Chapter 55: King of Hebei

After resting for a night, Shen Pei never led the army alone. The first time he experienced such a major war made him physically and mentally exhausted.

It was bright and Shen Pei was still sleeping. He was awakened by his nephew Shen Rong.

Opening his eyes, he saw Shen Rong's trembling expression in a daze.

This nephew is the captain of the East Gate of Yecheng. If he has real skills, everyone is in a daze. Yuan Shao has many talents, but because the gentry is in the back door to get some official positions.

Just looking at Shen Rong's current expression, you can tell how far he is from ordinary people.

Just like everyone else.

Shen Pei woke up, grabbed Shen Rong and asked, "Is there any change in military situation?"

Shen Rong was speechless, unable to say a word, just nodded constantly.

Shen Pei couldn't find out why, so he quickly put on his clothes and ran towards the city.

He rode his horse all the way, and Shen Pei felt suspicious. The city was quiet, and the people were not leaving, and there were no shouts of killing outside the city. But why did Shen Rong look like he saw a ghost?

Walking up to the city wall, Shen Pei held the city wall and looked out, and he was shocked and suspicious.

Cao's army came outside the city early in the morning, not attacking the city, but digging long trenches.

Cao Cao dug a lot of trenches, especially when he fought against Guandu and Yuan Shao. The trenches that Cao Cao dug stretched for hundreds of miles, deep and wide, but they were fortifications. At that time, Cao Cao was defending, and now Cao Cao was attacking, so he was digging trenches?

Shen Pei stood at the top of the city and looked at the trench carefully and kept an eye on it.

The trench was narrow and shallow, and any adult could jump over it. Shen Pei thought to himself: Maybe Cao Cao was guarding against him sending someone out of the city to raid.

Ha ha ha ha

Laughing to the sky, Shen Pei suddenly felt relieved.

Cao Cao, military talent is nothing but a false reputation!

What's the use of digging such a trench without any barrier ability? Instead, it will waste energy for the soldiers of the three armies.

This long moat was dug around the outside of Yecheng, which was forty miles long!

In Shen Pei's eyes, this was not lethal. As for Shen Rong, who was scared to death, it was probably shocked by Cao Cao's reputation. Any unexpected actions of Cao Cao are extremely taboo.

On the side of Cao's army, Cao Cao stood outside the tent and watched the soldiers dig trenches with a smile. Xiahou Yuan, Li Dian, Yu Jin, and Xu Huang were all confused. The only person who really knew the intention was Cheng Yu.

Yu Jin also ran to the front and looked at the trench. Although he couldn't take a step, it would be easy to jump over as long as he kicked his legs. Not to mention adults or children who jumped, they could go over.

Back to Cao Cao, Yu Jin scratched his head and asked, "Lord, this, this, I really don't understand. What is the use of this long trench? Please make it clear."

Cao Cao laughed loudly and kept patting Yu Jin on the shoulder but didn't explain.

Ten days later, Shen Feng was used to this rhythm of war, sleeping and eating normally, and his spirit was not as nervous as at the beginning of the war.

Shen Rong came to Shen Pei again, this time he was still bloodless, and he shivered and said to Shen Pei in a confused manner: "Cao, Cao, Cao, Cao..."

"What's wrong with Cao Cao? Don't let all the plants and trees be soldiers. Cao Cao didn't attack the city for ten days. I'm afraid he is waiting for our army to relax his vigilance. As long as our army does not relax, he will not give Cao Cao an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Shen Pei is very calm now. He thinks that either Cao's army is making a fool of himself or doing useless work at his own expense.

But Shenrong pulled Shen Pei out with a sad face as if the sky had fallen, and he walked out of the city. Shen Pei was helplessly taken out of the mansion by him, and then rode on a fast horse and went to the city. He walked up to the city with steady steps and looked out. Shen Pei almost fell to the city dizzyly. Fortunately, Shen Rong grabbed him.

He smashed his fist against the city wall, and Shenbo gritted his teeth and stared at the scene outside the city incredibly.

The forty-mile-long trench was widened two feet overnight, and at a glance, it was about two feet long.

Cao Cao rode his horse across the trench and saw Shen Pei appear on the top of the city, and shouted to him with a smile: "Hehe, Shen Zhengnan, prick up his ears and listen carefully."

"Cao Zhei, you have something to say!"

Shen Pei was furious, and Cao Cao's energetic posture made him extremely angry.

But Cao Cao lost the following text, just smiled and turned his head, and did not say anything to Shen Pei anymore.

Rumble

The sound of surging water suddenly came.

Everything was silent, as if the majestic sound of water was gradually rising in my ears.

Shen Pei turned her head and looked at her, shocked!

water!

The gushing water poured in from the trenches, and the waves rolled and the water surging. In the blink of an eye, it filled the forty-mile-long trenches outside the city.

"Cao Thief! You must die a good death!"

Shen Pei roared into the sky.

He had already thought that Cao Cao had dug the Zhang River and led it into the trench.

Yecheng has now become an isolated island!

After the turbulent river water churned, Cao Cao turned his horse's head and looked up at the sky and laughed unscrupulously.

Shen Pei fell to the city as if she was weightless, with her face without blood and her eyes without any spirit.

It's over!

Not only is this less than 30,000 soldiers in Yecheng dead!

The people in the city may not be spared!

Hebei was originally a rich place with abundant grain storage, but after Yuan Shao returned to expand his army to 700,000 after he suffered a crushing defeat in Guandu, Hebei's grain revenue and expenditure had already entered a state of inadequate income. Yuan Shao was defeated in the Battle of Guandu, and his military strength was greatly reduced, but his rule did not recover and recuperate. Yuan Shang succeeded to the throne and internal struggle with Yuan Tan. In addition, Yuan Xi had actually left the Yuan family controlled by Yuan Shang in Youzhou, and the grain storage in Jizhou was not optimistic. Yuan Shang fought Yuan Tan in Qingzhou, and what he had consumed was not only the troops, but also the food in Jizhou.

The city had to store grain in less than two months, and Shen Pei finally realized that Cao Cao's tactic was to trap them in Yecheng.

If there was no river outside the city, Shen Pei could still make a desperate breakthrough before the food was exhausted. But now with this artificial barrier, Shen Pei knew that if he broke through, he would just go to die.

If a person can't cross that river, even if he builds a bridge, how could Cao's army ignore it?

Although he was unwilling to admit it, Shen Pei felt a sense of sadness from the bottom of his heart.

The Yuan family was prosperous and glorious for a hundred years.

The energy is over!

Cao Cao has been paying close attention to the situation in Hebei. In the fire in the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao burned the food and grass needed by Yuan Shao hundreds of thousands of troops. Later, Hebei fell into a civil war with the Yuan family. It was expected that the food and grass were not enough.

Therefore, when Cao Cao attacked Yecheng, he had to besiege the city and was sure to win.

The difference is that without the river he dug, if the other party was burned with both jade and stone, his damage would definitely not be optimistic. With this river he dug out, he could defend against the enemy calmly and easily.

After riding his horse back to the military camp, Cao Cao turned over and dismounted. Xiahou Yuan, Li Dian, Yu Jin, and Xu Huang came up with respect and smiles on his face.

Cao Cao said as he walked: "Xiahou Yuan obeyed the order and ordered you to lead 10,000 troops to set up an ambush in the southeast of Yecheng. Calculate the day. Yuan Shang learned that Yecheng was besieged and would definitely lead his army back to aid, so you will give him a headache."

"I will obey the order."

Xiahou Yuan took the errand and then stepped back, and ordered his troops to go out to fight.

"Li Dian, Yu Jin, you two take turns to command the soldiers besieged in the city. If someone in Ye City goes out of the city to cross the river, regardless of the military and civilians, kill them."

The second general held his fists and took his orders to leave.

Xu Huang was looking forward to Cao Cao for a long time and found that Cao Cao had no orders!

He quickly accelerated his pace to catch up with Cao Cao, and was half behind Cao Cao and said, "Hey, lord, this, the other three generals have fought against me, where are I?"

Cao Cao stopped and turned his head to glance at Xu Huang, and smiled softly and said, "Gongming, since I have taken you to the battle, of course I will not let you be useless. Wait, the enemy of Hebei is not only Yuan Shang, but when Yecheng is broken, you will go and help me clean up another incompetent descendant of the Yuan family."

Xu Huang thought about it and asked tentatively: "Yuan Xi?"

Cao Cao shrugged and laughed, shook his head and said, "Damn it! Yuan Tan!"

Xu Huang looked surprised.

Yuan Tan!?!

If you want to deal with him, wouldn’t you have a chance last year?

Yuan Tan is Cao Cao’s in-laws!

He even sent his daughter to the Cao family!

Yecheng was in a hurry, and it had been more than half a month since the military information reached Yuan Shang in Qingzhou. The war between Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan was always in a stalemate. No one could defeat the other, and neither of them wanted to give up. However, Yuan Shang was the one who led the war.

Faced with the dying signs of Yecheng, Yuan Shang was very unhappy but had to return to Jizhou to save Yecheng.

Unfortunately, he was not confident, especially since his troops were less than 30,000. He fought with Yuan Tan for a year and killed all his troops and food. Cao Cao still had so many troops, but compared with the two sides, the strength and weakness had already reversed.

Yuan Shang led his army back from Qingzhou to Jizhou for nearly twenty days. While he was in a hurry to rush, he also had to guard against Yuan Tan who was chasing him relentlessly.

Yuan Tan, the eldest son of the Yuan family, was suppressed by the third brother for more than a year and had been full of resentment. Now that he finally has a chance, how could he let it go?

Yuan Shang seemed to be going back to save Yecheng, but it was more like Cao Cao blocking the road in front and Yuan Tan was chasing him behind.

Yuan Shang led his army to Yecheng and encountered Xiahou Yuan's ambush at the crooked place of Zhangshui. As a result, in the first day of the first day of the lunar month, Ma Yan and others under Yuan Shang knelt down and surrendered, and even more than 20,000 troops were surrendered.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Shang was so desperate that he dared not to save Yecheng? How could he have the confidence to save Yecheng?

With less than 10,000 defeated soldiers, Yuan Shang bypassed Yecheng and fled to Zhongshan Kingdom.

Cao Cao did not send troops to chase and kill him, but Yuan Tan was persevering in following Yuan Shang to start a massacre.

A large number of counties and states in Jizhou north of Yecheng fell into the hands of Yuan Tan and killed Yuan Shang out of Zhongshan Kingdom.

Yuan Shang, who was at the end of his journey, remembered that in addition to a eldest brother who was against him everywhere, he also had a second brother, so he fled to Youzhou and depended on Yuan Xi.

By August, Yecheng was surrounded for three months, and most of the soldiers and civilians in the city starved to death.

In order to survive, Shen Pei's nephew Shen Rong secretly surrendered to Cao. On midnight, he opened the city gate to welcome Cao's army into the city. Shen Pei led the last troops to fight with Cao's army overnight in Yecheng, and was eventually defeated and Yecheng fell!

Cao Cao personally persuaded Shen Pei to surrender, but Shen Pei would rather die than obey. Cao Cao fulfilled his reputation, loyalty and righteousness, and killed him and buried him with a grand funeral.

Yecheng is a landmark city of the regime led by the Yuan family in Hebei. At this moment, there is a large flag raised at the top of Yecheng, with only a heavy word "Cao" on it.

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Chapter completed!