Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 1557 - 1500: Chen Xi’s First Move

"Minister of Ceremonies suggests bringing them to our side?" Chen Xi inquired.

"This situation clearly indicates it’s time to choose sides. Back when I was in Youzhou, many Hu People deeply admired the Central Plains culture. But to be honest, the ones I truly trust are only Su Puyan and Jian Weiju, King of Fuyu." Liu Yu wasn’t naive; although treating the Hu People with conciliatory measures, he still knew which tribe was his own.

"And I’ve personally come to Youzhou to give confidence to Su Puyan and Jian Weiju," Liu Yu sighed and said. "After all, the two combined have over 400,000 men. If they follow the Northern Huns, it would be detrimental to us."

"Indeed." Chen Xi nodded; amid the Han and Huns dynamic, if the Hu People side with the Huns in the current situation, it would indeed be troubling for the Han Dynasty.

"Has Marquis Chen ever devised a strategy?" Liu Yu was quite courteous to Chen Xi and showed no signs of seniority.

"I know the latest map north of Liaodong better than the Huns. My initial plan was to leverage aristocratic family power to survey the Northeastern Plain on one hand, and utilize aristocratic family elites to acquire accurate maps of the north in advance, in preparation for moving westward from north of Liaodong to confront the Royal Court of the Hu People," Chen Xi did not hide much in front of Liu Yu.

Of course, Chen Xi didn’t mention that he initially had Yuan Shu lead a bunch of aristocratic family elites north to survey the Northeastern Plain, spending months to draw an accurate map of that place as preparation for dealing with the Yuan Family and Northern Huns.

Originally, in Chen Xi’s impression, the Northern Huns would head south from Bingzhou, so his initial thought was to inform everyone of this fact, inciting a collective attack on the Huns by the Central Plains. Thereafter, relying on the pre-obtained maps, to go through the Northeast and circle behind the Northern Huns, mimicking the exploits of the Champion Marquis from earlier years.

According to Chen Xi’s estimation at the time, attacking the empty rear of the Northern Huns could quickly yield results, and it would rapidly conclude the initially stalemated frontline battles. Thereafter, a pincer attack would basically ensure a complete end to the long-standing three-hundred-year war between Han and Huns.

However, lately, things haven’t gone as one would wish, but it hasn’t been too bad. The most accurate map of the Northeastern Plain is now in Chen Xi’s hands, and he isn’t intimidated in terms of the terrain.

In addition, according to Chen Xi’s estimation, if the Northern Huns aren’t foolish, there’s a high possibility that members of the Northern Huns are making incursions across the Northeastern Plain, because that area is rich in water and grass, has abundant flora and fauna, and is easy to defend. If the Northern Huns have any brains, choosing it in the summer is almost a natural choice.

Thus, the people of the Central Plains, who obtained the map first, still have a slight advantage over the Northern Huns, who haven’t returned for hundreds of years and have finally come back this year, in terms of terrain.

This is why Chen Xi said the situation isn’t too bad. After all, as long as they set foot on the Northeastern Plain, they still have some advantage. The problem is to be able to step on it. The place where the Northern Huns and the Han Dynasty clash has something of a north-south blockade emerging. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

As for the sea, Zhou Yu would have to exert a lot of heart power just to land, and the Northern Huns, after suffering countless losses, have thoroughly learned to defend tenaciously.

Thus, from the beginning, Chen Xi didn’t focus on Zhou Yu. To easily surpass the Northern Huns, there’s only one possibility, which is to implement the Wei Huo method. Simply put, it’s to resist the main force of the Huns head-on, then send a group to wreak havoc behind the Huns.

Strike until the Huns’ main force has to divert attention, then seize the opportunity in direct combat to completely defeat them.

The problem this time is that the Northern Huns are very well prepared, making it difficult to bypass the main forces of the Northern Huns head-on. The only possible direction to bypass is the route that Ma Chao took to the Northern Desert to attack the Xianbei Royal Court.

However, on that route, there are Qiang People who can guide you to the Xianbei Royal Court, but beyond that, entering the prairie north of Youzhou, not to mention the Qiang People and Ma Chao, Chen Xi doesn’t even have a map on hand.

Furthermore, if Chen Xi’s inference isn’t wrong, the Northern Huns must have cleared the land of the Eastern Xianbei. Even if Ma Chao and others have a map, unless they can maintain combat power by eating dirt along the way, starving would be the only option.

Playing integration and scorched earth tactics with the Northern Huns on the Great Prairie, even a genius tactician like Huo Qubing could only starve. Not to mention others.

In summary, after acquiring a general understanding of the Northern Huns’ situation, Chen Xi has become much more cautious about this southward movement of the Northern Huns. This time, the capability displayed by the Northern Huns was more about brains rather than just their usual bravery.

In Chen Xi’s view, the Northern Huns have basically sealed off all possible reasons for failure at a strategic level, leaving only a path of tactical confrontation or direct head-on collision.

Liu Yu wasn’t a fool either. Hearing this from Chen Xi, he realized what Chen Xi had in mind. This plan might be considered average, a typical strategy to make flowers bloom on trees. However, the impressive part lies in Chen Xi having obtained the maps in advance.

"Even the oldest stratagem, as long as it’s effective, is a good one," Liu Yu was very earnest.

"Previously, I was considering engaging the Northern Huns near the Ru River to draw their attention. But now it’s simpler. However, given the current situation, the Northern Huns’ defenses are so well-prepared that even if I act, the results might not meet my expectations," Chen Xi sighed and said.

To be honest, when warfare scales to tens of thousands, the strategist’s value is more about creating opportunities. The decisive factors have turned to organizational power, troop quality, command and dispatch, and logistics.

Chen Xi’s original thought was to create a decisive opportunity, but from the current understanding, the level of caution the Northern Huns have is somewhat unexpected. However, thinking back, it is understandable. Chen Xi didn’t anticipate the Northern Huns waging war on Youzhou back then.

To be precise, all the decisive measures Chen Xi added back then were tailored for the Northern Huns’ war on Bingzhou. Unfortunately, after the battlefield shifted, these methods became somewhat useless.

But in any case, it was prepared. Otherwise, if the Northern Huns had suddenly moved south, the situation for Chen Xi might be worse than for Jia Xu now.

At least Chen Xi can still grasp the current rhythm of the battle and predict a few moves ahead like a chess player. In contrast, those like Jia Xu who are on the front lines against the Northern Huns have very little strategic foresight in the short term.

Even those like Chen Gong need to adjust a bit to orchestrate the situation from a whole perspective. After all, without understanding the Northern Huns’ situation, how could one strive for superiority in the world? At this moment, probably nine-tenths of the civil and military officials think about gaining short-term advantages first.

After all, in the absence of a clear big picture, all victories are precursors to the larger situation ahead.

The first battle with the Han and Huns’ clear banners, no matter who wins or loses, will greatly affect the subsequent situation. Aside from the strategic level, the level of tactics in this battle alone will have a significant impact on the future dynamics between the Han and the Huns.