Zhuge Guanqi said, "You are wise, my lord. The city truly cannot be held. If I can see through your strategy, Great Yong has no shortage of brilliant strategists who can guess your intentions too. This does not mean Yu Tianxing's plan is poor, only that it still has shortcomings in its details."
Hu Xiaotian bowed deeply. "Please enlighten me, sir!"
Zhuge Guanqi pointed to the reed beds nearby. It was winter, and the reed marsh had turned a sea of withered yellow. "An iron chain across the river takes seven days to prepare, but shrouding the river in fog takes only a single fire. Before Great Yong's warships arrive, have your men set these reeds alight. The wind that day will blow northwest, carrying all the smoke from these northern-bank reed beds onto the Yong River. It will not only conceal the positions of the three pontoon bridges, but also obstruct Great Yong's fleet. Once these reeds are burning, they will not choose to force a landing here."
Hu Xiaotian nodded. He truly had not considered that.
Zhuge Guanqi continued, "Judging by Tang Boxi's usual deployment, he will place three armor-breaking ships at the front of his fleet to deal with obstacles ahead. But everything in this world has a weakness. Armor-breaking ships can snap iron chains and break through submerged reefs, yet they cannot escape the pull of lodestones. You can have your men attach lodestones to the chains beforehand. The ships' steel plating will then be held fast by the lodestones and chains. When that happens, the armor-breaking ships Tang Boxi uses to clear his path will become obstacles to his own fleet instead."
Delight appeared on Hu Xiaotian's face. What Zhuge Guanqi had described were only simple principles, but few could apply them so ingeniously in