The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 183 Second-hand Intelligence
Sun Quan was certainly ambitious.

After inheriting the business empire left by his father and brothers, he worked diligently for more than 20 years.

Now, everyone in Jiangdong respects him as their lord.

Although he had no title of emperor, he had the power of one.

However, when it comes to titles and honors, Sun Quan was inherently inferior to Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

During the Jian'an period, the Cao family held the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords and conquered and unified the north through military conquest. It was only natural that they would declare themselves the sovereign and the ruler.

Not to mention that Cao Pi did go through the proper abdication process and made all the necessary gestures.

At least on the surface, his reign as emperor was "legitimate".

And Liu Bei goes without saying.

They also controlled three provinces through military means and identified themselves as members of the Liu clan.

After Cao Pi usurped the Han throne, Liu Bei raised the banner of restoring the Han dynasty, and it was perfectly legitimate and reasonable for him to bestow an honorific title upon Liu Bei.

Compared to these two rivals, Sun Quan had neither the legitimacy of being a member of the imperial clan nor the righteous cause of protecting the emperor.

No matter how you look at it, he has no right to call himself emperor.

In fact, it's not just the emperor.

Sun Quan claimed to be the Marquis of Wu of the Great Han Dynasty, a title inherited from his elder brother, but he never received formal recognition from the northern court.

It wasn't until Cao Cao was nearly dead that, in an attempt to sow discord among the Sun-Liu alliance, he reluctantly bestowed upon him the title of "Marquis of Nanchang," but still refused to acknowledge him as the overlord of Wu.

It wasn't until Cao Pi ascended the throne and became emperor that, in order to counter the growing power of Liu Bei, he finally gave Sun Quan a title of sufficient importance.

King of Wu of the Great Wei Dynasty.

But by this time, both Cao Cao and Liu Bei had declared themselves emperors.

How could Sun Quan be satisfied with a mere title of king?
Since he was born with a deficiency, he would make up for it later and prove himself worthy of the title of emperor through military victories.

After all, since ancient times, the most legitimate way to gain the throne is to conquer the country with one's own hands.

In the past, Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, rose to power by overthrowing the Qin Dynasty and restoring the Chu state. Why did he later emulate Qin Shi Huang and adopt the title of "Emperor"?
Because this great Han dynasty was built from scratch by him, who personally led his troops to conquer it.

Thinking of this, Sun Quan couldn't wait to ask Zhu Huan, who was on the same boat:

"Xiu Mu, is Zhang Liao still in Hefei? Could this be a trap?"

"I will personally lead troops to scout the city; there is absolutely no mistake!" Zhu Huan declared resolutely.

"Besides, Zhang Liao has always regarded us as nothing, and he may still think of himself as the tiger general who could stop children from crying at night."

Eight years ago, at Xiaoyao Ford, eight hundred cavalrymen broke through the siege.

Thus, the story of Zhang Liao stopping crying arose.

Recalling the humiliation of that battle, Sun Quan was filled with rage.

He said to another senior official, Lü Fan:

My mind is made up.

"Hefei is an important city in the Jianghuai region. If we don't take it, we won't be able to establish a foothold in Huainan."

"As the saying goes, if you don't take what Heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences."

"The opportunity is right in front of us, how can we shrink back because of some obstacles?"

Lu Fan had already tried to dissuade him countless times along the way.

He was already numb by then, and simply replied, "Your subject will certainly defend the capital to the death," before turning to say:

"Yesterday, Lu Boyan wrote a letter saying that King Zhi of Qichun and General Jin Zong, the garrison commander of Xikou, had a disagreement and suggested that Your Majesty postpone sending troops."

Upon hearing this, Sun Quan remained noncommittal and looked at Zhu Huan on the other side.

Upon hearing Lu Xun's name, Zhu Huan frowned slightly and said:
"Is Lu Boyan worried that Jin Zong's defection to the Han army would give Guan Yu an opportunity to take advantage of the situation?"

Lü Fan nodded:

"Have to guard against it."

"Although Qichun County belongs to Yangzhou, it is isolated north of the Yangtze River and separated from Wancheng by the Dabie Mountains."

"In terms of closeness and distance, it's easier to associate with Deng Zhi and Deng Bomiu. It's hard to guarantee that Jin Zong hasn't been tempted by Guan Yu over the years."

Zhu Huan's brows furrowed even more.

But Sun Quan was looking at him with a deep, unsettling gaze.

Thinking of his recent outstanding military achievements, which overshadowed the two governors-general and deputy governors.

With a determined look, he said to Sun Quan:
"May I ask Your Majesty, which is more important, Huainan or Qichun?"

"Should we attack Wei or punish Han first?"

Sun Quan, recognizing the music, burst into laughter.

He immediately took off his gold-inlaid leather belt, tied it around Zhu Huan's neck, and said:
"I am willing to join forces with Xiu Mu to first attack Wei and then attack Han. What do you think?"

Zhu Huan was moved to tears on the spot and said in a resounding voice:

"It's what you wish for!"

……

……

"Sun Quan's army marched out of Juchao, and from the Shi River upstream, they had already reached the walls of Hefei..."

"Hefei is under tight defense; Zhang Liao may already be critically ill..."

"Except for Zhu Ling's unit which is stationed along the Fei River, the rest of the Wei army is slow to arrive..."

"Hefei will be taken down soon..."

Battle reports arrived from Jiangxia and Ezhou, traveling up the Yangtze River. This allowed Mi Wei, stationed in Jiangling, to catch a glimpse of the Huainan battlefield, thousands of miles away.

To be honest, however, Miwei had serious doubts about the reliability of the "allied" intelligence.

This does not require knowing history.

This can be deduced from basic diplomatic logic.

Why did Zhuge Jin take the initiative to analyze the battle reports from the eastern front with me?

On a smaller scale, it was about cultivating Sun Quan's image as a military strongman, so as to increase his bargaining power in later negotiations regarding the issue of whether he would declare himself emperor in the east or west.

On a larger scale, the more progress Sun Quan made on the Huainan battlefield, the more hard Guan Yu would put in on the Nanyang battlefield.

The reverse is also true.

The cooperation in the Northern Expedition should have been about mutual support and leverage.

So how else can we interpret Miwei?
Let's look at it rationally.

Why didn't Cao Pi replace Hefei with a great general?

"Is it because you're worried that the others aren't enough to resist General Wu...Sun?"

Zhuge Qiao looked at the familiar handwriting on the battle report, his youthful face wrinkling up like an old man.

Mi Wei, wanting to test him, countered with a question:

"If you were Cao Pi's strategist, who would you recommend to replace Zhang Liao?"

Zhuge Qiao recalled briefly and began to list the results on his fingers:
"Among the generals outside the Cao Wei imperial family, General Zhu Lingming is second only to Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, so perhaps he could replace him?"

Mi Wei shook his head: "Shouchun is also an important town on the Huai River. Zhu Ling must not be touched."

"If we have to make a move, we can only exchange with Zhang Liao."

Zhuge Qiao:
"Although Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou, and Wang Ling, the governor of Yanzhou, are not generals, they are wise enough to defend against the enemy. Is that acceptable?"

Miwei still shook his head:

“Yanzhou is far away, and Wang Ling cannot reach it in time. Although Jia Kui can reach it in time, he is in charge of the heartland of Henan and serves as the southern shield of Luoyang, so he cannot be moved lightly.”

Zhuge Qiao:
"General Zang Ba, who commands the army on horseback and governs the people on foot, is he suitable?"

This time, Mi Wei pondered for a moment before shaking his head and saying:

“Zang Ba is not a trusted general of the Cao family and is not suitable for important responsibilities.”

"Moreover, in the battle last winter, Zang Ba lost a large number of boats due to the freezing of the Zhongdu River. If he were to come to our aid now, he would have to rely on manpower to transport supplies, which would inevitably be slow."

Zhuge Qiao suddenly realized what was happening.

He then laughed and said, "No wonder the Imperial Son-in-Law (Guan Xing) always says that the General is a master strategist!"

"Even though it was thousands of miles away, it felt like I was seeing it with my own eyes!"

Mi Wei laughed it off.

He's too lazy to care about those kinds of things anymore.

Following on from Zhuge Qiao's previous topic, this is partly a summary and partly an analysis:

"If none of these men can replace Zhang Liao, then the other generals are either too far away or have to support the Nanyang region, so it's even less likely that they will come to Hefei."

"So, if the Cao family wants to defend Hefei, they really can only rely on an old general who is about to die?"

This is precisely Miwei's biggest question.

Logically speaking, Cao Wei had no shortage of capable and wise men. Even if it was overwhelmed by fighting on two fronts, it should not have fallen to the point of having no generals available.

Even assuming that Zhuge Jin had his own reasons for not being able to come,

Why was it that no one in the Cao Wei court could predict this earlier?
It should be noted that there was at least a two-month buffer period between Cao Xiu's capture and the current two-way war between the three kingdoms.

What were all those clever people in Cao Wei doing during those two whole months?

Grand Commandant Jia Xu is a recognized wise man, isn't he?
Situ Huaxin is a recognized wise minister, isn't he?
Attendants-in-Ordinary Dong Zhao and Liu Ye, and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Du Xi.

Including the so-called "Four Friends of Cao Pi," Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Wu Zhi, Zhu Shuo... Although these people held different official positions, by later standards they were all first- or second-rate strategists of their time, each with their own unique intelligence.

Why wasn't anyone reminded of this?
Even Wang Lang, the Minister of Works?

By the way, Wang Situ is now Wang Sikong, the same official rank as Mi Wei's father.

In short, after taking a comprehensive view of the situation, Mi Wei felt that Sun Quan's Northern Expedition was as if he had been given a cheat code.

Those wise men and strategists who were well-known in their previous lives seemed to have had their intelligence collectively lowered.

Is this reasonable?

Of course, it's the same old story.

Due to subjective factors, intelligence will inevitably be partially distorted.

This is especially true of secondhand intelligence from Eastern Wu.

Therefore, Miwei could only set aside his previous "common sense" and think purely from the perspective of military defense.

In fact, although Sun Quan came with great force in this battle, the defense system of Hefei had already been tested in actual combat.

Once we get through the initial period, the Wei forces from other directions will naturally catch up, and it won't be difficult to break the siege.

Even though Cao Wei was simultaneously engaged in two wars.

There is no need to deceive yourself about this.

Cao Wei dominated the north for many years, possessing the most prosperous prefectures and counties in the land, and it certainly had the confidence to do so.

If it weren't for the fact that the defending general was the dying Zhang Liao, Sun Quan's northern expedition might not have had much of a chance of success.

Once Miwei understood this point, he found a clue:
"Perhaps... it was precisely because Sun Quan personally led the Northern Expedition that Zhang Liao deliberately stayed behind?"

(End of this chapter)