Chapter 843: The Highest Art of War Is to Attack Strategy

"Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an have rebelled?" Shang Chaozong was stunned. More than anything, he found it difficult to believe.

Meng Shanming's expression changed sharply. He immediately reached out for the intelligence report in the communications officer's hand. The farther he read, the more unsettled and suspicious he became.

According to the report, Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an, commanders of the northern and southern sectors of Zhao's western defensive line, had suddenly acted in concert. Each had summoned his generals for a council, then abruptly struck down a group of officers in the middle of the meeting.

The affair had clearly been planned long in advance. Outside the meeting halls, men under those slain officers had been brought under emergency control almost simultaneously across multiple locations.

If that alone were not enough to prove Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an had rebelled, another development certainly was.

Both armies contained large numbers of Zhao cultivators, especially disciples of Zhao's three great sects. Naturally, men from those sects would try to stop Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an from doing something like this.

Yet another group of cultivators had suddenly appeared at the two commanders' sides and attacked the disciples of Zhao's three great sects at the same time. They had struck to kill from the beginning, launching a massacre and swiftly helping the two commanders seize control of their armies.

They had directly slaughtered cultivators of Zhao's three great sects stationed within the military. If that was not rebellion, what was?

The report eventually returned to Shang Chaozong's hands. After reading it, his expression shifted again and again.

The command tent remained silent for quite some time. The atmosphere was grave.

Shang Chaozong still sounded incredulous. "Those two are senior generals of Zhao's imperial court. Without the court's trust, they could never have been given a million troops apiece to hold the western frontier. Zhao's court certainly would not have treated them badly. Why would they suddenly rebel?"

Meng Shanming said, "Those two generals command heavy forces responsible for guarding against intervention from Wei and Qi. For them to rebel precisely when Yan and Zhao have gone to war... Zhao's court is probably in complete disarray right now."

Shang Chaozong nodded. "To fight us, Zhao has spent the past year concentrating most of its national strength on the eastern front. Its interior is hollow. Now Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an have suddenly rebelled along the western line, exposing Zhao's rear almost completely defenseless before those two rebel generals."

"What I cannot understand is where Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an found the courage. Without enough cultivator support, they have no way to resist Zhao's imperial court. So where did the cultivators backing their rebellion come from?"

"They are directly slaughtering disciples of Zhao's three great sects. What state would dare hollow out its own internal defenses and send such a large cultivator force into Zhao to support them? Wouldn't it fear trouble breaking out at home?"

Meng Shanming stroked his beard. "A third-party force must have intervened. And it was planned long ago, with preparations made across many different areas. Otherwise, there is no way they could have brought so many Zhao troops under control this quickly."

Shang Chaozong asked, "What third party?"

Meng Shanming replied, "Whoever benefits is the one behind it."

"Whoever benefits..." Shang Chaozong murmured. "At present, Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an's rebellion benefits us most. Once they rebel, Zhao's rear lies open for them to trample at will. Zhao will have no choice but to pull back substantial forces to deal with them."

"But almost all the troops capable of suppressing those rebels are concentrated here, fighting us. Zhao will have to withdraw large numbers from this front. If they do, then facing our full offensive, Pang Teng is certain to lose!"

"We benefit. Are you saying Yan could somehow be behind this?"

Meng Shanming shook his head. "Those people at court? Even setting aside whether they have the courage, does Your Highness think they would do anything to strengthen our offensive momentum? We should count ourselves fortunate if they merely refrain from dragging us backward."

"Zhao exposed the inside story of the Yan-Zhao negotiations in anger. Your Highness must have heard of it."

Shang Chaozong frowned suspiciously. "Then it is strange. Looking across all the states, what power could have intervened?"

Meng Shanming gave a bitter smile. "I fear the man is far away on the horizon, yet right before our eyes."

"Uh..." Shang Chaozong pointed at Meng Shanming, then at himself. "Us?"

Meng Shanming continued smiling bitterly. "Just now, Your Highness was saying that Master Dao's insistence on fighting Zhao to the bitter end was unwise. You said you could not understand why he wanted this. Now that matters have reached this point, do you still not understand?"

"Master Dao?" Shang Chaozong nearly cried out. "You're saying Master Dao was involved in Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an's rebellion? How could that be?"

"I have never heard that Master Dao had any dealings with either Tian or Ma. And as you just said, this had to be planned well in advance, with preparations made across many different fronts. Otherwise, controlling so many Zhao troops would have been impossible."

"Master Dao only just emerged from the Secret Realm. He was inside for an entire year, completely cut off from the outside world. How could he suddenly prepare something this complicated?"

Meng Shanming asked, "Then how does Your Highness explain why Master Dao knowingly ordered us to fight Zhao to the bitter end despite the disadvantages?"

"This..." Shang Chaozong could not answer.

Meng Shanming continued, "Master Dao is not a man who wastes effort. When he does something people cannot understand, that is often when the deepest intentions are hidden underneath. And the less people can understand it, the more dangerous every step tends to be."

"That is precisely why, even knowing the risks were so great, I still carried out his order."

"The matter makes no sense on its face. But if Your Highness connects it to Master Dao, then everything before us becomes explainable."

"Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an appear to have gained the advantage for now, but many uncertainties remain. The troops in their hands are still Zhao men. That is their most fatal weakness. They simply cannot withstand a determined counterattack from Zhao's court."

"If Zhao's court wants to counterattack, it must pull large numbers of troops away from the eastern front where it is fighting us. What follows is easy to imagine: to repel an external enemy, Zhao must first pacify the interior. They will seek peace with Yan at any cost. If their interior collapses, they will no longer have the strength to fight us anyway."

"Money, supplies, beauties—at a time like this, whatever Yan asks for, so long as Zhao possesses it, Zhao will agree. They will think of every possible way to persuade us, persuade the imperial court, persuade the three great sects, all to make Yan withdraw. They will spare no price."

"And yet Master Dao ordered me to cast aside the imperial court, cast aside the three great sects, and keep fighting Zhao to the bitter end!"

"Why would Master Dao do that? Could it be because he had already foreseen this day? Could it be because he already knew Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an would rebel?"

"Otherwise, there is no reasonable explanation for his instructions. If Master Dao is behind it, every doubt disappears!"

"No matter how thoroughly Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an prepared, their foundations are not yet stable. They need time to gain complete control over those two million troops!"

"So long as we bite down on eastern Zhao and refuse to let go, Zhao will have no strength to spare for dealing with them. Zhao's three great sects likewise will be unable to pull out enough cultivators to clean up the rebellion. Master Dao is plainly buying Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an time!"

"And once Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an secure the forces in their hands, if they launch an offensive while we attack from east and west, Zhao will inevitably fall!"

"If Master Dao keeps this going and no unforeseen change occurs later..." Meng Shanming paused, then continued slowly. "He means to destroy the State of Zhao."

"I heard Master Dao killed the presiding Elders of all three of Zhao's great sects in Tiangu. That hatred... must already run deep."

Destroy Zhao?

That explanation was enough to chill the blood.

Shang Chaozong had fought on battlefields for years, yet even he felt his heart pound as he listened. His Adam's apple moved twice before he returned to the same question.

"Where did Master Dao obtain enough cultivators to support Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an's rebellion? If he truly had that kind of force, why would we have spent all this time restrained by others?"

Meng Shanming shook his head. "I don't know. But from where we stand, the situation is already obvious. Even if Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an's rebellion was not personally orchestrated by Master Dao, it must be connected to him."

"At present, our side and theirs are plainly coordinating with one another. We are taking the risk of fighting Zhao to the bitter end. They are taking the risk of raising troops in rebellion. Both are enormous undertakings with no path of retreat."

"To say there was no prior coordination, that both simply happened by coincidence, is very unlikely."

Then he slowly added, "Does Your Highness still worry now? Do you still think Master Dao acted unwisely?"

"Hiss..." Shang Chaozong drew in a sharp breath. "While he was inside the Secret Realm, he had already planned all this? Truly unbelievable!"

Meng Shanming sighed. "Unfathomable."

Both knew exactly whom he meant.

...

"What? Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an have rebelled?"

At the Han-Song front, inside the central command tent, Han Grand Marshal Jin Jue was stunned by the report. After reading the intelligence carefully, he walked quickly to the map.

Several generals gathered around him and studied the marked dispositions of Zhao's forces.

After a long silence, Jin Jue slowly shook his head, his expression extraordinarily complicated.

"Could Nanzhou's decision to initiate hostilities against Zhao be connected to this? If so, and if the Yan army keeps biting down and refuses to let go, Zhao is in grave danger!"

A general beside him cursed, "If that's really what is happening, then we've been fighting ourselves bloody over here and still haven't gained much of anything, while Yan—previously driven into desperate straits—has turned things around and is about to pick up an enormous bargain!"

Was that not exactly what had happened?

Jin Jue closed his eyes and smiled bitterly.

He said only one thing.

"The highest art of war is to attack strategy."

...

Wu Calendar, Year 532.

Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an, commanders of Zhao's western defenses, both made sudden moves.

Neither publicly declared rebellion, but both carried out sweeping purges and reorganizations among the troops under their command. At the same time, they bloodily purged the Zhao cultivators stationed with their armies, either killing them outright or driving them away.

They had not openly announced rebellion, but in the eyes of everyone beneath Heaven, their actions were no different from rebellion. Everyone called it exactly that.

Zhao's three great sects organized a group of cultivators and urgently sent them to suppress the uprising.

They met fierce resistance from another force.

Most of Zhao's cultivators were concentrated on the battlefield against Yan. The force sent west was limited and assembled in haste.

It failed to crush the rebellion.

Instead, the power supporting Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an concentrated its strength and dealt the Zhao cultivators a devastating blow.

The moment news spread, all beneath Heaven was shaken.

The entire world was stunned!

Every major power turned its attention toward Zhao.

It was impossible not to.

Everyone knew Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an could never have carried out something like this on their own. All wanted to know what power from the cultivation world stood behind them.

The intelligence organizations of the various states began moving urgently.

None were incompetent.

It did not take long for them to catch traces of the answer.

The force backing Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an seemed to have little intention of continuing to conceal its identity.

The shadow of Xiaoyue Pavilion began to emerge.

As the situation grew clearer, the major powers gradually reached the same conclusion.

The force supporting Tian Zhengyang and Ma Chang'an's rebellion was none other than that mysterious assassin organization that had always remained hidden—

Xiaoyue Pavilion!

[End of Chapter 843]