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

Chapter 228 You fight your way, I'll fight mine.

While pondering, Fei Yi complained:

"I have heard that Jia Kui is serving as the governor of Yuzhou. He has done a great job in both military affairs and civil administration, and the people of the province praise him for his achievements."

"I thought he was an honest official who cherished his reputation, but I never expected him to collude with Cao Hong today!"

Miwei shook his head and said:
"Jia Kui was indeed a capable official, but he was by no means a wise and virtuous gentleman."

"I heard that he offended Cao Cao by speaking frankly and was imprisoned."

“Because he was Cao Cao’s chief clerk, the prison officials dared not put him in shackles.”

"Instead, he demanded that the jailers immediately put on the torture instruments to prevent them from being discovered by the people Cao Cao sent to inspect."

"Later, Cao Cao indeed sent someone, and seeing that Jia Kui had not used his position as chief clerk to gain any advantage, he pardoned him."

"From this perspective, Jia Kui was a man who was well-versed in the art of expediency, just like Cao Cao, except that he was better at disguising himself."

Fei Yi was amazed.

Meanwhile, Yang Xi, the prefectural official sitting next to him, secretly made a note of the matter.

I'll make a note of this "pretentious Jia Kui" when we get back to the inn.

At this moment, Miwei said again:

"Jia Kui came from Huainan and knows the strength and weakness of the Wu army there."

"It will be difficult for Wu's army to cross the river and march north for at least three years."

"The Wei army can leisurely cultivate land and raise troops in Huainan."

"With the combined strength of the four provinces of Si, Yan, Yu, and Yang, we can sustain this scale of invasions year after year."

"If this happens, not only will Nanyang be in turmoil, but the entire Jingzhou will likely be dragged down."

Upon hearing this, Fei Yi, reflecting on his own mission, also felt frustrated.

He had already successfully transported the troops to Nanyang before the beginning of spring.

He intended to continue south to Jiangling, but upon learning that Sun Quan was critically ill, he had to temporarily stop and send someone back to Shu to ask for instructions.

Because if anything were to happen to Sun Quan, then his mission would become a funeral.

That's fine, but the key issue is that Sun Quan's son, Sun Deng, was even younger than Crown Prince Liu Shan, and at that time he was just a teenager.

The saying goes, "With a young ruler, the country is in turmoil," and whether Jiangdong can be stabilized in the future is still uncertain.

Before the situation in Jiangdong becomes clear, we can no longer expect the Wu army to launch a joint northern expedition.

The only consolation is that Jiangdong should no longer be able to threaten Jingzhou.

Thinking of this, Fei Yi asked:
"General, you are known for your wisdom and decisiveness. Do you have any plans to defeat the enemy?"

Mi Wei laughed:

"Wei is of average appearance; how could he possibly deserve Wenwei's praise!"

"However, since ancient times, the way to deal with cavalry raids has been nothing more than building long fortifications along the mountains and constructing passageways on flat ground to block the cavalry's easy movement, and then connecting the cities for mutual protection."

"For example, in the battle where Cao Cao defeated Han Sui, he entered from Tongguan and built a tunnel all the way to Weinan."

"However, Cao Cao was skilled in military tactics and adaptability. That tunnel itself was just a tactic to lure the enemy south."

Mi Wei deliberately avoided mentioning General Ma Chao, in order to avoid offending him.

However, Fei Yi certainly knew the story from back then.

Mi Wei's implication was that even someone as powerful as Ma Chao was wary of the old method of building strongholds and fighting protracted battles.

"But whether it's genuine cultivation or luring the enemy, it will always require a large-scale conscription of soldiers and civilians."

"The enemy cavalry has not yet been eliminated, and each city is holding its ground. It is too early to talk about these things."

Fei Yi nodded, but couldn't come up with a better idea at the moment.

……

Fortunately, Guan Yu did not keep everyone waiting for long.

Ten days after New Year's Day, Guan Yu launched a counterattack, completely driving the Wei army out of the heart of Nanyang.

Deputy General Kou Feng, the Prefect of Nanyang, was ordered by Guan Yu to drive away the remaining enemy forces and reinforce Fangcheng.

Mi Wei thus learned about the situation in Nanyang.

The Wei army's winter invasion was purely a nomadic tactic, and they did not attempt to attack any major cities or fortified strongholds.

In addition, Guan Yu reacted quickly, so the actual damage he caused was limited.

Only about 10% of the newly established settlements suffered severe damage.

The key issue is the damage to morale and public confidence.

Since the Wei army could come once, they could naturally come a second and a third time...

If the Wei army cannot be completely contained east of Fangcheng, the people of Nanyang will continue to live under the shadow of the enemy's iron hooves, much like the situation faced by the northern border regions against nomadic forces for centuries.

It's naturally difficult to settle down and work in the fields.

In fact, even before the Wei army withdrew, the gentry of Xiangfan who had previously caused trouble were already subtly criticizing Mi Wei for his inadequate defense of Fangcheng.

This brings up the old story of Deng Ai "snatching" people.

However, Guan Yu blocked them all.

But one can imagine that if this happens two or three more times, the opposition will grow stronger and stronger until it becomes completely uncontrollable.

Guan Yu had no intention of sitting idly by and waiting for his death.

Then Kou Feng said:
"Besides Cao Hong, the Wei generals who attacked last time also included Cao Ren's eldest son Cao Tai and his former subordinates."

"When our troops were fighting the enemy, we captured a former subordinate of Cao Ren named Chang Diao."

"According to his confession, most of Jia Kui and Cao Hong's military provisions were stored in Yingyang, and the garrison commander was Niu Jin, another former subordinate of Cao Ren..."

Kou Feng then recounted in detail the process of capturing and interrogating the enemy.

Mi Wei and the others also learned of Guan Yu's plan.

In the long run, it is certainly necessary to continue to strengthen Fangcheng's defense system.

However, in the short term, launching a moderate counterattack after spring plowing, and also attacking the enemy's rear, can boost morale and threaten the enemy.

In other words, offense is the best form of defense.

Destroying key enemy strongholds, such as grain depots, is the most cost-effective option.

Of course, being an important stronghold, it was naturally heavily guarded.

How to launch a surprise attack still needs careful planning.

Therefore, although Guan Yu entrusted this task to Kou Feng, he made sure that Kou Feng came to Fangcheng to await Mi Wei's orders.

Mi Wei dared not be negligent.

Immediately dispatch troops to reopen the roads to the surrounding cities and ascertain the movements of the Wei army.

In the end, except for Xiahou Ba's troops who were still holding out against Kunyang, all the other cities south of the Zhi River were relieved of their siege.

Even Dingling City, downstream of Kunyang, was recaptured.

This shows that the Wei army completely abandoned the strategy of attacking fortified positions.

Therefore, Mi Wei officially issued the military order.

It will be done in three steps.

First, Kou Feng and Ma Zhong's troops marched north from Ye County, cooperating with Wang Ping and Jiang Wei in Kunyang to wipe out the last Wei army east of the Zhi River.

He acted alongside Xiahou Ba to delay the Wei army's offensive in the Central Plains, thus buying time for Guan Yu to capture Wancheng.

Now that the objective has been achieved, the Wei army has changed its commander-in-chief and its battle strategy.

Then there's no need to keep playing along with this tool.

Secondly, after clearing out the remaining enemy forces, Fangcheng Governor Xiang Chong conscripted local laborers and militia to quickly complete and strengthen the defensive fortifications.

A passageway was built between Ye, Chou, Kunyang, Dingling, and Wuyang, completely connecting the five cities into one.

Once completed, it will be much more difficult for the Wei army to divide their forces and blockade the city the next time.

Without securing the city in advance to ensure an escape route, cavalry would not dare to venture deep behind enemy lines for raids.

Third, by using the first two methods, we can lure the Wei army into making adjustments and responses, thereby ascertaining the true strength and weaknesses of Yingyang and seeing if there is a suitable opportunity to launch an attack.

If that place truly was an important grain depot for the Wei army, it would inevitably be redeployed as the army moved, thus revealing the true situation.

On a battlefield with a scale of 100,000, it would be almost impossible for the enemy to conceal such movements.

In addition to these three steps, Mi Wei also sent Fei Yi on a grand mission to Eastern Wu.

Whether it's bestowing a title of king or offering condolences, it's all the same.

Make a big commotion and don't let the Wei Kingdom have it too easy in Huainan.

In short, you fight your way, and I'll fight mine.

No one can have a good time.

Even Miwei himself was not idle.

First, Deng Ai, the clerk in charge of official duties, was appointed to remain in the prefecture to assist Xiang Chong in conscripting laborers.

Then he took the chief clerk Zhuge Qiao back to Wancheng to participate in the upcoming Spring Festival.

With the arrival of a new agricultural cycle in the fourth year of Zhangwu, it is time for a formal response to the objections raised by the scholars of Jingzhou.

(End of this chapter)