Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

For instance, faced with various former officials and dethroned generals seeking his favor, his subordinates had once advised him to kill them all to prevent future troubles, but Dou Jiande had refused them all, instead choosing to treat these surrendering officers and leaders with a heart of leniency and honesty.

In the territories of Hebei that he controlled, he encouraged agriculture and the development of production, allowing the people to live in peace and contentment, so much so that over two hundred years after his downfall, many local elders still worshipped him.

To summarize, Dou Jiande's performance in politics, economics, and military strategy could be considered top-notch at the time, and he had no glaring weaknesses—he was a multifaceted warrior.

Of course, he was not without imperfections; he, too, had issues such as unjustly killing a leader in a moment of folly or setting a wrong strategic target.

But... compared to the factional powers at the end of the Liang Dynasty, he was decidedly outclassing them in every respect.

Not to mention, how many among those factional powers at the end of the Liang Dynasty had the breadth of vision to understand all-encompassing tolerance? How many could encourage farming and provide conditions for the populace to live peacefully? That they didn't resort to outright cannibalism was already considered quite good.

Moreover, even during the early years of the Liang Dynasty, an era where heroes rose together, shining like numerous stars, apart from Emperor Taizong of Liang, how many could claim they would never make mistakes?

The father of Emperor Taizong, Emperor Gaozu of Liang, had made far more outrageous mistakes than Dou Jiande.

For example, during the battle with Liu Wuzhou, he stubbornly refused to let Emperor Taizong take action, resulting in several months of delays which caused the situation in River East to completely deteriorate, sending several failed expeditions. He even pondered whether to give up that strategically important tract of land.

In the end, Emperor Taizong, driven by urgency, volunteered to fight and thus regained control over River East.

This was entirely a disastrous outcome caused by Emperor Gaozu's misuse of his personnel.

But there was nothing to be done; he had a good son.

Dou Jiande had his own words to say—if Emperor Taizong were my son, wouldn't I be just as likely to engage in indiscriminate killing?

In any case, Dou Jiande's current situation was not entirely hopeless.

When Dou Jiande first arrived at Hulao Pass, he must have been full of confidence, feeling like a dragon riding the clouds—undefeatable.

Yet in the eyes of Li Hongyun, the situation was certainly not as optimistic as Dou Jiande had thought, but neither was it completely without any chance of resistance.

After all, upon analysis after the fact, Dou Jiande's overwhelming defeat also had an element of bad luck.

Li Hongyun quickly replayed the situation at the time in his mind.

This battle, for both fighting parties, was a reluctant and risky confrontation that neither was eager to start.

On the side of the Liang Army, they had been fighting Wang Shichong for a long time, and with Luoyang resisting capture for so long, many soldiers were weary, with thoughts of retreating emerging within the military camp.

Dou Jiande's Xia Army, too, was an exhausted force. First fighting in Youzhou State, then clashing with Meng Haigong, the campaign had dragged on for a long time. Ideally, they should have rested, but the urgent situation in Luoyang meant they had to lead their forces there once again.

Their previous military operations had not gone smoothly, indicating that Dou Jiande's Xia Army was significantly less organized than the Liang Army.

And the most critical point was that they were one step too late—Hulao Pass had already been seized by the Liang Army.

If Dou Jiande had managed to capture Hulao Pass first, then even Emperor Taizong would likely have found himself out of options and been forced to temporarily retreat, planning a gradual strategy afterward.

Unfortunately, the value of swift action in warfare is high; sometimes being just a couple of weeks behind can result in vastly different outcomes.

But Dou Jiande had his advantages—numbers.

Emperor Taizong of Liang's Black Armor Army only numbered three thousand five hundred, stationed at Hulao Pass, while Dou Jiande's grand army was one hundred thousand strong.

However, perhaps because of the number of men at his command, Dou Jiande fell under a delusion.

He arranged his troops in a single-file line along the bank of the Si River, confronting the Liang Army atop Hulao Pass across this small river. The advancing troops made for an imposing spectacle.

Hulao Pass was strategically located, with the Yellow River to the north, a small river, Si River, adjacent to the pass to the east, and Que Mountain to the south.

This meant that Dou Jiande ordered his vast army to occupy almost every inch of land across from Si River, with lines of soldiers that stretched endlessly.

Viewed in hindsight, this was clearly a faulty decision, but Dou Jiande wasn't someone who was completely ignorant in military affairs; he obviously had his considerations for making this move.

This was actually a form of psychological warfare.

In fact, had any other leader been in Emperor Taizong's place, one would find that Dou Jiande's troop formation might not have led to such severe consequences.

Forming up across the Si River, beating the drums of advance, and giving the impression of preparing for a major assault—although not an extraordinary strategy, it would not appear to be a significant error to most onlookers.

Hulao Pass, being easy to defend but hard to attack, meant that if a prolonged siege failed, Emperor Taizong might suddenly emerge with his cavalry, leading to the same outcome.

Therefore, Dou Jiande did not rashly attack, but instead formed his lines across the Si River.

On one hand, with the Si River between them, the Liang Army would first have to cross it to attack; on the other hand, Dou Jiande's army was already in full formation, and any forced crossing by the opposition could be disadvantaged and might even end up tense, potentially getting bogged down by Dou Jiande.

So, Dou Jiande likely judged that Lord Qin would not engage in battle.

After all, facing off three thousand five hundred men against a hundred thousand, Dou Jiande could afford to lose, but Lord Qin could not.

With this perspective, that "Lord Qin would most likely not depart for battle," Dou Jiande's method of deployment must have exerted tremendous psychological pressure on the Liang Army.