Liu Bei was able to cross the border of Sili and go south to Jingzhou not because of how strong his soldiers and horses were, but because Cao Cao's army was concentrated in Bingzhou, and the rest of the men and horses were also stationed in Yanzhou, in case Yuan Mai took advantage of the situation. Liu Bei just crossed the border and left, and did not attack the county seat and passes, so naturally there was no pressure all the way.

When Cao Cao learned that Liu Bei had walked from his men again, he gritted his teeth with hatred. But at this time, the urgency of delay was not to chase Liu Bei, but to attack Hebei. Cao Cao had no choice but to let Liu Bei go for the time being and continue to capture Bingzhou.

As soon as Liu Bei left, Bingzhou was empty, and Cao Cao occupied the entire territory of Bingzhou without much effort. Xin Ping, who was planning to reap the benefits of the fisherman in Jizhou, heard that Liu Bei abandoned the city and left, Cao Cao's strength was undamaged, and he also gritted his teeth with hatred, but there was nothing he could do.

After Cao Cao won the annexation of the state, his troops were divided into three ways and began to attack the land of Ji, Qing and Youzhou. Xin Ping did not dare to divide his troops and defended Yecheng. Cao Cao personally led the main force to besiege the city, so as to relieve the pressure on the other two people.

Under Yecheng, Cao Cao's army built a mountain around the city, and secretly dug tunnels to attack it. Xin Ping did not dare to slack off on the design and stick, the laws and regulations in the city were very strict, and the guards would be severely punished if they slacked off.

Feng Li, the guard of the east gate, was reprimanded by Xin Ping for his drunken mistake. Feng Li held a grudge and sneaked out of the city overnight to surrender Cao Cao. Cao Cao was overjoyed when he saw someone coming to vote for him, and asked about the plan to break the city.

Feng Li said: "The soil inside the door is thick, and you can dig a tunnel to enter." ”

The so-called protruding gate is a secret exit outside the city gate, and the location is only clear to the city guards. The manufacture of the protruding gate is usually to chisel the inner city wall of the city to open the gate, leaving the five or six inches of the city wall outside the city not to wear it. In this way, the location of the protrusion gate is not visible outside the city, and once the battle situation is urgent, the defenders in the city can quickly chisel the protruding gate for a surprise attack or withdrawal. Because more than half of the city wall is missing at the protruding gate, the wall is thin and the soil is thick, and if you dig a tunnel, you only need to dig five or six inches of the city wall to enter the city.

Cao Cao ordered Feng Li to lead 300 strong soldiers to dig tunnels overnight. However, Xin Ping in the city is not a fool, because the city patrol is very strict, so Feng Li was found out by Xin Ping as soon as he disappeared, and he personally went to the city every night to inspect the military horses.

That night on the Tumen Pavilion, Xin Ping found that the silence in Cao's camp outside the city was unusually quiet and there was no light, so he said: "Cao Cao will do something tonight, Feng Li or lead troops to enter through the tunnel." After that, he ordered the elite soldiers to transport stones to close the door, so that Feng Li could not come out. He also ordered the soldiers to throw the rolling wood and stones from the Tumen Pavilion, smashing down the tunnel and blocking Feng Li's way.

Feng Li and the three hundred strong men could not advance or retreat, and they all died of suffocation in the soil. Cao Cao folded many soldiers, so he abandoned the plan of tunnels and only stepped up the siege.

Xin Ping was besieged by Cao Cao for many days, and there was little food in the city, so he came up with a plan. On this day, a white flag was erected in the city, with the inscription "The people of Jizhou surrender." ”

Seeing this, Cao Cao smiled and said: "This is that there is no food in the city, teach the old and weak people to surrender, and there will be soldiers in the future." One is to reduce the loss of grain and grass in the city, and the other is to sneak attack me. He ordered the Xiahoudun brothers to lead 5,000 soldiers and horses, ambush both sides of the city gate, and Cao Cao personally rode a horse to the city escorted by Cao Hong and Xu Chu.

Sure enough, a moment later, the city gate opened, and the people helped the old and the young, holding white flags. The people were exhausted, and the soldiers and horses in the city came out and rushed straight to Cao Cao's army. Cao Cao ordered people to shake the handsome flag, and the soldiers and horses of Xiahoudun and Xiahouyuan went out to kill indiscriminately, and killed the soldiers and horses sent out in the city again.

Cao Cao saw that the opportunity could not be missed, and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to enter the city, so he waved his army and flew his horse to chase the defeated army to the edge of the city. When we arrived at the drawbridge, the crossbow arrows on the city rained down, and an arrow was shooting into Cao Cao's helmet, almost penetrating its top. Cao Hong and Xu Chu hurriedly rescued Cao Cao and returned to the battle, and the troops were dismissed twice.

The siege battle was already difficult to fight, and even the city wall was high-ranked, even Cao Cao had nothing to do for a while, so he summoned the generals to discuss. Xu Yu offered a plan: "Why doesn't Meng De decide to flood the water of the Zhanghe River? ”

Cao Cao used his strategy to send soldiers to dig a trench outside the city for forty miles to divert the water of the Zhanghe River. One of the characteristics of these trenches is that they are dug very deep on the side of the river and shallow on the side of the city.

Xin Ping saw the shallow ditch in the city, so he smiled secretly: "Cao Cao wants to make the water of the Zhanghe River irrigate the city." But I don't know that the trench is deep and can be filled, and the trench is shallow and useless! So he took no precautions.

That night, Cao Cao added ten times the number of soldiers and dug the money ditch on the edge of the city, and waited until dawn, the ditch was two zhang wide and deep, and then led the water to irrigate it, and the water in the city was several feet deep, and the grain and grass were all submerged in the water.

Yecheng was already short of food, and when the flood flooded, the food was immediately exhausted, and the soldiers all starved to death. Cao Cao saw that the plan had been accomplished, so he ordered his soldiers to shout outside the city to recruit the people in the city.

Tens of thousands of Cao troops besieged the city and shouted: "The soldiers and civilians in the city, those who surrender will not die!" "The sound shook the heavens and the earth.

That night, the guards of the west gate of the city let Cao soldiers enter the city, and Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Yuan led the troops to rush and kill, and there was no enemy in the city. The second general rushed into the palace built by Yuan Shao, captured Yuan Mai, Xin Ping, Liu and others and tied them out of the city, and searched for the jade seal made by Nan Ye.

Cao Cao had no interest in Yuan Mai and Liu, but ordered someone to put away the jade seal, and asked Xin Ping: "The day before yesterday, I went to the city, and there were so many crossbows and arrows in the city that I almost lost my life, do you know?" ”

Xin Ping glared at Cao Cao angrily and said, "I just hate not being able to kill you!" ”

Cao Cao smiled when he heard this: "You are loyal to the Yuan family, you have to treat me like this, I don't blame you." Will you surrender me now? ”

Xin Ping shouted: "I was born as a minister of the Yuan clan and died as a ghost of the Yuan clan, if I want to kill, I will kill, but I will not surrender!" ”

Cao Cao was helpless and ordered someone to take him out and behead him. At the time of the punishment, Xin Ping said to the executioner: "My lord is in the north, do not let me face the south and die!" "Then he knelt north, and he died with a sword. Cao Cao felt his loyalty and ordered him to be buried in the north of the city.

The foundation of Yuan's Yecheng was broken, and Jizhou was all obtained by Cao Cao. Among the three states, Jizhou, which is the most difficult to attack, has been broken, and the other two states are not a problem. A few days later, Cao Cao got the news that Li Dian and Le Jin led their troops to break through Youzhou and behead Zhang Xun. Cao Ren and Cheng Yu led their troops to break through Qingzhou and behead Yang Hong, and since then, the lands of Hebei, Qingzhou, Youzhou, and the four states have all been obtained by Cao Cao.

After Cao Cao pacified the four states, he went to Yuan Shao's tomb to offer sacrifices, crying very sadly. The civil and military forces didn't know what they meant, and Xu You asked: "Why does Meng De cry a pseudo-emperor?" ”

Cao Cao said: "I don't cry for the pseudo-emperor Yuan Shao, but for my friend Ben Yuan!" In the past, when I and Ben Chu raised troops to fight against Dong, Ben Chu asked me, 'What should I do if things don't work out?' I asked the original, 'What does it mean?' 'Ben Chu Dao' I am based in Hebei, blocking the Yan Dynasty, and the people of the desert, and fighting for the world in the south, what about you? I replied, 'I will be the wise and brave man of the world, and I will conquer him with the way, and I will do anything.' 'This is like yesterday, and now that it was gone, how can I not weep?' ”

All the generals sighed when they heard this, and they deeply felt that the lord Cao Cao had lofty ambitions, and Yuan Shao's eyes were bright. It seems that Cao Cao has today's victory, and Yuan Shao has today's defeat, which was doomed as early as when the two of them raised their troops, and everything was like the will of heaven.

After worshipping, Cao Cao ordered: "The residents of Hebei have suffered from the military revolution, and they will be exempted from this year's rent." On the one hand, he played the imperial court and led the Jizhou pastor.