Chapter 168: One Step at a Time

Yi Jing was located south of the Yi River. Previously, Gongsun Zan had his soldiers dig dozens of deep trenches around it, filling them with water to keep enemies away.

When Yuan Xi was in Beixin City, Yuan Shao had already attacked Yi Jing several times, sometimes probing, sometimes attempting to take the city in one fell swoop, but all were repelled by Gongsun Zan.

It wasn't until the Black Mountain bandits rebelled and ambushed Ye City that Yuan Shao withdrew his troops and began to focus on suppressing the Black Mountain bandits. Only last year did he manage to drive them out of the Taihang Mountains, freeing him up to attack Yi Jing.

Of course, Gongsun Zan wouldn't just sit and wait for death; he would definitely coordinate with the Black Mountain bandits. But it must be said that their cooperation wasn't very good, otherwise Yuan Shao wouldn't have been able to defeat them one by one, forcing them into their current predicament.

It was already late autumn, and the Yi River had dried up. Earlier, Ji Province had mobilized hundreds of thousands of laborers to divert the river, either by splitting its flow or blocking the upper reaches, allowing the army to cross the river.

The dozens of deep trenches outside Yi Jing City, now without river water, were just ordinary deep trenches and had almost lost their effectiveness.

Yuan Shao then ordered the laborers to backfill them with soil, filling them one by one, gradually approaching Yi Jing City.

If there were airplanes in this era, looking down from high altitude, one would see a spectacular sight.

On the vast land around Yi Jing, stretching for dozens of miles, countless laborers, like ants, were busily digging, carrying soil, filling trenches, felling trees, building stockades, and erecting walls.

Dense camps, like green beans, dotted the hills and riverbanks, stretching endlessly, connecting points into lines, and lines into surfaces, with tens of thousands of soldiers patrolling back and forth.

If the view were pulled back further, one could see hundreds of miles, with hundreds and thousands of scouts patrolling and galloping in all directions, constantly gathering information on the enemy's movements.

Then there were strings of long lines, which were the grain carts transporting food from various places. They set out from Ji Province, Qing Province, You Province, and other places, like twisting long snakes, heading straight to Yuan Shao's camp.

Yuan Shao claimed to have mobilized an army of 200,000, but the actual number was less. However, he did have 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, accompanied by several times that number of laborers.

Counting it this way, the number of people mobilized did exceed 200,000, a massive campaign that only the wealthy Ji Province could launch in the current world.

Not to mention You Province, Yuan Xi's three cities, including soldiers and laborers, barely numbered over ten thousand.

Although Qing Province, where Yuan Tan was located, was once very prosperous, with a population of up to three million at its peak, over a million people joined the Yellow Turban Rebellion. In the past decade, it had suffered from natural disasters and man-made calamities, the people's livelihood had declined, and the population had plummeted.

Moreover, Qing Province had just gone through a major war and was severely weakened. Yuan Tan's vigorous conscription in Qing Province for the Yi Jing campaign also aroused a lot of resistance, and in the end, he barely managed to mobilize tens of thousands of people.

So the real bulk came from Ji Province.

In the current world, Ji Province was the strongest province besides Jing Province. Whether in terms of population or economy, it was worth more than several other provinces combined.

Even in later generations, after Cao Cao attacked Ji Province for several years, slaughtering many, he could still find 300,000 mobilizable people in the Ji Province census after taking Ye City.

That's why Yuan Shang had to hold onto Ji Province so tightly. Even if he only had this one province, he could remain invincible. Even if Qing Province and You Province were combined, they were far from being comparable.

This was Yuan Shao's confidence to fight a major war. Ji Province had been laying low and building up strength for a year, all for this battle today!

And in the encirclement of the vast Ji Province army that filled the mountains and plains, the isolated Yi Jing City seemed so small.

Of course, this was from a high-altitude perspective, but only by being truly in the battlefield could one understand how difficult Yi Jing was to attack.

On the watchtower on the hill, Yuan Xi stood holding a telescope, carefully observing the walls of Yi Jing in the distance.

In the past few days, the dozens of deep trenches had been filled, forming several passages leading directly to the walls of Yi Jing. Hundreds of catapults, guarded by soldiers, were gradually advancing, constantly launching stones and smashing them against the walls of Yi Jing.

However, the walls of Yi Jing were quite sturdy. Stone projectiles the size of watermelons only left a shallow dent when they hit the wall.

What was even more troublesome was that the walls were not only higher than those of ordinary cities, but there were at least five or six layers, one behind the other!

However, Yuan Shao's strategists quickly discovered a weakness: too many walls, in fact, made the defenses of the frontmost wall weak.

The catapults began to change direction, concentrating their bombardment on several sections of the wall, causing the Gongsun Zan soldiers there to scatter and hide.

Yuan Shao's army was not in a hurry to scale the city walls, but began to push forward a series of carts. These were wooden carts with huge wooden wheels and a large space underneath, enough for soldiers to stand in.

The difference was that the top was covered with a row of round logs, looking very much like an overturned supply wagon.

The soldiers and laborers hid underneath, slowly approaching the city walls until they were completely under the walls.

The carts behind followed up, pressing against the back of the carts in front, and then the carts behind followed in turn, forming a clear passage.

The laborers under the frontmost carts began to take out digging tools and dig at the base of the wall, transporting the excavated soil out along the long passage.

They were digging tunnels!

The reason why Yuan's army chose to dig tunnels instead of attacking the city walls head-on was because even if they managed to scale the walls, there were still several lines of defenders behind them, and they could only fill them with lives one by one.

In comparison, digging tunnels directly bypassed these several walls, making it the safest option at present.

Seeing this, the defenders on the city walls hurriedly poured down rolling stones, logs, and molten gold, trying to stop the enemy from digging.

However, the carts of Yuan's army were covered with thick round logs, and when these things hit them, the carts only shook slightly, and the people below were not affected at all.

Seeing Yuan's army digging recklessly, the soldiers on the city walls became anxious, throwing down rolling stones desperately, but with little effect.

At this time, Tian Kai came to the city walls and shouted loudly when he saw this: "Use tung oil, light the logs and throw them down!"

The soldiers on the city walls suddenly understood and quickly followed suit, pushing the burning logs down the city walls and onto the carts.

Before long, the frontmost carts were hit by more than a dozen burning logs and began to catch fire.

The defenders on the city walls cheered, but they saw the laborers and soldiers under the carts desperately pushing the burning carts far away, and the carts behind took the opportunity to push up, blocking the digging area again!

Seeing this, Tian Kai ordered the collection of damp firewood, lit it, and threw it down the city walls. For a time, smoke billowed under the walls, and the Yuan army laborers choked and could not stay under the carts, fleeing in all directions.

The defenders on the city walls took the opportunity to stick their heads out and shoot them one by one with bows and arrows.

As a result, a whistling sound came, and Yuan's army's catapults began to attack the city walls again, suppressing the archers and preventing them from coming out.

Yuan's army took the opportunity to carry ladders forward to scale the city walls, preparing to cooperate with the digging of tunnels to suppress the enemy.

The Gongsun Zan army on the city walls knew that if they lost the city walls, the enemy would dig tunnels even more unscrupulously, and the archers also desperately stuck their heads out and shot at Yuan's army soldiers.

Yuan Xi watched the offensive and defensive clearly through the telescope, watching the two sides constantly adjust their strategies to respond, and thought that the battlefield was indeed the best teacher for strategists and generals.

Talking about war on paper can never truly learn to fight.

Guo Jia, who was beside him, was also observing with a telescope. Yuan Xi did not hide the telescope and had craftsmen make some in Ye City, giving them to the strategists and generals he was most familiar with.

Yuan Xi saw Guo Jia nodding and shaking his head from time to time, and was curious, and said: "Mr. Fengxiao, what are your thoughts?"

"Could it be that this way of attacking the city is wrong?"

Guo Jia shook his head and said: "No, this siege strategy is flawless, it can be said to be quite good."

"But what I don't understand is that according to this method of attack, it can only become a war of attrition."

"Even if the offensive is so urgent, it will not be able to deplete the tens of thousands of soldiers in the city within a month. On the contrary, the consumption of the attacking army is very large."

"Then there is only one possibility, to surround three and leave one open, let the defenders in the city escape, and then seize the opportunity to defeat them is the most stable way."

Yuan Xi nodded and said: "Indeed, the north, south, and east are all blocked, leaving only the west gate open. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"If the other directions are all territories controlled by our army, leaving them open, the enemy is likely to continue to hold on."

"The west is the direction from which the Black Mountain bandits will come to support. Leaving this gate open will make Gongsun Zan think that if they break through, they may be able to meet with the Black Mountain bandits, thereby strengthening their determination to escape."

"At that time, our army can take advantage of the other party's breakout, intercept and pursue them, and completely defeat them before the Black Mountain bandits arrive. Isn't this the best choice?"

Guo Jia said: "The reasoning is this reasoning."

"But if it were me, I would leave the south gate open and at the same time transfer most of the soldiers away from the central army."

Yuan Xi understood after hearing this, and then smiled.

Guo Jia was ruthless to others and ruthless to himself.

In later history, Guo Jia once suggested that Liu Bei, who had defected to Cao Cao, be placed under house arrest, and flooded Xiapi, indicating that he had a fierce and decisive side.

If this kind of person is used well, he can be a tiger with wings, but if he is not used well, he will affect his original intention.

However, Guo Jia's plan to empty the central army this time to lure the other party to leave the city and assassinate the commander is a risky plan. Yuan Shao five years ago might have adopted it, but now it is unlikely.

Moreover, Guo Jia's statement was very subtle, as if he had other intentions?

He turned his head to look at Guo Jia and found that his expression was normal, and thought that he was thinking too much?

When Yuan Xi turned his head and continued to look at the battle situation in the telescope, Guo Jia sighed regretfully.

His thoughts were still a bit too outrageous.

It would be best if the enemy rushed into the camp and killed Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan, or if Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan died accidentally in the chaos of the raid.

The young master would be able to lead the Ji Province army, then destroy Gongsun Zan, and return to Ye City to kill Yuan Shang, and he would be the master of the northern lands.

This is the fastest way. Since the young master is pretending to be stupid, he should pretend that he has never said it.

The offensive and defensive on and off the city walls lasted for three days and three nights.

The dozen or so tunnels digging under the city walls have never stopped, and Gongsun Zan's army began to dig deep trenches behind the city walls to stop them.

At first, Yuan's army dug the tunnels downwards, and Gongsun Zan's army also dug downwards, but then Yuan's army began to dig horizontally.

Finally, one night, several places on the first city wall collapsed, killing many laborers from both sides in the tunnels.

A gap appeared in the first city wall, and Yuan's army took the opportunity to attack through the gap, reaching the second city wall.

At this time, Tian Kai in the city realized that Yuan's army had been aiming to dig down the city wall from the beginning!