Chapter 868 (1/2)

Chapter 868: Vol V Chapter 228

“Idiots” would be the label Sui Xiong gave to the aristocrats who ridiculously decided to start a war in the evening.

Normally, the fact that it was dark was an equal disadvantage to both parties in war.

However, since the new merchant troops were well trained, they would be more familiar with collaborations with each other in war. Even if it were dark, the diminishing of the abilities would only be slight and rather negligible.

On the other hand, it was different for the aristocrats. Their elite troops were all from different parts of their land, and even though they had a few exercises together, they were not as familiar with each other as the merchant troops, who had had long term intensive trainings together. Even if they fought in the morning, they would still be at a disadvantage, much less at night!

Why did the aristocrats go crazy and decide to wage war in the night, then!?

To this, Sui Xiong only had two words for the situation. Mental illness!

Sui Xiong was not sure what the aristocratic commander was thinking. Even if the commander had some weird idea in mind, by right, he should have known better than to compromise the basic principles of war.

In this kind of situation, if the aristocrats wanted to win, they would have to depend on luck.

In terms of military matters, Sui Xiong was extremely influenced by several “plug flow” online friends. These online friends all looked down on sly schemes and playing tricks and insisted that the only appropriate way to fight and win a war was through pure strength alone. Previously, when Sui Xiong had watched several cinematic films and read novels, he had often sighed at the brilliance of the characters’ schemes. However, he was then criticized by these online friends who taught him the error of his ways.

If one had time to consult their inner demons and come up with schemes, they could spend that time better training hard! All long in history, all famous generals who had gotten famous through their war achievements had had a good and well-utilized army. Generals who got famous through tricks instead of a strong army were rare.

Sui Xiong could roughly estimate why the aristocratic army commander had chosen this time to start a war. He had most likely allowed his troops to get sufficient sleep during the day as well as an ample meal during the evening time. After some rest, they would be in tip-top condition to fight a war. On the other hand, once the night approached, the merchants’ troops would probably be tired from a long day, giving the aristocrats a big advantage.

Such a mindset was theoretical and merely scholastic thinking. It was just like how in the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” there was a scholar who often followed the idea of a condescending strategy. This scholar did not care for his peers’ warnings and insisted on using the mountain plains (which lacked water) as a front. He intended to use the mountainous terrain to disadvantage his enemies who came to attack him. However, this scholar did not consider the situation in which the enemy did not attack but simply surrounded the well-built front, effectively trapping the scholar and his troops. In the end, with such a response by the enemy, the men starved to death inside their camp.

Sui Xiong did not really remember the full name of this scholar, but he knew that his surname was “Ma” and that his full name was extremely hard to read in Chinese. Sui Xiong certainly didn’t know how to write or pronounce it!

According to Sui Xiong, the aristocratic commander was like this “Ma” fellow; they both had lots of weird ideas in their minds!

“Who do you think will win, the merchants or the aristocrats?” Sui Xiong asked casually.

“The merchants, of course. Well, they wouldn’t have a huge victory though, they will probably win due to a slight advantage.”

Sui Xiong was slightly shocked.

“Only a slight advantage? On the contrary, I think they have a huge advantage!”