Qi finally marched out, warhorses neighing, troop carriages rumbling, and the procession of soldiers was vast and winding. The Qi army entered Wei through the Maling Road located on the border of Qi. In the past when Wei was besieged to save Zhao, Qi's army also traveled the Maling Road, Sun Bin once said that this place can ambush thousands of troops and horses, and must fight a battle in this place. Sun Bin felt that this time, it was highly likely ......

  Pang Juan learned that Sun Bin and Tian Ji together led 300,000 troops to invade Wei and pushed straight to Daliang, and ordered Prince Shen to lead 100,000 men and horses, travel light, day and night, and rush back to Daliang as soon as possible. Pang Juan instructed Crown Prince Shen: “Sun Bin is full of tricks, when you return to Daliang, no matter if Sun Bin advances or retreats or not, you can only hold on and not go out of the city to fight with the Qi army, and then fight with them when I return with my army.”

  When the Crown Prince of Han saw that the Wei army started to retreat, he deduced that the Qi army had already marched out, and he wanted to take the opportunity to go out of the city to attack the Wei army, but the King of Han didn't agree to this, he wanted to let the Wei army go smoothly, and the faster they went, the better.

  Prince Han asked, “What father means is that after Wei's army engages Qi, we will then send out troops and work with Qi to defeat Wei?”

  King Han smiled slightly and said, “I am going to sit back and watch the tigers fight, let Qi and Wei fight to the death, if Wei loses, he will be powerless to threaten my country anymore.”

  “Sun Bin is in a disadvantageous position as he fights deep into Wei, if we don't send troops to help, Pang Juan is likely to win.”

  “Even if Sun Bin is defeated, Pang Juan will be greatly wounded and he will be powerless to threaten me again for several years.”

  “But Sun Bin only sent troops to Wei in order to save Country of Han, if we don't send troops, the Qi people will accuse us of being ungrateful.”

  The King of Han laughed in disbelief, “There is no righteousness between countries, they all work for their own benefit, as long as I can make my country invincible, even if I am ungrateful, the people of the world will have nothing to criticize me.”

  Qi's army arrived outside of Daliang, Tian Ji with 100,000 troops set up camp west of Daliang and made a show of intercepting Pang Juan, Sun Bin commanded the rest of the 200,000 troops to attack Daliang.

  The attacking battle was very fierce, many Qi soldiers died underneath the city, but no one ever climbed to the top of the city. The Wei soldiers couldn't help but get high morale, this morale also infected Prince Shen, he asked King Hui of Wei to allow him to send a surprise army to attack Sun Bin's rations, without rations Sun Bin won't be able to fight again. King Hui of Wei didn't agree, he thought it was not easy for Prince Shen to hold Daliang until Pang Juan came back.

  Prince Shen was in his competitive age, he came to the city wall and found Pangcong who was patrolling the city, at this time the city wall was quiet, but still everywhere you can see the traces left by the fierce battle.

  Prince Shen said to Pangcong, “General Pang, do you dare to lead your troops to attack Sun Bin's provisions?”

  Pangcong replied, “The marshal won't let us leave the city.”

  “I'm asking if you dare.”

  “As long as there's an order from the marshal, I'll dare even if I have to go through fire.”

  “If the marshal were here, he would have given that order.”

  “The marshal would never give this order, now that the enemy is strong and we are weak, if we leave the fortified city to attack Sun Bin, it's like hitting a stone with an egg.”

  Prince Shen said confidently, “It's precisely because the enemy is strong and we are weak that Sun Bin wouldn't think we would dare to leave the city to attack his provisions, if we go out to attack, we will win by surprise.”

  “Your Highness the Crown Prince is not unreasonable, but Sun Bin's encampment has no loopholes to attack, if the attack doesn't work we'll lose our troops and generals. Our military strength is already far inferior to Sun Bin's, if we lose any more troops, it will be extremely unfavorable for defending Daliang.” Pangcong still had reservations.

  Crown Prince Shen said with a stern face, “So, General Pang is refusing to go?”

  “Your Highness the Crown Prince, I'm doing this to defend Da Liang.”

  Crown Prince Shen looked at Pangcong and said, “General Pangcong, let's do it this way, you will be in charge of the military power of Da Liang, I will take 5,000 men and horses and quietly go out of the city to attack Sun Bin, even if all 5,000 men and horses are wiped out, it won't affect the defense of Da Liang.”

  Pangcong dissuaded, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, you mustn't take the risk, in case Your Highness can't return, I can't explain to the Great King.”

  “I can leave you a handwritten letter stating that this matter is of no concern to you.”

  “Your Highness the Crown Prince, I am not afraid of being responsible, I am thinking of your Highness the Crown Prince. After the Great King enters the Ancestral Temple, the throne of Wei will go to His Highness the Crown Prince, if the Crown Prince dies in battle at this time, will he not be giving up the throne to someone else?”

  “Marshal Pang once told me that as the Crown Prince, if I do not contribute to the Kingdom of Wei, I will not be able to make the Dukes and Dukes submit to me after my father enters the Ancestral Temple, so even if I die nine deaths, I will strive to build up a successful career for the Kingdom of Wei.”

  “His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who is trapped as a hostage in Country of Han, has already merited the State of Wei and need not take this risk.”

  “Any male son in the position of the Crown Prince can be a hostage, but not any male son can build a career on the frontier, I can only submit to me if I can do what all the males can't do.”

  “Your Highness the Crown Prince is also a frontier builder when he defends Daliang.”

  Crown Prince Shen said disdainfully, “With a fortified city and more than 100,000 valiant generals, any of the dukes can hold Daliang, but daring to surprise and win in front of a strong enemy is something that none of them can do, especially in Marshal Pang's absence. I'm going to do what they can't do, and I'm going to build what they can't build as a miracle.”

  Pangcong pondered for a moment and said, “Since Your Highness the Crown Prince has such an ambition, I have no choice but to go out to the city to fight on Your Highness' behalf. However, Your Highness the Crown Prince must promise me one condition.”

  “Speak.”

  “Regardless of any danger I encounter, even if my entire army is wiped out, Your Highness must not send troops to save me.”

  Prince Shen hesitated, “This ......”

  Pangcong said, “If Your Highness the Crown Prince cannot agree, I will not attack, nor will Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

  Prince Shen said, “Good, I promise ...... However, if there is no opportunity, General Pang must not act rashly.”

  Pangcong said, “Don't worry, Your Highness the Crown Prince, I will never strike a stone with an egg.”

  In the evening, Sun Bin was sitting alone in his tent, he was facing the army map and was pondering how to both minimize casualties and make the siege look more intense on the surface. At that moment, two generals walked into the tent and said they had something important to ask Sun Bin.

  General A said, “Military Master, I remember you said, the upper army is the most strategic, the second is the most strategic, the second is the most strategic, the second is the most strategic, and the next is the attack on the city.”

  Sun Bin said, “That's what Sun Tzu's Art of War says.”

  General B said, “The Military Counselor also said that a soldier is more valuable to win than to last.”

  “That's also what Sun Tzu's Art of War says.” Sun Bin swept a glance at them and said, “Are you guys saying all this to persuade me not to continue attacking the city?”

  General A nodded his head and said, “Not bad, Warlord, it won't work to keep attacking like this, there are too many casualties among the soldiers.”

  Sun Bin said, “So what do you guys say?”

  General B said “Evacuate Daliang, lure the enemy out of the city and destroy them outside the city.”

  Sun Bin said “Pang Juan hasn't returned yet, will the Wei army dare to come out?”

  General A said “Even if the Wei army doesn't dare to come out of the city, we can't continue to attack the city, if we don't attack the city and are exhausted, we won't be able to defeat Pang Juan's army that is about to return.”

  Sun Bin said, “You guys mean to build up your strength and wait for Pang Juan to return?”

  General B said, “Yes.”

  Sun Bin laughed and said, “You guys have a good idea, but it's hard to defeat Pang Juan that way. We can only defeat Pang Juan if we attack the city and are exhausted.”

  The two generals looked at each other in puzzlement. General A asked, “Warlord, can you make it clear to us?”

  Sun Bin said, “Not now.”

  General B asked, “When can I?”

  Sun Bin said, “When Pang Juan returns.”

  As soon as the words left his mouth, Tian Guo hurriedly walked in and said to Sun Bin with a shameful face, “Military Master, because of my general's negligence, Wei's army attacked our barracks where we piled up grain and grass, there was a heavy loss of grain and grass, so I'd like to ask the military master to punish my general.”

  Sun Bin's eyes lit up with excitement, “Good, good burn!”

  Tian Guo was stunned, thinking he heard wrong and asked, “What did you say, Military Master?”

  Sun Bin said, “I said the grain was well burned. With the Wei people burning our grain and grass, we can refrain from attacking the city, and by not attacking the city we can avoid more casualties.”

  The crowd looked at Sun Bin in confusion.

  Tian Guo calmed down and said, “Warlord, are you ...... comforting me?”

  “No.” Sun Bin just smiled mysteriously and didn't explain much.

  Pangcong attacked the Qi army's grain and grass and won, King Hui of Wei set up a banquet in the palace to entertain Pangcong and the generals who participated in the battle, and Prince Shen, who was the commander in chief of the defending city, was also present. King Hui of Wei praised Pangcong for his resourcefulness and boldness, he burned Sun Bin with a fire and made him unable to attack the city. Pangcong humbly said, “This is the wisdom of His Highness the Crown Prince, the ungeneral is just carrying out the Crown Prince's orders, so the first credit should go to the Crown Prince.”

  “Hey, the Crown Prince only moved his mouth, it is still General Pang who has made a great achievement for my state of Wei!” Crown Prince Shen was uncomfortable hearing his father say this.

  When King Hui of Wei heard that Qi's army was robbing grain outside the city to make up for the loss of grain, he discussed with Pangcong whether he could strike again to stop Qi's army from robbing grain. Pangcong pondered for a moment and said, “Pei General's attack on Sun Bin's grain was successful because Sun Bin didn't anticipate it. Now that Sun Bin is prepared, if I attack again, not only will it be hard to win, but it's very likely that the whole army will be wiped out. It's not that I'm afraid of death, Marshal Pang's army hasn't returned yet, if the attacking army is wiped out, it will affect the morale of the defending army.”

  Prince Shen won't give up another chance to make a name for himself, he said to King Hui of Wei, “Father, with Marshal Pang out of town, Sun Bin doesn't have us in his sights, he would never expect us to dare to attack again, thus we can still win by surprise. Please father give the order, my son is willing to lead the army to attack.”

  King Hui of Wei pondered for a moment and said, “I am not as good as General Pang in the matter of using troops, so you agree with General Pang.”

  The sky dawned, and morning mist drifted over the city. Prince Shen and Pangcong once again ascended to the top of the city of Daliang. Prince Shen looked at the tents of the Qi army in the distance and begged Pangcong to agree to let him go out of the city to attack the Qi army.

  Pangcong said, “Your Highness, the Crown Prince, there is no need for you to take the risk.”

  Prince Shen composed himself and said, “It is necessary. Didn't you hear Father say that I'm only moving my mouth, and that means I haven't moved my hand yet.”

  The young and impetuous Crown Prince turned out to be dwelling on this matter, and Pangcong's mind was enlightened and enlightened the Crown Prince, saying, “The King doesn't mean this, the King is unwilling to praise his own son in front of everyone.”

  Crown Prince Shen said, “Even if the Great King does not see it that way, others will see it that way, in order to convince the public, I have to do it myself.”

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  “Your Highness,” Pangcong said patiently, ”Winning the admiration of the crowd does not lie in a single event; this time, as the commander of the 100,000 troops defending the city, Your Highness will already be very impressive as long as you are able to hold Daliang before Marshal Pang's army returns.”

  Prince Shen disdainfully said, “There is nothing remarkable about this, as I said, any male can do it. And I will do what they cannot.”

  Seeing how headstrong the Crown Prince was, Pangcong sighed helplessly and said, “Your Highness, you're too strong, and a general who's too strong is easily exploited by his enemies.”

  Prince Shen smiled confidently, “I'm not being strong, I'm confident that Sun Bin will never think that we would dare to strike again.” Seeing Pangcong wanting to speak, Prince Shen directly interrupted him, “Don't say anymore, my will has been decided, no one can change it ...... General Pangcong, I'll leave all of the defending army to you, and please don't come out of the city to save me if I'm in danger.”

  Prince Shen ignored Pangcong's objections and led 5,000 men to attack the Qi army. Inside Sun Bin's tent, an attendant reported to Sun Bin about the Wei army's movement and asked Sun Bin if he would stop them outside the city to destroy them. Sun Bin said “Tell General Tian to lead his troops to stop them, but act like you can't stop them.” As a result, the Wei army won once again, and looking at the Qi soldiers who were scattered, Prince Shen's face showed a contemptuous and pleased smile.

  Afterward, Tian said to Sun Bin, “Military Master, the Wei have returned to the city.”

  “Hmm.” Sun Bin nodded, “Immediately order the army to attack the city.”

  “Didn't the Military Master say not to attack the city?” Tian Guo asked in disbelief.

  “Attacking the city at this time is to show our annoyance.”

  The siege was fought from sunrise to sunset, and many more Qi soldiers fell under the city of Daliang.

  When Pang Juan heard about this, he exulted, “The honorable Sun Bin is helpless in front of these two backwoodsmen, Pangcong and Prince Shen!” Pang Juan ordered the 200,000 rested and standby army to return immediately, the reason why he didn't return with Crown Prince Shen was to wait for this day, when Sun Bin's army was tired, and then fight with them.

  Pang Juan's army was finally going back to Daliang, Sun Bin and Tian Ji saw that their purpose was achieved, so they pretended to be scared and led their army to evacuate Daliang. Pang Juan was worried that Sun Bin was playing tricks and ordered to tell Prince Shen and Pangcong in Daliang not to chase Sun Bin and wait for Pang Juan to arrive in Daliang before making a decision.

  Qi's army retreated to Qi without any hesitation, Tian Ji thought Pang Juan had been tricked many times and wouldn't be fooled this time. Sun Bin said confidently that Pang Juan has been tricked many times because he always overestimates himself and this time he won't be an exception.

  Pang Juan arrived at Daliang and immediately ordered Pangcong to check the Qi army's cooking stove. Pangcong soon found out that there were 100,000 military stoves in several camps of the Qi army. Pang Juan said to Prince Shen: ”100,000 army stoves can cook for hundreds of thousands of troops, this shows that Sun Bin didn't suffer many losses, we can't take the enemy lightly.”

  Prince Shen said, “What if Sun Bin is intentionally digging more army stoves to confuse us?”

  Pang Juan smiled, “He wouldn't have thought I would be able to inspect his army based on the army stoves.”

  Pangcong asked, “Uncle, so are we still chasing?”

  Pangcong said, “Of course we should chase, Sun Bin is deep into Wei's hinterland, it's the best time for us to defeat him ...... Pangcong, order the whole army to tail after the Qi army, neither venture forward nor let Sun Bin go. In addition, send out a small, elite army to attack the Qi army's camps along the way, so that they can't rest in peace.”

  The Qi army's hooves were fast and furious and their steps were hurried as they continued to retreat towards Qi. Tian Ji is worried that Pang Juan won't notice if Sun Bin reduces his stoves every day, Sun Bin smiles and says, “If he can't notice, he's not Pang Juan.”

  Pang Juan really paid attention to the stoves dug by the Qi army for cooking every day, when the Qi army still had 50,000 stoves, Prince Shen thought that the Qi army's food was decreasing dramatically, the army's heart must be unstable, and Wei's army could have a duel with Sun Bin. Pang Juan thought it's not time yet, he ordered the whole army, still advancing according to the original deployment.

  Sun Bin was only walking and not fighting, coupled with the constant harassment of Wei's small army, the Qi army was inevitably a bit upset. Tian Guo said to Sun Bin: “Master Warrior, the soldiers are asking me if I can stop walking and if I can fight with the Wei people and have a painful battle.”

  Sun Bin responded, “To walk is to fight, if we don't walk, we can't win this battle.”

  “How long do we have to walk until?”

  “Until Pang Juan thinks we're unbeatable.”

  The Qi army was one day's journey away from withdrawing into Qi territory, and once again Pang Juan ordered Pangcong to check on the Qi army's military stoves. Prince Shen got sullen and said to Pang Juan, “Sun Bin is about to enter Qi, if he enters Qi, it will be hard for the marshal to defeat Sun Bin again.”

  “He can't run away.” Pang Juan was still so confident.

  Pangcong came back in a flurry of excitement, he told Pang Juan that there were still 30,000 military stoves in the Qi army.

  Pang Juan high-fived in excitement at the news and said, “Heaven has really helped me!” He asked Pangcong, “Pangcong, do you know why I asked you to check the military stoves left behind by the Qi army first at every place you go?”

  Pangcong thought for a moment and said, “To see how much food the Qi army still has.”

  Pang Juan shook his head and said, “No, there is no grain, and military stoves are needed to cook wild vegetables and animal meat.”

  “Then why?”

  “Fewer and fewer army stoves means more and more deserters, now that he has 30,000 army stoves left, it means Sun Bin has less than 100,000 soldiers.”

  “I see,” Pangcong had an epiphany, ”Uncle, I understand.”

  Prince Shen said from the side, “Since Sun Bin's army is already less than 100,000, he's bound to speed up his retreat, Marshal mustn't let him get away.”

  Pang Juan sneered, “I told you, he can't run away.” He ordered, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, Pangcong, I'll lead 30,000 elite troops in light armor to catch up with Sun Bin, you guys lead the army to follow behind, this time, I'll make Sun Bin lose in a single blow in order to wipe out the previous shame!”

  Pang Juan led Wei's advance troop without stopping their hooves, without resting their feet, chased all the way until the sun was about to set, he didn't have the slightest intention of camping and resting, he only had one conviction, he must catch up with Sun Bin today.

  The sky was getting dark, only the distant western sky still had some light, the trees in the valley started to blur. Pang Juan's army entered the Maling Road, he wouldn't have thought that a dragnet had already been laid on the slopes around the Maling Road.

  Several large trees were cut down across the road, blocking the way of the Wei army, and each tree had a long, bloody sword sticking out of it. The army in front stopped, and the soldiers looked uneasily at the bloodstained swords on the trees.

  The general of the front group reported this to Pang Juan, who sneered, “Sun Bin is scaring us, he's afraid we'll catch up with him.” He ordered the soldiers in front of him to move away the big trees immediately and keep moving forward.

  The Wei soldiers carefully pulled off the bloodied longsword from the tree and were about to move the tree when shouts came from the roadside: “Look, there are words here, words left by the Qi people.”

  A big tree by the roadside had a big piece of its bark scraped off, and there were words written on the white trunk.

  A few soldiers stopped moving the tree, gathered around it, and examined it, but could not make out the writing on the trunk.

  The general of the front group came over and yelled to the soldiers, “What are you looking at? Hurry up and clear the trees from the road.”

  The soldiers said, “General, there are words here, written by the Qi.”

  The general came up and looked at it for a moment.

  “What is written on it?” A soldier asked.

  The general squinted his eyes and still couldn't see it, saying, “It's dark, I can't see anything ...... Let's go, let's go, don't look at it!”

  At this time Pang Juan came over, he said to the general, “I want to see, see what the Qi people wrote.”

  The general ordered his soldiers to light a few torches, and the soldiers walked to the tree with the torches in their hands, and the light from the torches illuminated the writing on the tree:

  Pang Juan died under this tree Military Master Sun Bin

  Pang Juan's face suddenly changed when he read it.

  The general ordered the soldiers on the side: “Quickly, scrape the words off the tree!”

  Before the words left his mouth, countless arrows flew from the hill and a wave of soldiers fell down with arrows.

  Pang Juan was also hit by several arrows, he looked at the hill towering in the night and sighed up to the sky, “I fell for Sun Bin's trick again!”

  Another rain of arrows flew over the hill, a few arrows hit Pang Juan, Pang Juan swayed a few times, he drew out his sword and braced himself. A general and a few soldiers with shields braved the arrows and rushed to Pang Juan at a brisk pace, shielding him in the center.

  The general said, “Marshal, we'll protect you as you charge out.”

  Pang Juan broke an arrow that had hit his chest and said, “We can't get out ......”

  The general said, “Marshal, we can get out, the Qi are no match for us, they have never defeated us face to face.”

  Pang Juan let out another long sigh and muttered, “That's in the past ...... From now on, Wei is in hiatus ......” He said, letting out a burst of maniacal laughter as he looked up to the sky:” Sun Bin, you kid, today because of me, finally famous in the world!”

  Laughing, Pang Juan violently swung his sword toward his abdomen ...... His body slowly fell down, and the sound of that fall was heavy, as if he had fallen a mountain.

  ......

  The sun came out and lit up the valley, which was littered with the scattered corpses of Wei soldiers. Sun Bin silently squatted in front of Pang Juan and gently wiped the blood from his face, he wiped it very carefully and cautiously. Tian Ji stood by the side waiting for him silently. At this time, a Qi general came and said to Sun Bin: “Warlord, Wei's army has been completely defeated by us, Pangcong and Prince Shen were captured by General Tian.”

  Sun Bin just gave a “hmmm” and continued to carefully wipe the blood off of Pang Juan's face until the last smear of blood on Pang Juan's face was wiped clean, tidying up Pang Juan's clothes and tying up the marshal's cloak. Tian Ji asked from the sidelines, “Can we carry them away now?” Sun Bin slowly stood up and nodded. Tian Ji raised his hand to signal and a few soldiers walked over to lift Pang Juan's body and carefully carried it onto a carriage that drove away along the valley.

  Sun Bin looked longingly at the far away carriage ......

  After the battle of Ma Ling, Wei buried Pang Juan and King Hui of Wei promised to make peace with Qi forever.

  Sun Bin was leaving and Mr.Guigu asked him to resign and leave Linzi. He left the collated copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War in Qi, which Mr.Guigu told him to leave behind. In addition, he also left behind the insights that he had collated after all these years of campaigning, which was later collated by subsequent scholars into a book of war, which is today's “Sun Bin's Art of War”.

  Zhong Li Chun was also leaving, she asked the King of Qi for a piece of fiefdom, intending to raise little Chun Qiu with her sister Zhong Li Qiu on her own fiefdom.

  The day Sun Bin left, Zhong Li Chun, Zhong Li Qiu and Xiao Chun Qiu went to see Sun Bin off together. They kept looking at Sun Bin's carriage disappearing into the sky, and in their vision, only the earth, the sun and the sky remained.

  Press: “Running away is the best strategy” is the last plan in the Thirty-six Stratagems, which means to retreat in a planned way, to retreat as an advance, to look for a chance of battle and to destroy the enemy. This plan is regarded as the best strategy in strategy. Sun Bin lured Pang Juan to the Maling Road by walking with the battle and wiped out the enemy in one fell swoop, writing a wonderful chapter in the history of ancient Chinese war.