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

Chapter 237 A Trap Within a Trap, A Scheme Within a Scheme

The stakes are high.

Mi Wei immediately asked Deng Ai to find a marching map and asked Shi Tao to help identify the defenses of the Wei army's cities.

Although Shi Tao was not a military officer, as a 2,000-shi official in charge of managing civilian settlements, he was a native of Yingchuan and was at least familiar with the geography.

As more details were added to the map, the situation, which had been somewhat unclear and relied entirely on scouts for reconnaissance, quickly became clear.

First, why did the Wei army store most of its frontline military supplies in Yingyin instead of Yingyang?
Judging from the name alone, the north side of the water is considered Yang, and the south side is considered Yin.

Like the Ru River, the Ying River flows from southwest to northeast.

At first glance, Yingyin should be located on the south bank of the Ying River, closer to Fangcheng and farther from Xuchang.

But that's not actually the case at all.

Yingyin is not on the south bank at all.

This is likely because the Ying River changed its course in history.

In the era when these two places were named, this section of the Ying River likely flowed from east to west.

At that time, Yingyang was indeed north of the river, while Yingyin was south of the river.

But at present, both Yingyang and Yingyin are located north of the Ying River.

Yingyin is located further east, so it is farther from Fangcheng.

That's not all.

Between Yingyin and Yingyang, there is a tributary called the Yi River.

Therefore, from a defensive perspective, Yingyin is clearly safer and more reliable.

It would have been reasonable for the Wei army to store more grain at Yingyin.

Thinking about it this way, Chang Diao's confession, which was three parts true and seven parts false, becomes quite suspicious.

Shi Tao analyzed:
"Yingchuan is as its name suggests, with many rivers and streams within its borders."

"The journey from Ye County to Yingyang involves crossing three or four large and small rivers."

Even if you detour to Dingling downstream, you still can't avoid the Ru and Ying rivers.

"A large army crossing a great river will inevitably be slow."

"If the general wants to launch a surprise attack on Yingyang, speed is better than slowness. Therefore, we can only take advantage of the shallow waters to carefully select knights for a long-distance raid."

"Perhaps Jia Kui is using this to lure out the general's cavalry, and then concentrate his superior forces to ambush them midway!"

"Chang Diao is a spy sent by Jia Kui to mislead the general!"

Miwei narrowed his eyes.

To be fair, based on his previous life's "history," he had doubts about Shi Tao's abilities.

His previous act of adopting the "Duke of Zhou" posture was partly a necessary political statement, and partly due to the fact that the other party was a friend of both Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu.

In short, they will definitely receive preferential treatment.

But when it comes to military prowess...

He trusted Deng Ai, who was by his side, even more.

However, this is also due to my understanding of "history" from my previous life.

He knew that his adversary, Jia Kui, was an opponent he had to take very seriously.

To say that there was nothing strange about Yingyang would contradict his understanding.

Then he looked at Deng Ai, whom he trusted even more:
What does Shi Zai think?

Deng Ai had been listening attentively and thinking deeply the whole way.

Having already prepared a draft, I began to speak:
"In my humble opinion, Changdiao is more of a expendable pawn than a suicide spy."

Miwei raised an eyebrow:

"Does Shizai mean that he didn't lie, but was simply being used without realizing it?"

Deng Ai nodded slightly: "That's exactly what I meant!"

"The method of using death spies requires the spies to be fearless of death, unwavering in their principles, knowledgeable of people's hearts, and skilled in rhetoric. They must then survive nine deaths and hope to mislead the enemy."

“Changdiao could be a brave general, and he might die for his country, but he is clearly not good at winning people’s hearts or arguing, so he is not suitable to be a spy.”

Miwei: "That makes sense."

Deng Ai then analyzed:

"As far as I know, Jia Kui is a shrewd strategist, resourceful yet not rash. He would never place his hopes on a mere individual."

"Didn't the general not readily believe his words earlier, but instead cautiously used the opportunity of driving away Xiahou Ba to force the enemy to mobilize, thereby spying on the enemy's troop movements?"

Mi Wei nodded slightly.

He never overestimated himself, nor did he believe in any stroke of good fortune, so he naturally had to be cautious in his military operations.

Looking back now, it's clear why our scouts were so slow to figure out the true nature of Yingyang's deployment.

It is precisely because Yingyang has nothing of substance to begin with.

Naturally, there was nothing to be found. At this moment, Deng Ai's tone suddenly changed:
"But what if Jia Kui intends to use the entire 'Yingyang Grain Depot' as a 'suicide spy'?"

Upon hearing this, Mi Wei understood and his eyes lit up.

Shi Tao gasped in shock.

Deng Ai simply began explaining to Shi Tao:

"The Yingyin Pass is far away, and it is further separated by a river. If we had known beforehand that the Wei army's supplies were mostly stored at Yingyin, we might not have been willing to risk launching an attack."

"Although Yingyang is also across the river, it is a day or two's shorter journey away. With the river separating us, it is in a suitable position for my rapid advance."

“We should spare no effort to attack Yingyang, and then turn back immediately afterward without making any unnecessary stops along the way… This would naturally make us more willing to send troops.”

Shi Tao nodded to indicate that he understood.

Deng Ai continued:
"However, if troops were to be sent to attack Yingyang from afar, the results would be minimal."

"But now that we've arrived in Yingyang, it's not difficult to learn about Yingyin, which isn't far away, and thus realize that it's the real key location."

"Moreover, unlike Chang Diao's one-sided account, the intelligence from Yingyin was obtained by our own investigation and is more credible."

"The intelligence is reliable, the distance is not far, and the army has already gone far... Putting ourselves in their shoes, when that moment really comes, how many people can resist crossing the river to touch Yingyin?"

"If they cross the river again and capture another city, the army will not be able to turn back on the same day... This gives the Wei army ample time to ambush them."

"The ambush might even be hidden near Yingyin, just waiting for our army to cross the river and attack!"

"True lies hidden within falsehood, and falsehood conceals truth—this is the highest level of espionage!"

Upon hearing this, Mi Wei couldn't help but slam his fist on the table and exclaim in admiration.

They were both impressed by their opponent's cunning and delighted by Deng Ai's insightful observations.

Shi Tao was certainly not a fool.

The more I thought about it, the more disheartened I became.

He suddenly realized why Cao Hong had suddenly ordered him to transport grain from Yingyang to Xiangcheng.

This is very likely part of Jia Kui's scheme.

After discovering that Mi Wei was cautious in his military tactics, Jia Kui decided to use this opportunity to further mislead Mi Wei, making him believe that Yingyang was the main grain depot of the Wei army.

In this way, they gradually stepped into the series of traps he had set up.

As for myself, if I had not encountered the defeated troops of Yancheng and had not been determined to surrender to the Han, even if I had successfully completed my military orders, I would have inevitably suffered in the subsequent battle of the Han army's attack on Yingyang.

In other words, he, like Chang Diao, was also a pawn abandoned by Jia Kui and Cao Hong.

Moreover, it was an abandoned pawn that was unaware of its own existence!

With this in mind, Shi Tao no longer felt any psychological burden about surrendering to the Han.

He immediately voiced his conjecture, which quickly gained the approval of Mi Wei and Deng Ai.

but.

Although the theoretical analysis is already well-organized.

Miwei maintained sufficient composure.

Continue to send more scouts north to gather intelligence.

The main principle is to not act until there's a clear benefit.

This time, however, the investigation was no longer focused solely on Yingyang.

Instead, the scope of the investigation was expanded to include the upper and lower tributaries of the Ru and Ying River basins.

This will undoubtedly require a lot of time and effort.

It could take several months to get a response.

But in fact, Miwei confirmed the results in less than half a month.

Without exception, all the scouts heading towards Yingyin lost contact with them.

This shows that the Wei army deliberately blocked intelligence north of the Yi River!
Thus, a complex conspiracy, hidden beneath a multitude of conflicting intelligence, came to light.

Jia Kui's purpose is obvious:

Lure the Han army cavalry out to attack, thereby weakening the Han army's mobile forces and creating favorable conditions for the next raid behind enemy lines!
They might even be targeting Mi Wei himself!

Miwei's first reaction was, of course, lingering fear.

After all, he had been cautious before, but Jia Kui had taken his caution into account and immediately had a backup plan.

You can easily fall for a scam if you're not careful.

Secondly, it is an exclamation that the Central Plains indeed has many talented people.

Whether it was Jia Kui on the other side, Deng Ai under his command, Shi Tao who had just defected, or Xu Shu who had already secretly defected, they were all facing this challenge.

These people were all scholars from the Central Plains in a broad sense, and they were all employed by the Wei court in history.

And there were countless others like these under Cao Wei's command.

Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.

Thinking about it this way, I realize that my role as the "Governor of Yuzhou" is indeed a long and arduous one!
(End of this chapter)