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

Chapter 48 This is the art of strategic planning

The distant firelight flashed by and disappeared in an instant, making it difficult to discern.

But soon, several plumes of black smoke rose from there.

Anyone who isn't blind can see it.

Before Mi Wei could react, County Chief Fan beside him exclaimed in alarm:

"Enemy spies are setting fire to startle the horses!"

“In winter, the reeds are withered and easily ignited, and they extend all the way to the city walls, just enough to reach the military camp outside the city!”

Without saying a word, Mi Wei sent a military officer out of the city to inform Guan Ping to move the horses into the city as soon as possible to avoid the fire and prevent any unforeseen events.

If a camp is burned down, it can be rebuilt.

But if a warhorse is burned to death or runs away in fright, that is irreversible.

Seeing Mi Wei's decisive action, Magistrate Fan was secretly impressed but had nothing to say.

He then planned to lead Miwei back to the county temple to rest.

But Miwei had only taken two steps when he suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked north again.

Mi Wei: "County Magistrate Fan, in your opinion, why did the enemy have to set fires during the day?"

County Chief Fan was puzzled for a moment.

Mi Wei then said, "If we set fire to the place at night, our army will be caught off guard, wouldn't it be easier to succeed?"

County Magistrate Fan was taken aback upon hearing this.

They might be pondering this question.

A moment later, he pointed to the increasingly prominent black column of smoke above North Lake and said:

"It must be a problem with the wind direction."

"At this time of year, the local area experiences mostly northerly winds during the day and mostly southerly winds at night."

"The reed marshes are north of the city, and if a fire is lit at night, it may not be able to quickly reach the city walls."

wind direction……

Mi Wei squinted and saw that the column of smoke was rising crookedly into the air, indeed tilted to the south.

It was a north wind blowing.

In winter, considering the geographical fact of the so-called "Mongolian-Siberian High," northerly winds are quite common.

But why does the wind direction reverse at night?

Miwei's gaze passed over the fireworks and landed on the vast lake behind him, where he suddenly realized something.

It's still just geographical common sense from my previous life.

Water has a high specific heat capacity.

After nightfall, the air above the lake is hotter and less dense than the air over land.

Air naturally blows from the land to the lake.

This is also known as "offshore wind".

If so, it means that Sun Huan has already figured out the characteristics of the local climate and hydrology.

They knew that the wind direction at night was unfavorable for launching a fire attack from the north.

This does not require "geographical common sense".

Bribing a few local guides with life experience will suffice.

But then again.

The wind direction was unfavorable at night.

But isn't it also easy for the garrison to detect them during the day?

Why would he be so obsessed with setting this fire during the day?

You should know that you are setting fire now.

As long as the defending troops respond in a timely manner.

At most, we'll lose one temporary camp outside the city.

They can rebuild in a couple of days; it's not a major defeat.

Moreover, we will establish a fortified village outside the city at that time.

Everything that could be burned on the ground was burned.

It is actually safer.

In other words, setting a fire during the day is laborious but may not be rewarding.

What does he want?

It was just a gamble that the defending troops wouldn't respond in time, hoping that they might just get lucky.

If the person on the other end was a completely unfamiliar general, Mi Wei might have accepted this explanation.

But now he knows that it was Sun Huan.

A man of strong will who, in history, withstood Liu Bei's siege for months and was eventually able to turn the tables and pursue Liu Bei, forcing the latter to abandon his ships and retreat into the mountains.

This made him dare not overlook any suspicious detail.

We cannot make up a seemingly reasonable excuse to get by.

So, what exactly was Sun Huan after?

As Mi Wei continued to follow County Chief Fan down the earthen platform, he sorted out his thoughts.

They set fires during the day.

The garrison noticed.

The cavalry entered the city.

After crossing the fire, leave the city.

Could it be that... Sun Huan's purpose was actually to allow Guan Ping's cavalry to temporarily enter the city?

But what are the benefits of doing this?

Was it to facilitate his retreat? Or was there another motive?
The more Mi Wei pondered, the more shrouded in mystery he felt ahead. Besides knowing that the enemy general stationed opposite him was no ordinary foe...

There was no additional intelligence to help him determine the enemy's intentions.

After pondering this for a while without success, Miwei decided to play it safe.

He personally went out of the city to see Guan Ping and told him his guesses and doubts.

Then ask if they could send out a group of cavalry to scout around the city before the fire reaches the city walls, and expand the scout area as much as possible.

Upon hearing this, Guan Ping made arrangements on the spot.

Soon, fueled by the north wind, the fire spread all the way to the outskirts of Huarong City.

However, at this time, Guan Ping's cavalry had either already entered the city and settled in, or had gone out to scout.

Stay away from the fire.

In addition, County Chief Fan promptly harvested the reeds around the city, creating a firebreak with sufficient depth.

Ultimately, the fire didn't even reach the city wall.

The only result was probably the burning of half of the empty camp.

In addition, make the air a bit murky in the evening.

As the wind shifted to offshore at night, soon not a trace of foul air remained.

……

Two days later, a cavalry scout returned.

The report states that Sun Quan's banners were spotted near the mouth of the Xiang River in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and there were signs of a large army being mobilized.

Mi Wei and Guan Ping were immediately horrified.

It should be noted that long before the two men's eastern expedition, Sun Quan's exquisite banner bearing the title of "General of Chariots and Cavalry" had already been erected in Gong'an City, across the river from Jiangling.

Judging by the time, they had been facing off against Guan Yu across the river for more than half a month.

And now he's reappeared downstream of the Yangtze River?

Could the scout have made a mistake?
however.

As more reconnaissance cavalry returned.

The presence of Sun Quan's banner downstream is increasingly being confirmed.

at the same time.

The enemy's movements are becoming increasingly perplexing.

On the one hand, Sun Quan continued to reinforce the Jiangling-Gongan line.

The boats on the river are always real.

On the other hand, there is also conclusive evidence that Sun Quan's main force was indeed stationed at the mouth of the Xiang River downstream.

Troops are being reinforced there as well.

This makes one begin to question Sun Quan's true intentions.

However, at this point, Mi Wei finally understood Sun Huan's intentions.

On the surface, they came from afar to launch a surprise attack on Huarong.

The real purpose, however, was to block the road south to the Yangtze River in order to conceal the movements at the mouth of the Xiang River.

According to feedback from the cavalrymen who returned from their reconnaissance mission southward, they encountered enemy scouts on their way.

More than once.

This indirectly confirms Miwei's inference.
Block information to cover up friendly forces' operations.

This is why Sun Huan neither attacked the city nor retreated!
Mi Wei and Guan Ping couldn't help but feel secretly relieved.

With Gangneung increasingly becoming the focus of attention for both sides.

Who would care about the gains and losses of a small, remote town like Huarong on the edge of the battlefield?

Who would have thought that Sun Quan had another army quietly assembled in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River?

All I can say is that Sun Quan and Sun Huan, despite their meticulous planning, never anticipated that Mi Wei would actually encourage Guan Ping to come here.

Guan Ping had many cavalry, and the western suburbs of Huarong were a wide open plain.

It was impossible for Sun Huan to stop all three thousand men.

So they set fire to the city during the day, forcing Guan Ping's cavalry into the city in order to keep them hidden for as long as possible.

"Fortunately, Lord Mi reminded us in time, otherwise we would have been deceived by the Sun family!"

"I've always heard my brother praise Lord Mi for his 'strategic planning,' but today I've experienced it firsthand!"

Upon hearing Guan Ping's praise, Mi Wei felt a sudden chill in his heart, and even a sense of lingering fear.

It was pure luck that we stumbled upon Sun Quan's plot this time!
He never expected this to happen.
He quickly shook his head and said, "General, please don't flatter me! If I could have foreseen that Sun Quan had ulterior motives, I should have suggested that Your Excellency personally lead the expedition!"

Guan Ping didn't refute, but instead said:

"So, you deduced that Sun Huan intended to conceal military intelligence from the south, didn't you?"

"That day, you reminded me to send cavalry south to scout ahead of time. Wasn't that you anticipating the enemy's moves?"

That's because I knew all along that Sun Huan was no simple man!
Mi Wei couldn't explain this, so he could only say:

"It's just being prepared, not a matter of anticipating the enemy's moves!"

“No, it’s the same thing!” Guan Ping shook his head firmly.

"Humans are not gods; being able to make the right response at the right time is what it means to seize the initiative!"

"Take me for example. I am exactly the same as what you have seen and heard, and I have never underestimated the enemy general."

"But why am I completely unaware, while you are on guard?"

Miwei: "Why?"

Guan Ping: "Because you've been strategizing and planning all along!"

Is this...is this right?