Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 75: Empty City Deception

Sun Ce didn't know whether he was taken back by Zhou Yu, but the military camp close to Shucheng had now been withdrawn.
However, three miles away, there were three larger military camps stationed here, with complete main and auxiliary forces and in a very organized manner. Just from the situation of the camps, it seemed that Sun Ce's army was really prepared to spend several months to capture Shucheng!
"Zijing, are you sure Zhou Yu will cooperate with us?" Bai Tu asked.
"Gongjin will understand our intentions, and General Lu's letter has been delivered. Now we just need to give Gongjin an 'excuse'." Lu Su said.
"An excuse..." Bai Tu also understood what Lu Su meant.
Even if Zhou Yu wanted to let Bai Tu go, he couldn't go too far. Even if he "let Bai Tu go due to a momentary negligence", it should at least be justifiable!
Moreover, the news that Bai Tu is in Shucheng should have gradually spread by now, and the opportunity to escape cannot be delayed too long, lest Liu Xun in Wancheng also pounce on him.
"Otherwise...how about we use the 'empty city plan'?" Bai Tu suggested.
"Empty city plan?" Lu Su was stunned when he heard this.
In the novel, Zhuge Liang staged an empty city plan decades later, and he deceived an old fox like Sima Yi.
Of course, in history, Sima Yi had never been deceived like this.
But the Empty City Strategy has existed since ancient times. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng State used it when facing the attack of Chu State. During the Western Han Dynasty, Li Guang used it against the Huns. Even a few years ago, Sun Jian used it against Dong Zhuo's army!
However, these successful cases are actually fundamentally different from Zhuge Liang's Empty City Strategy in the novel - the Empty City Strategy in reality is not useful for suspicious and wise people, but rather for opponents who have no brains or do not have a strong desire to attack, and it cannot last long.
The time when Chu attacked Zheng, it was not because of a strong purpose. The commander just wanted to show off in front of a woman, so he went to war. When he saw that the opponent's goal was wide open and received the news that Qi had come to help, he withdrew his troops.
The time when Li Guang bluffed the Xiongnu, it was just a small-scale engagement, which made the Xiongnu generals feel that there was a large army of the Han Dynasty behind Li Guang, and that they were bullying the Xiongnu generals for being stupid...
What Sun Jian faced that time was just an unknown general under Dong Zhuo, and he only ordered him to withdraw to the city in time. The other side saw that Sun Jian was ready to defend the city, so they withdrew their troops.
In other words, the impression that the Empty City Strategy "is ineffective against ordinary people, but only effective against suspicious and wise people" is actually a completely idealistic misunderstanding.
On the contrary, it is only effective against unreckless men who have no idea what they are doing - after all, if a general is able to lead an army, no matter how honest and straightforward he is, it is impossible for him to "leave the door wide open" to the enemy without any suspicion. Even the stupid Huns who didn't even have writing would not be so reckless.
When facing a true wise man, regardless of whether this psychological tactic will work, even if it is not effective, sending someone to test the situation first is a basic operation. Directly leading the troops to retreat would be too timid.
Although Lu Su heard the name "Empty City Strategy" for the first time, he understood its meaning at the first moment.
It’s just... Lu Su felt a little uncomfortable using the “Empty City Strategy” against Zhou Yu!
"Anyway, it's just an excuse. We don't expect Zhou Yu to be scared and retreat." Bai Tu said.
Lu Su then nodded and said, "Well, maybe it's better to keep it simple, but...how long it can last depends on Gongjin's acting skills."
That night, Bai Tu, along with Lu Su, Lu Kang, and other officers and clerks who were willing to leave with him, a total of more than one hundred people , left Shucheng from the west gate overnight.
Most of the clerks and officers who stayed behind were reluctant to leave their homeland, and had already prepared to surrender as Lu Kang had instructed.
In order to prevent Sun Ce from taking his anger out on other people, Lu Kang sealed the treasury and kept the accounts in the government office. As long as Sun Ce entered the city, he would receive a generous gift.
However, the internal structure of the "magic gourd" has been destroyed, leaving only its appearance hanging there.
The next morning, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu received news that something was not right in Shucheng!
When Sun Ce and Zhou Yu arrived at the foot of the city, they saw rows of scarecrows on the city walls that looked so fake that they could not be more fake.
Even if they were using dummies to pretend that there were a lot of troops, there should have been a mixture of real and fake ones. But now in Shucheng... there were only scarecrows, and crows had fallen!
If you look closely, you will find that even the city gate is ajar, with a small crack, and it is obvious that the gate inside has not fallen down at all.
"Huh? Could it be that Bai Tu and old Lu Kang have already escaped? No, if they did escape, it wouldn't be so fake... Is this a trick?" Sun Ce asked in surprise.
He didn't notice that Zhou Yu beside him was looking at this scene, his eyes trembling, and he even had to raise his feather fan to block it so as not to reveal anything unusual.
"Gongjin, you meet me outside the city, I will lead the troops in to explore. If there is an ambush, I will attack him first!" Sun Ce suggested.
This is the reaction that a general who is "reckless" but has a "desire to attack" should have.
Sun Ce immediately realized that there was a trap in the city, but he could not give up just like that. He also believed in his own martial arts and Zhou Yu's wisdom, so he thought that he would rush in and Zhou Yu would support him outside, so he was not afraid even if there was an ambush!
"Wait! Bofu... look at this arrangement, it's so fake, there must be an ambush..." Zhou Yu stopped him helplessly.
"Yes, I know!" Sun Ce said as a matter of course.
"No, you don't know...well, I mean this ambush must be very scary, um...or there is no need for us to take the risk at all, right?" Zhou Yu began to organize his words.
That’s right, Zhou Yu didn’t want to tell Sun Ce directly about the secret transactions of money with the enemy, lest he get upset after knowing it - such adult matters were not suitable for Bofu yet.
"What do you mean?" Sun Ce felt that Gongjin was weird today.
"As the saying goes, if the enemy is weak, cover it with strength, and if the enemy is strong, cover it with weakness. So... we just need to follow the procedures and use weakness to counter weakness. Don't you like to build siege equipment under the city? Well, today you can do it. Let's go to a place within an arrow's reach and build ladders and battering rams to see if they can still bear it." Zhou Yu said firmly.
“Is... that so?” Sun Ce always felt a little awkward.
"That's right, we can just attack according to the original pace." Zhou Yu said in a coaxing tone like a child.
In the end, Sun Ce decided to trust Gong Jin, although his intuition told him that he should rush in now...
For a whole day, the army stayed outside the city, while Sun Ce, with several thousand people, built ladders and battering rams under the "watch" of a group of scarecrows!
During this time, Sun Ce felt like doing something else and wanted to go to the city and call Taishi Ci out to fight, but naturally, no one responded...
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