Chapter 666: Defense, attack, ambush, three-pronged approach!

Chapter 666: Defense, attack, ambush, three-pronged approach!

Zhang Liang was not surprised at all when he heard Ying Bu's words. After all, this was how ordinary people thought, and Wang Ben was not an ordinary person.

"You are thinking too simply. Wang Ben is not that easy to deal with. He doesn't even need to attack a town. He just needs to wait for an opportunity to cut off our food supply and force us to retreat."

Zhang Liang directly pointed out the key issue. Wang Ben didn't need to really attack the two counties of Bashu. He just needed to cut off the food supply. After hearing this, Ying Bu frowned and began to think about how likely Zhang Liang's words were.

"Military Advisor, I still think that Wang Ben is most likely to choose to assist Wu Rui. What the military advisor said is indeed possible, but for Wang Ben, this method is too risky. I have also studied a lot of Wang Ben's combat situations. From the current situation, the probability that Wang Ben will choose Dongting County is not high. This is not in line with Wang Ben's usual marching habits!"

Although Zhang Liang had explained the reason in detail, Ying Bu's doubts were not completely eliminated. He thought to himself that the entire Third Corps had more than 60,000 troops, while Wang Ben's troops only had more than 10,000. With such a huge difference in strength, it was unbelievable that Wang Ben dared to launch a surprise attack rashly.

Ying Bu knew the cruelty and uncertainty of war, but according to common sense, Wang Ben would never take such a big risk to implement such an action. After all, this approach of hitting a rock with an egg not only has little chance of success, but also the consequences will be disastrous if it fails. What's more, Ying Bu did not think that Wang Ben had enough capital to take risks.

As Zhang Liang said, the current situation is very different from the past. At this moment, the Southern Border Army is in a relatively advantageous position, and they have more resources and options. In contrast, Wang Ben is under much greater pressure. Not only does he have to deal with the threat from the Southern Border Army, but he also has to consider his own strength and situation. In this case, Wang Ben has no reason to risk trying such a sneak attack with a very low chance of success.

In addition, Ying Bu also realized that Gao Yao's layout had been broken to a certain extent. Originally, Gao Yao's plan was carefully designed to target the princes' alliance. The core idea was to take advantage of the princes' alliance's vast territory and numerous attackable positions to make them exhausted, thereby achieving the purpose of dispersing their forces and weakening their strength.

The situation has changed now. The Southern Border Army has become stronger, making Gao Yao's plan ineffective. Although the expansion of the territory has brought more offensive options, it also means that more areas need to be defended.

In this seemingly calm situation, Wu Rui suddenly made a surprising move. This move was like a blockbuster bomb, instantly breaking the original balance.

This unexpected change completely disrupted the entire carefully planned layout. The various links that were originally closely connected now scattered like beads with a broken string, causing the battlefield to be completely torn into pieces.

The most tragic person in this chaos was Wei Bao, the King of Wei. Originally, he should have been the one who sat on the mountain and watched the tigers fight and reaped the benefits. However, the gears of fate ruthlessly dragged him into the center of the storm, making him the main force that had to face Han Xin's army.

Faced with such a predicament, Wei Bao was naturally miserable. He could never have imagined that he would go from being a bystander to the protagonist of this fierce battle, and such a passive role at that.

"In that case, why don't we take a three-pronged approach? I will stay in Bashu and attack Hanzhong while guarding against Wang Ben's sneak attack. And you will lead 20,000 elite soldiers to set up an ambush or pursue Wang Ben along the way in Nanjun. How do you think?"

Zhang Liang did not hesitate to tell the next arrangements.

Hearing this, Ying Bu hurriedly bowed and thanked him: "Thank you, military advisor!" He knew that this was a difficult task, but it was also an excellent opportunity to prove his strength.

Hearing Zhang Liang agree to his idea so readily, Ying Bu was ecstatic and excited that his proposal was approved. After all, it meant that Zhang Liang valued and trusted him, which made him feel that his opinions and suggestions were of great value in this war.

There are actually two main reasons why Zhang Liang agreed with Ying Bu's idea. First, they had previously agreed to take a compromise approach to deal with things and respect Ying Bu's opinions and ideas. This attitude of mutual respect and cooperation allowed them to fully consider each other's interests and positions in the decision-making process.

Secondly, Zhang Liang himself was not completely sure about this war. After all, it involved the mobilization and command of tens of thousands of troops. Even an experienced strategist like him could not fully predict the various variables on the battlefield. Especially when taking a more risky compromise plan, the risk is even more difficult to estimate. However, Zhang Liang knew that war was a gamble, and sometimes decisions needed to be made decisively, and even in the face of risks, one could not hesitate.

Since the decision had been made to mobilize the troops, the arrangements were naturally swift and efficient. At noon the next day, Ying Bu led 20,000 elite soldiers out of the rear camp like an arrow from a bow and headed straight for Nanjun.

Ying Bu knew that time was precious, so he rode non-stop all the way without delay. In order to increase the speed of march, he chose to travel light, carrying only the necessary equipment and supplies. This not only reduced the burden, but also made the army more flexible and maneuverable.

In terms of food and grass, Ying Bu adopted a clever strategy. Instead of carrying a large amount of food and grass, he chose to collect them locally in the counties along the way. This method not only avoided the waste of time caused by long-distance transportation, but also ensured that the army always had enough food and grass, thus avoiding the dilemma of insufficient food and grass.

All this was due to Gaoyao's emphasis on infrastructure. Each county had sufficient food reserves, which made it easy for the army to get supplies anytime and anywhere. This self-sufficient supply method meant that Ying Bu's army did not need to rely too much on logistics supplies, greatly improving the efficiency and flexibility of the march.

This advantage does not work in all situations. When the army attacks outside, it cannot get the same supply support in the enemy-occupied area, so this help will be greatly reduced. In addition, this method also has an obvious disadvantage, that is, when the enemy attacks, these food and grass originally used for supply can easily become the enemy's capital to continue to hold on, bringing greater pressure to the self-defense.