Chapter Fifty-Seven Intuition

  At dawn, Qian Buli led his troops out of Liancheng Pass. He had originally planned to take some of the soldiers from Liancheng Pass with him, but for the sake of He Xiongming, this mole, he gave up on the idea. Soldiers can be recruited anywhere, and He Xiongming has even greater value that can be tapped into. If it was just for a few hundred soldiers, it wouldn't be worth letting He Xiongming arouse Wei Chiyun's suspicion.

  In order to achieve the effect of rapid march, Qian Budao ordered to abandon a large number of luggage, of course, this was under the premise that Jia Tianxiang guaranteed to arrive in Fuzhou and he would send people to organize various military materials.

  The entire army only brought half a month's worth of food and fodder. Regarding this issue, Qian Buli and Du Bing, among other generals, had carefully discussed it. As long as the food and fodder were enough to get the army to Yizhou, they would be fine; if they ran out, they could replenish on the spot. With the princess's great banner in tow, who would dare block their way?

  The army of Xueyuan City and Liancheng Fortress didn't have much emotional attachment, so there wasn't a scene of tearful farewell. However, He Junming was indeed wiping away hot tears with his sleeve, reluctant to part ways as he gazed into the distance. It wasn't until Qian Buli's army disappeared from view that he reluctantly lowered his arm. Apart from his bodyguards, no one knew that He Junming's reluctance was actually due to the apparent disappearance of He Dabaozi.

  Wang Rui was still the vanguard, and after sending out a scout, he temporarily let a small team leader take over his command. He turned his war horse around and returned to the central army. At the same time, Du Bing also rushed up from the rear troops. They left their posts not for any other reason, but because Qian Buli had made an appointment with them. Every day, they would come to the central army to listen to Qian Buli's lectures on "the way of being a general". To be able to receive Qian Buli's oral teachings was undoubtedly a wonderful thing that Du Bing and his men had longed for! Not to mention them, even Ji Shengqing and Jia Tianxiang were filled with enthusiasm and insisted on participating in Qian Buli's study group.

  "I'll give you a question first, this is the simplest question, but also the most difficult one. If someone can answer it completely correctly, then he will surely dominate the world!" Qian Buli leaned comfortably against the carriage, looking at the several students in front of him who were being extremely respectful.

  Everyone's eyes lit up, the education system of the Qi Zhou Kingdom was very well-established, whether it was civil officials or military generals, they all received a certain level of education. As for nobles like Jia Tianxiang, they had the privilege of receiving an education, but they had never seen a teacher like Qian Bu Li, who could arouse everyone's strong curiosity with just one sentence.

  "What are the two qualities a commander must possess?" Qian Bu thought this question seemed quite simple.

  Du Bing opened his mouth and swallowed his own words again. He had thought about this problem, but the answer that Tong Ling Daren wanted was two kinds of qualifications. What was the other one?

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, this question seemed simple, but they believed that Qian Buli's answer would never be simple.

  "I know, it's a great idea!" Ji Shengqing exclaimed, Du Bing and several others nodded in agreement. Since the prince took the lead in answering, it would be easier to say, even if the answer was wrong, General Tong would probably not make things too difficult for them out of respect for the prince.

  "This is just one of them, what's most important?" Qian said calmly.

  Isn't great wisdom and bravery the most important? Even Jia Tianxiang was somewhat bewildered, furrowing his brow in contemplation, the carriage fell silent.

  "It seems you can't think of it, I'll give you a little inspiration." Qian Buli said slowly after a while.

  "Please go ahead, sir."

  "You all know what the word 'game' means, right? In fact, war is just a game!" Qian Buli's eyes narrowed: "On the road to the gate of victory, you will pick up many keys, all kinds of keys. Some are antique, some shine with golden light, and others look ordinary, but only one key can open the door to victory!"

  "When you are independent and lead your own troops into battle, you will understand. Every time a big war is about to break out, many people around you will offer their opinions and hand over the keys to you, letting you choose. However, the cruelest part of this game is that you only have one chance to make a choice. If you choose incorrectly, you will lose everything! Absolutely everything!!"

  Jia Tianxiang and these people had never heard of anyone using games to interpret war, they were all stunned.

  "At many times, wanting to pick up the right key is far from enough with just intelligence, data and judgment. That requires a kind of intuition!" Qian Buli smiled: "So what's most valuable for a great general isn't great wisdom or bravery, but... great luck!"

  "Sir, you're talking about luck...... How is that possible? Didn't you say it was based on intuition?" Du Bing asked.

  "This thing called intuition can't be accurately defined, so how do you know whether your intuition is right or wrong, true or false? When you make a judgment based on intuition, your opponent may also have made a judgment based on intuition. Who will gain the upper hand doesn't depend on luck, but what does it depend on?"

  "Sir, I disagree with your view!" Ren Shuai shook his head repeatedly: "The key to winning a war is strategy and bravery, not luck!"

  Money smiled and said, "You say that because your wisdom and bravery are still far from enough. When you've gone through a period of tempering and your wisdom and bravery have reached their peak, and then you encounter another equally powerful opponent, you'll find that the deciding factor in winning or losing is often just luck!"

  Everyone in the carriage fell into contemplation. At first, Qian Bu's view sounded absurd, but after careful consideration, the true meaning inside would be discovered.

  "You can deny what I'm saying now, but don't deny the existence of luck, because one day you'll experience it for yourself, and only then can you become a great general."

  Wang Rui let out a long sigh: "They say that there is no undefeated general in the world, I suppose this is what they mean? Luck?"

  "What I said is not absolute." Qian smiled and continued, "I'm telling you this so that you can experience it for yourselves. Once you've learned from experience, the next step is to learn how to manipulate things, to use everything that can be used to make up for your own lack of luck. Nothing in this world is unchangeable, including luck."

  After saying that, Qian Buli fell into silence. Some things can't be taught, and it has nothing to do with selfishness or not. Qian Buli, who struggled alone in a foreign land, didn't dare to trust certain individuals or groups too much.