Talk about strategy

Lao Zeng was cautious all his life, and the most taboo was that he and his family descendants were infected with arrogance and inertia. In his letters to his brothers, sons and nephews, he often warned everyone to be vigilant at all times and not to be spoiled and lazy. Lao Zeng was such a person, and so was running the army. He pointed out that "arrogance and laziness are the most important things to avoid when using troops". It is easy to be arrogant when leading troops to fight, and easy to be lazy when they are quiet. We must be highly vigilant and always pay attention to this problem. During his military career of more than ten years, Lao Zeng summed up the experience of running the army, such as "pride goes before a fall" and "struggle in the village", and always practiced it. At this point, he persisted in the end and finally brought out A Xiang Yong's Tiejun!

1, running the army lies in three hearts: caution, carefulness and perseverance.

As we all know, being cautious at any time is a safe way to protect yourself at a critical moment. Will caution in marching and fighting affect combat effectiveness? There is a saying in Sun Tzu's Art of War that "soldiers are also cunning". Shouldn't we pay attention to a fickle arrangement? Lao Zeng didn't think so. In his view, flexible use of troops is on the one hand, and slow and steady is even more essential. Through the analysis and interpretation of Lao Zeng's correspondence with his younger brothers, it is found that Lao Zeng pays attention to "three hearts", that is, prudence, carefulness and perseverance. Be careful. It's okay. Carefulness can check for leaks and fill gaps, and perseverance can grind away stones. Next, let's talk about "three hearts" in detail.

In October of the tenth year of Xianfeng, Lao Zeng told his brother about his experiences of successive setbacks: Bao and Zhang defeated the enemy nest in Wan 'an Street on the 15th and defeated two fortresses outside the East Gate of Xiuning on the 16th. Unexpectedly, on the 19th, the enemy of Shifen broke Yang Zhanling, entered Xinling Ridge, and Tonglin Ridge was broken at the same time. Zhang Dajun's attack from front to back greatly shook the whole war, even worse than Huizhou's defeat. The reason for these two failures is that 1 1 was fascinated by the fog when climbing the sheep-occupied ridge, but saw nothing. /kloc-Climbing Tonglin Ridge on 0/2, blocked by heavy snow, got nothing. Because of a moment's negligence, it caused two fiasco, and these lessons must be avoided in the future.

In March of the eighth year of Xianfeng, Lao Zeng carefully pointed out the importance of staying put in a letter to his younger brother: many relatives and people in his hometown went to his brother's military camp and owned a vast mansion, which was his ambition to protect the world from the poor. People who are good at observing state affairs can foresee the prosperity of the country when they see the wise men in power; Seeing redundant officials get along, we can foresee the decline of the country. The same is true of an observant army. If you see those who are incapable, send them more money to go home, or let them live outside the military camp, so as not to make the military camp lazy and noisy. Soldiers must carefully maintain the morale and fighting spirit of their troops, and must never be ignorant.

What is Lao Zeng's way of leading troops? It is hard work, dedication and perseverance to study how to bring good soldiers. I work hard day and night, think day and night, and dream of leading troops. Apart from this, there is nothing else. The specific method of leading troops, first of all, observe talents first; The second is to rectify the camp rules and pay attention to the war and ignore it. To put it simply, Lao Zeng's worries are nothing more than the following: selecting talents is the first priority, followed by strictly rectifying camp regulations, seriously studying tactics, and obeying laws and regulations. We all know how to obey the law, that is, to "fight hard and stay in the battle", and tactics are how to be flexible, find fighters and help around. These are the fundamental elements of attention.

Any strategist from ancient times to the present is also a strategist who has a comprehensive view of the problem and the overall situation, and Lao Zeng is no exception. Lao Zeng thought that "siege is the most taboo, and every battle will be defeated." Never attack it unprepared, and hitting it unprepared will only hurt its soldiers. " He often told his younger brothers that the most taboo thing in leading troops to fight is not knowing yourself and not knowing yourself. When the enemy comes, you don't have to send troops to fight them. First, observe carefully in the camp, and see the strength and reality of the other side through the number of people, morale, infantry and cavalry types. When you feel sure, send troops to fight. If you are not sure, stick to the camp and wait for the enemy to attack the high wall and deep ditch.

2. Unify the military resources and put strategy first.

In April of the eighth year of Xianfeng, Lao Zeng talked about how to treat reputation with caution in his letter to his younger brother: reputation is an intoxicating thing, which can be relied on or not. I used to have great prestige in Beijing, but now I am in the army. A promising life is not necessarily a good thing. He who travels a hundred miles is half ninety. Once a person's reputation declines, people near and far will have doubts. My brother's reputation is abroad at present, so he must persevere and finish what he started. The first thing to run the army is to be good at fighting. You can't attack a besieged city for about a year. Once the enemy breaks through or continues to harass, my brother's reputation will drop rapidly in one day. I hope my brother is cautious to the end and cannot relax.

Lao Zeng often discussed with his younger brothers the specific strategies of marching operations, and he was meticulous. In April of the first year of Tongzhi, Lao Zeng pointed out in a letter to his younger brother that if his younger brother's troops wanted to cross the river, they would have to quarry stones at the foot of Liang Dong and in Taiping area. If the situation below quarrying is too wide, it is necessary to cross the river over Taiping, mainly to attack and seize the gold pillars and occupy the inland water surface. There are four advantages: first, it cuts off the momentum of Jinling Wuhu; Second, the navy can get through the route for providing foodstuff in Jingxian and Ningguo. Third, the Wuhu enemy was attacked on all sides; Fourth, it is wonderful to get to Suzhou by boat across Dongba. Brother, it is very important to draw a military map from Sanshan to Quarrying as soon as possible, remember to remember!

Why do you want to read more and think more? Because reading can be wise and understand the operation law of everything. Thinking can cultivate logical thinking ability and become a reasonable person. In other words, a person who is good at reading and summing up is more likely to become a strategist who sees the problem comprehensively and the overall situation if he leads troops to fight. Lao Zeng was such a person. He was good at reading, kept a diary every day to reflect and summarize, and finally became a strategist who was familiar with the art of war. With strategy, there is wisdom, and a scholar can command thousands of troops and March across the country. This is the importance of strategy, and it is also the best proof of integrating theory with practice and integrating knowledge with practice!

The ancients said: "Those who do not seek the overall situation are not enough to seek a corner, and those who do not seek the general trend are not enough to seek a moment." To put it simply: it is difficult to plan a temporary thing without considering the long-term interests; Without considering the overall interests, it is difficult to plan a local thing well. When doing things, we must cultivate a holistic view and a holistic view. Take leading troops to fight, we must always know the advantages and disadvantages of the enemy and ourselves, know how to exchange offensive and defensive actions, and follow the trend. Sometimes, the gains and losses of one city and one place only represent the local victory and defeat, and cannot completely affect the overall situation. The interests must be extremely clear. At this point, Lao Zeng did a good job.

3, one city and one place should be taken into account, and the army should take care of the overall situation.

In March of the second year of Tongzhi, Lao Zeng said in a letter to his younger brother: now dealing with the military is in the utilitarian field. We should work hard day and night like farmers and strive for a good result in the end. After efforts, there is an open-minded atmosphere. If both sides move forward at the same time, the hard work will be handled calmly and meaningfully. /kloc-after the enemy besieged Lujiang on 0/9, there was no news, so Chunting had to order support for Lujiang. Shao Quanlin (Li Hongzhang) has recovered Taicang. If Kunshan is conquered again, Suzhou will soon be recovered. If we can hold the most important cities and passes along the Yangtze River, the overall situation will surely get better day by day.

In November of the second year of Tongzhi, Lao Zeng talked about the relationship between overwork and fame in his letter to his younger brother: Suzhou has been recovered and Jinling (now Nanjing) is still far away. My brother must be in no hurry. Only three tenths of the great wars and great undertakings since ancient times were planned by human beings, and seven tenths were always planned by God's will. Often people who work hard for a long time are not the last to become famous, and the famous people are not the ones who enjoy happiness. As far as military affairs are concerned, such as the recovery of Wuhan, Jiujiang and Anqing, the efforts are made by famous people, which is quite fair from the perspective of God. Shouzhou, Zhengyang, Yingshang and other places will all be recovered, and the Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins will be peaceful in recent days, which is a blessing.

How to make a seemingly difficult thing? First of all, like Zeng Zhijun, he has "three hearts": carefulness, carefulness and perseverance. Be careful of ships that have been sailing for thousands of years, be careful to check for leaks and fill gaps, persevere, and water drops and stones wear through; The second is to talk about strategy: first, then, second, ask questions, analyze problems and solve them step by step; Thirdly, we should look at the overall situation: set milestones in stages, pay more attention to the main contradictions in everything, and be good at grasping the development and direction of the situation. Through analysis and summary, Lao Zeng's methodology of running the army gradually became clear and learned again! Line up.

& lt end of chapter 22 >