I run a training class in Shu Han

Chapter 52 Explanation

"Now I'll reveal the correct answer!"

After all the students raised their hands to vote, Liao Hua was about to announce the final answer.

"The correct answer to this question is D; the others are all incorrect."

After the answer was announced, those who chose correctly cheered, while the others were dejected.

Liao Hua did not praise the students who chose correctly, but calmly said, "This question seems to have multiple correct answers, but in fact, they all contain traps. Don't be complacent if you chose correctly; you were mostly lucky."

"The real skill lies in being able to spot the problems among other seemingly correct options."

The classroom fell silent. The students who had been cheering earlier lost their smugness and sat quietly in their seats.

Obviously, they were able to choose correctly because they probably guessed from three seemingly correct options.

"Teacher, I don't understand."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Bao stood up gruffly.

"Oh, is there something you don't understand?"

Liu Shan, who was outside the school, vaguely remembered that Zhang Bao had chosen option A.

This option seems to have no problem, but it is actually a completely misleading option.

Zhang Bao held up two fingers and said, "I have 200,000 men besieging their 10,000. Even if each of them spat, they could flood the city..."

Hahaha! ! !

The students burst into laughter.

Zhang Bao continued with a slight sense of smugness, "The art of war says, 'If you have ten men, surround them.' Even if I send out 100,000 men to ambush them, and even if the enemy has 200,000 reinforcements, I will still make sure they never return."

This statement is not without merit.

In military strategy, ambushing 200,000 men with 100,000 men is an advantageous position, along with tactics such as surprise attack and waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out. If coordinated properly, annihilation is not impossible.

"A reckless fool!" Liu Shan sighed softly and shook his head.

After listening, Liao Hua did not rush to answer, but instead asked the students, "Did those who chose option C provide any evidence to support their claims?"

In another corner of the classroom, a student stood up.

This man was about the same age as Zhang Bao, with lips like painted rouge, phoenix eyes, and silkworm eyebrows. He was handsome and had a resemblance to Guan Yu in his prime.

Liu Shan immediately recognized him as Guan Xing, the second son of Guan Yu.

"Teacher, a strategist should act in accordance with the situation and be flexible. It seems that 40,000 men are besieging 10,000 men and there are no extra troops to deal with the enemy's 10,000 reinforcements. However, the question mentions using methods such as digging deep trenches to assist in the siege. Our army can then spare some troops to ambush the enemy. This is to make good use of resources to achieve twice the result with half the effort."

Therefore, the students believe this method is feasible!

Guan Xing's understanding was clearly more thorough and flexible than Zhang Bao's, drawing cheers from those around him.

Liao Hua still didn't offer a direct explanation, but continued to ask, "Any other differing opinions?"

The students looked at each other, but no one stood up to speak.

Zhao Tong felt that both of them made sense, and there were always battles to back up the facts. Could it be that the question setter was careless?

Liu Shan, seeing the puzzled look in his eyes, questioned, "General Zhao, haven't you figured it out after all this time?"

Zhao Tong said somewhat embarrassedly, "Your Majesty, this humble general really can't think of any difference."

"I just don't understand, with your intelligence, how did you manage to get into the advanced class in the first place?"

Zhao Tong laughed awkwardly, "Maybe it was just luck."

In fact, Zhao Tong's monthly exam scores in the advanced class were at the very bottom.

His age was similar to Zhang Bao and Guan Xing, but in addition to martial arts, he had learned more about military strategy and poetry under the tutelage of Zhao Yun, which allowed him to barely squeeze into the advanced class during the entrance examination.

Liu Shan shook his head helplessly and said, "If you don't improve and get eliminated from the advanced class, it won't just be your father who loses face, but I will also lose face."

Zhao Tong lowered his head, feeling wronged.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Liao Hua began to explain the problem.

"Everyone, you should know that these four options all refer to the same strategy."

"Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao!" everyone shouted.

"That's right, it's exactly the strategy of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao.' Only by understanding this can we continue our analysis. So, let me ask you, what is the key point of this strategy?"

"Avoid the strong and attack the weak," someone replied.

Liao Hua nodded and said, "When Wei attacked Zhao, Qi sent troops to its aid, but fearing heavy losses if they came directly to its aid, they attacked the capital of Wei instead, forcing the Wei army to turn back and ambushing them on the way. This relieved Zhao's crisis and dealt a heavy blow to the Wei army, minimizing their own losses. This is what is meant by avoiding the enemy's strength and attacking their weakness."

"But for the Wei army to withdraw, certain conditions need to be met. For example, is it worthwhile to withdraw?"

At this moment, Zhang Bao shouted, "Of course it's worth it! The Qi army is attacking the Wei capital, which is sparsely defended. We must save it no matter what!"

"Well said. The premise of the strategy of 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' is to attack what the enemy must defend. If a city has no strategic value, there is no need to rescue it."

"In option A, our army of 200,000 surrounds the enemy's 10,000, which seems like we can divide our forces to ambush the enemy, but it doesn't say that the enemy must send troops to rescue us."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Bao and the others immediately exclaimed, "Trap!"

"Teacher, you're being petty and misleading us."

Liao Hua said solemnly, "War is a matter of great importance to the state and must be carefully considered. If you don't even know the value of a single city and blindly wage war, wouldn't you bring disaster upon the entire army?"

The title may seem sophistical, but it is not without merit.

It is said that war is a money-burning affair, requiring the investment of countless troops, horses, and supplies. A general must have strategic vision; what should be fought, whether it is possible to fight, and how to fight must all be carefully considered, rather than acting blindly.

Liao Hua continued, "Option C states that the enemy has 10,000 reinforcements, indicating that our siege strategy has been effective in drawing the enemy reinforcements over. However, we have no idea about the enemy's fighting strength, whether they are infantry or cavalry. Moreover, if the besieged enemy suddenly launches an attack, we may find ourselves surrounded from both sides. These are all unknown."

Therefore, option C is not entirely correct either.

Good heavens, another language trap.

Guan Xing scratched his head with both hands.

But upon closer examination, it also contains profound strategies.

War is not just about securing supplies, but also about gathering intelligence.

Whoever has the most accurate intelligence has more information and can deploy troops more effectively.

This is the essence of "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle".

Therefore, the most reasonable option is Ding.

With the tactics of digging deep trenches and using shields to lock swords, our army has rendered the defending troops powerless to fight back, while still retaining enough combat strength to deal with enemy reinforcements and avoid being attacked from both sides.

"Do you understand now?" Liu Shan said, pointing at Zhao Tong's head. "The simpler the strategy, the more profound it often is, and the more difficult it is to execute."

Long before, Liu Shan had planned to train Zhao Tong to develop his ability to lead troops into battle, instead of keeping him confined to the palace.

Therefore, Liu Shan had very high expectations for him and constantly taught him.

But now it seems that training a general who is good at fighting is really not easy.

Just then, one of the sharp-eyed students spotted Liu Shan outside and shouted, "His Majesty has arrived!"

In an instant, everyone turned to look at him, their gazes burning with desire.

The Emperor of Han is really coming to give a lecture.