On the northwestern defense line, Ma Wenyuan concentrated his forces in three major cities: Dalaran City, Dalian City, and Danxi City.
These three major cities had all been painstakingly developed by his Ma Clan.
Within them lay all the Ma Clan's core resources.
The three cities formed a triangle, like the three squares of the character 品.
Dalaran City lay at the northern point of the triangle, at the very forefront of the defense line, making it a key defensive stronghold.
Next came Danxi City, west of Danya City. It lay on the northeastern side of the triangle, a forward position close to Danya Capital. It was also extremely important and required a heavy garrison.
Finally, Dalian City lay at the southernmost point of the triangle, very close to the Golden Pansy Mountain Range. To its south stood Mondo Pass, on the River Hill Lin Family's border. It faced little defensive pressure and could serve as a support position or a diversionary stronghold. If either of the other two cities came under attack, it could dispatch troops to harass the enemy's supply lines!
Command of the three city garrisons was assigned as follows.
Ma Wenyuan personally took command in Dalaran City.
In Danxi City, Ma Wenyuan appointed his second son, Ma Qin, to command the city's defense!
In Dalian City, Ma Wenyuan entrusted command of the defense to Ma Jun, a Ma Clan elder and former chairman of the Council of Elders.
A force of 400,000 was distributed among these three cities.
It seemed more than sufficient, but in truth, they were stretching a short coat to cover their elbows!
In Ma Wenyuan's mind, all three cities were foundations of the Ma Clan. Not one could be lost.
In reality, however, he did not have enough troops to ensure that