At the same time, the Battle of Yijing in Hebei also came to an end.
Compared with the Battle of Linzi, the Yuan army's siege of Yi Jing was far more difficult than the Han army's. Although Yijing is located between Yishui and Juma River, Yijing is located on a high hill and cannot use the method of flooding the city with water. It can only resist the flying arrows from the archery tower above the city and build a mountain of earth in front of the city. Another archery tower was erected on the earth mountain, so that the soldiers could climb the city under cover.
In March, Yuan Jun established 277 archery towers, enough to shoot at each other in Yijing City. The two sides had enough arrows, so when they fought every day, arrows rained in the air as densely as locusts. When the two armies were going in and out of the city wall, they had to carry wooden poles while walking, so the number of casualties was no less than tens of thousands.
But even so, Yuan Jun still could not capture Yi Jing. The height of Yi Jing's wall alone was as high as five feet. After being surrounded by Yuan's army, Gongsun Zan organized people to build a wooden shed on the wall and raised it another ten feet. Yuan's army could hardly climb the wall using conventional methods such as ladders and ants. This is what the so-called unreachable means. Therefore, although the casualties between the two armies were heavy, the war was in a stalemate, with no progress made for three months.
In mid-July, Chen Chong ordered General Duan Xuan and Colonel Hu Wuhuan to leave the county from Lingqiu, go south with 30,000 people, and settle in Zhuoxian again in Yanmen. Yuan's army received a threat to the north, so Yuan Shao had no choice but to allocate 20,000 troops, led by Qu Yi, to go north and confront Duan Xuan in the Fangcheng area.
Although Duan Xuan could not attack, what followed was a sharp increase in the pressure on Yi Jing to attack the city, which forced Yuan Shao to think of another way.
He first fired arrows at Yijing, trying to recruit soldiers and civilians in the city, and instigated them to open the door and offer sacrifices to the city. However, the guards at Yijing were all Gongsun Zan's close confidants. They were richly rewarded and rewarded, and they also felt that Yijing was difficult to conquer, so they had no objection. Gongsun Zan also had people write rewards on the back of the arrow book and shoot them back, claiming that the court had It was said that anyone who killed Yuan Shao could be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households, which was widely spread among the army, which made Yuan Shao furious.
So Yuan Shao changed his strategy and deliberately revealed the news that Han troops had appeared in Zhuo County in the north. Yuan's army was unable to support it and had to send a large number of troops to stop the attack. He then ordered the besieging troops to postpone the attack, pretending that the three armies were exhausted and could not be defeated. The illusion of a battle of abilities lured Gongsun Zan out of the city to fight in the field.
Unexpectedly, when Gongsun Zan learned the news, he only sent people to contact the north and had no intention of leaving the city. Yuan Shao intercepted one of the letters, but saw that there were still 50,000 guards in the city of Yijing. There were wells and water stored in the city, and arrows could last a year. Yuan Shao would never be able to break the city. Please send more attacks to the court. As long as the reinforcements are contained until the end of the year, Yuan Jun will naturally withdraw.
Yuan Shao had no choice but to re-attack the city. However, at Tian Feng's suggestion, Yuan Shao changed his siege strategy. Instead of attacking the city with ants, he dug tunnels instead.
Cui Juye, the magistrate of Tang County, was responsible for this matter. Within a few days, Cui Juye was ordered to supervise the construction of 21 tunnels, with remarkable results. They used ropes to measure the length of the tunnel. Most of the tunnels should have reached the city wall. They pressed beams and pillars against the ground while continuing to dig forward in order to penetrate the wall and enter the city.
The tunnel is not very high, so people can only crawl forward on their knees and hands. If they want to rest, they can only sit on the ground with their heads down. Digging tunnels is very hard. Excavation, lighting and earth transportation are all very tiring. Yuan Jun takes turns digging and resting in each tunnel. Their entire bodies were covered with loess, and even their eyelashes were covered with dirt, making them unrecognizable.
Just after midnight, Yuan Jun in one of the tunnels was still digging. There were two people at the front digging the soil. Their pickaxes went down almost at the same time, and it felt like the hard loess in front seemed to become brittle, and it collapsed all of a sudden with the pickaxes. But a sudden bright light suddenly appeared in front of me, which made people unable to adapt for a while, and they could hardly open their eyes.
After digging through, it took them a while before they could clearly see the situation outside the tunnel. It turned out that they had dug to the northeast corner of Yijing. No one happened to be paying attention here, and they could only see a few faint figures cruising back and forth in the distance. They quickly covered up the loess and crawled back to the camp along the tunnel.
"One Sword Dominates"
That night, many tunnels were dug into the inner city of Yijing. Some of them were discovered by the Yan army, who immediately poured hot water into them and put wild dogs and rats into them. Many civilians were He was burned and then bitten to death. But that's not all. There are about six tunnels that have not been discovered by Yan Jun, but Yan Jun is searching hard along the corners, leaving Yuan Jun little time.
Yuan Shao made a prompt decision and mobilized 2,000 elite troops from the army. They were led by Cui Juye and Zhu Han and divided into six lines to attack the city. As a cover, Yuan Shao would beat drums elsewhere to feint attack as their cover.
As a general, Cui Juye knew that a sneak attack in the tunnel must move forward with all his heart, so he entered the tunnel third and asked Zhu Han to take over from behind. The group of people all wore heavy armor, covered their heads and necks with iron pockets, raised their knives and spears, and let the tunnel diggers lead them in front, and climbed into the tunnel together.
Above them, the rumble of siege drums and shouts could be heard faintly.
In the tunnel, Yuan Jun's soldiers were holding their weapons and half-kneeling on the wall. While watching the diggers in front of them digging with pickaxes, they nervously watched the falling loess, waiting for the moment when the wall suddenly collapsed.
Cui Juye stood in front. Seeing that the soldiers around him were a little uneasy, he smiled and said: "Every time you win, the side with the determination to die wins. Don't be afraid. When you are not afraid of death, ghosts and gods will not be able to lead you." Let’s go.” Then he shouted: “This battle will be won!”
Before everyone could think about it, they heard the person in front shout: "It's over!" Then he picked up his pickaxe and struck it down. There was a crash, like a wall collapsed, and dust flew up. After all the light has cleared, the light from the front has shined in.
Dust and dirt rushed towards his face, and Cui Juye immediately rushed forward against the autumn wind. The sound of fighting between the mountains and the city wall outside suddenly rang in his ears, and the light outside seemed to be within reach.
At this moment, there was a bang, like a thunderbolt exploding in front of their eyes. The two soldiers in front felt that a ball of fire came in from the hole, and then they could no longer see anything.
Cui Juye lay on the ground. He felt that his heart and lungs were burning, and he felt that his eyelids had been burned off, making him unable to see anything. He didn't understand how the fire was blown in, but it was obvious that the tunnel had been discovered and could no longer be used. Several hooks came in along with the noisy sounds outside and hooked his armor. Cui Juye knew his fate, and without waiting for others to react, he pulled open the collar of the basin, took out the short knife from his waist with one hand, inserted it into his throat without hesitation, and with one stroke, his soul fell into the Nine Springs.
In addition to this tunnel, there were three more tunnels that were found by the Yan army. Of the two thousand people who set out, only 600 were able to enter the city. Of course, this could not break the Yan army's defense. They fought for a while, and finally had to leave. Back in the tunnel.
This time the attack was ineffective, but Yuan Shao became ruthless. He ordered the generals: "Keep digging! In the worst case, I will dig down the city! Can he still defend it like this!?" So Yuan Jun continued to work, and there was another attack under the city. Dig multiple tunnels.
In addition to the 21 tunnels dug into the city and occupied by the Yan army, Yuan Jun stepped up the digging of 68 tunnels in January, but they no longer dug into the city and only reached the foot of the city. At the end of these tunnels, Yuan Jun dug out a space almost one foot high and several feet wide, and used beams to hold up the city wall above his head.
At this time, Yuan Jun filled the pillars with oil and set them on fire. When the beams and pillars were burned and collapsed, the corresponding city wall of Yijing also collapsed. Counting it down, there were no less than 30 gaps that had collapsed and could pass through. Yuan Jun took advantage of the situation to attack the city and finally broke the deadlock. Senior cadres led Deng Sheng to seize three gaps, and then successfully occupied two of Yi Jing's outer walls. , the Yan army in the city resisted desperately, and finally the inner city was not lost in one day.
But at this point, the fate of Yi Jing's fall may have been doomed. After Gongsun Zan learned that the city wall had collapsed, he immediately lost confidence in holding on. He hurriedly sent an envoy north to Zhuoxian County to contact Duan Xuan and said that he would abandon Yijing and lead his troops to break out in the near future. He hoped that Duan Xuan could give the illusion of advancing on the north gate. , covering his evacuation from the direction of Fan Yang.
At dawn on October 16th, Gongsun Zan drove all 8,000 horses in the city to the west gate in the previous night. At this time, Yuan Jun who was watching the night was already tired, and Yuan Jun who was changing his shift had just woken up and was confused. While the two squads were handing over and switching defenses, a trumpet sounded in the city, and the cavalry rushed out like a torrent, directly breaking through Yuan Jun's defense line at the north gate.
But most of the Yan troops in the city were at a loss. In order to keep it secret, Gongsun Zan did not inform the entire army of the breakout, but only brought along the three thousand closest men. So much so that the guards in the city thought this was just a counterattack and continued to defend the city and resist the enemy as usual. It wasn't until Gongsun Zan was forty miles away that they realized they had been abandoned. Under this situation, Xian Yufu, who was guarding the city, had no intention of fighting. He took off his armor, carried his body against the thorns, and asked Yuan Shao to surrender.
Yijing fell, and more than 40,000 Yan troops returned to Yuan Shao.
On the way Gongsun Zan was running west, Yuan Shao had already set up an ambush: Wen Chou, the Cavalry Commander, had five thousand soldiers and horses stationed at the southern end of Gu'an County. He happened to meet Gongsun Zan and his men swimming in the south of the city. At this time, Gongsun Zan traveled hundreds of miles and was exhausted physically and mentally. However, he encountered Wen Chou's tiger and wolf army who had been recovering for a long time. After the two sides fought, Gongsun Zan was defeated. His son Gongsun Xu personally cut off the body and was assassinated by Yuan Jun. His body was split into more than ten parts.
Fortunately, with the protection of Zhao Yun, Tian Kai and others, Gongsun Zan finally escaped with his life. After traveling for hundreds of miles, he finally met up with Duan Xuan's tribe in Liangxiang. Yuan Jun immediately captured Yijing and gained great momentum. He then made a move to move north, vowing to capture Youzhou in one fell swoop.
At this time, the military strength difference between Duan Xuan's tribe and Yuan's army was nearly eight times. Both sides were on the North China Plain, with no danger to defend, and the advantage must be on Yuan Shao's side. Therefore, he quickly retreated northward and led his troops to Juyong Pass in Shanggu, hoping to take advantage of the natural dangers of Yanshan Mountain to curb Yuan Jun's northward offensive.
But in any case, in the same year that the Han army captured Qingzhou, Yuan Shao also won a decisive victory in Youzhou, basically realizing what he had planned when he was fighting against Dong, occupying Dahe in the south, blocking the Yan Dynasty in the north, and joining forces with the Di people. , the grand strategy of heading south to compete for the world.
