Chapter 31 Pang Juan was killed in the Battle of Maling

Taking Rang Chai as their general, the Wei army defeated the Han general Kong Ye in Nanliang and Huocheng (both in today's Ruzhou, Henan Province), and then drove straight in, approaching Xinzheng, the capital of South Korea. Han Zhaohou sent envoys to seek help from King Qi Wei. King Qi Wei still held a meeting to hear the opinions of the ministers.On the question of whether to save South Korea, everyone's opinions are unified, that is, it must be saved.But as for when to send troops to rescue, there were differences. Zhang Beg, the doctor, believed that early rescue is worse than late rescue. If Qi State does not send troops in time, South Korea is likely to succumb to the strong pressure of Wei State and surrender to Wei State.

Tian Ji believes that although South Korea lost the war, its strength still exists.If Qi State intervenes rashly now, it will be tantamount to accepting Wei Jun's attack instead of Han Jun, and may be controlled by others instead.It is better to wait and see what happens, and wait until the Han and Wei armies are exhausted, and then Qi will rescue South Korea, which can get twice the result with half the effort. Tian Ji's point of view is actually Sun Bin's point of view.In retrospect, Sun Bin took his time when the Wei army besieged Handan last time.He realized very clearly that the fall of Handan or Xinzheng was not a big deal, the important thing was to attack the vital forces of the Wei army.

"But," Zhang Gai retorted, "what if South Korea loses confidence and surrenders to Wei? Isn't Wei stronger, and Qi is more threatening?" Regarding this point, Tian Ji also thought of it.He said to King Qiwei: "We can send envoys to Xinzheng to express our intention of rescue to Marquis Han and strengthen his confidence in resisting the enemy. As for when to send troops, don't rush to give him an exact date, let him know that we will not Just sit back and ignore it." In other words, first draw a cake for them to satisfy their hunger! King Qi Wei adopted Tian Ji's suggestion.Strange to say, when the Koreans received this unpaid check from King Qi Wei, their morale immediately rose as if they had been beaten with chicken blood.In half a year, the Han army organized five large-scale counterattacks, but... all failed.

In the spring of 341 BC, when the Wei and Han armies were exhausted from fighting, Qi finally made a move. This time, the old pair of Tian Ji and Sun Bin still used the old strategy of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao".The Qi army once again crossed the border between Song and Wei, and went straight to Daliang, the capital of Wei State. The difference from last time is that this time the country of Wei is not empty.King Wei Hui immediately appointed his prince Wei Shen as the commander in chief, and Pang Juan as the general, leading an army of 100,000 to meet the Qi army. Of course, the so-called prince is the commander in chief, but he is just a trainee in name.Pang Juan is still fully responsible for all affairs in the army, and then issues orders in the name of the prince.

Twelve years later, the two disciples of Guiguzi met again. The Qi and Wei armies met near Pingling.Pang Juan spread out his position and was about to fight a big battle, but suddenly got information that the Qi army had set up camp and fled north. For a while, Pang Juan didn't know exactly what kind of medicine was sold in Sun Bin's gourd.He carefully dispatched a small group of troops to the Qi army camp, and after confirming that there was no ambush, he led a large group of troops to follow up. In the camp of the Qi army, Pang Juan ordered people to carefully count the stoves left by the Qi army when they were cooking, and came to a conclusion-the army led by Tian Ji and Sun Bin was no less than 100,000 people.In terms of numbers alone, the two sides are evenly matched.However, Qi Jun ran away without even contacting Wei Jun. Apart from cowardice, there seemed to be no other reason.

"Sun Bin, you still don't dare to confront me head-on!" Pang Juan was secretly proud, and ordered the whole army to follow the Qi army closely, looking for opportunities for a decisive battle. After chasing for a day, Pang Juan counted the stoves left by the Qi army again, and was surprised to find that the Qi army had reduced its staff by half, leaving only more than 50,000 people. On the third night, Pang Juan went to count the stoves again and judged that there were less than 30,000 Qi troops left.Undoubtedly, the Qi army ran northward all the way, and people kept deserting along the way.In just three days, 60,000 to 70,000 people fled.

Here is close to the Qi Wei border.Pang Juan looked at those dotted stoves, and suddenly felt worried: in two days, the Qi army will flee back to the country, and the next time he meets Sun Bin on the battlefield, he doesn't know when it will be. The humiliation of being captured in Guiling 12 years ago has been deeply etched in Pang Juan's heart, and even when he sleeps, he often dreams about the scene at that time.But he always insisted on one point, if it wasn't for Sun Bin's cunning hiding in the dark, which made him relax his vigilance, he would never have lost that battle.

This is like a lion fighting a dog, and a poisonous snake hiding in the grass unexpectedly bites the lion. He wants to prove to the world that he is the mighty lion, while Sun Bin is just a sinister and cunning poisonous snake.A lion may be bitten by a poisonous snake because of its negligence, but if there is a face-to-face duel, the lion will definitely smash the poisonous snake into thousands of pieces. This time, let the grievances and grievances between us be completely settled!Let the world know that I, Pang Juan, are Guiguzi's most proud student and the number one strategist in the world.

With this in mind, Pang Juan ordered the infantry to set up camp on the spot, and he and Wei Shen only led thousands of elite cavalry to chase the Qi army at full speed. He didn't realize that in doing so, he made the same mistake as last time. On the second day after Pang Juan marched lightly, he came to a place called Maling (now Fan County, Shandong Province) on the border of Qi, Wei, and Wei. The road in Maling is narrow and the terrain is dangerous. On one side of the road is a forest and on the other side is a deep ditch.It was dusk when Pang Juan arrived.Thousands of cavalry had to dismount and staggered forward in two columns.

Suddenly, the vanguard stopped.Pang Juan ran to the front and saw that a big tree had been cut down and lay in the middle of the road, completely blocking the road. "What are you still doing in a daze? Move the tree away!" Pang Juan roared, "Could this trick of the Qi army be able to block the footsteps of the soldiers of the State of Wei?" "General!" Someone whispered, "This tree is a bit weird." Pang Juan stepped forward, and in the twilight, he saw that a piece of tree had been peeled off in the middle of the tree, revealing a white piece, and there seemed to be a line of writing written on it.

Pang Juan was full of doubts, ordered someone to light a torch, and read each word by the light of the fire: "Pang Juan died under this tree..." Before he finished speaking, countless crossbow arrows flew in, shooting the soldiers of Wei on their backs, making them into a mess. The so-called soldiers fleeing to reduce the number of stoves was originally an illusion deliberately arranged by Sun Bin.In fact, from the first day Qi Jun entered Wei State, Sun Bin set up a trap for Pang Juan.Through continuous strategic deception, he leads Pang Juan by the nose step by step into the trap he dug long ago. Around this trap, a full 10,000 crossbowmen were ambushed.Thousands of Wei soldiers could not fly out of the Qi army's encirclement even if they had wings. Seeing this scene, Pang Juan lost all thoughts, pulled out his sword, and died by himself.After Pang Juan died, the Wei army had no fighting spirit, and they put down their weapons and surrendered one after another. Wei Shen also became a prisoner of the Qi army. Pang Juan's last words were only one sentence: "Sui became the name of Zhuzi!" It means that this kid has finally become famous! Until his death, he believed that Sun Bin had won him by luck. At this point, it is necessary to explain the "funeral affairs" of Tian Ji and Sun Bin. According to "Warring States Policy" records, after the battle of Maling, Sun Bin asked Tian Ji a question: "Does the general intend to do something big?" Tian Ji was startled, and asked: "The great cause that the military advisor mentioned is..." "The conflict between the general and Marquis Cheng (Zou Ji was named Marquis of Cheng by King Qi Wei) is well known in Qi. It's fine if you don't do any meritorious service, but you defeated Pang Juan twice and became famous all over the world. Marquis Cheng always regarded you as a A thorn in my side, after this battle, I want to get rid of it quickly. If you go back like this, it will be a disaster." Sun Bin still spoke in a calm tone, Tian Ji broke out in a cold sweat when he heard it. "In my opinion, you now have an army of 100,000 in your hands. The soldiers all regard you as a god and are willing to sacrifice their lives for you. You must not be captured without a fight. You can send some old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers to guard the main land (now Shandong) Zibo Province). The roads in the main land are narrow, and vehicles can barely pass through. As the saying goes, one man is in charge of the gate, and ten thousand men are not open. There is Gaotang on the right, and the luggage can go directly to Gaowan (now Huantai County, Shandong Province). If you send an elite army of chariots and cavalry to attack Linzi, the entire Qi State will be under your control. At that time, Marquis Cheng will definitely flee , Marquis Qi can only take orders from you—this is what I call a great cause.” "This... isn't this asking me to rebel?" Tian Ji looked at Sun Bin in horror. "This is a pressing situation. If you don't do this, you will have to wait for Marquis Cheng to plot against you." Tian Ji shook his head again and again: "Sir, don't talk about it. I, Tian Ji, is deeply favored by the country. How could I do such a rebellious thing? What will the world think of me? How can I see my ancestors in the ground?" In the end, he did not adopt Sun Bin's opinion. Tian Ji, who was educated in the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and patriotism since he was a child, may not understand that for Guiguzi and his disciples, the world is a chess game, whether it is the emperor, general, or trafficker, they are just chess pieces, and there is no difference in value.They are detached from the world, with a little bit of compassion, a little irony, and even a little bit of cruelty, devoting themselves to designing and unraveling "Zhenlong" one after another.The reason why Pang Juan is not as good as Sun Bin is not because his art of war is not strong enough, but because he is too "involved in the world" and too keen on fame and fortune, so that he himself has become a chess piece, which is eventually eaten by Sun Bin's chess pieces.After Sun and Pang, Guiguzi's other two disciples have also quietly left the mountain.Compared with the former two, although they are not good at using soldiers, they are better at strategizing and maneuvering, making the "world" game flourish. 『①The Go term, also known as Linglong, refers to the overall layout design with ingenious ideas.The most famous is of course the "Zhenlong Chess Game" designed by Mr. Jin Yong. 』 Facts have proved that Sun Bin has the foresight. After the Battle of Maling, Tian Ji returned to Qi as a hero.One day, someone brought a lot of money to the most famous fortune teller on the streets of Linzi, claiming to be Tian Ji's subordinate: "The general defeated Pang Juan twice, and his reputation has spread throughout the world. Now he wants to make a big event. Please do a fortune-telling to see what the luck will be." The fortune teller believed it was true and made a fortune teller for him.Unexpectedly, not long after the man left, Gongsun Yue, Zou Ji's entourage, broke in with someone, arrested the fortune teller, and sent him directly to King Qi Wei for questioning.When Tian Ji got the news, he didn't have any illusions, and hurriedly packed up his belongings and fled to Chu State. According to speculation by Qian Mu, a master of Chinese studies, Sun Bin also came to Chu State with Tian Ji, and since then he has devoted himself to writing books without asking about world affairs.Most of the content of the handed down work "Sun Bin's Art of War" should have been completed in Chu State.