Everyone knows the Three Kingdoms period, which is also a relatively well-known dynasty. The Three Kingdoms were Wei, Shu, and Wu, and the powerful princes who remained after a battle like a slug. However, in fact, during the Three Kingdoms period, there were not only their old brothers, but also a country with a relatively low sense of existence, that is, the Gongsun clan that was entrenched in Liaodong. By the time of Gongsun Yuan, the State of Yan was also established. How did such a deep-rooted separatist regime be easily eliminated by Sima Yi?
Operate Liaodong
The Gongsun family should start from the Liaodong Taishou Gongsun Du at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Gongsun Du has little fame, and he also has a powerful compatriot, that is, Dong Zhuo's subordinate Xu Rong. Through this relationship, Gongsun Du became the Taishou of Liaodong. Gongsun Du himself had little prestige and was despised by the Hao clan of Liaodong County. The first thing Gongsun Du did when he arrived in office was to kill people and suppress the Hao clan, "destroying more than a hundred families, and the county was shocked." After that, Gongsun Du actively expanded outward and operated Liaodong. By the time of the first year of the first ping, various princes had beged for Dong, and the Central Plains had become a pot of porridge. Just give Gongsun Du the ambition and opportunity to divide one side. Therefore, Gongsun Du established himself as the Marquis of Liaodong and was not subject to the division of the Han court.
After Gongsun Du's death, his son Gongsun Kang took the throne. Gongsun Kang remained in a state of immediate separation and relative independence from the Central Plains, and actively launched military operations against the outside world. After Gongsun Kang's death, his sons Gongsun Huang and Gongsun Yuan were young, so his younger brother Gongsun Gong took the throne. However, Gongsun Gong had some hidden physical diseases and could not serve the public, and in the second year of Taihe, Gongsun Yuan seized the position of uncle, which was already the period of the reign of the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui.
The first mouse is at both ends
Gongsun Yuan's attitude toward Cao Wei was even more ambiguous. He hoped to rely on his own power, which was outside the Central Plains, to play a balance between Cao Wei and Eastern Wu. Gongsun Yuan colluded with Sun Quan, which made Cao Rui very dissatisfied. In the sixth year of Taihe, that is, in 232 AD, Cao Rui sent Tian Yu and Wang Xiong to attack Liaodong by land and water, and although Tian Yu achieved some success (killing the general Zhou He from afar in Eastern Wu), he generally did not return. After that, Gongsun Yuan declared himself a vassal to Sun Quan, and Sun Quan was overjoyed and sent emissaries to Liaodong to grant Gongsun Yuan nine tins. As a result, Gongsun Yuan ate them all, beheaded the emissaries, and made overtures to Cao Wei.
Cao Rui was very happy and sent emissaries to Liaodong to seal the reward. As a result, Gongsun Yuan laid down his soldiers and horses to demonstrate against Cao Wei's emissaries, and his mouth was not inferior. In 237, Cao Rui sent Yiqiu Jian to lead troops to forcibly recruit Gongsun Yuan, and Gongsun Yuan was forced to rebel and engaged Yiqiu Jian in the Liao Tunnel. At this time, it rained heavily in the sky, and it rained for ten consecutive days, and the Liaoshui Water soared. So Yuqiu Jian returned. This time, Gongsun Yuan completely tore his face with Cao Wei and fought a victorious battle, so he officially separated himself and established himself, calling himself the King of Yan and setting the capital at Xiangping.
The course of the battle
Thousands of miles away
In the second year of Gongsun Yuan's independence, Cao Rui decided to eliminate this threat from the north in one fell swoop, and appointed Sima Yi as the commander and sent troops to attack Yan. Sima Yi led 40,000 men and horses from Luoyang and marched for six months to reach Liaodong. During this time, Gongsun Yuan was naturally also ready for battle. He and Yang Zuo led tens of thousands of people to garrison the Liao Tunnel east of Liaoshui and south of Xiangping, and began to build fortifications, intending to fight a protracted war with Sima Yi on their own territory.
Give the dummy
Sima Yi led a large army to attack thousands of miles, and if he still had to fight a tough battle in the Liao Tunnel, he would definitely suffer losses. Therefore, Sima Yi chose a method that is very common in the history of warfare--attacking the east and attacking the west, and attacking the enemy must be saved. Is it over soon after you lure the enemy out? Sima Yi set up a banner on the southern front and made a feint attack, allowing Yan soldiers to assemble in the Liao tunnel. Then the Wei army secretly took the waterway to the north and forced the Yan capital Xiangping.
The main forces of the Yan state were all in the Liao tunnel in the south, and Xiangping was empty. BeiYan and the others had to withdraw from the liao tunnel's fortifications. In this way, the meat itself came out of the can, and Sima Yi "counterattacked with the arsonists, broke it, and won all three battles." The Yan army also protected Xiangping, and Sima Yi's soldiers came to the city.
Siege of Xiangping
Xiangping is Gongsun Yuan's hometown, and it must have been repaired relatively firmly. Sima Yi was also not in a hurry to attack the city, but besieged Xiangping. At that time, Sima Yi also encountered the situation encountered by Yuqiu Jian, and the rain for thirty consecutive days, the Liaoshui water rose again, to the extent of "several feet on the flat ground". This dealt a blow to Cao Wei's military morale, and Sima Yi issued a military order to dare to persuade those who moved the camp to behead and stabilize the military heart by killing people. At that time, in Luoyang City, thousands of miles away, there were also many people who suggested summoning Sima Yi to return to the army, but Cao Rui did not accept it.
Later, after the rain stopped, Sima Yi began to build tushan, using trebuchets and crossbows to project into the city and continuously attack Xiangping. At this time, Xiangping City not only faced the threat of projecting weapons, but also suffered from a long-term siege due to too many soldiers and civilians, and the supply of grain and grass was no longer available, and even reached the point of "cannibalism". At the same time, Tianxiang also helped Sima Yi, and a white meteor fell from above Xiangping.
Under these circumstances, the Yan army finally could not hold on, Gongsun Yuan asked for no results, simply desperate, and his son Gongsun Yu led hundreds of cavalry to break through, and was chased and killed by Sima Yi. Coincidentally, the place where Gongsun Yuan's father and son died was Liang Shui, where the white meteor fell.
After Sima Yi entered the city, he carried out a large-scale butcher's knife, killing 7,000 men over the age of fifteen and 2,000 Yan bureaucrats, and releasing Gongsun Gong, who had been imprisoned by Gongsun Yuan. Gongsun Yuan's first rank was passed to Luoyang. Since then, Liaodong has been pacified, and Cao Wei, a hidden danger from the north, has been completely eliminated.
brief summary
Gongsun Yuan's first rat at both ends between Cao Wei and Eastern Wu, with a small state to insult the big country, is certainly the way to take death; putting the main force in the Liao tunnel, passive defense, the army action is rigid, after the rain, instead of taking advantage of Sima Yi's lack of siege, but sitting on Xiangping to die, it is also many tactical mistakes. On the other hand, Sima Yi, using the strategy of attacking the west from the east, was tactically flexible, did not tangle with the Liao tunnel defenders, quickly advanced to xiangping, and then used sufficient logistics to besiege Xiangping, which should be urgent and urgent, and should be slow, and finally successfully eliminated Gongsun Yuan, which became a classic example of war in the Three Kingdoms period.
References: Zizhi Tongjian, Book of Jin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms