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

Chapter 81 Three Strategic Opportunities
"Should we repair the dock and stockpile ships first?"

The following day, Deng Zhi and Yang Yi heard about Mi Wei's plan.

For a moment, he forgot about the other person's heroic act of running away naked last night.

After all, one was the Prefect of Jiangxia, and the other was the Assistant Prefect of Jiangxia.

In theory, they should all be responsible for local military deployments.

However, Deng Zhi was more composed. He pondered whether Mi Wei had received Guan Yu's private instruction and remained silent for the time being.

Yang Yi didn't have so many concerns:

"In the next two years, Jingzhou will focus on maintaining its defenses and will not mobilize a large army."

"This is a military strategy that Your Majesty and General Guan agreed upon at the beginning of the year."

"Don't think you can act recklessly just because you are favored by the King and are General Guan's son-in-law!"

Deng Zhi nodded secretly as she listened.

Mi Wei, who had been excited for half the night, had calmed down and said in a deep voice:
"If I told you there was a chance to take Xiangfan without large-scale conscription, would you, Lord Prefect and Lord Yang, believe me?"

Deng and Yang stared at each other in surprise, until Yang Yi finally spoke up: "Where is the opportunity?"

Mi Wei: "I wouldn't say there's a significant opportunity, but there are certainly clues to be found."

"For example, Xiangfan suffered from both severe flooding and major battles last year, and this year there will likely be a food shortage."

“A lack of food will likely lead to unrest, whether in the military or among the civilian population.”

"Given the current alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, should Cao Ren back down?"

"For example, Cao Pi has just succeeded to the title of king and prime minister. This year, he will definitely focus on the court and have no time to spare for foreign wars."

"If he learns that Cao Ren cannot hold Xiangfan, will he first adopt a strategy of retreating to protect the city?"

Upon hearing this, Deng Zhi frowned and remained silent once again.

Yang Yi scoffed:

"You keep using the word 'most likely' over and over again, but it turns out it's just speculation without any evidence!"

Miwei was certainly not guessing randomly.

Historical records indicate that in that year, Xiangfan was short of food, and Cao Pi ordered Cao Ren to withdraw to Wancheng in Nanyang to garrison the city.

Cao Pi's blunder has been criticized by later generations.

Even in the Book of Jin, there is an additional account of Sima Yi arguing in court that Xiangfan should not be easily abandoned.

It's unclear whether this is a true story or a embellishment by later generations.

But regardless of whether Sima Yi commented on this matter or not.

The record of Cao Ren withdrawing from Xiangfan is undoubtedly true.

Sun Quan even took the opportunity to send people to occupy Xiangfan.

Although he was driven away by Cao Ren and Xu Huang the following year.

This is enough to show that there is indeed a strategic window of opportunity here.

Of course, on the other hand...

History has changed after all.

In the original history, Cao Pi and Sun Quan temporarily formed an alliance, and Cao Pi was once deceived by the sweet words of the King of Wu of Wei.

It is very likely that at that time, Cao Pi really thought there was no need to defend Xiangfan to the death.

And this life.

Guan Yu, the great enemy south of Xiangfan, is still alive.

Even if there are systemic problems such as severe shortages of food and manpower, they are unlikely to give up easily, right?

This is precisely why Miwei was agitated in the middle of the night but calmed down in the morning.

We can learn from past history, but we cannot mechanically copy it.

As times change, who knows if some historical events that were originally going to happen will be completely different?

That's why he came to see Deng Zhi and Yang Yi so early in the morning.

Ultimately, this was a large-scale national war.

It's not possible for a time traveler to conquer the entire land and expand their territory simply by relying on their dubious "prophetic" abilities.

This is a massive "project" with a long cycle, broad dimensions, and many variables.

To achieve something.

We must rely on collective wisdom and effort.

At this moment, Deng Zhi pondered for a long time, but did not scoff or ridicule like Yang Yi.

Instead, he pondered and said:
"The fortifications and docks were originally going to be built."

"If the captain insists on building the dock and storing ships first, I have nothing to say."

"However, the overall military and political strategy of Jingzhou ultimately depends on General Guan."

"Why don't you ask General Guan for orders first, Commandant?"

These are words of wisdom and prudence.

Mi Wei thought to himself that this was the only way to proceed for now.

In fact, he suddenly woke up last night and remembered more than just this one strategic opportunity.

In the Jingzhou direction, apart from Cao Ren withdrawing from Xiangfan...

If I remember correctly, there was also Mei Fu who led 5,000 families from five counties in Hanbin to rebel against Wei and submit to the south.

Assuming an average family size of five, that's over 20,000 people.

They are definitely a valuable human resource that cannot be ignored right now.

Not to mention that all five counties are located on the banks of the Han River, west of Xiangyang.

Once captured, the route from Xiangyang to the three eastern prefectures and then to Hanzhong would be unobstructed.

Zhuge Liang's strategy of "possessing both Jing and Yi provinces" was thus fully realized.

Apart from Jingzhou.

There is also a huge strategic opportunity in the Yizhou direction.

If I remember correctly, it was around these two years that Liangzhou experienced two large-scale rebellions.

One of these incidents even affected the Guanzhong region.

And that's why Miwei remembered this incident.

Speaking of which, it's indirectly related to General Chen Shi, whom Fei Yi mentioned yesterday.

This is Chen Shi, who is currently only a mid-level general.

With Zhuge Liang's support, we will capture the two counties of Wudu and Yinping in northern Yizhou.

This became the only war of territorial expansion during the Shu Han dynasty.

And now.

Although it cannot be guaranteed that the two counties will be harvested ahead of schedule.

However, if they could take advantage of the chaos to intervene in the affairs of Liangzhou.

Wouldn't that give Yizhou more leverage in the future Northern Expedition?
It is important to understand this moment in history.

Liu Bei was busy fighting Sun Quan for control of Jingzhou.

They had no intention of looking north.

This gave Cao Pi a strategic window of opportunity to calmly consolidate Yong and Liang.

After Zhuge Liang finally cleaned up the mess in the south, he turned his attention to the Northern Expeditions.

There are far fewer places to leverage in the Yongliang direction.

Even so, Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition still managed to create the momentum of "three commanderies rebelling against Wei, and the Guanzhong region resounding with resounding cries".

In this life, if Zhuge Liang had started his operations a few years earlier and intervened in Yongliang sooner...

Could this rewrite the regret of failing at the last hurdle?

Miwei pondered for half the night.

I was also anxious for half the night.

They knew perfectly well that a strategic opportunity was right in front of them.

But they simply couldn't produce any real evidence.

We even have to worry about the impact of the butterfly effect.

It might make us a laughing stock.

So he listened to Deng Zhi's advice and thought it over again.

He gritted his teeth and sent urgent letters to Mi Zhu and Guan Yu respectively, outlining the opportunities for battle in these two directions.

Even if it makes me a laughing stock, I'll still write it!
You'll regret missing this strategic opportunity for the rest of your life!
Anyway, one of them is his biological father, and the other is his future father-in-law.

At most, he'd reply with a rebuke for his own wild ideas, but that wouldn't cause any real trouble.

……

After sending the message, Miwei finally calmed down completely.

He has done all he could.

All that's left is to do our best and leave the rest to fate.

Afterwards, he led his soldiers, laborers, and baggage train northwards as planned, and set up camp on the northern outskirts of Shicheng.
Regardless of whether land or water is prioritized, advance planning and thorough preparation are essential.

Several days later, a response finally came from the direction of Jiangling.

Guan Yu actually sent his chief clerk Zhang Yi to come over in person.

Mi Wei personally came out to greet him.

After both sides sat down in the main tent.

Zhang Yi got straight to the point:

"I have two things to discuss with you this time."

"Firstly, the improvements to the repeating crossbow have shown initial success."

"The craftsmen of Jiangling forged fifty new crossbows, and they have all been brought with them this time."

"If any shortcomings are found in the future, please send a letter to Jiangling for revision."

Miwei was overjoyed.

But I was soon drawn to the second thing.

"Secondly, the matters concerning Xiangfan that you mentioned in your letter are mostly conjecture by the gentlemen of Jiangling."

"But considering your contributions in protecting Nanjun and Wuling, and the fact that you are a top student of Lord Pan, we have to take you seriously."

"So, Lord, you sent me to ask you what exactly is going on in the north?"

So being overrated has this kind of benefit?

Mi Wei immediately explained his organized thoughts one by one.

It's largely the same as the previous statement, but it adds some perspectives beyond military considerations.

For example, Cao Pi's ambitions may not have been limited to holding the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords; he might have gone even further.

So in order to take this "step".

Cao Pi will definitely have to do everything he can to deal with the resistance from all sides of the court this year, and it is unlikely that he will exert his efforts to the south.

These conclusions are all deduced from past history.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yi pondered for a long time.

But then he said something that seemed unrelated:
Before His Majesty returned to Shu, he rode alone with you, Lord Jun, to the riverbank and talked for a long time.

"After the Lord returned, he secluded himself for three days. When he came out, he held a banquet to entertain the gentlemen of Jiangling."

"Afterwards, he broke an arrow in public, saying that if he ever slighted a scholar again, he would be struck by such an arrow."

"At that moment, everyone present was astonished."

At this point, Zhang Yi stared intently at Mi Wei.

"You know what this means?"

(End of this chapter)