Volume 1, Chapter 12: Chained Malicious Strategies (1/2)

Volume 1, Chapter 12: Chained Malicious Strategies

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In the twelfth month of the nineteenth year of Xiande, the Southern Chu army was battling for Luocheng. At the same time, the Prince of Yong, Li Zhi, was battling for Jiameng Pa.s.s. Before long, there were rumors that Great Yong and the Kingdom of Shu intended to make peace. The Prince of De, Zhao Jue, became extremely uneasy. He asked Jiang Zhe for a strategy and secretly discussed the matter for some time. The next day, the Chu army a.s.saulted the city with extreme urgency. On the nineteenth day of the twelfth month, General Wei Xian was killed in an ambush. At dawn the next day, the Chu army once again attacked the city. Long Bu listened to an erroneous intelligence report and sallied forth from the city to give chase and was lured into an encirclement. After battling for an entire day, men and horses tired, the Prince of De personally proceeded forward to request a surrender. Long Bu refused. In anger, he committed suicide. The Prince sighed in admiration. He personally collected Long Bu’s remains and buried them before Luocheng.

—Southern Chu Dynastic Records, Biography of Jiang Suiyun</blockquote>

I set down my brush. Han Zhang left the room and opened the courtyard gate, seeing a general dressed in golden armor and a white cape. Behind him to the side stood a black-robed scholar. Behind them was a squadron of white-armored personal guards. Han Zhang had stayed within the Southern Chu army for almost a month now. How could he not know the ident.i.ty of the person before him? Apprehensive, he stepped aside. Zhao Jue gave him a glance before entering the building. Rong Yuan made a gesture before following. The personal guards immediately surrounded Jiang Zhe’s study room.

I didn’t hear Han Zhang announce the visitor. Just as I was feeling strange, I saw Zhao Jue entered the room. According to propriety, I stood and bowed, saying, “For what reason has Your Highness come to my humble abode? Please excuse Suiyun for not coming out to welcome you. May Your Highness please forgive me.”

Zhao Jue first returned my greeting before apologizing, “Zhao Jue has been busy with military matters of late and has not had the opportunity to inquire after Jiang daren’s health. Please forgive me.”

I replied indifferently, “Your Highness holds a strong army within your grasp, having to deal with ten thousand matters on a daily basis. How do you have the free time to worry about this lowly official? May I ask what is the reason for Your Highness’s visit today?”

Zhao Jue glanced at Rong Yuan who hurriedly stepped forward and said with remorse, “Jiang daren, I slighted you previously. Please forgive me.”

I naturally responded, “There is no need for Sir Rong to be so courteous. For the two gentlemen to have come personally, there must be a military matter of extreme importance. Please speak forthrightly.”

Rong Yuan gave an ashamed look before saying, “The Kingdom of Shu has dispatched an envoy to seek an audience with the Prince of Yong, Li Zhi, to request to make peace. Li Zhi has not agreed, but also has not declined.”

As he spoke, he handed over a hefty pile of intelligence reports. They were extremely detailed, including the entire contents of the conversation between Li Zhi and Yang Can. After I read through them, I could not help but smile. This Yang Can was very similar to my first student, Lu Can. They had similar personalities, using both threats and enticements. But it was such a pity. I sighed heavily before speaking, “The Kingdom of Shu has many talented people and yet the King of Shu does not know how to use them. And yet, even though the kingdom was in peril, all of these individuals refused to abandon Shu. No wonder it is said that the people of Shu are loyal and righteous.”

Zhao Jue asked, “What is it? Has Suiyun already seen that Great Yong won’t accept the Kingdom of Shu’s peace offering?”

Smiling, I replied, “If the Prince of Yong were willing to agree to peace, he would have asked questions to ascertain the benefits. However, the Prince of Yong inquired after Sichuan’s talents. He clearly intends to win the support of these talents to govern Sichuan. Therefore, the Prince of Yong will not agree to peace.”

Furrowing his brows, Zhao Jue wondered, “But why would the Prince of Yong allow this information to spread? If our Southern Chu were to learn of this, it seems somewhat …”

In an detached voice, I explained, “The Prince of Yong is indeed capable. He deliberately allowed these rumors to be spread with the purpose of allowing our Southern Chu to learn of this. From what this lowly official knows, over the last few days, our Southern Chu has not earnestly attacked the city. I believe that Your Highness wishes that the Prince of Yong would fight a b.l.o.o.d.y battle to capture Jiameng Pa.s.s. At that point, the defenders of Luocheng will be affected and cannot be fully devoted to defending the city. When the time comes, we can easily take Luocheng.”

Zhao Jue and Rong Yuan exchanged a look. This was the strategy that they had adopted after secret discussions. They could not believe that I had seen through it so easily. The two did not say a word, but tacitly agreed. I continued, “I believe the Prince of Yong also is worried about his own losses, and has therefore used these rumors to force us to resolve this battle as soon as possible. Alas, the Prince of Yong is truly fearsome. Even if we are able to see through his intentions, what can we do? At worst, the Prince of Yong agrees to make peace with Shu, forcing us to directly face the entirety of Shu’s anger. Great Yong can tolerate Shu’s existence. As long as they control Yangping Pa.s.s, they can control the entire Hanzhong region. But to date, after fierce fighting, we have only gained control of the difficult and dangerous road into Sichuan. Our gains do not make up for our losses. We do not have the ability nor do we dare drag this out. If Shu recovers, they will attack Southern Chu for our betrayal. At this time, this lowly official has three strategies—upper, middle, and low.”

At this, Zhao Jue became disconcerted. He asked, “What are the three strategies? Will daren please explain in detail?”

I straightforwardly clarified, “The low strategy would be to continue our current path. If Great Yong becomes impatient and first captures Jiameng Pa.s.s, then we will achieve our original aims. The only problem is if Great Yong in a fury changes its mind and decides to make peace with Shu. At that point, we will be completely defeated. With this strategy, victory and defeat are completely in the hands of the Prince of Yong.”

Zhao Jue sadly said, “If victory and defeat are completely in the hands of others, aren’t we completely at their mercy? What is the middle strategy?”

In a heavy tone, I continued, “The middle strategy would be to launch a concerted attack on Luocheng. As long as we are able to capture Luocheng, Great Yong will also forcibly attack Jiameng Pa.s.s. At that point, Shu will fall. We will attain more than we had planned, but will also lose far more than we had planned.”

Zhao Jue’s brow furrowed. He did not want to suffer too many casualties and thus had not made a concerted effort to attack Luocheng. In a heavy voice, he inquired, “Then what is the upper strategy?”

I smiled as I said, “We will use surprise to attack and capture the city. Our losses will not be too great. At that point, as long as we restrain ourselves during the division of spoils, we will have completely achieved our goals.”

Zhao Jue’s brow smoothed over, as he considered. “But how are we to use surprise to capture the city?”

I was well-prepared and expounded, “Luocheng’s garrison is split in two with one army garrisoning the city and the other army encamped outside the city. The two forces are able to a.s.sist each other. If we want to win, we must destroy the city’s external help. I recommend that we urgently attack the city. The enemy forces camped outside of the city will see the flames of battle. The outside enemy forces will immediately believe that Luocheng is in danger and come to reinforce. We can set an ambush along their path and completely annihilate this army. With outside a.s.sistance eliminated, we can turn our attention to dealing with the city garrison. Afterwards, we will once again launch another attack against the city. We will then use soldiers dressed in Shu uniforms to feign an attack our supplies, allowing them to believe that there are still Shu soldiers outside to help. We will pretend that our supplies have been destroyed and hastily retreat, enticing the city garrison to sally forth and chase us. We can place an ambush to cut off their path of retreat, tempt, and then kill the enemy’s main commander. When the time comes, it won’t take long for Luocheng to fall.”

Zhao Jue crushed the teacup in his hand. This strategy was maliciously detailed. He regarded me with a newfound expression. I couldn’t make heads or tails of his gaze. Zhao Jue finally confirmed that this cultured and refined young zhuangyuan was actually someone who was so profoundly scheming and capable of such guile. Zhao Jue couldn’t help but feel a chill run through him. He was a straightforward and upright person. Although he had used stratagems before, he had never used such a treacherous chained stratagem that called for an ambush and a targeted killing of an enemy commander. He unnaturally bade farewell to Jiang Zhe and went to prepare for battle.