From refugee NPC to mythical general

Chapter 163 Raid
After Gao Shun's Xianzhen Camp left, the Wu Dynasty's army continued to advance in an orderly manner.

Zhuge Jin took out the map and asked Xiahou Yuan, "General Xiahou, which town in the Dameng Dynasty do you want to capture?"

From a strategic perspective, since Xiahou Yuan chose to launch a desperate invasion, he must have a primary target. However, until now Zhuge Jin still didn't know where Xiahou Yuan was going to attack.

If we are just marching aimlessly in the territory of the Great Dream Dynasty, then what is the purpose of this march?

Xiahou Yuan asked Zhuge Jin, "We attacked Chenpi Town before. Chenpi Town is the first town of the Great Dream Dynasty on the border. How many troops should be deployed there?"

Zhuge Jin said: "The regular force is about 7,000. Reinforcements will arrive in half a day. Their reinforcements have 5,000."

Xiahou Yuan asked again, "Sir, what is your estimate of the total military strength of the Great Dream Dynasty?"

Zhuge Jin said: "Thirty thousand."

Xiahou Yuan nodded and pointed at the map, saying, "The first town to the south of Chenpi Town is San'an Town, which is sixty miles away."

"Eighty miles east of San'an Town is Fengzhuang Town, and seventy miles southeast is Changsheng."

"Once you enter Changsheng, it is equivalent to arriving at the heart of the Great Dream Dynasty."

"If we choose to attack San'an, how will the other side respond?"

Zhuge Jin thought for a moment and said, "If they want to defend, they will most likely transfer troops from Chenpi Town and Fengzhuang Town to assist in the defense."

Xiahou Yuan asked, "What if I deploy 30,000 troops here?"

"How will they defend? How many troops will they send over?"

Zhuge Jin looked at Xiahou Yuan in confusion and asked, "General Xiahou, what do you mean by this? Why don't I understand?"

Xiahou Yuan smiled and said, "The town I want to attack is all Chenpi from beginning to end!"

"I just want Dameng Town to drop all its troops here. I need to eliminate all the enemy's spies along the way. At that time, they will have no idea where I want to attack."

“Opportunities are always created. Those who are good at attacking make the enemy unaware of where they are defending, and those who are good at defending make the enemy unaware of where they are attacking.”

"Since they want to defend, I'll let them guess where I'm going to attack!"

To be honest, after hearing what Xiahou Yuan said, Zhuge Jin finally realized how big the gap in command ability was between him and Xiahou Yuan.

If he were to defend this war, he might not be able to hold out for an hour.

Because he had no idea what Xiahou Yuan wanted to do. Who could have thought that Xiahou Yuan would go around in circles and bring so many troops here, deliberately letting the enemy attack him to find out the situation of his own troops? In fact, all this was a smokescreen set by Xiahou Yuan for the Dameng Dynasty!

……

In the main city of Daming Town, Gao Shun had already returned with the Xianzhen Camp.

He clasped his fists and informed Zhang Liao and Zhuge Liang of the other party's situation.

Zhang Liao was a general who was good at attacking. His military strength was off the charts, but his command ability was not as good as Xiahou Yuan's. After hearing Gao Shun's intelligence, he looked at the map and said, "So many troops went directly into our hinterland. It seems that they want to attack San'an Town by taking a detour."

Looking at Xiahou Yuan's route, it seems that the first choice is San'an Town, but Zhuge Liang shook his head and said, "General Zhang, why would a good commander reveal his purpose to the enemy? This is unreasonable."

Zhang Liao scratched his head, as if this made sense, so he asked Zhuge Liang: "General Zhuge, what do you mean?"

Zhuge Liang said: "San'an Town is just a feint. There are many other places he can choose to attack. Fengzhuang Town, Chenpi Town, and Changsheng Town are all possible."

Zhang Liao was a little confused. He said, "There are so many places that can be attacked. How can we defend them?" The Dameng Dynasty did not have enough troops. Concentrating on defending one of the towns would be enough to ensure that the town would not be taken down.

But now we don't know the enemy's strategic intentions at all, so how should we divide our troops for defense? If any town has weak defenses and the enemy focuses on attacking this town, the consequences will undoubtedly be disastrous.

Zhuge Liang was silent for a moment, then said, "Actually, this is not difficult to guess."

"If you want to know which town they will attack, just look at which town has the final strategic value to them."

Zhang Liao shook his head and said, "General Zhuge is wrong. Every town has strategic value to them."

"They can capture towns and plunder people and food."

"And then? How long can it last?"

"They need to establish a base in the Great Dream Dynasty that can be continuously connected to their territory."

"San'an is in our hinterland. Even if they take it down, what about the rear? Do they not want Wu Chao's rear? How long can they hold out by defending San'an?"

“It’s not worth it.”

Zhang Liao really couldn't figure it out, so he asked, "General Zhuge, please don't keep us in suspense. Where do you think they are going to attack?"

Zhuge Liang said decisively: "Chenpi!"

"Tangerine peel?"

Zhang Liao said in disbelief: "They have already suffered so much in Chenpi Town, and now they have taken a detour to attack the heartland of Dameng Dynasty. After going around in circles, do you think they are still going to attack Chenpi?"

"Then why would they venture into our heartland?"

Zhuge Liang said: "To confuse us, let us think that they are no longer interested in tangerine peel."

"They should have figured out that our military strength is inferior to theirs. While developing the economy, there will inevitably be certain losses. The lack of military strength is our loss."

"So if they want to attack our hinterland, we have to divide our forces to defend it. Troops from other places will be transferred here, and Chenpi's defense will inevitably be weak."

"From a strategic perspective, tangerine peel is still their top priority."

"So I concluded that they must still take over Chenpi Town!"

"Is this so?" Zhuge Liang said to Zhang Liao, "General Zhang, you go to Chenpi yourself and bring 3,000 infantrymen with you to help General Gongsun defend Chenpi!"

"Immediately dispatch General Guan and General Le Jin to come here. I will protect San'an with them. Just give me 5,000 troops here!"

"The three towns of Changsheng are more important. Transfer 4,000 troops there and let General Gan Ning guard them."

"As for Fengzhuang Town, Generals Cheng Yu and Pan Feng will be dispatched to assist in the defense, with 5,000 troops."

"The remaining 6,000 troops will be stationed in the main city of Dameng Town to prevent them from going deep into the hinterland and heading straight for our main city."

Zhang Liao had no objection or doubt about Zhuge Liang's arrangement, and said, "Okay! Then I'll go to Chenpi Town now!"

Zhuge Liang nodded heavily and said to Zhang Liao, "General Zhang, that will be the main battlefield. You must defend it no matter what! No losses are allowed!"

Zhuge Liang has already dispatched the most powerful generals of the Dameng Dynasty to Chenpi Town. He believes that with the support of Zhang Liao's powerful military force and the cooperation of Gongsun Zan who has strong defensive capabilities, Chenpi Town will definitely not be lost!

(End of this chapter)