My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 491: Raising troops out of anger is a big taboo in military strategy
Gao Zuo, who was killed by Wei Yan, was not even mentioned by name in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so readers who only read Romance of the Three Kingdoms might think that he was a loser.

But in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Gao Zuo's achievements are still real. He was the hero of Xiahou Yuan in the battle to defeat Zhang Lu, and he killed the generals under Zhang Lu's command - of course, Zhang Lu himself was a dwarf, and the so-called generals under his command were of pitifully low quality.

But no matter what, Gao Zuo was killed. Wei Yan also learned Gao Zuo's identity and official position through the surrendered prisoners, so Wei Yan could easily judge that Xiahou Yuan would immediately carry out crazy revenge after learning about it.

There isn't much time left for him.

That night, after Wei Yan asked the military physician to treat the wounded from today's battle, he began to think with a frown about how to deal with Xiahou Yuan's anger.

After a brief discussion, Wei Yan ordered the military officer to say, "Xiahou Yuan came so quickly that it seems that there is not enough time to repair the defense facilities of Diaoyucheng. Tomorrow morning, send a boat to transport all the wounded in today's battle back to Jiangbei City in the rear.

Then, don't demolish the houses in Dianjiang County that haven't been demolished yet. Simply remove the beams and columns and transport them to the other side, so as not to leave too many large wood for Xiahou Yuan to build siege weapons. As for bricks and stones, leave them to Xiahou Yuan, as they will not be used to build siege weapons.

In addition, we should dismantle as many piers and trestle bridges as possible along the Fu River in the south of the city, transport them to the other side by boat, and rebuild the piers on the mudflats near the cliffs on the northwest side of Diaoyucheng in the future. Our army has the advantage of water warfare, and General Gan's warships can control the navigation rights of the Fu River and Qu River for a long time.

As long as there is a wharf on the south bank, our army's rations can be transported in through this wharf no matter how long Xiahou Yuan besieges the city. However, there is no rush to build it. We can pile the wood and stones there first, and complete the wharf when food is running out in Diaoyucheng in the future.

If it is completed too early, Xiahou Yuan will see that we have a backup dock and may realize in advance that a long-term siege is ineffective. "

Wei Yan's orders were quickly noted down by the soldiers accompanying the army, and they were immediately assigned and deployed.

The plan mentioned by Wei Yan may be difficult to understand for those who do not understand the geography of Chongqing.

The area on the north side of Diaoyucheng facing the river was originally a steep cliff that plunged directly into the river. However, due to the rapid flow of the river, it was forced to turn here by the cliffs and mountains. Over the past thousands of years, the silt carried by the river has accumulated on the south bank, forming a flat land at the bottom of the cliff, which is isolated from the outside, but can be used to build a dock.

Historically, during the Song Dynasty, the reason why Diaoyucheng was able to hold out for more than 30 years under the fierce attack of the Mongolian army was also related to this special terrain. Compared with the Mongolian army, the Song army had the advantage of the Jialing River navy. With this wharf isolated from other land, no matter how long Diaoyucheng was besieged, the Song army could continuously transport supplies from Chongqing into the encirclement.

The Mongolian army certainly tried to organize a landing battle at this dock and then attack the Song army from the rear. However, since they would be facing a cliff directly after landing here, no matter how hard the Mongolians tried, they could not attack the top of the cliff. As long as a few hundred people were left on the cliff to defend, they could ensure that only their own transport team could climb up.

Of course, in the Song Dynasty, in order to defend the city for a long time, a winding climbing path was dug on the cliff behind the dock to transport supplies to the top of the cliff. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was no mountain road on the north cliff of Diaoyu Mountain where Wei Yan was stationed. All supporting facilities had to be slowly built by Wei Yan in the subsequent process of defending the city.

But as long as you have the idea in mind and a plan, the rest is just a matter of time.

Even if time is tight and there is no way to build a path to the bottom of the cliff, at least we can build a section of it first, and then use wood and thick hemp ropes to build a pulley system on the cliff, and use a hanging basket to lift and transport supplies.

……

Wei Yan carried out emergency construction for two more days in accordance with the adjusted plan, removing all high-priority items that could be removed.

Two days later, as expected, from the upper reaches of the Fu River, there was a cloud of dust and a large army was coming in a winding manner, heading straight for Dianjiang County with murderous intent.

The general leading the troops was Xiahou Yuan, and he had gathered 60,000 to 70,000 troops, who came to Dianjiang in batches.

Obviously, it was the news of the killing of Gao Zuo and Yang Ang that angered Xiahou Yuan.

Xiahou Yuan's previous attempt to storm Jiameng Pass in the direction of Zitong and to attack Mianzhu and Chengdu directly through Ma Mingge Road and Jiange Road should have ended in failure.

Realizing the difficulty of the Shu Road, Xiahou Yuan had no choice but to turn all his attention to trying to open up the new route from Dianjiang to Jiangzhou and enter the Chengdu Plain in a roundabout way.

On the afternoon of September 22, Xiahou Yuan arrived at Dianjiang County with anger written all over his face. Seeing that there were still a few sparse flags on the top of the city wall, Xiahou Yuan immediately ordered the army to go around to the east of the city and prepare for a strong attack.

Yesterday he received a report from the defeated soldiers under Gao Zuo who had fled back, saying that Liu Bei's army had appeared in Dianjiang County, helping Liu Zhang's army to defend Dianjiang, and also demolished the east gate of Dianjiang County. Gao Zuo was killed because he fell into the trap of luring the enemy.

Now that he knew the enemy's strange countermeasures, Xiahou Yuan was of course too lazy to slowly build siege weapons.

He thought he could defeat the enemy with his own force. With tens of thousands of troops under his command, the enemy had demolished the city gates, so no matter how many tricks he played, it would be useless!

Going around to the east of the city, he saw that the gate was indeed empty. Even the upper structure of the tower had been demolished, leaving only the bare earthen walls. Xiahou Yuan didn't care if the other side had any tricks or not, and directly gave the order:

"Yang Ren, you lead the way! Shang'er, wait for Yang Ren to enter the city, and you immediately lead your troops to follow. I want to destroy Jiangcheng and leave no one alive!"

Yang Ren, who was a surrendered general of Zhang Lu's army like Yang Ang, looked bitter upon hearing this - his brother was killed by Gao Zuo's recklessness the day before yesterday, and now General Xiahou wanted him to explore the way and find out the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. The life of a surrendered general is really hard! He is used as cannon fodder wherever he goes!

The young general named Shang'er was not afraid at all and responded directly in a loud voice. He was Xiahou Yuan's nephew, Xiahou Shang, who was only 25 years old this year and followed his uncle to accumulate some combat experience and military merit.

Cao's army quickly reorganized its attacking troops, and then Yang Ren nervously led his infantry to charge towards the empty gate.

This time, Cao's army learned their lesson. They knew that when cavalry attacked a city, even if there were city gates to charge directly, it would be difficult for them to move away, so it was better to use infantry.

Moreover, infantry were cheap, so he would not mind if some of them were killed or injured. After Zhang Lu surrendered, Xiahou Yuan got 20,000 to 30,000 old subordinates and militiamen from Hanzhong, and he could waste them as he wanted.

"Why haven't the enemy shot yet? What's their plan? Are they trying to lure the enemy deeper into their territory and set up a bigger ambush?"

Yang Ren had already rushed into the range of the crossbows on the top of the city wall, and ordered the sword and shield soldiers to raise their shields. However, the top of the city wall was very quiet, which made people feel uneasy and their legs tremble.

Fortunately, this kind of psychological torture only lasted for a few tens of seconds. Relying on the brief courage brought by the surge of adrenaline, Yang Renyi gritted his teeth and rushed into the city gate. Suddenly, the view in front of him was clear. There was only a broken earthen wall and nothing else.

"Quick! One team goes north and the other goes south! Climb over the earthen ramparts and seize the tower!"

Yang Ren was stunned for a moment, then immediately gave the order in ecstasy.

No matter whether the enemy has any other conspiracy or not, as long as we turn around and take down the city tower through the stairs on the wall, any conspiracy of the enemy will be useless.

A few dozen seconds later, the first group of Zhang Lu's surrendered soldiers rushed to the top of the city wall, pulled down the mixed flags of Liu Bei and Liu Zhang's armies, and replaced them with the flags of Cao's army.

Xiahou Shang in the back was still eager to try, but he was unable to join the battle.

"Have they captured the city so soon?" Uncle and nephew Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Shang were stunned to see that Yang Ren, a mere few thousand surrendered soldiers, had captured the city.

Xiahou Shang was even more regretful: If I had known that the enemy was afraid, I should have been the one to go up! I lost a chance to make merit in vain! This was about being the first to capture the city!
Although it was an empty city, strictly speaking it was not a big military achievement.

But for the Cao and Xiahou families, as long as there is an excuse to get promoted and win the support of the people, Cao Cao will definitely give them a promotion - the civil servants in the Xudu court don't know how difficult it is to capture each city ahead. If the battle report is written better and with the actual results of capturing the city, who can prevent the Xiahou from getting promoted?

Besides, in Dianjiang County, Gao Zuo and Yang Ang had died in actual combat before. Who dares to say that the enemy's resistance was not fierce? If Xiahou Shang could fight the third battle and then easily capture the city, he could be promoted to a captain directly based on this achievement.

It’s a pity that this kind of credit is worthless now that it falls into Yang Ren’s hands.

Xiahou Yuan would not write a particularly good battle report, Yang Ren was not qualified. He would only write that it was an empty city.

After confirming the capture of the city, Xiahou Yuan entered the city in a depressed mood, without saying a word, and let the troops rest. Then he sent out scouts to investigate along the river, trying to find out the true situation of the enemy.

Late at night, the scout came back to report: "General, we have found out the enemy situation. The enemy has withdrawn all the civilians and soldiers in the county in advance and moved to the mountain camp on the south bank.

But the terrain here is dangerous, and the enemy troops in the camp on the top of the mountain can block the river with wood and stones on the cliff. Just now, several small boats sent by our army to cross the river were smashed by the enemy from a high position, and we had to withdraw hastily. This place is where three rivers converge, and there is no way to bypass it. "

The scout officer explained the terrain features he had found out to Xiahou Yuan in detail. Xiahou Yuan had never seen a map of this area before, and this was the first time he heard about it, so he was naturally very surprised.

"I didn't expect that on the other side of Dianjiang County, there could be such a threatening camp... I heard that the defending general under Liu Bei was named Wei Yan? He also killed some of our generals in the Battle of Runan?" Xiahou Yuan asked and recalled while stroking his beard.

While Xiahou Yuan was speaking, several generals gathered around him. One of them was named Lu Zhao. He had served under Cao Ren and participated in a series of battles in Fuli, Runan and Pei. He was familiar with the situation and immediately explained to Xiahou Yuan:

"General, you are right. Although Wei Yan is young, he was the first to attack the frontier town of Anfeng in Runan and killed the garrison commander left by Li Tong in Anfeng. He was only in his early twenties at the time, and should be no more than twenty-five now."

Wei Yan's reputation was not very loud, so among the generals around Xiahou Yuan, only Lu Zhao knew about him, and the others had no connection with him.

Xiahou Yuan sneered after hearing this: "A young man under 25 years old is almost the same as Shang'er. Liu Bei is really brave enough to let such a person take charge. I think he is just a little clever.

Young people love to take risks. Once they suffer a loss, they will have no chance to regret. Let all the troops quickly collect wood and stones, build siege equipment, go around from the upstream to the south bank, and break through this Fishhook Mountain as soon as possible! "

All the generals had no objection. Xiahou Shang, who had not gained any military merit today, was also young and full of vigor and felt resentful, so he immediately asked for a fight:
"Uncle, today Dianjiang County is just an empty city. Yang Ren has made great contributions in vain. When we attack Yugou Mountain, please let me lead the charge!"

Xiahou Yuan promised without hesitation: "Okay! Liu Bei dares to use young people, don't we have outstanding talents among the younger generation of the Xiahou family! Shang'er, since you are about the same age as Wei Yan, you can lead the charge!"

(End of this chapter)