Chapter 30: Use right combination and win by surprise

Liu Xie won!

With the champions easily taking over Dong Zhuo’s core area, the war was considered over.

At this moment, Dong Zhuo’s face turned pale and blue, as if he was about to get furious at the next moment.

The few champions who had just sneaked up to Lu Bu were originally smiling, but after seeing Dong Zhuo’s expression, they immediately stopped smiling.

……

“Hahahahaha!”

Just when everyone thought Dong Zhuo was about to lose his temper, he suddenly patted the railing and laughed.

“In any battle, the right way to win is to use the unexpected way!”

“Your Majesty, today, you really have the demeanor of a famous general!”

Dong Zhuo was indeed happy!

Warriors hate losing, but they hate it even more when their winning opponent is an idiot, which ruins the fun!

So now that Liu Xie has won, Dong Zhuo is not angry, but is even more happy from the bottom of his heart.

When Liu Xie heard Dong Zhuo’s praise, he smiled and waved his hands: “I can see that the Grand Master is giving in to me.”

“And the Grand Master underestimated the enemy in the end. Otherwise, my champions would not have been able to get close to the Grand Master.”

Liu Xie saw clearly that in the middle stage of the battle, Dong Zhuo actually felt that his opponent was too weak, so he chose to send all his soldiers forward in the hope of defeating him in one fell swoop and occupying the main camp.

In this victory, Liu Xie’s own planning accounted for only about one-third of the force, while Dong Zhuo’s underestimation of the enemy probably accounted for more than 70%.

Dong Zhuo did not comment on Liu Xie’s words.

“As a general, you should be cautious.”

“Losing is losing, winning is winning, there is no reason.”

Underestimating the enemy is also part of the battle.

Throughout history, there are too many generals who lost wars because they underestimated their enemies!
If we follow Liu Xie’s statement, shouldn’t we forgive these foolish generals?

Liu Xie also understood this logic.

He also understood that even if he won this round against Dong Zhuo by chance, if they really went to the battlefield, even if Dong Zhuo also underestimated him, there would be no possibility for him to defeat Dong Zhuo.

but……

Liu Xie still couldn’t suppress his joy: “Grandmaster, since I won this round, you should treat me to hot pot tonight!”

Because Dong Zhuo was fat, he didn’t respond. He just raised his arm and waved it casually to show that he understood.

Seeing Dong Zhuo walking away, Jia Xu also came to Liu Xie and said, “Congratulations, Your Majesty, for winning this game.”

“Haha, Wenhe, why are you teasing me too?”

Although Liu Xie was in a good mood, he also knew the real situation and quickly waved his hand.

“Wenhe, you have been in the army before, so you should know that my abilities are limited to this chessboard. How can I defeat the Grand Tutor?”

Jia Xu said, “But the Grand Master just said that if you win, you win, and if you lose, you lose.”

Liu Xie smiled but said nothing.

But stop praising me!
If you praise me again, I will be proud!

Beside the two men, Zhang Liao, who had been silent until now, spoke up, perhaps because he saw the harmony between Liu Xie and Jia Xu, “Your Majesty, I dare to ask you about your military strategy just now.”

Zhang Liao wanted to ask, and Liu Xie had no reason to disapprove: “Wenyuan, please speak!”

His attitude was gentle, and Liu Xie obviously remembered Zhang Liao’s courtesy name.

Zhang Liao was flattered again, and he leaned down a little more: “I want to ask, Your Majesty, why did you send the most elite troops to the front at the beginning?”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we used the other soldiers first and saved the elite ones for later?”

From the shocking reversal of the battle situation, Zhang Liao realized that Liu Xie was not an emperor who was completely ignorant of military affairs. However, this first inexplicable move still made Zhang Liao a little confused.

“So that’s what you’re asking.”

After thinking for a while, Liu Xie gave his reason: “Even a lion will use all its strength to fight a rabbit, let alone facing the Grand Master.”

“Besides, if we don’t send out all our elite troops, how can we make the Grand Master relax his vigilance and complete the last risky move?”

Using the strongest elite troops is another way of showing weakness to the enemy.

The art of war involves both the real and the fake. Only when one can switch between them freely can one be considered to have achieved the ultimate in it.

But for Liu Xie, there is another more important reason——

“Soldiers should eat the emperor’s salary and do their best for the emperor.”

“Since they are elite soldiers, their salaries and rewards must be much better than those of other soldiers.”

“When facing a war, these people should naturally stand in front of everyone else and go to the most dangerous place on the entire battlefield.”

“If not, how can these so-called elites win the support of the people? How can they justify the money and property that the country has spent on them? How can they justify the taxes that the people have spent on them?”

The elite are not named.

But they typed it themselves.

Since you are holding the sharpest Han sword and the hardest shield, you should stand in the most dangerous place.

This is the law of nature.

But when Zhang Liao heard these shallow words, he was somewhat touched.

If Liu Xie’s winning move was “strange”, what he is describing now is Liu Xie’s own “normal”.

The opposite of Liu Xie is Dong Zhuo.

When Liu Xie sent out his elite soldiers, Dong Zhuo only sent out some second- and third-rate soldiers to delay Liu Xie.

It was not until the very end that Dong Zhuo sent out his elite troops and secured victory.

Although there was nothing wrong with this action, it inevitably made the soldiers feel a little unhappy.

Moreover, as a general, Zhang Liao had just fought in the battle, so he naturally thought of what the scene would be like if it happened on the battlefield.

What kind of feelings would the men who braved the swords, fought to the death, were sent by Liu Xie to fight, and were destined to die feel?
In the past, they were just cannon fodder sent to die early.

But Liu Xie was willing to keep them as a backup and put all the pressure on them to win the final battle.

Even though this was just a game, because Zhang Liao was closer to the soldiers just now, he could clearly feel that the faces of the soldiers on Liu Xie’s side were filled with more fighting spirit.

On the other hand, the soldiers on Dong Zhuo’s side had a playful look on their faces, not serious.

And this is actually the real reason why Zhang Liao came to ask Liu Xie.

These 100 soldiers were all veteran soldiers from Bingzhou that he personally brought up. The grouping was also random and fair, with no one being superior or inferior, strong or weak.

But just because of a few adjustments, the two sides showed completely different demeanors and styles, which really made Zhang Liao a little puzzled.

But at this moment, Zhang Liao understood why…

“It’s not unfair that the Grand Master lost.”

Zhang Liao muttered quietly, but Liu Xie in front of him did not hear it.

However, Jia Xu, who was standing closer, twitched his ears, and his intriguing eyes unconsciously glanced towards Zhang Liao.

“Wenhe, Wenyuan! Pack up and follow me to eat at the Grand Tutor’s table!”

Liu Xie’s eyes narrowed with laughter: “We will eat as much as we can after we get there! I made an agreement with the Grand Tutor before that he is not allowed to eat too much. We will make the Grand Tutor hungry to death this time!”

“Here.”

“…Yes.”

(End of this chapter)