Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 21 The True Meaning of Wisdom

After a fierce battle, Huang Chao's army finally escaped the pursuit of Taining's army and retreated to the Yanwang City camp from the woods outside the Beibian River embankment.

However, without the help of chariots, the cavalry of Huang Chao's army was obviously not enough to fight against the cavalry of Taining's army, which had Kou Qianzhi and Xingyun's 28 cavalrymen, for a long time.

Zhu Wen, Meng Kai, and others fought bravely, restraining Kou Qianzhi's command and enabling the Cao army's safe withdrawal, though at the cost of heavy cavalry casualties. Zhu Wen suffered internal injuries from Kou Qianzhi's "Ten Anti-Heaven Styles." Meng Kai, with his strength exceeding his limits, fiercely engaged Kou Qianzhi and restrained the Feiyun Cavalry, sustaining numerous wounds himself. Cavalry commanders Ban Fanlang, Peng Baihu, and Zhu Cun were also injured.

It is obvious that the Cao army was defeated in this battle.

The military camp was filled with a dejected atmosphere, and no one was willing to talk about fighting again.

But if Qi Kerang was allowed to dig the river embankment, the Yanwang City camp located in the low-lying area would be submerged by the roaring flood.

If we move before this, how can the demoralized army with a large amount of baggage withstand the enemy's full-scale attack on the plains?
Will this Songzhou battle end with the wild dragons and snakes and heroes of the countryside being defeated once again, and the imperial court will still use the heads and blood of a large number of rebels to show that the Tang Dynasty has suppressed all the villains and its military prowess has not diminished in the past?
No one is willing to accept such an outcome!

Tyranny, corruption, bullying.

Even if one were to scramble deeper into the mountains, there was no way to avoid conscription. Many of the men who joined the Grass Army, their fellow soldiers in the barracks, had been driven to destitution by harsh policies and heavy taxes, forcing them to rise up in rebellion. They believed in the ideals Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao had preached to them, simply for a meal and a way to survive.

We have fought our way here, experienced untold hardships, and countless life-and-death situations. Who would want the grassroots strength accumulated over years of hard work to collapse in an instant, with everyone becoming fugitives who are hunted down and killed at will by the enemy?

Who would be willing to have their heads chopped off and piled up into Jingguans to show off the great military prowess of the famous Tang Dynasty generals in slaughtering the lower classes of the people?

Inside a medium-sized rectangular tent with a four-sided roof, brothers Zhu Wen and Zhu Cun set up their dining beds and prepared their meals. There was no wine on the table, but instead a large pot filled with peach curd, chilled to the bone by the well. Zhu Wen picked up the small, painted red lacquer dish before him and quietly took a sip. The sour, cold liquid trickled down his throat, almost giving him a shiver.

"The four military forces in the Book of Han are divided into military strategy, military yin and yang, military situation, and military skills."

"A military strategist defends the country with righteousness and deploys troops with surprise. He plans before engaging in battle, taking into account the overall situation, and employing both yin and yang, using skill."

"The military situation is like thunder and wind, the last to strike and the first to arrive, separation and combination, opposition and opposition, ever-changing, it is to defeat the enemy with lightness and speed."

"The military yin and yang are those who follow the seasons, promote virtue, fight and strike, and win by virtue of the five elements, relying on the assistance of ghosts and gods."

"Military skills are about training the hands and feet, using weapons, and accumulating mechanisms to facilitate victory in attack and defense."

Zhu Wen's expression was cold and stern. "Like Xue Shuai Qi Kerang, he is a master of military skills. He uses mechanical devices and civil engineering techniques to defeat the strong with the weak. By building mountains and digging trenches, he can defeat an army of thousands."

"Such an opponent can be described as immovable as a mountain, unpredictable as yin and yang, and the one who is good at defending can hide under the nine earths."

Zhu Wen was by no means "boosting others' ambitions and destroying his own prestige", but Qi Kerang, the "Qi Lian Xue Ji" among the four generals of the Tang Dynasty, was indeed such a formidable opponent.

"Sanlang, you rarely talk so much." Zhu Cun gave a wicked smile: "It's like reciting a lesson when we were little."

"Second brother still remembers that time when Grandpa was furious and wanted to spank you with a ruler because you dozed off during class. But when he checked, he found out you'd memorized the entire lesson by heart. You were only four years old at the time..."

When Zhu Cun mentioned the past when his grandfather was still alive, his eyes, like copper bells, dimmed and he was obviously missing him very much.

"No matter how good your memory is, you will always forget it if you don't take the time to review it a few times." Zhu Wen said sadly.

"Qi Kerang and Kou Qianzhi are a perfect match, like a dragnet, impenetrable, completely trapping our army. We are like being trapped in an iron house with no cracks in it, suffocating in vain, but with no means of breaking free."

"So, you are helpless now and can only recite ancient military books here and sigh at the strength of the opponent?" Zhu Cun teased, but his eyes became particularly gentle, without any blame.

Zhu Wen could not help but remain silent.

He was proud of his intelligence, but he could never think of a way to break the impasse and could not offer any useful advice to his master Huang Chao.

He still remembered clearly the boast he had made to Wang Xianzhi not long ago.

"I, Zhu, am proud of my wisdom and strategy. I am willing to do my best to serve the Alliance Leader and Master. I hope I can make this so-called perfect planner, Snow Marshal, suffer!"

Zhu Wen was a man with a strong sense of self-esteem. Even if no one else mentioned it, he would still care deeply about it! These words were like a knife cutting into his heart, causing him great pain. Am I really useless?
Am I just young and naive?
Qi Kerang and Kou Qianzhi were both powerful men possessing both pride and integrity. Am I, then, just a young lunatic with nothing but arrogance?

No, I don't believe it!

The second brother Zhu Cun's pair of wise yet foolish eyes clearly saw through Zhu Wen's anxiety.

He stood up slowly, his body like an iron tower suddenly stood up, and then he slowly stroked Zhu Wen's shoulders with his big hands like a palm-leaf fan.

"Sanlang, do you remember when we were little and we encountered a blind bear in the forest?"

Zhu Wen was stunned, not knowing why Zhu Cun would bring up something that had nothing to do with the war at this time.

However, every time he thought of this, he couldn't help but feel warm in his heart.

"Brother, of course I remember!" Zhu Wen replied firmly, "If you hadn't risked your life to save me, I would not be alive now."

"Sanlang, I was scared too." Zhu Cun recalled the time when the two brothers were young and encountered a bear while collecting firewood in the forest. He couldn't help but feel a lingering fear: "Such a huge, dark beast stood in front of us like a human. And you broke your leg."

"I'll carry you on my back and run, but you're half a grown-up kid with another child on your back, how can you outrun the bear-man?"

"Seeing it was about to catch up, I had no choice but to put you down, turned my back, raised my hands, and bared my teeth and claws at the blind bear, roaring loudly."

Zhu Wen's eyes moistened. "Yes, brother, remember, you also wrapped me in your outer robe, ready to roll me down the steep slope next to you if the giant bear really pounced on you, and you stayed behind to fight the bear..."

Zhu Cun's mouth widened into a goofy grin, a smug look in his eyes. "There's always a way out. I think God must have opened his eyes. When the blind bear saw that I was yelling louder than it, it slowly turned around and disappeared into the woods, step by step, out of sight."

He patted Zhu Wen on the shoulder again and said, "Over the years, the two of us brothers have always been able to accomplish things that others cannot. Your martial arts skills are already superior to your brother's, but there are many who are better than you. Sanlang, your truly incomparable and irreplaceable ability is your extraordinary adaptability and strategy in critical moments."

"It was your idea to join the army, and I just followed you. But Marshal Huang is a good man, and good people shouldn't suffer defeat."

"This time, Second Brother will once again protect your back with his own life. And you just need to do your best, and you can break this desperate situation!"

At the end of his speech, Zhu Cun's voice, which had always lacked emotional fluctuations, suddenly became excited, and his eyes were full of trust in Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen was stunned for a long time.

No one knows a brother better than his younger brother. No one knows a younger brother better than his younger brother.

The second brother Zhu Cun still firmly believed that he could create miracles.

But after calming down, Zhu Wen's mind became clear as autumn water, and the previous haze dissipated in an instant. The picture that suddenly appeared in his mind made his blood boil.

"After seeing Xue Shuai's aura and presence, I feel like I'm just a naughty kid who can only be a farmer in the countryside of Xuzhou?"

"If that's the case, why would I, Zhu Wen, come to this battlefield?"

"I came, I saw, and then I will personally rewrite the outcome of the war!"

The candlelight at the corner of the tent flickered softly. Zhu Wen stood up suddenly, laughed heartily, opened his arms, and prepared to face the turbulent waves of the troubled times.

On the battlefield, military generals are nervous and struggling, their hearts trembling in pursuit of victory, their blood boiling with fear, fighting for victory between life and death. Such complex emotions cannot be described by the four words "meticulous planning".

Zhu Wen, on the other hand, is the type of strategist who is good at using passion to stimulate reason in desperate situations, and wisdom to burst out under repression. He becomes stronger when facing a stronger opponent, and will never lose his composure because of the strength of the enemy!
When he connected the clues into a line, allowing this big network to shine with the light of wisdom, all the clouds disappeared at this moment.

"Second brother, I'm going to see the master now."

Zhu Wen stood up suddenly, his eyes filled with determination and confidence.

(End of this chapter)