Preparing for the Next 2

Guan Yu kept his word.

As he told me at dawn, he personally took the vanguard and finally crossed the walls of Fancheng.

It was an amazing display of willpower, considering he must have been feeling deep, aching pain in his bones due to the aftereffects of his previous arm injury.

Of course, Cao Ren had excuses too. The defeats of Xu Shang and Yu Jian following Xu Huang completely crushed the soldiers’ hopes for reinforcements, and since Guan Yu could focus entirely on attacking Fancheng without worrying about the rear, Fancheng’s soldiers had long since passed the critical point of fatigue.

Realizing Fancheng could no longer be defended, Cao Ren attempted a final great escape.

In the original history, Guan Yu was captured while attempting such a reckless escape, but this time Guan Yu was on the besieging side. How ironic.

And the outcome Cao Ren met was no different from Guan Yu’s. No matter how superhuman Cao Ren’s martial prowess and leadership commanding the three armies were, to be called a general sent by heaven, Guan Yu was Guan Yu.

He personally confronted Cao Ren, who was tearing through the encirclement with terrifying momentum at the vanguard, and captured him.

Although the conditions weren’t favorable for Cao Ren to exert his full strength, it was an amazing feat reminiscent of the old days when Guan Yu rode alone into enemy lines and beheaded Yan Liang.

“Uncle, it’s Zhang Ran.”

Having moved my base from Yanxing to Fancheng, I immediately sought out Guan Yu upon hearing the news that Cao Ren and Pang De had been captured as prisoners.

Guan Yu, who had taken over the official residence in Fancheng, had delegated the restoration of the flooded Fancheng and the management of prisoners to his subordinates and was resting.

When I entered with his permission, I saw Guan Yu with his upper garment loosened, receiving acupuncture all over from his left shoulder to his upper arm.

Blood was flowing from the places where thick needles, somewhat thicker than modern acupuncture needles, were inserted, but Guan Yu was writing a report with his right hand as if it was no big deal.

“You’ve come.”

“Your arm…”

“It’s nothing. After contending with someone like Cao Zihao, this is rather a gain. You came to discuss what’s next, didn’t you?”

Guan Yu gently pushed aside the report he was writing and put down his brush.

Looking at his complexion, it didn’t seem like he had suffered new injuries, but rather that the aftereffects of his old injury had flared up. They say it aches especially on rainy days, so it must be difficult to be fine after fighting with Cao Ren.

Guan Yu’s age is also approaching sixty. No matter how Guan Yu and people like my father display robust vigor in old age as if blessed by heaven, they can’t completely ignore the passage of time.

The prime of their physical condition has already passed, and their bodies, overworked in youth, will demand belated compensation.

“There’s nothing to look at like that. Yan He ate a horse’s feed and ten jin of meat even at an age older than me. What about the General Who Subdues the North? Didn’t he reach his true prime after sixty? I am still in good health.”

“…I have been impolite. I apologize.”

“It’s fine. So, what did you come to say?”

Guan Yu removed the needles one by one from his arm, wiped off the blood, and put his clothes back on. Since I’m not an official military doctor, I cautiously began to speak.

“It would be right to discuss the army’s direction formally in a military council with the generals, but there are things I needed to discuss with you in advance, Uncle, so I came.”

“It’s about Sun Quan, isn’t it?”

“As you say.”

“This might take a while. Sit down.”

As I sat in the seat Guan Yu offered, he spread out a map in the place where he had cleared away the report. It was a map of northern Jingzhou, covering from Jianglin to Fancheng.

“You too are a commander of an army who received the battle-axe from His Majesty the King of Hanzhong. Although this isn’t a formal military council, you don’t need to be cautious in your words and actions, so speak freely.”

As he said at dawn today, Guan Yu treated me not as a mere niece or subordinate, but as a general with whom he could discuss important matters.

Guan Yu and my father’s personalities were so opposite that they could be said to be completely contrary, but they had a commonality.

They showed utmost respect to those they acknowledged.

However, Guan Yu’s standards were higher than my father’s. While my father, who loved the noble and despised the petty, generally showed respect if one maintained the attitude of a scholar-official, Guan Yu, who fundamentally despised scholar-officials, applied much stricter conditions.

But to those who met those conditions, he willingly showed his sincerity and gave his trust.

Liu Bei was like that, and so was Zhuge Liang. At first, he was hostile towards Zhuge Liang, but after confirming his abilities and character, Guan Yu trusted him and was pleased by his praise.

I suppose I’ve passed that standard too. I feel motivated. My heart tingles at the trust conveyed in Guan Yu’s gaze.

The hardships were worth it. I’ve already melted in among them, establishing myself as one of them.

I tried not to show the welling emotions. And with renewed motivation, I spoke boldly.

“Now our army has two paths: to attack Cao Cao, or to defend.”

The latter was the correct choice, the former was the reverse.

The Cao Cao coming this time is on a different level from Xu Huang, Xu Shang, or Yu Jian whom I defeated. It’s Wei’s final elite army, incomparable in both quality and quantity.

Unlike the Han Zhong campaign which was an expedition with an all-star lineup of generals reminiscent of the Han Zhong defense battle, this time they are close to their base, making supplies easier.

Xu Huang and Zhen Yi joining from Wancheng, Zhang Liao drafted from Hefei, Xiahou Dun who is one of the representatives of kinsman generals, Huan Ji whom Cao Pi wanted to make the guardian of the crown prince, and others.

Guan Yu, the representative of the Guanxi, and now me, who has grown into a proper mid-level general. And the Late Three Kingdoms named characters packed tightly in the Eight Wings of Luanling who follow me. It’s not a matchup we can’t compete in at all.

However, there’s no way to overcome not only the numerical inferiority but also the accumulated physical exhaustion and lack of supplies.

Naturally, attacking from our side would involve taking a tremendous risk, so Guan Yu’s reaction was closer to the latter option.

“What do you think about making a truce through the prisoners and counterattacking Sun Quan? It might be good to completely bring Jingzhou into our country’s embrace this time.”

Make an agreement with Wei and counterattack Sun Quan who has walked into the trap of Jingzhou of his own accord?

That’s not bad either. But if we do that, we’ll be completely isolated. Sun Quan, having lost all of Jingzhou, would join hands with Wei instead of us and form a two-front war.

No matter how much stronger the current Guanxi forces have become compared to the original history, can we really handle both the Wei and Wu fronts?

It’s difficult. While I can’t say with certainty that it’s impossible, if we resist the alliance of Wei, which is stronger than us no matter how shaken, and Wu, which still has potential even if it has become the weakest, we will eventually lose our growth momentum.

Why did Wu choose to re-ally rather than be absorbed by Shu Han after Liu Bei thoroughly burned the foundations of the country at Yiling?

It must have been partly because they were concerned about the backlash of a joint attack with Wei if they rushed to completely destroy them.

At my words, Guan Yu showed signs of discomfort but seemed to understand.

“Then in the end, there will be a standoff at Fancheng.”

It was a reversal of offense and defense.

This time, we would be defending Fancheng, and Cao Cao would be in the position of attacking Fancheng.

But there’s a big difference. We have prisoners.

“With Cao Ren captured by our army, Cao Cao won’t dare to attack first. He’ll probably just surround and pressure us. He’ll try to gain the upper hand in negotiations by informing us of Sun Quan’s betrayal.”

“Hmm, the connection with Sun Quan must be a secret agreement.”

“They have merely joined hands temporarily for their own benefit, without any righteousness or trust. They are the kind of people who would gladly sell out the other side if they could gain greater benefits.”

In fact, Cao Cao ignored Sun Quan’s request to keep their attack secret and spread it anyway.

Contrary to their expectation that we would retreat immediately, Guan Yu held out without withdrawing, half out of regret at being on the verge of capturing Fancheng and half out of hope that surely Sun Quan, their ally, wouldn’t do such a thing, but that became Guan Yu’s worst mistake.

But Guan Yu, who had already taken Fancheng and captured Cao Ren, widening his range of options, could remain calm even after hearing about Sun Quan’s betrayal and the internal betrayal in our army.

He was also confident that I and Pang Tong, having predicted Sun Quan’s betrayal, had prepared countermeasures, so Guan Yu, trusting us, showed an objective grasp of the situation.

“So it’s nothing more than a temporary alliance, huh.”

“That’s right. They would prefer us to retreat first due to Sun Quan’s betrayal. They’ll propose negotiations as if doing us a favor, saying they won’t pursue us if we return Cao Ren, Pang De, and others, resulting in almost no losses for them.”

“They hope we’ll end up in the same boat with Sun Quan, I suppose.”

“Exactly.”

Guan Yu nodded as if he understood and said:

“I see why you mentioned attacking. Are you saying we have the initiative to strike first?”

Cao Cao can’t attack us. The existence of prisoners. The existence of Fancheng. Preparations against Sun Quan’s betrayal. Everything was unfavorable to Cao Cao.

Rather than needlessly attacking and creating trouble, it’s much more beneficial to maintain a standoff situation and apply pressure.

From Cao Cao’s perspective, the situation he most wants to avoid is us killing all the prisoners in a “you die, I die” manner.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the option of attack has disappeared from Wei now that Sun Quan’s betrayal, which Cao Cao was counting on, has been rendered ineffective.

On the other hand, how about us? We have the fortress of Fancheng, and we control the Han River with our navy. Outside Fancheng, we’ve even set up encampments at strategic points like Yanxing, Weidu, and Sizhong.

We can employ hit-and-run tactics as much as we want.

“But attacking still carries great risk. If by chance one of our generals is captured alive, we might lose our advantage.”

“I think the same. There’s no need to fight first unnecessarily. I just wanted to mention that we have this option.”

“I understand the gist of your words. You’re saying that since the advantage is entirely on our side, we shouldn’t be anxious and should induce Cao Cao to request talks first. You think we should act as if we’re about to attack to make him anxious?”

He gets it immediately.

We’ve already anticipated Sun Quan’s betrayal and prepared countermeasures, and we’re fine with killing all the prisoners and fighting you – if we approach it this way, Cao Cao will have no choice but to become anxious.

I smiled slightly and answered:

“Yes. Even though we’ve made preparations, it’s better to resolve the two-front war as quickly as possible and focus on one side.”

As it is, we’re in a situation where we have to fight at a numerical disadvantage on both sides due to our small military force.

Even if the plan goes awry, I believe Pang Tong will improvise, but the opponent is not to be underestimated.

Lu Meng, Lu Xun, Zhu Ran. The three great generals who led Wu’s middle period have all come out. It might be too much for Pang Tong alone.

“Good. I’ll think about how to draw Cao Cao to the negotiation table. And let’s formally propose this at the upcoming military council.”

A few days later, a military council was held.

It was a grand meeting attended by all my subordinates and Guan Yu’s lieutenants.

Guan Ping, Liao Hua, Zhao Lei, Xi Zhen, Wang Fu. They looked quite extraordinary, showing why Guan Yu had made them his lieutenants. Even if their names seemed a bit pitiful, their loyalty was no less than anyone else’s, befitting Guan Yu’s faithful servants.

The military council proceeded as per the content I had exchanged with Guan Yu beforehand. As the council ended and people were about to disperse, Guan Ping called out to me.

“I have a lot I want to say, but since it’s wartime, let me ask just one thing briefly.”

Although my position in the military had become higher than Guan Ping’s, it seemed he still saw me as the young sister from the past.

Before my subordinates could show their displeasure and step forward, I quickly answered:

“Please speak, Brother Tanzhi.”

By calling him by his courtesy name instead of his title, I’m defending Guan Ping by implying this is a personal matter, not a military one.

Guan Ping, seeming to realize his mistake, sent a glance mixed with apology and gratitude.

“Ahem, do you really think Jingzhou can hold out? We’ve already pulled in the soldiers who remained in Jingzhou after the Han River flood. Even though General Pang De has troops under his command, Sun Quan won’t move lightly.”

It’s understandable to be worried. The allies remaining in Jingzhou barely scrape together 20,000 troops even if we gather the scattered forces from each region. It’s far from enough to face Sun Quan, who will lead in tens of thousands.

Guan Yu was even stranger for going along with it just because he trusted me and Pang Tong.

This question is probably not just Guan Ping’s concern, but the collective opinion of most people here. I suspect Guan Ping, who has a personal relationship with me, took the lead in asking.

And there was only one answer I could give:

“Please trust and wait. Those defending Jingzhou will show results.”