Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

After a series of discussions at a military conference.

All the generals realized that the current war situation was unpredictable and unclear. They no longer underestimated the Xianbei leader Zhijian as a simple warrior and realized that he would be a formidable enemy they would have to face.

Guan Yu pondered for a moment, then asked Liu Bei:

"Commander! What's the next step? Should our army continue the attack, or stay put and set up camp to rest?"

Liu Bei was still waiting for the next round of scout reports.

Therefore, he was not in a hurry to advance westward to the Juyan Lake area. Rather than rushing into a deadly situation, he decided to let his soldiers rest in place and wait for the situation to become clear before deciding whether to proceed or not.

He thought for a moment, then addressed the generals:

"Do not rush to advance. Order the entire army to set up camp and rest on the spot! The scouts must remain vigilant at all times, pay attention to the surrounding situation, and not be careless when patrolling and searching."

All the generals accepted the order and went back to their respective camps to arrange their rest.

Liu Bei was still pondering how he should respond if everything was as Qian Zhao had said.

Two or three more hours passed.

The scouts sent to investigate the Langshan area have finally returned.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei hurriedly ordered Hou Zhang to bring the scouts to see him.

He wants to ask in person.

Hou Zhang was one of Xu Wushan's twenty-eight elite cavalrymen. Having followed Liu Bei for a long time, he knew that the military situation was extremely important. Therefore, he personally led three waves of more than thirty scouts to investigate the Langshan area.

At a fork in the road.

The magistrate ordered a squad leader to lead ten scouts to scout the area west of Langshan.

He ordered another squad leader to lead ten scouts to scout the area east of Langshan.

He himself led the remaining dozen or so scouts to scout the area south of Langshan.

Agreement: Whoever discovers even the slightest clue to the main force of the Zhijian tribe, shall immediately send two scouts to report to him south of Langshan.

He would leave markings in conspicuous places that only members of his scout team could understand.

These three waves of scouts proceeded cautiously, stealthily tracking and meticulously investigating.

Finally, the scouts sent to scout the area west of Langshan, after careful reconnaissance, discovered the main force of the Zhijian tribe, which consisted of about 7,000 cavalrymen, who were resting in an open area behind a dense forest.

Once they were certain, they quickly dispatched men to the area south of Langshan Mountain to locate Hou Chang based on the markings.

It was only after Hou Chang personally went to the area west of Langshan to investigate that the final determination was made.

So he ordered three waves of scouts to continue to scout the surrounding area for dozens of miles in their respective positions to see if there were any ambushes by the Luoluo tribe.

He himself led the scouts who had discovered the main force of the Zhijian troops and rode swiftly to report to Liu Bei's army.

After Liu Bei inquired about the details carefully, he finally confirmed that this was the main force of the Zhijian tribe.

He was overjoyed.

Therefore, he summoned his generals again to discuss countermeasures.

At a military conference.

Liu Bei addressed his generals in a deep voice:

"The scouts have just discovered that the main force of the Zhijian tribe is currently hiding in the valleys west of Langshan Mountain, only fifty or sixty li away from here. It is extremely dangerous."

"This time when we marched into Juyan Lake, we almost missed the main force of the Zhijian tribe. They had already set up a trap, hiding silently to the side, waiting for us to slip in so they could tighten the trap."

"But we're not so easy to catch either. We're right at the entrance of the bag formation, but we just won't go in."

"Next, let's all discuss how to break this deadlock."

Qian Zhao sneered and said:

"The main force of the Zhijian tribe is hiding in the valley west of Langshan Mountain, waiting for us to go far away and deep into the desert around Juyan Lake so that they can come out, bypass Langshan Mountain, and attack the headquarters of the Yanliyou tribe located east of Langshan Mountain."

"First, we will wipe out the more than two thousand troops of Tuoba Qiudun and Tuoba Sihai, and then return to block the entrance of the Budai Formation, trapping us completely in the desert."

"That's a brilliant plan. But... isn't this exactly what we predicted at our last meeting...?"

"That's true."

Liu Bei nodded and smiled at Qian Zhao, saying, "Zijing, you've already exposed their scheme. In the end, we're the better player. Now, let's see how we outsmart them."

Qian Zhao pondered for a moment, then said:

"Now, dealing with the bag formation set up by Okigan is not difficult. We just need to take advantage of the time difference and defeat them one by one. In this way, they will soon fall into disarray."

"Divide and conquer..."

Liu Bei pondered, "Right now, the army of 3,000 men from the Zhijian tribe and the army of 3,000 men from the Luoluo tribe in the Juyan Lake area are at least one and a half to two days away from us."

"The main force of the Zhijian tribe, which is hidden in the valley west of Langshan, is only fifty or sixty li away from us, which is less than half a day's journey."

"If we return to Langshan and directly attack the main force of the Zhijian tribe, the two cavalry units patrolling around Juyan Lake will not be able to come to our aid in time."

"However, just as Zijing predicted at the last meeting, there may now be an army from the Zhijian tribe and the Luoluo tribe lying in ambush on our flanks, the number of which is unknown and their location is unknown."

"Once we attack the main force of the Zhijian tribe, these two ambushes may suddenly emerge and attack our rear or left and right flanks, creating a situation where three armies surround and kill one army."

Qian Zhao listened, nodded, and said:

"Even so, our army must turn back and attack the main force of the Zhijian tribe. We have finally managed to scout out the location of the main force of the Zhijian tribe, and we must not let them get away."

"If we let Okiken escape to the vast grasslands of the north or the desert of the west, it will be difficult to catch him again next time."

"Therefore, I suggest sending an army to the area west and north of Langshan to block Zhijian's escape route to the west and north."

"At the same time, scouts were sent to the Langshan camp, and Tuoba Qiudun was ordered to lead a thousand troops east of Langshan to block Zhijian's escape route. Tuoba Sihai was ordered to be stationed at the Langshan camp, and preparations were made for Tuoba Qiudun to provide support from behind and to continue blocking Zhijian."

"We will divide the remaining army into three parts—the left army, the central army, and the right army—to attack the main force of Zhijian from the front."

"The central army continued to advance, its spearhead aimed directly at the valley where the main force of the Zhijian army was located. The left and right armies maintained a certain distance from the central army, thus forming an encirclement of the main force of the Zhijian army."

"If we encounter an ambush attacking our left or right flanks, we should send the left and right armies forward to quickly defeat them, and then join forces with the central army to press towards the main force of the Zhijian tribe west of Langshan."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu couldn't help but laugh:

"If Zhijian tries to lure us into the trap, we'll turn the tables and launch an ambush from all sides."

Liu Bei nodded in agreement.

"This plan is brilliant!"

He then looked at the remaining generals and asked:

"Does anyone have anything to add?"

All the generals admired Qian Zhao's strategy, and for the time being, no one expressed any objection.

Lu Bu shouted:

"Commander, time is of the essence. Please deploy your troops as soon as possible. Otherwise, Zhijian might get wind of this and escape in advance, making it difficult to capture his main force later."

The opportunity to win a battle is fleeting.

Liu Bei thought so too.

However, as the commander-in-chief, he had to be cautious as he commanded an army of over ten thousand men.

"Zijing, our scouts haven't detected any ambushes nearby. If Zhijian really did place ambushes on our left and right flanks, how many troops do you think there would be?"

Liu Bei looked at Qian Zhao.

Qian Zhao thought for a moment, putting himself in her shoes, and pondered for a moment before saying:

"If it were me, the number of troops in these two ambushes would not exceed three thousand, as too many would make them easy to be discovered. But it would not be less than two thousand either, as too few would not achieve the purpose of harassment. I think the number of troops in each ambushe should be around two thousand five hundred."

"Moreover, one of these two ambushes is from the Luoluo tribe. They came from the Helan Mountains."

"I share Tuoba Daxi's view that the army sent by the Luoluo tribe lacks fighting spirit and is suspected of being hesitant. They should be easier to defeat. Of course, we cannot be careless. Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit."

The generals all nodded in agreement.

After much deliberation and discussion with his generals about the details, Liu Bei finally made his decision.

"Alright! In that case, let's trap the main force of the siege unit like turtles in a jar!"

……

First make yourself invincible, then wait for the enemy to become vulnerable.

—The Art of War by Sun Tzu