Chapter Seventeen: Old Tricks Revisited

  That's exactly what Yin Xu had hoped for.

  Facing the surging Qin army, some suggested hiding in the mountains and forests, fleeing and escaping, but Yin Xu did not adopt this approach. Where can one hide? How long can one flee? It's better to engage with the Qin army properly. Of course, it's not about refusing to escape, but rather making a purposeful strategic transfer. If used correctly, it can deal a significant blow to the enemy and more importantly preserve one's own strength.

  What's more important is to plan for the long term, if this time several thousand Qin troops are intimidated, will they still want to compete for the Central Plains and divide the land to become kings? Isn't that just nonsense? In this battle, Yin Xu is more thinking of practicing his skills, first to actually apply his military knowledge, second to hone his small but strong forces. Not until the future when he's busy and flustered.

  When leaving the thatched cottage in the dense forest, Yin Xu had an unfulfilled wish and decided to send a small gift to the Qin army first. Pu Jun led his men to collect pine resin in the forest, applying it to the thatched cottage and the piled up dry firewood. Two long-lasting lamps coated with pine resin and animal oil, a wooden stick, and a long rope formed a temporarily balanced lever. Unfortunately, the Qin soldiers touched the long rope, causing the lever to lose balance, the oil lamp fell to the ground, and a big fire broke out. Whether they could escape the sea of flames depended on their luck, but unfortunately, the lightly armed Qin soldiers were really unlucky, resulting in the destruction of the entire army.

  Before this, Yin Xu had already led his men to move to Rongshuling, and Pu Jun was in charge of temporarily staying behind to gather information. The reason for choosing Rongshuling is that the terrain there gives the Qin army an illusion that they can surround and annihilate them, and of course, they must divide their troops to encircle them. Many local terrains are very conducive to preventing ambushes or using tactics such as flooding with water or fire attacks, so that they can have a good fight with the Qin army later. Therefore, Yin Xu had long ordered people to make preparations and transfer many food supplies to Rongshuling.

  Yin Xu did not expect the fire at Zhu She to be so effective, killing more than a dozen Qin soldiers and enraging their commander. Without hesitation, he divided his troops into eight groups, advancing in a pincer movement, attempting to surround them at Rongshu Ridge and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

  This was exactly what Yin Xu had in mind. The Qin army had a total of 5,000 people, while he only had over a hundred people by his side, the difference was really huge. To want to contend with them, the first thing to do was to disperse the enemy's strength, only then would the balance of power not tilt so drastically, and he might have an opportunity to gain the upper hand.

  The method of advancing gradually and consolidating at each step is good, but there have been many examples in history where this approach has led to failure, such as the Ming dynasty's Battle of Sarhu against the Later Jin. Yin Xu still remembers it vividly: in the 46th year of the Wanli Emperor of the Ming dynasty, due to the invasion of the Jianzhou army into the Ming border, the Ming court appointed Yang Gao, the Minister of War, as the Governor of Liaodong, to assemble troops, prepare military supplies, and plan to march on Hetu Ala to eliminate Nurhaci.

  In the 47th year of Wanli, in February, Yang Gao was ordered to garrison Shenyang and lead troops to attack the Later Jin from four directions, converging on Hetu Ala. The northern route was led by General Ma Lin, who departed from Kaiyuan, passed through Sanchakou, crossed Shangjianya, and attacked Suzi River; the western route was led by General Du Song, who departed from Fushun Pass and drove straight to Hetu Ala; the southern route was commanded by General Li Rubo, who departed from Qinghe, passed through Yaguan Pass, and attacked Hetu Ala directly; the eastern route was led by General Liu Zong, who departed from Kuandian and launched a frontal attack.

  Such a strategy is indeed good, steady and steady, step by step. However, Nurhaci only used one move to make the Ming army's deployment go up in smoke. This move was - no matter how many roads you take, I will only take one road. That is, concentrate forces, annihilate the enemy, which is also the strategy that Yin Xu wants to use.

  Now forced the Qin army to divide its forces, luring the enemy into a deep position has been achieved, but concentrating its forces to annihilate the enemy is somewhat difficult. Although the Qin army was divided into eight routes, each team had at least 500-600 people, while their own side had only over a hundred people. With one against five, not to mention whether there is such strength, just this risk has decided that it is impossible to fight head-on.

  So relying on geographical advantages and using some tactics is necessary.

  Qingshigou, one of the six valleys on the north side of Rongshuling. The water flow of Qingshixi can be said to be the largest in the entire Rongshuling water system. It is precisely because of this that after millions of years of erosion, the mountain road in Qingshigou is relatively wide and flat.

  However, few people know that in the middle section of Qing Shi Gou, there is a calabaza mouth, two large bluestones stand in the river, forming an upper reaches of the water pool. The river water pours down from the gap of less than one zhang, forming a beautiful waterfall.

  Today, if the hunters who often come and go from Qing Shi Gou pass by here, they will definitely feel a little strange. Why have the bluestones in the river become shorter? The pool of water upstream of the bluestone seems to have grown much larger as well? What's most regrettable is that the beautiful waterfall has turned into a gentle trickle, completely losing its former grandeur.

  Yin Xu sat on the slope of a mountain, looking at the rippling green waves below, and couldn't help but smile slightly. If it weren't for his subordinates who used to be hunters in this area, he really wouldn't have known about such a great place. He immediately turned around and instructed: "Pu Jun, it's time for you to take action."

  Pu Jun smiled lightly and said, "Don't worry, young master, it will be alright."

  Yin Xu nodded and said, "Go prepare, remember the time and location, grasp it well."

  "No problem!" Pu Jun and Yin Xu exchanged a glance, tacitly understanding each other, turned around and led the two away.

  Watching Pu Jun lead his men away in the distance, Gao Yi smiled and said: "Young master has a good plan. If this strategy succeeds, it will surely intimidate the government army."

  "Where?" Yin Xu said with a bitter smile: "The intimidation is not false, but now it's precisely because the government army is proud and careless that we can take advantage of the opportunity. However, this operation at most will only eliminate a few hundred people, they still have several thousand. Once bitten, twice shy, they will become more cautious in the future, which will be very unfavorable for us!"

  Gao Yi listened attentively, his face also filled with worry, and asked: "What's good about that?"

  Yin Xu said in a low voice: "This Rongshu Ridge is a good place, it's really hard to leave."

  "What? Do you mean to retreat?" Gao Yi asked with wide eyes.

  "Don't rush for now, let's see how things go tonight. Let them suffer a bit more before they become too confident, that way they'll learn to be cautious. Yin Xu smiled lightly and said: 'Tell Lu Ming to start making preparations on the White Water Gorge side as well!'"

  "Yes!"

  Looking at Yin Xu's expression, Gao Yi was certain that the young master would have a way out and lead them out of trouble.

  Early in the morning, the gentle stream flows slowly on the riverbed, and the white sand shines brightly under the sunlight. The small fish in the water pool swim together in groups, moving quickly. Suddenly, the water ripples slightly, and the little fish dart away, scattering to the depths of the pool.

  In Qing Shi Gou, a team of 500 Qin soldiers were advancing forward. The commander-in-chief was General Li, who was the same Li deputy general who had been burned by Yin Xu in Mao Lin and had returned to the temporary camp to plead guilty shortly after. Considering that he also had the idea of underestimating the enemy, An Tong did not blame Li deputy general harshly, but instead entrusted him as the commander-in-chief of the army advancing into Qing Shi Gou.

  Although An Tong did not blame him, Deputy General Li still felt that he had lost face, and in order to redeem himself and regain his reputation, the advance on Qing Shi Gou must be done well. Therefore, Deputy General Li set out first, for the sake of that head credit.

  Entering Qing Shi Gou, the canyon outside is full of dense forests. Fighting against regular troops in this terrain indeed requires caution, but now they are only dealing with a hundred or so bandits, which is not enough to worry about. However, thinking back to the Ma Lin Zhu She incident, although it was just some minor tricks, Deputy General Li still had some lingering concerns in his heart. Therefore, as they marched forward, there were always guides and sentries scouting ahead and keeping watch.

  After walking for most of the day, everything went smoothly and Deputy General Li's heart relaxed a lot. It seems that he had been worrying too much. Thieves are thieves after all, hiding is the best strategy, you can't say that this big mountain forest, hiding more than 100 people, it's not easy to find them even now with this kind of division and convergence, shrinking the encirclement circle step by step. In the end, they still can't avoid searching one by one, it won't be finished in a few months. He couldn't help but sigh: what have these thieves done that is so serious, making him do such a hard job.

  At noon, they arrived at a place where the reeds on both sides had just sprouted a few new buds, and most of the leaves were still withered and yellow from autumn and winter. Perhaps because it had just been scorched by a big fire, Deputy General Li was more cautious, sending a small team to make a loud noise as they walked forward, while he himself led his men to lag far behind.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, wherever the banners reached, flaming bamboo arrows shot out from the mountain slope on one side. This spring has had little rain and many days of scorching sun, so the dry reeds ignited instantly into a huge fire.

  Seeing the smoke and fire rising in front, Deputy General Li was very pleased in his heart and burst out laughing. He immediately sneered: "Thieves are thieves after all, it's nothing more than this, old tricks repeated, what can they withstand against me?"