Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 295 Like Killing
After Zhu Wen slashed Zhang Lin's neck with his long sword for ten breaths, he began to consider whether he could accept this outcome.

Covered in wounds, Zhang Lin rolled down the hillside and fell into the rushing ravine. The white waves washed away the bloodstains on the surface of the water, quickly leaving no trace.

Zhang Lin was indeed a formidable opponent. Even though his soldiers were stung by wasps and were bruised and disoriented, Zhu Wen's attacks on him were still far from easy.

Although the Wudang Flying Army was thrown into chaos and trampled each other at one point, they quickly restored order thanks to their rigorous training and survival instincts.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhu Wen had no choice but to charge straight at Zhang Lin, adopting a do-or-die stance.

Zhang Lin's martial arts skills were originally superior to Zhu Wen's.

However, Zhu Wen took advantage of the chaos to launch a surprise attack, coming down from a high vantage point and gaining the upper hand.

The personal guards on both sides were locked in a fierce battle, effectively restraining each other, and no one was able to intervene in the duel.

The two first clashed with their weapons, then both fell from their horses and began to wrestle. During the fierce fight, Zhu Wen was even bitten on the wrist by Zhang Lin, leaving it bleeding profusely.

To bite like a vicious dog is not the behavior of a general.

This kind of thing has happened far too many times in wars throughout history.

In the midst of a life-or-death struggle, composure seems utterly unimportant compared to defeating one's opponent and surviving.

Zhang Lin was no match for Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen slashed his neck with a long sword, and he rolled into the stream, his flesh mangled and bloody.

Logically speaking, with the neck already stretched open, falling into the water would make it impossible to survive.

Zhu Wen himself had the experience of being beaten by Gao Yan, falling off a cliff and into the river, but returning safely.

He couldn't be sure whether Zhang Lin had suffered a fatal wound from his strike.

To be prudent in assessing the enemy's situation, Zhu Wen had to anticipate Zhang Lin's escape.

Of course, judging solely from the battlefield, Zhu Wen was undoubtedly the victor.

In the Battle of Hanjiang, after Zhu Wen fell into the river, the army was able to avoid collapse only because his second brother, Zhu Cun, fought bravely and died a martyr.

However, after Zhang Lin fell into the deep ravine, there was no one left in the Wudang Flying Army who could serve as the backbone.

The panic made it impossible for them to maintain order. They shouted and screamed, fled in a panic, and even killed each other in order to get out of the way.

If there is truly no other way out, the only option is to lay down your arms and surrender.

After consuming the rearguard left behind by Zhang Lin, the various troop units in the camp also caught up at a leisurely pace, forming a pincer attack with Zhu Wen's forces ahead.

In the end, of the more than 1,000 soldiers, more than 600 were killed, almost all the rest were captured, and only a few managed to escape.

Do not underestimate the number "more than a thousand people", because the army personally led by Zhang Lin was the Wudang Flying Army that Gao Pian had trained at great expense, and the total number of people was only four thousand.

The quality of an army is more important than its quantity. With such elite troops at his disposal, Zhang Lin had the confidence to launch a night raid on the camp. He even once believed that he could overturn the central tent of the righteous army and kill Huang Chao.

The captured Wudang Flying Army soldiers were placed under strict guard by Huang Chao's orders. These elite troops, capable of fighting ten men each, would significantly boost the rebel army's combat strength if they could be subdued.

The night raiding force couldn't have been too large, otherwise it would have been easily detected. But it certainly wasn't just a thousand or so Wudang Flying Soldiers.

Zhang Lin divided his night raiding force into multiple routes and launched multi-point attacks on the rebel army camps that stretched for miles, aiming to create as much chaos as possible.

When Zhang Lin broke through the encirclement, he also fired a signal cannon to notify other troops to evacuate.

At that time, there were no copper and iron tube cannons used in later generations. The so-called "signal cannons" were actually large firecrackers. Gunpowder was placed in the bamboo tube and lit to create a flash and a loud noise.

These troops truly lived up to their reputation as elite soldiers trained by Gao Pian. Although not all of them were the Wudang Flying Army, they were ruthless in their retreat, running faster than rabbits.

After the battle, Zhu Wen reviewed the entire battle in his tent and said to Lan Suting beside him with a self-deprecating smile, "In the Diamond Sutra, the one who doesn't know whether they have arrived or not is called 'Tathagata.' So, when I faced Zhang Lin this time, I can only call it 'Tathagata's Killer.'"

Upon hearing Zhu Wen's words, Lan Suting couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

The original text of the Diamond Sutra is as follows: "If anyone says, 'The Tathagata comes, goes, sits, or lies down,' that person does not understand the meaning of what I have said. Why is this? Because the Tathagata comes from nowhere and goes nowhere; therefore, he is called the Tathagata."

Someone as well-versed in Buddhist scriptures as Lan Suting would naturally know Zhu Wen's interpretation, though it was merely a case of interpreting the text literally. But this analogy is indeed quite interesting.

The fact that they wiped out more than a quarter of the Wudang Flying Army in one battle can be considered a great victory.

However, Zhu Wen had extremely high standards for himself, and Zhang Lin may have used his power to fake his death and escape, which left Zhu Wen unsatisfied.

"Su Ting believes that if Zhang Lin were still alive, we would soon receive news that the Huainan army had held a funeral for Zhang Lin."

Lan Suting's words are difficult to understand at first glance.

Zhu Wen immediately understood her meaning.

Sun Tzu's Art of War states: "Warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when you are capable, make it appear that you are incapable; when you are active, make it appear that you are not active."

Given Gao Pian's style, if Zhang Lin were truly dead, Gao Pian would certainly not admit that the bandit army had killed his beloved general, thus bolstering the bandit army's prestige.

If Zhang Lin were still alive, his recent crushing defeat and severely damaged prestige would have provided a perfect opportunity for him to feign death, moving him from the forefront to the background and becoming a hidden agent for Gao Pian. A sudden resurrection would not only boost morale but also leave the rebel army wondering where Zhang Lin would appear, thus fueling their suspicions.

These are not difficult to deduce; the key is how to deal with them after they are deduced.

Some time later, military reports indeed arrived: the Huainan army claimed that they had recovered Zhang Lin's body and had given him a grand burial.

Lan Suting's prediction came true, but she was still not satisfied with herself.

“If Zhang Lin hadn’t died, it would have been just another matter of killing him for the generals,” Lan Suting sighed. “But our real enemy is Commander Lei, Gao Pian.”

“Su Ting is incompetent; he could not continue after deducing to this point.”

She is now quite competent as Zhu Wen's strategist. However, it would still be too much to ask her to predict in detail the next move of Gao Pian, the leader of the four generals.

Zhu Wen, however, seemed to wake from a dream and slammed his hand on the table.

"Wonderful!"

Lan Suting stared blankly at Zhu Wen, not understanding the brilliance of her analysis.

She clearly hadn't found a solution to the problem.

Even the funeral held by the Huainan army for Zhang Lin was a seemingly cunning but actually calculated scheme. Did the rebel army really intend to spread rumors that Zhang Lin was still alive and that they were being deceived?

Isn't this demoralizing our own team?

“Man proposes, God disposes.” Zhu Wen clapped his hands and laughed. “In any case, Gao Pian has lost a lot of his elite troops. By turning Zhang Lin into a spy, he can switch from offense to defense and lay a trap for us in Huainan.”

The principle of using stillness to control movement and striking after the enemy has moved is applied to both General Zhen Ranyu's annihilation of Wang Xianzhi in Qizhou and Huang Chao's ambush of General Zhen Ranyu at Muling Pass.

But the premise is that this net is flawless and has no holes.

"If Gao Pian wants to pull us into his home field in Huainan, there is a traitor in that home field, Yang Xingmi."

If Gao Pian maintains his offensive posture, Yang Xingmi will have no chance to launch an attack. However, if Gao Pian allows his rebel army into Huainan, Yang Xingmi may be able to deliver a fatal blow to Gao Pian.

Even considering that Yang Xingmi might not be trustworthy, Gao Pian had only recently been transferred to Huainan, and Yang Xingmi was not the only unstable factor within the region. Gao Pian's network could always find weaknesses that the rebel army could exploit.

Zhu Wen's dissatisfaction with himself stemmed from the feeling that he could have killed Zhang Lin, but for some reason, the strike lacked something.

He realized that it was intuition that made him let Zhang Lin go at that moment. But he didn't know why he did it.

Human intuition is often beyond our own comprehension. Yet, many successful figures throughout history have relied on intuition to find the options that are advantageous to them, achieving victory after victory.

The conversation with Lan Suting allowed Zhu Wen to use logic to explain his intuition and strengthen his confidence in the upcoming battle.

(End of this chapter)