Song Xiu

Chapter 64 The Art of War: Deception and Reality
Although Li Shoujie was Li Jun's eldest son, his personality was completely opposite to Li Jun's.

Li Jun was fond of killing and liked to use violence to subdue people, while Li Shoujie was gentle and somewhat weak.

At the beginning of the year, when Li Jun privately discussed the rebellion with Li Shoujie, Li Shoujie kept crying and trying to persuade Li Jun to give up the uprising.

Although Li Li was arrogant and domineering outside, he was loyal to Li Yun within the family and took good care of Li Shoujie.

Li Li and Li Shoujie had a good relationship.

In times of peace, Li Shoujie's filial piety in weeping for Li Li's death would likely earn him a good reputation.

But we live in a chaotic world.

Seeing that Li Shoujie had been crying for a long time without stopping, Lü Qiu Zhongqing finally couldn't bear to watch anymore.

"The general ordered the commander to stay and guard Shangdang, intending for the commander to protect the army's rear."

The Song army is now entrenched in Huguan, relying on the natural defenses of the Taihang Mountains, and harboring treacherous intentions. Shangdang is in imminent danger.

What use is a commander who only laments incessantly in battle?

Only after being persuaded by Lü Qiu Zhongqing did Li Shoujie temporarily stop his grief.

He took out the letter Zhao Dexiu had placed in the wooden box, handed it to Lü Qiu Zhongqing, and said:
"Zhao Dexiu invited me to exchange three thousand elite troops for a hunting trip at the foot of the Taihang Mountains. I will not leave the city easily."

Despite his weak character, Li Shoujie had served Li Jun for many years and possessed basic military knowledge.

On the surface, it appears to be a fair field battle with three thousand soldiers on each side, but in reality, it is not so.

After capturing Huguan, the Song army's morale soared, and their military strength was at its peak.

Their rise is our fall; when they learn of the loss of Huguan, the southern barrier of Shangdang, the morale of the army in Shangdang will surely be unstable.

In a battle between two armies, morale is a crucial factor in determining victory or defeat.

Furthermore, Huguan has already fallen into the hands of the Song army, so the Song army does not need to worry too much about their rear.

Even if the Song army suffered a defeat in the field battle, the worst-case scenario would be to abandon Huguan and return by the original route.

But Li Shoujie is different; if he suffers a defeat, Shangdang may fall.

Shangdang contains the grain and fodder that Li Jun has stockpiled for many years, which is the logistical support for tens of thousands of troops on the front line. If it falls, the consequences will be unimaginable.

One advantage of having a weak personality is that you are not easily provoked.

Just as Li Shoujie thought he had seen through Zhao Dexiu's treacherous scheme, Lü Qiu Zhongqing sighed and said:
"Zhao Dexiu sent this letter not just to provoke him."

Li Shoujie knew of Lü Qiu Zhongqing's talent; in the past few years, Li Jun had been able to defeat the Northern Han army many times, and Lü Qiu Zhongqing's strategies had played a significant role.

Hearing that Lü Qiu Zhongqing had a different perspective, Li Shoujie quickly asked, "I hope you can teach me, sir."

"Zhao Dexiu's move was to win people's hearts."

His purpose in sending the heads of the soldiers to various counties was not merely to demonstrate and intimidate; he also had a plan to disrupt the morale of the people in those counties and thereby break our army's geographical advantage in Luzhou in one fell swoop.

There were quite a few people who opposed the general's uprising. If Huguan had not fallen, with the general's tens of thousands of troops at the front, the other counties would not have made any move.

But now that the Song army has suddenly descended and captured Huguan in one fell swoop, the morale of the counties is shaken, and their already wavering resolve will surely be further shaken.

Perhaps the counties will not change their flags in the short term, but it is inevitable that people will wait and see.

If the commander is unable to mobilize the forces of the various counties, our army's geographical advantage will vanish like a tree without roots.

After seeing Lü Qiu Zhongqing point out Zhao Dexiu's sinister intentions, Li Shoujie looked distressed.

Emperor Song was a benevolent and righteous man, so how could his eldest son be so treacherous!
What Li Shoujie didn't know was that Zhao Dexiu's "sinister intentions" went beyond this.

"As for this letter, it is undeniable that Zhao Dexiu had the intention of provoking him, but he may have already made a second plan in mind."

If the commander delays in responding to the attack, Zhao Dexiu will then lead his troops to the city walls to provoke the enemy.

Our army was already unstable due to the arrival of the Song army. With Zhao Dexiu's repeated provocations and the commander's constant avoidance of battle, the morale of the people in the city and the counties will continue to be turbulent.

In all wars, the hearts and minds of the people are of utmost importance, especially in times of chaos.

Commander, imagine this: under Zhao Dexiu's scheme, the hearts of the people inside and outside the city will become more and more like dry firewood, just waiting for a spark to ignite them.

"If the commander at the front were to suffer any misfortune at this time, what terrible things would happen in the city?" Lu Qiu Zhongqing's pointed question made Li Shoujie, who was recalling some past events, shiver in the middle of summer.

Lu Qiu Zhongqing's step-by-step analysis revealed a cruel truth to Li Shoujie.

That is, through Zhao Dexiu's psychological warfare strategy, he has gradually taken the initiative in the war.

As the home team, they should be the ones in control.

The sense of powerlessness brought about by the saying "there are no fixed tactics in warfare" made Li Shoujie's face turn pale, and he couldn't help but ask Lu Qiu Zhongqing for advice.

Even though he was utterly disappointed in the Li family, Lu Qiu Zhongqing was grateful for Li Shoujie's past treatment and decided to offer him one last piece of advice.

After this strategy, Lu Qiu Zhongqing will have to go and find another wise ruler.

Within the city of Shangdang, Lü Qiu Zhongqing offered a sound strategy.

Two things have happened in Huguan City in the past few days.

Zhao Dexiu had previously promised his soldiers a reward once they captured Huguan Pass.

Therefore, the first thing Zhao Dexiu did after capturing Huguan City was to open the treasury and reward the soldiers who had gone to war with him.

Thanks to Li Li's greed, the treasury in Huguan City was quite rich.

However, right after the rewards were distributed, something happened that greatly angered Zhao Dexiu.

Some of his personal guards, driven by greed and relying on their relationship with him, disregarded military discipline and broke into civilian homes in the city to plunder.

Because those men were soldiers from Chanzhou, Tian Chongjin found it inconvenient to deal with them, so he reported the matter to Zhao Dexiu.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dexiu showed no favoritism.

“His body was executed in the marketplace, and his head was hung at the city gate.”

When this decree spread throughout the city, the entire army was in complete order.

Zhao Dexiu's ability to keep his word and his practice of rewarding and punishing both offenses further enhanced his prestige among the entire army.

For the past few days, Zhao Dexiu had been waiting for Li Shoujie's reply.

After waiting and waiting without receiving a reply from the other party, Zhao Dexiu summoned his generals to plan the next step of the operation.

"Doxon".

Zhao Dexiu looked at Lu Duoxun first.

Upon hearing Zhao Dexiu's call, Lu Duoxun immediately responded and came out.

"Go and arrange for several eloquent messengers to represent me and travel to various counties to persuade them."

Zhao Dexiu knew that his previous actions had shaken the stance of the various counties.

The threat has been shown, and some goodwill should also be appropriately expressed.

In order to make Lu Duoxun understand his true intentions, Zhao Dexiu said:

"We do not expect the messenger to achieve great results, but one thing is very important."

The fact that my envoy was to be sent to all the counties was common knowledge in Luzhou.

When people's hearts are in turmoil, we must make full use of their imagination.

Having understood Zhao Dexiu's intentions, Lu Duoxun withdrew with a smile.

After Lu Duoxun withdrew, Zhao Dexiu addressed Tian Chongjin and the officers behind him:
"Please, Commander Tian, ​​send out more scouts to find out the enemy's grain transport routes."

"If Li Shoujie intends to remain in the city, then I will attack his supply lines and see if he will come out!"

As Sun Tzu's Art of War states: "Therefore, if I wish to fight, and the enemy has high walls and deep moats, they will have no choice but to fight me, I will attack what they must defend."

Military strategy has its own principles of deception and reality!

(End of this chapter)