dozed off, heads nodding, leaning on their spears.
"Quick, shoot them down!"
Liang Locheng was a deputy general in the King of Liu's army. This time, he was pushed forward as cannon fodder, leading fifteen hundred men for the night raid.
To him, this was a suicidal mission. Although Chu Chen had limited combat experience, his only two battles were resounding victories against superior numbers, employing ingenious tactics never before seen.
Would a camp led by such a person not be prepared for a night raid? It was a joke.
But orders were orders, and he had been assigned the duty. He had no choice but to come.
He could only hope that this Chu Chen, a mere civilian official, was all talk.
"Whoosh~"
Two faint sounds of bowstrings being drawn echoed. Two soldiers on guard duty on the arrow tower fell instantly.
"Quick, charge!" Liang Locheng rejoiced at this, shouting and beckoning, gripping his saber and creeping forward.
Soon, they reached the camp gate. The soldiers stationed at the gate were completely oblivious to the fallen soldiers from the arrow tower, still sound asleep.
Liang Locheng led his men and rushed forward at great speed.
The soldiers guarding the gate sensed something was amiss, opened their eyes, and mumbled, "Is it time to change shifts?"
Upon clearly seeing the people before him, they were instantly startled and wanted to shout, "Enemy!"
Unfortunately, before the words could leave their mouths, their throats were slit by a saber, and they died without further ado.
"Kill!"
"Kill them!"
Having successfully opened the camp gate, Liang Locheng no longer concealed his actions. He shouted, ordering his soldiers to set fires everywhere, throw oil jars, and shoot fire arrows.
Instantly, the camp was engulfed in flames. But strangely, no one was shouting to put out the fire.
"Bad! We've fallen into an ambush! Damn you, Cai Guangyao!"
Seeing how quiet it was, Liang Locheng finally understood what had happened. He turned and shouted, "Brothers, we've fallen into an ambush! Retreat quickly!"
With that, he led his men to retreat rapidly.
However, it was already too late to retreat.
An unknown number of torches had appeared behind them, and countless figures swayed terrifyingly in the firelight.
"Hahaha, you have fallen into our trap! Surrender quickly!"
An Xian shouted into the camp with a laugh, then ordered, "Leave none of them alive! Dead or alive!"
"Yes!"
Soon, the adjutant accepted the order and led his men to charge.
Chu Chen was not present here. The camp Liang Locheng attacked was the front army's camp. He was in the central army and was unaffected, as there was a buffer zone in between.
To prevent any single army from being wiped out, the front, central, and rear armies were all stationed in independent camps, not interfering with each other.
"Kill!"
In the darkness, illuminated by torches, the imperial army and the rebels clashed, engaging in fierce combat.
A rebel soldier had just thrust his spear into the chest of an imperial soldier, only to find that the latter seemed unharmed.
"How can this be!" The rebel was shocked and tried to withdraw his spear, but found he couldn't. The imperial soldier had a firm grip on it.
With no other choice, he abandoned his spear, dodged the opponent's attack, drew his saber, and counterattacked fiercely.
Feeling the impact of his saber on the opponent's chest, he fell silent, unable to believe it.
"Armor! How can a common soldier like me be armored! Could this be that Chu scoundrel's confidant?"
Unfortunately, he would never know the answer, as he was immediately pierced through the back by a spear.
"Damn it, thanks, brother!"
"No problem, be careful! Buy me a drink later!"
"Easy!"
The two exchanged glances, laughed, and continued to charge.
Liang Locheng could never have imagined that the gap between the two sides would be so vast.
"Damn it! How could this be! When did the imperial court acquire such well-equipped armor for its low-ranking soldiers! This is not the imperial court!"