20demayo Chapter 96 Just do it, why all the fuss?
Chapter 96 Just do it, why all the fuss?
The soldiers watching from all around craned their necks, staring intently at the sand table.
This question sounds...not too difficult, does it?
A small team of only fifty men, and a small group of barbarians, is this really a big deal?
Zhao Tiezhu grinned, revealing a set of slightly yellow teeth. He felt that this scholar was utterly insulting his achievements.
"What's so difficult about that!"
Zhao Tiezhu waved his hand dismissively, spittle flying everywhere, his face full of the arrogance typical of a seasoned veteran, disdainful of tactics: "Since they're just a small group of barbarians, they're nothing more than snacks for our Great Sui Imperial Guards! Those Lingnan barbarians, dressed like monkeys, their weapons aren't even as fast as my kitchen knife!"
He took a step forward, his thick fingers almost poking Li Jing's nose, and roared with boundless pride, "If I were leading the team, there would be no need for those idiots! We'd just draw our swords, form ranks, brothers, raise our shields, and sweep through! Anyone who dares to block our way will have their head chopped off! Gods will be killed, Buddhas will be killed!"
"Why two days! I could slaughter my way through in a single day, and even serve Your Highness the heads of those barbarians as appetizers!"
After saying this, Zhao Tiezhu looked at Li Jing triumphantly, then looked back at his comrades around him, as if he could already see the glorious scene of becoming the team leader and receiving rewards and eating meat.
Many soldiers around them joined in the cheers: "Good! Brother Zhao is awesome!" "That's right, just do it! Why all the fuss?"
Upon hearing this reply, Li Mi, who was standing not far away, curled his lips into a contemptuous smile.
A brute.
They really are a bunch of reckless brutes who only know how to act bravely.
But then he turned his gaze to Li Jing, and sneered inwardly: I want to see how you, a mere scholar, will handle this. If you agree, it means you're nothing but a fool; if you don't agree, I'm afraid you won't be able to control this group of arrogant and fierce soldiers.
Behind the wooden table, Li Jing's expression remained unchanged.
Even the rhythm of his fingers tapping the table remained perfectly in place.
He looked at Zhao Tiezhu, who had a smug expression on his face, as if he were looking at a corpse that had already gone cold.
silence.
The suffocating silence lasted for a full three breaths.
Zhao Tiezhu's smile gradually froze; he instinctively sensed something was wrong. Why wasn't this scholar praising me? Even a smile would have been fine! That look in his eyes… why was it making him feel uneasy?
Finally, Li Jing spoke.
"The courage of a reckless man is not worth regretting even if he dies."
This sentence, though spoken lightly, carries immense weight.
It was like an invisible slap that landed hard on Zhao Tiezhu's face.
Before Zhao Tiezhu could react and get angry, Li Jing had already shaken his head, withdrawing the finger that was pointing at the sand table. With a flick of his wide sleeve, it was as if he was sweeping away the dust on the table, or as if he was sweeping away an insignificant ant.
He didn't even offer a further explanation, simply uttering three words indifferently: "Next."
Zhao Tiezhu was full of resentment, staring at Li Jing without moving, and several people tried to pull him away but to no avail.
"The barbarian soldiers are skilled at ambushes in the mountains. You are in the open, while the enemy is in the shadows. If you push forward, you'll be riddled with poisoned arrows from who-knows-where within five miles. That's one problem. You're leading a scout team; your mission is to gather intelligence. How can you gather intelligence if you're exposed?"
"An incompetent general can lead to the death of the entire army."
"Next."
The man's face was flushed red, and he was about to argue about what "one force can overcome ten techniques" meant, but he was coldly asked to leave by the guards next to him.
The second person learned his lesson and became timid and hesitant.
He circled the sand table three times, then pointed to a secluded path and said, "My lord, since there's an ambush, we can't fight them head-on. I think we should avoid their main force and go around through this narrow path in the back mountain. Although it's a bit longer, it's safer."
Li Jing raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as needles: "The provisions are only enough for three days. This mountain path is rugged and difficult to traverse; even without sleep or rest, it will take five days to walk. By the time you reach Luoying Ravine, your soldiers will either starve to death or be so exhausted that they can't even lift their swords. To cripple your own skills before the battle even begins is a cardinal sin in military strategy."
"This...this..." The man broke out in a cold sweat and stammered for a long time, unable to speak.
"Next."
After losing more than a dozen skilled soldiers, the troops, who had been feeling somewhat smug after passing the physical fitness test, now felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on their hearts.
This Chief Clerk Li may seem frail, but the questions he asks are sharper than the knife in General Qin's hand!
The third person to come up was a poor boy who claimed to have read two books on military strategy.
His eyes darted around, revealing a confident air: "Since we can't attack head-on, and we can't take a roundabout route, then we'll have to use a stratagem! I'll send five men to take the main road with great fanfare, creating a diversion to attract the barbarian troops; I'll lead the remaining twenty-five men, lightly equipped, to speed through the chaos!"
This has a bit of a military strategy feel to it.
Li Mi, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but nod in agreement, thinking that the plan was feasible.
To everyone's surprise, Li Jing merely gave a cold laugh, a ruthless mockery of such "petty cleverness."
"Divide your forces? That's a tactic used when you have surplus troops. You only have thirty men, and you're sending five to their deaths?"
Li Jing leaned forward, staring intently at the man: "Furthermore, the enemy situation is unclear. How can you be sure that five people can lure the enemy away? What if the barbarian soldiers are cunning and, after taking your bait, discover your location and turn around to ambush you? Or what if the barbarian soldiers completely ignore the bait and wait for you to walk right into their trap on that inevitable road?"
A barrage of questions came out like a machine gun, each one hitting the nail on the head and striking at the heart of the matter.
The poor student turned pale, broke out in a cold sweat, and finally slumped down, speechless.
Li Jing's selection process, seemingly uneventful, actually concealed a hidden agenda.
His questions progressed in layers, testing the candidates' adaptability, logical thinking, and macro-level understanding of the overall battle situation in subtle ways.
What he wanted was not a standard answer, but a way of thinking.
A "commander's instinct" that allows one to calmly calculate gains and losses and seek a glimmer of hope even in dire circumstances.
The air around him seemed to freeze.
Could it be that among these more than ten thousand people, apart from brutes, not a single one understands military strategy?
Just then, a soldier of medium build and unremarkable appearance squeezed out from the crowd.
His armor was somewhat worn, and his face still had mud splattered from the ordeal he had faced; he was the kind of person you would never notice in a crowd.
But instead of answering as quickly as the others, he stood in front of the sand table and remained silent for the time it takes to burn half an incense stick.
"Chief Secretary, if it were me, I would look at the sky first, not the road."
The voice wasn't loud, but it was unusually steady.
Li Jing's previously listless eyes brightened slightly: "Oh? Why are you looking at the sky?"
"It is late autumn now, and Lingnan is often shrouded in miasma, but there is often fog in the morning."
The soldier raised his head, his eyes frighteningly clear: "Fog is a shield bestowed by heaven. I will choose to set off when the fog is thickest in the early morning, with the entire team gagged and their horses' hooves thickly wrapped in cloth strips. We will not take the main roads or the side roads."
He drew a line on the sand table that was almost ignored.
"I will walk this 'Wild Boar Ridge'."
"Wild Boar Ridge?" Li Jing raised an eyebrow. "This place is extremely densely forested, difficult to traverse, and easy to get lost in. Why did you choose this location?"