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

Chapter 347 Insight and Foresight

How much grain is left?

Cao Hong was not too surprised when he learned from Xin Pi that there was an error in the accounts.

It even felt like the boots had finally landed.

Xinpi said in a slightly trembling voice:
"It's only enough for the army to eat for another seven days."

"So little?" Cao Hong frowned. "How much sand was mixed in?"

"Which blind rat dares to covet my head?"

Xinpi counted on his fingers, then shook his head and said:

"It's hard to say, and there's no way to investigate it."

"Some of them are old granaries that have been sealed for many years, and they are mixed with about one or two tenths of sand. This must be because some grain officials in the past embezzled public funds for their own benefit."

“But even the new granary is like this, and more than half of it is mixed with sand. That can only be the work of Han spies… Perhaps Ju Fu had already emptied the granary when he was stationed in Yanling, which is why he was able to easily give up the city.”

"It's a shame I didn't do a thorough enough check before, and I was fooled by this little trick!"

Xinpi was filled with self-reproach.

Cao Hong, though angry, was not too surprised.

This is because it clearly corresponds to the unusual behavior of the Han army earlier.

Only in this way can some things be reasonably explained.

For example, why did Mi Wei choose Weishi, a flat and open place, to block his northward advance?
Because of the two relatively large cities south of Weishi, one is Xuchang and the other is Yanling.

It is suitable for both stationing troops and storing grain.

Xuchang had already spent all its savings during the earlier siege of Xiang Chong.

By simply manipulating the city of Yanling and pinning down the Wei army in the south at Weishi, tens of thousands of Wei soldiers could be plunged into a precarious situation of food shortage with relatively little cost.

This kind of petty theft isn't particularly sophisticated.

The real brilliance lay in Miwei's successful prediction of his own march route.

This gave them the time and space to calmly set the trap.

Once the roads north of Xiang County are dry, my best option is to relieve the siege of Xuchang first.

To relieve the siege of Xuchang, retaking Yanling was the best option at the time.

Having occupied Yanling and unable to take over Changshe, Weishi is likely to be the next target... Mi Wei successfully predicted all of these steps.

That's how I fell into their trap.

Of course, he might also choose to disregard everything and head north to get close to Guanqiu Jian, or risk crossing several rivers to ambush Xiao Huang.

But is the recklessness and adventurous spirit here just empty talk?

Isn't our own peril precisely where the enemy's opportunity lies?

If we had gone that way, the outcome might have been worse than it is now!

It was all planned in advance.

The thought that his supposedly brilliant move was actually all part of the enemy's calculations came to mind.

Cao Hong felt a sudden ache in his teeth.

What an astonishing battlefield insight!

Such an opponent could probably only be matched by Emperor Wu himself!

At this moment, Mi Wei's importance in Cao Hong's mind had risen to the same level as Cao Cao's.

If Mi Wei knew this, he would probably laugh at himself, wondering how even the dead Cao Cao could be used to brag about his own achievements.

In short, Cao Hong had made up his mind not to fall into the other party's trap again.

In this respect, he does have some confidence.

One of them was that during his earlier journey north, he didn't disregard his own safety.

Instead, while rushing to the front, they honestly dispatched reliable officials like Xin Pi to rebuild the Ying River grain route.

Even today, the grain from that area can still be transported normally from the Huai River to Xuchang.

So as long as we tighten our belts temporarily and hold out until the next batch of grain ships arrive, the food shortage problem will be solved.

Secondly, the final decisive moment in the trap of Miwei will ultimately be at Weishi.

In those seemingly harmless passageways and sewers.

This is a situation where both sides have already revealed their hand, and it cannot be changed.

Surely Mi Wei couldn't just magically transport his tens of thousands of Han troops into Yanling City, could he?
This is also one of the few flaws in Miwei's strategy.

That means the Han army's chances of winning largely depended on the Wei army being successfully mobilized and forced to actively rush into the trap.

If the Wei army doesn't come, no matter how magical the tunnels and ditches in the southern suburbs of Weishi are, it will all be for nothing.

Once you understand this, the solution becomes clear: simply avoid attacking Weishi!
Although this would mean missing the opportunity to completely drive the Han army out of Yanzhou.

But it's better than being completely wiped out!
Cao Hong certainly didn't mind giving Cao Rui face and helping him out by supporting the young man Guanqiu Jian.

But the premise is that you can't sell yourself and those tens of thousands of soldiers!
Cao Rui probably wouldn't have wanted to see this either.

Therefore, from this day forward, I, Cao Hong, will stay in Yanling and not leave!

He won't listen to anyone's provocations.

No amount of persuasion could change my mind!
"General, we cannot linger in Yanling!"

On this day, the city's food reserves had dropped to a dangerous level, with only three days' worth left.

The strategist Xin Pi suddenly panicked.

Cao Hong glanced at the other person and smiled calmly:

"Master Xin is usually very composed, why is he so flustered today?"

"Could it be that you also mixed mud and sand into the mansion?"

Xinpi, in a fit of anxiety, exclaimed:

"I'd rather it really was mixed with mud and sand! That way, I can still hand over the embezzled money and grain to help the general in his time of need!"

"What I am worried about is that the Han army may have already discovered the true nature of our grain depots along the Ying River!"

Cao Hong's smile froze slightly, and he asked, puzzled:
“How come you see?”

Xin Pi: "General, do you still remember those two Han cavalry generals, Kou Feng and Wang Ping?"

Cao Hong certainly remembered.

On the way to recapture Ruyin earlier, I clashed with those two quite a few times.

At the time, they were considered utterly incompetent.

Looking back now, those two were probably like Ju Fu, deliberately feigning weakness to lure the enemy.

But that’s okay.

Since I don't even plan to go to Weishi anymore, what difference does it make how cunning and deceitful the other party is?

Not to mention that the two of them are currently trapped in Xiang County, more than 200 miles to the south.

Can it grow wings and fly over here?
Wait... Xiang County?
Cao Hong frowned suddenly, realizing what Xin Pi was worried about.

As mentioned earlier, Xiang County is located at the confluence of the main Ying River and the Baichigou (Langdang Canal).

It can reach Xuchang and the vicinity of Yanling directly via the Ying River.

They could also enter Chenjun and Chenliu through Langdang Canal.

At this point, the Wei army has already lost control of the Ru River.

That place became a key hub for transporting military grain from Huainan to the north.

Since it is a hub, it naturally has water storage facilities built for transshipment.

However, at this time, Xiang County was occupied by Kou and Wang.

Therefore, Xinpi had to build a temporary warehouse near the military camp outside the city.

This leads to an unavoidable problem:

From their high vantage point atop the city wall, Kou and Wang had a direct view of the Wei army's camps, ships, and warehouses.

Then, they could keep track of the Wei army's deployment status at any time.

This wasn't originally a big problem.

As I said before, those two wouldn't be able to fly out unless they grew wings.

but now……

In preparation for a decisive battle between Weishi and Miwei, Cao Hong had already concentrated most of the Wei army's main force near Yanling, about 200 li away.

Therefore, at this time, the military force besieging Xiangcheng was not strong.

Once those two men emerge from the city, they can then use the information they've gathered about the Wei army's deployment to their advantage.

This would allow them to precisely target grain depots along the Ying River, thereby severely impacting the Wei army's subsequent supply of provisions.

This is compounded by the current predicament of Xuchang and Yanling's grain reserves being nearly exhausted.

Then the question won't be whether or not the Han army can be driven out of Yanzhou.

Instead, Cao Hong's tens of thousands of troops from the Yan and Yu allied forces are likely to be completely annihilated!

Upon considering that possibility, Cao Hong could no longer sit still and immediately ordered his general Niu Jin to head south quickly to strengthen the siege of Xiang County.

At the same time, the location of important grain storage facilities should be moved as soon as possible to prevent any loss.

No sooner had Niu Jin left than a scout came to report.

The road from Yanling to Xiang County was flooded again!
(End of this chapter)