Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
After explaining the reasons for the victory in the Battle of Guandu, Zhuang Li turned over the small bowl covering the red beans, wanting to pour some tea to moisten his throat.
Who would have thought that the black-faced deputy general who had been glaring at him before would push aside Le Zhengming, cheerfully snatch the bowl, and say attentively: “Mr. Zhuang, please sit still, I will pour you a cup of hot tea. Hey, this bowl fell on the table just now, it’s a little dirty, I will help you clean it, please wait a moment.”
After saying that, he went away happily, as if the person who had sneered at Zhuang Li before was not him at all.
Zhuang Li looked at the back of the black-faced deputy general and couldn’t help laughing.
Le Zhengming quietly pinched his fingertips under the table and whispered, “This man is called Huai Laoer, and he is the deputy general of the central army under my command. He has no other advantages, other than being thick-skinned and courageous.”
Zhuang Li pursed his lips and nodded.
The other generals raised their hands one after another and could not wait to introduce themselves: “Mr. Zhuang, my name is Li Zhaofeng, and I am the Left Cavalry General.”
“Mr. Zhuang, my name is Zhao An, and I am the Right Cavalry General.”
“Mr. Zhuang, my name is…”
“Mr. Zhuang, my name is…”
Everyone bowed and reported their names and positions, fearing that they would not leave a good impression on the military advisor. The boy was clearly only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a smooth jaw and tender eyebrows, but no one dared to underestimate him.
“Mr. Zhuang, can you tell us more about this war dimension? I just got a little understanding, but I don’t quite understand it.”
“Yeah, yeah, me too! I vaguely got a clue, but when I think about it carefully, I get nothing!”
Generals kept making such requests. They were all well-versed in the art of war and had some understanding of various battle formations, but this was the first time they had heard such a straightforward and simple explanation.
Le Zhengming whispered in the little curly-haired boy’s ear: “Are you tired? If you are, take a good rest. It won’t be too late to teach them another day.”
The generals all cast protesting glances at Le Zhengming, but then they thought of the young man’s weak body and gave up the idea of continuing to harass him. Anyway, the military advisor was already theirs, so it was never too late to learn the battle formation.
Zhuang Li shook his head and said, “I’m not tired. What do you want to hear?”
Everyone’s eyes lit up and they immediately shouted, “We want to hear the secret to winning every battle! You said before that as long as we control that thing, that thing, that thing…” This group of rough guys scratched their heads and couldn’t remember what to say.
Le Zhengming reminded with a look of disgust: “Variables.”
“Yes, yes, that’s it, the variables! The general is really smart!” Everyone flattered Le Zhengming lightly, but their eyes were all looking straight at the young man.
Huai Laoer, who had run outside to wash dishes and fetch water, heard these words and couldn’t help shouting, “Mr. Zhuang, please speak slowly. I’ll be there soon! Please wait for me!” Finally, he directly picked up a pot of boiling water, poured it while running, and scalded himself and screamed.
Le Zhengming quickly stood up and took the shaking bowl.
When everyone was present, Zhuang Li pointed to the two piles of beans and said, “I’ve said before that war is actually the collision and division of two dimensions. Based on this theory, it is completely feasible to achieve a victory with zero casualties.”
A victory with zero casualties? That was, killing all the enemies without hurting a single person on their side? Was this possible?
The generals could not help but gasp, but no one raised any questions. On the contrary, their eyes were brighter than each other, and their pupils were gleaming with thirst for knowledge.
Zhuang Li divided the red beans and green beans into two piles and continued, “Do you understand the specific meaning of the war dimension?”
“Understood. Everywhere within the range is our battle zone.” Le Zhengming nodded in reply.
Zhuang Li dipped a little tea and drew two circles of equal diameter around the red beans and green beans. “The bows and arrows used by the Jie people are no different from ours. In other words, our ranges are the same, and the dimensions of our war are also the same.”
He slowly gathered the two piles of beans towards the middle until some red beans and green beans were mixed together.
“Did you see these beans mixed together? During the charge, they were the first to enter the enemy’s battle zone and were shot by archers, causing the first wave of casualties.”
As he said this, he continued to push the two piles of beans until they were completely fused together.
Everyone watched his actions intently.
Zhuang Li pointed at the inseparable red and green beans and said, “Two war dimensions of equal area will only end in a stalemate, resulting in a large number of casualties. This is the consequence of a battle between two armies with equal numbers, no generational difference in weapons, and little difference in strength – both sides will perish.”
Zhuang Li waved his sleeves and brushed all the beans that were difficult to decompose onto the table.
The crackling sound made the scalps of these generals, who had been immersed in blood and gore for years, tingle.
“So, when the number of people is equal, the use of battle formations becomes particularly important. The variables I mentioned earlier are actually the number of troops, the generation gap of weapons, the average destruction rate of each soldier, and so on. As long as we improve these variables and keep our army at a greater advantage, we will definitely win.”
Zhuang Li took out a pile of red beans and a pile of mung beans again and placed them on both sides of the long table. He moved his slender fingertips quickly, arranging the scattered mung beans into a Bagua shape.
“This is the Eight Trigrams Formation!” Le Zhengming said, pointing at mung beans.
The generals quickly leaned forward to take a closer look, and then cried out in surprise: “Yes, it’s the Eight Trigrams! I’ve studied this.”
To be exact, anyone who leads troops in battle had studied the Eight Trigrams, a unique formation invented by the great Zhuge Liang in the previous dynasty, which was said to be indestructible and invincible. But in reality, few generals could deploy this formation because it was too complicated. If the connection was not good, all the dead ends would become life ends, allowing the enemy to seize the opportunity and kill them in a crushing defeat.
The more complex the battle formation, the more difficult it was to apply on the battlefield, as it required the cooperation of many people.
Right now, Zhuang Li wanted to analyze this formation. He didn’t say anything extra, he just picked up the red beans and sprinkled them into the green beans, and soon, the red and green colors were mixed together.
Zhuang Li stretched out his fingertips and picked out all the red beans that fell on the blank grid formed by the green beans. He said lightly: “They are useless.”
“Why?” Huai Laoer asked in a rough voice.
The other generals were also confused.
Le Zhengming said with disgust: “Take a good look at what is around these blank grids.”
When everyone looked closely, they found that these blank grids were actually small squares made up of mung beans. In other words, when red beans fell into the blank spaces, they were surrounded by mung beans.
The entire Bagua formation was composed of sixty-four such grids. That was to say, red beans equaled to the number of green beans were diluted into sixty-four parts after falling into the battle formation, while the green beans stuck together to form a complete yet unpredictable geometric body that could support each other at any time.
The generals stared at the pile of beans, their eyes gradually glowing with burning light. They seemed to understand something!
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents • Next