Chapter 74 3. The super defense line on the shore of Yishui

Previously, Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, occupied most of Youzhou, and actively expanded to Jizhou, Qingzhou and other places. However, this person is good at fighting wars, but he is not very good at local governance, especially when it comes to employing people. He has a strange theory, that is, he does not value people with high moral character, but those who are mediocre and incompetent.Someone asked him why, and he said: "For well-dressed children and people of noble character, if you give him wealth, he thinks it should be, and he will not thank you." People who were reused by Gongsun Zan include Liu Weitai, Li Yizi, Dong Hefu, etc. Just by looking at the names, you can tell that they are not very powerful characters.Gongsun Zan became sworn brothers with them and called himself the boss.These few fully meet Gongsun Zan's employment requirements. Among them, Liu Weitai is a fortune teller, Li Yizi is a cloth dealer, and Donghefu is a small peddler.

Gongsun Zan also reused Guan Jing from Taiyuan County.This person has always been severely punishing and abusing the people, and he blindly flatters and flatters horses in front of Gongsun Zan, but he has no talent.Youzhou was aroused by Gongsun Zan and his confidants. Everyone missed Liu Yu and complained about Gongsun Zan.Liu Yu's former subordinates Xian Yufu, Qi Zhou, Xian Yuyin and others took the opportunity to rebel against Gongsun Zan. They knew that Yan Rou from Guangyang County had always had a high reputation, so they elected Yan Rou as Wuhuan Sima, and Yan Rou came forward to recruit Wuhuan and Xianbei. The minority army, together with the Han people, formed a joint army with tens of thousands of people, and attacked Zou Dan, the prefect of Yuyang County to which Gongsun Zan belonged.

The two sides fought in the north of Luhe (now Baihe).Zou Dan was no match, so he asked Gongsun Zan for help. Gongsun Zan did not go to the rescue. His theory was that if he rescued, the generals who encountered similar situations in the future would not fight hard because they relied on reinforcements. Relying on saving but not fighting vigorously; if you don’t save this now, you will think of it as self-encouragement in the future). It seems that Gongsun Zan's way of thinking is really different.Zou Dan was killed by Yan Rou, Xian Yufu and others because he couldn't wait to rescue the soldiers.Later, when Gongsun Zan's subordinates encountered Zou Dan's situation, they all knew that Gongsun Zan would not come to rescue them, so they simply surrendered.

Xian Yufu and others also received Yuan Shao's response. Yuan Shao ordered Yihe and Liu Yu's son Liu He to lead the troops north to cooperate with Xian Yufu's actions.Gongsun Zan was attacked successively, and his sphere of influence was greatly reduced. If Yuan Shao worked hard, Gongsun Zan might be wiped out in advance, but at this time, the Zang Hong incident occurred, Yuan Shao had to transfer his main force to fight on the southern front, and Gongsun Zan was able to breathe. Yuan Shao's main force was pinned down by Zang Hong for a year at Dongwuyang City. Yuan's army was not yet strong enough to win two battles at the same time, so he had to temporarily switch to the defensive on the northern front during this period.Gongsun Zan took the opportunity to gather the main force to the Yishui line, and built the world-famous Yishui line of defense here.Yishui is located at the junction of Youzhou and Jizhou. It is formed by the confluence of upstream Lushui, Haishui, Shunshui, Xushui and other rivers. This is an ancient river. During the Warring States Period, Prince Dan of Yan sent Jing Ke to assassinate King Qin. , Gao Jianli hit the building and sang: "The wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong man will never return when he is gone." This made the river famous all over the world.King Luo Bin of the Tang Dynasty wrote a poem "Giving People off in Yishui": "Don't forget Yan Dan here, and the strong man will be crowned. There are no people in the past, and the water is still cold today."

Gongsun Zan was granted the title of Marquis of Yi at this time, and his fief Yi County was located above Yishui.Gongsun Zan took advantage of Yuan Shao's inability to attack himself, and centered on Yi County, he overhauled military fortifications along Yishui. Gongsun Zan dug more than a dozen trenches on the north bank of Yishui, and piled up five or six feet high earth mountains at intervals, and built towers on the earth mountains. According to "Heroes", there are thousands of such towers. , Gongsun Zan's generals lived in these buildings. This is actually a group of bunkers connected by traffic trenches intertwined with dense networks. This kind of bunkers is called "Jing". "Jing" is a pictographic character in oracle bone inscriptions, that is, a high hill built with a sharp point on it.

These thousands of bunkers have built a solid Yishui line of defense. The core area is Yijing, where Gongsun Zan lives in person. Seal it with an iron gate.Gongsun Zan lived upstairs, and there were only maidservants and female officials in the building. Official documents that Gongsun Zan needed to review were all hung up by ropes, and then hung down with ropes after the instructions were completed. Gongsun Zan hoarded three million hu grains in the fortress. He told his subordinates: "I used to think that everything in the world can be decided with a wave of hands, but now it seems that is not the case. The art of war says 'no attack on a hundred buildings', now I have thousands of Lou Guan (Lou Luqianzhong), when the food is eaten up, he will be able to understand the affairs of the world (enough to know the affairs of the world)."

I don't know which military book Gongsun Zan quoted "No attack on a hundred buildings", it may be Gongsun Zan's personal military thinking.One dendrobium in the Han Dynasty is about 135 catties today, and three million dendrobiums are about 400 million catties, or 200,000 tons, and a truck with a load of eight tons would have to pull 25,000 cars.It is impossible for so much food to be hoarded in a bunker in Yijing where Gongsun Zan lives, it may be the sum of the thousands of bunkers on the banks of Yishui.The Yishui defense line invented by Gongsun Zan is completely different from the traditional city-type fortifications. It pays more attention to three-dimensional operations and coordinated operations. After the enemy army enters the bunker net, attack around and defeat it.

Yuan Shao spent a lot of effort, and after paying a huge sacrifice, he finally solved Zang Hong in Dongwuyang.When he regained his strength and re-examined the northern battlefield, he was surprised to find that lying in front of him was a super defense line that was hundreds of miles long, never seen before, but unbreakable. Yuan Shao tried to launch an attack, but suffered a heavy blow. The attacking troops managed to get under the fortress, but they were all beaten by the enemy occupying favorable terrain with weapons such as bows, arrows and scattered stones. Yuan Shao wanted to break through this line of defense, and he had been attacking for several years, but he was still at a loss.The Yishui line of defense became Yuan Shao's nightmare.

Gongsun Zan didn't attack anymore after that, he just stayed in his super fortress, accompanied by a large group of maidservants and female officials, living his happy life.It wasn't until four or five years later that Yuan Shao fully dealt with all kinds of peripheral enemies, and when his strength developed enough, he gathered superior forces under Yi Jing, worked hard and paid heavy casualties before breaking it. This line of defense delayed Yuan Shao's pace of unifying the north, restrained Yuan Shao's actions, and provided a rare strategic opportunity for Cao Cao's development and growth.

In this sense, Zang Hong and Gongsun Zan are both Yuan Shao's nemesis and Cao Cao's lucky stars. Without them, the possibility of Cao Cao surpassing Yuan Shao would be greatly reduced.