Offense and Defense Reversed, Heavenly Timing and Earthly Advantage with the Enemy

In the world depicted in Military Miscellany, wars were constant.

Qiu Yan's army has grown much stronger, relying on the city and occupying a base, making it capable of both offense and defense.

In the past few days, Qiu Family Army has successively defeated several armies and taken in many prisoners, becoming one of the most powerful forces on the plains.

Unlike the outside world, the soldiers here are called warriors. They do not need to eat or drink; they only need to fight. Once they win a battle, they can maintain their energy even if they go without food or water for several days.

In other words, on this plain, morale is the source of everything. After a victory, morale is high and everything goes smoothly. If you are defeated, morale is low and your fighting strength is greatly reduced, less than half of what it used to be. It takes a day and a night to recover to normal levels.

In this situation, having a solid rear defense and a place to recuperate becomes especially important.

Now that they have noticed that Qiu Yan's army actually possesses a city, the other armies that were fighting outside have changed their minds and have even joined forces to launch two joint attacks on the city!

Before the first attack on the city, Qiu Yan's deputy general, Qiu Yi, after receiving the news, led a troop of soldiers to launch a surprise attack and disrupt the alliance. However, they fell into an ambush and lost nearly half of their troops before escaping back into the city.

This defeat slightly dampened the morale of the army, leaving them unable to launch another offensive in the short term. They could only consolidate their forces and defend the city against sieges. Fortunately, the city walls were high and strong, which allowed them to survive the ordeal.

This is a tough battle.

Because of the Emperor's attention to Qiu Yan and his position in the Imperial Palace, the Dragon Qi has re-established contact with Qiu Yan. In this Central Pivot location, he can leverage this power to achieve many things that are normally impossible, including the ability to transmit thoughts across vast distances and receive messages instantly.

In the Hall of Gathered Excellence, Qiu Yan gathered his memories, felt the Dragon Qi, and began to write. But the scenes of conquest from the Military World flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern. He looked at the sentences on the exam paper, and as he compared them, the images gradually overlapped.

He had just closed his eyes in deep thought, recalling the many battles that had taken place on the plains in recent days.

Qiu Yan had never systematically studied military strategy in his previous studies, and had little understanding of tactics, battle methods, and battle formations.

During the Provincial Examination, the reason he was able to write such a military strategy was partly due to the fragments of military treatises he had read in his previous life, and partly due to the characteristics of his Heart Demon Body and Divine Spirit Body, which allowed him to grasp intelligence and information in a timely manner. This was equivalent to having a complete grasp of the battlefield situation and a comprehensive view of the overall situation, enabling him to anticipate the enemy's moves and discuss military strategy on paper.

However, this time, the emperor brought up matters of national importance, asking about the strategy along the long northern border rather than just a local battle. This limited the approach of analyzing intelligence to predict the war situation, resulting in a narrower perspective that could only guide the gains and losses of individual cities and territories, offering little help in understanding the overall war effort.

Of course, given the average level of the candidates, being able to propose such a military strategy is commendable. However, Qiu Yan came from Shu Region and had made many arrangements along the way, leaving many seeds in the minds of the people. But there were not many people from the north among them, and they had little understanding or planning for the Northern Frontier, so they didn't know where to start.

In this situation, simply relying on one's brain to think about it risks being based on conjecture.

In addition, not all candidates were unaware of the situation. Some, from families with a strong academic background, were secretly pleased after reading the exam questions, feeling fortunate and writing with great speed and ease.

In this situation, it is not easy to stand out. However, for Qiu Yan, the main goal of this Palace Examination is not to win a good ranking, but to be prepared to be defeated on the spot and lose his physical body, so as to explore the true meaning of Dragon Qi and the mysteries of Human Path in the Central Pivot place of the Great Rui Human Path!

After he put pen to paper, the spirit of the text merged into the City Will. Then, with the help of the terrain of the Imperial Palace, it surged upwards, combined with the Dragon Qi that was coiled above, and, guided by Karma and effect, rushed northwards.

Dragon Qi, formed from the collective thoughts of all living beings in Great Rui, is omnipresent in the Great Rui territory. Its spread can cover thousands of miles in an instant, quickly reaching the Northern Frontier.

Through the connection with the Dragon Qi, Qiu Yan could vaguely sense the scene in the Northern Frontier, see beacon fires being lit one after another, and trace the origin of the energy. He could see the aura of war in the beacon fires, and it seemed that they were heading north to fight a decisive battle!

"The border stretches far and wide, bordering the northern Grasslands. Now, rumors are circulating that the Hu people south, but the biggest problem is that we don't know from which direction the enemy will break in!"

Sensing the information being transmitted, Qiu Yan compared it with his experience in the Military School Plains and made a judgment.

"It seems that the news that the Hu people are going to launch a large-scale attack was probably deliberately spread by them in order to make the Great Rui army deploy defenses in advance. But there is only a thousand days to be a thief, how can anyone defend against thieves for a thousand days? If the defense is carried out for too long, the soldiers will be exhausted and the morale will be broken!"

Qiu Yan recalled how Qiu Yi, upon learning that the enemy was about to unite, led his troops in a surprise attack, only to fall into an ambush.

"Where news spreads, there is a possibility of a trap. Rather than holding out on the border for too long, the question says that some generals want to take the initiative and seek out the main force of the Hu people in order to have a decisive battle!"

These thoughts were written down on paper, stroke by stroke. The essence of each word was absorbed by the City Will. Because it involved Military School Prosperity Capital Will's will gradually drew the aura from the surrounding military camps, combining it with Qiu Yan's consciousness to construct a Human Path transformation, which was then transmitted into the Dragon Qi, accumulating a great momentum within it!

Within the Dragon Qi, the image of the military might became increasingly clear, reflecting back onto Qiu Yan. Following his train of thought, it condensed at the tip of his pen, was written on paper, and transformed into divine essence.

His calligraphy, originally full of vigor and vitality, is now slowly revealing a murderous aura. Each horizontal and vertical stroke is like a soldier wielding a sword, its cold light radiating everywhere!

However, as soon as the chilling aura appeared, it was absorbed by the Prosperity Capital Will, soaring into the sky and merging into the Dragon Qi, deepening the scene of war and Human Path within the Dragon Qi, and causing the Military School energy around Prosperity Capital and the Northern Frontier to merge into it at an accelerated pace.

The cycle repeats itself.

As the cycle continued, the Myriad People's Heart Fire within Qiu Yan's Divine Soul slowly transformed. A cold glint appeared at the edge of the flame, revealing rows of soldiers wielding swords and spears, guarding their territory and calming the Heart Fire!

His thoughts and ideas about Military School became clearer and clearer. He recalled his experiences in the Military World military strategists and deduced the course of the war in the Northern Frontier with increasing ease. Ideas took shape one after another in his mind, his hands never stopped, and his writing flowed smoothly from his pen!

"If I were the commander of the Hu people, and I spread the news that we were going to march south, I would definitely make two preparations. First, I would seize the opportunity to raid the weak points in the defenses, plunder the Central Plains, and return to the Grasslands before the encirclement. Second, I would wait for the Great Rui army to march north, and then take advantage of the favorable timing, Heavenly Timing, Earthly Advantage, and Human Harmony, and popular support to fight them in a decisive battle!"

As the text was read aloud, Qiu Yan's strategy as a commander of the Hu people was already taking shape on his scroll. Then, he turned his attention back to the Great Rui side, pointing out the problems that Great Rui's border generals might encounter if they went north to seek a decisive battle. He emphasized the connection between the vanguard and the rear guard in the same way. If the enemy military made preparations in advance, guarded strategic points, and prevented the troops from the major northern towns from converging, the main army would be divided and surrounded, which would put the main armies in a desperate situation where they could not wait for reinforcements, could not win the battle, and could not break out!

"Moreover, it is only around March now, and the Grasslands still retain the winds of the glaciers. In some places, the temperature is extremely low, and cotton-padded clothes are not enough to keep out the cold. When the soldiers from the Central Plains arrive, their hands and feet are frozen, and they cannot even hold a gun or draw a bow properly, let alone fight. Their combat strength is reduced by 30%."

At this point, Qiu Yan paused briefly, and the divine essence that filled the page floated out, passing through the City Will and reaching the Dragon Qi. Within the dragon 'Dragon Qi, a scene of Military School had already condensed, but it was contained within the aura and could not escape.

In that brief moment, a voice rang out beside Qiu Yan—

"Temperature is the opportune moment, strategic location is the advantageous terrain, and the numerous Hu soldiers with bows and arrows represent the popular support. According to your logic, doesn't that mean the enemy has all the advantages of timing, Heavenly Timing, Earthly Advantage, and Human Harmony, and popular support, making our Great Rui doomed to defeat?"

Qiu Yan looked in the direction of the sound and saw Emperor Li Kun.

Qiu Yan was not surprised, but made a move to get up, only to be stopped by Li Kun, who said, "I am here on inspection. I looked at your exam paper and couldn't help but ask a question. You don't need to answer, lest it affect your answer."

Qiu Yan nodded, neither humble nor arrogant, and continued writing. Li Kun stood beside him, watching intently, his eyes filled with conflicting emotions.

However, the scene of him standing next to Qiu Yan had a different meaning in the eyes of the examiners and candidates. Many people secretly envied him, while others were determined to compete for him.

Li Kun didn't care about these things; he just watched Qiu Yan write, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

What Qiu Yan said next was no longer a prediction of the battle situation, but a review of the gains and losses!

The document clearly states that the Northern Army Great Rui is not destined to be defeated, nor is it incapable of competing with the Hu army in terms of combat strength. However, the strategy cannot be easily changed. The Northern Frontier is vast and difficult to defend, but Great Rui is not like the nomadic Hu people. Behind the front lines are fertile farmlands and hardworking people, so the strategy cannot be easily changed from defense to offense.

The first volume also analyzes the current frontier military strategy, pointing out that it relies on the division of defense by military towns.

This defensive strategy allows for reinforcements from other towns when the enemy concentrates its forces to attack one town; when the enemy divides its forces to attack multiple towns simultaneously, each town can fight independently, aiming to exhaust and delay the enemy, thus rendering them incapable of attacking, and then launch a timely counterattack to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

Qiu Yan described the situation with the eight characters "A righteous army can defeat the unorthodox," which greatly inspired Li Kun.

However, Qiu Yan then wrote that if the enemy's offensive strategy is unclear, rashly deploying troops to attack the enemy from the north would be tantamount to crippling oneself. Placing troops stationed at fortified positions in the open field would expose the troops' strength while simultaneously using their weaknesses to attack their strengths—it should be noted that the Hu troops are skilled in open field battles.

In addition, there is a fatal point: the military towns, which are separately commanded by several military governors, are difficult to coordinate once their troops are mobilized. If they cannot coordinate properly, nearly half of their fighting strength will be lost!

Looking at the gains and losses and making predictions, Li Kun's forehead was covered in sweat. He suddenly remembered that among the many battle reports he had received in recent days, there were frequent suggestions to gather troops and take the initiative to move north!

Upon seeing Qiu Yan's writing, Li Kun felt a sudden chill run down his spine!

"Judging from what's written on the paper, this Qiu Yan must either have spies planted in the palace or be a natural-born military commander!"

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