Background
The two warlords had been fighting for dominion over northern China 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, after recent military defeats in addition to a famine in his lands, decided to secure his supplies. He built a capital city called Yijing where he built many large towers on top of mounds where he and his generals lived. There were ten moats around the city and the towers had iron doors with huge grain supplies for Gongsun Zan to use to live out the civil wars of his country. In doing so, Gongsun Zan let his armies away from his fortress fight for themselves thinking they would see the only option they had was to fight hard. Instead, the soldiers killed their generals and surrendered or died easily while fighting.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Yijing
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