Cao Cao's army marched all the way into Jizhou and reached the city of Yecheng in early August. At this time, it was the time of the autumn harvest, and Cao Cao's army directly surrounded Yecheng and grabbed crops outside the city.

Frustrated looking at Cao Jun who was all over the sky outside the city, he already felt desperate in his heart. After Yuan Shang transferred most of the troops, there were only three or four thousand people left in the city, and they were all newly recruited recruits, which were far from Cao Cao's hundred battles.

And that's not all, there was a rebellion in the city. Su You, the general who defended the city, actually took refuge in Cao Cao, if he wasn't vigilant enough, maybe Su You would have put Cao Cao into the city.

Cao Cao saw Su You in the military tent, calmed him a little, and sent him away. Then he asked Xu You, "Su You's business can't be done, what can I do?" ”

Xu You didn't care, he said: "When Su You was the internal response, Meng De knew that the chances of success were not great, so let's think of another way!" ”

Cao Cao also knew that he was in a hurry, and he asked, "I don't know what Ziyuan's plan is?" ”

Xu You said: "Since Yecheng has not been delayed, then attack other places, if the surrounding counties surrender, Yecheng will be a lonely city, and it will be attacked however it comes." ”

Cao Cao was right when he thought about it, just as he should have prevented Yuan Shang's reinforcements from coming back. So he sent someone to inquire about the news, while digging tunnels in Yecheng and piling up mountains of soil.

So Cao Cao left Cao Hong as the main general and continued to attack Yecheng, and he personally took people to Maocheng.

Yin Kai, the magistrate of Wu'an, occupied Maocheng when Cao Cao besieged Yecheng to ensure the safety of the grain route to Shangdang.

Yin Kai is also an amazing figure, don't look at Wu'an County is just a county, but it is a big county. Because at this time, only the chief officer of the large county was called the county magistrate, and the chief officer of the small county became the prefectural magistrate.

In other words, Wu'an County is the county seat of Wei County after Yecheng. Yin Kai quickly recruited 5,000 people, more than the remaining soldiers in Yecheng.

However, in the face of Cao Cao, who was better than him, and Cao Cao also brought the fierce general Xu Huang, Yin Kai was defeated by Cao Cao after not holding out for a few days.

Cao Cao chased and killed Yin Kai all the way to Wu'an County, and occupied Wu'an County, the county seat around Weizhen.

Liang Qi, the magistrate of Shexian County, and Han Fan, the magistrate of Yiyang County, were timid and came over directly to surrender. Cao Cao was also proud for a while, and Xu Huang said: "The Yuan brothers have not been defeated yet, and all counties are waiting and watching, if the lord rewards the officials of these two counties, the other counties will definitely follow suit." ”

Of course, Cao Cao agreed, he had this plan, but he was a little overjoyed just now, and he looked at this stubble.

Liang Qi and Han Fan were both named the Marquis of Guannei, and with them as an example, all counties turned to Cao Cao. Even the Black Mountain thief Zhang Yan came to ask for troops to help Cao Cao, and Cao Cao named him the general of Pingbei, and the army was prosperous all of a sudden.

Within ten days of arriving in Jizhou, Cao Cao had the upper hand. But he doesn't have much time, because Zhang Yi obviously won't give him much time.

At this time, Guo Jia offered a plan to Cao Cao, "The so-called soldiers are impermanent, and water is impermanent." The water of the Zhanghe River has not yet dried up, if we can dig a ditch to Yecheng within a month, we may be able to flood Yecheng. At that time, if you insist on more than a month, the cold will drop, and Yecheng will be self-defeating. ”

Cao Cao's eyes lit up, this plan was really good. As long as it succeeds, Yecheng will become an ice city, and the people inside will not be able to live at all. If you don't surrender, it's a dead end, and Yecheng is at your fingertips.

As for the people in Yecheng, it was not in Cao Cao's consideration. When Cao Cao was conquering Xuzhou, he slaughtered more than ten cities in a row, what is a Yecheng!

So Cao Cao led his troops back to Yecheng, demolished the earthen walls, and then dug ditches. The ditch should be dug before it freezes, otherwise it will not be possible to dig it if it freezes.

When he found Cao Cao's actions in the city, he immediately knew that Cao Cao was going to dig Zhangshui, so he found the judge who was also staying behind and said: "Cao Cao plans to dig Zhangshui, I will give you 2,000 soldiers and horses, and you can send each other's lord's family and the family in the city to leave as soon as possible." ”

The judge said: "I see that the ditch he dug can be crossed in one step, why are I so alarmed? ”

"Cao Cao is known for his treachery, how could he only dig a shallow ditch? ”

But the judge didn't believe it, he only believed in his own eyes. The judge who came up vigorously said: "I see Cao Cao like this, if you want to leave, let's go!" ”

Fu Zhu originally wanted to stay and defend the city by himself, but he didn't expect to enter the trial so unknowingly, so he had to take Yuan Shao's family in person, and then escaped from Yecheng with some families who were towards Yuan Shang at night, and went straight east to Bohai County.

Cao Cao also found out that someone had escaped, and immediately sent Cao Chun to chase after him with a tiger and leopard horse. caught up in Qingyuan County, Frustration let the others go first, broke off himself, intercepted Cao Chun for two days, only to be exhausted of arrows, chased and killed by Cao Chun, Frustrated was killed by the tiger and leopard rider in the process of escaping.

Cao Chun continued to move forward and continue to chase and kill the others until everyone else had dispersed.

The trial soon paid the price for his arrogance, and Cao Cao asked the soldiers to finish the ditch at night, which was so wide overnight that it was impossible to bring in food.

By the time the trial and match reacted, it was already too late, and it was too late to get out of the city. Cao Cao dug up the water and diverted water to irrigate the ditch, isolating Yecheng from the outside.

It's not that Cao Cao suddenly showed mercy, but Cao Cao found that it took too long to submerge the entire Yecheng, so it was better to come directly to a circle of ditches outside, and then only a small number of people were needed to prevent the people in Yecheng from escaping, and he could rest assured that he would take a large army to block Yuan Shang's reinforcements.

That's right, after Yuan Shang got the news that Yecheng was besieged, he immediately raised troops from Nanpi, wanting to defeat Cao Cao and relieve the siege of Yecheng.

Cao Cao blocked Yuan Shang in the Xishan area, and Yuan Shang's generals Ma Yan and Zhang Kai surrendered to Cao Cao, and Yuan Shang fled to Zhongshan.

The trial also wanted to get out of Yecheng, but he was beaten back as soon as he left the city gate. But he saw Xin Bi in Cao's army, and after returning to the city, he arrested all the Xin family.

After holding on for a month, the nephew of the trial Rong opened the city gate at night and surrendered, and Yecheng was broken. Before Cao Bing arrived, he killed the entire Xin family, including Xin Ping, who returned to Yecheng to do business.

After Xinbi entered the city, he killed and seized the judge, and whipped him to relieve his hatred. Cao Cao interrogated and interrogated, but the trial would rather die than give in, and finally died in the north.

Xu You died by himself, and he was arrogant in front of the city gate to Cao Cao, but he was touched by Xu Chu, who was entering the city, and cut him with a knife.

In the battle of Yecheng, four very capable Wenchen were killed, and the tragedy can be seen.