Chapter Fifty-One: A Scheme Within A Scheme

  Seeing Wang Fei come up with so many ideas, Wang Xu suddenly felt that he seemed to understand less and less about his second brother who usually listened to him.

  "What does Second Brother think?"

  "I think what Gao Shun said ten days ago was right, that wave of troops is simply a feint to deceive us!"

  "Oh? Gao Shun had already seen through it? Why didn't he tell me?" Wang Xu was originally just delighted to discover Wang Fei's potential, but when he heard the latter words, he became somewhat excited. He did not expect Gao Shun to be so formidable, having already seen through the situation ten days ago!

  "I didn't know about this, originally when Gao Shun said that at the beginning, I planned to pass it on to you. But he smiled and said he wasn't even sure himself! I was afraid of misleading you, so I didn't say anything, and later I forgot about it too! It wasn't until just now when I realized something was off that I suddenly remembered his words!"

  After finishing speaking, seeing Wang Xu being silent for half a day, Wang Fei couldn't help but ask: "Third brother, do we need to report this matter to General Huang Fu now?"

  "No! It's not time yet, let's wait and see later!"

  "Hmm! Alright then, I'll listen to you!"

  Just as Wang Xu and Wang Fei were whispering to each other, Huang Fu also issued a series of orders to the heads of the various generals, and the brief military meeting came to an end quickly!

  He instructed Wang Fei not to report to Huangfu Song for the time being, and then Wang Xu rushed to find Gao Shun. Because he still couldn't understand why Gao Shun didn't let Wang Fei tell him about the Yellow Turbans' defeat...

  "Gao Shun, come into my tent for a moment, I have some questions for you."

  Gao Shun turned his head to see that it was Wang Xu calling him, so he instructed Zhou Zhi to continue practicing and quickly followed Wang Xu into the camp.

  "What does General Wang want me for?"

  Jian Gao Shun stood by with a puzzled expression, Wang Xu couldn't help but smile and say: "There's nothing serious, you can sit down first, I just want to ask some casual questions!"

  "Hmm!" He responded with a grunt and sat down on his knees on the empty cushion.

  Waiting for a good opportunity to sit well, Wang Xu didn't waste words and immediately went straight to the topic: "I heard from Wang Fei that you had previously calculated that Zejiang Bocai was pretending to be defeated?"

  As soon as he heard this, Gao Shun immediately understood and nodded with a smile: "I didn't expect Wang Xianfeng to have told you. Hmm! According to the information I've obtained, it seems that the bandit leader's defeat was indeed a ruse!"

  "If so, then why didn't you let Second Brother tell me?"

  When Wang Xu asked about the reason, Gao Shun looked at him strangely.

  "Whenever General Wang received good news, he would instead look worried and come to see me. He must have already seen through the situation, so why bother explaining it to him? Besides, I hadn't thought of a way to defeat the enemy yet, so what's the point of saying anything? That day, I also saw that General Wang was still in the dark, so I just briefly mentioned it!"

  Upon hearing Gao Shun's words, Wang Xu's doubts were dispelled, and he was even more admiring in his heart!

  Gao Shun is really a rare talent! Not only is he intelligent and brave, but also rarely speaks nonsense. He doesn't seek to take credit from others or boast about himself. He's truly a valuable general! If it were an ordinary person, they would have already shown off their skills in every way possible, regardless of whether they had actually thought of a solution or if it was relevant to the current situation.

  After a moment of introspection, Wang Xu turned and said: "Gao Shun, the military council has already made its decision earlier. General Zhu Huan will launch a night raid on the Yellow Turbans' main camp at dawn tomorrow, while we will take a detour to cut off their rear route! So you should also make preparations later."

  Gao Shun, who had been smiling all along, suddenly changed his expression as soon as he heard this, and his eyes widened in shock.

  "General Wang, this is absolutely impermissible!"

  Although Wang Xu knew the reason, he was quite curious about what Gao Shun would say at this moment. Therefore, he asked with interest: "Why not?"

  Jing Wang Xu didn't take his own words seriously, and Gao Shun hastily said: "Sir, think about it, when has there ever been a case of continuous victories followed by a night raid? At this time, the enemy's vigilance is at its highest, how can we possibly succeed? Moreover, the bandit general Bo is obviously implementing a crude deception plan, if we rashly go forward like this, aren't we just asking for defeat?"

  Gao Shun's urgent and anxious appearance made Wang Xu unable to help but burst out laughing, it was really rare to see Gao Shun with such an expression!

  But he didn't respond directly, instead asking: "Bo Zai was willing to sacrifice three generals to carry out the plan of feigning defeat, which is also a rare thing in history. Why do you always say that this strategy is clumsy?"

  Seeing Wang Xu change the subject, Gao Shun was worried but immediately replied: "This is simple. Being able to pay the price of three generals to deceive and confuse, it's not something ordinary people can do. However, the other party's actions are really hard to believe, such as after the vanguard feigned defeat, the main army didn't pretend to retreat in disarray, but instead quickly stabilized their formation and drove back General Zhu's vanguard troops. Which plan in this world is so stupid? If the opponent was a bit more cautious, how could they have come out in full force? And how could they have gotten the opportunity to annihilate the enemy's main force?"

  "Oh? I don't know how to pretend to lose properly?"

  "If it were me, since we want to lure the enemy, of course, we should let them follow closely behind our defeated vanguard and directly attack our main camp. After they taste the sweetness, quickly pretend to retreat in disarray. Repeating this several times, the enemy will surely become arrogant, thinking that our commander is incompetent. Afterwards, they will definitely come out in full force, eager to annihilate us once and for all. Only then can we seize the opportunity, set up an ambush, and possibly achieve a complete victory!"

  Here is the translation:

  "Speaking of which, Gao Shun couldn't help but continue: 'But this wave has not moved at all, isn't it obvious that we are telling the enemy that our army is not in disarray and that the previous battles were just a ruse? Therefore, the difference between these two plans is too great. If it's said to be from one person's hand, Shun really can't believe it. Unless the able person who initially set up this plan has left, then it can still be explained. Otherwise, the sacrifice of the generals before may have had another reason!"

  Upon hearing Gao Shun's reasoning, Wang Xu couldn't help but secretly admire him. He was indeed a renowned general! Wang Xu himself had only understood the truth because he had access to a lot of information, yet Gao Shun had managed to get infinitely close to the facts just by deducing several key points on his own. He even went as far as to infer that Bo had borrowed a knife to kill someone, which was truly impressive!

  "Haha! What you said is not wrong, I also have this view. Moreover, in my opinion, it's unlikely that there are capable people among the Yellow Turbans, because no matter who is in charge, they will always be able to carry out the entire plan, and it's impossible for things to turn out like this now. So I speculate that those generals who were killed earlier were actually just part of another plot, and coincidentally got arranged into this somewhat clumsy feigned defeat."

  Upon hearing Wang Xu's words, Gao Shun lowered his head in contemplation for a moment before suddenly raising it and exclaiming: "Could it be that they are borrowing a knife to kill someone, eliminating dissenters?"

  Upon seeing this, Wang Xu burst out laughing and praised: "General Gao Shun is truly a divine person!"

  Upon hearing this, Gao Shun's face changed color in shock, and he hastily said: "General Wang is joking, I am just a small squad leader, how dare I be called General? It really embarrasses me."

  He said, looking at Wang Xu with a hint of admiration: "Besides, I'm far inferior to General Wang. If you hadn't reminded me just now, I'd still be in a daze."

  But as soon as he finished speaking, before Wang Xu could respond, he furrowed his brow again and asked in puzzlement: "Since General Wang knows the secret behind this, why didn't he stop General Huangfu? Instead, he let us soldiers sacrifice in vain?"

  This sudden question made Wang Xu stunned for a moment, and he didn't know how to answer it. After thinking for a while, he shook his head with an air of profundity, wanting to get over it quickly!

  Gao Shun's expression changed as he saw Wang Xu's appearance, his eyebrows furrowed in concern, and he slowly fell into deep thought...

  Wang Xu saw the situation and suddenly felt quite strange. Could it be that Gao Shun had really thought of something unusual? Because he was a little curious, he didn't speak again, but quietly looked at Gao Shun who remained motionless.

  As expected, it didn't take long for Gao Shun's eyes to flash with understanding as he lifted his head. "Haha... I get it! It's truly brilliant! Only a godlike person like General Huangfu could come up with such calculations!"

  "Huh?"

  This time Wang Xu was also stunned, incredulously exclaiming: "What did you see again?"