Chapter 470 The Iron Cable Crosses the River
This time, Liu Bei sent out all his forces and squeezed out an army of 120,000, which was almost the only main force left except for Nanyang. They advanced westward along the Yangtze River both by land and water, with a momentum of desperate efforts.
After arriving at Baidi City, looking at the heroic Wei Yan, Liu Bei quickly stepped forward and patted his shoulder with great satisfaction.
"Wenchang, you are a real tiger general!"
A gentleman will die for his friend. Although Wei Yan had a rebellious personality, he was loyal to Liu Bei, who had promoted him.
Hearing Liu Bei's praise, Wei Yan was immediately very excited, and knelt on one knee and said: "I am only serving you as a dog and horse, and it is all thanks to your grace that I can win this victory."
Zhang Fei, Chen Dao and Cai Mao on the side couldn't help but look at Wei Yan with a little more admiration.
Wei Yan was too young, and they were skeptical when Liu Bei promoted him. But now it seems that Liu Bei's ability to judge people is far superior to theirs, and Wei Yan is really a good general.
There are only a handful of generals in this world who can gain benefits from the Qi army's generals. Based on this battle alone, Wei Yan is enough to be listed among the famous generals.
Whether it was his impromptu response when defending the city or his bravery and courage during the sneak attack, Wei Yan's extraordinary abilities were demonstrated.
After a few people exchanged pleasantries, Wei Yan's expression became stern and he said in a deep voice: "My lord, although Pang De's army was defeated and retreated to Quren County, I'm afraid this battle will not end so easily."
"Quren County is just a county town. Although it is located on an important road, it does not have much geographical advantages. Why does Wenchang say this?" Pang Tong frowned.
Wei Yan shook his head and said, "I have been trying to find out the movements of the Qi army for some time."
He paused unconsciously, as if he was organizing his words. After all, he himself didn't quite believe what he was going to say next.
"Quren County was indeed just an ordinary county town, with low walls and mostly small roads around it. But in the nearly one month since the lord came, the Qi army has been vigorously building Quren County."
Wei Yan's voice was low but a little shocking: "Today, Quren County has become a solid fortress. The city wall alone is five meters high, and there are countless defensive equipment and camps and arrow towers everywhere. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to conquer it easily."
Upon hearing this, Cai Mao showed a trace of disdain on his face: "It's just a small county town. Even if they build it in a month, what can they build? You are worrying too much."
He raised his head slightly, with a hint of arrogance in his eyes, as if he sneered at Wei Yan's words.
Hearing what Cai Mao said, Wei Yan was filled with anger. He snorted in dissatisfaction and said no more. How dare a person who talks nonsense question him?
Although this matter did sound exaggerated, he himself did not believe it when he heard the news before. Only after personal investigation did he have to admit that the Qi army really had the ability to shock the world.
A strong city was built in just ten months!
It's unimaginable.
Liu Bei and Pang Tong were somewhat skeptical at this time.
Liu Bei and Pang Tong were somewhat skeptical at this time. What Wei Yan said was indeed a bit far-fetched, but there was no need for Wei Yan to tell such a lie that was easily exposed. Could it be true?
"Degui, don't speak nonsense. Wenchang will not lie to me." Liu Bei reprimanded Cai Mao without hesitation.
Then he looked at Wei Yan with a serious expression: "Master Wen, are you sure about this?"
"My lord, I have personally investigated and my words are absolutely true." Wei Yan raised his head, looked at Liu Bei firmly, and answered without any doubt.
Liu Bei nodded slightly and fell into deep thought.
Pang Tong on the side also had a great headache.
They thought that if they defended Baidi City, Tian Ze would be helpless and they could march straight into Yizhou.
Not to mention driving Tian Ze out of Yizhou, at least plundering hundreds of thousands of people should not be a problem.
But who would have thought that Tian Zejun actually had such a method.
"My lord, let's take a day off and send troops to Quren County tomorrow." Pang Tong said. Liu Bei nodded gently.
It can't be true.
What Wei Yan said can be easily verified tomorrow, so there is no need to dwell on it.
The next day, when the army arrived at Quren County, Liu Bei's heart sank when he saw the huge iron chains on the river.
There are also some dangerous waterways around Quren County. The engineers under Pang De buried a large number of thick and heavy iron spikes and iron pillars underwater, and the naval warships led by Cai Mao could not pass through at all.
Moreover, a large number of iron spikes underwater are sharp and hidden, and approaching warships can easily have their bottoms pierced directly.
This was exactly the strategy of putting iron chains across the river adopted by the Eastern Wu in the late Three Kingdoms period in order to block the Wei navy. The Wei navy suffered a lot from this.
The reason why it was later defeated by the famous Jin general Wang Jun was that the Shu Kingdom was destroyed. The Jin navy was able to go downstream along the Yangtze River and take away the iron spikes by building unmanned rafts.
And now, Cai Mao’s navy is going upstream!
"My lord, the Qi army has completely cut off our possibility of advancing westward by water." Pang Tong said with a rather grim expression.
The iron chain on the water surface is easy to break by burning it with fire. It only takes a little time and effort.
However, the underwater iron spikes are difficult to deal with, and who knows how many of these disgusting things the Qi army has buried underwater.
In addition to the iron spikes, Pang Tong also saw that some places were actually reefs, which were obviously newly piled up.
Pang Tong was really puzzled. How did the Qi army do it? Could such a large amount of work really be completed by tens of thousands of people in a month?
The advancement of science and technology and the improvement of productivity will naturally gradually change the way wars are fought.
This was a very eye-catching appearance by the engineers under Tian Ze's command.
Many things are indeed difficult to accomplish by human power, but they are possible with the use of tools.
A small pulley may be equivalent to the strength of several people.
Cai Mao, who had been quite arrogant, now had an extremely ugly expression on his face, and couldn't stop cursing Pang De in his heart.
Can't afford it? Why don't you just block the Yangtze River?
Cai Mao knew that Tian Ze would not bring many navy troops with him when he attacked Yizhou, so he thought that if he led the navy upstream, he would be invincible and would be able to defeat the Qi army.
He will definitely be able to turn the tide and help Liu Bei capture Yizhou.
As a result, they encountered this situation as soon as they arrived in Yizhou.
These Qi soldiers have no moral principles!
After sending out several light boats to test a few times, Cai Mao gave up all ideas because the area for dozens of miles was covered with scattered reefs and water cones, and there was no way to find the end.
Who knows how many iron spikes this group of people smashed into the Yangtze River? They are all iron!
Are all the Qi army so wealthy?
This was the first time Cai Mao had seen this way of fighting a war.
His 30,000 naval forces were simply destroyed by a group of coolies and a large amount of supplies.
It would be fine if he could capture Qunin County by land, but if he couldn't, his navy could be directly converted into baggage troops.
(End of this chapter)
