Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 646 - 592: When the time comes, grant me a quick end!

Chapter 646: Chapter 592: When the time comes, grant me a quick end!

Kaihuang looked at Changsun Bubai and smiled as he spoke, "Minister Changsun, since the Minister of War holds you in such high regard, why not share your opinion with us?"

Changsun Bubai gave a wry smile, shook his head, and bowed to Kaihuang, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have recently lost my beloved son, and after falling seriously ill, I have not yet fully recovered. Overseeing the military affairs and defending Ren City has already drained all my strength. Pursuing the Tujue is truly beyond my capabilities. However, within my Lingwu Army, there are the generals Zhang San and Wang Junwu of Jin River, both of whom have numerous good strategies for battling the Tujue. Speaking of which..."

Changsun Bubai pointed at Zhang San and said, "As for the confrontation between the two armies yesterday, General Zhang San did not lie. He truly managed to repel four out of the five Tujue armies singlehandedly."

Upon hearing this, Kaihuang was startled.

Originally, he planned to personally lead an elite force of 120,000 troops up the Longyun Path to first repel the central army of the Tujue.

Since the central army was led by the Great Khan Sharlobi of the Tujue, if this army were to retreat, the entire Tujue would lose confidence.

By then, wherever the mighty army pointed, victory would follow! The Tujue could be defeated!

But he never expected that when Zhang San previously reported he was going to repel four of the five Tujue armies, he truly did repel four?

At this moment, everyone’s eyes were fixed on Zhang San.

Zhang San just smiled slightly, waved his hands, and said, "Actually, it’s nothing much. It’s all under the wise leadership of Kaihuang. I simply borrowed the Might of Kaihuang to repel the four Tujue armies. Speaking of the battle with the Tujue, I merely contributed eighty-five percent of the credit, nothing worth mentioning."

As he spoke, Zhang San looked at Wang Junwu next to him and said with a smile, "Distant Army Count, wouldn’t you agree?"

Wang Junwu smiled and nodded.

He naturally knew that Kaihuang had named them Distant Army Counts to shut up the generals of Jin River.

Although ’Distant Army’ sounded like ’reinforcement army’, implying that the army from the Jin River was a reinforcement and therefore absolving Mei Fei of any blame.

Still, it was a Marquis title.

And if he was a Marquis, with Zhang San’s achievements, even a Marquis title might not be enough.

Kaihuang was very curious about how Zhang San had managed to repel the four Tujue armies, but he knew that it was not something one could discuss in front of everyone.

"Then for this battle, what do both of you think we should do next in dealing with the Tujue?"

Zhang San and Wang Junwu exchanged glances; Zhang San understood Wang Junwu’s intention, and Wang Junwu grasped Zhang San’s idea.

So Wang Junwu gestured invitingly and said, "I have limited ability, only skilled in tactics, not strategy. Let General Zhang San put forward the strategy and I will refine the tactics."

Zhang San chuckled and said, "Then let me present my modest proposal, shall I?"

"Please do," said Kaihuang, glancing at Zhang San, hoping the young man would indeed be reliable.

After all, it was Zhang San who had informed them of the attack by the five Tujue armies, and now he was saying that four had been repelled. Whether that was true or false, a verification was necessary before rewards could be granted.

Without even looking at the map placed on the ground, Zhang San raised his right hand and pointed up with his index finger.

"First of all, in war, the supreme importance is to ’subdue the enemy’s heart’! If we can make the enemy surrender directly, there’s no need for senseless slaughter. After all, the lives of our soldiers matter too. And the loss of weapons, armor, horses, and supplies, that’s money! Right?"

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials present nodded.

Even those who were not well-versed in warfare had seen similar statements in military texts.

"Therefore, let’s first release the over sixty thousand Tujue prisoners."

Everything seemed reasonable until this point, but at this sentence, everyone was dumbstruck.

Kaihuang’s eyes nearly popped out.

"After all, those sixty thousand mouths to feed, if not given food, are like announcing that our military supplies are limited and we can’t sustain a prolonged battle. To feed them, why on earth should we? Better to send them back and let Sharlobi pay for their ransom. Anyway, the money they are carrying is looted from our Great Sui’s land, so they will surely agree to exchange money for sixty thousand fresh troops!"

"But, before we release these sixty thousand Tujue prisoners, we need to give them a taste of the Sui Army’s ’cruelty’."

Zhang San, saying this, glanced at Wang Junwu and then at Changsun Wudiao.

"I’ve heard that General Wang Junwu of Jin River must eat Tujue’s flesh every meal, refusing to eat anything but human hearts?"

Wang Junwu caught on immediately and nodded, saying, "That’s right, I eat eight meals a day, twelve hearts each meal! Sometimes I need a midnight snack, which I call—’Heart quartet and lung split’!"

Zhang San said in a low voice, "There are Tujue corpses on the battlefield; let’s extract some hearts and actually cook them. Then make the Tujue bury those heartless corpses!"

Then, Zhang San looked at Changsun Wudiao and said, "I have also heard that the young general Changsun Wudiao of Longyun Path is skilled in archery, who daily uses Tujue as targets, insisting on hitting ten arrows per day, each arrow aimed right at the eyeballs, not too deep or too shallow, just piercing the eyeballs. Is that true?"

Changsun Wudiao grinned upon hearing this and said in a low voice, "Brother San, Brother Wang doesn’t have to actually eat, but my task really requires shooting!"

"Just tell me if you can shoot or not?"

Though Changsun Wudiao didn’t quite understand the logic, since it was Brother San’s idea, it was unlikely to be wrong, so he nodded.

Then, Zhang San bowed to Kaihuang and said, "Your Majesty, let’s send someone to discuss the release of the prisoners with the Tujue. After a few days, once the matter is settled, the seeds of fear will be sown in those sixty thousand Tujue. When we battle again, just the sight of ’Wang Junwu’s’ banner will make them tremble with fear, and seeing arrows etched with the word ’Changsun’ will drain their will to fight. This, is the art of subduing the heart!"