Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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The huge tent was packed with dozens of generals, and Zhuang Li was surrounded by this group of rough men and questioned in all kinds of ways.
“Be quiet and listen carefully to what the military advisor says.” Le Zhengming slammed the table hard.
The tent suddenly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Only the black-faced deputy general let out a heavy breath from his nose and stared at the thin young man with his copper-bell-sized eyes, as if waiting for the other party to show his true form.
Zhuang Li waved his hand and ordered, “Bring a can of red beans and a can of mung beans.”
Le Zhengming was reluctant to leave the little curly-haired boy, so he glanced at the black-faced deputy general.
The black-faced deputy general gritted his teeth, but still went obediently.
A moment later, two cans of beans were placed on the table.
Zhuang Li reached out his hand, scooped up two handfuls of red beans, and finally scooped up a handful of green beans, placing them on both sides. He drew a circle around the two piles of beans with his slender fingertips and said slowly: “In a sense, war is actually a mathematical game. It is no exaggeration to say that all wars in the world can be described by precise mathematical models. As long as the relevant variables are controlled within the range of inevitable victory, there is no war that cannot be won.”
“In other words,” he looked around and smiled quietly, “winning every battle is not a myth.”
There was no general who did not desire to win every battle, but throughout history, there had never been a general who had never been defeated in his life.
History had long made clear to the world a truth – the so-called victory in every battle was a complete lie.
Zhuang Li had only started talking, and the generals around him already cried out in surprise, and then showed deep suspicion. Especially the black-faced deputy general, who snorted and sneered.
Le Zhengming raised his hand and said in a cold tone: “What are you arguing about? Anyone who doesn’t want to listen, get out!”
No one went out. Although the young military advisor’s words were ridiculous, they aroused everyone’s curiosity even more.
Zhuang Li slowly moved the red beans, arranged them into a square, and pushed the green beans into a crescent, saying lazily, “Do you know what war dimension is?”
Everyone looked at each other, then shook their heads. War dimension? They had never heard of this term!
Zhuang Li continued to explain: “The war dimension is the space and time range determined by the effective destruction distance and mobility of the two combatants.”
Although everyone had ears, they could not understand this seemingly simple sentence at all, so the confusion on their faces became even more intense.
Zhuang Li drew a circle around the red beans with his finger and further explained: “If this pile of red beans is the Jie people, and this pile of green beans is the Wei people, then the range that the arrows shot by these two armies can cover is their war dimension. In this dimension, they can effectively kill the enemy.”
“The Jie people use bows and arrows, and the Wei people also use bows and arrows. The average range of their bows and arrows is less than thirty-six feet, so the war between the two sides should be about the same in magnitude.”
“But you see, red beans are twice as many as green beans. They occupy a wide area and have a long diameter, so the war dimension is naturally large. The Wei people are small in number and occupy a narrow area. Within the same range, the war dimension is naturally much smaller than that of the Jie people.
“When two war dimensions of different sizes collide, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the larger one will inevitably devour the smaller one.
“That is to say, an army with more people will often have a greater advantage.”
After hearing this, the generals finally understood and nodded.
The black-faced deputy general said in a muffled voice: “Even an idiot knows this principle, there is nothing to discuss. Tell me, how did we defeat the Jie people just now? We were so few in number!”
Zhuang Li pushed the crescent-shaped green beans, slowly surrounding twice as many red beans, and gently moved the red beans, changing their square formation into a circular formation, overlapping with the outer layer of green beans.
“To put it more bluntly, when there is no huge generation gap in weapons and equipment, the most effective way to win is actually to divide the war dimension.” He tapped the surrounded red beans with his fingertips and said in a gentle voice: “Look, how wide is the war dimension of the red beans now?”
“Anywhere the arrows can reach is their war zone, so it must be from here to here.” The black-faced strong man pointed to the center of the red beans, and then pointed to the outer periphery about ten inches wide. This distance completely covered the thin layer of green beans.
Zhuang Li shook his head and said, “You are wrong. Their war only takes place here.” He stretched out his fingertips and pointed at the narrow area where the red beans and green beans met.
“What? Didn’t you just say that the scope of the war is determined by how far an arrow can be shot?” The black-faced deputy general felt that he had been fooled.
“Can these red beans squeezed in the middle really shoot arrows?” Zhuang Li inserted his fingertips into the center of the red beans and smiled softly: “If they shoot arrows from here, where do you think the arrows will land other than on the green beans?”
A deputy general took a closer look at the pile of red beans and the thin layer of mung beans and said in shock: “I understand! If the red beans trapped in the inner circle shoot arrows into the sky, the falling arrows will first hit the red beans on the outer circle. There are so many red beans and they are so thick, while the mung beans are only a thin line. The chance of the red beans being hit is much greater than that of the mung beans!”
As soon as this man finished speaking, all the generals clapped their hands in agreement.
Yes, if the red beans squeezed in the inner circle shot arrows into the sky, it would also cause indiscriminate attacks on their own troops! So they won’t do that!
“No wonder the Jie people only fired two waves of arrows and stopped at Guandu. I found it very strange at the time!” A deputy general suddenly realized.
They fought desperately on the battlefield, and their vision was only a few feet around them, and they could not see the battlefield farther away. The narrow vision of the people in the game limited their sensory abilities, so they could not know what was happening on the battlefield.
In fact, in an army, there were very few people who truly understood how to win, and even many commanders only had a vague concept of military tactics.
Thus, the profession of military advisors was born. They were the brains of the army, responsible for thinking, and the rest of the people only needed to move forward step by step according to the plans they made.
If an army’s brain was smart enough, they could win; if an army’s brain was not working well, it would face failure sooner or later.
Killing the enemy and deploying troops were two completely different things, just as military strategist and general were two completely different professions.
After hearing this, the generals truly realized that this seemingly weak young man was indeed extraordinary.
Zhuang Li picked up a small bowl and said slowly, “If this is an army, then those trapped in the inner circle are not only archers, but also cavalry and infantry. The archers’ bows and arrows are now useless, so what about the cavalry and infantry?”
Le Zhengming said in a deep voice: “The cavalry will try to rush out and trample the surrounding infantry to death. The infantry will also trample on each other, causing greater casualties.”
The generals couldn’t help but gasp.
Zhuang Li smiled softly, “General, you are right. The cavalry will trample the infantry to death. If the panicked infantry subconsciously raise their swords to stab the horses, they will knock the cavalry to the ground. They trample on each other and fall into a mess that cannot be escaped. So you can imagine how panicked these soldiers trapped in the inner circle will be. They have lost their combat effectiveness before they could even fight with our army.”
“Also, don’t forget that when the enemy’s archers are unable to perform their actions, our archers can shoot as much as they want, because the crowded Jie army is all within our range.”
Having said that, Zhuang Li picked up a small bowl and covered the inner layer of red beans.
They were useless.
Now, the only red beans visible to everyone was a thin layer around the edge of the bowl.
Zhuang Li tapped the bottom of the bowl with his fingertips and asked with a smile, “Now you can see how many Jie people were able to join this battle?”
Everyone looked closely and were stunned!
Such a large pile of red beans was covered by the bowl, and only a thin circle was left, which was much less than the mung beans! The situation had changed dramatically!
The dark-faced burly man was confused by this magic trick and began to count the red beans with his thick fingers.
Le Zhengming glanced at him with disdain, he bowed with a smug look on his face, and frequently stole glances at the young man with a look of awe and regret.
Zhuang Li looked around at everyone and said slowly, “Let me help you calculate. If the Jie people’s war dimension has a radius of 300 feet, then the width of this edge war dimension that still retains combat effectiveness is only 6 feet. Using the formula, the total area of the Jie people’s effective war dimension actually only accounts for 3% of their total war dimension.
“Three percent of 80,000 people is 2,400 people. That is to say, in the Battle of Guandu, the two armies were not 40,000 to 80,000, but 40,000 to 2,400. With such a huge disparity in strength, if we don’t win, who will?”
Zhuang Li tapped the table with his fingertips and swept his proud gaze over everyone’s faces.
The soldiers held their breath, all of them stunned by his powerful aura, and then they lowered their heads one by one to hide the awe that suddenly rose in their hearts.
Zhuang Li then pushed the green beans, scattering the red beans around the edge of the bowl. He smiled nonchalantly, “Even if the Jie tribe sent 180,000 troops, after being divided by our crescent battle formation, there would only be more than 6,000 people left to launch an effective counterattack. They have 6,000 and we have 40,000. What is there to be afraid of?”
The soldiers stretched out their fingers to count, then looked at the huge difference in quantity between the red beans and green beans on the table, and their eyes became bigger than copper bells.
The reality was just as the boy said!
The Jie people seemed to fall down as they were killed, not giving the Wei soldiers any time to react. At that time, everyone thought they were brave and could win by fighting one against a hundred. Now, it turned out that most of the Jie people died at the hands of their own people.
They were squeezed into the inner circle, were unable to break out, and could only shoot and trample each other, such that a large number of them died in an instant. Only about 2,000 Jie people on the periphery were able to move freely, and they were easily hacked and killed by tens of thousands of Wei soldiers!
Amazing, this battle was truly amazing! It sounded so simple, but how dangerous it was when it was actually carried out? Without absolute certainty, which military advisor would dare to do this?
Thinking of this, the generals who had originally lowered their heads raised their heads and looked at the young man, their eyes filled with complete respect and thorough conviction.
Zhuang Li drooped his eyelids and sighed, “The more than 10,000 soldiers we killed and wounded were actually shot to death by the Jie army before the encirclement was formed. It was their sacrifice that brought us the final victory.”
The tent suddenly fell into silence.
Then, another general counted on his fingers and said, “In this way, when the encirclement was formed, our soldiers did not suffer any casualties. In the second half of the war, we were almost invincible.”
After hearing this, everyone gasped.
Being able to lead a small army to victory with almost zero casualties in such a desperate situation, the young man was simply a genius! Where did General Le Zhengming find this person? He was just too lucky!
Le Zhengming quietly reached out a hand and held the little curly-haired boy’s hand under the table, with an indescribable sense of pride surging in his heart. This was clearly the first time he had seen such a scene, but he felt quite familiar with it, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted up.
Zhuang Li gently held his lover’s hand back and playfully scratched his calloused palm. He then used his free hand to open the small bowl and said calmly, “Every war is a division of dimensions. Now you understand, as long as you find the right way to divide the enemy’s war dimension, you can always be invincible. War is a mathematical game, that’s what it means.”
The generals nodded as if they understood, but a light called “understanding” gradually lit up in their originally confused minds.
7480 knelt down and listened to these words, and his broken hands seemed to hurt even more.
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