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

Chapter 208 Go with the flow
Mi Wei received the intelligence sent by Jiang Wei the following afternoon.

But to be honest, he wasn't too surprised.

The Cao Wei state had many talented people, especially those from Ru and Ying.

Even if Xu Miao himself was ignorant of military affairs, there was always a military advisor or captain under him who might be knowledgeable about them.

Unlike Jiang Wei, who liked to gamble everything.

Mi Wei, when leading his troops into battle, always made thorough preparations for various plans.

As for the current battle...

The ideal outcome would be to eliminate the main Wei army force at Kunyang, and incidentally capture Kunyang City, thus completely blocking the passage to Fangcheng.

If that's not possible, then let's settle for this: sweep away everything around Kunyang and turn it into an isolated city.

If that doesn't work, then at least we must ensure that we occupy as many strategic locations and cities as possible on the south bank of the Zhi River.

This ensures sufficient defensive depth when facing large numbers of enemy reinforcements in the future.

Regarding the third goal, he has successfully achieved it.

After nearly half a month of attack and plunder.

South of the Zhi River, the three counties of Chou, Wuyang, and Yan have all been successfully captured.

Even Luyang City, located northwest of Chou County and across the Zhi River, secretly sent people to negotiate terms for surrender.

In short, by this time, the "Fangcheng Fortress" in a broader sense had been largely taken over by Miwei.

The mountain roads to the north are completely under our control.

These are all first-mover advantages in future large-scale defensive wars.

Moreover, because of these successive victories, the morale of the various rebel armies was high.

While still not quite on par with regular soldiers, they are more than capable of defending the city and looting.
Mi Wei was able to withdraw the main force from both routes.

In addition, a group of outstanding rebel soldiers were selected and rotated.

Finally, they mustered 7,000 infantrymen and set their sights on Dingling, the last city outside of Kunyang.

However, just as Commander Mi Wei arrived at Dingling City and set up camp...

Scouts such as Zhan Sifu sent word that they had discovered that Luoyang was about to send 130,000 troops south to relieve Nanyang.

Among them were 30,000 regular soldiers of the central army.

General Cao Hong was appointed commander.

It is expected to arrive at the Xuchang line early next month.

Subsequently, Jiang Wei sent a message that the people, horses, grain, and supplies from various parts of Rubei not only did not come to reinforce Xiangcheng, but instead gathered in the opposite direction towards Xuchang.

This further confirms the intelligence provided by James.

It is worth mentioning that Xuchang was not only one of the five capitals of the Wei Kingdom, but also the seat of Yingchuan Prefecture.

As the main base for the southward advance of the army, Xuchang had better conditions in all aspects than Xiangcheng and Kunyang on the banks of the Ru River.

This is yet another geographical verification.

In short, a large number of enemy reinforcements will arrive soon.

Miwei could only seize the last opportunity and take as much land as he could.

Next, we'll see when Guan Yu's side takes Wancheng.

……

"So, Yuyang has already surrendered?"

On the city wall of Xinye, Xu Huang gazed at the northern suburbs, which resembled a vast swamp.

The chaotic retreat three years ago couldn't help but come to mind.

When he led his troops north from Fancheng to Xinye, he had to detour because the lake overflowed and flooded the road.

From that time on, he harbored doubts about these reservoirs built to reclaim paddy fields.

However, the policy of recruiting people to cultivate land was established during Cao Cao's era, and as a military general, he could not comment on it.

The only thing they could do was to reinforce and thicken the city walls during the few years they were stationed in Xinye.

In retrospect, these efforts have been effective.

Xinye indeed withstood this round of floods.

Unfortunately, only Xinye withstood the test.

After a moment of whispering, a small boat bearing the banner of the Han army sailed in from the northern suburbs.

Xu Huang stood with his hands behind his back, not moving, and ordered a clerk to go and hand over the reins.

A moment later, the clerk returned.

It was indeed a letter from Guan Yu.

Xu Huang, too lazy to look any further, asked directly:

"What official position has been promised this time? How many households will be allocated as a fief?"

However, the scribe said:
"There was no promise. I simply addressed the general as 'brother' and said that I regretted not being able to share a drink with him three years ago outside Fancheng, and I hope we can make up for it today."

Xu Huang raised an eyebrow: "That's all?"

The clerk should be, but his tone suddenly changed:
“General, several prominent families in the city have privately asked me to inquire whether you intend to…” The clerk’s voice trailed off.

He saw Xu Huang's hand touch the hilt of the knife.

His face was extremely gloomy.

A moment later, Xu Huang released the knife, looked at the trembling scribe, and said:

"I remember your family is a common surname in this area?"

The clerk bowed his head and did not dare to respond.

Xu Huang sighed deeply and said in a muffled voice:
“If this were in the past, I would have killed you to uphold military law.”

"But things are different now."

"If the court wants to compete with Liu Bei for soldiers and launch another large-scale massacre, it will inevitably go against the current emperor's wishes."

"Fine, I'll tell you everything today."

He immediately ordered his officers, clerks, and other staff to surround him.

“Man Boning and I secretly devised a plan: Nanyang is no longer defensible, and we should retreat to Fangcheng or even Yingchuan.”

"I agree with that."

"But there are still two things to take care of before I leave."

"Firstly, I am determined to destroy Xinye City."

"If I give the enemy a city today, I will have to pay ten or a hundred times the price tomorrow. I would rather destroy it!"

This statement did not surprise anyone. Except for the local clerk from Xinye who turned pale instantly, everyone else agreed.

"Secondly, although the city is captured, homes will not be destroyed. The people in the city will be given three days to sort out their belongings. After that, they can either retreat north to Wancheng or go south to join Guan Yu, as they see fit."

Everyone was somewhat surprised.

But considering the current situation in Nanyang, it's not too surprising.

"And that's all."

After saying this, Xu Huang turned and went back into the city.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion.

That old general who once rode his horse proudly on the battlefield now has an excessively bent spine.

……

Deng Ai ultimately failed to stay at Dingling.

It wasn't that the Dingling garrison looked down on this stuttering peasant official.

Instead, Deng Ai had just managed to send a thousand reinforcements into the city, but before he could even have a hot meal, a messenger from Xuchang arrived at Dingling to conscript laborers.

Fortunately, after learning about the actual situation at Dingling, the messenger did not do anything outrageous or rob those thousand people.

But Xiangcheng, located behind them, was not spared.

Deng Ai, as a low-ranking official in charge of managing the villagers, was himself on the conscription list.

I have no choice but to go with the flow.

Before leaving, he wrote a letter and entrusted someone to take it to Xiangcheng. This was to remind Xu Miao's family that manpower and resources were currently being concentrated in Xuchang, and the area around Xiangcheng was becoming increasingly empty and no longer safe.

It is recommended that the Xu family relocate to Xuchang as soon as possible to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

Xu Miao, as his superior, held his future and destiny in his hands.

It's never a bad thing to establish good relationships in advance.

Their subsequent life was filled with hardship and displacement, which I won't go into detail about.

Having finally crossed the Ying River, we were just about to rest near the ferry and grab a bite of dry rations.

Suddenly, a messenger arrived, saying that a group of Han cavalry was plundering supplies and that they should quickly enter the city to avoid them, or it would be too late.

Deng Ai could only sigh and drift away with the tide once more.

But not long after they left, someone brought news that the Han cavalry had abducted a cartload of women on the way and left, and did not go any further in this direction.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, some resting, others eating.

At the same time, I secretly lamented how unfortunate the women in that family were.

After that, all sorts of vulgar and obscene remarks followed.

Although Deng Ai disdained to participate, he wouldn't bother arguing with a bunch of peasants.

It was only when someone mentioned that the family's surname was Xu that I suddenly realized something was wrong.

He immediately ran into the city to ask around.

Half a day later, the autumn rain came suddenly.

Deng Ai rushed out of the city, soaking wet and his face filled with shame and indignation:

"Master Xu, I'm so sorry!"

He immediately drew his sword and charged into the increasingly torrential rain.

(End of this chapter)