The generals of Han army outside Chenggao city were ready to go to war with their fists in their hands. The Crown Prince of Country of Han shook his spirit and said to the generals of Han army, “In these few days, not only the generals are holding their breath, but also I am holding my breath, but as a great general, I can''t be emotionally involved, I have to wait for the time to go to war. Today, this time has finally arrived, I hope that all generals can put life and death aside to break Pang Juan''s siege and send food and reinforcements into Chenggao.”
The generals were excited and said:
“Great General, we put life and death aside long ago!”
“Don''t worry, Great General, if we don''t break Pang Juan''s siege, we''ll have no face to see our parents back home!”
“There are our brothers in Chenggao, even if we die, we will still send food and reinforcements in!”
The Crown Prince looked around the crowd and then said, “To free Chenggao, we must attack from four directions at the same time, so that Pang Juan will lose sight of both sides, but we don''t have so many armies, so we can only concentrate our troops on one side, while in the other three directions, deploy a small number of troops, bluffing, and dragging some branches behind the troop carriages and the warhorses, and the warhorses will run, as if they have a thousand troops and ten thousand horses. This is like no flowers on the tree, do some fake flowers inserted in the tree in order to fake the real, show people the illusion. This is the plan for the tree to blossom. In this way, with flowers blooming on the tree, Pang Juan will have difficulty distinguishing where our army is, while our army will see the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and send food and reinforcements into Chenggao.”
The generals praised, “Great General, your plan is so brilliant that it would be nothing more than that even if Military Master Sun were here.”
“Without a brilliant plan, I will not go to war easily.” The Crown Prince was very pleased with himself, he issued orders to the generals, “General Wu, General Sima, General Han, each of you take 5,000 men and bluff your way through Chenggao in the east, west, and north directions, while I take the army to attack the south of the city, and Dafu Shen will lead reinforcements and food to follow me, and after I defeat the Wei army, you''ll take advantage of the weakness and enter... ...Do you understand?”
The generals said in unison, “Understood.”
Shen Dafu was a bit uneasy and said to the Crown Prince: “Great General, you cannot personally lead the army to attack the south of the city.”
The Crown Prince was displeased and asked, “As the Great General, why can''t I personally lead the army?”
Shen Dafu said, “If Pang Juan knows that the Great General is in the south of the city, he will definitely know that it is the main force of my Han army, and it will be difficult to mess up the truth even if the other three routes are well camouflaged.”
The Crown Prince was a bit hesitant and asked, “Then what do you suggest?”
Dafu Shen suggested, “Have the Great General lead a group of men to bluff, and have General Wu lead the main force to attack the south of the city.”
The crown prince agreed to go to war as Dr. Shin said.
The Country of Han''s army appeared in four different directions outside Chenggao, with flags flying, war drums rumbling, and tree branches dragging behind the chariots, creating a cloud of dust and smoke that looked like thousands of horses and thousands of armies.
Pangcong rode a fast horse to the bottom of Chenggao City and reported to Pang Juan, who was commanding the siege, “Uncle, the Crown Prince of Han has marched out, and Korean troops have been spotted in all four directions, east, west, south, north and south!”
Pang Juan laughed contemptuously, “He is so bold as to attack on all four sides ...... Which way is the Crown Prince of Han?”
“On the west road.”
“How many men does he have?”
“The detail said there are thirty thousand.”
“What about the Han troops in the other directions?”
“There are also all tens of thousands of people ......”
“That''s impossible, the Han army isn''t that large.”
“This is what the spies said.”
Pang Juan pondered for a moment and said, “The other roads may be a bluff ...... Pangcong, you command the siege here, I will deal with the Crown Prince of Han.”
The Crown Prince was commanding his group of men and was in the midst of a lively “tree blossoming” in the western part of the city, when an agent shot his horse and came: “Crown Prince, Pang Juan''s army is coming toward us.”
The Crown Prince asked, “How many are there?”
The detailer said, “Not many it seems ......”
“Meet them and destroy them.” The Crown Prince ordered to the general beside him.
One of the generals under the Prince said, “Great General, the warlord''s ‘blossom on the tree’ plan is a bluff, if we engage ......”
“What did you say?” The Crown Prince''s face grimaced and interrupted the general.
The general didn''t understand what the Crown Prince was asking and replied, “I''m saying that the ‘blossom on the tree’ was meant to be a bluff, and that if we engage, the Wei army will be able to see our falsehoods.”
“I am not asking this,” said the Crown Prince, still gloomy, ‘I am asking who told you that the ’blossoming of the trees'' was the plan of the military master?”
“Dr. Shen ......”
“Nonsense, this is my ploy!”
“Great General, I don''t dare to talk nonsense, it''s really what Dr. Shen said, he also took out the military division''s letter to show us, let us must act according to the plan.”
“Alright, stop talking, prepare to meet the enemy.” The Crown Prince''s face looked very ugly.
“Great General, Dr. Shen said ......”
The Crown Prince interrupted and laughed coldly, “He also said that I''m afraid of Pang Juan, I''m going to show them today, whether I''m afraid of Pang Juan or Pang Juan is afraid of me!”
“Great General, you must not gamble in battle!”
“I''m not gambling, I know in my heart. Pass the order.”
The general was a bit reluctant and said, “Great General, you should still think twice before you act ......”
The Crown Prince said with extreme displeasure, “Pass the order. Those who disobey the order will be beheaded!”
The general didn''t dare to say another word and immediately summoned the entire army to meet the Wei army.
The army of the Crown Prince of Han soon entered Pang Juan''s ambush zone, and Pang Juan laughed at the Crown Prince of Han for being too easy to bait this silly fish. He ordered 20,000 men to detour behind Han''s army and surround the Crown Prince of Han.
The flag of the Crown Prince of Country of Han fluttered in the wind, and the Crown Prince of Country of Han stood majestically on his chariot, intending to command his army to destroy the opposite Wei army with a single blow. The fast horse of the detailer arrived again, and the detailer on the horse reported to the Crown Prince with a panicked face, “Great General, Pang Juan''s army has been spotted in front of us ......”
The Crown Prince froze: “Didn''t you say that the Wei army doesn''t have many men?”
The detail stammered, “There were indeed not many, and then I don''t know where such a large army appeared from ......”
“Lying about military information should be a capital offense!” The prince''s eyes penetrated the killing gas, said, he took the halberd in the hands of the same car guards, violently stabbed at the fine work.
The spy fell off his horse and died.
The Prince then said to the general beside him, “Pass on my order, the front group will be the rear, the rear group will be the front, withdraw!”
The general answered “yes”, turned his horse around, and was about to pass on the order to the rear troops when a soldier rode his horse from the back of the group to the Prince and reported urgently, “Great General, Wei''s troops have been spotted at the rear.”
The Crown Prince was shocked and asked, “How many of them are there?”
The soldier replied, “A lot, can not see the head ......”
The prince was silent for a moment and let out a long sigh, “I really regret ......”
Pang Juan commanded his army to complete the encirclement of the Crown Prince of Han and proudly said to his generals, “This time I will not only capture Sun Bin alive, but also the Crown Prince of Country of Han ......”
Before he finished speaking, Pangcong, whose face was covered in blood, rode up to Pang Juan, flipped off his horse and kowtowed, “Uncle, kill my nephew, my nephew''s army was defeated by Sun Bin ......”
“What did you say?” Pang Juan was stunned.
Pangcong continued, “After uncle left, tens of thousands of Country of Han''s army arrived, Sun Bin was working with them from the inside and the outside, although nephew''s army fought valiantly, it eventually collapsed due to being attacked from both sides, and Han''s grain fleet went into Chenggao.”
Pang Juan''s eyes showed killing intent, trembling with anger, viciously cursed: “Son of a bitch!”
“Uncle, my nephew has failed to fulfill his uncle''s heavy responsibility, kill my nephew!” Pangcong was mortified and kowtowed again.
Pang Juan was silent for a moment and spoke, “This matter is not your fault, it''s uncle''s fault, get up.”
Pangcong stood up and said, “Uncle, gather a large army, let''s kill our way back and re-siege Chenggao.”
Pang Juan shook his head, “It''s useless, and now Sun Bin has food and soldiers, he''s no longer afraid of our siege.”
“So us, are we just going to forget about it?”
“Forget it? Hmph, it''s not that cheap, the Crown Prince of Country of Han is already surrounded by us, capturing the Crown Prince will be just as good as blackmailing the King of Han.” Pang Juan sneered, and instructed a general on horseback beside him, “Go, tell the armies in the south and north of the city that part of them will withdraw from the camp, and part of them will immediately rush to the west of the city, and wait for dispatch.”
The face of tens of thousands of troops surrounded by the crown prince of Country of Han, Pang Juan is not eager to eat a bite, he figured out the crown prince of South Korea to eat soft, but not hard temperament, with the method of the crown prince “invited” to the front of the two armies, staring at the crown prince looked at a long time. The Crown Prince of Country of Han was stared at by Pang Juan, coldly said: “Marshal Pang have something to say, looking at me for what?”
Pang Juan laughed and said, “When a scholar is separated for three days, he should be impressed, not to mention the crown prince of a country.”
The Crown Prince was displeased and said, “Did you ask me to come just to be sarcastic?”
Pang Juan said, “I have no intention of being sarcastic by any means, last time I sneak attacked Chenggao, I beat the great general by one step, today the great general bluffed and beat me by one step, of course it impressed me ...... It''s just that the great general was eager to save Sun Bin, and he fell into my encirclement, so it''s kind of to get back a little bit of face for me. ”
The Prince said unconvincingly, “If I acted according to the military strategist''s plan and didn''t fight you, you wouldn''t even have that face!”
“What you say if simply cannot happen, it is determined by your nature.” Saying that, Pang Juan sighed fervently, “Sun Bin is shrewd, he''s exactly figured out your nature, that''s why he''s letting you go to the west of the city to ‘blossom on the tree’, because he knows that I''ll be leading a large army to deal with the Great General, and in that case you''re bound to be caught in my encirclement, and only if my large army comes to encircle you will the food and reinforcements be sure to be sent into the city! Only then will you have the certainty of being sent into the city ...... However, Sun Bin is moving such a heart against the Great General who is a friend in life and death for his own sake, as your rival, I can''t even look at it.”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.“Have you finished your words?” The Crown Prince''s face clouded over.
Pang Juan remained unhurried and said, “I pity the Great General ah, the Great General should not have deserved to die.”
“It is a supreme honor for a general to die in battle!”
“Great General is different, as the Crown Prince of Han, the Great General will be the King of Country of Han from now on, the honor a King receives is far more than a General who died on the battlefield. Not to mention the one who deserved to die was Sun Bin, you died on Sun Bin''s behalf, that''s why I feel sorry for you.”
The Crown Prince seemed a little shaken and didn''t say a word.
Pang Juan looked at the Crown Prince and said, “Great General, how about you and I make a deal?”
“What deal?”
“Great General condescend for a while, come live in my army for a while, and I''ll use the Great General as a reason to ask your father for Sun Bin.”
“Are you asking me to surrender?”
“No, it can only be described as being a hostage.”
“Hmph, it''s all the same thing, if word gets out, I''ll be disgraced.”
“Great General, in today''s world, the crown princes of many countries have gone to other countries as hostages, and not only did they not lose their reputations, but they fortified alliances for their own countries. Great General this time you have helped me, in the future when you become the king, no matter what kind of danger your country encounters, I will lead the Wei army to come and help. How''s that?”
“What about my five thousand soldiers?”
“Not one of them will be killed, all of them will be put back.”
“What about Chenggao?”
“All of my army will evacuate Chenggao and return to Wei.”
The prince remembered his father''s advice to him, and said, “You let me go back and think, and I will answer you in the morning.”
“Tomorrow is too late.”
“I have to go back and convince my generals.”
The other party was already in the net anyway, and Pang Juan readily agreed to the Prince''s request.
“Wait.” The Crown Prince was about to leave in his car when Pang Juan called out to him again.
The Crown Prince looked at Pang Juan suspiciously and asked, “What else does Marshal Pang have to say?”
Pang Juan laughed, “I forgot to tell you, Sun Bin hasn''t shown any signs of sending troops to save you until now, he probably won''t save you, and he doesn''t have the ability to do so even if he wanted to.”
Of course Prince understood the other party''s meaning and proudly said, “I don''t need you to tell me, I estimated it long ago.”
The Prince''s estimation was definitely wrong. The reason Sun Bin is holding his troops back is because there''s nothing he can do during the day and he wants to wait until night. General Wu didn''t understand the mystery and asked Sun Bin: “Mr. Sun, the Crown Prince fell into Pang Juan''s hands to save you, if you don''t go forward to save him, the King will kill you when he finds out.”
Sun Bin explained, “General Wu, it''s not that I won''t save him, there''s really no way to do it during the day, Pang Juan''s military power far exceeds ours, if we rush things, not only will we not be able to save the Crown Prince, but we will also bring about the end of the Country of Han''s army! If Han''s army doesn''t exist, how can Country of Han survive? General Wu, don''t worry, Pang Juan doesn''t want to kill the Crown Prince for a while yet, think about it the Crown Prince is only 5,000 soldiers, in the middle of the wilderness, and there is no dangers to defend, Pang Juan''s army can destroy the Crown Prince in less than an hour, but he''s besieging but not fighting, which means that the Crown Prince is still safe for now.”
Dr. Shen asked Sun Bin how he plans to free the Crown Prince at night and Sun Bin said, “It''s still tree-hugging.”
A ploy was used twice in a row and in one place, the generals, though they would be skeptical, carried out the warlord''s orders without compromise. After nightfall, group after group of Country of Han soldiers, horses without a sound, people without a sound, out of the east gate, in from the south gate, and back and forth many times, everyone was puzzled but in the spirit of trust in Sun Bin, they went however the military division told them to go.
General Fei quickly detected the movement of Han''s army, he said to Pang Juan: “Marshal, the Country of Han''s army is still entering Chenggao from the south gate in a steady stream, it seems Sun Bin does want to give up on the Crown Prince of Country of Han ......”
Pang Juan laughed, “On the contrary, Sun Bin is making this move to free the Crown Prince of Country of Han.” He pointed to the military map and said, “If I''m not wrong, at first light, in our south, west, and probably north, there will be Country of Han armies that will look dusty, vast, and put on an imposing appearance, he''s trying to use another bluff to move our army to any of them, then the Han army hiding in the city will take advantage of the situation and come out of the west gate , attacking our weak spot by surprise ...... The west gate is the closest to the Crown Prince of Han, and they will break out of the encirclement and rescue the Crown Prince of Country of Han into Chenggao in a swift and swift manner.”
General Fei seemed to understand and said, “Sun Bin is too cunning!”
Pangcong snorted disdainfully, “Sun Bin he''s dreaming!”
Pang Juan ordered his generals, “Pangcong, you take 5,000 men and when you spot Han''s army to your south and west, you bluff your way there as well, pretending to be the main force of Wei. General Wei, you take 20,000 men and ambush northwest of Chenggao overnight; General Fei, you take 20,000 men and ambush southwest of Chenggao, when Sun Bin''s army exits the city through the west gate, I''ll lead 30,000 men to meet it from the front, and you guys will lead your army to close in on it from the side and rear to annihilate Sun Bin in the west of the city.”
Early the next morning, the wilderness outside Chenggao City was filled with a cloud of fog. Pang Juan and his soldiers were holding their shields and halberds, facing the direction of Chenggao, waiting in a tight formation.
A fast horse ran out of the morning fog, and on the horse was a Wei general. The Wei general rode up to Pang Juan and reported, “Marshal, the Country of Han''s army has been spotted to the west and south, and it is impossible to see how many there are in the fog.”
Pang Juan said to Pangcong, who was on the sidelines, “Pangcong, your ‘army’ is ready to go.”
Pangcong''s army had been gone for a long time, but Pang Juan still did not see any movement in the direction of Chenggao, the scarred city wall that stood silently in the morning mist.
Pang Juan was able to keep his composure, he calmly stood on his car and watched Chenggao, he seemed to see over the city wall, Sun Bin''s army was gearing up, about to open the city gates and charge out, a long awaited big battle was coming.
Behind Pang Juan, there were shouts from afar. A general next to him said to him, “Marshal, the direction behind us is fighting fiercely, is it better to transfer part of the army to reinforce General Fei?”
Pang Juan waved his hand, “That''s just an illusion, the real ferocity is in the direction of Chenggao.”
Before Pang Juan''s words fell, a fast horse ran out of the fog on the right, the general on the horse was covered in blood. He came to Pang Juan and panted, “Marshal, it''s bad, Sun Bin''s army broke through our encirclement from our rear and saved the Crown Prince of Han ......”
Pang Juan drew his sword in his hand and said angrily, “Impossible! There''s no way Sun Bin''s army is at our rear, it must be your incompetence!”
The general jumped off his horse and knelt on the ground, “Marshal, I wouldn''t dare to lie, the mountains are full of Country of Han troops, and ...... I saw Sun Bin ......”
Pang Juan was stunned, his lips closed tightly, and he was speechless for a long time.
Pangcong is a very facetious person, he will not stop, but his 100,000 army has been on the road for a long time, and his financial resources are poor, he can not afford to delay, and he is also unwilling to delay, he immediately sent Pangcong to the Han army camp, and asked the Crown Prince of Country of Han to fight to the death.
The Crown Prince of Country of Han, who had just broken through the encirclement of the Wei army and returned to the camp, could not withstand Pangcong''s agitation and agreed to fight with the Wei army. He said to Pangcong, “If you lose, Wei will give me three cities, and if we lose, I will give you three cities and promise to live in peace with Wei.”
Pangcong said, “We don''t want your cities, just Sun Bin.”
Shen Dafu spoke up, “The military advisor is with Country of Han, using the military advisor as a bet is using Country of Han as a bet, we will never agree to that.”
Pangcong coldly smiled and said, “I really didn''t expect that the Country of Han were a bunch of cowards ...... Farewell.” Said want to go.
The crown prince drew his sword to stop Pangcong.
Pangcong looked at the long sword in the hands of the crown prince, without the slightest bit of timidity, he said calmly to the crown prince, “Great general, killing me here is not considered a hero, if you have the ability to kill me in front of the two armies, only then is it considered a hero ...... Unfortunately, you do not have the guts to fight against our marshal. ”
The prince was provoked to mouth, said: “A gentleman''s word, a team of horses can not catch up! Tell me, when are we going to duel?”
This statement is exactly what Pangcong wants, Pangcong takes the opportunity to say, “How about three days later?”
The Prince agreed.
Pangcong was worried that something might change, and said, “High five.”
The Prince and Pangcong high-fived.
Things have come to this point, Sun Bin had to make a mistake and said to Pangcong, “I would like to remind General Pang that since the bet is made, both sides should have the same stakes, General Pang offered to use me as a bet, you should also have someone of the same status as a bet.”
The Crown Prince thought Sun Bin had a point and said to Pangcong, “General Pang, you should also take Marshal Pang as a bet.”
Sun Bin laughed, “Pang Juan isn''t qualified enough, he''s lost to me repeatedly, how can he be compared to me?”
Pangcong couldn''t be more pissed off that his admired uncle was bullied by Sun Bin every time and said to Sun Bin: “Sun Bin, don''t think you''re untouchable because you''ve won a few times by fluke with tricks and ploys ...... Hmph, our Marshal really doesn''t have you in his sights yet!”
Sun Bin coldly said, “Didn''t put me in his eyes, then why is he jealous of me and secretly harming me? Why does he follow me wherever I go and has to take my Art of War?”
Pangcong had nothing to say in reply.
Sun Bin said to Pangcong, “General Pang, go back and tell your Marshal Pang that if you''re willing to make a bet with the Crown Prince of Wei - Crown Prince Shen, I''ll make a bet with Country of Han.”
Note: “Let the flowers bloom on the trees” is the 29th of the 36 stratagems, which means to create a false impression and bluff to confuse the enemy and achieve the purpose of fighting on your side. Facing a strong enemy, Sun Bin used “Blossom on the Tree” strategy to save first Chenggao and then the Crown Prince of Country of Han. To know more, please read next time: “throw a brick to attract jade”.