After Chu, Han and Yan withdrew their troops, Pang Juan led the Wei army out of Qi. He was haunted by the fact that he had been captured on the altar of the alliance and had been humiliated. He was silent and frowned all the way. When he was about to travel to the border of Wei, Pang Juan glanced sideways at Gongsun Yue, who was in the same car with him, and asked as if casually, “One of the two Qi generals who turned on me is Zhong Li Chun, can''t you see that?”
“Zhong Li Chun?” Gongsun Yue was startled and covered up, “No, it can''t be Zhong Li Chun!”
“I''ve already sent my detail to inquire, she is Zhong Li Chun.”
Gongsun Yue froze for a moment, then said, “Why didn''t I recognize her?”
Pang Juan sneered, “If you had recognized her, everything wouldn''t be the way it is now.”
Gongs Yueun could see that Pang Juan was beginning to doubt himself, so he changed the subject and asked, “Marshal, could it be that you''ve really admitted defeat?”
Pang Juan smiled slightly and asked in return, “What do you think?”
Gongsun Yue knew that Pang Juan was a person who refused to admit defeat easily, not to mention that he would never give up after being humiliated like this. So he said, “I just don''t understand why Marshal didn''t kill back to Qi at this time and catch Sun Bin off guard?”
“The time is not ripe.”
“What timing is the marshal referring to?”
“Heh, the heart of the army.”
Wei''s army set foot on their own land, and even though many of the soldiers felt stifled about withdrawing without a fight, they were still very happy to be back in their own country. It was night, and they made a bonfire, and while shouting loudly, they danced gaily and roughly.
Pang Juan came among the soldiers and greeted them casually, then sat around the bonfire with the soldiers and chatted about family matters.
He asked a young soldier sitting beside him, “Young man, are you happy to be back in Wei?”
The young soldier replied unabashedly, “That''s for sure, I can see my mother now.”
A soldier next to him interjected, “Hey, hey, and a beautiful daughter-in-law.”
The young soldier laughed in embarrassment and scolded, “Don''t be ridiculous, I''m not married yet, how can I have a daughter-in-law?”
The soldier quickly corrected, “It''s an unmarried daughter-in-law, right?”
The young soldier nodded with a red face, “Even if it is ......”
Pang Juan patted the young soldier''s shoulder and said, “When you get married, invite me, okay?”
The young soldier said excitedly, “Yes, yes, of course, I want to treat the Marshal to the most fragrant wine from our hometown.”
Pang Juan laughed, “We have a deal.” He turned sideways and asked a middle-aged soldier with a beard sitting on the other side, “What kind of people do you have in your family?”
The middle-aged soldier replied, “A wife and two sons.”
Pang Juan asked again, “Your family must be very happy to have you home?”
The middle-aged soldier nodded and said, “They are happy, I am not.”
Pang Juan was puzzled and asked, “Why are you not happy to see each other after a long time?”
The middle-aged soldier sighed and said, “What does going home say? Victory, or defeat? Both and neither. This battle is ...... holding my breath in my heart ......”
Pang Juan s face became very ugly, and he stood up violently.
The middle-aged soldier hastily stopped his words, glanced at Pang Juan, bowed and said, “Marshal, I speak straight, don''t take offense.”
Pang Juan sat down again, patted the middle-aged soldier''s shoulder, and said movingly, “I''m not blaming you, I''m blaming myself, I''m incapable of being a marshal, and I''m sorry for subjecting you all to the humiliation of Qi.”
“No, Marshal, we don''t blame you,” the middle-aged soldier busily said, ”You have led us through many victorious battles, you have made us, the soldiers of Wei, the greatest honor. This time, although Sun Bin''s plot succeeded, Marshal''s army didn''t lose, if Marshal leads us to kill back to Qi, we can definitely defeat the Qi people!”
The surrounding soldiers yelled:
“Marshal, we shouldn''t withdraw our army, we should fight our way back to Linzi!”
“Marshal, we should teach those Qi people a hard lesson!”
“Marshal, take us to fight back, we can definitely defeat the Qi people!”
“Marshal, take us to fight back ......”
Pang Juan was very touched, he arched his hand and saluted the soldiers, saying gratefully, “My good brothers, I thank you, thank you ......”
The middle-aged soldier said to Pang Juan, “Marshal, give the order, as long as you give the word, we will die to erase the humiliation that the Qi people have inflicted on us!”
Pang Juan shook his head, “We can''t go back to Qi ......”
“Is the marshal worried about losing his trust to the world?”
“No, I''d rather lose faith in the world than in my soldiers.”
“Then why?”
“You have been away from home for many days, your families miss you ......”
The middle-aged soldier was touched by Pang Juan''s words, and he said firmly to Pang Juan, “Without honor, we have no face to go home, Marshal should lead us to kill our way back to Qi and reclaim our honor!”
Pang Juan looked at the middle-aged soldier and then looked around at the soldiers and said, “I don''t know if all of my brothers are willing to kill their way back to Qi and reclaim their honor.”
The middle-aged soldier turned around violently, drew his sword and held it aloft, and said loudly, “Brothers, those who are willing to kill their way back to Qi and reclaim their honor, raise your weapons.”
The soldiers present raised the various weapons in their hands and shouted:
“Kill back Qi and reclaim the honor!”
“Kill back Qi and reclaim the honor!”
“......”
The shouts of the soldiers echoed for a long time in the vast wilderness.
Sensing that the time had come, Pang Juan led the vengeful Wei soldiers in a great rush to kill Qi again.
Wei''s army once again invaded Qi, King Wei of Qi urgently summoned Tian Ji and Sun Bin and said, “Pang Juan has betrayed his trust and betrayed his honor by invading my country again, I want to fight Pang Juan to the death. If I win, Wei will no longer be able to dominate the Central Plains; if Pang Juan wins, my country will be at rest. Therefore, we can only win, not lose. How do you two think we should deal with Pang Juan?”
Sun Bin said to King Wei of Qi: “Your Majesty, in order to defeat Pang Juan, you must grant us one condition.”
King Wei of Qi said, “As long as we can defeat Pang Juan, I''ll agree to ten conditions, not to mention one. Say it.”
Sun Bin said, “To defeat a strong enemy, we must concentrate our military power and unify our command, Your Majesty should concentrate the power to mobilize the army in the hands of General Tian and my humble servant, and by my servant, I mean all the armies of Qi.”
King Wei of Qi nodded slightly, “Yes.”
“Also, the daofengs in the court shall also follow the dispatch of General Tian & Weichen, giving men to men and food to food, and if there are any who do not follow, no matter who they are, General Tian & Weichen shall have the right to decapitate them first and then report them to the king.”
“Is this ...... necessary?” King Qi Wei was somewhat reluctant.
“There is.” Sun Bin''s attitude was resolute, “War is a matter of national importance, it can''t be won by the army alone, especially in such a big battle, the top and bottom, inside and outside, must be coordinated.”
King Qi Wei pondered for a moment and finally agreed to Sun Bin''s request.
Sun Bin and Tian Ji gathered the court''s Dafus and started to deploy the battle.
Sun Bin said to the Dafus, “At a time of national crisis, General Tian and I have been commissioned by the King to lead the army and courtiers to defeat the strong enemy. Sun Bin hopes that all the Dafu in the court will do their best to assist General Tian and I and defeat Pang Juan.” Sun Bin swept a glance at the crowd and called out, “Zou Xiang Guo.”
Zou Ji is a phase state under one person, no one has spoken to him in such a tone except for the King of Qi, so, with a disdainful look on his face, he didn''t even look at Sun Bin, and responded slowly, “Listening.”
Sun Bin, without showing his might, continued, “Zou Xiang Guo, come forward and listen to the order.”
Zou Ji stood without moving.
“My words, did you hear me?”
“Heard.” Zou Ji responded impatiently.
Sun Bin asked with a dignified face, “Then why don''t you come forward and listen to the order?”
Zou Ji sneered, “You''re not the Great King, there''s no need for me to come forward to listen to orders.”
“I am under the orders of the Great King, my orders are the orders of the Great King, please come forward to listen to the orders.”
“As a prime minister, I am under one person and above ten thousand people, to listen to orders here is already giving you a great deal of face, so don''t hold a personal vendetta and intentionally make things difficult for me.”
“This is not intentionally making things difficult, I am acting according to military orders. Please come forward to listen to orders.”
“What can I do if I don''t follow your military order?”
“You disobeyed a military order, you should have been beheaded, remembering that you have merited Qi, you can be spared the death penalty, but you can''t escape the living penalty.” Sun Bin said in a loud voice: “Are the palace guards available?”
Two palace guards walked up and said “Yes.”
Sun Bin ordered, “Pull Zou Ji out, tie him up in the market, and publicize him for three days.”
There was an outcry from the Dawgs:
“Military Master Sun is too bold, how dare he make the Prime Minister publicized in the street!”
“The army is like this, the military order is like a mountain to fall ......”
“But we''re not his soldiers ......”
Seeing the palace guards hesitating, Sun Bin snapped, “Do you hear me? Pull Zou Ji out, tie him to the market, and show him to the public for three days! Violate the order and behead him!”
“Wait!” At this moment, King Qi Wei walked out from the side door.
King Qi Wei came to Sun Bin and said “Master Sun, Zou Xiangguo is my meritocracy, you can''t tie him up and show him to the public.”
Sun Bin said, “Your Majesty, if I don''t severely punish Xiang Guo, I won''t be able to dispose of anyone else who disobeys military orders. If I don''t dispose of those who disobey the military order, the military order can''t be enforced, and if the military order can''t be enforced, how can I defeat the enemy?”
King Qi Wei said, “Can this ...... be a lighter punishment to save face for Xiang Guo?”
Sun Bin said, “I can save face for him, but Pang Juan won''t save face for me; to defeat Pang Juan, I can''t save face for anyone.”
King Qi Wei''s face gradually solidified and said “You won''t give my face either?”
Sun Bin said, “If the Great King wants to preserve Qi, the Great King''s face can''t be given; if the Great King doesn''t want to preserve Qi, the Great King''s face I can give.”
King Qi Wei looked at Sun Bin for a moment of silence and said with a sullen face very unpleasantly, “You see to it!” After saying that, he turned around and went into the back room again.
The palace guards followed Sun Bin''s order to frame Zou Ji away. Zou Ji shouted indignantly as he was leaving the palace gate “Sun Bin ...... come on!”
Sun Bin punished Zou Ji, and the other Dafus in the court, none of them dared to be slow to Sun Bin''s order, some supervised the city''s grain and grass, some were responsible for issuing weapons to the young and strong people, some were responsible for making bows and arrows and repairing the weapons and carriages....... All of them were mobilized in the court, and Linzi soon formed a military and civilian integrated combat system.
After Sun Bin finished arranging the fortifications in Linzi, he went to the Qi army camp dozens of miles away. Before he left, he instructed Tian Ji who stayed in Linzi to mainly defend and not to attack, if he had to attack, he would discuss with Qin Gu and then make a decision. Tian Ji promised to act according to the battle deployment.
Sun Bin came to the camp 20 miles away from Linzi and told Tian Guo and other generals about the battle deployment. Sun Bin told them: “Our camp and Linzi form a hand in hand, echoing each other. If Pang Juan sieges the camp with all his strength, he will be worried that General Tian will attack from the back; if he sieges Linzi, he will be worried that we will attack from the back; if he sieges both Linzi and the camp at the same time, it will be difficult for him to keep up his strength. Therefore, you can rest assured that he will never dare to throw his weight around and attack Linzi or the camp. Wei army came from afar, plus one to go back and forth, the soldiers have been exhausted, we hold out not to come out, drag Pang Juan, when the Wei army lack of food and grass, military fluctuations, we then fight with them, Wei army, although powerful, but also will be defeated undoubtedly.”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.In order to deal with Sun Bin''s one “city” and one “camp”, Pang Juan planned to bypass Sun Bin and besiege Linzi, mobilize Sun Bin to leave the camp and rescue Linzi, then fight Sun Bin outside the camp. Gongsun Yue thinks Sun Bin won''t fall for it, Pang Juan doesn''t think so and thinks the King of Qi will force him to fall for it.
Pang Juan''s army launched a fierce attack on Linzi city and fought above and below the city.
Tian got sullen and asked Sun Bin: “War Master, Pang Juan''s army is besieging Linzi, why don''t we send troops to help?”
“The art of war says: don''t move like a mountain.” Sun Bin replied.
“If Linzi is lost, we can''t account for it.”
“With the Great General around, Linzi won''t be lost.”
When Pang Juan saw that Sun Bin was holding his ground, he transferred another 5,000 soldiers to attack Linzi. Gongsun Yue suggests he move more troops to attack the city, Pang Juan disagrees, he wants to reserve enough troops to deal with Sun Bin.
As more and more Wei troops attacked the city, King of Qi was worried that Tian Ji couldn''t defend Linzi, and the court officials slandered Sun Bin for having other plans by keeping his troops still despite Linzi''s danger. King Qi Wei sent his palace guards out of the city and ordered Sun Bin to rescue Linzi immediately.
Sun Bin told the palace guard who went out to convey the king''s order that the Wei army is just bluffing and Linzi won''t be in danger. Before the palace guards returned to Linzi, Sun Bin specially instructed them: “Tell the king again that there are 5 ways to win, one of them is: the general is talented and the king doesn''t hold him back. I hope the Great King will trust it.”
When Pang Juan saw that Sun Bin didn''t send troops for a long time, he ordered his army to stop attacking Linzi and besiege Sun Bin''s camp, planning to lure Tian Ji to send troops and destroy him first. He said to Gongsun Yue: “You send more spies, mix into Linzi, spread rumors, say Sun Bin''s grain and grass is burned, people are restless, no more help, it''s hard to protect the camp.”
Gongsun Yue said, “I''m afraid Tian Ji won''t believe it.”
Pang Juan said meaningfully, “I''m not asking Tian Ji to believe it, I''m asking the King of Qi to believe it.”
King Wei of Qi really believed Pang Juan''s rumors, and he immediately summoned Tian Ji and ordered him to send troops to rescue the camp. Tian Ji advised King Qi Wei not to believe the rumors, Sun Bin valued grain and grass the most, grain and grass won''t go wrong easily. King of Qi Wei said to Tian Ji: “General Tian, in my opinion, regardless of whether the grain and grass matter is true or false, you should bring an army to attack Pang Juan from behind, so that it will be difficult for him to take care of his head and his tail, on the one hand, you can reduce Sun Bin''s pressure, and on the other hand, you can take advantage of the enemy''s confusion to send someone into the camp to understand the true situation.” Speaking of this, King Qi Wei said proudly, “How is it, my plan is no less than Sun Bin''s, right?”
“The Great King''s plan is indeed very good.” Tian Ji thought of Sun Bin''s instructions and explained to King Qi Wei, “But the military advisor said in his farewell that holding fast is the main thing, not attacking ......”
“General Tian,” King Qi Wei was very unhappy and interrupted him, ”No wonder you lost to Pang Juan several times, it''s because you are indecisive. The matter of sending out troops is decided by me.”
Tian Ji was pressured by the King of Qi and intended to go out to war, Qin Gu disagreed and said to Tian Ji, “The Great King once said that all matters of war are decided by generals and military advisors.”
“After all, the Great King is the Great King; how can I disobey him?”
“If this causes the military division''s battle deployment to fall through, who will be responsible?”
“I am responsible.”
“You can''t afford it! The entire Qi state can''t afford it!”
Tian Ji was silent for a moment and said, “Alright, let''s proceed as planned.”
When Tian Ji did not send out his troops, Gongsun Yue said to Pang Juan, “We underestimated Tian Ji.”
“Not underestimated, but overestimated, Tian Ji simply doesn''t have the guts to go out of the city, even if the King of Qi wanted to kill him, he wouldn''t dare.” Pang Juan said, picked up a bottle of wine and drank it all in one go, then bit into a large piece of meat.
Gongsun Yue, seeing Pang Juan so calm and relaxed, thought he had an idea and asked, “Marshal, do you have an idea?”
Pang Juan shook his head with a bitter smile and said, “It''s even less of an idea if I don''t eat or drink.” He poured a bottle of wine and handed it to Gongsun Yue, “Come, let''s drink together.”
On the other side, Sun Bin and Tian Guo were also drinking. Tian Guo drank a bottle of wine, wiped his mouth and said, “Military Counselor, I count myself convinced of you, some people say you anticipate things like a god, but I think a god is no better than that.”
“General Tian Guo, you''ve learned to flatter people too.” Sun Bin said with an amused smile.
“It''s not flattery, it''s true ......” Tian Guo took a sip of wine, ”It''s just that you''re so powerful that everyone is afraid of you and doesn''t dare to talk to you, and I mean from the heart... ...”
“Could it be that General Tian has something in his heart? There''s no harm in saying it.”
“Hehehe,” Tian Guo drank another large mouthful of wine and laughed nervously in embarrassment, ”Military Master, ah, I''m a person who can''t stand it in my heart if I don''t fight in a war, and it''s so unbearable to watch the Wei soldiers hanging around in front of us these past few days, especially when they''re pointing at our faces and cursing us for being cowards. I hate that I can not rush out and kill a pain ...... But for the sake of the big picture, I can only ''not move like a mountain'' and honestly get scolded ...... Military division, can you give us a chance to go out to Relieve hatred, even if it''s just a very little bit of a chance.”
“To be honest, I also want to go out and fight a battle, but my legs ......” Sun Bin said, looking down at his legs, thinking for a moment, suddenly raised his head, and said to Tian Guo, ”General Tian Guo, we''ll go out to battle tonight .”
Tian Guo was a bit incredulous and asked, “Warlord, you''re not kidding, right?”
Sun Bin replied seriously, “There are no jokes in the military.”
Tian Guo happily slapped his thigh, “Great! Military Master, what do you say to fight?”
“You take a few hundred of your best soldiers and sneak up on the Wei army and tell them to have no peace.”
It was night, another bonfire was lit inside the Wei army camp, and the Wei soldiers sat around the bonfire, silently listening to a piece of music filled with homesickness, and that tall middle-aged soldier was among them. The soldier next to him asked him if he was homesick, and he said, “Of course I want to, originally I wanted to win a battle and go home in style, but I didn''t realize that nowadays, I can''t fight, and I can''t leave ......”
Suddenly an arrow shot over from the night, the young soldier who was preparing to go home to marry his new daughter-in-law fell headlong to the ground. Immediately after that, a rain of arrows shot over.
The arrows were shot by Tian''s soldiers, who wore the armor of Wei''s soldiers, and while shooting arrows, they shouted, “Qi''s army is coming! The Qi army is coming!”
In an instant, the Wei military camp was in chaos, and a fire was also started, burning down many tents. Many Wei soldiers died in the chaos, and the tall middle-aged soldier also died.
The next morning, the Wei camp was quiet. Pang Juan''s face was blue as he stood in front of a burnt out tent and watched the bodies of soldiers being carried past in front of him. He saw the body of the middle aged soldier, stopped the people carrying the body, went forward and held the middle aged soldier s hand, tears streaming down his face, and said, “Brother, I am sorry for you .......”
He drew his sword and pointed to the sky, swearing, “If I don''t take this revenge, I, Pang Juan, am a man in vain!”
The Wei generals stormed the Qi camp with hatred. The Qi soldiers, on the other hand, retreated inside the fence wall made of round logs, and very orderly shot arrows outward in alternating rows one after another. The first Wei soldiers were hit by arrows and fell down, and the ones behind them stepped over the dead bodies and continued to charge towards the Qi camp. The sound of shouting and killing and the clash of weapons inside and outside the Qi camp was terrifying ......
Qin Gu learned that Pang Juan had attacked the Qi camp and urged Tian Ji to send troops. Tian Ji asked, “Pang Juan won''t be fraudulent, right?”
Qin Gu said, “I reckon not. Pang Juan was dragged by the military division, and it is easy to lose one''s head in a hurry; moreover, he thought that the great general did not dare to attack. So ......” said Qin Gu, only to see Tian Ji threw back his head and laughed, ”I am not afraid, is the timing is not.” Immediately, he led his army out of the city to attack Pang Juan.
When Pang Juan heard that Tian Ji had marched out, he was shocked and quickly calmed down. He asked his detail: “How many men did Tian Ji send out?”
The agent replied, “A great number, as many as 300 horse-drawn carriages.”
Pang Juan sneered, “I''ll tell them to come back.”
Pang Juan immediately ordered the Wei troops to evacuate the Qi camp and Sun Bin knew that Tian Ji had marched out.
Tian said to Sun Bin: “Warlord, are we going to raid behind Pang Juan as well?”
Sun Bin said, “No, we''re still ‘not moving like a mountain’.”
Pang Juan attempted to block Tian Ji outside the city for a duel, urging his soldiers to advance at a brisk pace along the way. The soldiers were out of breath from running, and with all the tossing and turning over the past few days, they were on the verge of physical exhaustion. Unbeknownst to him, Tian Ji had already withdrawn to Linzi, and on his return he smiled at Qin Gu and said, “Falsehoods, true falsehoods, this hand of the military counselor, I have also learned.”
Afterwards, Pang Juan was infuriated, angrily questioned the details of the report: “You lied about the military situation, what should be the crime?”
“Yuan ...... Marshal, I saw Tian Ji go out of Linzi ...... with my own eyes Who thought that they went back again halfway ......” The fine work stammered and answered.
“You only have long eyes, not long brain, keep you what have?” Pang Juan said indifferently, giving instructions to the guards beside him, “Pull out and kill.” After disposing of the spies, Pang Juan orders the entire army to eat at cock-crow tomorrow morning and gear up for battle.
“Marshal, will we still fight tomorrow?” Gongsun Yue asked Pang Juan.
“What do you think?” Pang Juan asked in return.
Gongs Yueun thought about it, understood and sighed, “Marshal, you should have killed Sun Bin in the first place.”
Pang Juan slanted a glance at Gongsun Yue and said, “Are you saying that I''m no match for him?”
“No. In today''s world, only you two are worthy opponents. But this time, it''s hard for the Marshal to win, it''s just that we can''t help that our soldiers are too tired ......”
Sun Bin is playing chess alone in his tent, he looks at the board in front of him and says to Tian Guo who is sitting beside him, “Pang Juan will surely withdraw his army tomorrow, you''ll lead your whole army to tail and pursue, are you sure you can defeat Pang Juan?”
Tian Guo laughed: “With my army, I can''t be sure that I will win if I follow Pang Juan''s laborious and exhausting journey. It''s just that we shouldn''t tail and fight, we should intercept Pang Juan and completely destroy the Wei army.”
Sun Bin said, “Sun Tzu said: don''t curb the returning division. The enemy is eager to return to their country, if they are stopped, they will fight to the death, not only will we fail to destroy the enemy, but we will be hit by the enemy, which is not worth the loss. Therefore, it is sufficient for us to tail and pursue.” He said and placed a piece on the chessboard.
The next day, Pang Juan really withdrew his troops, and Tian led the Qi army to tail and pursue, and once again defeated the Wei army.
Note: The phrase “Conserve Energy and Wait for the Exhausted Enemy” is from “Sun Tzu''s Art of War”, this is the fourth of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, the idea is to make sure that you keep your strength and force the enemy to be exhausted and in an unfavorable position, so as to win over the enemy. Sun Bin was immovable as a mountain, waiting for the enemy to get tired, and defeated Pang Juan again. To know how Pang Juan will fight with Sun Bin next time, please read next time: “Creating something out of nothing”.