Originally, Yuan Shang planned to kill Yuan Tan and annihilate him in one fell swoop.
But after hearing that Li Dian and Le Jin were leading their troops towards Liyang, Yuan Shang was shocked and could not continue to deal with Yuan Tan, so he hurriedly took back the main force.
After Cao Cao led his troops northward, the two sides fought several fierce battles, but they all ended in Yuan Shang's defeat.
Seeing that he was no match for Cao Jun, Yuan Shang could only hide in Ye City and refused to fight again.
Although Sima Yi lured the snake out of the cave yesterday and killed more than 10,000 Yuan troops.
But after this incident, Yuan Shang must be even less likely to take the initiative to leave the city.
Yang Ling looked at the sand table on the table and pondered.
Since Yuan Shao occupied Jizhou, he has made Yecheng his lair.
After so many years of hard work, today's Yecheng can be said to be impregnable.
Not only is the city wall taller and stronger than ordinary cities, there is even a moat dug along the base of the city wall.
After Yang Ling defeated Zhang He before, he had not thought about attacking Yecheng, using black powder to blow down the city wall, and then entering the city.
But it was because of the moat that Yang Ling gave up and turned to attack Yuan Shao.
"Father-in-law, my son-in-law doesn't have any good ideas for a while. We might as well attack the city first and see what the situation is like in Yecheng."
Yang Ling suggested.
"Okay, I'll do as you say."
Cao Cao was not too disappointed.
After all, the situation in Yecheng is there, and it is almost impossible to win it easily.
…
Early the next morning.
Cao Cao took a group of advisers and generals from Liyang and went straight to Yecheng on the front line.
Yecheng and Liyang were not far apart. At noon on the third day, Yang Ling could see Yecheng in the distance.
Sure enough, it is worthy of the description of "high city and deep pool". Yecheng is tall and majestic, comparable to Luoyang before!
At this time, the gates of Yecheng were closed, and generals such as Yu Jin, Li Dian, Le Jin, and Xu Huang were stationed outside the city with their troops in accordance with Cao Cao's instructions.
After receiving the news of Cao Cao's arrival, they rushed over one after another.
"I've met the Prime Minister!"
Cao Cao nodded slightly and asked,
"How are the preparations for the siege?"
"Reporting to the Prime Minister, all the siege equipment has been prepared."
Yu Jin, the leader, replied.
They were stationed outside the city. On the one hand, they were keeping an eye on Yuan Shang's movements in the city. On the other hand, they used local materials to build various siege equipment.
"Very good. Send the order. After noon, prepare to attack the city!"
Cao Cao said in a deep voice.
"Here!"
Yu Jin surrendered his hands and accepted the order.
The crowd gathered around Cao Cao and entered the military camp, and soon began to prepare pots for cooking.
After they had eaten and drank enough, Cao Jun officially began to attack the city!
"Woooooooo..."
"Dong dong dong..."
The exciting horns and dull drums sounded together, echoing on the battlefield.
Countless soldiers of Cao Cao fought out, holding their shields high while escorting various siege equipment, and rushed towards the city wall.
With Cao Cao, Guo Jia, Xun You and others present, Yang Ling was too lazy to give orders.
He found a high slope and took Zhao Yun, Gan Ning and others to watch the battle.
"Do you think the Prime Minister can take Yecheng?"
Zhao Yun shook his head first.
"Yecheng is too impenetrable. There are tens of thousands of soldiers in the city, and there is a lot of food and grass. It is difficult to win it in a short time."
Gan Ning smiled nonchalantly and said,
"Brother Ziyi, why don't you let me and General Meng Qi take the lead? I'll definitely take it down for you!"
"No!"
Yang Ling shook his head and said seriously,
"Yuan Shang is not a senior official, and Yecheng is not Zhi County. If you want to win, you will have to pay a heavy price."
"Since you are my subordinates, I don't want you to take this risk if it is not necessary!"
Hearing this, Ma Chao on the side couldn't help but feel a warm current in his heart.
It seems that it is not a bad thing for him to take refuge in Yang Ling.
While Yang Ling and others were talking, Cao's soldiers had already attacked the city and began to put up ladders on the city wall.
In order to prevent them from attacking smoothly, the soldiers of Yuan Army on the top of the city not only wildly tilted the arrows, but also poured down the boiling gold juice.
Ever since Yang Ling used gold juice to defend the city and defeated the Black Mountain Army, this method spread rapidly.
In addition to the first time, Sergeant Yuan even threw down the prepared rolling stones and wood.
But in the blink of an eye, Cao Jun suffered heavy casualties!
But Cao Cao, who was taking command before the battle, showed no signs of disturbance and just watched the battle with an expressionless face.
Time passed by, and after suffering heavy casualties, Cao Jun finally climbed onto the city wall for the first time.
However, before Cao Cao's soldiers could stand firm, Yuan Jun attacked them head-on.
Countless swords, spears and spears came at him, forcefully pushing back Sergeant Cao's soldiers.
Such a tragic situation lasted until sunset.
Seeing that it was impossible to capture Yecheng today, Cao Cao had to take a long breath and said angrily,
"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"
As the gongs and drums representing retreat sounded, Cao's army on the battlefield retreated like a tide.
…
That night.
In the army camp, the lights were brightly lit.
Everyone was lined up on the left and right, but they were all silent, not even daring to take a breath.
Nothing else.
Just because Cao Cao's face in the hall was as black as coal, and he was obviously angry.
After attacking the city today, Cao Jun lost thousands of troops, but gained nothing.
How could this not make Cao Cao angry?
He took a deep breath and looked at everyone in the hall,
"Do you have any good ideas?"
Everyone looked at each other and no one said a word.
After all, the situation in Yecheng is here, and it is really difficult to conquer it in one fell swoop.
"Prime Minister, Ye City is deeply entrenched. The safest way is to surround it and wait for Yuan Shang to destroy it without attacking."
Xun You said slowly.
"Although this plan is safe, it is not without risks."
Guo Jia shook his head,
"If Sun Quan stabilizes Jiangdong and persuades Liu Biao to send troops together, it will be troublesome."
Seeing that everyone had no good ideas, Cao Cao became even more upset.
He glanced around casually, but was slightly stunned.
"Where are the others with the facial features?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Yang Ling was not present.
"It seems that after the battle, General Wu Guanzhonglang didn't come over."
Cao Ang said uncertainly.
"Go, you guys quickly find General Wu Guanzhonglang!"
Cao Cao ordered Dian Wei and Xu Chu.
Now everyone has no good way to capture Yecheng, they can only count on Yang Ling.
However, at this juncture, Yang Ling was not present.
"Here!"
Dian Wei and Xu Chu took the order and immediately left the Chinese army camp with a group of soldiers and began to search for Yang Ling in the camp.
But when they arrived at Yang Ling's camp, they only saw his personal maid Guo Zhao.
"Ah? Didn't your husband go to see the Prime Minister?"
Guo Zhao was also a little confused.
"He didn't come back after going to the battlefield today. I thought he went to see the prime minister."
