Luo Xiao's will was the will of the Way of Great Peace. With its current level of organization, tactics like this-bluffing and feinting east while striking west-were easy to carry out.
As the news leaked out, deliberately and otherwise, scouts naturally rushed it to the various camps. Countless different voices asked the same question: "The Taiping Army is marching west? Is this news true?"
Almost every scout answered with absolute certainty: "I saw it with my own eyes. There is no falsehood in it."
These scouts were all professionals, vividly describing the Taiping Army to the Feudal Lords. "Countless banners blotted out the sky. There were dozens of camps just among those we could see, and the marching columns wound like long serpents. The first wave of the vanguard alone probably numbered thirty thousand. There were vast numbers of supply wagons. Judging from experience, they carried enough to sustain tens of thousands of troops for half a year."
Standards and camp banners, troop numbers, and the quantity of supplies-these were the three most important measures for judging an army's size. If all three checked out, then there was no question about the army!
The Taiping Army really had marched west to attack Huangfu Song.
No one would even imagine there was deception involved.
After all, attacking Huangfu Song was hardly a bad move. Quite the contrary, it was actually one of the best choices Luo Xiao could make.
"Hold Xingyang while fighting Huangfu Song, keeping himself secure while threatening Luoyang directly. Threaten Luoyang, and all the armies rallying to the emperor must move; once they move, openings will arise. Zhang Jue can advance to attack their weak points or retreat to defend Xingyang's natural defenses. Brilliant indeed."
Everyone who received the news thought this way, whether Luo Kong, Luo Zichuan,