Wang Shichong's brows furrowed slightly as he sank into deep thought.

"It sounds very reasonable indeed!"

This may seem like a crisis, but when has a crisis not been able to be turned into an opportunity?

It could be that previously, Wei Zhen had been so astoundingly prescient that he left a deep impression on Wang Shichong, even to the extent of instilling a kind of ideological brand on him, so now Wang Shichong naturally followed the other's line of thought.

It was known that Liu Wuzhou and Song Jingang were aggressively advancing, and Liang's Jinyang was in perilous danger.

Also known was the critical importance of Jinyang, not only as the Liang's founding stronghold but also as a fortress easy to defend and hard to attack, an essential fulcrum for Liang's conquest of the realm. In contrast, the region around Luoyang, though relatively wealthy, boasted neither strategic advantage nor the support of the people.

This meant that even if Liang conquered the area around Luoyang and held it briefly, just one defeat could cause the recently occupied territories to revolt and switch allegiances once again.

For Wang Shichong, as long as Luoyang was secure, the loss of the surrounding areas didn't matter, because they could be retaken with one battle.

Li Mi had previously surged forward, occupying all around Luoyang, but so what? Wang Shichong had won a battle against him, and Li Mi was thus completely ousted from the stage of history.

Therefore, for Liang, no matter how one looked at it, Jinyang was far more important.

Heavy troops would surely be arranged there, while those attacking Luoyang would naturally suffer significant dispersion of their forces. When it came to military strength, it couldn't be too substantial.

Hence, as long as someone moderately reliable was sent to defend Luoyang, it was sure to hold.

While Wang Shichong was reinforcing, Dou Jiande would definitely not miss this opportunity and was bound to pursue. Even if he chose not to, Cheng Zhijie and Qin Shubao, the two traitors, would surely incite him to pursue.

For Wang Shichong, to fight after dragging the enemy would indeed grant a considerable advantage.

On one hand, he could choose the site of the decisive battle himself, laying an ambush at leisure; on the other hand, Meng Haigong would surely continue to create trouble.

The current stalemate between Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande was precisely because of the existence of Meng Haigong's more than thirty thousand men.

Both feared being attacked by Meng Haigong during combat, lacking the confidence of certain victory, so they dared not make a move.

But what if Wang Shichong withdrew? Then, Dou Jiande might opt to strike Meng Haigong, or he might choose to bypass Meng Haigong to pursue Wang Shichong.

If the former, Wang Shichong could wait to "pick the ripe fruit"; if the latter, then as long as Wang Shichong could defeat Dou Jiande through an ambush, Meng Haigong would inevitably take advantage of the chaos, leaving Wang Shichong to "pick the ripe fruit."

Thinking it over, this plan seemed quite perfect theoretically!

Although a bit idealistic, if every step was executed properly, it could indeed determine the fate of the empire in one battle.

Wang Shichong couldn't help but envision the most perfect scenario: He would feign retreat, defeat Dou Jiande who pursued him, and capture him in one battle, thereby getting the chance to completely pacify the Hebei region; on the other hand, with Wei Zhen holding Luoyang, the Liang Army failing to prevail despite a protracted siege, waiting for his return, the Liang Army would beat a hasty retreat, after which he could lead his army to victory in pursuit, attacking Guanzhong to fight a decisive battle with Liang and to pacify the realm in one fell swoop...

At this thought, Wang Shichong immediately said, "Good! Then let's implement the gentleman's strategy!

"I will dispatch a contingent under the command of Bing Yuanzhen, and the gentleman can return to Luoyang with Bing Yuanzhen."

In fact, Lu Heng had suggested that he should personally lead the troops to support Luoyang, but Wang Shichong did not agree.

It could be because Wang Shichong did not trust his loyalty or perhaps his ability to lead troops, or maybe it was a combination of both.

Clearly, Wang Shichong was still keeping a careful eye on things in the end.

However, Lu Heng was not angry, but merely smiled slightly, "I will certainly not let Mr. Zheng down!"

Of course, this was also within his plans.

Lu Heng had already anticipated that Wang Shichong would still be apprehensive about letting him lead the troops alone and would surely assign a general to assist him.

Only, Lu Heng had not expected that it would be Bing Yuanzhen.

Bing Yuanzhen had originally been under Li Mi and was an old member of the Wagang Village. Logically speaking, having only recently defected from Li Mi's forces, Wang Shichong should not trust him so much.

But the situation was complex.

To begin with, among Wang Shichong's original followers, there were no particularly significant generals. The ones who could truly fight had all defected from Wagang Village.

And among these defectors, their treatment was obviously not the same.

This was because Li Mi's men were divided into two factions: one was staunchly loyal to Li Mi, and the other consisted of former followers of Zhai Rang, who had serious conflicts with Li Mi.

Bing Yuanzhen and Shan Xiongxin were from the latter group.

Li Mi had ambushed and killed Zhai Rang during a banquet, and Bing Yuanzhen and Shan Xiongxin were also present, narrowly escaping death themselves. Therefore, they had always harbored dissatisfaction towards Li Mi.

Wang Shichong had been sowing discord between Bing Yuanzhen for a while, so Bing Yuanzhen had secretly defected to Wang Shichong and had turned against Li Mi during the battle at Mang Mountain, opening the city gates, surrendering Luocang that he defended, causing Li Mi to lose an important stronghold and storehouse, and leading to a massive collapse of morale.

Thus, Wang Shichong trusted Bing Yuanzhen greatly, and this trust and favoritism had even reached a point that made many other defectors from Wagang Village uncomfortable.

At this moment, with Lu Heng returning to support Luoyang alongside Bing Yuanzhen, as long as he could exploit this division well, things could go very smoothly.

...

Outside Jinyang City, the battlefield between Liu Wuzhou and the Liang.

Liu Wuzhou stared at the current situation on the battlefield, his expression very grim.

"How preposterous! The Pingyang Princess is but a woman, so why are her methods of troop deployment and formation so exquisite!"

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