Jia Xu's Scheme

Chapter 89 Jia Xu's Scheme

Hoping for luck is a bad idea, especially in battles on land...

Just when you think you're lucky and that heaven is on your side, you never imagined that this was merely a flaw deliberately left by the enemy...

Just like Ma Teng today...

The army was short of food and should not have advanced any further. However, after encountering Cao Cao's army "escorting" supplies a few times, he thought it was a blessing from heaven. He then became accustomed to it and sent out troops everywhere to look for Cao Cao's soldiers who were escorting supplies after each short rest. Did he never think about what they would do if Jiang Zhe "found out" about this?

No, no, no, Ma Teng had actually thought about it. He had clearly and thoroughly considered this matter before making the decision: to reach Jiang Zhe before he discovered his army and defeat him!

In a war between two armies, seizing the initiative is of paramount importance!

What constitutes an opportunity? Favorable timing, geographical advantage, and harmonious relationships can all be considered opportunities. In addition, Jiang Zhe's current actions also qualify as opportunities!

Do you think those few Cao army units were really going to transport grain?

No! That was Jiang Zhe's deliberate act, a deliberate stop to rest on Ma Teng's marching route. He deliberately ordered Ma Teng to send troops to seize the grain, all to lure Ma Teng's army into his trap step by step, silently and stealthily…

In simpler terms, it means leading the enemy by the nose...

If we compare war to a game of chess, then predicting the opponent's next move is called gaining the upper hand. Once you gain the upper hand, you can counter any move and devise a plan accordingly. If there is no divine intervention, there is no reason why you cannot win.

All strategies in the world are divided into Yin and Yang!

A conspiracy is nothing more than setting a trap, creating something out of nothing. Although there are differences in the sophistication of the traps, even the most sophisticated traps leave clues.

If a plot can be traced, it is its fatal flaw; if it is seen through, the scheme is worthless.

The so-called "open strategy" is to act in accordance with the situation, to lay out the entire plan clearly and truthfully in front of you without any concealment. The only way out for the other party is exactly what the strategist wants to see, so it has no flaws.

Jiang Zhe's plan falls somewhere between a conspiracy and an open scheme.

The first half was a scheme to lure the enemy, a conspiracy, using grain to lure Ma Teng into advancing; however, the second half was an open strategy, because Jiang Zhe had already grasped the lifeline of Ma Teng's army, which was the grain supply!

Although it was Jia Xu who had insight into the movements of Ma Teng's army and who devised the plan, it was Jiang Zhe who revealed the plan!

This shows that Jiang Zhe, who was initially troubled by how to survive when he first arrived in Xuzhou, is now gradually showing the makings of a top strategist...

Of course, he himself was unaware of this, and was leisurely playing chess with Jia Xu...

"Minister Situ," Jia Xu said respectfully, glancing at Jiang Zhe before placing a chess piece on the board. He then looked up and said, "Five armies have already been dispatched. Judging by the time, Ma Teng should be arriving soon. This..."

"Are you saying that if we send him more supplies, it would be aiding the enemy? That's quite a lot of talk," Jiang Zhe said, frowning as he looked at the chessboard without looking up, holding a chess piece in his hand.

"Hehe, how dare I, Situ, possess such profound wisdom that I myself am far from being able to match you..." Jia Xu smiled slightly, and seeing Jiang Zhe looking at the chessboard and hesitating to make a move, his smile widened. This was because he understood Jiang Zhe's nature. If it were anyone else, Jia Xu, who always prioritized planning, would naturally not have acted this way.

"Hey, alright," Jiang Zhe shook his head and smiled, then suddenly noticed a flaw. His eyes lit up, and he dropped the scroll, then said with a smile, "Ma Shoucheng has already raided our army's supplies four or five times? Quite a few words."

"Huh?" As soon as Jiang Zhe placed his chess piece, Jia Xu's smile deepened. He eagerly placed his own piece on the board, cutting off the life of Jiang Zhe's large group of stones, and said with a smile, "Hmm, this is probably no less than four times. Hehe, it should be Situ who gave these provisions to Ma Teng. Hehe, I apologize for my intrusion. Situ..."

"Huh?" Damn! He won't even let me have my way. Jiang Zhe was a little dumbfounded, muttering to himself. He pursed his lips, gently pushed the chessboard aside, picked up a teacup beside him, took a sip, and frowned as he asked, "Is Ma Shoucheng not far from Lushan now? Quite a few words."

"In my opinion, he should arrive at the Yu River late tonight. If he wants to reach the vicinity of Mount Lu, it will probably be tomorrow or the day after," Jia Xu said with a sneer as he slowly tidied up the chessboard. "If the Minister of Works had cut off his supplies three days ago, then we would have had a good show to watch..."

Shaking his head and chuckling softly, Jiang Zhe said calmly, "If that's the case, Ma Teng's army might collapse immediately, but we won't achieve complete success either. Leaving these scattered Xiliang troops to cause trouble in the future is not as good as wiping them out in one fell swoop today!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu nodded inwardly and said softly, "Minister, rest assured. I have already devised a plan: first eliminate Ma Shoucheng, then defeat Liu Jingsheng!"

"Oh? Wenhe is so certain?" Jiang Zhe asked, somewhat surprised.

With a slight smile, Jia Xu nodded and said, "I am but a humble disciple, far inferior to Minister Situ in strategic brilliance, yet I am more than capable of dealing with crude and uncouth individuals like Ma Teng!"

"Wenhe is being modest..."

Meanwhile, just as Jia Xu had predicted, Ma Teng's army was only half a day's journey from the source of the Yu River...

As he spurred his horse forward at full speed, Ma Teng gazed into the distance. The closer he got to Jiang Zhe's army, the more anxious he became. Three days earlier, his army had run out of food. Had they not been fortunate enough to encounter a Cao army and seize half a day's worth of provisions, they would have been truly in a predicament…

What he now hopes for is to reach Jiang Zhe's location as soon as possible, defeat his army, and seize the grain from Jiang Zhe's army for his own use!

However, if that's the case, the attack will definitely fail. If Jiang Zhe holds out for three to five days, it will have no impact on him. But what about his Xiliang army?

Even the most valiant warriors of Xiliang couldn't fill their stomachs with just a few sips of the northwest wind.

A surprise attack! Only a stealth attack!

"The entire army must rein in their horses and rest!"

The 30,000 elite Xiliang troops stopped their horses in an instant, maintaining their formation without the slightest disruption, which clearly demonstrates that they were indeed an elite force!

Ma Teng glanced indifferently at the soldiers who had dismounted and were resting behind him, then turned to his subordinates and said, "Hubei and Ma Wan, I order you two to each lead a hundred or so elite cavalry ahead to scout out Jiang Zhe's movements and report back to me!"

"Yes! Your subordinate obeys!" The candidate and Ma Wan clasped their hands in response, then each led their hundred or so cavalrymen away with a roar.

"Liang Xing, Cheng Yin, and Yang Qiu, the three of you lead your troops to patrol the surrounding area and see if there are any Cao army troops transporting supplies nearby!"

"Yes!" Liang Xing, Cheng Yin, and Yang Qiu clasped their hands in response.

Taking the two water pouches hanging on their warhorses, Ma Teng, along with his son Ma Chao and Pang De, who had adopted him, chose a spot to sit down. Ma Teng tossed one to Pang De, unscrewed the stopper of the water pouch in his hand, and gulped down several mouthfuls of water to relieve his hunger. Observing the nearby Xiliang soldiers, most of them did the same.

Don't soldiers in the army have half a day's rations? Why is this necessary?

That half-day was not to be used lightly; Ma Teng was saving it for dealing with Jiang Zhe. Having spent his life on the battlefield, how could he be so arrogant as to think he could defeat the enemy with a starving army? Not to mention the rumoredly fierce Cao army, whose ferocity Ma Teng had already witnessed back in Xutian…

After resting for a full hour, Ma Teng got up and stretched his limbs. Suddenly, he noticed Pang De's furrowed brow, as if something was on his mind. He smiled and asked, "Lingming, what's troubling you?"

His son, Ma Chao, glanced at Pang De and sneered, "Lingming, could it be that you took a fancy to some girl back in Xuchang?"

"Haha!" Ma Teng laughed, then looked at Ma Chao and Pang De and sighed, "In the blink of an eye, you've grown up so much. It's time for you to settle down and start a family..."

"Uncle," Pang De's face immediately flushed red upon hearing this, and he glared at Ma Chao resentfully before hurriedly explaining, "It's not that I'm thinking about any young lady, but rather I'm worried about something..."

"What is it?" Ma Chao chuckled, putting his arm around Pang De's shoulder to stir things up. "Are you worried that the elders of that family won't approve? Don't worry, if that's really the case, we're brothers, and I'll naturally help you win over the person you've been longing for!"

"Go away, go away!" Pang De's dark face turned even redder as he slapped Ma Chao's hand away, causing Ma Teng to burst into laughter.

However, Pang De showed no sign of a smile. He stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ma Teng, and said, "Uncle, I have some concerns. Our army has been running into Cao Cao's troops escorting grain supplies under Jiang Zhe's command for several days. There's something fishy going on!"

"Strange?" Ma Teng was taken aback upon hearing this, and asked with a puzzled look, "What's strange about it?"

"Uncle, have you not considered that the area west of Lu is vast, yet we have repeatedly encountered Cao Cao's army transporting grain? Moreover, each time, we only managed to seize a small amount of grain, with the rest being burned by Cao Cao's soldiers before they fled. Don't you think there's something fishy going on?"

"Hmm?" Ma Teng's face turned serious. He stroked his chin and nodded, saying, "Now that you mention it, this matter does indeed seem rather strange..."

"Uncle, I suspect that Jiang Shouyi may already know that our army seized his supplies..."

"How is that possible?!" Ma Teng frowned and said, "If Jiang Zhe knew about this, he would surely be on guard. In that case, we shouldn't have received a single grain of food in the next few days. As a key strategist under Cao Cao, how could Jiang Zhe do something that aids the enemy? In my opinion, Jiang Zhe must not know our army's movements!"

"Father," Ma Chao called softly, slowly rising to his feet, brushing the dust off his clothes, and said in a deep voice, "I think Lingming's words make sense. Our army attacked Cao Cao's supply convoy four times, yet not a single one reported back to Jiang Zhe?"

"How foolish!" Ma Teng shook his head and chuckled. "Don't you two realize that to prevent Jiang Zhe from finding out about this, we rushed here day and night, while the supplies Jiang Zhe sent to escort were all infantry. How could they compare to us?"

"This..." Pound hesitated again after Ma Teng said that.

"Alright, don't think about anything else. Get some rest. We'll set off once Generals Liang, Cheng, and Yang return!"

"Yes," Pang De nodded slowly, then said somewhat unwillingly, "Uncle, don't you find this matter suspicious at all? Encountering Cao Cao's army several times in a row and seizing supplies makes no sense..."

"Hehe," Ma Teng was taken aback upon hearing this, but seeing the determination in Pang De's eyes, he secretly praised him and laughed heartily, saying, "In my opinion, this is Heaven helping us to eliminate the traitors! The national traitors must be destroyed, and the Han Dynasty must be restored!"

"..." Pound was taken aback.

Sighing, Ma Teng glanced at Pang De and his eldest son Ma Chao, then turned and walked towards the soldiers in the army.

It's suspicious, how could it not be suspicious?

Even if Heaven helps us to suppress the bandits, and such a good thing happens in the world, if we truly wish for things to come true, how could the Han Dynasty have fallen to such a state?

However, regardless of whether this was Jiang Zhe's plan or not, we had no choice but to advance: advancing still offered a glimmer of hope, otherwise, we might starve to death on the way before even reaching Wuguan...

That night, Ma Teng's army arrived at the source of the Yu River, where Ma Wan and General Xu were already waiting.

He ordered his troops to rest on the spot, then dismounted and strode towards Generals Ma and Hou, asking in a deep voice, "Well, have you found out Jiang Zhe's whereabouts?"

Ma Wan and the candidate exchanged a glance, clasped their hands and nodded, saying, "This humble general has fulfilled his mission and discovered the location of Jiang Zhe's army! Jiang Zhe has settled all of the more than 100,000 people in Lushan, Xiangcheng, and the southern border of Sizhou here, while most of his troops are in Lushan, with only a small part remaining to guard Xiangcheng!"

"Hmm!" Ma Teng nodded, beckoning his generals to walk towards a secluded spot. On the way, he whispered to Ma Wan and the candidate, "I'm afraid Jiang Zhe already knows our army is approaching..."

Ma Wan and the candidate exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes, and asked in unison, "How did our lord know?"

Before the two finished speaking, Liang Xing, a general under Ma Teng, interrupted, "You two don't know, during the day, our lord sent you on horseback to investigate Jiang Zhe's movements. Afterwards, he sent me, Cheng Yin, Yang Qiu, and I to search for traces of Cao Cao's grain transport troops in the vicinity. However, until sunset, for a whole day, we found nothing..."

"This is what I fear most!" Ma Teng interjected, then let out a long sigh, gazing at the churning waters of the Yu River. He lamented, "The grain we seized from Cao Cao's army three days ago is only enough for half a day, and this half-day's rations will be our last provisions... If we fail in this battle, we... we have 30,000 troops, yet we face certain death!"

However, Ma Wan and the candidate showed some strange expressions after hearing Ma Teng's words.

"My lord," Ma Wan licked his lips, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said hesitantly, "During this campaign, I captured a scout from Cao Cao's army. This man was extremely tight-lipped, and I had to use cruel torture to get him to talk. Therefore, I have learned something, but I don't know whether I should tell you..."

"Speak!" Ma Teng frowned and hissed, "We've come to this point, what are you still hesitating for?! Tell me both the good news and the bad news!"

"Yes!" Ma Wan clasped his hands in response and immediately whispered, "My lord, I learned from the scout that Jiang Zhe, in order to guard against us, has relocated almost all the people in the southern part of Sizhou to Lushan and Xiangcheng counties, and then transferred a large amount of grain from Xudu..."

"So what?" Ma Teng shook his head and sighed heavily. "If this person is guarding Lushan, we'll have a hard time taking it down for a while. What good will it do us even if we find out?"

"No, my lord, you are mistaken," Ma Wan shook his head and said solemnly, "The two prefectures of Lushan and Xiangcheng are already at their limit in terms of accommodating more than 100,000 people from Sizhou. How can there be room to stockpile grain and fodder? Furthermore, Jiang Zhe knows that we are going to attack Lushan. Isn't he afraid that if the grain and fodder are damaged, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in this place will be cut off?"

A hint of joy appeared on Ma Teng's face as he murmured, "You mean...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Ma Chao, who was standing right next to him, chuckled and said bluntly, "General Ma, why don't you just tell us where Jiang Zhe is stockpiling his grain?"

Upon hearing this, all the generals looked at Ma Wan with great surprise.

"Huh? Uh," Ma Wan was taken aback, looking at Ma Chao awkwardly, "Young General, you are truly a wise man, hehe..."

"Say it!" Liang Xing and the other generals were extremely anxious about the supplies, but seeing that Ma Wan was still in a slow and unhurried manner, they immediately pretended to be fierce and looked at Ma Wan with extremely unfriendly eyes.

Originally intending to keep everyone in suspense, Ma Wanzihao, realizing he had seemingly incurred public wrath, inwardly sighed with regret and said rather unwillingly, "Jiang Zhe transferred 6,000 shi of grain from Xudu, most of which is stockpiled in Yangdi, north of Lushan and Xiangcheng, between Xuanyuan Mountain and Songshan Mountain. As for the defenses, the scouts only said they didn't know..."

The other generals were overjoyed upon hearing this, but Yang Qiu asked suspiciously, "Is this... really true?"

"I personally interrogated him, how could it be false?" Ma Wan said with a sneer.

"My lord," Liang Xing said in a low voice, clasping his hands in a fist salute to Ma Teng, "it's a day's journey from here to Lushan; it's also a day's journey to Yangdi. Why not take Yangdi first to relieve our army's immediate crisis, and then attack Lushan again!"

"Hmm..." Ma Teng's expression was one of surprise and uncertainty. He gave a soft reply but remained noncommittal. He took a deep breath and looked at Ma Wan, saying in a deep voice, "Where is that Cao army scout? Bring him here. I want to question him personally. This matter concerns the lives of my 30,000 soldiers. It is of utmost importance and cannot be treated lightly!"

"This..." Ma Teng said, but Ma Wan looked somewhat embarrassed. After hesitating for a moment, he said in a low and awkward voice, "That man couldn't withstand torture. After telling the truth, he bled too much and his life is in danger. I saw that having him around would be a burden, so I just stabbed him..."

"..." Ma Teng opened his mouth, taken aback.

"My lord," Ma Wan hurriedly said upon seeing Ma Teng's reaction, "this humble general dares to guarantee this with his own head!"

"General Ma, there's no need for that," the candidate interjected, then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ma Teng and said, "My lord, I led my troops towards Xiangcheng. On the way, we saw a large convoy of Cao army wagons traveling from south to north towards Xiangcheng. It must be grain supplies that Jiang Zhe has transferred from Xuchang. Just as General Ma said, Lushan and Xiangcheng are places where we await battle. Jiang Zhe certainly wouldn't transport all the grain supplies, which are crucial to the lives of the people here, to these two cities. He must be choosing a place to store the grain. Yangdi is only one day away from Xiangcheng and two days away from Lushan. Moreover, this city is located in the heart of Cao territory. I believe Jiang Zhe has undoubtedly chosen this city as his granary!"

"Hmm, that makes sense!" Ma Teng nodded, tapping his forehead with his finger, and asked hesitantly, "However, if we go to Yangdi, we might run into Jiang Zhe's troops left to guard Xiangcheng. Once we do, Jiang Zhe, being so cunning, will surely see through our scheme and double down on defenses in Yangdi. If that happens, what should we do?"

"This..." The generals were also somewhat troubled. Although they were not afraid of Cao's army, the army was short of food at the moment. Taking Yangdi to relieve the army's urgent needs was the top priority. How could they have time to fight with Cao's army?

Looking around at his generals, Cheng Yin's eyes lit up, and he said with delight, "My lord, I have an idea. Why don't we change our route and head towards Yiyang, taking the Xuanyuan Mountain and Songshan Valley roads? It will only take half a day longer, and we can reach Yangdi directly!"

"Take the valley route?" Ma Teng's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He lowered his head to think carefully, then nodded and said, "Brilliant! Brilliant! Jiang Zhe has set up heavy defenses in Lushan and Xiangcheng, but he would never have imagined that we, the Yueshan troops, would attack from behind!"

"Excellent! This plan is brilliant!" the generals exclaimed in unison.

"There's no time to lose!" Ma Teng waved his hand and shouted, "Summon all the soldiers immediately! We're turning towards Xuanyuan Mountain!"

"Yes!" the generals responded in unison.

P.S.: I slept from 11 AM yesterday until 2:30 PM today... catching up on sleep...

But now things are in trouble, I need to make up for the missed update...

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