Chapter 104: All-out Attack

Listening to the generals and strategists voicing their opinions, Yuan Tan spread out a huge silk map and carefully examined the terrain.

Yuan Xi looked at it from the side, seeing the winding river terrain on it, and realized that he had been preconceived and made a big mistake.

Beside the Yellow River, there is not only the Huai River, but also the Ji River.

The Ji River originates from the Taiyi Pond on Wangwu Mountain in Jiyuan City, Henan Province, and flows into the Bohai Sea through the Daqing River in present-day Hebei Province. According to the "Shui Jing Zhu" (Water Classic Commentary), the Ji River, along with the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the Huai River, is one of the Four Rivers, collectively known as the Five Mountains and Four Rivers along with the Five Great Mountains.

The Yellow River has undergone six large-scale course changes. The first was during the Spring and Autumn Period, the second was during the Wang Mang Xin Dynasty, followed by the Jin Dynasty's diversion into the Huai River and into the sea, and the last was in 1855 when it breached at Lanyang, Henan, and entered the Bohai Sea through the lower reaches of the Ji River.

The topography of later generations is completely different from the present.

At this time, the Yellow River, Huai River, and Ji River coexist, making the water system near the plains extremely complex. Once Yuan Jun sweeps away the remaining towns on the north bank of the Yellow River, he will have to find a way to cross these three major rivers, the Yellow River, the Huai River, and the Ji River, in order to capture Qingzhou!

Conversely, going to Qingzhou from Yanzhou and Xuzhou is very easy, a flat plain, which greatly reduces the difficulty of transporting troops.

However, Yanzhou is now in a mixed war, and Xuzhou is not in the hands of the Yuan family, so crossing the river to fight has become Yuan Jun's only choice.

This is also why he chose to send troops in October.

Most of the time, except for the spring and summer floods, the river flow is very large. Only in the dry season of late autumn and winter, when the water level drops, and some places even have exposed riverbeds, can the army easily cross the river.

The three rivers undoubtedly greatly increased the difficulty of the attack, making Yuan Xi realize that this battle of Qingzhou was not simple.

But now, the Pingyuan County to be attacked is on the north bank of the Yellow River, isolated and helpless, shouldn't it be too difficult?

Yuan Xi's idea was completely overturned on the battlefield a few days later.

Yuan Tan finished arranging the siege matters and scheduled the attack for three days later.

This is because the siege equipment in the baggage carts that Yuan Xi brought needs time to assemble.

Hundreds of craftsmen began to take out the materials from the baggage carts and assemble the siege equipment, and the soldiers began to cut down trees and collect stones to make wooden stakes and stone bullets for the siege.

For three consecutive days, Yuan Tan was constantly summoning people and generals, constantly changing deployments according to the actual situation, and even directing the operation at night with lights on.

Yuan Xi understood very well that the daily consumption of military food for an army of tens of thousands of people was a huge number, and the longer it dragged on, the more detrimental it would be to morale.

During these three days, Yuan Jun's camp advanced more than ten miles every day. On the last day, it had reached five or six miles near Pingyuan City, and began to build a camp and connect it. The defenders on the distant city head could already see it clearly.

The two armies entered a state of confrontation, and the Qingzhou army could attack the camp at any time. Yuan Xi picked up the binoculars and looked at the shadowy soldiers on the distant city head, and felt a burst of tension for no reason.

He said to Zhao Yun beside him: "When you brought hundreds of soldiers to Beixin City that day, did you have any brilliant plan?"

Zhao Yun smiled bitterly: "How can there be any brilliant plan? My hundreds of people definitely can't attack by force."

"The only way is to lure the son out of the city to kill, or take the opportunity to rush into the city when the city gate is opened, so that there is a chance of winning."

"Otherwise, I can't get in at all. I even thought about trying to shoot you to death on the city head, thinking that if you died, the defenders in the city would be afraid of Yuan Zhou Mu's punishment, and maybe they would open the door and surrender."

Yuan Xi was afraid for a while, but fortunately he was very timid and didn't give Zhao Yun a chance!

He said: "Gongsun Zan wanted to kill someone with a knife, right?"

Zhao Yun's eyes dimmed a bit: "That day, Xuande Gong led Gongsun Zan's troops to Qingzhou to help Tian Kai resist General Yuan Tan. After General Yuan Tan retreated, Xuande Gong did not return to Youzhou, but went directly to Xuzhou."

"That day, I took the remaining troops back to report and hand over. For a while, I was hesitant about where to go. At that time, because of the murder of Liu Yu, Xuande Gong and I were dissatisfied with Gongsun Zan. Many officials and generals from Hebei were killed by Gongsun Zan."

"Gongsun Zan asked me to take the hundreds of soldiers left by Xuande Gong in Youzhou to attack the city. Obviously, he wanted to take the opportunity to send these hundreds of people away and then punish me."

"I also understood this at the time, so I accepted the bet with the son somewhat self-deprecatingly."

Yuan Xi nodded secretly. This is how it all adds up. By chance, he achieved the ideal result. Otherwise, it would be really difficult to subdue Zhao Yun.

He didn't ask Zhao Yun if he regretted leaving Liu Bei. Such words were purely asking for trouble. He believed that Zhao Yun had the ability to find the answer during the time he stayed in Beixin City and in the days to come when he followed him.

Early the next morning, the siege began.

The first wave in the front are the lowest-level soldiers. They use clothes to carry soil, holding simple wooden shields in their hands, and running forward in the face of arrows.

It is said to be a shield, but most of them are woven from branches, plus a simple wooden ring to hold it, so they can cover their bodies.

Among these people, some are gray-haired, some are not yet adults, some are physically disabled, and even some are rural women.

They are all running towards the city wall, towards death.

Yuan Xi felt heavy. In troubled times, human life is worthless. Most of these people are just trying to have a bite to eat.

For this bite of food, they have to work hard, otherwise they won't even have this food to eat.

Arrows rained down from the city head, and people were shot and fell to the ground from time to time, but they did not escape, but screamed and held wooden shields over their heads, desperately crawling forward.

Only when they are within ten steps of the city wall and sprinkle the soil, this trip counts, otherwise they will be punished by military law!

They moved closer to the city walls, dumping the soil. The mounds began to slowly rise, like hillocks gradually forming.

The soldiers who had finished dumping the soil began to run back frantically. Some forgot to use their wooden shields to protect themselves and were shot in the back, dying on the ground.

Some wounded soldiers, after reaching the city walls, found that the arrows being shot at them were less frequent. They wanted to rest against the wall for a while, but then hot oil and stones poured down from the city walls with a whoosh, and screams erupted again.

Through his telescope, Yuan Xi saw charred bodies rolling haphazardly below the city walls. Some had their heads smashed and bleeding, while others were so disfigured that they struggled for a while before gradually becoming still.

Afterward, their bodies were covered with soil by those who came later, becoming part of the ever-growing mound.

For two whole hours, the soil beneath the city walls slowly rose, reaching almost halfway up the walls. The attacks from the defending soldiers inside the city also gradually weakened.

Riding on his horse at the front of the formation, Yuan Tan observed the situation on the opposite side through his telescope. He thought to himself that his younger brother's little inventions were too powerful and would definitely reduce the casualties among the soldiers.

Seeing that the arrows and logs falling from the city walls were becoming sparse, he immediately raised his hand and shouted, "Battering rams!"

"Siege ladders!"

"Arrow towers!"

"Catapults!"

"Advance in order!"

The front of each siege weapon was covered with cowhide for defense, and soldiers with shields stood beside them, defending against stray arrows.

Behind the siege weapons were archers, who used the weapons as cover to continuously shoot arrows into the sky, suppressing the defenders on the city walls.

The catapults at the rear took the opportunity to be pushed forward. They stopped dozens of yards away from the city walls and were set up on the spot. The craftsmen hammered the wooden stakes of the catapult bases into the ground to secure them.

Soldiers pushed carts forward, taking the stone projectiles off and placing them on the catapults.

Soon, dozens of catapults launched their projectiles towards the city walls with a whoosh.

Two stones struck the city walls accurately, but most missed, either smashing into the city or hitting the walls.

Several catapults were not properly adjusted, and their projectiles landed in the midst of their own army, which was about to reach the city walls, causing the soldiers to curse loudly.

The craftsmen quickly adjusted the position of the counterweight lever, but they were clearly used to this.

Two tall arrow towers had also been pushed close to the city walls. The archers on top shot arrows from a high vantage point, causing the enemy soldiers on the city walls to hide and not dare to show their faces.

After a while, stones were also hurled from behind the city walls, landing in the Yuan army's ranks, but it was clear that they were launched hastily and did not have time to aim at the catapults on this side.

With a series of loud bangs, the battering rams reached the city gates. Soldiers pushed the ram, forcefully striking the gates.

The defending general and soldiers on the city walls became flustered. This siege was very methodical. The previous attrition had put the defenders in a state of fatigue, and the ensuing all-out assault caught them completely off guard!

Yuan Tan sneered inwardly. Defending the city without engaging in field battles was equivalent to handing the initiative over to him.

In the past two years, when the two armies were facing each other, as soon as Yuan Tan started to besiege the city, Liu Bei, the Prefect of Pingyuan, would lead his troops out to harass them, attacking Yuan Tan's main formation while dismantling the siege weapons, causing Yuan Tan no end of suffering, but he had no good way to deal with it.

But the opportunity had finally arrived. Liu Bei was currently unable to leave Xu Province, and only Tian Kai remained in Qing Province, with the defending soldiers holed up in the city.

This time, Yuan Tan had mobilized a large number of siege weapons, preparing to take all the cities of Pingyuan in one fell swoop!

Seeing that the siege ladders had been placed against the city walls and the soldiers were beginning to swarm up the walls like ants, and that the defending soldiers on the city walls were struggling to defend, he roared, "All troops, attack!"

With Yuan Tan's order, all the soldiers on the battlefield began to move.

Those with weapons and those without all carried a bag of soil and charged towards the base of the city walls, raising the mound again.

The Pingyuan city defenders panicked, completely unprepared for the fact that the Yuan army had thrown tens of thousands of soldiers into the battlefield so soon after the start of the battle, making a war of attrition impossible!

Yuan Xi prepared to lead his troops forward, but was stopped by Yuan Tan, who smiled and said, "Second brother, leave the vanguard to the generals below. You and I will lead our cavalry to ambush outside the city gates, to prevent the enemy from breaking out."

The Yuan army attacked the city with all their might, and the Qingzhou army held out for more than an hour before the city walls were finally completely lost.

At this time, the three gates of Pingyuan County opened, and the Qingzhou soldiers fled in droves.

Only then did Yuan Tan feel relieved and ordered, "Cavalry, pursue the enemy in three directions!"

Yuan Xi, along with Zhao Yun and Zhang He, led several hundred cavalry and a thousand infantry, waiting in the woods beside the road west of Pingyuan City.

He saw the city gates wide open, and a group of enemy cavalry fleeing, followed by a cloud of infantry.

Yuan Xi was overjoyed. Sure enough, by besieging without attacking completely, the enemy would choose this side to escape.

He waited for the enemy to run several miles, and when they were still several miles away from entering the woods, he waved his hand and shouted, "Kill! Don't let a single one escape!"

The routed Qingzhou soldiers, seeing the enemy troops rushing out of the woods, knew they had been ambushed. It was too late to return to the city, and they roared and charged forward.

The two armies collided fiercely, severed arms and broken limbs flying everywhere. As weapons slashed through bodies, scalding blood sprayed into the air, only to be cooled by the autumn chill. By the time it landed on the ground, it had turned into an inconspicuous stain.

Night fell, and thousands of routed Qingzhou soldiers were either dead or had surrendered. The corpses were scattered for miles around, and the stench of blood mixed with decay filled the air, making people nauseous.

Yuan Xi had emptied several quivers of arrows, and he could no longer lift his arms.

Seeing Zhao Yun and Zhang He still fighting vigorously on the battlefield, he thought to himself that the difference between people was really too great.