After Zhuang Li explained the reasons for the victory in the Battle of Guandu, he turned over the small bowl covering the red beans, wanting to pour some tea to moisten his throat.
Unexpectedly, the stern-faced deputy general who had been glaring at him earlier pushed past Le Zhengming, cheerfully snatched the bowl, and said attentively, "Mr. Zhuang, please sit still. I'll pour you a cup of hot tea. Hey, this bowl just fell on the table and is a little dirty. I'll clean it for you. Please wait a moment."
After saying that, he went away happily, as if the person who had sneered at Zhuang Li before was not him at all.
Zhuang Li looked at the back of the black-faced deputy general and couldn't help laughing.
Le Zhengming quietly pinched his fingertips under the table and whispered, "This man is called Huai Lao Er, the deputy general of the central army under my command. He has no other advantages except that he is thick-skinned and courageous."
Zhuang Li pursed his lips and nodded.
The other generals raised their hands and couldn't wait to introduce themselves: "Mr. Zhuang, my name is Li Zhaofeng, and I am the Left Cavalry General."
"Mr. Zhuang, my name is Zhao An, and I am the Right Cavalry General."
"Mr. Zhuang, my name is..."
"Mr. Zhuang, my name is..."
Everyone saluted and announced their names and positions, fearing they would not leave a good impression on the military advisor. The boy was clearly only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a smooth jaw and childish eyes, but no one dared to underestimate him.
"Mr. Zhuang, could you tell us more about this war dimension? I just have a little understanding of it, but I don't quite understand it."
"Yeah, yeah, me too! I had a vague idea, but when I think about it more carefully, I get nothing!"
Generals kept making such requests. They were all well-versed in military tactics and had some understanding of various battle formations, but this was the first time they had heard such a straightforward and simple explanation.
Le Zhengming whispered in the little curly-haired boy's ear, "Are you tired? If you are, then take a good rest. It won't be too late to teach them another day."
The generals all cast protesting glances at Le Zhengming, but then, thinking of the young man's frail body, they all gave up the idea of continuing to harass him. After all, the military advisor was already theirs, so it was never too late to learn the art of battle.
Zhuang Li shook his head and said, "I'm not tired. What do you want to hear?"
Everyone's eyes lit up and they immediately shouted, "We want to hear the secret to winning every battle! You said before that as long as we control that thing, that thing, that thing..." This group of rough guys scratched their heads and couldn't remember what to say.
Le Zhengming reminded with a look of disgust: "Variable."
"Yes, yes, that's the variable! The general is really smart!" Everyone flattered Le Zhengming lightly, but their eyes were all looking straight at the young man.
When Huai Laoer, who had run outside to wash dishes and fetch water, heard these words, he couldn't help but shout: "Mr. Zhuang, please speak slowly, I'll be there soon! Please wait for me!" At last he directly picked up a pot of boiling water, poured it while running, and scalded himself and screamed.
Le Zhengming quickly stood up and took the shaking bowl.
When everyone arrived, Zhuang Li pointed to the two piles of beans and said, "I've said before that war is actually the collision and division of two dimensions. Based on this theory, achieving a victory with zero casualties is completely feasible."
A victory with zero casualties? Meaning that the enemy is completely wiped out without a single casualty remaining on our side? Is this possible?
The generals gasped, but no one raised any questions. On the contrary, their eyes lit up, each one brighter than the other, their pupils gleaming with a thirst for knowledge.
Zhuang Li divided the red and green beans into two piles and continued, "Do you understand the specific meaning of the war dimension?"
"Understood. Everything within the range is our battle zone." Le Zhengming nodded in reply.
Zhuang Li dipped a little tea in the water and drew two circles of equal diameter around the red and green beans. "The bows and arrows used by the Jie people are no different from ours. In other words, our ranges are the same, and so is the war dimension."
He slowly moved the two piles of beans towards the middle until some red beans and green beans were mixed together.
"See these beans mixed in? During the charge, they were the first to enter the enemy's battle zone and were shot by archers, causing the first wave of casualties."
As he said this, he continued to push the two piles of beans until they were completely fused together.
Everyone watched his actions intently.
Zhuang Li pointed at the inseparable red and green beans and said, "Two war dimensions of equal size will ultimately lead to a stalemate, resulting in massive casualties. This is the consequence of a battle between two armies with equal numbers, similar weaponry, and a similar level of strength—both sides are doomed."
Zhuang Li waved his sleeves and brushed all the difficult-to-break beans onto the table.
The crackling sound made the scalps of these generals, who had been immersed in blood and gore for years, tingle.
"Therefore, when the numbers are equal, the use of battle formations becomes particularly important. The variables I mentioned earlier are actually the number of troops, the generation gap in weapons, the average kill rate of each soldier, and so on. As long as we improve these variables and our army always maintains a significant advantage, victory is certain."
Zhuang Li brought out another pile of red beans and a pile of mung beans, and placed them on both sides of the long table. His slender fingertips moved quickly, arranging the scattered mung beans into a Bagua shape.
"This is the Eight Diagrams Formation!" Le Zhengming said, pointing at Green Bean.
The generals quickly leaned forward to take a closer look, then exclaimed in surprise, "Yes, it's the Eight Diagrams Formation! I've studied this before."
To be precise, anyone who has ever led a military campaign has studied the Eight Diagrams, a unique formation invented by the legendary Zhuge Liang of the previous dynasty. It was touted as indestructible and invincible. However, in reality, few generals could execute this formation because it was too complex. A single misalignment could turn any defenseless position into a lifeline, allowing the enemy to exploit this flaw and crush them to a pulp.
The more complex the battle formation, the more difficult it is to apply on the battlefield, as it requires the cooperation of many people.
Right now, Zhuang Li wanted to analyze this formation. Without saying anything extra, he simply scooped up the red beans and sprinkled them onto the green beans. Soon, the red and green colors blended together.
Zhuang Li stretched out his fingertips and picked out all the red beans that had fallen into the blank grid formed by the green beans. He said lightly, "They are useless."
"Why?" Huai Lao Er asked in a rough voice.
The other generals were also confused.
Le Zhengming said with disgust, "Take a good look at what's surrounding these blank grids."
When everyone looked closely, they found that these blank grids were actually small squares made up of mung beans. In other words, when red beans fell into the blank spaces, they were surrounded by mung beans.
The entire Bagua formation is composed of sixty-four such grids. That is to say, the same number of red beans as green beans are diluted into sixty-four parts after falling into the battle formation, while the green beans stick together to form a complete yet unpredictable geometric body that can support each other at any time.
The generals stared at the pile of beans, their eyes gradually emitting a burning light. They seemed to understand something!
Zhuang Li further inspired them: "If the number of red beans and green beans is equal, 20,000 each, you can calculate how many there are when 20,000 is divided into 64 equal parts."
The generals counted on their fingers, some counted on their counting sticks, and some scratched their heads in a daze. In a short time, none of them could answer the question.
After a brief thought, Yue Zhengming gave a number: "About 313."
Zhuang Li patted his shoulder and praised him, "That's right, it's 313. Twenty thousand red beans in this battle formation will be divided into sixty-four parts by the green beans. In other words, at the same time, the combat power of the two teams isn't twenty thousand versus twenty thousand, but twenty thousand versus three hundred and thirteen. You can see the difference."
Only then did a general slap his forehead and shout, "I get it, I get it! Scattering the enemy, dividing and strangling them, this is the advantage of a battle formation! All the battle formations I've seen actually work on this principle! They're all the same!"
"That's right, we also divided the enemy into small groups before at Guandu. However, we used the method of restricting their mobility instead of dispersing their forces. But the principle is the same! I have read military books for over twenty years, and today I finally grasped the mystery of the formation!"
People kept coming to sudden realization and clapping their hands and laughing crazily.
It's not surprising that they were so excited, because the descriptions of battle formations in military books were simply too confusing.
Just then, a general held up a military manual and read out loud, indignantly: "Among the Eight Formations, Heaven, Earth, Wind, and Cloud are the Four Cardinal Formations; Dragon, Tiger, Bird, and Snake are the Four Strange Formations. The Strange Formations are the Cardinal Formations of the Cardinal Formations, and the Cardinal Formations are the Strange Formations of the Strange Formations. They are interconnected in an endless cycle, just as the sky is round and the earth is square. They mutually restrain and complement each other, like a ring with no end, repeating over and over again, leaving the enemy forces deep within their formations with no means of response."
He threw the military manual to the ground, his face flushed and he asked, "What are these? What do you mean by 'odd is the right of right, and right is the odd of odd?' What on earth does this mean? How many of you can understand it? Raise your hands and let me count."
This group of rough guys looked at each other, then hid their hands behind their backs. No one could understand.
The general then spoke enthusiastically, "But I understood everything Mr. Zhuang said just now! I even know how to use this formation! Damn it, why didn't I meet Mr. Zhuang earlier? I fought for more than ten years in vain!"
He shook his head and sighed repeatedly, almost crying with regret.
Mr. Zhuang's talent is truly unfathomable as he can explain the profound battle formations so simply and clearly.
The other generals also sighed heartily. This is exactly what the saying "listening to one word from the emperor is worth ten years of reading" means.
Zhuang Li raised his hand and pressed it down, chuckling, "It's not too late to start learning war strategies from me now. You're right. All battle formations are actually a geometric division of the war dimension. Circular formations are mostly used for defense because they have the largest area of all geometric shapes, allowing us to concentrate all our forces to fight the enemy. Square formations are primarily used for offense because they are highly mobile, able to move left and right, flexibly form teams, and thus effectively divide the enemy's war dimension. The Bagua formation, with its square outer edge and circular inner edge, is a formation that can be used for both offense and defense.
"The saying 'no matter how things change, they remain essentially the same' means exactly this. However, this is not the zero-casualty combat mode I'm talking about." Zhuang Li paused slightly here, scanning everyone with his narrow eyes.
Everyone's breath caught, not daring to utter a single sound. Awe for the military advisor had already been subtly and quietly implanted deep within their hearts.
Zhuang Li brushed off the previous pile of beans and took out two new piles, placing them on the left and right sides respectively. He smiled and said, "Look carefully. If the range of the green beans is 72 meters and the range of the red beans is 36 meters, what will happen if the two dimensions go to war?"
Everyone quickly deduced in their minds.
Le Zhengming simply brushed the red beans off and said in a deep voice, "The two warring dimensions don't even need to come into physical contact. The green beans can kill all the red beans from 72 feet away."
Zhuang Li then clapped his hands and chuckled, "Indeed, this is a truly zero-casualty battle. So everyone, while we train how to use the battle formation, it's best to also improve our weapons."
"The bed crossbow can indeed shoot 72 zhang, but it is too big and heavy, and the manufacturing cost is high, so it is not suitable for large-scale use." Le Zhengming pondered.
"No rush. Even if we could make weapons with longer range, we don't have the raw materials or the funds." Zhuang Li brushed off the mung beans left on the table, spread out a map, and pointed at the Jin territory occupied by the Mongol army. "Let's take this territory first."
The generals were horrified at first, then they clapped their hands and cheered. After defeating the Jie army of 80,000 with only 40,000 men, they were inflated.
7480 was stunned. He huddled in a corner, dragging his two severed hands, and muttered in disbelief, "Jindi is Shanxi. There are abundant coal and iron mines there. Coal can be used to refine coke and tar, and tar is one of the main raw materials for making explosives. With iron ore, we can make steel, and then build long guns and cannons. Master, are you trying to blow this little world apart?"
In response, Zhuang Liji let out a playful chuckle.
7480 suddenly collapsed to the ground, like a rag doll that had been abused hundreds of times, tears of pain and despair slowly flowing out.
It was wrong, it was so wrong! It shouldn't have sent the host to this backward little world. The child of destiny would definitely be killed by the host!
It's okay to be good at scientific research, and it's normal to know computers, but it's outrageous that the host, a weakling, can even fight a war!
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