My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 496 Jia Xu had a lot of thoughts, but Zhuge Liang also thought of them

To conquer a strong city,
Either they can attack quickly right from the start by relying on their high morale,

Either you take steady steps and attack aggressively,

Either use a surprise attack,

Either surround the city without attacking it or go around it, or if the enemy dares to come to reinforce, surround and attack the reinforcements.

If all the previous tactics didn't work, they would just lay siege for a long time and cut off food supplies until the defenders starved to death.

This formula is basically applicable everywhere and can be applied to any city, including Diaoyucheng.

The failure of Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Shang, uncle and nephew, had blocked the first two paths. Xiahou Yuan's morale was also weakened as a result, and he no longer had the confidence to act arbitrarily.

When a person is in urgent need of spiritual sustenance, he or she will be particularly receptive to advice.

As a veteran in this world, Jia Xu certainly knew this. He also knew that he had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders and had to be careful with his words.

After careful consideration for a long time, Jia Xu said solemnly: "According to the common sense of military strategy, besieging a city and cutting off its food supply is always the last resort. It will delay the enemy for a long time, and what our army lacks is time.

The army of 70,000 to 80,000 people was stationed in Yizhou for a long time. If the local food for the people and horses was not enough, they had to cross the Qinling Mountains to transport it. It was absolutely not advisable for the army to stay for several months or even half a year before taking Diaoyu Mountain.

The rest is to use surprise attack or bypass the city. In my opinion, these two methods can be prepared at the same time. On the one hand, send people to repeatedly scout around the peninsula to find out if there are any loopholes in the defense.

At the same time, we will send a small number of warships to explore the way down the river a few times to verify whether the main force of the army and the grain fleet can pass through this section of the confluence of the three rivers stably and safely. "

Jia Xu's strength lies in his conspiracies and strategies, but he has no tricks to use at the moment. He can only proceed step by step and prioritize the three plans appropriately.

After hearing this, Xiahou Yuan asked Zhang Xiu and Lu Zhao, and they had no objection, so he ordered to continue with this deployment and see the feedback first.

So starting from early November, Xiahou Yuan sent people to repeatedly survey and investigate, looking for other geographical weaknesses and loopholes in the Diaoyushan Peninsula. At the same time, he sent a small group of ships to tentatively bypass the city and conduct reconnaissance to the south.

However, all of these take time. It is not possible to find an opportunity overnight. It may take another ten days or half a month.

……

After Xiahou Yuan stopped the attack, Wei Yan did not dare to relax immediately.

He continued to strengthen the city defenses every day, digging deeper trenches and higher earth walls, pushing large stones to the top of Diaoyu Mountain for storage, and carrying the used logs and stones back to higher places for reuse next time.

This went on for four or five days until the supplies consumed during the previous fierce defensive battle were replenished and the earth wall became one or two feet higher than during the previous fierce battle.

Wei Yan was relieved, and believed that Xiahou Yuan had given up the attack, at least in the short term.

Of course, regardless of whether Xiahou Yuan launched a forceful attack or not, Wei Yan would definitely not sit idle. If there was surplus manpower, he would continue to build fortifications.

At most, the intensity of labor can be reduced. Soldiers used to do six or seven hours of physical work every day, but now it can be reduced to three or four hours. In this way, each person can eat two kilograms less food and dried fish every day, slowing down the consumption of military food reserves.

According to the military diet of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a soldier who needed to march normally (walk sixty miles a day and set up camp to work) would consume five liters of rations a day, fifteen dou a month, which is one and a half shi.

Wei Yan's side, because of the high labor intensity of repairing the city defense, had previously maintained a grain consumption of more than two dan per soldier per month, and also subsidized some salted fish. Now that the labor intensity has been reduced, the military rations can be reduced to one and a half dan per person per month.

After reducing the labor intensity of the soldiers, Wei Yan also had time to calm down and think about the enemy's countermeasures.

During the routine military meeting every morning, he would conduct deductions with Zhuo Ying and other generals and military officers.

As they chatted, a military commander who was in charge of guarding the "fishhook" clifftop position at the top of Diaoyu Mountain revealed a piece of news to Wei Yan:
"Captain, in the past two days, we have occasionally spotted small boats of Cao's army sneaking around the 'Fishhook Cape' and heading south. We have tried our best to intercept them. Every time we see them, we have soldiers throw large rocks into the river with slide rails, which have sunk two enemy ships. But we cannot rule out the possibility that enemy ships still sneak past when it gets dark - could it be that Cao's army cannot break through our fortress and want to bypass it?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Yan nodded silently, as if he was thinking about something.

Zhuo Ying also felt that there was a risk, but he was not very smart and could not think of a solution, so he simply suggested: "Since the enemy has stopped its attack, their surveillance of us is not as strict as it was at the beginning.

Why don't you send a few boats to contact Jiangzhou in the rear? If we want to prevent Cao's army from bypassing the city and infiltrating, we must rely on the cooperation of our navy in the rear. It's useless to rely on ourselves."

Wei Yan thought it made sense and decided to give it a try. After he retreated to Diaoyucheng, he also kept some small boats to communicate with the outside world, hiding on the alluvial sandbar on the north bank of the peninsula. There were reeds and dense water plants next to them, which were enough to cover him.

When needed, someone would be sent down slowly from the top of the cliff using a hanging basket and a rope at dark, and then a small boat would be pushed into the river, and then they could communicate with the outside world without anyone noticing.

As for the other sides of the peninsula, there are no alluvial sandbars or mudflats, but only steep cliffs that plunge directly into the river, making it impossible to hide a ship.

Before Wei Yan came to Diaoyucheng, Zhuge Liang had instructed him: When encountering Xiahou Yuan's attack, he should just defend the city in the first stage, and show weakness to lure Xiahou Yuan to attack in order to consume the enemy's forces.

The friendly forces in Jiangzhou would not let Gan Ning expose his strength too early, so as not to scare off Xiahou Yuan. They would wait until Xiahou Yuan could no longer attack and started to think of other crooked ideas, and then consider how to counter his moves.

That night, Wei Yan sent a liaison ship to the rear.

……

Wei Yan's liaison boat went downstream, and with the speed of the Jialing River in the mountainous area, it was able to cover the 150-mile distance in less than a day.

The boat was launched into the river in the evening of the previous day and arrived at a newly built pier west of Jiangzhou City before noon of the next day.

On the way, Wei Yan's patrol boat was intercepted by the navy under Gan Ning. Fortunately, Wei Yan remembered the secret code agreed upon by the friendly forces before the battle, so he was not attacked by mistake.

The warships of Gan Ning's army that were responsible for intercepting the enemy proudly boasted to Wei Yan's messenger: "Fortunately, you revealed the enemy and us early, otherwise it would be troublesome. In the past two days, four Cao army warships that were exploring the way have been destroyed by us. Humph, these Cao thieves don't think about it. With General Gan sitting on the river in Ba County, how can those ships pass?"

Gan Ning's ability in naval warfare is now ranked among the top three in the world. Is there anyone under Cao Cao who can compare with him in naval warfare?
What’s more, Gan Ning’s hometown is Ba County. He has been a Jinfan thief since he was a child. His home base is in Jiangzhou area of Ba County. This is his lair where he has wreaked havoc for many years.

In this special battlefield along the Jialing River, even if Zhou Yu came, he would be of no use, and of course all Xiahou Yuan's navy would be killed.

From this perspective, of the five paths that Jia Xu listed for Xiahou Yuan, the first two have already been blocked, and the fourth will probably be completely blocked soon.

After the messenger arrived, his identity was verified and he was immediately escorted to Zhuge Liang by soldiers under Gan Ning's command.

Zhuge Liang was recently at the new dock construction site west of Jiangzhou City, planning border city work with Liu Zhang. He was too lazy to change locations, so he met him directly in the tent at the construction site.

The messenger briefly recounted how the Wei commander had repelled several attacks from Cao's army, and also attached Wei Yan's letter requesting instructions.

Zhuge Liang quickly unfolded the letter and read it carefully. Wei Yan reported that Cao's army had been forced to give up the assault and turn to siege, and asked for instructions on how to deal with the enemy next. In addition, a draft map of Wei Yan's troops building a city and setting up camp on Diaoyu Mountain was attached, asking the military advisor to consult.

Zhuge Liang was very pleased: "It seems that Wen Chang really has the talent of a great general. He is not even 25 years old, but he has been able to contain Xiahou Yuan. Given time, his talent will be limitless.

Since Xiahou Yuan could not attack by force, according to common sense of military strategy, he could only bypass the city, cut off its food supply, or find other loopholes in the city defense.

The possibility of bypassing the city means Wen Chang does not need to worry or set up defenses. He can just pretend to be completely unprepared and let Cao's army do whatever it wants. I will arrange Xingba to deal with it, and there is no need for the cooperation of the Diaoyucheng defenders.

There are only two roads left, and the food supply is cut off... Well, let me ask you, has the Wei commander built a dock on the sandbar north of Diaoyucheng to facilitate our warships to dock and unload? Looking at this map, the sandbar is close to the cliff, is there a path to climb up the cliff? It is not marked on the map. "

The messenger quickly replied, "There is currently no path leading up the cliff. The captain sent us to deliver the letter, and we had to rely on a hanging basket and a pulley to slowly lower people down. The boat was hidden in the lush reed marshes at the edge of the sandbar."

Zhuge Liang stroked his stubble and was very satisfied with the result. "Very good, go back and tell the Wei commander to calculate the remaining food in the city. As long as there is food, don't rush to build a small road down the mountain to move goods. Even if you build it, you have to build it secretly - otherwise, how can we let Xiahou Yuan see the possibility of besieging the city and cutting off food supply?
Moreover, if Cao's army wants to launch a surprise attack, this sandbank at the bottom of the cliff seems to be a good choice to bypass the front line of defense... I will write a reply letter, and you can give it to Wei Duwei, and he will naturally know how to deal with it. Reply to Wei Duwei again, as long as Xiahou Yuan retreats, I will recommend him to the lord, and he will be promoted to a lieutenant based on his merits. "

The reward that Zhuge Liang discussed was quite modest. He only required that if Xiahou Yuan was defeated, he would be promoted to a lieutenant. If he could achieve greater results, he might receive other rewards.

The messenger was too low-ranking and didn't know much about strategy, so he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He was immediately taken to rest and eat, and was rewarded with a meal of wine and meat, and then he took a nap.

The next morning, after receiving Zhuge Liang's reply to Wei Yan, the messenger was escorted back by Gan Ning's warship. The return trip was against the current, and the speed was much slower. It took more than a day and a night to return to Diaoyucheng.

When they arrived, it was before daybreak. The messengers hid the boat in the reed marsh again, and then lit a torch at the bottom of the cliff with a tinder, shook it a few times, and exchanged signals. Then someone at the top of the cliff lowered a hanging basket and pulled them up.

When Wei Yan heard that the friendly forces in the rear had fully grasped the situation in Diaoyucheng and would cooperate and had given new instructions, he felt much calmer.

With Mr. Zhuge's advice, it will definitely be easier to fight later.

Wei Yan quickly read Zhuge Liang's instructions carefully and then did as he was told.

(End of this chapter)