Wang Shen refuted his suggestion, jeering, "Such cowardice despite having tens of thousands of strong soldiers!" With the support of Liu Wenyu, he insisted that Yang immediately take his troops to take the enemy head-on. Yang reiterated his belief that such a move would bring defeat, which was met by Wang's rebuttal of "You sir have been called 'invincible', but today you are so hesitant in face of the enemy and reluctant to fight. Is your loyalty elsewhere?" Yang had no choice but to reply, "I am not evading death, but this is a bad situation which would make soldiers die and injure in vain. However, since you accuse me for fearing death, I will be the first (to die) before you all." He pointed at the end of a valley called Chenjiagu (陳家谷, in modern Shuozhou): "Gentlemen, please put infantrymen with arrows on both sides of that place, so that they could attack from both directions and provide assistance in case I retreat there. Otherwise, the situation could be dire." Pan and Wang agreed, and led their men to the place.