Chapter 368: Mind-attacking Scheme

Yang Zhengshan looked at the crossbows with a telescope and said with a faint smile: "Time is still too tight, and the design is not very reasonable!"

The paper wrapped around the crossbow arrows was all at his request.

Just paste it simply, no need to stick it too firmly, and in order to allow the paper to float in the air, you can only stick it on one side.

Due to their rough manufacturing process, these crossbow arrows had many problems. For example, the paper on the crossbow arrows had already scattered before they were shot over Chongshan Pass. Some of the crossbow arrows had the paper still firmly stuck to the arrow shaft until they landed inside Chongshan Pass.

Although there were many unqualified crossbow arrows, many of them successfully completed their missions, scattering a large amount of paper in the air.
Papers were floating all over the sky, and were blown by the strong wind and scattered in every corner of Chongshan Pass.

Although the range of the crossbow could not cover the entire Chongshan Pass, due to the strong wind, the papers still floated all over the Chongshan Pass.

After seven consecutive rounds of salvos, paper could be seen everywhere in Chongshan Pass.

Under the city wall, Prince Qing, Ji Feiyu, and Hou Yao looked at the falling papers in a daze.

"What is this?" Hou Yao murmured.

Ji Feiyu reached out and grabbed a piece of paper with a few words on it.

A very simple sentence.

I'm Yang Zhengshan, the new commander-in-chief of Chongshan Town. You rebels have committed evil deeds and aided the tyrant. Your crimes are grave. I should have slaughtered you as a warning to others when I broke into the city. But as you are all citizens of Dayong, I'll give you a chance. I'll attack the city in three days. If you sincerely repent, you can lay down your weapons and surrender on the spot. I promise to forgive you for your past sins. But if you stubbornly resist, I'll kill you without mercy and implicate your relatives.

Well, a very straightforward and common statement.

Ji Feiyu was so frightened when he saw this.

"This is!" Prince Qing's expression changed slightly.

Ji Feiyu came back to his senses, "Quick, give the order, order people to burn these things!"

What is attacking the heart?

Attacking the heart means to disintegrate the enemy spiritually or psychologically.

However, most of the psychological strategies in the world's military strategies are aimed at middle and high-level generals, such as the beauty trap, the empty city trap, the counter-espionage trap, etc. These can be considered psychological games.

As for why only middle and high-level generals are targeted, the reason is very simple. This is because instigating the rebellion of just one general is equivalent to instigating the rebellion of an entire army, which may be hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people.

In comparison, it is much more difficult to directly instigate hundreds or thousands of people to rebel. You can't bribe or persuade soldiers one by one.

Yang Zhengshan also wanted to win over or incite the generals under Ji Feiyu to defect, but they sent people to sneak into the city, so naturally they could not win them over or incite them to defect.

Therefore, Yang Zhengshan came up with this idea.

If I can't persuade the generals or military officers to rebel, I will persuade every soldier to rebel.

What would happen if the soldiers in the city saw such words?
Panic, fear, regret, or anxiety?
In short, there will be no fluctuations.

After all, the righteousness of the imperial court is on Yang Zhengshan's side, and Yang Zhengshan has a notorious reputation!

Yang Zhengshan’s reputation for cruelty is quite intimidating.

Are all the soldiers in the city Ji Feiyu’s die-hard fans?

Of course this is impossible!

Perhaps there were some die-hard fans of Ji Feiyu among them, but the vast majority of the soldiers were actually being coerced.

The middle and low-level soldiers had no right to choose at all. They could only go with the flow and act according to the orders of their superiors.

They didn't have the right to choose before, but now Yang Zhengshan gave them a chance to choose.

When the city is attacked, they can choose to surrender.

Although the effectiveness of this move cannot be confirmed yet, Yang Zhengshan did not put all his hopes on it.

He felt that doing so would at least undermine the enemy's morale, and even if it caused one-tenth of the soldiers to panic, it would still be worth doing.

Ji Feiyu only took a glance at the contents on the paper and understood Yang Zhengshan's plan.

He wanted to have the papers burned, but would it be too late?
"It's too late!" Prince Qing looked at the papers flying in the sky with a pale face.

It is impossible to collect all of these papers, and a lot of them have already fallen into the hands of the soldiers.

The soldiers who were still dodging crossbow arrows all looked strange when they saw the contents on the paper.

Most of the soldiers in the Zhenbiao Camp were literate. Although their knowledge was poor, they had no problem understanding the words on paper.

Well, the soldiers of Zhenbiaoying can all read because of the "Military Training Records" written by Yang Zhengshan.

Ji Feiyu highly respected the "Thirty-Six Strategies" and "Records of Military Training" written by Yang Zhengshan, especially since he knew that Yang Zhengshan was good at training troops, so he trained troops according to the methods in "Records of Military Training".

However, in "Military Training Records", Yang Zhengshan specifically talked about the benefits of ordinary soldiers learning to read.

Therefore, most of the soldiers in Zhenbiaoying were literate.

At this time, Ji Feiyu was extremely upset. He regretted that he should not have allowed the soldiers to read and write. In the past, only a small number of the soldiers in the Zhenbiao Camp had been literate.

Ji Feiyu's face was extremely solemn. He stared at the papers filling the air in silence.

Hou Yao indeed said angrily: "This Yang Zhengshan is an extremely sinister villain. He can only use such a sinister trick!"

Ji Feiyu lowered his eyes and said, "Send an order, order the generals of each unit to restrain their soldiers and collect all the papers and burn them!"

"Order the General's Office to pay out three months' wages to boost the morale of the soldiers!"

Yang Zhengshan scattered paper, so he could only use money. Giving money to buy people's hearts was probably the only thing he could do at the moment.

There is nothing wrong with his approach, but how effective it will be remains to be determined.

……

In the army outside the city, Xie Yuan came to Yang Zhengshan again and reported: "General, the special crossbow arrows have been fired!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at the city wall opposite with a telescope, but unfortunately the soldiers in the city were hiding behind the battlements at this time, and he did not observe any useful situation.

"Withdraw the troops and return to the camp!" Yang Zhengshan said lightly.

"Yes!" Yang Minghao next to him responded and waved the command flag again.

As orders were passed down, the army began to retreat back to the camp in an orderly manner, while Yang Zhengshan observed the soldiers on both wings.

At this time, he had soldiers from Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu under his command. Yang Zhengshan didn't know much about the situation of these soldiers.

If they were all soldiers of Tenglong Guard, he would naturally have confidence, but he still needed to observe carefully the condition of the soldiers under Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu.

After observing for these days, he found that the soldiers of Jianning Guard and Songzhou Guard were actually quite good.

Although they are not as good as the soldiers of Tenglong Guard, it can be seen that they are also soldiers who have undergone rigorous training.

But think about it, Jianning Guard has the foundation left by Zhou Lan. As long as Niu Zhuang has some ability, Jianning Guard will not be abandoned. In fact, Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu are both good generals, and their abilities have been verified.

A large part of the soldiers led by the two men can be called elite, of course, there are also some who should be temporarily summoned garrison soldiers, and they look a bit loose.

Overall, the armies led by the two men are of great use.

The soldiers returned to the camp without any accidents, and the area inside the mountain pass was still peaceful.

However, after nightfall, the morale of the soldiers inside Chongshan Pass began to unravel.

Many soldiers gathered in groups of three or five, talking about the papers they had picked up during the day. Although the papers were taken away by their superiors, many soldiers had read the contents of the papers.

"Hey, what should we do next?"

"How did we become traitors?"

"The one outside the city is General Yang. If we become his enemy, we will probably die miserably!"

"Is General Yang very powerful?" Someone who had not heard of Yang Zhengshan's vicious reputation could not help but ask.

"Of course. Five years ago, General Yang attacked the Hu tribe in the East China Sea. It is said that General Yang led only a thousand cavalrymen to kill more than 100,000 Hu cavalrymen. He also killed countless Hu people, no matter whether they were old or young, leaving no one alive!"

"Yes, I also heard that those guys under General Yang are just like ghosts. They eat human flesh and drink human blood, and they like to eat children's brains the most!"

"How terrible!" Some people couldn't help but shudder after hearing this.

"What do you think? General Yang is even more terrifying. I heard that even General Yang's horse eats people!"

……

What is a rumor?

Things that become more and more outrageous are called rumors.

Rumors about Yang Zhengshan were widely circulated in Chongshan Town, especially among the lower-level military households, and there were countless versions of the story.

Something like Yang Zhengshan has three heads and six arms, is three meters tall, has a voice like a bell, and has a face like a red ghost!
There are also those who say that Yang Zhengshan is the reincarnation of the Seven Assassins from heaven.

Even Hongyun was rumored to be a man-eating beast.

In short, there is no most outrageous, only more outrageous.

People who have seen Yang Zhengshan naturally would not believe these rumors, but the lower-level soldiers who had never seen Yang Zhengshan were skeptical about them.

Amid these horrific rumors and after seeing the contents on the paper, many soldiers could not sleep that night.

They were afraid, panicked, and nervous, and all kinds of uneasy emotions filled their hearts.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the entire Chongshan Pass became anxious.

The soldiers who used to be in awe of their superiors now looked at them differently. There was resentment, resentment, and even some hatred.

Ordinary soldiers do not have big ambitions. Perhaps they are willing to fight hard on the battlefield, but they are definitely unwilling to become cannon fodder for the powerful.

When no one mentions it, they may not think so much about it, but when someone provokes it, their mentality has changed unconsciously.

Of course, the awe brought by identity and status forces ordinary soldiers to bury their resentment and hatred deep in their hearts. They also need an opportunity to explode and a breakthrough to vent.

As time went by, the atmosphere inside Chongshan Pass became more and more gloomy.

On the sixth day of July, the sky was gloomy. Gray clouds pressed against the sky, covering up the sun that had just risen. It was so heavy that it seemed to be falling down, and it was so depressing that the whole world seemed silent.

The rapid sound of war drums rang out again, and the dull sound of horns echoed among the dark clouds.

Teams of soldiers poured out of the camp in a solemn atmosphere and arrived at the foot of Chongshan Pass.

Yang Zhengshan said that we would attack the city in three days, and that meant we would attack the city in three days.

The wind today is a little weaker than three days ago, but it is still blowing.

(End of this chapter)