More than 200,000 troops from the east and west of the Chu State were approaching Jinyang City. Tuoba Liwei refused to save him and took the opportunity to attack Xianbei in the central part. Sima Yi only had 40,000 troops in hand. Faced with this
How can one not tremble in a dangerous situation?
However, Sima Yi is not Liu Bei, and his forbearance and patience are obviously higher than Liu Bei's.
Faced with such a predicament, Sima Yi was ready to hold on to Jinyang because he believed that the rainy season coming soon would force Yan Liang to retreat.
A few days later, the news returned from Xizuo made Sima Yi's confidence compromised again.
Yan Liang moved his army to Yuci, and also sent troops to kill Jingxing Pass.
Obviously, Yan Liang wanted to attack from the east and west, capture Jingxing Pass in one fell swoop, and open up the passage from Jizhou to Bingzhou.
When Sima Yi heard the news, he immediately panicked.
Jingxing Road is the smoothest and widest road in the Taihang Mountains. Even in the rainy season, this road can barely remain open.
If Yan Liang captured Jingxing Pass, it would mean that Sima Yi's strategy of sticking to Jinyang in the hope that Yan Liang would run out of food and retreat would be in vain.
Sima Yi panicked and sent people to rush to Jingxing Pass via a small road. He ordered his younger brother Sima Fu to guard Jingxing Pass no matter what.
When Sima Yi's letter was sent to Jingxing Pass, the 20,000 Chu troops led by Zhang Ren were already marching eastward, and they were invincible along the way.
Zhang Ren's army effortlessly captured Leping County to the east of Taiyuan County. Within a few days, the army reached the west of Jingxing Pass.
At this time, two generals, Xu Huang and Huang Zhong, had been attacking Jingxing Pass for several months.
As the middle route army, Yan Liang ordered two generals, Huang Zhong and Xu Huang, to lead 30,000 troops from Changshan County to the west to attack Jingxing from the front.
Huang Zhong and Xu Huang were both fierce generals of the time, and the soldiers and horses they led were both elite troops of the Chu army. However, with their strength, they could not capture Jingxing Pass after months of forcible attacks.
Jingxing Pass is the first of the eight passes in Taihang. It has always been a battleground for military strategists and the only way for east-west communication.
The pass is surrounded by mountains. In front of the pass there is the danger of the Taiping River. The hills inside the pass are gentle and wide, making it easy to station troops and store food. The pass is surrounded by dangerous mountains and green mountains, and the city of the pass is penetrated by rocks.
Although such a dangerous pass is not as dangerous as Hu Pass, it is obviously unrealistic for General Huang and Xu to break through the pass from the front with only 30,000 people.
Therefore, in Yan Liang's strategy of destroying Jin, the Huang-Xu line was just a partial division to contain the enemy.
Sima Fu belonged to Sima Yi. Although his martial arts skills were not outstanding, he had some military talent. With five thousand Jin troops guarding the dangerous points of Guancheng, Jingxing was still intact.
However, the situation is different now.
Zhang Ren sent 20,000 soldiers and horses to attack from the west, completely changing the situation at Jingxing Pass.
The terrain of Jingxing Pass is high in the west and low in the east. The entrance to the Taihang Mountains in the east is narrow, but the terrain to the west when entering the pass is more open.
With such a terrain, it is obviously easier to attack from west to east, but more difficult to attack from east to west.
As soon as Zhang Ren's troops arrived, he immediately took advantage of the offensive. Twenty thousand troops set up ladders and stormed Jingxing Pass day and night.
At the same time, two generals, Huang Zhong and Xu Huang, also agreed to Zhang Ren's appointment and launched another attack on Jingxing Pass from the east.
Two groups of soldiers and horses, an army of 50,000, formed a pincer attack on Jingxing Pass from both inside and outside.
Facing such a powerful offensive, Sima Fu, who only had 5,000 soldiers and horses, soon became unable to hold on.
If the general who defends the city is replaced by a famous general like Huang Zhong or Zhang Ren, with 5,000 men relying on dangerous passes to block the attack of ten times the enemy, it may be barely possible.
It's a pity that although Sima Fu was well versed in military strategy, his military skills were still not as good as those famous generals of the Chu army. With a weak force, how could he withstand a pincer attack from the east and west?
After three days of strong attack, the Jin army finally collapsed on all fronts.
Zhang Ren took the lead in breaking through the pass from the west. Thousands of Chu troops poured into Guancheng and killed the Jin army in a river of blood. Zhang Ren even captured Sima Fu alive.
The most important pass in the Taihang Mountains, the throat connecting Jizhou and Bingzhou, was captured by the Chu army.
After the three generals captured Jingxing Pass, the 50,000-strong army immediately headed west to join Yan Liang in Yuci. At the same time, they reported the victory to Yan Liang first.
A few days later, Yan Liang received the good news.
This good news not only made the Chu army generals, but also Yan Liang very happy.
Once Jingxing Pass is cleared and the food and grass supplies are opened, Yan Liang can use his two to three hundred thousand troops to besiege Jinyang to his heart's content. The destruction of Jin is imminent. How can he not be surprised?
Yan Liang was overjoyed and immediately issued an order to Zhang Ren, Huang Zhong and Xu Huang to increase their food supply as a reward for their victory over Jingxing Pass.
At the same time, Yan Liang ordered that all grain and grass originally transported from Shangdang County should be transported from Jingxing Pass.
After the decree was passed down, hundreds of thousands of grains and grasses were continuously sent to the front line from Jingxing Pass. The difficulty and distance of transportation were greatly reduced.
With the grain road at Jingxingguan and the grain and grass from Hedong County, the two grain roads were enough to meet the food and grass needs of nearly 300,000 Chu troops.
A few days later, a 5,000-strong army led by Huang Zhong and other three generals arrived at Yuci City, bringing the number of the Eastern Route Army led by Yan Liang to about 150,000.
At this time, the West Route Army led by Zhang Liao and other generals also entered Qingxu City in the south of Jinyang City. The number of Chu troops gathered in Jinyang area reached 256,000.
The army gathered together, and Yan Liang ordered the troops to move out and encircle Jinyang City.
One day later, Yan Liang led 50,000 front troops and arrived at the east of Jinyang City first. The army went down to the village by the Fenshui River.
The other armies had not yet arrived, and Yan Liang was not in a hurry to attack. He had already set up camp and summoned the captive Sima Fu to come.
In the imperial tent, there were two rows of swordsmen and axe-wielders, full of murderous intent.
Yan Liang's eyes were like blades, and he sat high on the throne, wiping the sword in his hand and leaning against the sky.
Not long after, Sima Fu was escorted into the tent. As soon as he opened the tent, he was frightened by the severe cold and his body trembled.
Sima Fu raised his head slightly. When he saw Yan Liang, a trace of obvious fear flashed in his eyes, and the bright sword in Yan Liang's hand made Sima Fu even more frightened.
"Sima Fu pays homage to Your Majesty." Sima Fu bowed without thinking.
Yan Liang originally thought that this Sima Fu, as Sima Yi's younger brother and a member of the Jin clan, would show such self-reliance even though he was captured. However, he did not expect that this Sima Fu was very sensible and treated him with such respect as soon as they met.
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Yan Liang stared at Sima Fu with his sharp eyes and said coldly: "Sima Fu, do you know your guilt?"
"I know that I have committed a crime, and I am willing to let your Majesty punish me." Sima Fu lowered his head, as if he had accepted his guilt.
Looking at the respectful Sima Fu, a sneer appeared at the corner of Yan Liang's lips, thinking to himself that the Sima family was indeed the most adaptable person who knew current affairs.
In troubled times, many wealthy families cannot escape the fate of annihilation. Even if they are lucky enough to avoid being wiped out, many people in the clan will die in the battles between princes.
Just like the Xun family of Yingchuan, the Wang family of Taiyuan, and the Zhuge family of Langya, all of them paid a heavy price in the struggle for hegemony.
Sima is an exception.
From Dong Zhuo's Rebellion to the present, the Sima family has experienced many lords, but not one of them died in the war. Instead, it became more and more prosperous, and now, it has become a royal family.
Looking at the whole world, there is no other clan that can be as wise and wise in protecting themselves as the Sima clan, and have extremely strong survivability.
It's no wonder that if Sima didn't have this ability, how could Sima Yi defeat his opponents one after another in history, and finally laid the foundation for the Jin Dynasty to replace the Wei Dynasty.
Now that Sima Fu was captured and saw that the situation was over, it was not surprising that he bowed his head to Yan Liang in order to protect himself wisely.
"You are quite sensible. Well, for the sake of your awareness of current affairs, I will give you a chance to survive." Yan Liang sneered.
When Sima Fu heard this, he was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly bowed his head and said: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I am willing to go through fire and water for Your Majesty without hesitation."
"I still don't know how many pounds you have. I don't need you to go through fire and water for me. I want you to do one thing for me. As long as you do it, I will spare your life. If you can't do it, then
Don't blame me for being cruel." Yan Liang said coldly.
Sima Fu, who was originally secretly happy, felt a chill in his heart, but he didn't know what Yan Liang was going to do for him, so he suddenly became anxious and nervous again.
"I wonder what your Majesty wants the guilty minister to do?" Sima Fu asked timidly.
Yan Liang leaned his sword in the sky and pointed to the west: "I want you to go to Jinyang City and persuade Sima Yi to open the city and surrender immediately."
Sima Fu's face changed with shock, and he was stunned on the spot.
In the past ten years or so, many princes have fallen into the hands of Yan Liang, but none of them ended well. If Sima Yi surrendered to Yan Liang, he would definitely die without a burial place. Everyone knows this.
Sima Fu knew his brother's intentions best. He knew that Sima Yi would never give up resistance and surrender to Yan Liang just because of his brother's persuasion.
Since Sima Yi couldn't be persuaded to surrender, wouldn't Sima Fu be certain to die?
Yan Liang's move was clearly trying to kill him in a different way!
"Your Majesty, I would like to do something for Your Majesty, but this is just one thing..." Sima Fu knelt there with a look of embarrassment on his face, not daring to accept this errand.
Yan Liang's face darkened, and he shouted: "I gave you a chance, but if you don't want to take it, come here, drag this guy out, cut him into a stick for me, and immerse him in the dung cellar."
"No!" The sergeants on the left and right came forward fiercely in response.
Sima Fu's face turned pale with fright in an instant. Without thinking, he said hastily: "Your Majesty, spare your life. How dare I disobey Your Majesty's order? I am willing to persuade you to surrender. I am willing to persuade you to surrender..."
Yan Liang smiled coldly and raised his hand to stop the imperial sergeant who was rushing towards him.
"You are so shameless. You have to make me angry before you know how to recognize me."
Yan Liang waved his hand and ordered: "Zifeng, take this Sima Fu to the east gate of Jinyang and watch him persuade Sima Yi to surrender."
"No!" Zhou Cang accepted the order and strode out of the tent, carrying the frightened Sima Fu like a chicken.
