Although Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi did not want Sima Yi to continue to establish their prestige, Liaodong was an important area of the country. If Gongsun Yuan was allowed to separatize one side, the people on the border would suffer. Which was more serious, they naturally knew very well, so during the war , they dare not not try their best.
It is said that after the generals defeated the Yan army, Bei Yan and Yang Zuo no longer dared to go out to fight lightly. The Wei army was unable to attack the Liao Tunnel City, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The Liao Tunnel is a dangerous pass in the mountains. Bei Yan is worthy of being a general of the Yan army. While holding on to the city, he built encirclements on both sides of the city connected to the mountains. As long as the Yan army can hold on to the fortress and both sides of the city, With the encirclement, the Wei army had no way to go, and they could not continue to advance towards Xiangping City where Gongsun Yuan was stationed.
After discussing with generals such as Xiahou Xuan, Hu Zun, Niu Jin, and Cao Xi, Sima Yi decided on a strategy.
Sima Yi first ordered his two sons to lead thousands of soldiers, and they took turns to play gongs and drums outside Liaotun City late at night for three consecutive days, pretending to attack, but actually not attacking the city.
After harassing the Yan army for several days, taking advantage of the darkness, Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi led 10,000 elite cavalry to suddenly attack the trench outside the Liao Tunnel. The Yan army did not get any rest for several nights. At this moment, the Wei army suddenly attacked. The defenders were naturally panicked.
In this way, the 10,000-strong army led by Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi successfully broke through the encirclement in the south of Liao Tunnel City. According to the previously planned strategy, Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi did not stop, but continued to lead the army towards the northeast. Heading in the same direction, he made a gesture of wanting to go straight to his hometown in Xiangping, the capital county of Liaodong.
Bei Yan understood that his king had already mobilized the Xiangping army and divided his troops to resist the three armies of Guanqiu Jian, Gao Gouli and Mo Huba. At this moment, Xiangping was empty, and his southern encirclement of the Liao Tunnel had been broken. If Xiahou Xuan were allowed to drive Xiangping directly, the consequences would be disastrous.
After Bei Yan discussed with Yang Zuo, they decided that Bei Yan would personally lead five thousand elite cavalry who were good at field battles but not good at defending the city, and rushed to the northeast overnight to chase and destroy Xia Houxuan.
Sima Yi saw that Bei Yan and Yang Zuo had fallen into the trap, so he immediately led his army directly to the Liao Tunnel City, dug trenches, and prepared for a large-scale siege, hoping to capture the Liao Tunnel in one go.
But at this time, God was not kind to him, and it happened to rain heavily for several days. With the heavy rain, it was naturally difficult for the Wei army to attack the city.
Yang Zuo, who was guarding the city, was overjoyed when he saw this. He thought that as long as the heavy rain continued and he relied on the tens of thousands of crossbowmen and infantry in the city, he would be able to defend the Liao Tunnel. At that time, General Bei Yan combined with the main force in Xiangping to destroy Xiahou Xuan, and then returned to Liao Tunnel. Naturally, Sima Yi and his son could not escape the disaster of defeat.
In this way, the heavy rain continued for more than thirty days, and the main force of the Wei army was unable to attack the city for a while, nor was it able to fight a decisive battle with the Yan army in Liaodong.
After Xiahou Xuan and Cao Xi crossed the Liao Tunnel, they naturally knew that Beiyan would lead his army to catch up, so they stationed the 10,000 elite cavalry troops on a hill with trees and water, and dispatched Xuanjia. The Wei, Yu Linlang, and Wu Wei armies respectively guarded the major and minor roads to Xiangping in an attempt to cut off the connection between the Beiyan army and Xiangping Gongsun Yuan.
In this way, Bei Yan was indeed afraid of the favorable terrain occupied by Xiahou Xuan and Cao Xi and did not dare to attack rashly. The messengers he sent to Xiangping City to ask for help all disappeared like mud cows drowning in the sea.
The army led by Gongsun Xiu also temporarily defended various dangerous passes in the east of Yanliao. Under the heavy rain, Mo Huba, Gao Weigong and others were unable to successfully advance. Guanqiu Jian in the northwest also found it difficult to continue his advance.
The situation in Liaodong was temporarily in a stalemate because of this heavy rain.
Soon, the capital heard rumors that the Yan army had successfully resisted Yue Yu. In Luoyang City, ministers soon persuaded Emperor Cao Rui:
"The abyss has not yet been breached, so we should order the captain to return."
Naturally, Cao Rui did not believe these words. He said something to the ministers who had lost confidence:
"Sima Yi made changes in the face of danger, so he could wait for a long time to capture Yuan."
Although Cao Rui does not completely trust Sima Yi's loyalty, he completely trusts Sima Yi's ability. In this battle of Liaodong, if the Gongsun clan's separatist regime can be completely destroyed, wouldn't my achievements surpass those of my father?
When he thought of this, the emperor, who was seriously ill, felt an endless surge of motivation and joy in his heart.
————
Soon after, the heavy rain in Liaodong finally stopped.
Sima Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the emperor's face. He immediately ordered Hu Zun, Niu Jin, Sima Shi, Sima Zhao, Hu Fen and other generals to lead their troops to build mounds around Liao Tunnel City and build watchtowers. He also prepared a large number of stones and crossbows, and began to throw stones into the city.
Not only that, Sima Yi also personally led the elite Wei army to begin the siege of the city, and soon the Liao Tunnel was completely surrounded.
Yang Zuo's troops in the city finally began to panic.
This time, because the road to the rear was clear for the defense of the city, and because they believed that the Wei army was far away and supplies would be inconvenient, he and General Bei Yan did not prepare too much food and grass. However, now the food roads from Xiangping to Liao Tunnel have been cut off by Xiahou Xuan , the city soon began to lack food.
Because Xia Houxuan occupied the favorable terrain and raided the surrounding small counties, he had no shortage of food and grass for the time being, but Bei Yan, the general of the Yan army, was in a dilemma. If he takes back the Liao Tunnel, it will not only give Xia Houxuan an opportunity to seize the victory and pursue him, but will also aggravate the food shortage situation in Liao Tunnel City. Therefore, at this moment, he can only hold on and have no way out.
Within a few days, the food in Liaotuncheng was finally exhausted. Due to hunger, the tragic situation of cannibalism soon occurred among the Yan army, and countless people died. The Yan army finally lost its morale.
Yang Zuo and his generals and commanders felt that their situation was lost. In desperation, they led their troops out of the city and surrendered to Sima Yi. The Liao Tunnel City was finally destroyed.
Seeing that the Liao Tunnel had been lowered, Xiahou Xuan and Cao Xi immediately led 10,000 elite cavalry of the Wei army and decisively headed towards Xiangping City.
Beiyan did not dare to stay, so he abandoned the Liao Tunnel and rushed towards the direction of Xiahou Xuan's advance, intending to attack Xiahou Xuan and Cao Xi from both sides with Xiangping.
At this moment, he could no longer care about Sima Yi's tens of thousands of troops behind him. But Sima Yi did not forget Bei Yan, a slightly difficult opponent. He immediately ordered his eldest son, Sima Shi, to lead five thousand elite cavalry towards Xiangping.
In this way, Sima Division and Xia Houxuan and Cao Xi, who had turned around, attacked from both sides and completely defeated Bei Yan. Then, the two armies joined forces and began to attack Xiangping together with Guanqiu Jian, the governor of Youzhou, who had already won a great victory and had advanced to Xiangping City.
One night in August, a large meteor about ten feet long fell from the northeast of Shoushan into the southeast of Xiangping City.
The soldiers and civilians in Liaodong were already panic-stricken. At this moment, they saw strange phenomena in the sky. Countless places in the county surrendered. The Yan army finally began to collapse.
On Renwu Day, Xiangping City collapsed under the siege of Xiahou Xuan, Guanqiu Jian, Cao Xi, and Sima Division. Gongsun Yuan's entire army was defeated. He and his son Gongsun Xiu broke out to the southeast with hundreds of cavalry. , trying to save lives first. However, the troops of Guan Qiujian and Xia Houxuan pursued them closely, and finally killed Gongsun Yuan and his son where the meteor fell to the ground.
After the Liao Tunnel City was breached, Sima Yi, who had always been quiet, entered the city and actually began to massacre the city!
He killed more than 7,000 people of the "Yan Kingdom" including ministers and below, as well as soldiers and civilians. No man over the age of fifteen in the city was spared. Not only that, Sima Yi also used the flesh and blood of the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong to build a tall and impressive tower. The terrifying "Beijing View"!
The so-called "Jingguan" is to pile up the corpses of soldiers and civilians killed after massacre into a hill to shock people. In addition, Sima Yi asked all the Central Plains people who had moved to Liaodong in the early years to move south to enrich the population of the Central Plains.
Finally, the four counties of Liaodong, Daifang, Lelang, and Xuantu were all pacified. However, Liaodong, which was originally rich in population and considered a paradise in troubled times, became almost a deserted white land after Sima Yi's massacre and migration.
Since the Han Dynasty, from Gongsun Du to Gongsun Yuan, these three generations have worked hard to govern, making Liaodong a place that Han cultural elites yearned for. Many people went to Liaodong to escape the war, including famous figures such as Guan Ning, Wang Lie, and Bing Yuan. , all went to Liaodong to seek refuge, and they also taught the people in Liaodong. Therefore, the food culture of the people in Liaodong is no different from that of the people in the Central Plains.
But now, this piece of paradise that was once far away from the war has turned into an endless hell due to Gongsun Yuan's ambition and Sima Yi's cruelty.
Since then, the control and influence of the Han people in Liaodong began to weaken, which is why the Xianbei people later rose up and took over the Central Plains.
After Xia Houxuan, Cao Xi and Guanqiu Jian heard about this in Xiangping City, they were extremely sad. Xia Houxuan rode into the Liao Tunnel alone on a white bird and met Sima Yi. After a quarrel, Sima Yi finally revealed his identity. His cruel face.
He first beat Xia Houxuan with a flower army staff seventy times, and then wiped away all the achievements of Xia Houxuan's battle. General Hu Zun wanted to admonish Sima Yi at first, but after seeing Xia Houxuan's tragic experience and remembering the death of the late famous general Zhang He, he immediately succumbed to the lustful power of Sima Yi and his direct lineage general Niu Jin.
The war is finally over.
In a blink of an eye, winter has arrived.
The cold weather in Liaodong made it unbearable for many soldiers who came from the imperial capital and had no warm clothes.
Xia Houxuan, who had been seriously injured by the Seventy Army Staff, could not bear to see the soldiers who had just finished the battle suffer, so with the help of Cao Xi, he came to the commander-in-chief of Taiwei Sima Yi.
At this moment, Xia Houxuan looked at Sima Yi, who was wearing fox fur and looking safe. The anger in his heart surged up again, but thinking of his wife, children and mother at home, Xia Houxuan still suppressed his anger.
"Lieutenant, I heard that Gongsun Yuan's Liaodong treasury has many short coats for the winter. Can you distribute these short coats first so that the soldiers can keep out the cold?"
Sima Yi held the heater in his hand, tightened the fox fur around his body, and said slowly without raising his eyelids: "The items in this treasury are now national property. How can I make an independent decision? Send an order to the three armies to go south immediately. The class teacher returns to the court!"
After Xia Houxuan heard this, he felt very sad. He knew that he and Sima Yi had nothing to say at this moment, and he and Cao Xi walked out of the tent very disappointed.
Many soldiers who were about to return in triumph were wrapped in cold armor and froze to death in this bitter cold place in the north.
The cold north wind kept whining, as if crying for something.
―――
In the blink of an eye, it’s December’s Yi Chou Day.
Emperor Cao Rui's condition worsened a lot in the raging cold wind after hearing the news that Sima Yi massacred the city without permission. Knowing that his end was approaching, he hurriedly made Guo Guifei of the Guo family his queen, appointed her as the aunt of the princes, and entrusted her to take good care of and raise the two princes Cao Fang, King of Qi, and Cao Xun, King of Qin.
The streets and streets of Luoyang, the imperial capital, are still noisy, lively, and prosperous.
Inside and outside the 24th Street and the Three Main Streets, people were coming and going and traffic was busy at the moment.
In the city, in the splendid palace and Jiafu Hall, the lonely emperor was lying on his bed sleeping peacefully.
There was a trace of peace in his pale face at this moment.
"Your Majesty." The waiter entered the palace and said, "His Royal Highness the King of Yan, the leading general Xia Houxian, the military guard general Cao Shuang, the garrison captain Cao Zhao, and the heroic cavalry general Qin Lang have arrived outside the palace."
Cao Rui slowly opened his tired and red eyes. He did not speak due to lack of strength at this moment, but nodded slightly.
The waiter understood and shouted loudly: "It is said that King Yan and others are coming to the palace to have an audience!"
"I will bow to Your Majesty!" After King Yan Cao Yu and the other five people entered the Jiafu Hall, they bowed their heads and knelt down.
"Peng Zu's words: King Cao Yu of Yan..." Seeing everyone finally entering the palace, Cao Rui said with difficulty: "You... are finally here..."
