In a previous article, we discussed how Zhu Jun and Liu Bei achieved successive victories in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The Yellow Turban leader Han Zhong was forced to retreat to Wancheng. Han Zhong intended to surrender, and Liu Bei advocated peacefully accepting the enemy’s surrender, but Zhu Jun disagreed. Today, we continue with how they eventually conquered Wancheng.
A clever strategy to capture Wancheng
Under pressure from the court, Zhu Jun intensified the siege and eventually killed the Yellow Scarves leader Zhao Hong, while Han Zhong continued to hold out in Wancheng. Han Zhong attempted to surrender to Zhu Jun but were refused.
Zhu Jun’s approach was highly unwise, as it directly forced Han Zhong into a desperate situation. As the saying goes, “A cornered beast will fight back.” When people find themselves in a hopeless situation, they fight with limitless motivation. Zhu Jun learned this lesson the hard way, as his relentless attacks resulted in prolonged battles with no success.
Zhu Jun ordered his soldiers to build a mound to observe the city’s movements. Soon, he identified the problem. While surveying the enemy’s situation from the mound, he realized why the Yellow Turbans were resisting so fiercely and why his forces had failed to capture the city. He said to his subordinates:
“I understand now. The rebels are surrounded on the outside and trapped tightly on the inside. Their surrender was refused, and they have no way to escape, so they are fighting to the death. When a thousand people are united in heart, they are unstoppable, let alone a hundred thousand! This is a grave situation. It would be better to lift the siege. When Han Zhong sees the siege lifted, he will inevitably try to break out. Once they scatter, they will be easy to defeat.”
Interestingly, in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this dialogue is attributed to Liu Bei:
Liu Bei said, “Refusing the enemy’s surrender was a mistake. Now that the siege is as tight as an iron barrel, the rebels cannot surrender and are forced to fight to the death. When a thousand people are united, they are already unstoppable, let alone tens of thousands of desperate people in the city? It would be better to withdraw from the southeast and focus the attack on the northwest. The rebels will abandon the city and flee, losing the will to fight, and we can capture them easily.”
— Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 2
The Outcome: Han Zhong’s defeat and death
As expected, Han Zhong led his troops in abandoning the city and fleeing. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Han Zhong was killed by imperial forces in a barrage of arrows:
“Zhu Jun, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei led their troops in a fierce attack, shooting Han Zhong to death. The remaining soldiers scattered and fled.”
— Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 2
Historically, however, Zhu Jun successfully captured Wancheng by pursuing the defeated enemy for dozens of miles and beheading over ten thousand soldiers. Han Zhong attempted to surrender again but was killed by the resentful Governor of Wancheng, Qin Jie. The remaining Yellow Turban forces, now led by Sun Xia, were subsequently defeated by Zhu Jun, who beheaded another ten thousand soldiers, causing the rebels to disband. Thus, Wancheng was finally pacified.
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