"No."
Dissenting voices arose.
Shen Heng looked in the direction of the sound.
All that could be heard was Lu Xunzhou's brows furrowing slightly, his gaze fixed seriously on Zhou Zhenguo.
"Sir, the situation is different now than before."
" The Calamity Beast now have a general understanding of the situation in each city we've established outside. They're also constantly adjusting the Calamity Beast they send out to ensure a stable capture and to reduce Calamity Beast casualties."
"Like our Bedrock City, last time only less than 20,000 Calamity Beast came, but this time, nearly 30,000 Calamity Beast came!"
"With nearly 30,000 Calamity Beast, do you think our Bedrock City's chances of victory would increase significantly if we had an extra thousand warriors?"
Zhou Zhenguo frowned, only to hear Lu Xunzhou continue speaking:
"Yes, we won this time, but that's because we took advantage of the terrain and made prior preparations, leaving the Calamity Beast unable to fight back for a while. It wasn't that we defeated them head-on!"
"If it weren't for this, our Bedrock City would be practically on the verge of falling by now."
" Chongshan City and Frontier-Pacifying City have similar personnel configurations to ours, and their situations are probably not much better. Sending a thousand soldiers there wouldn't be of much use in this situation."
"As for what you said about having Captain Shen lead the members of the Supervision Bureau and the remaining thousand soldiers over there..."
Lu Xunzhou paused, then looked at Zhou Zhenguo and said:
"Forgive my bluntness, but I'm afraid this won't make much of a difference either!"
"So you think this plan is bound to fail?" Zhou Zhenguo frowned, his already aged skin turning as white as tree bark at that moment.
"If you're asking about the chance to capture the Calamity Beast, then I think there's a high probability. But with this small number of people, successfully defending the city we've encountered is, I think, highly unlikely..." Lu Xunzhou paused, then said, "Not very likely!"
"If we follow your plan and send all our troops to one place, what are the chances of capturing the Calamity Beast?" Zhou Zhenguo asked in a deep voice.
"20%!" Lu Xunzhou didn't hesitate, nor did he need to. Currently, six cities remained standing. Excluding their Bedrock City, that left five. If one was to leave, that would naturally be 20%.
"You know that too! 20%!" Zhou Zhenguo nodded, his expression growing increasingly grim. "If they catch them, great, but what if they don't? That means they've given up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"Opportunities can always be created again. On the contrary, this kind of plan, if it succeeds, it will be fine, but if it fails, it will have a great impact on you!" Lu Xunzhou said.
"Do you think this kind of opportunity is easy to create? There are fools among the Calamity Beast, but the Calamity Beast in charge of controlling this Plateau Erosion Zone are definitely not fools. If you miss this one, you may never get another chance!" Zhou Zhenguo shouted sternly.
He took a few breaths and then said:
"Also, this is war, don't drag me into it. Besides, I'm already this old, I don't care about the impact of those wrong decisions on me anymore. Right now, all I want is to win the war against these beasts!"
"Hey!" Lu Xunzhou sighed softly, "I know, but Chief, your plan is far too radical!"
"You're so radical..."
Shen Heng looked away.
The other two officers remained calm, clearly having seen him many times before; they even nodded when he looked over.
Shen Heng nodded in response, then turned his gaze to the map in mid-air.
He didn't know who was right and who was wrong.
Or rather, there isn't a strict right or wrong in this kind of thing, and the outcome is the same even after the result is determined.
The success of one solution does not necessarily mean that the other solution is wrong; the failure of one solution does not necessarily mean that the other solution will succeed.
It's just a difference in viewpoints, a different style.
But tending towards...
Shen Heng looked at the map of the Erosion Zone, pondering which option he preferred.
The arguing continued in my ears at some point.
"You think I don't know this?"
Shen Heng looked over and saw Elder Zhou staring sternly at Lu Xunzhou.
Although Lu Xunzhou's brows were furrowed, his gaze remained unwavering. "Since you knew all this, why did you still propose such a plan?"
The command room suddenly fell silent.
Zhou Zhenguo looked at Lu Xunzhou intently for a couple of moments, his expression suddenly softening, and said:
" Xiao Lu, what do you think war is?"
The sudden question and the softened tone startled Shen Heng slightly, and he turned to look at Zhou Zhenguo.
His aged face was now solemn and profound, like an ancient well whose bottom could not be seen.
Lu Xunzhou was also slightly taken aback, but quickly slowed down as well.
He pondered for a moment, then said, "Use orthodox tactics to engage the enemy, and unorthodox tactics to win; use the least amount of resources to annihilate the enemy's greatest strength."
After taking a sip of water, Zhou Zhenguo turned his gaze to the other two officers.
What do you think?
"War is a contest of comprehensive strength between opposing sides, including factors such as personnel, equipment, logistics, intelligence, and morale."
"War is a contest of strength. Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive one. The decisive factor is people, not things. Therefore, we must focus on the preservation of people."
It's somewhat textbook-like, but it does count as an answer.
Zhou Zhenguo nodded slightly, and just as he was about to look away, his gaze fell on Shen Heng again.
" Shen Heng, have you read the books I recommended to you?"
"Yes!" Shen Heng nodded.
After leaving the base, Elder Zhou recommended that he read some military books. He specifically recommended some books, such as " On War," " The Art of War," " On Protracted War," and " XX War."
"You've finished watching it?"
"I've finished watching them all!"
Hearing this, Zhou Zhenguo nodded slightly and asked:
"If that's the case, then what do you think war is?"
Shen Heng did not recover immediately, but slowly lowered his eyes.
He had been thinking about it since he first heard the question.
However, the knowledge he hastily memorized in such a short time, coupled with the vastly different forms of warfare, was not enough for him to fully digest.
Or rather, that content is not so easy to digest in essence.
There are many people in the world who can only see the form but not the spirit.
so...
What is the essence of war?
Shen Heng looked at the calm surface of the water in the glass on the table.
The water was so still that the ceiling was reflected in it.
He thought about what everyone had just said, and the theories in the book.
Warfare is based on deception; those who win in the temple before battle have many advantages, while those who lose have few. If you preserve territory but lose people, you lose both; if you preserve people but lose territory, you preserve both. The purpose of war is not to annihilate the enemy, but to break their will...
These statements are all true, but he always felt there was a barrier between them.
Just like the book says, fire is burning, but only those who have actually been burned by fire know what it feels like.