Siege of Jicheng - The Siege

The Siege

In 213 Ma Chao started to besiege Jicheng, but it proved to be difficult. Even the Inspector of Liang Province, Wei Kang (韋康), faced an extremely numerical disadvantage, his assistant, Yang Fu, greatly encouraged the defenders by taking lead in protecting the city. Yang Fu recruited scholars and clansmen numbered to around 1,000 to place under the command of his cousin, Yang Yue, and he himself acted as Yang Yue's strategist. Yang Fu told Yang Yue to set up the crescent moon formation atop the city wall to counter Ma Chao's siege and wait for reinforcement from the east. However, from the first month to the eighth month, there had never been any sign that a relief force was on its way, so Wei Kang sent his staff, Yan Wen, out in the middle of a night in an attempt to get help from Xiahou Yuan, who was stationed at Chang'an.

Unfortunately, the old Yan Wen was caught by Ma Chao's soldiers, and Ma Chao tried to use the respected elder to his advantage. The warlord forced the captive to go to the city's front and tell the defenders that no hope would come from Chang'an. However, the stubborn old man shouted, "A grand force from the east is coming, keep holding until they arrive!" For this Ma Chao asked Yan Wen whether the latter treasured his very own life, but Yan did not reply. Since Ma Chao had been struggling to breach the city wall for a long time, he wanted to lure the influential Yan Wen to change allegiance, so he gave Yan Wen another chance, asking whether the latter knew anyone inside the city who would welcome the invaders, but the old man still remained silent. Now, Ma Chao was irritated and censured the elder venomously, causing Yan Wen to finally stand up and say, " A gentleman serving a lord can die for him but not betray him, yet you desired an old man to conduct evil speeches! Am I a person who would rather live in shame?" Then, a speechless Ma Chao executed Yan Wen in rage.

After witnessing the death of Yan Wen, however, both Wei Kang and the Administrator of Jicheng were terrified, and they hesitated to resist further. Although Yang Fu strongly opposed surrender, Wei Kang opened the city gates and let Ma Chao in. Once Ma Chao got himself inside the fortress-city, he arrested Yang Yue, and asked Zhang Lu's general, Yang Ang, to murder Wei Kang and the Administrator of Jicheng.