Chapter Forty-Six: A Casual Brush, Astonishing All

Li Zisheng gazed at Liang Fu before him, sensing the hidden meanings in Liang’s words. Outsiders might not catch it, but Li Zisheng understood clearly. Liang Fu’s remarks held two implications: first, that he himself had no hope of escaping defeat; second, that Liang possessed a superior strategy to entirely spare their own soldiers from harm.

Though his words seemed clumsy and nonsensical on the surface, their true significance was profound.

Li Zisheng was not the only one to grasp this. The officials present, the bearded general, as well as Wang Zheyuan and Feng Hai among the candidates, all realized it as well.

To devise such an impeccable plan to retreat safely and avoid casualties in such a short time was something few could achieve without long deliberation.

Feng Hai and Wang Zheyuan’s earlier solution had relied on a fierce assault—storming the enemy stronghold for victory, but at the cost of wounding a thousand enemies while sacrificing eight hundred of their own. It was victory at a terrible price. Such tactics might work in a wargame simulation, but on a real battlefield, they would be disastrous.

War is ever-changing; a single misstep could lead to ruin. If one were to overextend and suffer heavy losses, a lurking enemy could easily seize the opportunity and bring about disaster.

Yet Liang Fu had immediately conceived a way to win without overexerting his troops—a testament to his ability.

However, if the victory still required casualties, and did not rise to the level of triumph without a single loss, then Li Zisheng considered himself equally capable.

Feeling somewhat reassured, Li Zisheng dismissed the influence Liang Fu’s words might have over him. At the same time, a cold sweat broke out on his brow. As the saying goes, “The highest form of war is to subdue the enemy’s strategy; attack the mind before the body.” Liang Fu had deliberately tried to lull him into carelessness with subtle psychological tactics.

But Li Zisheng was not so easily bested; courtesy demands reciprocity.

“Brother Liang, you are quite right,” Li Zisheng replied with a slight smile, his nerves now steady. “A direct assault on the heart of the enemy—I may have the means to withstand it, but in the end, the result would be a stalemate, with neither side claiming victory.”

His words spread swiftly, and everyone in the audience heard them clearly.

“How arrogant! What an ignorant child, to speak so brazenly without a shred of shame!”

“Indeed! To make such wild claims—does he mean to say the students of the academy and the warriors of our army are inferior to a brat of seven or eight?”

“A fledgling with barely grown teeth, and such a boastful tongue!”

The crowd was quick to censure Li Zisheng’s lack of restraint, but Liang Fu’s response was markedly different. He furrowed his brows deeply, remaining silent.

Watching Liang Fu’s reaction, Li Zisheng’s heart settled. His suspicions were confirmed: Liang Fu was indeed playing the fool while hiding his true strength. Words that would sound like arrogance from anyone else became the straw that broke the camel’s back when directed at Liang Fu.

Seeing Liang Fu deep in thought, Li Zisheng knew that in this subtle contest of wills, he had emerged victorious.

“What a remarkable boy,” the bearded general exclaimed, eyes alight with surprise.

The supervisor glared at Li Zisheng; the more exceptional Li Zisheng appeared, the more the supervisor seethed with resentment. His grip on the bench had tightened to the point of turning his knuckles purple.

“Enough joking,” Liang Fu suddenly said, his expression turning cold. Though his face still appeared somewhat vacant, the light in his eyes noticeably narrowed. “Since that’s the case, there’s no need for further talk. Let us end this tiresome test quickly.”

“Ah, Brother Liang, this examination is a serious affair. Since we’re paired together, it must be fate. Though I am young, I have always loved reading tales of campaigns and conquests. Why not let me offer an analysis before we proceed? It might not delay the test at all.”

“Very well, let’s hear how this youngster plans to redeem himself. Such brazen words—let’s see if he dares eat them later!”

Before Liang Fu could reply, the audience erupted in protest.

Li Zisheng’s lips curled in a faint smile. He had feared Liang Fu might refuse, but seeing the crowd’s spirited reaction, for the first time, he found them truly endearing.

Seeing the tide of public opinion, Liang Fu could only nod helplessly. He knew all too well that to oppose such momentum would only bring chaos. But if he allowed Li Zisheng to continue unchecked, his own room for maneuver would shrink to nothing.

Yet, at this moment, he had no way to resist the crowd and could only grudgingly acquiesce.

“Brother Liang, this test heavily favors the Turkic side. However, to defeat the Tang army without a single casualty is exceedingly difficult. There are, in fact, four possible routes to victory,” Li Zisheng declared, pausing deliberately to observe Liang Fu’s now grim expression.

“First, like Feng Hai and the others, one could choose a direct assault, leading to mutual destruction. Not only would the Tang army be decimated, but the Turks would suffer grievous losses as well. Though technically a win, it is a pyrrhic victory—a loss in every sense.”

Li Zisheng paid no heed to the darkening faces of Feng Hai and Wang Zheyuan, and pressed on.

“Of course, if the Turks were to split their forces and attack from both flanks along the Lingwu River—one detachment circling behind while the other charges head-on—then eight-tenths of the Tang army would be wiped out, with the remaining few fleeing in panic. Still, the Turks would be weakened, but this at least would count as a narrow victory.”

Liang Fu’s face grew ever more sullen, rage nearly tangible in his eyes.

“But, if the Turks divided their forces into three, cutting off supplies and besieging the troops, harassing them daily without launching a full assault, then within ten days, the Tang soldiers, starved of provisions, would be forced into a desperate attack. A well-laid ambush could then annihilate nine out of ten of them, with only slight Turkish losses. This would be a modest victory, much better than the previous two options.”

“As for the fourth path, I trust Brother Liang has already considered it: the Turks would emerge completely unscathed, utterly destroying our forces. The method is simple—surely your wit has already reached the same conclusion, making my own musings redundant.”

Li Zisheng feigned a self-deprecating smile, then fixed his gaze intently on Liang Fu.

Yet his words were like a stone cast into a pond, sending ripples in every direction. In an instant, everyone present—soldiers, academy students, officials, the supervisor, and the bearded general—was stunned.

The three strategies Li Zisheng had calmly laid out grew increasingly sophisticated, and could be applied to real battlefields with equal effect. Most striking of all, Li Zisheng claimed to have already conceived a way to achieve total victory without a single loss.

Though his analysis was from the Turkic perspective, such insight into these four strategies was far beyond the reach of ordinary minds.