Chapter 923

I think I've figured it out; they're just teasing Qian Fugui like he's an idiot! Chen Wuji shook his head, feeling somewhat speechless.

But I can say this only because I'm currently an outsider; if I were inside the situation, I'd probably believe it too and be made a fool of by them.

Xu Zengyi nodded. "The confusion inherent in this matter is just too great; without knowing their background beforehand, it's really hard to tell clearly. I initially also almost thought it was General Qian being too careless, which led to the later trouble."

But after thinking it over carefully, this really can't be wholly blamed on General Qian; although what they did at first was somewhat odd, they buried those pits very well, making them highly deceptive.

Chen Wuji poured out the ginger tea in his cup.

Better to just eat the ginger straight; mixing it with tea and drinking it shows slight disrespect to the tea.

"What reason do those tenant farmers have for killing their family head?" Chen Wuji asked, grabbing another pinch of tea leaves into his teacup.

"They think those two family heads betrayed them."

"……"

This reason is also overwhelmingly strong.

"Did Qian Fugui believe it?" Chen Wuji asked.

"He had some doubts, but he didn't find any major abnormalities, so he could only do that." Xu Zengyi said, "However, Qian Fugui also kept an eye out; he slowed the pace of reform and strengthened the city's defenses."

"After those two families, more and more family heads successively came forward to defect, proactively offering to merge their retainers into Qian Fugui's forces. At that point, Qian Fugui finally realized something was off and rejected them all."

"This step of his was crucial, preventing disaster from erupting internally. I roughly estimated that if Qian Fugui had accepted their voluntary defections, the consequences… would not have been good."

Chen Wuji stroked his chin and shook his his head, "If that could be resolved, that would truly be a strange thing."

"It's quite clear that their purpose in doing these things is to confuse Qian Fugui, get their troops into Guiling Xian County City, and even into our own forces, then coordinate an inside‑outside attack. Using the clever against the unwary, their chances of success are extremely high; even if our forces are slightly elite, as long as they seize the right moment, they can easily pull off a perfect battle where the weak overcome the strong."

From the perspective of She Zhang Weng's side, this battle has plenty of room for maneuver.

First, use the surrender order to make Qian Fugui lower his guard, then order those who have already defected to poison and set fires, wiping out part of his forces, and when his troops fall into chaos, seize the city gate.

Or, with a harsher method, directly employ a fire attack: block the city gate with hard wood, then use fire arrows to turn the entire city into a sea of flame.

The available tactics are practically endless.

"Fortunately, Qian Fugui kept an eye out; he's more or less a veteran commander who's seen battle formations. If he'd capsized in such a gutter, it would truly be too aggravating." Chen Wuji muttered.

This battle also made Qian Fugui a bit more wary.

This is a rather new tactic, and its deceptive power is too strong.

In the past, few people used it, and no such precedent has been discovered.

If those two powerful families had refined their scheme to win Qian Fugui's trust a bit more, perhaps they would really have succeeded.

Xu Zengyi also nodded, still feeling uneasy. "Indeed, it's fortunate that Qian Fugui wasn't careless. Afterwards, it seems the carter realized there was no opening to exploit, so he ordered the troops near Guiling Xian County City to feign an attack, driving their own people into the county city."

"That wording sounds a bit awkward; let me explain it for the lord. The troops the carter ordered to assault the city are not the tenant farmers I mentioned earlier, but another body of soldiers, and the 'their own people' I referred to are actually those tenant farmers."

"Even without your explanation I roughly get it, but your explanation almost had me going in circles." Chen Wuji chuckled, "Simply put, the carter mobilized troops from elsewhere, driving the outsiders into the county city, right?"

"Yes!" Xu Zengyi said, slightly embarrassed.

Put that way, it really does become a bit clearer.

Chen Wuji nodded. "No wonder they're She Zhang Weng's troops; their scheming tactics are truly smooth!"

He didn't want to give such high praise at all.

But Chen Wuji couldn't help admitting that, indeed, their battle was fought very smoothly, with their plans linking together as naturally as eating and drinking.

When the enemy attacked, the panicked civilians fled into the city for refuge—what's the problem with that?

No problem!

The only problem is that those enemies and the civilians are actually one family, while Qian Fugui is the third party.

"Qian Fugui must have believed it, right?" Chen Wuji asked.

"He believed it; there's no way not to." Xu Zengyi nodded.

"Although General Qian had some doubts about the situation at the time, he himself said he never thought the problem actually lay with those seemingly ordinary civilians—those tenant farmers are the carter's troops!"

"After the civilians entered the city, they were actually quite orderly, feeling grateful to Qian Fugui, and they eagerly helped our army with many tasks, such as hauling defensive supplies up onto the city walls, and so on."

Chen Wuji rubbed his eyebrows, "Another deceptive scheme."

"Yes, and their deceptive means are even more sophisticated than before." Xu Zengyi said, "Although Qian Fugui still had some doubts then, facing that scene he really had little reason to suspect, so he could only be on slight guard—and ended up falling for the trick."

Chen Wuji suddenly sat upright, "Were we hit by an inside‑outside enemy collaboration?"

"Yes!"

"Those civilians who had been enthusiastically helping during the day, at night deep in the darkness, suddenly set fires all over the inner city, attacked and killed our patrolling soldiers, seized the city gate, and let the troops stationed outside pour into the city." Xu Zengyi let out a soft sigh.

"In this battle, Qian Fugui suffered heavy losses. Fortunately, our soldiers have been engaged in combat for over two years, maintaining extreme vigilance, and since their fighting strength far surpasses that of these rabble, they managed to check the threat in time and extinguish this disaster."

Chen Wuji couldn't help but remark, "It's truly interlocking rings."

"Sir, be sure to record this tactic in detail; there's much to learn from it. If we get the chance, our army can also employ it. The key to victory in this battle lies in our soldiers' vigilance and sufficient combat strength; speaking purely of tactics, the carter has actually already won."

"Indeed so." Xu Zengyi expressed agreement with Chen Wuji's view, "If the carter's troops were all armed and armored, they'd be elite soldiers and commanders, making the outcome hard to predict."

Chen Wuji waved his hand, "No need to speculate further; if that's the scenario you're assuming, sir, Qian Fugui would definitely lose this battle."

We are now, after the war, analyzing this battle from an outsider's perspective, so we don't need to save any face for ourselves, sir—this pointless face can sometimes be fatal.

…… is.