Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 199 Before the battle, retreat three times.

In August of the first year of the Tongzheng era, before deciding to head south, Xuan Chong returned to the four prefectures of Lingjiang.

At this time, bean sprouts were being cultivated in many farmlands in the four counties, while oil presses were being built at the irrigation workshops.

Further away lies the livestock grazing area; the army's horses are now being bred here, and the mares are giving birth in the warm conditions. Along the road, you can see cowherds leading over a hundred cattle and horses of various sizes.

Since the southern border regions couldn't consume that much grain, and transporting it to the north was too costly, it was better to have immigrants come. However, the immigrants weren't currently fit to live comfortably on the already developed land of the four prefectures of Lingjiang. The factories in Zhenzhou needed workers, and the unparalleled achievements of the colonies further south required the contributions of these immigrants.

Xuan Chong has always been thinking about how to localize the application of grain and forage.

The biggest consumer of food supplies is war, but war cannot continue indefinitely.

For example, in the areas outside Yongji Pass and Fenxing City, the fields reclaimed by the soldiers were purchased with subsidies in earlier years; however, as the battle line was pushed to Lingjiang, the subsidies stopped, and now they have all been converted into high-value plantations such as mulberry fields and cotton fields.

The four counties of Lingjiang were not on the front lines, and the price of grain had been declining year by year. Fortunately, the land was properly regulated and converted into soybean fields in time, which prevented the farmers from being harmed by the low price of grain.

As for the newly cultivated farmland along the trade route behind the "stopover beach" in the future? With the departure of the army, the accompanying agricultural output will generate a surplus. Therefore, it is necessary to consider how these local industries that supplied the army will be sustained after the military operation ends.

Xuan Chong's governance team included these forward-looking issues within the "governance scope." This is a characteristic of modern governance.

Modernization essentially means that large-scale industrial and commercial development boosts production and increases motivation. But how exactly is this "motivation" increased?

In Xuan Chong's previous life, those "economics" majors completely turned this professional issue into a "religion." A bunch of economics majors didn't do any practice or investigation, but instead preached some powerful theories like a cult.

Xuan Chong, on the other hand, established an economic organization based on the military's logistical approach.

The Xuanchong Association compiled statistics on every basic family, clan, and even merchant group responsible for the "production and supply of the army." They precisely calculated the potential profit or loss of these units in producing each military supply item, taking into account price fluctuations.

The task of the administrative departments in Xuanchong now is to ensure that after the military operation ends and the military market shrinks, these civilian units responsible for production will continue to keep the region's "production chain" running.

Xuan Chong: Don't wait until you need to use troops again to look for local food, weapons and other supplies; those suppliers have been out of business for a long time and can no longer be found.

Before modernization, feudal aristocrats around the world lacked this "theory of industrial regulation" in their governance.

Xuan Chong's historical summary: All dynasties had very strong military capabilities at the beginning of their dynasties, but after they were allowed to relax and move south, they encountered another wave of military challenges and suddenly mobilized. The old empire was like a person with high blood pressure suddenly getting up and having a stroke.

During the middle period of the dynasty, when armies were assembled, there was a severe shortage of military supplies, which led to the levy of taxes on small and medium-sized production families, which was short-sighted. Even if the war was won, the large number of bankrupt families would immediately create instability for the dynasty, leading to its decline.

Only by consciously maintaining the stability of "strategic industries" after entering modernization can the "mobilization crisis" in the middle of a dynasty be alleviated.

After entering this field, Xuan Chong discovered that his knowledge and experience from his previous life were completely useless.

When I needed economic theory to solve a problem, I discovered that all the top-ranked business schools in my previous life were located abroad, spreading a lot of junk information based on their reputation.

If they actually copied their economic theories to solve the current problems of the transition between military and production economies, Xuan Chong felt he should just wash his neck and wait for someone to chop him up.

It is said that Western economics in Xuan Chong's previous life had undergone a major regression compared to a hundred years ago? This inevitably leads to the intrusion of a certain "vagrant's" flawed business thinking.

Before this "ideological invasion," global economics was still quite normal. The West adopted a "punishment followed by a reward" approach to business, while the East believed that "both thunder and rain are acts of divine grace." That is, after military conquest, in order to maintain control, economic stability could benefit the local area to some extent.

Xuan Chong: When our military conquers a region and the military operation ends, the industrial chain created for the military can still benefit the local people. Even if the beneficiaries are the people of the opposing forces in the original military confrontation.

Xuan Chong's current strategy towards Thorn Ridge is similar: not only to fight, but also to establish a "mutually beneficial" mechanism. Xuan Chong's current initiative to build a nursery in the north, supplying fertilizer to the transplanted tree spirits, is a good example of this.

The soybean cake that farmers are now planting is exactly the product that the people of Thorn Ridge can consume; and Xuanchong has also solved the problem of "maintaining military production capacity after the war", which is a self-resolved dilemma.

In the future, once our forces become an indispensable part of the local community, we can use economic leverage instead of military leverage to resolve local issues.

The "vagrants" have no experience in governing a country, have always been on the move, and their businesses do not consider "benefiting" others.

This wisdom, honed over millennia, goes like this: "I have an advantage in business; I'm superior. Once I'm superior, I can destroy you." "I'm doing you a favor, proving to you that you need me? No way. I've made it big; I don't need you anymore. You should die."

Xuan Chong: If I don't prove to others that "this place needs me", I'm destined to wander; but this time I'm going on a long expedition to the south to prove to all the forces that we are an important force in maintaining the economic development and security of this place.

After Shen Wanqing emerged from Xuan Chong's tent with the token, he immediately became a highly sought-after figure.

Several powerful clans in Lingnan, realizing that Shenwanqing was about to become a "hotbed," prepared to add fuel to the fire. Letters circulated among the various noble families. The future of the Herbal Elixir would depend on the local governor. However, they were completely unaware of the emerging industries such as "bean cake" and "root nodule soil."

…A great war is about to begin…

On October 4th of the first year of the Tongzheng calendar, after discovering that the Shuhai Group had begun a large-scale mobilization, Xuan Chong also ordered the rear army to end their leave and rush over to actively prepare for the battle.

As the willows of the underworld, the pines of ten thousand needles, and the bamboo of snakes dwelling continuously converged from the sea of ​​trees, the crow-men sentries riding in hot air balloons spotted the enemy's movements.

The voices that were previously shouting about roaming freely through the forest have now turned into a cacophony of voices that see enemies everywhere.

Yes, these 100,000 trees are indeed 100,000 soldiers.

Xuanchong has gathered a total of 5,567 troops at Tingzhutan, and there are also more than 16,800 armed caravan members responsible for guarding the port and city.

Xuan Chong roughly estimated that the number of these tree people and forest winged people was at least three to four times that of his own forces, giving them an absolute numerical advantage. Since the tree people themselves are photosynthetic and do not require resupply, their numbers are even larger than the Black Tide of yesteryear.

At the strategic meeting, Xuan Chong stated: "If such a large army directly attacks our fortifications, even if we are able to defend them, we will suffer considerable losses; the enemy is free to fight or retreat and has the initiative."

Xuan Chong highlighted and marked several rivers on the map.

"Treemen can obtain minerals through rivers and then repair themselves by fusing with other trees," Xuan Chong emphasized at the meeting of sergeants.

At this point, Xuan Chong pointed forward, indicating that the battle site was directly ahead. "Here, water is scarce. Once the massive cluster of trees gathers, due to insufficient evaporation, they will inevitably take the initiative to fight us. If our army seizes this place, with a natural spring at our back, we can gain the upper hand in the battle."

After Xuan Chong finished his explanation, and many non-commissioned officers provided supplementary information, the entire army began its assault.

As the tree-men hummed and shook their branches, they advanced toward the northern "Dark Legion" stronghold. The Wu family infantry, wielding machetes and barrier-breaking axes, relentlessly cleared a path through the jungle.

Ultimately, the Wu family army's first battalion of 1,500 men, serving as the vanguard, arrived at the designated battlefield three days earlier than the Feather Clan's scout team. They also seized the high ground with the best view.

…The forest encountered a traditional military strategist for the first time…

Several hours later, the third and tenth battalions, totaling three thousand Wu family soldiers, arrived.

On the high ground, Xuan Chong looked at the map and ordered the current location to be given to the follow-up troops to garrison. The vanguard, having rested, continued to advance five kilometers.

The sergeant was puzzled, so Wu Hong, acting as a representative, asked, "Sir, why don't our troops wait in comfort for the enemy to tire themselves out?"

After Xuan Chong marked out a series of supply stations, consisting only of thatched huts, along the route on the map, he tapped the table and gestured to the student next to him.

Upon receiving the order, Wu Rui said to Wu Hong, "It's all to wait in comfort for the enemy to tire themselves out."

Five hours later, the vanguard resumed its rapid march, with cavalry units of one to three hundred men maintaining their positions on both flanks. As the main force marched, ranged units provided alternating cover, while heavy shield infantry guarded the front. The entire army carried only three days' worth of compressed rations.

At this stage, some huge falcons flew over from the jungle to try to intercept them; but the musket troops were all loaded. As these huge birds soared ahead, a series of gunshots rang out, and then they all fell to the ground.

After this round, Xuan Chong ordered the entire army to temporarily retreat.

Next, Xuan Chong sent out elite scouts to confirm that the enemy's Tree Man troops were still on their way. So, carrying torches, they advanced another five kilometers overnight and finally served as the vanguard to meet the approaching Thorn Ridge mixed army.

…The two armies faced each other…

In the ranks of the Tree People, the Forest Feather Clan Queen, as the vanguard pursuing the retreating Xiren troops, had already closed the flower buds of her crown.

She sat atop a moss-covered bull, its size comparable to a tank, surveying the shield array of the Wu family army. At the feet of this forest queen flowed a dense, torrent of "shrubs." This torrent consisted of over two thousand medium-sized tree-men, each two meters tall, topped with a rotten tree stump as their head, wielding their relatively sturdy wooden arms, creaking and groaning like blocks of wood colliding in a mudslide as they surged forward.

The army led by the Forest Queen was also the vanguard. Further behind her, the giant trees in the forest were slowly moving forward, and the leaves in the jungle were swaying, applauding the arrival of the ancient master of the forest.

Back in Xuanchong, the crows were the first to discover this large-scale enemy attack. The Wu family army, which was on a southern expedition, immediately changed formation and adopted a defensive posture.

Three-quarters of an hour later, when the "品" (pin) shaped formation arrived, the torrent of "shrubs" began to crash against these "reefs".

The shield bearers in the front ranks of the Wu family army blocked the hammer-like branches, but the spear thrusts could not effectively kill these hard-boiled tree men.
Thus, the formation changed once again. The original large formation of a hundred men was dispersed into smaller formations of twenty shield-wielding spearmen. As the formations separated, the torrent of "tree men" entered these gaps like water seeping into "stone" particles.

The treants' previous attacks were blocked by the great formation, but now they can't break through these "stone" particles.

In the two small formations, two groups of spears pierced and pinned the tree-men down from the left and right, while troops wielding machetes rushed out and quickly cut off the tree-men's limbs.

The Xiren tribe's army gradually gained the upper hand in the battle.

…cutting wood…

On the Winged Queen's side, about two to three hundred archers attempted to provide support, but were caught off guard by Wen Siting riding a winged tiger. When the tiger pounced, about ten winged people standing together were swept away and scattered. Normally, a winged tiger could only take down four or five of a normal Great Armored Warrior, but these women were far too agile.

Then a rumbling sound came from the ground, and Wen Siting's heavy cavalry charged over. This charge completely cut off the possibility for the Feathered Clan to use archers to interfere with the battlefield from a distance.

After the Fire Rhinoceros cavalry scattered the Feathered Clan and turned to charge the Bush Spirits, the crisis around the Wu Family Army's shield formation was also resolved.

Half an hour after the battle ended, the sound of large trees collapsing could be heard in the distance.

The giant tree-men, three zhang tall, and those medium-sized tree-men, about two people tall, were rushing over.

Xuan Chong glanced at the ranks ahead and gave the order: Retreat again, with mages covering the rear.

As the sorcerer began his ritual, a north wind blew in. The Wu family army then lit a pile of damp firewood, directing the smoke towards the direction from which the tree spirits were approaching from the south. Without any hesitation, they turned and fled, retreating to a point three kilometers to the north.

There was a water source and firewood in a thatched hut three kilometers to the north, where one could rest for a while.

These two legs can run much faster than the slow-moving tree people, and the fight and the run is quite exciting.

…guerrilla warfare…

The tree people arrived at the scene through thick smoke and saw the charred corpses of their own kind. They trembled violently, as they had no voices and could only express their anger by vibrating their branches at a low frequency.

As for the dead winged people, the tree people used vines to pierce the corpses lying on the ground.

Soon the corpses sprouted, and within days they would transform into small tree demons. Meanwhile, the winged tribesmen silently chanted hymns; for them, this represented a new beginning after the death of their people.

An ancient pine tree-man stepped forward, its roots and tendrils digging into the soil with each step. It arrived at the tracks of the Wu family army's carts, its branches and tendrils penetrating the earth, and then raised its giant wooden sword, pointing it northward.

The ancient tree-people's weathered branches began to tremble, and the tree-people behind them continued to move forward. Some of the trees had to pull back their roots, which had just been inserted into the soil, trying to suck up groundwater.

Three kilometers away, Xuan Chong sensed the jingling of bells and confirmed that the Tree Man was chasing after him; however, he was not in a hurry and ordered most of his troops to continue resting, while sending his subordinates with skilled fighters to the front to confront them.

...retreat, retreat, retreat...

An hour later, when the tree-man was only 500 paces away from Xuan Chong's vanguard, Xuan Chong once again chose to retreat 3 kilometers to rest.

At this moment, the tree-man army, which had finally managed to assemble in a chaotic manner, began to move again. Compared to the Wu family army's movement, where each formation was strictly ordered, the movement of these tree-men was like a tangled mess: bamboo people were interspersed with willow people, and the supple branches of willow people were hanging on cypress people. The squeezing and scraping of these moving trees was not bad, but it made the winged people who were originally mixed in with the giant trees suffer.

Compared to the treants who are rough and can ignore friction, the flesh and blood of the winged people sitting on tree branches cannot withstand the collision and compression between the trees; the longbows they carry are even less able to withstand such damage, and many injured winged people have to fall behind.

The winged people are precisely the long-range shooting force and mobile pursuit force of this tree-man legion.

After Xuan Chong's troops retreated for the second time, it was already dawn. Scouts confirmed that the enemy was still on the road, so Xuan Chong ordered his troops to rest as soon as possible and wait for the battle the next morning. Of course, during this time, Xuan Chong and his officers did not sleep all night, keeping watch and observing the enemy's movements.

The next morning, when the dew was still clinging to the branches, the clattering sound of wood colliding came from afar.

Xuan Chong ordered the entire army to prepare. Just when everyone thought a battle was imminent, Xuan Chong once again ordered a retreat. The entire army was fully equipped and ready to go. In front of the tree people who had just arrived at the battlefield, they once again performed an orderly retreat.

This time, we've truly retreated to the path of waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, as Wu Hong initially suggested.

The slightly weary vanguard of the Wu family army seemed to hear the creaking roars of the tree people. Their previously heavy steps became lighter! All the soldiers roughly understood Wu Fei's plan.

These tree-men were already slow, but they kept coming to fight, only to be outpaced.

Of course, each time the tree people were thrown around, they could only roar and continue to move their bodies.

In the forest, the tree-man elders argued. The leader, "Eighteen Elders," responded, "Our goal is to destroy the cities the Xi tribe has built in the north, so let's head straight for them. Ignore this cunning Xi tribe army." The other elders disagreed, arguing, "If we continue with those cities as our objective, what if this Xi tribe army attacks again? We must deal with this troublesome fellow first."

Note: The camps along the beach line were built on the sites of cities destroyed hundreds of years ago, as this is considered the best place to build a city according to feng shui. For the tree people, the memories of attacking those cities are hidden in their annual rings. The tree people's original battle plan was to take them down again.

This time, however, Xuan Chong wanted to actively choose a new battlefield.

Xuan Chong led his troops back to the position at nine o'clock in the morning. The night before their return, the laborers on the position had been ordered to reinforce it overnight. The other troops who had retreated took the opportunity to rest.

Xuan Chong swallowed a large gulp of carbonated beverage and began to unfold the sand table in the main tent. This time, he was truly preparing for the decisive battle.

…origins of combat tactics…

Xuan Chong: During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was an idiom called "retreating three she", which, through thousands of years of oral tradition, has become a beautiful story of "Duke Wen of Jin repaying the kindness of the King of Chu by constantly yielding on the battlefield, and finally being forced to fight back".

Of course, I felt uncomfortable hearing this explanation since I was a child, because the same book I read contained another story: Duke Xiang of Song was unwilling to ambush the King of Chu, which would make him a laughingstock. It warned everyone against formalism on the battlefield, and how to "yield" by retreating three times became a celebrated story.

Of course, after personally leading the troops, Xuan Cong suddenly realized! This was no act of humility; if it were truly humility, there would have been no need for a military standoff. The fact that the Jin state had brought its troops was the greatest act of disrespect.

The State of Chu had to take into account the presence of the Jin army, especially since Chu's northward expedition was considered a guest force; the presence of the Jin army meant that the surrounding small states would not provide Chu with military supplies.

Furthermore, the number thirty li is very clever. If the Chu army were slightly weakened, the Jin army could also advance thirty li rapidly. In that case, the historical record would not talk about Duke Wen of Jin's remorse for returning the favor, but rather the shrewdness and competence of the Jin people would stand in stark contrast to the pedantry of Duke Song.

The Jin army's so-called concessions were nothing more than the feigned humility of gold diggers before accepting money transfers during the festival.

When both the Jin and Chu armies came into each other's view, the Chu army was at a significant disadvantage. The Jin state resorted to the dishonest tactic employed during the "Cao Gui's Discussion on Warfare." According to the rites and music of the Spring and Autumn period, the two armies were supposed to engage in battle after the third drumbeat. The Jin army was cheating, dragging the Chu army on indefinitely.

If the Chu army felt exhausted and wanted to retreat during the second retreat of the Jin army, the Jin state would never give up. Instead, it would take advantage of the Chu army's fatigue and immediately launch an attack, claiming that it could not be as stubborn as Duke Xiang of Song.

The best strategy for the Chu army that year should have been for General Ziyu to heed the advice of the King of Chu and not to engage the Jin army in battle.

For the Tree People, once they have secured Xuanchong in the battle, they cannot stop their roots; they can only keep climbing forward.

Xuan Chong advanced ten kilometers because he discovered that the Tree Man troops had already covered one hundred kilometers. If they were allowed to rest and regroup in the final ten kilometers before launching an attack, the Tree Man would gain the upper hand.

Therefore, Xuan Chong chose to leave two-thirds of his troops at the decisive battle point, while he led the vanguard to meet the enemy, fighting and retreating simultaneously; through brief contact, he disrupted the rhythm of the Tree Man troops for the last ten kilometers.

Just like a matador waving a red cloth in front of a mad bull, it may seem dangerous, but it controls the bull's attention.

Narrator: The Treant main force has high defense and is resistant to strong bow shots, but its weakness is fire. During the army's two consecutive movements, its roots failed to properly penetrate the ground to absorb water.

The air was now dry, making it ideal for scorching the trees. Furthermore, during the previous rapid march, some branches had broken off from the trees due to friction. These branches, hanging from other trees, were now like dry grass.

(End of this chapter)