Tiger Guards

Chapter 526 The Bearing of a Famous General
When Xin Pi judged that Zhao Ji was about to launch a decisive battle to the west, Zhao Ji was also weighing the issue.

Launching a swift offensive has its advantages.

The disadvantages are also obvious. If we cannot defeat the enemy in one strike, then our side, which will run out of steam, will be in trouble.

But the problem is also obvious: what's the point of gritting your teeth and dragging your tired body to defeat the main force of the royal court under the inspiration of victory?

The soldiers could muster their last breath to launch a single, fierce attack, and they could spare no effort to make this one and only assault exceptionally powerful.

Let's put aside the possibility of failure for now, but what if we win?

What if we ignore the low probability of a resounding victory and only fight hard to win?

Zhao Ji pondered alone, realizing that his disruption of the main historical narrative was becoming increasingly profound, and the historical inertia that should have existed had long been distorted beyond recognition due to his influence.

Therefore, Zhao Ji has lost his 'foresight' in both internal and external wars. In terms of talent and vision, he is by no means a top choice, and he conservatively estimates that he is only of average ability.

Knowing his own limitations, he managed to advance one level, which can be considered above average.

In terms of the ninth rank, his strategic vision is only at the fourth rank.

They can't even be compared to Lü Bu. Lü Bu was an outstanding figure who crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Due to the limitations of history, Lü Bu could only be considered a second-rank official. He would be schemed against by more second-rank officials, and thus be outnumbered and defeated.

Even Zhang Liao's strategic talent surpassed Zhao Ji's.

As the main historical timeline is constantly disrupted, Zhao Ji's personal advantage of foresight will diminish; however, his increasing personal experience will allow him to barely advance one level.

If Zhao Ji had self-awareness and the ability to recognize and utilize talent, he could have risen to the second rank and become a top-tier talent.

Tonight, in this battle concerning the survival of the entire army, Zhao Ji's personal decision-making is naturally not as wise as that of Han Xin, Xiang Yu, Liu Bang, or even Liu Xiu and Lü Bu.

After much deliberation, Zhao Ji decided to slow down and proceed cautiously.

Although the army was defeated at Huze, it was replenished with auxiliary troops, laborers, slaves, horses, and fodder. However, the fodder and fuel reserves were not enough for ten days' use.

Given the current situation, he naturally cannot obtain supplies from the rear.

To hold their own against the main forces of Qianman and Wangting, they need to acquire new supplies.

Unconsciously, some historical allusions came to Zhao Ji's mind.

In battle, a general may have many classic battle examples to follow, but do you dare to follow them in a way that suits the local conditions? Can your subordinates execute them effectively? Can the enemy see through your tactics? And if they do, will they take targeted countermeasures?

At this moment, Zhao Ji was confident in the army's execution capabilities, and even confident in countering the Xianbei's ability to break through their tactics.

Before the Battle of Huze, Zhao Ji was genuinely tired of night raids.

Certainly, the ability to fight at night is a formidable challenge for renowned generals and elite troops.

However, Zhao Ji felt that the current night battles were seriously hindering his performance. If it were daytime, on the battlefield, he could exert greater battlefield dominance.

Inside the warm tent left behind by Budugen, Zhao Ji got up and paced around.

As he pondered, Cheng He, holding a torch, lifted the tent flap and said, "Grand Marshal, the Chief Clerk requests an audience."

"Yes, bring some hot soup over."

Zhao Ji responded and came to the tent entrance. Cheng He raised the torch high with his left arm, pointing outwards, and lifted a corner of the tent flap with his right hand. Zhang Hong, who followed, bowed his head and quickly walked in.

He cupped his hands to Zhao Ji and asked with a smile, "Grand Marshal, the officers and soldiers of the entire army are eager for battle and are just waiting for your order to march west. Why the delay?"

"I don't like night battles."

Zhao Ji stretched out his arms and led Zhang Hong to sit down by the fire pit. Zhang Hong took off his cloak after sitting down, and Zhao Ji also sat down opposite him, reaching out to pick up dried cow dung from the basket and piling it on the fire pit.

Soon, wisps of smoke rose from the skylight in the center of the tent, and the cow dung began to burn.

Zhao Ji warmed his hands by the fire and continued, "There are three concerns now. First, the soldiers and horses are exhausted, and although their morale is high, it is difficult to sustain this for long. Second, although Budugen was defeated, the Xianbei people in Yunzhong are willing to fight again. To break the morale of the Xianbei people, it is not possible to do so in a few battles. Only by beheading more than 100,000 of them can we make them lose their courage."

This is different from the Qiang tribes. Even though some Qiang and Hu tribes have developed well in recent years, Duan Jiong's achievements are still a nightmare that the various Qiang and Hu tribes cannot shake off.

The Qiang people who had survived Duan Jiong's brutal offensive were mostly old, not yet extinct; they were either tribal elders or leaders. Therefore, the Qiang and Hu people fundamentally held sufficient respect for the Han army, and a single brilliant victory was enough to crush their resistance. The Xianbei were different. Their great leader, Tan Shihuai, died suddenly in middle age, and their second great leader, Helian, was unexpectedly killed by a stray arrow from the northern garrison. Furthermore, in recent years, the Xianbei had only suffered losses at the hands of Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Du.

The Liaodong Xianbei were the ones who suffered the most. The Liaodong Xianbei were not the same as the Eastern Xianbei, and they had absolutely nothing to do with the Central and Western Xianbei.

Therefore, the Xianbei people who grew up in these two generations lacked respect for the Han army, and the current temporary disadvantages failed to break the Xianbei people's courage to resist.

This was a common understanding among the Xianbei tribes in the central and western regions. It was probably only after severely damaging the main force of the royal court that the pride of the Xianbei people could be trampled into the mud.

Zhang Hong listened patiently and asked, "What is the third matter that the Grand Marshal is concerned about?"

"This is the method of our army's camp deployment. In the battle of Fushi, we failed to completely annihilate the Xianbei, and some remnants of the enemy escaped. As expected, the Xianbei camps around Heyin City will surely follow our army's method of setting up camp and defense. It is really difficult to break into the enemy camp and sweep away their troops by relying solely on chariots and cavalry."

Zhao Ji spoke calmly, without any sign of disappointment.

Similar to the Qiang people, the Xianbei had a primitive military democracy system. Although the leaders of each tribe were elected, they were also chosen from noble families. Whoever was better at fighting was more likely to rise to prominence.

In other words, nobles who possessed relatively advanced military skills were more likely to rise to prominence even after defeat, because they were familiar with Han army tactics.

Instead of bearing the name of a defeated opponent and sinking into oblivion, unable to rise again.

Zhao Ji had already determined that the Xianbei people would set up various low fences, real and fake snow walls, and piles of ice and snow in the vicinity of Heyin City to resist, delay, and control the charging offensive of the Han army's chariot and cavalry troops.

If given a choice, Zhao Ji naturally wouldn't want to attack the main force of the royal court gathered in Heyin.

At such times, the strategy should be to lure the enemy out of their strong and well-prepared fortifications, either by overwhelming them head-on in open battle or by ambushing them on their march, giving them no chance to react, and crushing their resistance with overwhelming force, achieving a sweeping victory with minimal casualties on our side.

Just like the Battle of Huze, which was unexpected by Budugen, he forcibly broke through the Xianbei camp.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hong asked without much emotion, "Does the Grand Marshal intend to lead troops across the river to crush and destroy the tribes on the north bank?"

"We have this idea at the moment."

Zhao Ji poked at the burning dried cow dung with a fire poker. The fully burned dried cow dung produced less smoke and the fire burned more fiercely.

He also looked up at Zhang Hong: "With each unit or city we conquer, our army's supplies become more abundant, which is more conducive to a protracted war. All the officers and soldiers of the army followed me from Taiyuan and Hedong. Taking advantage of this opportunity, we can also take turns to rest."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hong nodded slowly and, following Zhao Ji's line of thought, said, "Qianman seized the throne amidst the chaos, and he cannot sit idly by while our army destroys his tribes and cities one by one. Even if he can restrain himself, the various tribes of the royal court will find it difficult to restrain him as well."

Immediately, Zhang Hong cupped his hands to Zhao Ji and smiled, saying, "I came to visit you late at night for this very reason. I fear that the Grand Marshal is neglecting his officers and soldiers and is engaged in a fierce battle with the Xianbei royal court. Although the royal court's elite troops have been defeated, their weapons and armor are still excellent, far superior to those of the Budugen Yunzhong tribe."

"I have troubled you, Chief Secretary. I have come to break the Xianbei elite and destroy their vitality, not to exterminate the Xianbei people."

Zhao Ji put the fire poker aside and patiently explained, "Although I have a grudge against the Xianbei, I value the casualties of my officers and soldiers even more. I ask the Chief Clerk to warn all the generals to rest normally tonight. I have no intention of launching a surprise attack."

Zhao Ji was well aware of the thoughts of his mid- to high-ranking military officers. In order to keep military secrets, he often issued orders for raids suddenly to prevent the military orders from being leaked.

Therefore, without prior explanation, some military officers will not be able to sleep soundly tonight.

These people, unwilling to fall behind, would certainly warn their soldiers to prepare for a surprise attack.

Even soldiers would have this idea... If even soldiers think this way, then those who understand their enemies will surely make similar judgments.

In such situations, one must make unconventional and habitual choices.

Only by burning the Xianbei settlements on the north bank can we wait in comfort and force the main force of the royal court to engage us in open battle!

Going to attack Heyin... would definitely result in a bloody mess.

Once you understand this, there's no question of being willing or unwilling. That's how war is; you always have to think about gaining an advantage.

If you accumulate many small advantages, they will eventually become big advantages and benefits.

Zhang Hong remained silent for a moment, then exclaimed in admiration, "The Grand Marshal is truly a man of great talent; I had been overthinking things."

"Chief Clerk, there's no need for praise. It's just that the officers and soldiers are tired, and I have no choice but to take a break for now."

(End of this chapter)