novelraw Chapter 2690 Ren Gui and the strategist set up a trap together; the great battle begins at Luofeng S
Chapter 2690 Ren Gui and the strategist set up a trap together; the great battle begins at Luofeng S
Chapter 2690 Ren Gui and the strategist set up a trap together; the great battle begins at Luofeng Slope.
After Xue Rengui established this strategic framework, what he needed Zhang Liang to do was to help him determine which of his four armies Ji Chengfu would target.
Or rather, he wanted Zhang Liang to help him lure Ji Chengfu's cavalry to a certain route.
Only if this step is completed can Xue Rengui's plan have a chance of success. If this step cannot be completed, it will be a complete failure, resulting in heavy losses and no gains whatsoever.
Based on Zhang Liang's assessment, they first ruled out the two armies of Guo Ziyi and Wang Zhongsi on Jianye Road.
Strategically speaking, the western region is more important than the southern region. Therefore, according to normal theory, the Han Dynasty's subsequent cavalry should be more vigilant against the two armies on Jianye Road.
Moreover, these two armies on Jianye Road not only have cavalry support in the rear, but also Zhang Han leading 5,000 iron cavalry as the vanguard to clear the way. If Ji Chengfu were to attack these two armies, his chances of success would definitely be much smaller than the other two armies.
In contrast, the support from the Han army's follow-up cavalry for the two armies on the Dongye Road would certainly not be as good as the support for the two armies on the Jianye Road.
In particular, compared to Dongye Road, although taking Jianye Road would allow them to bypass Bailang Ridge, where Jiang Ziya was stationed, and directly encircle Yao Xiong's northern frontier, it would be useless for the Han Dynasty to take Jianye Road alone without Dongye Road.
There's no other reason than that Dongye Road is the flank of Jianye Road. If the Han Dynasty only takes Jianye Road but not Dongye Road, it can cut off the connection between Xingbei Road and Jianye Road at any time by sending troops from Dongye Road.
If that happens, the Han troops that enter Jianye Road at that time will not be thinking about how to bypass Bailang Ridge and outflank Yao Xiong, but about how to survive.
Therefore, in Zhang Liang and Xue Rengui's view, given that both sides could achieve the same goal, Ji Chengfu would most likely choose one of the two armies from Dongye Road, which had less risk but a higher success rate.
However, just in case, Zhang Liang still gave Xue Rengui some advice to further refine his plan and create a sufficient disguise in order to divert Ji Chengfu's attention to Jianye Road as much as possible.
Even if they were truly deceived by these methods, and the other side genuinely considered them to be one of the two armies of Dongye Road, Xue Rengui and Zhang Liang would still need to determine which of the two armies would become Ji Chengfu's target.
Here at Dongye Road, Zhang Liang did not continue to create as many illusions to deceive Ji Chengfu as he had done at Jianye Road. Everything should be done in moderation. If various illusions are set up in every direction, the more this method is used, the more likely the other party will see through the flaws, and ultimately it will backfire.
After all, despite the fact that Ji Chengfu had just suffered a major defeat at their hands, Xue Rengui and Zhang Liang both knew that the other party was definitely not someone to be trifled with, and that they had to be extremely cautious when dealing with him.
Therefore, when the plan was perfected to this point, even Zhang Liang advised Xue Rengui that when the time came to take the gamble, he should take the risk.
In any war, neither side has a guaranteed victory, especially when their ambitions are great. In such cases, they need to take risks and gamble at crucial moments.
At least in a risky situation, a 50% probability of such a choice between two options is already quite high.
Throughout history, many situations that require taking risks are worth trying once there is a 30% chance of success.
If the success rate reaches 70%, then it has nothing to do with adventure anymore, but rather with a steady and cautious approach. In the end, after some discussion, Xue Rengui and Zhang Liang decided to place their bets on Hun Jian's journey.
For people like Xue Rengui and Zhang Liang, even if they were to gamble on the probability of choosing between two options, they would do so with reason and evidence, rather than randomly choosing one without any justification.
In their view, the Great Qian was already facing siege from both the Han and Ming states, and Ji Chengfu had just suffered a major defeat. The Great Han had the right to take risks, and also the right to pay the price.
However, in the same situation, neither Daqian nor Ji Chengfu had the right to take such a risk. Given their current circumstances, they lacked the resources to do so. Therefore, when choosing a goal, Ji Chengfu would only choose the safest path.
In other words, among the two armies on the Eastern Road, Ji Chengfu will most likely choose the weaker one. This would not only give him a greater chance of opening up the situation, but if he does win, it could also alleviate the demoralized morale after the recent major defeat.
As for Wang Changluo and Hun Jian, who is the pushover? I believe most people in the world have their own judgment on that.
Although Hun Jian made some contributions in the campaign against the Eastern Yi, and was promoted for his merits, his contributions were not among the most outstanding among all the generals of the Han Dynasty, let alone among those who participated in the campaign against the Eastern Yi.
And what about Wang Changluo? He was Yelü Abaoji's right-hand man and one of the two prime ministers of the Eastern Yi. Among the entire Eastern Yi, his status was among the top five.
In actual battles, he inflicted heavy losses on Wanyan Xieye's nearly 100,000 troops with only a few thousand soldiers. Even when facing the steady Wen Zhong, he prevented the latter from gaining much advantage.
It can be said that Wang Changluo's eventual loss of the city, and even its fall into the hands of the Han army, was entirely due to the collateral damage from Yelü Abaoji's defeat in the decisive battle against Han Xin, rather than because he himself was defeated by Wen Zhong.
It is precisely because Wang Changluo was a surrendered general that he was fully qualified to serve as the commander of one of the three armies that attacked Qian. If he were a former general of the Han Dynasty, he would be fully qualified to serve as the commander of one of the three armies that attacked Qian.
Therefore, Xue Rengui and Zhang Liang ultimately decided that Ji Chengfu would be wary of Wang Changluo, a man of great talent, and placed their bets on Wang Changluo's personal abilities.
Ultimately, it turned out that Xue Rengui and Zhang Liang's gamble was indeed correct.
Given the current situation of the Great Qian Dynasty, Ji Chengfu truly dared not take any risks. With the Great Qian Dynasty no longer having enough cards to play, Ji Chengfu had the ability, but he had too many things to consider and too many burdens to carry. He simply dared not recklessly arrange his troops according to his own ideas, and naturally, his abilities could not be fully utilized.
This alone doomed him to defeat when facing opponents like Xue Rengui and Zhang Liang.
In particular, Wang Changluo seemed to have sensed some of Xue Rengui's intentions. In order not to become a pawn, he deliberately slowed down the march, pursuing stability above all else, which was completely opposite to the style of the other three routes.
Under these circumstances, the Qian army had even fewer opportunities to exploit. Indirectly speaking, this could be considered as helping Xue Rengui and Zhang Liang.