Chapter 616 The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind!

Chapter 616 The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole follows behind!

Facing Zhang Liang's words, Ying Bu was speechless for a moment, and a trace of embarrassment appeared on his arrogant face. He waved his hands unnaturally, as if he wanted to push the so-called "credit" onto Zhang Liang and Gao Yao.

It must be said that this is indeed an improvement for Ying Bu. It is not a big problem for a person to be a little arrogant, but if it is too much, it is no longer arrogance, but asking for trouble. Gao Yao knows Ying Bu inside and out. He knows Ying Bu's personality and character very well, so he naturally knows how to prescribe the right medicine.

In order to make Ying Bu surrender sincerely, there must first be someone who can convince Ying Bu. Whether it is martial arts, strategy, character or strength, Gao Yao can be said to be all-round crushing Ying Bu. Even in terms of origin, Gao Yao is far inferior to Ying Bu, but even so, Gao Yao still succeeded in reaching this point, making Ying Bu convinced and willing to recognize him as his master.

In terms of strategy, Zhang Liang's intelligence was a hundred times better than Ying Bu's, and Ying Bu had to admire him sincerely. In terms of knowledge, the profound knowledge of the Four Elders of Shangshan completely crushed Ying Bu without any chance of fighting back. Not only that, Gao Yao also specially arranged for Ying Bu to often follow Cao Shen and Han Xin, in fact, in order to let Ying Bu see the gap between him and Han Xin and others in terms of command ability.

This is not to deliberately suppress Ying Bu, but to hope that he can realize that his arrogance is undesirable and thus restrain himself. At the same time, this is also to show Ying Bu the vastness and complexity of the world and let him understand his own insignificance. Only in this way will Ying Bu be willing to expand his territory for himself, instead of being dissatisfied or having ulterior motives.

Paying equal attention to rewards and punishments is an important means of managing talents. For someone like Ying Bu who is capable but also ambitious, it is even more necessary to guide his behavior in this way. It turns out that Gao Yao's approach is quite wise. In just less than two years, Ying Bu's character has changed significantly. Although his ambitions still exist, he is no longer as arrogant as before, but knows how to show his abilities at the right time.

"In fact, the Lord's purpose is obvious. Since you know the Lord's character very well, you should know that he will never fight a battle that has no chance of winning. Moreover, the Lord hates the waste of manpower and food, and he will never do anything that is futile. In this case, why would the Lord mobilize the entire Third Legion to defend a pass that can be easily guarded by only 10,000 soldiers?"

At this time, Zhang Liang told the key points without any reservation, which was Gao Yao's usual style of doing things.

"So, what the military advisor means is that what the lord really wants is not to capture Hanzhong in advance?" Ying Bu asked thoughtfully.

"Of course not. If the lord really wanted to take Hanzhong ahead of time, he would have already started. Why wait until now?" Zhang Liang answered decisively. "In my opinion, if I am not mistaken, the lord is very likely to push the front line to the south of the Yellow River in this war!"

Zhang Liang was silent for a while, as if he was thinking deeply, and then he spoke out his estimate without hesitation. This estimate surprised Ying Bu, and he couldn't believe his ears. He could push it south of the Yellow River in one breath!

"What? South of the Yellow River!" Ying Bu shouted in astonishment, his voice full of disbelief.

Zhang Liang nodded and said affirmatively, "That's right. Once Han Xin launches an attack, even if he advances at the fastest speed and encounters no obstacles along the way, he can only reach Dongjiao at most. By then, the allied forces will definitely not sit idly by. They will definitely change the deployment of their forces from marching south to marching east. And this should be the key reason why the Prime Minister deployed the Third Corps here."

Ying Bu frowned, thinking about Zhang Liang's words. After a while, he was still a little shocked and asked, "Military Advisor, what you mean is that the Prime Minister arranged our Third Army here to wait for the opportunity, and then take over Hanzhong Nanjun in one fell swoop, all the way to Dongjiao?"

At this time, Ying Bu was thinking secretly in his heart that he had a general understanding of what Zhang Liang meant. However, even though he understood the meaning, he couldn't help but sigh that the strategic purpose of this battle was so changeable and even full of deception.

The allied forces were completely confused about Gao Yao's real intentions. At first, Gao Yao led his army to attack Hengshan King Wu Rui, which made people think that his target was the Hengshan area. However, soon after, news came out that Gao Yao might send troops to Hanzhong, posing a threat to them. Just when the allied forces were nervous about this, Han Xin suddenly launched a surprise attack, attacking the coastal counties and approaching Dongjiao County.

Now, the situation has changed again, Gao Yao has turned his guns around and pointed them at Hanzhong, Nanjun and other places. This series of actions made the allied forces like monkeys being played with, running around in a hurry, and unable to figure out Gao Yao's true intentions.

The more Ying Bu thought about it, the more he felt that Gao Yao's strategy was unfathomable. His use of military tactics had reached the level of perfection. Such clever layout and manipulation not only put the princes' coalition forces into chaos, but also made them lose the initiative on the battlefield.

It is conceivable that after such a struggle, the allied forces would be in a state of disarray. However, Gao Yao, relying on this series of plans, successfully gained an absolute advantage on the battlefield.

"The Prime Minister is far-sighted and far-sighted. We are truly incomparable to him!"

Ying Bu couldn't help but sigh at this moment. He knew that the prime minister's wisdom and strategy were far beyond his reach. Whether it was the grasp of the situation or the insight into people's hearts, the prime minister had unique insights and methods.

Zhang Liang, who was standing by, also echoed, "The Prime Minister is always outstanding in this regard and can often come up with ingenious plans and tactics, which is also something I cannot learn from." Zhang Liang's sigh was not false modesty, but a true evaluation of the Prime Minister. He himself was also a man of outstanding wisdom and strategy, but compared with the Prime Minister, he still felt that he was inferior.

This kind of feeling is actually very normal, because everyone has different ways of thinking and experiences, so when facing the same problem, there may be different solutions. Just like Gao Yao, he lived in a different era and had different perspectives and experiences from Zhang Liang, Xiao He and others, so many of the solutions he thought of were equally amazing to them.