weaving

Chapter 1346: Unable to defeat his power, but eliminated his momentum

"Pull the fire under the cauldron?"

After muttering something, Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng looked at Wei Zhice and motioned for him to continue.

"Yes, it is the strategy of removing the fuel from under the cauldron. This is the 19th strategy in the Thirty-Six Strategies."

Wei Zhice continued, "The earliest saying of 'pulling the firewood from under the cauldron' comes from Wei Shou of the Northern Qi Dynasty's "An Essay on Hou Jing's Rebellion against the Liang Dynasty" - 'pulling the firewood to stop the boiling, cutting the grass to remove the roots'. The ancients also said, 'So if you use soup to stop the boiling, the boiling will not stop. If you truly know the root cause, then you can just remove the fire'. This metaphor is very simple, but the principle is very clear.

The meaning of "removing the firewood from under the pot" is very straightforward. It means that if the water has already boiled, adding more boiling water into it will not lower the water temperature. The fundamental way is to remove the firewood from the bottom of the already hot pot, so that the water in the pot will stop boiling.

The reason why this works is because water boils with fire, and fire needs firewood. If you take away the firewood under the pot, you will fundamentally eliminate the basis for the water to boil.

If this strategy is used in war, it is like our army is now fighting against Li Ni's hundreds of thousands of bandits. We should not confront them head-on, but temporarily avoid their sharp edge. We should not be obsessed with the victory or defeat of a single battle, but should grasp the key point to reduce the momentum of Li Ni's bandits and then take the opportunity to win. "

Of course, he was not saying this to Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, nor to Sun Shixiang, Hu Yiwen and others, but to those military generals with low cultural levels.

"'Not being able to resist their strength, but eliminating their momentum, the image of Dui below and Qian above', this is the original words about 'removing the firewood from under the cauldron' in the Thirty-Six Strategies."

Wei Zhice looked around at everyone in the commander's tent and continued, "The key to removing the firewood from under the cauldron is to grasp the main contradiction. Many times, some key points that affect the overall situation of the war are precisely the enemy's weaknesses. Seizing the opportunity and attacking the enemy's weaknesses is the way to win.

The beginning and development of many things in the world are very similar to the form of water cooling and boiling, and the principle of change is the same. The same is true for hostile forces on the battlefield. When competing with hostile forces, the principle is the same as preventing water from boiling.

A frontal attack would be like trying to stop a boiling pot by pouring water on it, which is likely to be a fruitless effort; however, eliminating the root cause of the enemy's survival is the essence of the strategy of removing the firewood from under the cauldron."

Li Fuming looked at Wei Zhice and asked him, "General Wei, you have said so much and I understand your reasoning, but what is the key to our battle with Li the thief now?"

"Food and supplies are often the key to a showdown between two armies."

Wei Zhice was not surprised by his question. He smiled and continued, "As the saying goes, 'The army does not move, but the food and grass must be sent first'. If we can seize the enemy's food and grass, or burn them, or cut off their food supply, if we can achieve any of these, the enemy will be in chaos without a fight.

For example, the Battle of Guandu during the Three Kingdoms period is an example of this kind of battle..."

"At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, warlords were fighting each other... In the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao had 100,000 soldiers, while Cao Cao had only 20,000. The two sides faced each other across the river. Cao Cao not only had a huge gap in military strength, but also had less food and grass than Yuan Shao. If they had fought head-on, Cao Cao would have no chance of winning.

When the two armies were in a stalemate, food and grass became the key... Yuan Shao transferred more than 10,000 carts of food and grass from Hebei and stationed them in Wuchao, but was attacked by Cao Cao. A huge fire instantly reduced the carts to ashes. Yuan's army was shocked when they heard the news. For a time, the morale of the army was unstable and the soldiers had no fighting spirit. As a result, the 100,000-strong army fled. Yuan Shao returned to Hebei and never recovered.

This is an extremely clever strategy to remove the firewood from under the cauldron!"

Wei Zhice drank a sip of herbal tea and continued, "In the early Han Dynasty, there was the Wu Wang Rebellion... Emperor Jing of Han sent Zhou Yafu to lead an army of 300,000 to relieve the danger of Liang State.

Zhou Yafu knew that Liu Bi's Wu and Chu armies were always strong, and now their morale was high. It would be difficult to win a direct confrontation with them. Liu Bi led the Wu soldiers from a long distance, and it was difficult to supply food and grass. If their food supply could be cut off, they would retreat without fighting. Therefore, he resisted the emperor's order and held the strategic point of Xingyang. While holding on, he sent troops to harass the rear of the Wu army and cut off its food supply. Liu Bi was shocked when he heard the news. He attacked the city several times but failed. In the end, due to the cut-off of food and grass, his morale was weak and he had no fighting spirit. He was defeated by Zhou Yafu without fighting.

"General Wei, if that's what you said, then we should just wait here?" There was obvious resentment in Wang Pu's words.

"Don't be impatient, Wang Shuai."

Zhang Guodong came out to smooth things over, saying, "Zhi Ce meant 'the enemy army is large, and food and grass are the key'. He wants to make a fuss about food and grass so as to win the battle with the least loss."

Wei Zhice didn't care about Wang Pu's impatience, but still glanced at Zhang Guodong, nodded slightly to show his gratitude, and then said: "Since ancient times, in every war, food and grass have been the foundation for the survival of the army, and also the source of the soldiers' combat effectiveness."

Li Fuming looked at Wang Pu, then at Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, who was sitting high up in the throne. He swallowed but did not speak again.

"General Wei, our army has sent out two special forces, which have not only cut off Li's food supply, but also stopped him from obtaining food locally. Is there any other method we can use now?" Chen Yongfu also raised his own question.

"Wait." Wei Zhice said the word calmly.

"Wait!"

"wait?"

"Just...just wait like this?"

Everyone in the commander's tent had a look of doubt on their faces, and many couldn't help but express their inner questions.

Li Fuming leaned his head towards Wang Pu beside him and whispered in a low voice: "I thought this well-read general would have some clever tricks, but I didn't expect that he would only say this one word!"

Wang Pu gave him a knowing smile, but said nothing. He just made a gentle downward pressing motion with his palm, indicating that he should not talk too much here.

Wei Zhice did not seem to mind the doubts of the crowd, because he saw that the commander-in-chief sitting on the upper chair still had a blank expression on his face and did not show any doubts or confusion.

In fact, Wei Zhice did not notice that his aides Sun Shixiang and Hu Yiwen, who were sitting opposite him, did not show any doubt on their faces. In particular, Sun Shixiang drank his herbal tea calmly, ignoring the doubts expressed by others and acting as if it had nothing to do with him.

"Everyone..."

Wei Zhice raised his hand and waved it in front of everyone. When everyone's discussion stopped, he continued, "Please think about it, my army is only a hundred thousand strong, relying on the advantages of river shipping and the support of all the prefectures in the Ming Dynasty. However, even so, it is still difficult to fully guarantee food and grass.

But Li Ni has hundreds of thousands of people, and his daily consumption of food and grass is several times that of our army. Now that the food supply route is blocked in Funiu Mountain, it is difficult to get food nearby. If the war here continues to drag on, who will be more anxious?"