My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 488 Wei Yan Defends Diaoyucheng

If Zhuge Liang's "Jiangzhou Border City Construction Plan" is to be effective, it will obviously take a long time.

Even though Liu Zhang was very eager to get the Linyi rice seeds, considering the natural laws of the crop growth cycle, the Linyi rice seeds provided by Liu Bei's army would not delay the farming season as long as they were distributed before the spring plowing of the following year.

Therefore, Liu Zhang's army would certainly not be too anxious in September and October. They only needed to ensure that all the seeds arrived in the twelfth lunar month, and then have a month to distribute and organize them. They could then plant them on time in early February of the following year, and everything would be fine.

Zhuge Liang's Jiangzhou border city and free trade plan will certainly be in line with this timetable. We will try to build the initial framework by November of this year.

Let the merchants from Shu County and Guanghan County know that a new border market has been opened here, attract people to come and watch and inspect, then formally launch efforts to expand trade by the end of the year, and get it on track at the beginning of next year.

The preparation and construction period is at least three to four months.

In comparison, the military response that Pang Tong planned for Liu Bei would obviously take effect much faster - Xiahou Yuan would be able to reach Dianjiang County in as little as ten days or eight days, or at most half a month.

The troops that Liu Zhang's army originally left in Dianjiang were not enough, so naturally Liu Bei's army needed to take over the defense as soon as possible and adjust the first-line defense deployment.

Liu Bei also knew what was important and what was not, so that night after he had discussed and decided on a plan with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, he urgently summoned Wei Yan, gave him instructions in person, and encouraged him to lead his troops north the next day.

When Wei Yan heard that his lord had summoned him, he was having dinner in his own tent. He didn't know what was going on, so he quickly threw the fish fried in mutton oil aside, wiped his greasy mouth with his sleeve, and went straight to his lord's tent.

Wei Yan had been with Liu Bei for five or six years. He had come to Jingzhou after Guan Yu and Zhuge Jin defeated Huang Zu. However, he did not get a chance to fight in the first year. The next year, Liu Bei asked Zhang Fei to attack the rebellious forces such as Zhang Xian in the four counties of southern Jingzhou, and Wei Yan began to accumulate merits and emerge.

Therefore, it has only been five years since he first performed meritorious service. Wei Yan was already very satisfied with being the Commandant of Runan, after all, he was too inexperienced and was only 23 years old.

For a 23-year-old young man to become a captain was an unthinkable achievement in the eyes of others.

When entering Sichuan this time, Liu Bei transferred him to his side for another mission, and the duties of the Runan Commandery were naturally taken over by other officers.

Wei Yan still enjoys the treatment of a captain, but he has no specific position, which always makes him feel uneasy. Now, after more than two months, the lord finally thought of giving him a formal task. Wei Yan is of course full of energy, wanting to do a better job and win more trust from the lord.

When he walked outside Liu Bei's tent, Wei Yan took a few deep breaths to calm himself before going inside.

"I, Wei Yan, pay my respects to my lord."

Liu Bei was looking at the map on the desk. He raised his eyes and casually said, "Wen Chang, have you adapted to the climate and soil in Shuzhong after traveling around for the past two months? Shuzhong is humid, and many soldiers in the army are still sick. How is the situation over there?"

Wei Yan quickly said that he was in good condition: "Don't worry, lord. What's the big deal about a little dampness and heat? I am in good health now and I am used to the food in Shu."

Liu Bei nodded and said, "In that case, I have an important task for you. From now on, you will lead your troops northward. I will assign some extra people from Yide to you. Go to Dianjiang County immediately to garrison and control the vital throat of Sanjiang Hechuan."

Wei Yan had no knowledge of Ba County's geography, so he had no idea what was going on. When he heard that they were only defending a county, he was a little disappointed and said subconsciously, "Just defending a small county?"

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, then he realized that Wei Yan underestimated this task, so he stood up and walked to Wei Yan, patted Wei Yan's shoulder heavily, and teased jokingly:

"Why? You feel that you have served as a captain and have been in charge of the defense of a county. Now you have relegated yourself to defending a county. Isn't this a waste of talent?"

Wei Yan was still young after all, and not very shrewd. In addition, he was arrogant by nature, so he felt a little embarrassed when his thoughts were seen through. "My lord, there must be a reason why you employ me. How dare I feel that I am being wasted! I will definitely protect Dianjiang County!"

Liu Bei saw that he was quite straightforward, so he didn't care and made his point clear:
"Don't worry. Although Dianjiang is just a small county town, it is an extremely important place. After Xiahou Yuan conquered Langzhong and Dangqu, he had to go through this place to continue southward through the mountains.

Therefore, I am letting you resist Xiahou Yuan's first wave of offensive alone, and wait until his old soldiers are tired, then I will let Yide and Xingba organize the subsequent main force to counterattack and defeat Xiahou Yuan in one fell swoop!

I am also afraid that Yide and Xingba have become famous. If they go to Dianjiang to defend the city, Xiahou Yuan may be scared away and dare not attack because he sees that the place is dangerous and is worried about the quality of the defending generals.

After all, you are still young. Although you have made military achievements before, your reputation is still far behind that of a world-famous general like Xiahou Yuan. He may not take you seriously. However, the generals under Cao Cao will only have this chance to look down on you. If you defeat Xiahou Yuan this time, who in the world will dare to look down on you? "

After hearing this, Wei Yan's blood finally boiled and he realized that a huge opportunity for wealth and glory had fallen upon him.

It turns out that the lord valued his reputation, which was not as loud as Zhang Fei and Gan Ning, and that was why he specially used me to defend Xiahou Yuan's first formation!

This is an opportunity to repel Xiahou Yuan! How can we measure its importance by "just defending a county town"! As long as I agree, I will be famous all over the world!
I am so lucky to have this opportunity at the right time! Wei Yan didn't dare to hesitate. He didn't care that there was no custom of kneeling to show respect under normal circumstances. He knelt on one knee, punched the ground with his other arm, and cursed loudly:

"Please rest assured, lord! Just leave this mission to me! I will definitely withstand Xiahou Yuan's attack! If I can't, I will die in the city, and you won't have to enforce military law!"

Liu Bei pulled Wei Yan up and patted his shoulders a few times: "Okay, young people should have this kind of momentum. There is no time to lose. You should go back to the camp to rest and prepare. We will set out north early tomorrow morning."

Wei Yan roared in response: "I obey your order!"

……

Wei Yan returned to the camp and made preparations before the battle. The next morning, he took several thousand soldiers from his own army, plus a part of the troops temporarily allocated to him from Zhang Fei, and sailed north.

The fleet sailed upstream along the Jialing River for two days and covered more than 150 miles, arriving in Dianjiang County in the evening of September 17.

It was already late at night, and Wei Yan had no time to inspect the defenses or the terrain, so he went into the city and had a quick sleep.

When he woke up early the next morning, he ordered the cavalry in the army to form a team and follow him out of the city to inspect the defense and also to hand over to the people left behind by Liu Zhang's army.

Liu Zhang's army only had one county magistrate and one county lieutenant in the local area. According to the Han system, only large counties with more than 5,000 households had county magistrates. Of course, a small place like Dianjiang County did not have such a large population, so only a county magistrate could be appointed.

So the county lieutenant named Zhu led Wei Yan to inspect the defense.

Wei Yan followed County Lieutenant Zhu on horseback to a high slope outside the city and took in the distant view. Wei Yan's heart skipped a beat and he discovered a problem.

He quickly asked Lieutenant Zhu: "This Dianjiang County is actually located north of the confluence of the Fu River? When we landed last night, it was dark and unclear, and I couldn't tell the direction. I thought we landed on the south bank.

Isn't it said that the terrain around Dianjiang County is dangerous, and the confluence of three rivers is a peninsula that is curved like a fishhook? How come the city was built in a relatively flat place?"

As Wei Yan spoke, he felt heavy-hearted. He thought to himself that the map of Western Shu given by Zhang Song was not detailed enough. Perhaps Dianjiang County was not originally a military stronghold.

Previously, the focus of Shu's defense had always been the Jinniu Road and Ma Mingge Road in the west, which led to Chengdu, or the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in Yufu County in the east, which controlled the throat between Jing and Yi.

The route of Dianjiang County is equivalent to "after breaking Hanzhong, not attacking Chengdu directly, but taking a detour to attack Chongqing first, and then attacking Chengdu from Chongqing after breaking Chongqing". In history, no one had ever fought from this route before, and Xiahou Yuan was the first. It was also because of the previous division of Yizhou and Xiahou Yuan's coincidence that he first defeated Zhang Lu alone that the battle situation was deduced to the current state.

Zhang Song had not anticipated this, so it was not surprising that the map he had previously given to Liu Bei was not detailed enough.

After hearing Wei Yan's accusation, Zhu felt that he was innocent and quickly defended himself: "Captain Wei, of course, we should build a county in a flat place. Moreover, this place is where three rivers converge. The purpose of setting up a county in Dianjiang is to assist the transit of water transportation from the three rivers. Of course, we should choose a place suitable for building a dock to build a city.

The south bank is indeed a strategic location, but there are cliffs everywhere along the river. How can we build a port there? However, the local governors knew that this place was the throat. There was a camp on the high ground of the south bank, but there was no wall, only a rammed earth wall and wooden fences. If you want to station troops, you can go to that camp and strengthen and expand it appropriately. "

What the county lieutenant Zhu said was completely reasonable. The county seat of Dianjiang County was originally used for commercial and transportation purposes. It was completely different from the purely military fortress Diaoyucheng built in the Song Dynasty.

At the location of Diaoyucheng in later generations, there is now only a camp made of earth and wood, which has been in disrepair for many years. Wei Yan looked across the river and could only accept this reality helplessly.

"Fortunately, Xiahou Yuan has not attacked yet, so we still have five or six days to reinforce the city defenses. You and County Magistrate Liu should immediately take the elderly, weak, women and children in Dianjiang City and board our returning warship to retreat to Jiangbei New City in Jiangzhou.

Once Xiahou Yuan's army arrives, they will surely burn, kill and loot. I cannot defend this port county town on flat land.

The able-bodied people in the county, unless they are the only sons in their families and need to take care of the old and the young, can evacuate with the old and the young. In addition, those who have brothers can only leave one to evacuate with the old and the young, and the rest will be temporarily recruited as local militia to help me reinforce the camp on the south bank mountain!
All the wooden and stone building materials in Dianjiang City that can be dismantled must be dismantled and moved to the south bank to reinforce the camp defense! All the surplus grain must also be transported to the south bank to be used as military rations. I will issue certificates to the people, and when they arrive in Jiangbei County, they can get new grain or exchange it for money. The people are allowed to take other property with them. "

Of course, County Lieutenant Zhu and County Magistrate Liu did not dare to resist Wei Yan. They followed his orders that day and relocated the people who needed to be relocated and concentrated the food and strategic materials that needed to be concentrated.

Wei Yan gathered all the militiamen in the city. Some of them were responsible for moving, while the other part worked overnight to dig and tamp down the earth to raise the wall in the east of Diaoyu Mountain on the south bank and in the direction where the peninsula connected to the land.

We must sharpen our weapons before the battle, even if it means doing it quickly. Within three to five days, we must strengthen the defense facilities of the old camp to the point where we can resist Xiahou Yuan.

(End of this chapter)