Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1227 Hidden dangers
Yuan Xi looked at the city wall in the distance and felt a little sad.

It has been five days since the siege began the day before, and the top of Yecheng City is piled with large amounts of stones and corpses.

Of course, the corpses were almost all from the Wei army. They had nowhere to hide under the three-dimensional attack of the Jin army. On average, more than half of them would be killed or wounded in less than a day.

But they had to go to the city, as the Jin army had been eyeing the city covetously. If the defense on the city was slightly weak, the Jin army would probably start attacking immediately.

However, according to Zhao Yun's observation, these soldiers had little experience and were probably forced out of the city. The real Wei army should be hiding behind the city walls and hiding from the rocks. If the Jin army wanted to force the main force of the Wei army out, they could only continue to exert pressure on the top of the city until all the able-bodied men on the city were consumed.

At this time, Yuan Xi no longer wanted to consider what was humane or not. War was like this. Once you were on the battlefield, you were the enemy, even if you were forced to do so. He couldn't let his soldiers die just because there were civilians on the opposite side.

Moreover, the stones that the Jin army threw at the city wall would become weapons for the Wei army when they attacked the city. Yuan Xi did not want too many casualties, so he could only mobilize all the stone arrows in an attempt to crush the morale of the Wei defenders as quickly as possible.

As a result, after five days, Yuan Xi's reserves were almost half consumed. Although there were several machines for making arrows, the steam engines, which were already defective, were running day and night and could not bear the heavy load, and the connections were damaged and broke down.

Yuan Xi received news from Tian Feng at the north gate that the progress of digging the trench was not going smoothly. Now that the weather had turned cold, the ground had begun to harden, and Cao's army had been harassing them nearby. Even with the mobilization of thousands of people to take turns digging, it took three full days to dig across the moat and reach the bottom of the city wall.

The Cao army also responded to the Jin army's digging actions. They sent people out of the city to dig trenches along the city walls. This was to expose the Jin army's tunnels. Not only could they defend against attacks, but they could also take the opportunity to dig through the moat, allowing the river water to flow back into the tunnels and prevent the Jin army from digging.

This strategy was very vicious. Tian Feng could only send archers to shoot the digging Cao army across the moat. However, the opposite side was well prepared. The digging Cao army was protected by hooded chariots and had support from the defenders on the city walls. The Jin army archers could not gain much advantage at all.

Instead, the Wei army took advantage of the night to dig deep trenches along the city wall. This way, the ground was higher from the top of the city wall, causing the ladders and other siege weapons prepared by the Jin army to be lengthened and raised.

Tian Feng was in great pain for a moment, so he sent someone to report to Yuan Xi. After hearing this, Zhuge Liang knew that it was most likely Sima Yi's work, so he personally rushed to the north to discuss countermeasures with Tian Feng.

After some research, the two men had no choice but to continue digging the tunnel deeper and digging out multiple branch paths so that Cao's army could not identify the real tunnel.

This move really fooled Cao's army. The night before yesterday, Cao's army dug and finally found a tunnel with tools inside. They were overjoyed and hurriedly dug a river to divert water to fill the tunnel.

But then they found something was not right, because if this was true, there must have been some reaction at the entrance of the Jin army in the distance, but the other side was still digging step by step, and the water level in the moat dropped a lot.

After Sima Yi, who was on the top of the city wall, learned about this, he observed for a long time and finally came to the conclusion that this secret passage was deliberately dug by the Jin army and the water should have been diverted to another place.

Although the moat was dug hastily and still had most of its water, if the Wei army made another mistake in digging, the water level in the moat would drop again, allowing the Jin army to easily transport siege equipment to the city wall.

Sima Yi knew that he had lost a move. He had originally taken precautions against the enemy's plan to dig a moat and had sent archers to protect the city day and night. However, this time the enemy outwitted him and made him think that they were digging the wall to enter the city, but it turned out that their real intention was to divert water.

Moreover, the opponent's strategies were mixed. Judging from the fact that the digging action had not stopped, the opponent had made several preparations and I'm afraid they still hadn't given up on digging a tunnel into the city!

Sima Yi had no choice but to go back and give orders, ordering the soldiers to dig a trench from the side of the inner city wall. This would avoid harassment from the Jin army's archers and allow them to concentrate on identifying the enemy's true intentions.

When Tian Feng, who was outside the city, learned of the Wei army's movements, he said to Zhuge Liang, "The Wei army has a powerful strategist."

"Digging tunnels is not suitable for the current rapid attack situation. Why not try to attack the city?"

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "Because both sides are testing each other now."

"Preliminary preparation is very important, as it determines the direction of the most crucial first encounter."

Tian Feng said irritably: "If it were up to me, we should just dig a hole through the city wall and pour the water from the moat into the city. Even if we can't completely submerge Yecheng, at least we can make the outer city defense line fall!"

Zhuge Liang thought Tian Feng was still so radical, so he had to persuade him: "It's okay in summer, but the water level is too low in winter. It won't have a significant effect, but will destroy the way our army enters the city in the future."

Tian Feng sighed, "I am at my wit's end. I have plenty of experience in spring, summer, and fall, but I have never encountered siege in winter. I really can't think of any good solution."

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and said, "It's the same for me. In the Jin army, the one who is most familiar with fighting in winter is you, my lord."

"My lord, your attack on Jinyang was a surprise attack in winter. The idea behind it was so ingenious that it could be said to be out of the ordinary in military tactics. When I heard this, I was also quite amazed."

Tian Feng sighed, "If nothing else, the king has a long-term vision. But at that time, he took great pains to send Gao Lan, Zhang Liao and others to attack Jinyang. I'm afraid it was to accumulate experience for today's siege, right?"

"What should we do now? Go back and ask the king what to do next?"

The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly, thinking that Yuan Xi's most capable assistant when attacking Jinyang was Tian Yu, who had been attacking the Three Hans for more than a year. Shouldn't he be transferred over at this time to increase the chances of victory?

Zhuge Liang brought Tian Feng's question to Yuan Xi in person after returning. Yuan Xi said, "Actually, I had the same idea before."

"Guo Rang wrote to me two months ago." "The progress on the Korean Peninsula is not slow, but..." He hesitated again, "there is some bad news."

"When Guo Rang was fighting the Three Kingdoms of Korea, he was also paying close attention to news from the North and discovered signs of instability."

Zhuge Liang frowned and asked, "Gongsun Kang family?"

"Isn't he attacking Goguryeo at the same time? Could it be that he has rebellious intentions?"

Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "It's not Gongsun Kang, it's the Xianbei outside the pass."

"He secretly sent people to contact Gongsun Kang, saying that he could mediate the conflict between the Jin State and Goguryeo. He said a lot of divisive words, saying that Jin State was using Gongsun Kang to die, and if Goguryeo was conquered in the future, I would definitely abandon him."

Zhuge Liang was shocked when he heard this and said, "This is really a murderous move. If I were Gongsun Kang, I would have to think about it more."

"But I think Gongsun Kang's telling the Lord should be a sign of loyalty, right?"

Yuan Xi said: "It's hard to say. He has no other intentions now. It's possible that he is loyal, but it's also because I am still strong enough."

"If I had besieged Jicheng instead of Yecheng, I'm afraid more people in the north would have had second thoughts."

"And Gongsun Kang is a very smart man. He knows that I might have a spy under his command and the news cannot be concealed, so he is happy to go along with it."

"In the final analysis, he can't afford to offend either side. If it were me, I would just have to find a way to survive in the cracks."

"Since he still chooses to stand on my side, I naturally have to return his trust. After all, both sides are Han Chinese, and we can talk openly."

"But what worries me is the Wuhuan, not to mention the Xianbei."

"Let's not talk about the Wuhuan, the Xianbei are very likely to move south this winter."

Zhuge Liang was surprised and said, "I have observed the celestial phenomena for a long time at night and made many calculations. It seems that there is indeed a hint of this possibility. My lord, you have also seen it?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself, what the hell, did Zhuge Liang really come up with a set of astrology techniques?
He could only stammer, "A little bit, but my biggest basis is the climate this year."

"Summer outside the Great Wall ended a month earlier than in previous years. Now, it is winter outside the Great Wall."

"This month has had a devastating impact on herders outside the Great Wall. The temperature has dropped significantly, and many Xianbei people may have difficulty surviving the winter."

"That leaves them with only one way to go."

Zhuge Liang blurted out: "Go south!"

"That's right," Yuan Xi said in a deep voice, "On their route south, the Wuhuan and Goguryeo lines will bear the brunt of the attack. They will not be able to stop the Xianbei, and will most likely surrender and turn around to attack Youzhou together."

"This is also the reason why I was so anxious to attack Yecheng and even gave up suppressing Wu."

"If the Xianbei invade Youzhou, tens or even hundreds of thousands of bandits and horse thieves will cause great suffering to the people of Youzhou. Therefore, I must capture Yecheng this month, stabilize the Central Plains, and drive Cao Cao to Guanzhong."

"This way I will have time to rush back to Youzhou and deal with the possible arrival of the Xianbei army."

"So the Cao army in the city is anxious, but I am actually more anxious. Of course, it would be best if the Xianbei did not move south, so we can attack Guanzhong in one go."

"But no matter what, I have to prepare for the worst, so I didn't transfer Tian Yu here at the time. Instead, I wrote a letter to ask him to make corresponding preparations. After all, he is one of the few people who can take charge of the overall situation."

Zhuge Liang then realized the trouble Yuan Xi was facing. He had not mentioned it before because he did not want to add pressure to the siege. Thinking of this, he said, "I will go back and think of a solution. Within three days, I will definitely come up with a plan to break the deadlock!"

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "Okay, Yang Feng in the city has sent a letter saying that he is ready to cooperate with the operation at any time. Success or failure will depend on these few days!"

Three days later, Zhang Xun, who had stayed in Heishan for three years, finally arrived with tens of thousands of Heishan troops, bringing with him important military supplies such as saltpeter coal mines produced in Heishan this year.

At this point, Yuan Xi had finally gathered almost all the forces he could mobilize. He summoned all his advisers and began to discuss the plan to attack Yecheng.

(End of this chapter)