Xia Cong was momentarily dazed.
They almost said in unison, clasping their hands in salute, "Please instruct us, sir!"
"Everything under the heavens is merely a matter of momentum,"
Since joining the army, Chen Sansi had participated in numerous battles, big and small, gaining some insights: "Sieging has the momentum of recklessness that fears not death, defending has the momentum of prefering death over submission, charging into formations entails the momentum of plunging in to seek death, prevailing in battle the momentum of being unstoppable. Similarly, collapse brings the momentum of a rout spanning a thousand miles, even surrender carries the momentum of demoralization and submitting at the sight of the enemy,"
"Once this momentum is formed, the enemy will act like a dog who lost its home, like a defeated rooster, with no more thoughts of resistance. They will only have one thought left, to surrender,"
"What we need to do is to create the overwhelming momentum of 'surrender'."
"Warfare is all about momentum!"
Xia Cong, still puzzled, asked, "Then sir, how shall we create this grand momentum next?"
"Five steps in total."
"This first step, I call it Forced Surround with Intentional Flaws,"
Chen Sansi ordered, "Pass my command, except for Yong Yue Prefecture, all generals must immediately cease sieging and leave a small path open, allowing their scouts a route for mutual communication and intelligence transmission,"
"Xia Cong, write down the exact words then use the Hai Dongqing to convey it to all units,"
This time, he used his fourth brother's Hai Dongqing.
"Then comes the second step, follow me!"
The group proceeded at full speed,
The nearest city holding surrendered soldiers.
Military officers and Array Soldiers were detained separately.
Among them, military officers with powers of Refining Internal and above were mostly controlled by piercing their scapula and other parts with Mystical Iron Hooks to prevent any mishaps,
But Array Soldiers did not need such measures.
Array Soldiers stripped off their Armour, laid down their Weapons, then scattered their organizational structure, and without a military officer leading them, they were as disorderly as ordinary people without a weapon in hand.
Chen Sansi reined in his horse, raising the command token high, and shouted, "Who is the general in charge of watching over these surrendered soldiers here?"
A Vice General, having received the instructions earlier, came out of the city to meet him: "I am Zhu Qi, in charge of overseeing these surrendered soldiers here; does General Chen have any instructions?"
Chen Sansi said indifferently, "The map."
Xia Cong immediately complied.
"And the writing materials?"
"I deserve death, I should always have writing materials ready!"
Xia Cong hastily prepared them and then handed over a brush dipped in ink,
Chen Sansi took the brush, outlined a route on the map, and commanded, "Vice General Zhu, when you release the surrendered soldiers, you must escort them exactly along this route I have drawn, distribute dry rations to them, and the more noise the better,"
Zhu Qi looked at the black lines, "Isn't this making them deliberately conspicuous? I understand, General Chen's intention is to let everyone see that we are releasing the surrendered soldiers, thereby weakening the will of the defending troops in other cities,"
Chen Sansi nodded, "Besides this, select two thousand surrendered soldiers with strong voices to keep for the time being, not to be released yet, they will be used for something else,"
Zhu Qi did not understand the purpose of this arrangement, but he nodded and said, "I understand, General Chen rest assured, I will execute accurately, ensuring no mistakes occur,"
"A mistake will cost you your head!"
Chen Sansi cautioned.
Zhu Qi turned and went to carry out the tasks,
Chen Sansi, sitting high on his horse, announced, "Next, comes the third step!"
Cui Congyi stared at the latest order for a long while without speaking,
Sha Wenlong asked, "Did that Chen issue us any new orders?"
They, being main generals by rank, now had to wait daily for an Assistant General's orders,
Cui Congyi said, "He ordered us to stop sieging, and send a surrender letter daily, along with ceaseless shouting day and night. Furthermore, the troops outside the city must achieve an encirclement with one side open, allowing spies and scouts from inside Zhaotong City to go out and gather intelligence,"
Sha Wenlong truly could not comprehend: "A siege battle demands extreme pressure, unsettling the enemy inside by cutting off their communication, which is the best way to apply pressure. Letting them out is giving them hope,"
The intelligence passed by one or two Black Hawks, after all, is limited, as only high-ranking officers can serve as recipients on the ground.
More detailed intelligence, however, generally requires scouts to investigate,
Locking every scout inside the city,
Means that, within the field of view of the city's garrison, besides a few places like Yong Yue Prefecture, the rest is completely dark,
But if you let the scouts out,
It means the cities can communicate with each other, strategize together, giving them a sense of mutual support and the confidence to hold on becomes naturally greater,
"This just makes sieging more challenging for us, really reckless command! And there's no fear of actually letting them escape?"
Upon saying this, Sha Wenlong's eyes lit up, "I have an idea, why not intentionally let some out, try to keep the losses within a certain range, and then say it was Chen's mistake in command, chop off his head, how about that?"
"You're overthinking it,"
Cui Congyi scoffed, "Chen Sansi has ordered us to precisely control the gap, letting only scouts out, not the enemy. If someone manages to break out using this, he'll chop our heads off first,"
"What wouldn't he dare, the Commander has given the token, if you dare defy the order, even if he beheads you, you can't fight back,"