Hearing the instructor's analysis, the two military commanders present fell silent. After pondering for a moment, the First Battalion Commander clenched his fist and said fiercely,
"Since we don't have the advantage fighting them in the daytime, we'll launch another night raid. I refuse to believe they won't sleep."
Militia Captain Zai raised his eyelids at that and struck back without hesitation. "I really do think they won't sleep. Look at how they're acting. They might finish producing some salt before nightfall and withdraw immediately. Then they'll come back tomorrow. What will you do about them then?"
The First Battalion Commander was rendered speechless. The situation Zai had described really could happen. Judging from how cautious the enemy was today—both cowardly and craven—they might really slap their backsides and leave as soon as darkness fell. If so, he would have no way to deal with them.
The First Battalion Commander anxiously paced around the room twice, his mind racing. If their commander, Qu Bing, were here, what method would he use?
As he thought about it, he really did come up with an idea: imitate the battle Qu Bing had led them in the hunting grounds last month. Since it was difficult to break through head-on, they could ambush the enemy halfway through their movement. The more the First Battalion Commander thought about it, the more promising it seemed, and he immediately made up his mind.
"I've got it. We can use the tactics from last month's battle in the hunting grounds. Since we can't gain an advantage over the enemy here, and they're determined to avoid fighting and only want to run, we'll let them run. We'll set out now and circle around to their rear. They'll have to transport the salt back after producing it, so we'll ambush