Chapter 1557: Sixteen-Character Strategy

"Shaoyin, look here. If you were the commander, how do you think we should fight?"

Seeing Baifeng posing a question to him, Shaoyin immediately set his mind to work. After a moment of thought, he replied, "King, if I were to fight, I would certainly follow our Huaxia military formations: first use bows and crossbows and bombs to wear them down, then have the cavalry charge to disrupt their formation, and finally send in the infantry for the final struggle."

"Now that we have horse cavalry, the speed is faster and the flexibility is higher. We can attack from the flanks or even circle behind them to pull the encirclement tight and surround them."

Listening to Shaoyin, Baifeng felt there was no major problem with what he said. After all, in such plains, it is indeed difficult to make any complex military decisions. The land is as flat as a pancake, and while there are trees, there are not many; at most, they can only hide a few people, unlike those dense forests where an entire army can be concealed.

Furthermore, everyone's weapons and methods are not very advanced. There are no cities here, so strategies like 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' or 'watching the fire from across the river' cannot be used. It mostly comes down to whose soldiers are stronger and whose weapons are finer.

But the military talent Baifeng wants cannot be so simple, someone who only knows how to fight by following a formula. Chiyou can fight by borrowing the power of wind and rain, and in a few years, Fenghou might even come up with the Mysterious Gate and Hidden Stem.

The so-called Mysterious Gate and Hidden Stem was created for war from the very beginning. 'Mysterious' refers to the Three Mysteriously, 'Gate' refers to the Eight Gates, 'Hidden' means to escape and conceal, and 'Stem' refers to the commander.

By coordinating time and space, one determines the strategy for deploying troops and the position of the commander. This was originally something that could only be created after the calendar was perfected, because the Mysterious Gate and Hidden Stem is closely related to the twenty-four Solar Terms, forming a layout based on them.

Originally, the layouts of the Mysterious Gate and Hidden Stem were extremely numerous and complex. Later, after being simplified by Jiang Ziya and Zhang Liang, the Mysterious Gate and Hidden Stem became relatively simpler. Although it can predict the future, it was inherently created for war. Later, Zhuge Liang made changes, leading to the Zhuge Mysterious Gate. Some other schools use time as the standard, such as the Yearly Mysterious Gate, Monthly Mysterious Gate, and so on, as well as the Spell Mysterious Gate. However, all arts of the Mysterious Gate and Hidden Stem originate from the Fenghou Mysterious Gate.

Baifeng does not know how strong Fenghou's control and command ability over war will be once he has studied it thoroughly, but for the time being, he is certainly not as good as him, because the era and productivity limit them.

However, Baifeng truly has no talent for war, nor does he have high attainments, because in his own era, he could not come into contact with war. He also knew almost nothing about high-tech warfare, and it was even more impossible to replicate it in this era.

His knowledge of war tactics comes from history and stories like the Three Kingdoms, and he has heard a little about the Thirty-Six Stratagems and The Art of War by Sun Tzu, which is why he can be a seemingly decent military commander in this era.

Baifeng is not at all as good as Zhaokuo, who only knew how to fight on paper, because Zhaokuo managed to hold out against the Martial Peace Lord Baiqi for dozens of days under a great disadvantage. If he had been given a little more time and a few more opportunities, he might not have failed to become a great general of his generation. It is a pity his luck was too poor and the matchmaking mechanism was too heaven-defying; not only did he lose, but he also gained a foul reputation.

It is like a Go player with the potential of a professional 9-dan who, just after being ranked, plays his first match against Ke Jie and manages to last dozens of moves against Ke Jie before losing. Can you say he is bad? You can only say he is unlucky.

Baifeng knows that his talent for war will certainly not be able to compare to these gifted monsters born in accordance with the times in the future. He is only suited for production and construction, so he should cultivate someone with talent in this area. He will tell him everything he can, and it will depend on how much he can comprehend.

"Shaoyin, when we have the advantage in distance and speed, I have a better strategy. I call it the Sixteen-Character Strategy. This can be used in many situations."

"We can use it when we have a great advantage to win more easily and wear down the enemy's morale, and we can also use it when we do not have an advantage. I will speak, and you remember it well, but do not go around telling people indiscriminately. You must learn to distinguish who can learn it and who cannot."

Shaoyin's eyes widened, and he nodded repeatedly. The King is guiding him and giving him special instruction. As for whether it can be told or not, he naturally understands in his heart that what is about to be said must be top secret.

"The Sixteen-Character Strategy is: when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack; when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we pursue."

"Although there are only sixteen characters, every character is the truth. They can be used together or separately. When they can be used, which one to use, when they cannot be used, and why they cannot be used—you must think through all of this yourself. Do you understand?"

Shaoyin did not even dare to whisper the words back; he could only silently commit them to heart. He nodded repeatedly at Baifeng's request. The short sixteen characters became more reasonable the more he pondered them. If used on the battlefield, it would certainly be much better than just charging blindly, and with their great advantage, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.

The only downside is that they are allied with the Xuanyuan Tribe, and some actions cannot avoid the Xuanyuan Tribe. The Xuanyuan Tribe will certainly learn some of it, but without having summarized it themselves, they will not be able to learn the essence. In order to reduce casualties, some leakage of tactics is inevitable.

"Although it is not yet certain where the Xingtian Tribe will camp, they must maintain a certain distance from us. That position there is quite likely."

"In terms of vision, it is just enough to be seen, but if one wants to attack, it will take a certain amount of time. Whether it is day or night, a sneak attack is difficult to achieve. As long as they detect movement, they can immediately prepare."

"Shaoyin, let me ask you again: given our advantage over the Xingtian Tribe, in what way do you think you could launch an attack on them?"

Shaoyin looked around. All attacks are best coordinated with the environment, and the only things here that can be utilized are those sparse trees.

"King, the trees around here can provide a certain amount of cover. Using fast horses, carrying bows and crossbows and bombs, we can make a wide circle, run to their rear or center, launch a quick attack and then run away, bombing and harassing their camp. And the time is uncertain, the frequency is uncertain, scaring them so they dare not sleep, wearing down their energy."

"Does this count as 'when the enemy camps, we harass'?"

Baifeng was very gratified: "Yes, that's right. We have the advantage of cavalry. We harass them, they cannot catch us and cannot hit us, and there is nothing they can do. If they want to launch a full-scale attack, then we retreat appropriately; it is nothing, just letting them make a wasted trip."