The Art of War states: "The art of war dictates that if your forces are ten times stronger, surround them; if five times stronger, attack them; if twice stronger, divide them; if equal in strength, engage them; if fewer in number, flee from them; if weaker, avoid them. Therefore, the stubbornness of a small enemy will lead to capture by a large one."
In other words, if your forces are ten times stronger than the enemy, encircle and annihilate them; if five times stronger, attack them; if twice stronger, strive to defeat them; if evenly matched, disperse and defeat them one by one; if weaker, avoid battle. Therefore, the weaker side, if it stubbornly defends itself, will become a prisoner of the stronger enemy.
To achieve victory with weakness, one must strike when the enemy is unprepared.
To avoid future harassment from Han Sui and Ma Teng, Lu Ming must also be ruthless, severely weakening them.
This will free him up resources to deal with Longxi and Anding counties, and then Tianshui county. With the resources of these three counties concentrated, he can slowly erode their strength as he advances north.
Liangzhou, connecting to the Western Regions, was an excellent trade route and resource channel.
While Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were still embroiled in battles with the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Hedong Commandery, Lu Ming had already taken control of Liangzhou.
Even if they remained scattered across various regions, he would still hold a decisive advantage.
He could then march south to conquer Hanzhong, invade Sichuan, and seize the Land of Abundance.
After pacifying the southern regions, he was quite interested in Zhu Rong, the barbarian wife!
Once he controlled half the country, if Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were locked in a power struggle, he could seize the opportunity to march east through Hangu Pass.
He could then take Luoyang and Sili, and then, depending on the situation, eliminate either Cao Cao or Yuan Shao.
If the conflict remained unresolved, he could also launch an attack on Jingzhou from Jiangyou. From any angle, he would be in control.
The continuous flow of funds from his rear would allow him to completely overwhelm these warlords.
Early the next morning, Ma Teng and Han Sui led their troops towards Pengyang. Despite yesterday's defeat of their vanguard, it didn't affect their plans.
In fact, they advanced at full speed. While Lu Ming's ability to defeat their vanguard was somewhat unexpected, it was also within reason.
Their two strongest generals hadn't returned yet, but they believed they could severely cripple Lu Ming.
In any case, Lu Ming had 10,000 men, but at most, he only had 8,000 at his disposal.
If they only needed to severely injure 2,000, Lu Ming would only have 6,000 men against their 50,000, a crushing defeat.
Silence fell; the atmosphere was tense and oppressive.
Both Ma Teng and Han Sui understood perfectly well.
Once Lu Ming established himself, their era of regional warlordism would end.
Settling scores later was a long-standing tradition of the Han emperors. They weren't being punished for rebellion now because they had troops; if they didn't, they would be the ones to suffer!
"Does Wen Yue think that brat Lu Ming is up to something?" Ma Teng, stationed in the central army, was somewhat uneasy. As a veteran of countless battles, he had seen more fighting than he had eaten rice.
This kind of battlefield experience had saved him many times, and this time was no exception, hence Ma Teng's suspicion.
The Ma family of Fufeng had written to him, asking for his help in dealing with Lu Ming, promising to recommend him for an official position afterward. This was incredibly attractive to Ma Teng, who wanted to change his family's fate and improve his descendants' prospects!
Han Sui was also uneasy, but things had already come to this point; the arrow was on the bowstring, and there was no turning back.
"Lu Ming, at most, has only ten thousand men. My son-in-law and Meng Qi are both top-notch fighters; no one in Xiliang can withstand a single blow from them. Even if Lu Ming himself possessed the skill of holding off ten thousand men single-handedly, and his bravery surpassed that of the entire army, he would ultimately be no match for tens of thousands of soldiers. Heh, the former Hegemon-King of Western Chu also possessed the courage to hold off ten thousand men single-handedly, but where is he now?"
Yes, Ma Teng remembered. Able to fight? What good is being able to fight? No matter how skilled he is, he can't defeat tens of thousands of soldiers!
Thinking of this, Ma Teng's mind began to work.
"Yes, it's all thanks to Brother Wenyue's reminder. People, it seems, become more timid as they get older. Back then, he faced thousands of cavalry without flinching, and now he's afraid of a junior. It's laughable."
"Indeed, the older one gets, the less willing they are to fight. Heh, getting old, getting old." Han Sui also mocked himself, then his expression turned ferocious. "If the court won't let us live, then we can only send them to their deaths! Once Lu Ming establishes a foothold in Liangzhou, there will be no way for you and me, brothers, to survive!"
They reached the foot of Ming Mountain. The scouts had already searched, but found no trace of them.
Lu Ming used insect repellent to drive away the poisonous insects, ants, and bees, preventing them from approaching. Then he used concealment skills to hide his army among the trees and bushes. Unless they launched an attack, they would be absolutely undetectable!
This wasn't without a way to break through; a simple barrage of arrows through the woods would force the hidden ambush troops out!
This wasn't the era of firearms, and there were no machine guns. Even arrows weren't fired indiscriminately; they were costly resources, requiring money to produce!
As they entered the ambush zone, Lu Ming, spear in hand, roared, "Attack!"
"Ah!"
The soldiers clashed, a single exchange.
Like a tiger descending the mountain, a black tiger tearing out its heart.
The massive army was cut in two. The long, single-file formation was a convenient marching formation, but also one easily ambushed.
Attack the head, and the tail will arrive; attack the tail, and the head will arrive.
Attack the middle, and both head and tail will fall!
The plan was sound, but unfortunately, Lu Ming's skill guaranteed to cause chaos.
This plunged the entire massive army into chaos. Depending on the commander's intelligence or the assistance of allies, they could regain their composure; otherwise, this chaos would continue. It remained to be seen if they would recover.
Ma Teng and Han Sui were startled and immediately ordered their soldiers to attack, but the soldiers trembled and refused to obey.
This terrified them. Who was this person?
How could he frighten even seasoned veterans?
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
Several lashes of the whip struck the soldiers, bringing their personal guards back to their senses. They roared and charged forward.
The ordinary soldiers, however, were still in disarray. They would fight back, they wouldn't sit idly by, but they couldn't follow orders and form an effective counterattack.
They could only be cut into small pieces, harvested, killed, and sent to their deaths by Lu Ming's soldiers!