Thanks for laying this out so clearly. I had read this explanation elsewhere, but it wasn’t articulated as well as your version. If you’re right, then when Jesus said “three nights”, what He meant was ‘three nights’. This is in keeping w how He usually spole: i.e.: He said what He meant and meant what he said.
"If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." - Luke 14:26