Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Zhuang Li, surrounded by a group of soldiers, climbed up to the high platform and looked out over the battlefield.
The sound of war drums rumbled like thunder in the sky. The foreign coalition forces of Jin State rushed forward in the direction of the thunder. The neatly arranged square battle formations carried an indomitable momentum and broke the Mongolian army, which was arranged in a long snake shape, into pieces.
The Mongolian army tried to use the tactics they were best at, fighting and running at the same time, luring the enemy deep into their territory.
But the Jin army refused to respond.
When the Mongolian cavalry came forward to harass them, the Jin army quickly gathered the small square formations into a large square formation and stabbed them with their spears.
The Mongolian cavalry, scattered into several small teams, had no chance of survival under the dense spearheads and could only pretend to be defeated, turn around and run back, trying to lure the Jin army to charge forward.
But the thundering war drums suddenly stopped at this moment, and the Jin army, which was about to chase forward, immediately stood firm in their position, defending this battle formation indestructibly.
Seeing that they could not lead them, the Mongolian cavalry had to run back and harass them again.
Just at this moment, the drumbeats that had stopped for a moment suddenly rang out, and the Jin army that had been defending its original position rushed forward desperately again, and the slanting spears quickly pierced the Mongolian cavalry’s horses.
The Mongol cavalry, which had trampled countless territories and was feared by everyone, was defeated by the Jin army after just a few rounds. How could the remaining infantry of less than 100,000 people be a match for the 450,000-strong Jin army?
Just as Zhuang Li had predicted before, when the ratio of one’s own military strength to the enemy’s military strength reached 5:1 or above, all strategies and tactics would become ineffective, and numbers would become an absolute advantage for one’s own side to win.
This was the ironclad mathematical law of the cyclical causal sequence of war, and it was also the place where countless military geniuses had failed.
“Did you see that?” Zhuang Li pointed at the battlefield, where the Mongolian army was being strangled by the Jin army like a sickle cutting wheat and said slowly: “When the numerical advantage we gain in the war is large enough, the influence of tactics and techniques will be compressed to the minimum.”
The generals watched the situation on the battlefield carefully and nodded in agreement.
Zhuang Li added, “From now on, I want you to follow this strategic idea only, that is, you can only join the battle when your troops are three times more than the enemy’s, otherwise you would rather retreat. This is not cowardice, but a strategy to preserve strength. Unless you encounter a battle that you have to fight, do not violate this idea at any time.”
“If you do this, you will also become a god of war who is invincible in every battle.” Zhuang Li looked around at everyone and spoke slowly.
He seemed to have a bewitching power that made everyone’s heart burn with enthusiasm.
Huai Laoer was the first to bow and shout: “This general will follow the instructions of the military advisor!”
“I will certainly follow the orders of the military advisor!”
“I have learned another trick!”
“…”
The other generals also spoke excitedly one after another, showing an extremely fanatical interest in marching and fighting.
Le Zhengming looked around at the soldiers who had completely changed their appearance and couldn’t help but smile. He turned to look at Xiao Curly, with an indescribable tenderness in his eyes. He noticed that a wisp of cool wind had messed up Xiao Curly’s hair, so he reached out and gently brushed it away for him and pinched his thin earlobe with his fingertips.
Last night, Le Zhengming quietly left a bright red mark behind this round earlobe. He wanted to mark this person so that he would never be unable to find him again.
Zhuang Li glanced at him with a smile, then looked at the battlefield below the platform and said in a deep voice: “Before every battle, you must not only think about how to win, but also plan how to win at the lowest cost. In other words, you must use your greatest strength to protect your soldiers. If possible, not even one of them can be lost.”
“The military advisor is right! Every comrade is our relative, and no one can be left behind!” someone echoed.
The rest of the people felt sore in their eyes and noses.
Zhuang Li walked to the edge of the platform and spoke more slowly: “Every time you go to war, the first thing you must think about is this question: How can we win with zero casualties?”
The generals who were almost crying could not help but be stunned. Every time they started a war, he planned to win with zero casualties. The military advisor was really bold!
“If a general doesn’t think this way when planning his strategy and tactics, he is not a qualified general.”
Zhuang Li turned around and looked at Le Zhengming with gentle eyes and said slowly: “Using the blood of soldiers to smear one’s glorious achievements, one day, this general will be retaliated by more blood. You should ask General Le Zhengming if he thinks so? And why he rushes to the front every time a battle starts?”
Everyone’s eyes fell on Le Zhengming, and their eyes gradually became wet.
The general always rushed to the front every time a battle started. He even risked his life many times to charge into the enemy camp, take the commander’s head, and end a battle early. In doing so, wasn’t he doing his best to protect everyone? He was using his life to exchange for the survival of most of the soldiers!
“General, I, Huai Laoer, will follow you all my life!” Huai Laoer knelt down with a plop, hugged Le Zhengming’s thighs and wiped his tears.
The others were about to kneel down, but Le Zhengming raised his hand to stop them.
He grabbed Huai Laoer and scolded him coldly: “Being my soldier, your knees can’t be weak!”
Huai Laoer immediately straightened his back and puffed out his chest.
Zhuang Li smiled at them and said slowly, “So, when you are able to guard a place in the future, you should also think like this.”
“I understand. Thank you, Master Military Advisor, for your teachings!” Everyone hurriedly bowed in response, completely surrendering in their hearts.
Zhuang Li turned to look at the battlefield and said, “Winning with zero casualties is the highest level of tactical application. There are seven types of zero casualty battles, namely sneak attack, stealth, weapon generation gap, war dimension, strong shield, collapse, and exhaustion. On the battlefield, if you work hard to create these seven conditions, you can easily win.
“There’s no need to explain the sneak attack type. You should all understand it.” Zhuang Li asked with interest, “I guess you’ve also done sneak attacks on enemy camps late at night, right?”
The generals immediately became excited and said in unison: “We have done it!”
“That battle was so exciting! The general led more than 20 of us and killed 300 barbarians!”
“We also burned the Hu people’s camp and food supplies! Except for Huai Laoer who was slightly injured, everyone was fine!”
“The sneak attack type is indeed powerful, but what about the stealth type?”
Zhuang Li replied, “The stealth type, as the name suggests, means hiding oneself. The mountain bandits hiding in the dense forests and shooting arrows at the imperial court’s anti-bandit troops are in this mode. The mountain bandits can often repel thousands or even tens of thousands of anti-bandit troops at a very small cost.”
“The military advisor is right! That’s why there is a saying among the people that a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake!” Huai Laoer clapped his hands and shouted.
The others nodded in agreement.
Zhuang Li explained one by one: “The weapon generation gap type is even simpler. If you hold swords, spears and halberds to fight a group of bandits carrying stones, the result will only be that the bandits will be wiped out, because there is a huge generation gap between stones and swords, spears, swords and halberds, just like a grandson meeting his grandfather.”
“Yes, yes, that’s the truth!” Everyone understood as soon as they heard it and nodded repeatedly.
“The war dimension inclusion type is somewhat similar to the weapon generation gap type. Both rely on the advantage in weapons and equipment to win. However, both sides use the same weapon, such as bows and arrows. One side has greatly improved the range, allowing its war dimension to completely cover the opponent, and then completely annihilate the opponent at the cost of zero casualties.”
“I understand now. Just like when we shot the Jie people with arrows in Guandu, but the Jie people didn’t dare to shoot us with arrows at all, that is the inclusive type of war, right?” A general immediately commented.
“You’re right. The Strong Shield type uses light armor, heavy armor, shields, fortresses, tunnels and other protective equipment to reduce casualties. The Mongolian heavy cavalry is a classic application of this tactic.
“The collapse and exhaustion types are what we are talking about right now.”
Zhuang Li pointed at the remnant Mongolian army that had been defeated by the Jin people and was fleeing, and chuckled, “When the hope of victory is completely extinguished and the shadow of death looms over every soldier’s heart, they will collapse and lose their will to fight. When the last arrow is shot, the sharp sword will also become blunt, and the army with exhausted resources can only allow the enemy to kill them.”
“Look at the Mongols below. They are facing a battle of collapse and exhaustion. At this time, the Jin army will hardly suffer any new casualties.” Zhuang Li waved his hand slightly, and his broad sleeves brushed across the battlefield below where blood was flowing like a river.
However, most of the blood was shed by the Mongols, while the Jin soldiers were charging forward to the sound of thunderous war drums. No one fell, as they hacked the Mongols to pieces.
Zhuang Li looked at this scene with satisfaction and chuckled, “Now I will teach you another strategy. When the enemy’s destruction rate drops significantly due to exhaustion or collapse, sending a reserve team can quickly increase our army’s destruction rate and combat personnel, and these two variables are the key to winning or losing.
“In other words, at this moment, if our army suddenly adds a reserve force to the battle, our army’s destruction rate will increase to more than 30%, and the force will be restored to its initial state.
“The enemy’s destruction rate has dropped to less than 2%, and their troop strength is only one-third of the original or even less. Using the war equation to calculate, we can come to a conclusion – our army will win the moment the reserve appears, and it will be a victory with zero casualties.”
“Flexible use of the reserve forces is also one of the secrets to victory in every battle. I have said so much, do you understand what I mean?” Zhuang Li turned around and looked around at the generals.
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