Xiangyang Nanchuan Ma Bei Hotel

Geographically, the north-south boundary of China refers to the Qinling-Huaihe line. Qinling is the Long Mai of the Chinese nation, located between Hanzhong and Guanzhong in Shaanxi, with a total length of more than 800 miles. Huaihe River is the geomantic river of the Chinese nation, which lies between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River and mainly flows through Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces.

Basically, it can be understood that the south of the Huaihe River in Qinling Mountains is the south and the north is the north, which is the geographical basis for the division between the north and the south. If the two natural landscapes of Qinling Mountain and Huaihe River are connected on the map, the middle place is Xiangyang, which is located between Qinling Mountain and Huaihe River. It can also be understood that the south of Xiangyang is the south and the north of Xiangyang is the north.

If we look at the whole map of China, taking the cold weapon era as an example, there are three main channels for southerners to go north or northerners to go south:

The first passage is the western passage, that is, from Hanzhong to Guanzhong, or from Guanzhong to Hanzhong via Qinling. In the era of cold weapons, there were only five roads in this Qinling Mountains, from west to east: Qishan Road, Chencang Road, Xiexie Road, Luo Luo Lu Road and Woods Valley Road.

These five roads are difficult to walk. Look at Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition in the Three Kingdoms or Gao Yingxiang's Northern Expedition in the Ming Dynasty. Zhuge Liang made five northern expeditions in his life, all of which ended in failure. Gao Yingxiang was once killed in the Northern Expedition, because the road here is difficult to walk. Neither the cavalry in the north nor the mountain soldiers and water army in the south are conducive to marching here.

This is also the Shu Dao in the traditional sense. Shu Road is only difficult to get to the sky, which shows that the road here is difficult to walk. The mountains here are high and the valleys are deep, and most of the time they rely on plank roads built on cliffs. Once the plank road is destroyed, it is very difficult to take the mountain road. Generally, large-scale parades don't go this way.

The second largest waterway is the eastern waterway, which is the Huaihe River Basin. In addition to the Huaihe River, there are the Yangtze River and Hongze Lake, one of the five largest freshwater lakes. There are dense water networks and criss-crossing rivers here. In the era of cold weapons, it was very inconvenient to March on a large scale, and a large number of boats were used. Generally speaking, northerners go south, and there are not so many boats, while southerners go north, and they can only go to the place where the boat arrives, and then take the land.

Xiangyang is the third largest corridor in central China, and one of the political centers of China lies in the North China Plain. The northernmost part of the North China Plain is today's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and the southernmost part is Nanyang, Henan. If the North China Plain continues to the south, it will reach Nanyang Basin, which is an important corridor for the Central Plains to go south to Jianghan Plain, and Xiangyang is to the south of Nanyang Basin.

From the traditional Central Plains to Jianghan Plain, the best way to go south is to reach Xiangyang through Nanyang Basin, then cross Hanshui River, and then enter Jianghan Plain and Yangtze River Basin. Let's call this road Nanxiang Corridor. There are mountains on both sides of Nanxiang Corridor. This southbound route looks like a corridor, connecting Jianghan Plain and North China Plain, and Xiangyang is the most important node on this road.

From the North China Plain to the south, there is not only one road in the South (Nanyang) Xiang (Xiangyang) Corridor, but there are other roads to take, but it needs to cross mountains and mountains. Only Nanxiang Corridor is the best way out, which can pass cavalry, infantry and trench. The South Hunan Corridor is the Qinling Mountains in the west, Tongguan and Wuguan in the northwest, Jingshan and Wudang Mountains in the southwest, and Tongbai Mountain and Dahongshan in the east.

Looking at Xiangyang from the whole map of China, the most central position of China map is Hubei Province, and Xiangyang is located a little west of the northernmost part of Hubei Province, which is the traffic artery connecting Henan Province and North China Plain. Judging from the whole map of China, Xiangyang is just a little above the heart. Xiangyang has been said to be the thoroughfare of seven provinces since ancient times, which means that Xiangyang is the border between the north and the south and a strategic place extending in all directions. Xiangyang City has been the first in China since ancient times.

Xiangyang really became the traffic artery in the history of China, starting from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After unifying the whole north, Cao Cao chose the strategy of seizing Xiangyang occupied by Liu Biao from the Central Plains through Nanyang Basin. This is because Xiangyang is the best access to Jianghan Plain and the Yangtze River valley in the north, and it is suitable for large-scale cavalry and infantry operations. Cao Cao didn't have the time and energy to train the water army for a long time, so he chose to fight Xiangyang.

As a result, Liu Biao died, and his son Liu Cong acceded to the throne and surrendered to Cao Cao. Then Cao Cao occupied Xiangyang and the whole Jingzhou with no effort. Although Battle of Red Cliffs and Cao Cao suffered a crushing defeat, the entire Jingzhou territory south of Xiangyang was taken away by Sun Quan and Liu Bei, but Cao Cao firmly grasped the strategic points of Xiangyang and Fancheng, because Cao Cao knew that Xiangyang was the key to his unification of the world. If Cao Cao still has the idea of unifying the world, he must control Xiangyang and March from Xiangyang in the future to defeat the southern forces.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the most famous battle about Xiangyang was the Northern Expedition to Xiangfan launched by Guan Yu in 2 19. In this campaign, Guan Yu made a northern expedition with the help of three counties in Jingzhou, quickly defeated the generals Coss, Xiangyang satrap Luchang and Runan Man Chong, and trapped Coss, Luchang and Man Chong in the city. Then Guan Yu took advantage of the surge of the Hanshui River, captured Yu Jin and the Seventh Army alive, and killed Pound.

But the whole battle of Xiangfan, although Guan Yu surrounded Xiangyang and Fancheng, has been unable to conquer the city, because Xiangyang and Fancheng are too difficult to fight. First, the city is strong, second, it is surrounded by Hanshui River, and third, Cao Weiqiang and Guan Yu are weak. Guan Yu failed to capture Xiangyang and Fancheng from south to north, and it will be more difficult to attack from north to south.

Why did Guan Yu explore Xiangfan in the north?

Because Guan Yu wanted to open the door of the Central Plains, as long as he captured Xiangfan and further captured Nanyang (then Wancheng), he could directly enter the North China Plain from Nanyang Basin, but there was nothing to defend in the North China Plain. The core cities of Cao Wei, Xuchang, Luoyang and Yecheng are all in the North China Plain. Guan Yu wants to enter the Central Plains, the most important thing is to capture Xiangfan, which is also Longzhong's strategy for Zhuge Liang and the strategy for Shu and Han to unify the world.

If you want to unify the world, you must win Xiangyang, because it is too difficult to go from Hanzhong to Guanzhong. Liu bang can succeed, in addition to the world situation, there are luck and geography, and Liu Bei does not have this kind of luck. Therefore, the best way for Liu Bei Group to explore the Central Plains in the north and revive the Han Dynasty is to explore Xiangfan in the north, and the importance of Xiangyang is reflected.

Ancient Xiangfan includes Xiangyang City on the south bank of Hanshui River and Fancheng on the north bank of Hanshui River. These two cities are horns, which echo each other from a distance and are difficult to capture. Look at the Xiangyang War between Mongolia and the Southern Song Dynasty from 1267 to 1273. The Mongolian army attacked Xiangyang City for six years, and finally the Mongols borrowed Arab cannons, plus

At that time, the strategy adopted by Mongolia was to capture Xiangyang, then enter the Yangtze River along the Hanshui River, go hand in hand from the Yangtze River to the east, and finally advance to Lin 'an (now Hangzhou), the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. If Xiangyang can't be defeated, it can't enter the Yangtze River. So Xiangyang is the most important battle for Mongols to attack the Southern Song Dynasty, where the Southern Song Dynasty fought to the death. However, because Jia Sidao was in power, his resistance will was not strong, and he colluded with the Mongolian army in secret, which led to the shortage of reinforcements at Xiangyang front.

Only two years after the fall of Xiangyang City, Mongolian troops captured Lin 'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Southern Song Dynasty perished. Therefore, for the southern regime, once Xiangyang falls, the southern regime, whether its capital is Nanjing or Hangzhou, can't keep the regime, so the gain and loss of Xiangyang city is related to the life and death of the whole regime.

If the north and south of China are a unified regime, the convenience of Xiangyang City lies only in transportation and communication. If the north and south are separated, Xiangyang city is related to the strategy of unifying the world. In the non-unification period of the Three Kingdoms, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and the Southern Song Dynasty in China's history, Xiangyang City was an important existence, which was related to the important task of the North and South competing for the world. This is why Xiangyang is called the first city in the world.