Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2648 The God of War devises a plan, the Sage of Strategy devises a scheme

"Strategist, I hope Li Shimin reacts slowly!" On the huge treasure ship, Qi Jiguang said to someone beside him.

This person was none other than the strategist Zhang Liang.

In the battle against the Tang dynasty, everyone knew that the navy's journey was crucial.

If the battle goes smoothly, Jin's losses will be less.

If they rely solely on land routes, even if they manage to win, they can't imagine how many losses they would incur along the way.

It was precisely because he recognized the importance of waterways that Li Shimin was not in Liaodong at this time, but with Yi Sun-sin.

Similarly, Zhang Liang, the strategist of the Jin army, was also here.

"That's right, as Han Chongyan said, this battle is extremely dangerous, and whether I can achieve my goal is only a fifty-fifty chance!"

If Li Shimin had reacted even slightly faster, their objective in this battle would have been impossible to achieve.

Zhang Liang thought of the Jin soldiers fighting a bloody battle at the ferry crossing and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

Han Xin was also here, but not on the ship; he was in Qingzhou in the rear.

There are 100,000 infantry and cavalry troops in Qingzhou in the rear. Like the troops in last year's Northern Expedition, once the landing is successful, they will be temporarily attached to Qi Jiguang's command and will be under his unified command.

And the one who cooperated with him was Han Xin.

To put it bluntly, Han Xin was the top general in the north and held a prominent position in the Youzhou military. Such a person would not be forced to start from the bottom after surrendering, but he would not be allowed to rise to the top either. Instead, he would be given a relatively similar position.

Therefore, it was not appropriate to directly hand over these 100,000 men to Han Xin for command. This was the reason for adopting this approach as a workaround. Ultimately, it was also to give Han Xin a chance to rise to prominence and to formally promote him after the war.

Thinking of that top general in the north, Zhang Liang couldn't help but admire him; he had never seen anyone like him before.

It's not that Bai Qi, Li Jing, and Yue Fei were less capable in military affairs than him; it's just that he was the first person to be so keen on studying the personality of his opponents, which shows that he had taken military strategy to the extreme.

Before Qi Jiguang led the navy to set sail, Han Xin had already made several guesses about how Li Shimin would respond, and even gave his own suggestions for each.

Zhang Liang had to admit that the Li Tang and Youzhou had indeed been fighting for so many years, and the main military figures on both sides were Han Xin of Youzhou and Emperor Li Shimin of Li Tang.

It must be said that these two men were major military rivals for so many years, and Han Xin definitely spent a lot of time studying Li Shimin.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to guess Li Shimin's response so easily.

Yes, before the war, Han Xin made several predictions about Li Shimin's possible response, one of which is precisely Li Shimin's current response.

Han Xin's solution was very direct, even cold-blooded.

In Han Xin's view, no one in the world could be certain of defeating an opponent like Li Shimin.

To defeat a figure like Li Shimin, one must seize that fleeting opportunity, and within that fleeting moment, defeat him and create an irretrievable advantage.

To create such a fleeting opportunity, it's impossible without resorting to some extreme measures.

Normally, Youzhou's national strength was somewhat inferior to that of the Tang Dynasty, but after losing several counties, it was completely unable to compare with the Tang Dynasty.

Furthermore, at that time, Youzhou was bordered by the Manchus to the north and Jizhou to the south was also targeting them. They didn't have the resources to resort to extreme measures. However, the Jin army now had the resources to do so. After all, with the national strength of the Great Jin, they could afford the losses.

On the surface, this battle appeared to be commanded by Qi Jiguang, but in reality, it was also orchestrated by Han Xin and Zhang Liang.

"let's start!"

"Send the flag order to Jiao Mo: Don't worry about anything else, just crash into it."

Qi Jiguang felt a pang of heartache when he issued this order.

In fact, on many occasions, he had to admit that Han Xin was indeed a more capable and naturally gifted commander than him.

His opponent's strategic vision and ruthless approach to achieving that strategy were indeed unmatched by him.

If he could achieve his strategic objectives, Qi Jiguang wouldn't mind paying some price in the process. However, he wouldn't use this method right away; he would only resort to sacrifice after trying other methods and finding no other way.

"Ding! Qi Jiguang's skill 'Pacifying the Seas' has been activated."
Jinghai: "Becoming a marquis is not my wish; I only wish for peace on the seas." This was a unique skill of Qi Jiguang.

Effect 1: When this effect is activated, attack power increases by 5.

Effect 2: Pacifying the Seas. When commanding cavalry, the commander's leadership increases by 1; when commanding infantry, the commander's leadership increases by 2; when commanding naval forces, the commander's leadership increases by 3; and the overall quality of the entire army is also improved.

Effect 3: Anti-Japanese Pirates. When facing Japanese pirates, the commander's strength increases by 2, and the entire army's attack power increases by 1.

Qi Jiguang's skill effect is quite good; at its highest, it can give him a five-point increase in leadership.

"Ding! Qi Jiguang's skill 'Pacifying the Seas' skill effect 2 has been activated. When commanding the navy, the commander's leadership is increased by 3, and the overall quality of the entire army is also improved. Qi Jiguang's leadership is increased by 3, the base leadership is 100 (+1), and the current leadership has increased to 103."

With Qi Jiguang's order and the signal flags from the warships, nearly a hundred warships of varying sizes, divided into several groups, charged straight at the Li Tang warships like unstoppable warriors.

"Retreat to the left and right, surround the enemy warships in the middle, and attack from both sides!"

"Have the soldiers prepare to sandwich the enemy ships in the middle before engaging in close combat!"

A portion of the Jin army's warships charged forward, and Yi Sun-sin calmly gave the order.

"Ding! Yi Sun-sin's skill 'Turtle General' has been activated;"
Turtle General: Yi Sun-sin's unique skill.

Effect 1: During naval battles, Commander increases by 3; during land battles, Commander decreases by 3.

Effect 2: When fighting against alien races, Commander stat increases by 2.

When Yi Sun-sin's skill 'Turtle General' is activated, during naval battles, his leadership increases by 3, his base leadership is 98 (+1), and his current leadership rises to 101.

In fact, the task Li Shimin gave to Yi Shunchen was not to defeat Qi Jiguang, but merely to buy time.

However, Qi Jiguang's battle orders did surprise him somewhat. Right from the start, he ordered some of his warships to break away from the rest of the ships and launch an attack, which seemed to suggest that he was underestimating the enemy and being reckless.

Therefore, it was inevitable that Yi Sun-sin would want to take over this part of the warships.

Li Shimin gave them battle objectives, but in the heat of battle, if an opportunity really arose, they couldn't simply ignore it.