Unorthodox military tactics were meant to break a deadlock and secure victory.
Conventional tactics followed established rules and seldom achieved extraordinary feats. Only by springing surprises against the tide and answering change with the unexpected could one confound the enemy's predictions and exploit their gaps.
Yet all things under heaven balanced one another. Where advantages lay, disadvantages followed.
An ingenious strategy departed from the usual course. It caught the enemy unprepared, but also cast one's own side into uncertainty.
Thus, since ancient times, extraordinary strategies had often bred extraordinary dangers. Xue Shao and the others understood that much.
But understanding was one thing. Being willing-and daring-to act was another.
Taking Yongzhou in a single stroke would be all well and good, but what if they failed? Previously, with Jingzhou as their base, their great army had swept through Yingzhou, unstoppable wherever it went, and still met with unforeseen setbacks. Now a lone force would turn into the Han and Mian region, with no foundation behind it and no support beside it. Could it truly achieve complete success?
With its strength cut in half, could the army left in Yingzhou handle fortified cities nearby and the Central Army farther off? Wang Yang's intention was to head north to Yongzhou if they failed to take the three cities before the Central Army arrived. But what if they were caught before reaching Yongzhou? What if the force sent to Yongzhou had already been defeated?
Taking the three cities in time would make things somewhat better. Even then, facing the Central Army with half their troops would certainly inspire less confidence than having the entire army together.
It was not that Xue Shao and the others failed to understand the enormous gains this strategy might bring. Psychologically, however, the more dangerous the situation became,