As night fell, Zhong Li Chun quietly left Chenggao and traveled only through the Wei army camp to the tent of Crown Prince Han, thirty miles away. She questioned the Crown Prince: “Great General, Chenggao is in danger, why are you holding back your troops? Are you afraid of Pang Juan!”


    The Crown Prince was most afraid of being told that he was afraid of Pang Juan, and said angrily, “There is no one in the world that I am afraid of!”


    Zhong Li Chun pressed the Crown Prince and said, “If you are not afraid, why don''t you send troops?”


    The Crown Prince said coldly, “I must act cautiously.”


    Shen Dafu said to the Crown Prince on the side, “Being cautious is not the same as pressing ...... Pang Juan''s soldiers are more numerous than ours, but he has surrounded Chenggao on all sides, and his troops are bound to be dispersed, so if we follow the plan in the military advisor''s letter and send a portion of the army, bluffing in the other three directions, and then gathering our troops and attacking one side of it If you follow the plan in the military advisor''s letter, send part of the army to bluff in the other three directions, and then gather troops and attack one side, you will be able to break Pang Juan''s encirclement and send the army and food into Chenggao. With food and enough troops, we will not be afraid that Pang Juan will continue to besiege Chenggao, and then we will send troops to attack his grain routes, so that Pang Juan''s 100,000-strong army will not be able to stay outside Chenggao for long, and the siege of Chenggao will be solved.”


    The Crown Prince said to Dr. Shen, “Dr. Shen, it''s easy to say, but harder to do. Pang Juan won''t let us get what we want.”


    Zhong Li Chun said in no uncertain terms, “If you don''t do it, you''ll be even less able to get what you want!”


    “How do you know I won''t do it? I have another brilliant plan.”


    “What brilliant plan?”


    “Wait for Pang Juan to attack the city. If he attacks the city, he will definitely expose his weak points, and then I will go out to battle again, won''t I be more sure of winning?”


    Hearing such a “brilliant plan”, Zhong Li Chun immediately became furious: “Pang Juan won''t attack the city at all, he wants to trap Mr. Sun to death in Chenggao!”


    “Oh, Military Counselor''s brilliant plan, is there no way for him to make Pang Juan attack the city?” The Crown Prince said leisurely.


    Zhong Li Chun pressed down the urge to punch someone and said angrily to the Crown Prince, “If you''re afraid of Pang Juan, just say so, there''s no need to beat around the bush like this!”


    The Crown Prince''s temper has always been fiery, but this time, he was instead very composed, he said nonchalantly, “It''s useless for you to provoke me any further, as a great general, I have to be responsible for my tens of thousands of troops.”


    “You should also be responsible for Chenggao!”


    “Of course I should be responsible for Chenggao, if not I won''t come.”


    “How can you be responsible if you don''t go to war?”


    The Crown Prince brought the conversation back around and said, “I have already said just now that as long as Pang Juan attacks the city, I will go to war.”


    Zhong Li Chun really couldn''t stand it anymore, pointing at the Crown Prince''s face and cursing, “King Han really has no eyes when he lets someone like you be a great general!”


    “How dare you!” The Crown Prince finally couldn''t help himself and said angrily to Zhong Li Chun, “You dare to insult the Great General, you will be punished by military law!”


    Zhong Li Chun ignored the Crown Prince and turned around and left the tent.


    Dr. Shen was worried that it would be hard to clean up the situation, so he comforted the Crown Prince and said, “Great General, Miss Zhong Li has this kind of temper, so don''t be offended.”


    After Dr. Shen finished persuading the Crown Prince, he caught up with Zhong Li Chun and said, “The Crown Prince has a stubborn temper, and even nine horses can''t pull him back from what he has decided. You go back and ask the military division to think of a way to lure Pang Juan into attacking the city, by then, if the Crown Prince still doesn''t go to war, not to mention that I won''t agree to it, the whole army won''t agree to it either.”


    Zhong Li Chun thought about it, it''s the only way, and sighed, “Alright, I''ll go back and let the gentleman try.”


    When Zhong Li Chun was late in returning, Sun Bin had trouble sleeping, he took his guards up to the city wall and waited for Zhong Li Chun to return. In the distance a little campfire reflects the Wei army''s tents, but Zhong Li Chun is still missing in the vast wilderness.


    Sun Bin is still waiting on the city wall as the day is about to dawn and there is light in the east. The guards advised him with concern: “Master, go back.”


    Sun Bin didn''t seem to hear a thing.


    The guard added: “It''s so foggy and your legs are bad, you''ve been standing for so long, if Miss Zhong Li sees you, she''ll complain about me.”


    Sun Bin looked into the distance and said, “Do you think Miss Zhong Li can come back today?”


    The guard said with certainty: “Yes, if Miss Zhong Li says she''ll be back, she''ll definitely be back.”


    Sun Bin lamented, “She''s carrying the weight of the entire city''s military and people, I need to see her sooner, let''s wait a little longer, okay?”


    “You''re the military master, you call the shots.” The guard pouted his lips.


    “What?” Sun Bin looked at the guard and snickered, “Unhappy ...... Well, let''s go.”


    The guard was a bit embarrassed and said, “It''s not that I''m not happy, I''m afraid that Miss Zhong Li will be upset, last time I didn''t dare to take a look at her for a few days because of the dampness in your leg.”


    “Is she that scary?” Sun Bin asked curiously.


    “It''s not scary, she loves you with all her heart, if you''re not feeling well she can''t eat well, she can''t sleep well, and those of us who are guards feel sorry for her.”


    Sun Bin fell silent, there are many kinds of love, but Zhong Li Chun''s love is the kind of love that comes from the bottom of his heart, he couldn''t help but feel his heart fluttering.


    When Sun Bin passed by a corner of the city wall, he noticed something suspicious: a man with a scar on his face said something to a strong man named Zhao, Zhao abandoned the defense of the city and left cursing the general named Feng. Sun Bin sent his guards to spy on that “Scarface”.


    At dawn, Sun Bin limped back to his place. The guard caught up with Sun Bin and told him that Scar-face and Zhao are both city guards under General Feng. Sun Bin plans to go to General Feng after dinner, the sooner this element of trouble is resolved the better.


    With the help of his guards, Sun Bin limped back to his quarters. Zhong Li Chun has already returned and is here waiting for Sun Bin, she sees Sun Bin seems like his leg sickness is back and anxiously asks “What''s wrong with you?”


    Sun Bin tried his best to hide it and said “Nothing.”


    Zhong Li Chun asked the guard after her, “What''s wrong with Mr. Sun?”


    “I said it''s nothing.” Sun Bin coughed lightly from the sidelines.


    “I didn''t ask you.” Zhong Li Chun glared at Sun Bin without a good look before asking the guard again, “Tell me, what''s going on?”


    The guard only had to say truthfully, “The military division went to the southeast city wall to wait for you and stood there for half the night ......”


    “Alas, you,” Zhong Li Chun complained heartily about Sun Bin, ”I didn''t keep you from waiting ......”


    “I''m not at ease.”


    A few four words made Zhong Li Chun''s heart surge with warmth.


    Sun Bin asked about the Crown Prince''s situation and Zhong Li Chun immediately got angry and said, “Ch, don''t mention it, I really hate that I can''t slap him twice. The Crown Prince doesn''t know whose ecstasy he ate, no matter how much me and Dr. Shen said, he insisted, he had to wait for Pang Juan to attack the city before he would go out to battle.”


    “So, as long as Pang Juan doesn''t attack the city, he won''t go to war?” Sun Bin pondered.


    “Yes.”


    “Hmph, I know whose idea this was.”


    “Whose idea?”


    Sun Bin waved his hand and didn''t say who it was.


    At that moment, a general ran to report, “Warlord, it''s bad, someone is robbing the grain.”


    Sun Bin was shocked and asked, “What kind of people rob food?”


    The general said, “The young and strong people guarding the city.”


    Sun Bin hurriedly rushed to the grain depot with Zhong Li Chun.


    The one who led the trouble at the granary was that Zhao Strongman, Scarface was there too. Zhao Zhuangshi led dozens of men armed with weapons and sticks gathered at the entrance of the granary compound and pounded on the door.


    Strongman Zhao shouted at the door, “If you don''t open the door, we''ll bang on it!”


    The soldiers guarding inside the gate of the grain depot did not answer.


    With a wave of his hand, Strongshooter Zhao shouted, “Ram the door!”


    The hanzi door pushed the logs and crashed into the door ...... one time, and then another time, and the door began to shake.


    “Brothers!” Zhao Zhuangshi shouted, “One more push and we''ll have food ......”


    The hans slammed into the gate once more.


    The gate was almost smashed open.


    Scarface shouted at the top of his voice, “Almost there, step it up!”


    Just then, Sun Bin''s carriage came rushing in with Zhong Li Chun on board. Many soldiers with bows and arrows and halberds followed close behind. As soon as the soldiers arrived outside the grain depot courtyard, they surrounded the troublemaking hans, bows and arrows in their hands aimed at the hans.


    The hans panicked for a moment, and some quietly lowered their weapons.


    Zhao Zhuangshi said in a loud voice: “What''s the point of panicking? The big deal is death, starving to death is still death, beating to death is still death, pick up all your weapons!”


    The Han who threw down their weapons picked them up again.


    Sun Bin stood on the cart, looked at Strongman Zhao and asked, “Strongman, as the commander-in-chief of the city defense, I had warned all the city''s soldiers and civilians that anyone who robs food will be beheaded, do you know that?”


    “Know.”


    “Then why did you gather a crowd to rob grain?”


    “If you don''t rob food, you will starve to death.”


    “Nonsense,” Sun Bin refuted, ”All the people, especially the young and strong men defending the city, get a share of grain every day, and although they can only be 80% full, they''ll never starve to death.”


    Zhao Zhuangshi laughed coldly, said, “You say good, we these people can only get half a portion of food a day, in the long run, although not to starve to death, but also unable to defend the city, if the enemy attacked the city, it is difficult to avoid a death.”


    “Are you telling the truth?”


    “If there is half a lie, I would rather be split into five horse corpses.”


    “Is the general who commands you General Feng?”


    “So what if it is?”


    Sun Bin gave an order to the general under the car, “Take him away.”


    The general waved his hand and two soldiers stepped forward to capture Strong Zhao, Strong Zhao swung his large axe in his hand, knocking the weapon out of the soldier''s hands and glaring angrily, “How dare you!”


    Before the words fell, Zhong Li Chun flew forward from the car, within three to five strokes, he seized the big axe in Zhao Zhuangshi''s hand, and his long sword went straight to Zhao Zhuangshi''s throat, Zhao Zhuangshi and the men behind him were dumbfounded. The soldiers came forward and tied up Zhao Zhuangshi.


    Sun Bin said to the hans, “You guys go back, I''ll tell General Feng to replenish your food.” As Sun Bin spoke he saw Scarface again, who was peeking at Sun Bin ...... A scheme came to Sun Bin''s mind.


    Zhao Strongman was brought to Sun Bin''s warlord''s mansion, he was ready to be beheaded, but Sun Bin surprisingly untied him personally and rewarded him with silver, which made Zhao Strongman puzzled.


    Sun Bin guiltily said to Zhao Zhuangshi: “Zhuangshi, don''t blame General Feng, it was me who told him to withhold your food. Do you know why I did that?”


    “Could it be that ...... there is not enough food?”


    “There''s plenty of food in the city, you won''t be able to eat for three months.”


    “If that''s the case, why is the military division withholding our food?” Zhao Zhuangshi was a bit angry.


    Sun Bin said, “To force you to rob the grain.”


    Zhao Strongman was confused.


    Sun Bin explained to Zhao Strongman: “Actually, this is a plan of mine. Pang Juan thought that the city doesn''t have much food and grass and it won''t take long for us to be captured, so he surrounded the city but didn''t attack. In fact, there is plenty of food and grass in the city, we won''t be able to use it all in three months.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.If he knows we have enough food and provisions, he will definitely attack the city in force. Although the Crown Prince''s army has already arrived outside the city, only the Country of Han army is not enough to defeat Pang Juan, and we must wait for reinforcements from the State of Qin. What worries me most is that Pang Juan will attack the city at this time, so I asked General Feng to withhold your grain and force you to rob it. When word of this reaches Pang Juan, he is convinced that the city will run out of grain and will wait patiently. If we drag this out, the Qin reinforcements will arrive, and Pang Juan will surely be defeated by then.”


    Zhao Zhuangshi listened to this and was convinced, exclaimed “No wonder people say that Military Counselor has thousands of brilliant plans, even though Pang Juan has an army of 100,000, he can''t beat the Military Counselor.”


    Sun Bin smiled faintly: “Words are overstated, it''s up to everyone to defeat Pang Juan.”


    Zhao Zhuangshi got rewarded for inciting the grain robbery, it was really a fall to pick up gold, although Sun Bin repeatedly instructed Zhao Zhuangshi not to tell anyone when he got back, Zhao Zhuangshi still told Scarface about this strange event, Scarface felt puzzled, he thought to himself, where did Chenggao get so much grain? If Chenggao really has plenty of grain, he must tell Pang Juan as soon as possible, he can''t drag on like this with Sun Bin outside Chenggao.


    Sun Bin dismissed Zhao Zhuangshi and immediately ordered his guards to call General Feng and the others to the warlord''s mansion and sternly reprimanded: “If it wasn''t for the fact that I''m in dire need of men in the face of a great enemy, you all deserve to be killed one by one!”


    The generals defended: “Master, we didn''t eat more than one bite of food, the food we withheld was given to the soldiers, it''s hard for the soldiers to defend the enemy if they don''t have enough to eat ...... Master, we are also trying to hold Chenggao!”


    Sun Bin said in a serious voice: “What do you rely on to defend Chenggao? We can''t rely only on our 5,000 soldiers, we have to rely on the people of the city to work together! But what about you guys, if you push the people, it won''t take Pang Juan, the people will drown us like a flood!” He took a breather and continued, “Forget it this time, I won''t punish you all, including General Feng. By the way, General Feng, among the people in your division, is there a person with a scar on his face?”


    General Feng thought for a moment and said, “Is it a tall skinny guy, about thirty years old?”


    Sun Bin nodded and asked, “Is his family in the city?”


    “No, he lives outside the city, he entered the city just before Pang Juan''s army surrounded it.”


    “He may be a spy sent by Pang Juan.”


    “Spy?” General Feng was stunned, “Warlord, I''ll go arrest him.”


    Sun Bin smiled faintly, “No, we''re going to use him.”


    At night, General Feng gathered the hans who were robbing food under his command, Zhao Zhuangshi and Scarface were there. General Feng smiled coldly and said to the crowd, “You guys have made a name for yourselves, you''ve done a good job, the military division rewarded me with fifty army clubs to redeem myself! If you guys make another mistake, I won''t just get fifty army sticks, but kill my head ...... Humph, in order to save my head, if any of you in the future if you make half a mistake, I will kill his head first!”


    The crowd did not know what General Feng meant by this and looked at each other.


    General Feng''s tone eased a bit and said, “However, I should also thank you all, it doesn''t matter if you all make such a mess, the military division has promised to share more food with us, so that everyone can fill their stomachs.”


    The crowd raised their heads again and looked at General Feng suspiciously.


    General Feng swept a glance at the crowd and said, “Remember, this matter must not be told to anyone outside of you, if anyone leaks the news, don''t blame me for being ruthless!”


    General Feng led the hans to the granary to collect the grain, at this time there were several wagons full of grain sacks parked at the entrance of the granary, some hans were unloading the sacks from the wagons and carrying them into the compound. The general in charge of the granary told General Feng to wait for a while, and after unloading the grain, he would distribute the grain to them. However, just as these wagons finished unloading, several more wagons loaded with grain came.


    Scarface came to the front of the wagons and pretended to casually probe and look inside the door. The general who was looking after the grain store came over and slapped him, “What are you looking at, there''s no grain inside.”


    Scarface asked in disbelief, “How is there no grain, isn''t that a lot?”


    The general boarded up his face, “If you keep talking nonsense, I''ll kill you!”


    The general who was watching the granary was afraid that the hans would cause further trouble, so he distributed the grain on the wagon to them and sent them back. General Feng pulled the general watching the granary aside and asked in a low voice, “Where did you get so much grain?”


    The general guarding the granary also replied in a low voice, “You forgot, the last time we collected grain, we were almost blocked outside the city by Pang Juan''s army, thanks to the military master''s empty city plan ......”


    “Didn''t you say that those grains weren''t brought in?”


    “That''s what the Military Master intended for us to say, for Pang Juan ......”


    Scarface walked past the two generals carrying the grain bags, which the two generals had intentionally said to Scarface.


    General Feng stared at the walking Scarface with his afterglow, an imperceptible smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.


    Scarface wanted to leave the city to report the news to Pang Juan, but he was afraid that Sun Bin was deceiving him, so he stayed behind and wanted to see the situation again. In order to force Scarface to leave Chenggao as soon as possible, Sun Bin asked General Feng to track down spies all over the city and put the word out that someone suspected Scarface was a spy.


    Scarface couldn''t wait any longer and quietly slipped out of Chenggao and returned to Pang Juan''s tent and told him about the news that Chenggao had plenty of food. Pang Juan thought twice and decided to attack the city.


    Pang Juan''s army attacked Chenggao, and the Country of Han defenders resisted to the death, with arrows flying up and down Chenggao and blood flowing.


    The Crown Prince of Han wanted to wait a little longer. Dr. Shen questioned the Crown Prince, “How much longer do we have to wait, do we have to wait until Chenggao is in the enemy''s hands?”


    “With Sun Bin, Chenggao will not fall.” The Crown Prince laughed.


    “Sun Bin only has 5,000 men under his command, Pang Juan has 100,000 men, if we don''t go to war, Pang Juan will surely attack the city with all his might, Chenggao will be in danger!”


    “Dr. Shen is too worried, Pang Juan will not attack the city with all his might.” The Prince still insisted on his view.


    Dr. Shen pushed down the fire in his heart and said, “Why not? If we don''t move, Pang Juan will have nothing to worry about and will definitely attack the city with all his might.”


    The Prince was silent.


    Dr. Shen added, “If Great General is really afraid of Pang Juan, then give me 10,000 men and I will go.”


    The Crown Prince was a bit embarrassed and retorted, “I''m afraid of Pang Juan? Ask my soldiers, who have I ever been afraid of when I''ve been fighting in the battlefield?”


    “If you''re not afraid, why don''t you go to war?”


    “Do you think I don''t want to fight?” The Crown Prince said, aggrieved and helpless, “It''s my father who won''t let me engage Pang Juan in battle.”


    It was only then that Dr. Shen came to a realization, followed by an inexplicable feeling of sadness, “If you won''t allow us to fight, then what did you send us here for? Is it really to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight? If the king does this, can he stand up to the military counselor? Can you stand up to the five thousand soldiers? Can you stand up to the people of Chenggao?”


    After Shen Dafu said that, seeing that the Crown Prince still had no intention to go to war, he sighed: “Great General, I don''t have the power to mobilize the army, but I do have the power to conquest, if your army doesn''t go to war, I''ll go myself!”


    Seeing that he could not dissuade Shen Dafu, the crown prince ordered his soldiers to tie up Shen Dafu. Shen Dafu shouted angrily, “Crown Prince, you fear of death! Pang Juan has scared the guts out of you!”


    “If you dare to say I''m afraid of death again, I''ll kill you!” The Crown Prince snapped.


    “What kind of skill is it for you to kill me?” Dafu Shen laughed up in the air. “If you have the ability, go kill Pang Juan ...... Hmph, you wouldn t dare even if you were scared out of your dog''s guts!”


    The soldiers had just taken Dr. Shen down when General Wu also came to ask the Crown Prince to fight. The Crown Prince said to General Wu without any good humor, “Whether to go to war or not is something I consider, your responsibility is to listen to my orders!”


    General Wu said, “I can listen to the Great General''s orders, but if I delay going to war, my soldiers will not listen to my orders!”


    The Crown Prince angrily said, “Kill anyone who dares to disobey orders!”


    General Wu said indifferently, “The soldiers are disobeying orders, can you kill them all?”


    Without waiting for the Crown Prince to answer, several more generals walked in and they said to the Crown Prince, “Great General, if you don''t go to war, the soldiers under my command will take liberties!”


    The Crown Prince drew his sword and said indignantly, “Tell them that whoever dares to act without authorization will die!”


    A general said “: They said that there are their brothers inside Chenggao City, and that even if they die, they will die together!”


    General Wu also chimed in, “Great General, Pang Juan certainly has an army of 100,000, but it''s not invincible, if we don''t even dare to fight, and just watch Chenggao fall into Pang Juan''s hands, I don''t know what will happen to you, I will have no face to face my folks!”


    Another general responded, “I am also ...... a great general, if Chenggao falls, I can''t die by Pang Juan''s hand, I will die by my own sword!”


    The Crown Prince was speechless, not knowing how to answer the words of the crowd, he yelled, “Don''t force me, you guys!”


    “Great General, we''re not forcing you, it''s the soldiers who are forcing us, if Chenggao falls because we hold our ground, the soldiers won''t forgive us!”


    “Great General, please, order the battle ......”


    The crown prince bowed his head.


    General Wu said in a serious tone, “Great General, if we don''t fight this time, the Country of Han soldiers may never listen to the Great General, and us generals, again.”


    “You are threatening me ......,” the Crown Prince backed up, breathless and weak.


    “Not a threat, I''m speaking from the heart.”


    The other general said, “Great General, General Wu''s words from the heart are also my words from the heart ......”


    The crown prince looked at the two generals and sighed, “Why did I ever not want to go to war, but Pang Juan has an army of 100,000, in case ...... I can not explain to my father ......”


    “Great General, I heard that Military Advisor Sun has a wonderful plan here, using the military advisor''s plan, we have never lost ......” General Wu looked at the crown prince, and added, ”Great General, we are fighting for the territory of Country of Han, for the prestige of the great generals and for our own honor, we will surely defeat Pang Juan!”


    The other generals echoed in unison.


    The Crown Prince finally made up his mind, “Go to war!”


    Note: “The Counterespionage Strategy” is the 33rd of the 36 Stratagems, the common explanation is to skillfully utilize the enemy''s spies, and in turn, use them for our own purposes. Sun Bin was unable to hold Chenggao for a long time, and used the “counter strategy” to make Pang Juan make a wrong estimation and give up the strategy of long term siege and attack the city. To know how both sides won or lost, please read next time: “Let the flowers bloom on the trees”.