Liu Bei's army had already been struggling to hold on. The arrival of enemy reinforcements made a bad situation worse.
Bai Xiaowen looked surprised when he saw Li Yan leading the troops. "Li Yan, of all people?"
"What about Li Yan? I don't think I've heard much about him," Li Shuyi said.
Bai Xiaowen said in the Team Channel:
"Li Yan is a commander skilled in both civil and military affairs. He doesn't get much attention in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. His only duel is against Huang Zhong, and they fight dozens of rounds without a winner. When Zhuge Liang took Western Sichuan, he also said Li Yan couldn't be overcome by force. When Liu Bei was dying, he entrusted Li Yan with his final decree alongside Zhuge Liang. That made Li Yan one of Shu Han's chief ministers entrusted with its future. He clearly had talent as both a statesman and a strategist."
After a pause, Bai Xiaowen continued, "What surprises me is that Liu Zhang never valued Li Yan much. He only promoted him to general of the guard when Liu Bei reached Mianzhu. It seems Li Yan rose to prominence earlier in the Three Kingdoms Plane."
Li Yan ordered the Sichuan troops into the battle. Then he took his personal officers and Zhang Song, the assistant governor, toward Duke Yan's banner and yellow silk canopy to meet Bai Xiaowen.
Bai Xiaowen thanked Zhang Song first. "Liu Zhang's willingness to send aid must owe a great deal to your persuasion, Yongnian!"
With Li Yan beside him, Zhang Song could hardly speak candidly to Bai Xiaowen. He bowed with some restraint. "I merely advised my lord to follow the tide and answer the call. Huang Quan, Wang Lei, and their like even urged him to sit back and