Here’s how I see it:
-As a great general, you don’t want to micromanage your generals. We really rarely seen great generals interfere with the actions of their subordinate commanders because you want your subs to be able to operate freely without micromanaging them, because they know their own strengths better than you do.
Look at Shukai, the HSU and Gyoku Hou awakened specifically because Ousen did nothing. Just as an example. The best generals like Riboku/Renpa/Ouki largely gave their subordinates completely free rein over how they approached their battlefields. Even at Bayou Ouki never ordered Moubu not to pursue too deeply, he simply recommended that Moubu not do that while leaving the ultimate decision up to Moubu.
So when Akou and Shin moved to slay Riboku, no GG would go and reverse the decisions of their own subs like that. Especially when Ousen was that confident in Akou to begin with. And btw
@Xione , Ousen probably didn’t need to send messengers to Akou, he could’ve probably communicated instantly via flags like Ouki did or what not. Some other visual way of giving orders that doesn’t rely on messengers.
-As for Ousen being too dependent on Shin, I always had the opposite issue with Hango lmfao. From the start I said my biggest issue with Ousen at Hango was this mf actually thought Sou Ou and Akou could slay Shibashou lol. But the more I look at it, the more Ousen had no choice but to bank on those two since the alternative was retreat which would’ve been an immediate Qin L. So really Ousen had no choice but to bet on Akou and Sou Ou there.
-To defend Ousen, the greatest generals of all time are the ones who make effective use of their subs. As great as Ouki and Renpa were, they also had amazing subordinates and had to utilize them intelligently to win. Riboku himself has always taken advantage of huge martial units, so I don’t blame Ousen for being this dependent on Shin because that’s just what the best generals do.
Ultimately it’s like Riboku said, Zhao won because they had more information. Riboku knew Shibashou could curbstomp Ousen so long as Ousen couldn’t utilize Shin or Ouhon. Meanwhile Ousen knew nothing about Shibashou, and so it was harder for him to formulate a strategy without knowing what his enemy was capable of.
People are dogpiling on Ousen but it’s not so easy to make an actual battle plan when you don’t know shit about the army directly across from you. Meanwhile Riboku had all the intel, so he recognized exactly how to put Ousen in checkmate on day 1. Things would’ve been much different for Zhao if Ousen had intel on Shibashou from the start.