It wasn't until the sky was completely bright that Sima Jin could fully see the surrounding terrain: the so-called valley mouth in front only led to a slightly wider valley. This valley was still sandwiched between two mountains, only two or three miles apart, and about two miles long. Ten miles away; after leaving the east entrance of the canyon, you really enter an open plain. This plain is dotted with pastoral villages and settlements, and is still surrounded by mountains. It is a smaller basin; there is a big city about ten miles to the south.
The fighting that took place after noon yesterday has affected this area. You can see the people around the city carrying food and property into the city. Sima Jin had no choice but to devise an empty city strategy and ordered the entire army to prepare for siege.
The two public servants followed Sima Jin to inspect the terrain. They led more than a hundred people until they stopped two or three miles away from the city. Their appearance caused great panic in the city. Drums sounded in the four cities and the city gates were closed. What surprised both Sima Jin and Gongcheng was that the sound of drums came from behind them. They looked to the west, and there was a city about seven or eight miles away that was comparable in size to the city in front of them. This city is hidden behind the mountain. No one noticed it just now. You have to turn around the mountain to see it.
They simply climbed up the mountain behind them and found that a river also wound out of the south side of the mountain. There was also a valley leading deep into the mountain; and by the river at the mouth of the valley, a large city was in sight. Observing along the direction of the river, the river in the south turned north on the side of the mountain and merged with the river he walked out of, hugging the basin completely to his chest. The high mountain that Hu Yang and the others climbed is in the middle of the basin, overlooking the entire basin. There are other high mountains in the south and north that form the north and south boundaries of the basin; a high mountain in the east blocks the front, blocking the eyes peeping eastward.
The three cities are all on the north bank of Nanshui, backed by the high mountain at their feet, echoing each other and guarding the basin. Sima Jin didn't know how many people were guarding each city and whether it was strong, but he knew that the key now was to move quickly to force the opponent to be confused about his own movements and adopt a defensive posture. If the other party once sees the truth and falsehood, he will have no power to fight back.
He pointed to the easternmost city and asked the two ministers: "How about placing one part between the two cities and one part in the east of the city, and then surround it and attack it?"
A public official pointed to the densely populated farms and cities at the foot of the mountain and said: "These three towns have about tens of thousands of households. They are close to Handan. If we go out and surround them, what will happen if reinforcements arrive?"
Sima Jin said: "When we first arrived, the land and the people were sparse. There was no way forward, and it was difficult to retreat. I heard about it from the village guide before, and if we go out from this east, it is Handan. However, facing the barrier of high mountains, it is difficult to find the exit. Now the enemy is surrounded by a group of enemies, and we will not allow our sentries to explore slowly. If we find a way forward, we will definitely make a quick decision. Attack them from all four sides and force the enemy to hold on. Then we can find a way forward. If there is a slight gap, Handan will block the entrance with heavy troops. , none of us can get out."
A Gongcheng said: "That's what the five officials said. I don't necessarily have to follow it, but it's just for the sake of momentum and to find a way out. It will only take three to five days to seize the way and get out."
A Gongcheng said: "If Dan seizes the road and escapes, but surrounds him on three sides and forces him to abandon his defense, that is a good plan. If he is surrounded on all sides, or the enemy comes to help, and he is attacked from the front and back, he will be in embarrassment."
Sima Jin said: "That's what Gongcheng said, but surrounding it on three sides, blocking it to the west, and forcing it to abandon the city is the best policy!"
A public official said: "The two valleys are vast and there are many people and mass murderers. If there are no soldiers to suppress them, I'm afraid there will be changes!"
Sima Jin said: "It is enough for each of the two tribes to leave one battalion to defend them. All the strong men in the two valleys have been killed, and the situation is difficult. The larger army of ten thousand people will arrive tomorrow, but we can hold it for a while, so there is no need to worry."
While they were discussing, they suddenly saw flags waving in the city and about five hundred people rushing out of the city, as if to expel them. Sima Jin smiled slightly and led the people down the mountain.
They returned to the camp. Each battalion had finished breakfast and was lining up outside the camp. Sima Jin and the two officers were hurriedly drinking porridge while arranging the combat area and strategy. The front public transport also called all the battalion officials and officials at the same time and assigned combat tasks. After the formation was completed, there was a sound of drums, and the five front battalions advanced one after another, passed directly between the two cities, and surrounded the south gate of the east city. Seeing this, Zhongcheng opened the city gates and sent out a civilian army of tens of thousands of people to assist. These civilian troops were not uniform but powerful. Halfway through, they suddenly saw another Qin army coming out from the foot of the mountain. The troops were in order. The city in the middle was afraid of being ambushed, so it hurriedly raised money and retreated its troops. This Qin army did not pursue, but only surrounded the north wall of the east city. The two armies, one behind the other, surrounded the east city, leaving only the west gate. They did not rush to attack, but first built forts and defended the city. They also collected supplies and manpower from the surrounding villages, prepared siege equipment, and dug trenches.
Sima Jin led his own camp of a thousand men and stationed himself outside the east gate, mainly to prevent the enemy troops from escaping, especially in deep ditches and high fortresses. Secretly, he asked the villagers and inquired about the exit of the basin.
Seeing the Qin army entering the city to conquer the city, the people in the city couldn't bear it. They found that there were few people on Sima Jin's side, so they quietly opened the city gate, shouted and rushed towards the camp. The people who built the fort in front of Sima Jin's camp fled when they saw Zhao Jun approaching.
Although there was only a shallow ditch half a man deep in front of the camp fence, it also slowed down the army in the city. Behind the camp fence, a bell rang, a volley of crossbow arrows was fired, and screams came one after another. By the time the army in the city crossed the shallow ditch and rushed towards the camp fence, the edge of the ditch was already stained red with blood. At this time, drums sounded on both sides, and an army from each of the northern and southern Qin military camps came out. The soldiers who had not yet crossed the ditch panicked when they saw it and began to retreat; this also affected the soldiers who had crossed the ditch. They were clearly approaching the camp fence and were about to rush into the camp. When they saw the rear army retreating, they panicked. Confused, some people rushed forward and some retreated. As a result, all those who rushed forward were stabbed down in front of the camp fence, which inspired more people to retreat. Seeing that the situation in the city was not good, they also began to ring the bell and withdraw their troops. When they heard the bell ringing on the city, the soldiers began to run back desperately. The retreat turned into a rout, and they swarmed towards the city gate. Sima Jin's personal camp followed closely and even reached the city gate. The city lord panicked and yelled "Guan the city" desperately, but the city gate was already occupied by the defeated troops who poured into the city, and no one else could approach at all. When the people in the city saw the Qin army rushing into the city and the city gate could not be closed, they fled in a hurry. There was chaos in the city. The city lord had no choice but to open the west gate, abandon the city and flee. Sima Jin's personal camp rushed into the city and quickly occupied the four gates with almost no resistance. They opened the city gates and the Qin army rushed in. When they saw the Zhao people, they attacked the Zhao people indiscriminately and raised their hands. All the city troops rushed towards the west gate. It was difficult to get out of the blockage, and many people were trampled and died.
The city in the middle seemed to have noticed something was wrong here and sent a force to respond. Sima Jin saw it on the west city wall and ordered the troops still outside the city to be led by a public official to pursue the defeated troops leaving the city. The troops in Zhongcheng were in order at first, but after encountering a rout, their formation was suddenly overwhelmed. The pursuing Qin troops came one after another. They were shot over in one encounter and then stabbed over in the close battle. The rest screamed, turned around and ran away. The Qin army pursued for three miles and came to the bottom of the city. They only harvested those who ran slowly, and put the others into the city, closing the city gate. The Qin army calmly cleaned the battlefield outside the city, harvested the heads, and then retreated to the east city.
Sima Jin sent someone to report back to Hu Yang, telling him that he had occupied a city on the outskirts of Handan and controlled a valley. However, the number of enemy troops directly facing him now numbered in the tens of thousands, and reinforcements from Handan were about to arrive soon. Hu Yang was asked to speed up his march in order to rush out of Handan quickly.
The news that Yanyu was besieged had already been known to Handan.
Yanyu is a remote small town. It was originally the land of Han, but South Korea was unwilling to invest too much power there, so Zhao took advantage of it and took it as its own. The nearly 100,000 Qin army, the Han and Wei forces allied with them, passed through Luoyang in a mighty manner, and crossed the Yellow River from Mengjin to the north. It is no secret that they were so powerful; their destination was also very clear, which was the old Han Dynasty.
It is said that Qin informed Han and Wei that he had been deceived by Zhao, so he was willing to take a Zhao city for Han and Wei, one to consolidate their friendship and the other to avenge their hatred. Originally, Wei State had the most cities and places robbed by Zhao State, while South Korea had relatively few. However, Wei State did not want to offend Zhao State and kept silent, so South Korea had no choice but to step forward and tell them about a remote city. The Qin army helped capture it. This kind of labor-intensive expedition usually brings disaster to the country and its people. It is difficult to say that South Korea has good intentions. But the Qin State seemed to be obsessed with it and agreed immediately. It actually raised 30,000 troops from Xianyang and asked Han and Wei to send equal forces to occupy Yanyu.
South Korea also raised 30,000 troops because it was its own business and had no reason to shirk. Wei Guo pretended that it had nothing to do with him and only sent thousands of troops. So these 60,000 to 70,000 people were called one hundred thousand, and they rushed to Huanyu, a thousand miles away. Not to mention anything else, the food consumed by these 670,000 people along the way was nearly 10,000 dan per day. A round trip of two to three months would be 6.7 million dan, which far exceeded Yanyu's annual grain production. If we calculate the economic balance, the expedition to Yan will definitely outweigh the gains and losses! But for Qin, being bullied by Zhao was unbearable; for Han, there was no harm in being able to use Qin's power to seize a city, but Wei promised to pay half of the six to seven hundred thousand stones of food. Of course, the reason why it cannot be said is that Qin cannot be offended, and Zhao cannot be offended either! Yanyu is such a place where neither party can be offended.
When the allied forces of Qin, Han and Wei spread the news of the attack on Yanyu to Handan, King Zhao discussed it with the generals. Everyone agreed that Yanyu was far away and the road was difficult to travel, so there was no need to rescue him. If you don't come down, just let it fend for itself. What is unsaid is that if necessary, we will send troops to occupy it after the coalition forces retreat - South Korea cannot always maintain a huge army in the war! Only Zhao She expressed a different attitude: The road between Yanyu and Handan is indeed far away and difficult to walk, but the Qin army road is further away and even more difficult to walk; so whoever can persist will win!
