Battle of Yijing

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The Battle of Yijing (易京之戰) took part shortly before the fall of the Han Empire in China, which began the era known as the Three Kingdoms. It was fought between rival warlords Gongsun Zan, renowned as the White Horse General because of his cavalry, and Yuan Shao, a scion of the esteemed Yuan clan and former head of the Anti-Dong Zhuo alliance.

The two warlords had been fighting for dominion over the north for some time, but eventually Yuan Shao gained the upper hand. However, Gongsun Zan still had a large army which could cause trouble if not finished off.

Gongsun Zan, seeing he could gain victory during this era, decided to secure himself. He built a capital city called Yijing where he built many large towers on top of many mounds where he and his generals lived. There were ten mounts around the city and the towers had iron doors with huge grain supplies for Zan to use to live out the civil wars of his country.

Zan decided to let his troops out his fortress fight for themselves thinking they would see the only option they had was to fight hard. However, instead they killed their generals and surrendered or died easily while fighting. In time Yuan Shao's army reached the gates of Yijing, but the city withstood several attacks form the Yuan army for years till 198.

Gongsun Zan sent his son Gongsun Xu to request help from the bandits of Heishan in the in the Taihang Mountains. The idea was to attack Jizhou (冀州) and cut off Yuan's line of retreat forcing him to abandon the siege. The first stages of the plan went well with Zhang Yan agreeing to help Zan but after that the plan changed to saving Yijing. With 10,000 men on the way Zan sent a message to his son telling him to lay an ambush of 5,000 elite cavalry on low ground north of the city. They were then to signal Zan to charge out of the city with his troops, planning to surround Yuan Shao's troops.

Unfortunately Yuan Shao's troops caught the messenger and laid their own troops in ambush. The Yuan forces then signaled Zan, routing his unit and forcing him back into the city. Yuan's troops followed up their success by digging tunnels under the city and then supporting them with beams which they later torched. The tunnel went into the center of the city and its collapse caused Zan's towers to begin to collapse as well. Accounts state that Zan killed his family, but vary on to whether he committed suicide by self-immolation or was murdered before he was burnt along with his tower.

[edit] In fiction

The battle is not mentioned in the famous historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms at all; Gongsun Zan's downfall is only mentioned in passing, and Liu Bei laments for him shortly.

In Dynasty Warriors 5, the battle is depicted as the Battle of Changshan (常山之戰), featuring appearances by Zhao Yun, Liu Bei, Lü Bu, and many others who historically weren't involved in the battle.

[edit] Sources

• China Historical Forum.