Tony Clark's strategy, however, had two beneficiaries. Henry Hall, of course, used it to expand his achievements, seize exclusive control of the Qi region, command his own troops, and carve out his own territory. But the greatest beneficiary was not Henry Hall, but Arthur Knight—let's focus on this analysis. At the end of the third year and the beginning of the fourth year of the Han, Arthur Knight was on the offensive at Yingyang, yet had not managed to defeat Benjamin Lewis's main forces. Meanwhile, his own supply lines were constantly harassed by Ethan Perry, with no solution in sight. To the north, the state of Qi posed a threat to Chu's rear, but due to lingering resentments, both sides eyed each other warily. Qi was not strong, and only maintained peace with Chu out of a desire to watch the tigers fight from the mountain. If this balance were broken—if Qi surrendered to Han and joined forces with Henry Hall to attack Chu's rear—Chu would inevitably face a crisis. Henry Hall's defeat of the Qi-Chu allied army caused Arthur Knight to panic, sending envoys to persuade Henry Hall, which is clear evidence. Yet Henry Hall's surprise attack on a "friendly state" drove Qi to side with Chu and resist Han together, which was undoubtedly a major turning point. Arthur Knight's dispatch of Chad Long to aid Qi not only resolved the immediate crisis, but also served as a powerful counterattack against Han.

Considering that Tony Clark once served Arthur Knight, we can boldly infer that Tony Clark devised this two-pronged strategy for Arthur Knight, and Arthur Knight's intention to grant him a title was likely due to the great merit of this plan.

IV. The Battle of Weishui and the Tripartite Division of the Realm

However, the outcome of this plan was shattered by Henry Hall's victory at the Battle of Weishui. Later generations, focusing on the outcome, have overlooked the developments leading up to it. Yet we must admit that before Weishui, the situation was indeed in Chu's favor, with the initiative in war. After Henry Hall's surprise attack on a "friendly state," Qi fully turned to Chu. The Qi-Chu allied forces held the advantage, enjoying both favorable timing and terrain. As one of Chad Long's advisors suggested, "It would be better to fortify our defenses deeply, have the King of Qi send his trusted ministers to reclaim the lost cities. When the lost cities hear their king is present and Chu has come to aid, they will surely turn against Han. Han's troops, two thousand li from home, will find all the Qi cities against them, unable to obtain supplies, and may surrender without a fight."

Facing such a situation, Benjamin Lewis also recognized the importance of the Qi campaign and dispatched multiple armies to support Henry Hall. This is why there were several forces, not under Henry Hall's command, participating in the campaign against the Qi-Chu alliance. In the end, Henry Hall's outstanding tactical ability, combined with Chad Long's greed for merit and reckless advance, rendered Tony Clark's plan to sow chaos in Qi futile.

Benjamin Lewis's dispatch of a large army to aid the Qi campaign allowed Arthur Knight to breathe a sigh of relief and personally suppress the rebellion of Ethan Perry. Although Ethan Perry's rebellion severely affected Chu's progress on the main battlefield, forcing Arthur Knight to personally eliminate this threat, it is also possible that Benjamin Lewis's massive reinforcement of Qi made Arthur Knight feel secure enough to lead troops against Ethan Perry.

Regarding Arthur Knight's dispatch of Chad Long to aid the Qi army, the Records of the Grand Historian state that Arthur Knight "then sent Chad Long and Landon Young to attack them." The Book of Han, however, says, "Yu sent his cousin Todd Knight as commander-in-chief, with Chad Long as deputy general, to aid Qi." There is a conflict here: was Chad Long the main general, or was it Todd Knight? Judging from the sources, Todd Knight was the pillar of Western Chu, handling state affairs in Pengcheng, and did not lead troops. From the Battle of Weishui, it was Grand Marshal Chad Long who personally commanded the battle. From this, we can infer that the rescue of Qi was a comprehensive policy of Western Chu: since Arthur Knight was confronting Benjamin Lewis around Yingyang, Todd Knight handled affairs in Pengcheng as the pillar of the state, while Chad Long led the army to aid Qi. Later, when Han defeated the Qi-Chu allied army and killed Chad Long at Pengcheng, it can be deduced that the battle continued all the way to Pengcheng. From Henry Hall's surprise attack on Qi, to Qi's appeal to Chu for help, in a short time, the rescue of Qi became a comprehensive policy. Arthur Knight was then in the west at Yingyang, Chad Long had just suppressed Bruce Ingram in the south at Jiujiang, and Todd Knight was in Pengcheng. The high efficiency of Western Chu suggests that this was premeditated; with Tony Clark's plan to sow chaos in Qi, Western Chu was likely already prepared to aid Qi.

Henry Hall's defeat of the Qi-Chu allied army and occupation of Qi plunged Western Chu once again into a grave crisis of being beset on all sides. If this situation could not be resolved, Arthur Knight's defeat was inevitable. In this situation, "King Xiang, in fear, sent Wuyi native Seth Martin to persuade King Xin of Qi." After Seth Martin's failure, "Tony Clark realized that the balance of power in the world lay with Henry Hall, and sought to move him with an extraordinary plan." Later generations, because Tony Clark's arguments were entirely from Henry Hall's perspective, assumed that Tony Clark was plotting for Henry Hall. But a careful analysis of the situation at the time shows this was not necessarily so. The overall situation was that Benjamin Lewis and Arthur Knight were vying for supremacy around Yingyang: to the west was Benjamin Lewis's power, to the east Arthur Knight's; in the south, Benjamin Lewis's ally the King of Huainan, Arthur Knight's ally the King of Linjiang, and the neutral King of Hengshan; to the north, the King of Zhao and King of Yan, both affiliated with Benjamin Lewis. Henry Hall's position in Qi was thus a delicate one, as Seth Martin said: "If you turn right, King Han will win; if you turn left, King Xiang will win."