Starting from November last year, Yuan Shao led his army to completely surround Yi Jing.
In order to deal with Gongsun Zan's scourge as soon as possible, Yuan Shao concentrated his forces and began to demolish Gongsun Zan's fortresses one by one, reducing his space for activities.
In order to help Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei of Qingzhou prepared to cross the Yellow River and attack Pingyuan County after it was frozen. Unfortunately, this winter was not very cold, the Yellow River was not frozen, and the horses could not drive on the ice.
Such a situation is what both Yuan Shao and Liu Bei want to see.
Liu Bei is preparing to join forces with Cao Cao to attack Lu Bu southward after spring plowing. With the Yellow River as a natural barrier, even if Yuan Shao destroys Gongsun Zan, it will not be easy to capture him. He has asked Guan Yu to build defensive positions on the south bank.
Yuan Tan was afraid that Liu Bei would lead his army to kill him.
After the last battle, Yuan Shang had not made any achievements but got the support of two generals, Zhang He and Gao Lan. Not only did he lose the land of Qingzhou, but he also had no one to help him. Now he led an army of 50,000 to guard Pingyuan County. He was worried that Liu Bei would wait for the Yellow River to freeze and lead his army to kill him. Fortunately, the Yellow River was not frozen, so he had a chance to breathe.
Gongsun Zan had no scope to move under Yuan Shao's fierce attack.
Seventy thousand troops huddled within ten miles of Yijing.
Fortunately, in January, when Zhang Xiu went to Xiliang, Gongsun Xu and Zhang Yan led an army of 100,000 troops out of Black Mountain and arrived at the outskirts of Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao went out to attack Gongsun Zan with almost all his strength. The offensive was extremely fast and fierce, and Gongsun Zan's defense was also struggling. The two sides were in a stalemate for more than three months. Now that the Montenegrin Army has arrived, Gongsun Zan is emboldened.
He smiled at Guan Jing and said: "Haha! Zhang Yan led an army of 100,000 to come to the rescue and has reached the Xishan area outside Yijing. This is an excellent opportunity for our army to turn defeat into victory. You lead the army to stay in Yijing, and I will lead the three Thousands of elite cavalry leave the city and rush to the Western Mountains. They will join the Black Mountain Army and counterattack Jizhou to cut off Yuan Shao's retreat. When the time comes, you can lead your army out, attack from both inside and outside, and kill Yuan Shao!"
"My lord, no!"
Guan Jing immediately stopped him. Now Youzhou has been fighting for years under the leadership of Gongsun Zan. The people are in dire straits and the soldiers are war-weary. If Gongsun Zan leaves, he really doubts whether he can control his soldiers.
"Why?"
Gongsun Zan frowned and looked unhappy.
"My lord, now all the soldiers are thinking of separation. The reason why they can still hold on is because Gu Nian's whole family, old and young, are here. It's all thanks to the lord who is here to take charge of the overall situation. If you continue to hold on and delay the time, Yuan Shaoyuan will not be able to come for long. Wait. If they run out of food and grass, they will inevitably retreat. If the lord abandons them and leads his army out of the city, with no one in charge of the rear, the fall of Yi Jing may be just around the corner!"
"This..." Gongsun Zan looked ugly, "If you don't respond to Zhang Yan, how can you attack Yuan Shao from both inside and outside with him?"
Guan Jing said: "My lord can send a messenger to sneak out of the city and deliver a message to Zhang Yan, asking him to lead 10,000 cavalry to the low-lying areas in the north to ambush and light a fire as a signal. If both sides attack together, they will definitely kill Yuan Shaoye!"
Gongsun Zan was overjoyed: "Okay! I will immediately send someone to deliver the message."
…
The leaders of the Black Mountain Army, Zhang Yan and Gongsun Xu, led 100,000 troops and divided their troops into three groups to rescue Gongsun Zan.
As soon as they reached the foot of Taihang Mountain, they met Gongsun Zan's messenger.
The army set up camp.
After Zhang Yan read the letter in his hand, he smiled and handed it to Gongsun Xu next to him: "Haha! General Gongsun said that our army's target is too big, and it will definitely attract Yuan Shao's attention, so he simply asked him to lead his elite cavalry. Wan, secretly left and hid in a low-lying place north of Yijing. Using fire as a signal, both sides unexpectedly entered Yuan Jun's camp and killed Yuan Shao."
After Gongsun Xu read the contents of the letter, he smiled and said: "This plan is very clever. The huge momentum of our army will definitely attract Yuan Shao's attention. In this way, we can secretly lead an army to attack and win."
"Well, two generals Du Chang and Wang Dang and I led an army of 10,000 people and went to Yijing with the major general. We asked Sun Qing to continue leading the army to attract Yuan Shao's attention. After we hide in the north of Yijing, we will meet with General Gongsun again. connect."
"So good!"
So, Zhang Yan led 10,000 elite soldiers and secretly left the camp at night and headed north.
Sun Qing was left to lead the army and continue to advance.
Zhang Yan led his army to hide by day and night. They walked a hundred kilometers for five days before arriving at a low-lying area north of Yijing and hiding there.
It is more than 20 kilometers away from Yijing, and the cavalry can reach it in one day.
After setting up camp, he immediately sent people to contact Gongsun Zan.
In this direction to the north is the location of Yuan Shao's Chinese army tent. In order to quickly remove Gongsun Zan's thorn, Yuan Shao almost went into battle himself. Of course, the effect is also very significant. Today, Gongsun Zan has been compressed and has no room for movement.
I believe that in another month, Gongsun Zan will be completely crushed to death.
In order to be able to spend time with Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao almost exhausted Jizhou's many years of savings. The daily consumption of food, grass, soldiers and horses was huge. The food and grass wasted on the road alone was at least 50,000 to 60,000 shi.
This further strengthened his determination to eliminate Gongsun Zan.
It has been freezing cold for more than three months.
Yuan Shao was also a little impatient.
At this time, a piece of good news fell from the sky.
Tian Feng hurriedly ran into the Chinese army's tent, holding a secret letter in his hand: "Lord, good news!"
"Oh! What good news is there, Yuan Hao, tell me quickly!"
"Lord, our soldiers have intercepted Gongsun Zan's secret message -" he handed the secret message to Yuan Shao, "- they are preparing to join forces with Zhang Yan who is hiding in the north, using fire as a signal to attack our army from a flank."
Yuan Shao took the secret letter and read it carefully and laughed: "Hahaha! This is a God-given opportunity!"
"Lord, we can use this trick to lure out Gongsun Zan and kill him. Then the siege of Yi Jing can be solved!"
"Hahaha! This is Gongsun Zan, the God of Destruction!"
That night.
Yuan Shao ordered his men to raise the torch, and suddenly the flames shot up into the sky and could be clearly seen ten miles away.
Yi Jingnei.
When Gongsun Zan saw the flames outside, he believed that Zhang Yan and the others had arrived, and quickly ordered his elite to prepare. He put on his armor and prepared to attack.
Guan Jing felt something was wrong and persuaded him: "Lord, our army and Zhang Yan discussed raising a fire as a signal, but today, we are afraid that the messenger will be intercepted by Yuan Shao, so we raised a torch!"
Gongsun Zan was dazzled by the impending victory in front of him and shouted: "I have an appointment with Zhang Yan, how can I not go? This fire will be carried out by Zhang Yan, don't say more!"
Immediately led the army to fight out.
Guan Jing was afraid that Gongsun Zan would make a mistake, so he immediately summoned troops to prepare for the response.
Gongsun Zan was high-spirited and led the army to fight out in high spirits. The upcoming victory made his blood boil. The thought of beheading Yuan Shao, taking the land of Jizhou and Bingzhou, and becoming a prince made his blood boil all over. stand up.
The cold wind blowing on the face feels comfortable.
The rumble of horse hooves drowned out everything.
Under his leadership, 30,000 cavalry charged towards Yuan Shao's Chinese army tent, which was unstoppable.
Just when his troops rushed to Yuan Jun's camp.
Suddenly, in half of the night sky that was reddened by the fire, countless arrows were shot, covering the sky, and the shocking sound of strings sounded in unison, covering up the sound of horse hooves.
A sharp sound broke through the air.
Instantly, a bone-deep chill climbed up Gongsun Zan's spine.
Fell into a trap.
Gongsun Zan was suddenly grabbed.
