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

Chapter 66 Finally, Victory is Victorious
Guan Ping, of course, could not hear Mi Wei's inner thoughts.

Mi Wei was unaware that the place he had his eye on had also been favored by Zhu Ran and Pan Zhang.

Pan Zhang simply did not choose the most conservative strategy in the end.

But mountains and rivers are objective facts.

Whether a place is good or not, and in what ways it is good.

Those in the know can tell at a glance.

This is what is meant by great minds thinking alike.

soon.

Following Mi Wei's plan, Guan Ping led two thousand soldiers south to the Yuan River.

Afterwards, while taking precautions against enemy forces downstream of the Yuan River, they went upstream along the Yuan River and advanced towards Linyuan.

When he saw the Fanzhou landscape with his own eyes.

He immediately asserted that this was an excellent location for controlling the Yuan River channel.

He repeatedly said to those around him, "Mi Sima is a master strategist who has never let me down."

They decisively established a village on the island.

This move immediately attracted the attention of the enemy.

As the commander of this battlefield, the so-called Protector-General Sun Jiao was responsible for the conquest of the enemy.

He immediately ordered two thousand men under Zhu Ran's command to come and drive them away.

The latter was originally assisting Bu Zhi's army in besieging Zhao Lei under the walls of Hanshou.

He left at that moment.

Liao Hua, as the main reinforcement, needless to say, immediately attacked Bu Zhi's army under the walls of Hanshou.

Zhao Lei, who was in the city, certainly wouldn't just stand by and watch; he immediately sent troops to provide support.

Even Xi and Fan's troops in the Linyuan direction took the opportunity to launch several small-scale night raids.

Although the results were meager, they did prevent Sun Jiao's troops in this direction from being distracted.

As time went on.

Along the Linyuan-Hanshou line, the initial siege battle, in which Sun Quan's side held the advantage, gradually turned into a stalemate between the two sides.

But it is just like the Jiangling-Gongan line, which is two or three hundred miles to the north.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate, evenly matched, with neither side able to gain the upper hand.

However, this stalemate did not last long.

It was at the end of the twelfth lunar month, in the depths of winter.

A snow fell in Jiangnan.

Two major pieces of news, enough to shock the nation, came one after another from the north.

First, King Cao Cao of Wei had been engaged in frequent battles over the past two years.

They were almost forced by Guan Yu to consider moving the capital.

Adding to the woes were the betrayals of trusted confidants and other unpleasant events.

Finally, exhausted, he fell seriously ill.

Then, there was a lack of good news to cheer things up, like "Sun Quan offering up Guan Yu's head".

His condition worsened day by day, and he finally succumbed to his illness in Luoyang.

It is said that he is no longer able to manage affairs.

A hidden undercurrent was brewing in Luoyang.

Therefore, although Cao Wei is still powerful, it has no intention of looking south at the moment.

The second piece of news is directly related to Jiangnan.

However, it was Lu Meng, the Tiger General under Sun Quan, whose old illness had relapsed.

Despite the best efforts of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in Gong'an City, they were unable to save the patient.

He eventually passed away on a cold winter night.

He passed away at the age of forty-two.

It is almost identical to the original history.

Only in this time and space, because someone is causing trouble in Jiangling.

Before his death, Lü Meng failed to truly conquer Nan Commandery for Sun Quan.

The saying goes, "One dies before achieving half of one's goals."

He died without the honor of being granted a title of nobility, nor was he mourned by Sun Quan, the "enlightened ruler".

His death was rather tragic.

But the living cannot stop because of the dead.

With the death of a pillar of the army like Lü Meng, no matter how knowledgeable General Lu Xun was in military affairs.

The morale in Gong'an County is declining day by day.

Meanwhile, Liu Bei's main army was rushing to catch up.

We finally arrived in Gangneung before the start of spring.

In other words.

Jiangling was no longer vulnerable; on the contrary, it created sufficient military conditions for Lu Xun's forces in Jiangnan to achieve a decisive victory.

As the war dragged on, it became increasingly impossible to capture the battlefields of Linyuan and Hanshou.

Things have developed to this point.

For Sun Quan, there was clearly no hope left in terms of military strength.

Diplomatically, with Cao Cao critically ill, there was no possibility of an alliance with Cao Cao against Liu Bei in the short term.

Strategic maneuvering, diplomatic maneuvering, military campaigns, sieges... none of these are advisable.

What else could Sun Quan do?

……

"Sun Quan sent an envoy to Jiangling to sue for peace?"

At the end of winter, a messenger arrived in Zuotang from the north.

Mi Wei immediately convened a meeting with his subordinates.

Xi Hong: "Given the circumstances, the Sun family had no choice but to negotiate." "Firstly, since the royal army arrived in Jiangling, Lü Meng has died, and Lu Xun's troops are exhausted and demoralized, already unable to hold on alone."

"If they do not stop fighting, their troops will likely be completely wiped out."

"Secondly, a few days ago, our spies discovered that Sun Jiao's old illness had relapsed and he was now bedridden."

"If it were to fail, even the troops under Linyuan City might be in danger of being wiped out."

Mi Wei nodded with deep emotion upon hearing this.

In fact, too many historical figures died in the 24th and 25th years of Jian'an.

I won't mention Cao Cao, Lü Meng, and Sun Jiao.

For Liu Bei, the death of Guan Yu was a significant loss in history.

If I remember correctly.

General Huang Zhong (Huang Hansheng)

Shangshu Ling Fazheng Faxiaozhi.

They all died at the age of twenty-five.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural course of life, and no one can avoid them.

The only exception is Sun Quan's side right now.

Two of the most important generals happened to fall ill.

And they all fell on the battlefield where the two armies were facing each other.

This made Xi Hong and others, who were unaware of "history," sigh: Heaven, after all, has eyes.

At this moment, Zhan Sifu asked curiously:
"My lord, is the king going to form an alliance with the Sun family again?"

Mi Wei: "Cao Wei is powerful, and the alliance between Liu and Sun is a strategy that Your Majesty and Strategist Zhuge have long ago decided, so the alliance is inevitable in the end."

“However,” Mi Wei’s tone changed.

"In the end, it was Sun's family that broke their promise and betrayed their principles first in this battle."

"He's the one who wants to start the war, but when to stop is not up to him!"

Seeing the solemn expressions on everyone's faces, Mi Wei knew that after a prolonged battle, people longed for peace and were weary of war.
Then he chuckled and comforted her:
"Everyone, please be patient."

"Our army is currently holding the city, and with the support of the royal army, morale is high. This is the exact opposite of the most dangerous time last winter."

"If we continue to wear them down, the enemy will be the first to collapse."

"Until then."

"Even if Your Majesty is benevolent and unwilling to kill more people, you might as well use this as leverage to force the Sun family to cede territory and sue for peace!"

Everyone then showed a relieved expression.

Regardless, in the end, our side had the last laugh in this battle!
……

Then, more and more good news came from the north.

For example, when Sun Quan learned that Liu Bei and Guan Yu had ignored his envoy, he immediately sent a second envoy.

He was clearly really desperate.

The envoy this time was Zheng Quan, a renowned scholar from Chen County.

Chen Commandery was one of the commanderies under Liu Bei's jurisdiction when he was known as "Liu Yuzhou".

The two may have met in their early years.

This time, Liu Bei didn't leave Zheng Quan out in the cold.

But Guan Yu drew his sword at the banquet and vowed to kill someone as a sacrifice to the flag.

Then Liu Bei tried his best to persuade Guan Yu, and finally managed to subdue him.

However, he then said to Zheng Quan with a "helpless" expression that if General Sun did not show sufficient sincerity, he would have no way to appease the general, and so on...

During this time, various good cop/bad cop dynamics and backstabbing schemes filled Mi Wei with a sense of exhilaration, as if he were following a serialized novel in his past life.

In short.

By the time spring arrived, the two sides had largely finalized their intention to re-ally.

Later, Liu Bei sent an envoy to visit Sun Quan to clarify the details of the compensation and formally conclude the alliance.

As the situation finally eased, the personnel transfers in Jingzhou that had been put on hold due to the war were gradually addressed.

First, Mi Fang, the Prefect of Nan Commandery, was removed from his post and reassigned as an Attendant in Yizhou.

Later, he moved to Sichuan with his family.

The Yi Cao Cong Shi was a remonstrating official who did not hold any real position.

This means that Mi Fang was left idle in Shu.

It is said that his brother Mi Zhu strongly requested that he move to Sichuan.

This is in line with most people's expectations and is not surprising.

What's interesting is Pan Jun's appointment.

He was transferred from the position of Attendant Clerk of the Central Administration of Jingzhou to Attendant Clerk of the Prefectural Administration of Jingzhou.

In the Han Dynasty, the provincial governors and provincial administrators were both high-ranking officials in their respective provinces and were known as officials in charge of discipline and administration.

Among them, the title of "Prefectural Governor" is slightly higher.

So, on the surface, Poon Chun was promoted.

At the same time, Liu Bei appointed Pang Lin, the younger brother of Pang Tong, to take over the vacant position of governor of the province.

It should be noted that before Pan Jun was promoted, his position was relatively low.

But apart from Guan Yu, there was actually no one who could share his power.

At least at the state or ministerial level, his word is law.

But now there is suddenly another Pang Lin who is his equal, and both are famous scholars from Jingzhou.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was a promotion in name only.

Given the circumstances, what else could he say if Liu Bei could show him respect openly?

Why did he deliberately feign illness to avoid going out in the first place?

However, compared to these personnel changes that are more focused on internal affairs, Mi Wei is more concerned with adjustments in military and political affairs.

Because this is directly related to his personal future and the future of Liu Bei's group.

(End of this chapter)