Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1226: Defeat
Yuan Xi did not answer Zhuge Liang immediately. Instead, he pointed at the map with his fingers and calculated something. After a long while, he said, "Can we mobilize all our forces within a few days to form a siege network and attack Yecheng at the same time? Is it really possible?"

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "It is not completely guaranteed. There are still a few cities outside that have not been taken down. There are more than 10,000 Cao troops scattered inside. But now the damage caused by these people to us can be controlled within a certain limit. Even if they attack the food supply route, Liang has tried his best to take preventive measures."

"In contrast, the opportunity to attack Yecheng can no longer be delayed."

Yuan Xi sighed, "I understand. Yang Feng and Mr. Feng Xiao are all in the city. The longer we stay, the more danger we will face."

"If their whereabouts are exposed, their previous actions will fail, and our losses in attacking the city will be even greater."

"But what I am worried about is that our soldiers have been fighting for many days and are already exhausted. If we allow them to attack the city, there will be heavy casualties."

"And if we delay for too long, as winter approaches and the weather turns cold, the siege will be at a greater disadvantage."

"After all, if we fail to capture Yecheng, we will have to spend the winter outside of Yecheng. It will take a long time to get tens of thousands of winter clothes. I'm afraid that many soldiers will be injured or killed by the cold wave."

Zhuge Liang also began to hesitate. He was worried about what Yuan Xi said. One must consider defeat before victory. One must consider the worst-case scenario before a battle. What Yuan Xi said was one of them. It was very risky to spend the winter outside the city. If a cold wind suddenly blew and the temperature dropped sharply, it was possible that half of the people would die in one night.

Therefore, the Jin army's siege this time was quite risky. Zhuge Liang estimated that the Jin army must capture Yecheng within half a month and absolutely no more than a month. After this deadline, the soldiers outside the city would begin to die in large numbers due to lack of winter clothes.

This put a lot of pressure on Zhuge Liang. After all, all of Wei's elite strategists and generals were in the city. How easy would it be to defeat them in a siege in a short period of time?

But there is no way out now. The only way to minimize the losses is to go all out and capture Yecheng as quickly as possible. The sooner we capture it one day, the more lives we can save.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang said, "I think we can't wait any longer. Even if there are some who haven't arrived in time, with the existing forces, we can attack the city immediately!"

"I understand your concern, my lord. The soldiers are tired and need to rest. But if they rest for a few days, I'm afraid Cao's army in the city will also recover."

"So Liang will take measures to let the soldiers take turns to rest during the siege, so as to avoid the situation where the soldiers die of exhaustion."

"The problem of insufficient siege equipment can also be solved. Because the North has been in war for many years, the reserves are insufficient, so most of the equipment was transported from Shouchun. But now distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, so we can reduce the main attack direction and concentrate the siege equipment in one or two places to launch at the same time, so as to make the Cao army unable to resist with the greatest power."

Yuan Xi asked, "What about the Wu Kingdom?"

The State of Wu had been restless these days. When it heard that the two sides were about to engage in a decisive battle, it intensified its attacks on the border between Jin and Wu, which also somewhat disrupted Yuan Xi's logistical rhythm.

Zhuge Liang said: "With General Gan's ability, it won't be difficult to defend."

"As for the territory that Wu State has seized, we will fight it back next year. Cao Cao and most of the Wei army's core members are in the city now. Whether we can annihilate them completely or how many we can destroy will determine whether the king can pacify the world a few years earlier. We must not miss this opportunity!"

Yuan Xi said, "I understand, the war must be fought."

"Prepare the army one day, and attack the day after tomorrow!"

Zhuge Liang quickly agreed, and then he heard Yuan Xi say, "But you need to pay attention to two things."

"First, most of my generals are good at horse fighting and field warfare, and there are not many who are proficient in siege warfare, so I must choose the vanguard well."

"Another thing is that I think Cao Cao will never sit idly by and wait for death. He will definitely want to use Yecheng to severely injure me, or even turn the tables."

"We must be on guard against this."

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, my lord. I have already anticipated these and have come up with five or six possibilities."

"While this may not be all, Liang will adapt to circumstances to avoid losses."

Yuan Xi nodded, but he was still unsure. After all, Zhuge Liang didn't have much experience in siege. So he said, "Okay, I will lead the army with Kong Ming tomorrow!"

After resting for most of the day, the Jin army officially launched an attack on Yecheng from two directions early the next morning.

The central army led by Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang aimed their main attack at the east gate. The previous siege equipment was set up again. The difference was that after this period of siege, the Jin army cut down trees on the outskirts in between and made bases for siege catapults and crossbows. After reinforcement, the range was longer than before.

The vanguards were Zhang He and Zhao Yun. Neither of them was very good at siege cities, and most of their time they were dealing with the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry of Cao's army that could attack at any time.

As for the north gate of Yecheng, Gao Lan, who arrived later, was the commander-in-chief, and Tian Feng was the military advisor. He had many generals under his command, including Huang Zhong and Wei Yan, as well as Xu Huang and Zhang Liao. It can be said that their strength was even better than that of Yuan Xi's central army.

The reason for this configuration is that the pressure is the greatest on the northern side, because the Cao army outside the city coming to contain the infantry Yu Jin and the cavalry Cao Zhen and Ma Chao, so naturally more Jin army generals are needed to fight against them.

The siege tactics used along the way were completely different from those of Yuan Xi. Tian Feng's strategy was to find a way to pass through the moat, then deploy chariots under the city and dig tunnels under the city walls.

This series of strategies need to be implemented through an excavator. The trenches that Tian Feng wants to dig this time are not open-air, but all underground. They start from a place within the reach of an arrow outside the city, dig down through the moat, and then directly dig to the base of the city wall, with the aim of breaking the wall of Yecheng.

Cao's army, who had already heard the news, rushed to the city walls for defense, but the situation was not optimistic. Not to mention the east gate, which was overwhelmed by the rain of flying stones and arrows, while the north gate was staring at the Jin army digging tunnels. After all, the other side was underground and could not be reached by arrows and rolling stones. Sima Yi followed Xun You and was speechless when he saw this scene on the top of the city.

Originally, digging underground tunnels was an extremely time-consuming process, and most of the time it was based on a long siege. However, the two men watched as the Jin army pushed more than a dozen iron carts emitting black smoke and roaring sounds into the tunnel, and soon a steady stream of soil was transported out.

Xun You said bitterly: "This time is really good!"

"If another half month passes, the ground will freeze over, and digging will be useless!"

Sima Yi said, "So the Jin army chose to attack now because they wanted to win the battle quickly."

"Looking at the number of troops they have deployed, they should be planning to capture Yecheng within half a month."

Xun You sneered and said, "That's a good idea. With so many generals and soldiers in the city, it would be abnormal if we couldn't hold on for half a month!"

Sima Yi warned: "But there are still fierce spies in the city, and an official was killed last night. If this continues, people's hearts will be scattered."

Xun You snorted coldly, "Xianhu likes to use such despicable means!"

"But it doesn't matter. As long as we protect Lord Ming's mansion, morale will not be low!"

Sima Yi thought to himself, is it really that smooth?
He had already gotten news that things in the city were definitely not as easy as Xunyou said. Xionghu might have already sent his most capable men into the city!

The timing was very badly chosen, as Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were competing for the position of crown prince and the people of Yecheng were in panic. Cao Zhi's faction had already been investigated, and the Jin army's spies launched an attack later. In order to stabilize people's hearts and defend the city at the same time, it was impossible for the Wei army to launch another comprehensive investigation!

Sima Yi wanted to run away as soon as possible. He had a premonition that Yecheng could be lost at any time. Although Xun You was more experienced than himself, neither of them had much experience in defending cities. After all, Cao Wei had been expanding and was mainly offensive.

The ones who had real experience in defending a city were Yu Jin and Le Jin, who had fought against Liu Bei in Xiangyang. However, Yu Jin had lost the central road before, so he was sent outside the city to contain the Jin army. Le Jin was seriously injured and was said to be rushing from Dongwuyang, but it was hard to say how much of a role he could play.

People cannot be put to good use - this is what Sima Yi thinks of the current Cao family. Their defense against outsiders has reached the point of being extremely nervous. After all, Cao Cao is extremely wary of outsiders except for the Cao and Xiahou families. Under this circumstance, such an absurd scene emerged on both sides: the Jin army, which is good at defending the city, is attacking the city, and the Cao Wei army, which is good at attacking the city, is defending the city.

What is even more absurd is that Cao's army has been completely suppressed in tactics and siege equipment. From field battles to even the number of soldiers, Cao's army now has no advantage.

According to Sima Yi's idea, it was meaningless to waste time in Yecheng at this time. It would be better to conserve strength and retreat to Sili, where there was still a possibility of counterattack in the short term. Now both sides were wasting lives on the city walls. Wasn't this exactly what the Jin army wanted?

Sima Yi thought in his heart that this might even be done intentionally by the Jin army. After all, if Cao's army waited until they could no longer hold on before retreating to Yecheng, would they still have the strength to defend Guanzhong?
Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help but cast his gaze towards the direction of Cao's mansion in the city. Even if he wanted to defend Yecheng, Cao Cao could leave first. Now he was reluctant to leave. What was he planning?
At this time, in Cao Cao's mansion, Madam Bian helped Cao Cao lie down, but saw Cao Cao staring at the roof with his eyes wide open, saying, "Zhi'er disappoints me."

"Have I ever done anything to offend him?"

"Why did he betray me?"

When Madam Bian heard this, she immediately knelt down and said, "It is okay for me to teach you. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Cao Cao smiled bitterly, with a hint of sadness in his words, "What should I punish you for?"

"How many people around me can I trust now?"

"Don't think I don't know about Zihuan. Zijian's escape must have something to do with him."

Madam Bian thought to herself, "Could it be that your Majesty has hinted that the Yingchuan faction should take action against Cao Zhi's group?"
What's the point of blaming Cao Pi at this time?

Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were both her biological sons, and Mrs. Bian was quite upset by what had happened. Fortunately, there was no one among her other sons who could compete with them. And Cao Zhang, whom Cao Cao loved very much, only had his strengths on the battlefield. As for his talents in the court, they were far behind Cao Pi.

Cao Cao's next words finally put Bian Fu at ease.

"No matter what, Zihuan still wins."

"Gather everyone tomorrow morning and appoint Zihuan as the crown prince, as well as the ministers to be entrusted with the care of the orphan."

Madam Bian was just happy, but when she heard the words "Trust the orphan", she quickly said, "The king is in good health, why bother..."

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "You can go out."

Mrs. Bian had no choice but to leave. The room was empty and she felt extremely lonely.

Cao Cao suddenly shouted, "Why, why is there no one who can understand me?"

(End of this chapter)