Chapter 191

The sinkhole where Wenxian Hall is located is pig-waist-shaped, with green trees surrounding the pit mouth, and clear water flowing quietly at the bottom of the pit. A ray of daylight hits from above, shining on the round stone in the center of the water. This is the lecture platform, and the unique terrain has opened an amplified surround mode for the main speaker.

The rock wall of the sinkhole was artificially chiseled with stone paths layer upon layer, which are both the audience's seats and the entrance and exit passages.

Simple, but full of interest.

He Lingchuan and the two came late, and the auditorium was basically full. Looking from their angle, the ring-shaped mountain wall was crowded with people on more than ten layers of passages, which was spectacular.

From eleven or twelve-year-old teenagers to fifty or sixty-year-old men, their faces were full of thirst for knowledge.

"So many people!" If one is not careful or people squeeze people, they will fall into the deep pool at the bottom of the pit.

Hu Min whispered to He Lingchuan: "What is this? You haven't seen General Hong open a hall; that is called full. A seat on the mountain wall has to squeeze two people, and some would rather hang in mid-air to listen, and even the pool below is full of boats!"

He Lingchuan's eyes lit up: "General Hong will also open a class?"

"Irregular time, depends on luck." Hu Min regretted, "Last time General Hong opened a class, I happened to be on duty outside, and missed it."

He Lingchuan suddenly remembered one thing: "By the way, has any famous person lectured on the principles of divination and deduction?" If so, he could privately ask the master. How could it be worse than the unreliable old turtle demon? Hu Min looked blank: "No?"

"Are you sure?"

"The topic of each lecture will be announced outside the government office and barracks ten days in advance." Hu Min told him, "I have looked at the announcement for so long, and I don't seem to have seen anyone lecture on divination and calculation."

"Forget it." This is really strange.

While everyone was talking, Commander Captain Xiao Maoliang Maoliang also appeared. He stood on the round stone and said with his hands behind his back: "Colleagues present and future, good afternoon. Entrusted by Commander Zhong, I will explain the dynamics of the Panlong Wasteland, as well as the battles our army is conducting..."

Unexpectedly, Commander Captain Xiao Maoliang Maoliang, who was calm in command on the battlefield and disregarded life and death, would stutter when standing at Wenxian Hall to lecture to everyone; could it be that this is the first time? He Lingchuan couldn't help laughing. However, the content Captain Xiao Maoliang Maoliang told was too important, and although his storytelling skills were not very qualified, He Lingchuan still listened intently.

"Everyone knows that Weicheng fell a few months ago, and there are brothers from Weicheng in the audience. Now the Baling Nation's battle line continues to advance eastward, and has been harassing Puxie Ditch since a month ago..."

Two days later, He Lingchuan went to visit Sun Hongye.

The boy's complexion was already rosy. After the poison was removed, he only had skin and flesh wounds on his shoulders. The doctor at Jinghe Hall gave him five days of medicine, allowing him to take it home to boil and take.

Seeing He Lingchuan again, his attitude was much more enthusiastic than the day before, and he bowed to the end: "Thank you for your care during my illness, Young Master He, I am deeply grateful!"

He Lingchuan waved his hand: "It should be, you saved my family's life."

Sun Hongye smiled; since he was injured at the foot of Lu Ming Garden, only He Lingchuan had come to visit him.

He poured a glass of water for He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan saw that his house was also a bungalow, the furniture was old, the window was very small, and there was only half a courtyard, which was full of snow because no one cleaned it.

"You live alone?"

Sun Hongye nodded: "It's been three years since I moved from the northern border, and the uncle I relied on has also passed away."

"From now on, what are your plans?" He Lingchuan asked him, "Someone from the He family was also at Lu Ming Garden the day before yesterday, and already knows that you recommended yourself to General Ke."

Sun Hongye gave a self-deprecating smile: "Yes, my carriage broke down when going down the mountain."

These two things sounded unrelated, but he was clever, and had been lying in bed for the past two days, so it was easy to infer that He Su had sent people to tamper with his carriage that day, intending to give him some embarrassment on a windy and snowy night.

He Lingchuan walked to the only square table in the room: "I have a question, I want to ask Brother Sun for a solution."

"Please speak."

He Lingchuan dipped in water from the cup and drew a topographic map on the table.

"Puxie Ditch is a hundred li west of Longcheng, with a population of 50,000 and more than 2,000 troops. Strong enemies often come to attack Puxie Ditch." He Lingchuan gave a brief explanation, "Every time they come to commit crimes on a large scale, Puxie Ditch has to send people to ask Longcheng for help."

"After a long time, the enemy also changed tactics, only sending a few teams to harass the surrounding area. As soon as the Longcheng reinforcements arrived, they flew away. But the frequency of their harassment was very fast, about six or seven times in ten days. If the Longcheng reinforcements didn't come, they would merge the teams and attack Puxie Ditch."

"In this way, the fishing, hunting, farming, and commerce of the residents of Puxie Ditch could not proceed normally, and the losses were huge, and Longcheng was also tired of responding; after all, a round trip is more than two hundred li." He Lingchuan asked Sun Hongye, "Please, Brother Sun, give a strategy for Longcheng."

"The enemy adopts low-intensity, high-frequency attacks." Sun Hongye pointed to the blank space on the table, "Can Longcheng set up strongholds or auxiliary cities near Puxie Ditch to divide troops to guard?"

He Lingchuan shook his head, "Except for the location of Puxie Ditch, this hundred-plus li of wasteland is flat, with no danger to defend, and the worst thing is that there is no water source."

Without a water source, you can't build a stronghold, and you can't station people and horses.

Sun Hongye became interested: "Then, can Longcheng directly send troops to Puxie Ditch?"

The place name Puxie Ditch sounds a bit familiar; he couldn't remember it for a while.

"Already added one thousand people, and transported a lot of food there. That wasteland is barren, and water is precious; more people and horses can't be fed."

Sun Hongye thought for a longer time, and asked again: "Then how far is the enemy's stronghold from Puxie Ditch?"

"It's thirty li west of Puxie Ditch, much closer than Longcheng." Fortunately, He Lingchuan listened carefully to the lecture last night, so he could answer fluently, "A few months ago, Weicheng was captured by the enemy and became a bridgehead for advancing eastward, so Puxie Ditch became the front line."

Sending troops from Weicheng, a round trip is less than sixty li, and the horse journey doesn't take an hour, which is of course much more convenient than Panlong City.

"How many people are in this Weicheng, and how many troops are stationed?"

This kid asks really carefully. "When Weicheng fell, the commoners moved to Longcheng. So there are few commoners in Weicheng, and it has become a military town; the number of stationed troops cannot be accurately calculated, it should be between 1,500 and 3,000."

"Can Puxie Ditch and Longcheng not negotiate peace with the enemy?"

"There is no such possibility for the time being." At least not in this part of his dream.

"In other words, the enemy will not let go of this piece of meat, Puxie Ditch." Sun Hongye raised a finger, "I have one last question, does Puxie Ditch have any specialties that are popular in other places?"

"Yes, several precious medicinal materials are specialties of the wasteland, which can refine great tonic agents; in addition, Puxie Ditch also produces high-purity saltpeter, which the country uses to make cannons, and private wealthy people and merchants buy it for ice making, so merchant teams are still willing to take risks to pass through the wasteland."

Everything that should be asked has been asked, Sun Hongye said: "Okay, then I have two strategies."

"The lower strategy can solve the urgent need, and one success can make the enemy stop for a while."

"Please speak."

"Use the army to impersonate a merchant team, or set up an ambush, using the merchant team as bait to lure the enemy to loot, and then strike them hard." Sun Hongye said, "You said that the Weicheng army is less than 3,000, and it will hurt its vitality if it is ambushed once, and it will stop for a long time. Then this will buy time for Puxie Ditch to recuperate."

"Well, conventional fighting method." He Lingchuan heard many audience members offer this strategy at Wenxian Hall, so he didn't find it strange, "What about the upper strategy?"

"There is no reason for a thief to be a thief for a thousand days, but there is no reason to guard against a thief for a thousand days. Passive defense is ultimately the lower strategy; it is best to win in one battle and take back Weicheng, pulling out this thorn in the side to eliminate future troubles."

"How to do it?"

"Then offer a few more tributes to the enemy, let them grab a few times and return with full bowls and basins, to eliminate their vigilance. In order to cover the enemy's eyes and ears, why not have a few more battles for contention, fight fiercely, and then release the wind, saying that Puxie Ditch is going to organize a large-scale merchant team for transportation, and specifically ask the Longcheng army to protect the escort." Sun Hongye shrugged, "The opponent must have planted ears in Puxie Ditch, right?"

"This time the goods are precious, and the escorting army must be at least one thousand people, the more magnificent the momentum, the better."

He Lingchuan understood: "Luring the snake out of the hole?"

"Not bad. To eat this batch of goods, the enemy must send at least two thousand elite soldiers to have some confidence. Then the Weicheng garrison at this time is only a few hundred, and the city defense is empty. As long as Longcheng sends surprise troops to sneak attack, there is a great chance of taking it!"

"It doesn't sound difficult." He Lingchuan laughed, "But what if the sneak attack fails? Not only will Weicheng not be taken, but the entire merchant team used as bait will likely be swallowed by the enemy; that would really be stealing a chicken but losing the rice."

"Victory or defeat is only on the line; whether it is a wonderful plan or a stupid move depends on the result." Sun Hongye also laughed, "Leading troops to fight, who dares to say that they will win and not lose?"

He Lingchuan nodded: "Whether it succeeds or not, the team used as bait will have a hard battle to fight."

Sun Hongye's expression was indifferent: "That is of course. How can war have no price?"

He Lingchuan looked at him, and remembered the suggestion this kid gave to General Ke to take Bao Pass and blow up the Qing Embankment, which was also a strategy at the cost of countless fields, houses, and human lives.

In other words, it hurts the harmony of heaven.

Sun Hongye continued: "I am only responsible for offering strategies, as for weighing the pros and cons, doing or not doing, that is the duty of the commander-in-chief."

He Lingchuan hmmed: "Well said."

He looked at Sun Hongye's bare house again, and finally issued an invitation: "We will set off for Xiazhou in two hours. Brother Sun, come with me; I will treat you with the courtesy of a staff member."

Sun Hongye was not surprised: "Does the strategy I offered suit the Eldest Young Master's heart?"

He had been recuperating for two days, and had also heard city rumors that the new Xiazhou General Manager was posting recruitment orders everywhere, wanting to hire capable people to go to Xiazhou.

"There is no perfection in everything, and taking risks in military strategy is not bad." He Lingchuan smiled slightly, "Staying in Shi Huan, you will either be squeezed out by villains or waste your youth in a daze. Only in Xiazhou will you have a place to use your talents."

Thanks to Qian Dai Qixiu for the generous support~

(End of chapter)