The Battle between Xiang and Fan in Ancient war stories

Our stop is approaching a famous war in Song and Yuan Dynasties, the battle of Fancheng in Xiangyang. Xiangyang and Fancheng are surrounded by mountains and rivers, which control the north-south traffic. Their geographical location is very important and has always been a battleground for military strategists. If Mongols want to invade the south, they must seize the land of Xiang and Fan.

After Mungo's death, Kublai Khan rushed back from the north of Ezhou and seized the position of Khan, namely Yuan Shizu. After he put down the rebellion of Alibaba Buge, he adopted the advice of his advisers and prepared to attack Xiangyang in the south, thus capturing the south of the Yangtze River. 1269, Kublai Khan sent Prime Minister Tianze to personally supervise the army, with Asu and Liu Zheng as marshals, and led the army to besiege Xiangyang and Fancheng.

In view of the defensive measures of Xiangyang and Fancheng, and the specialty of Song Jun in guarding the city and fighting for water, the Mongolian army adopted the strategy of building blockhouses outside the two cities and laying siege for a long time. The Mongolian army first built forts in Lumen Mountain (now south of Xiangfan) and Baihekou (now west of Xiangfan) to cut off the links between the armies of the North and South Song Dynasties. Build a fixed platform in Hanshui River (now the enemy station in the east) to cut off the Song Jun waterway; Set up a fence in Guanzitan (now Xiangfan South) to cut off east-west communication; From Wanshan Mountain to Baizhang Mountain (now the south of Xiangfan, Hubei Province), the words "Xianshou Mountain" and "Hutou Mountain" were built to contact the fortress and assemble 100,000 troops to encircle the city. In addition, the Hanshui River is blocked and the main waterways leading to Xiangyang and Fancheng are guarded. At the same time, build ships to train the water army. The Mongols defeated Song Jun who came to the rescue many times. At that time, Jia Sidao, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, was in charge of state affairs, so he was incompetent. Because he had a secret agreement with Kublai Khan, he didn't send effective generals to rescue him. Xiang and Fan were besieged for three years, but Jia Sidao was secretive. Some even dared to mention that the Mongolian army attacked the Song Dynasty and was vilified.

Lu, who was stationed in Jiangyang, was repeatedly attacked and still didn't get out of trouble. 1270, Zhang Shijie was ordered to lead an army to rescue Xiangyang and Fancheng (now the Hanjiang River southeast of Xiangfan) and was defeated by the Mongols. In July, Xia Gui led 50,000 troops and 3,000 warships, and started in the rain. Song sent grain and grass to save Xiangyang. He was ambushed by Mongols in Xincheng (now south of Xiangfan, Hubei) and returned in a fiasco. In February of the following year, Lu led 65,438 +0.5 million steps to ride, and hundreds of warships broke through, which was defeated by Mongolian household Zhang Hongfan. Later, he was ordered to supervise the rescue of Xiang and Fan, but General Fan did not listen to the command and listened to Jia Sidao's command, which limited the rescue operation.

127 1 November, Mongolia was officially founded with the title of Yuan. After the founding of New China, the Yuan Army strengthened its attack on Xiang and Fan. 1272, Asu and Liu Zheng were ordered to storm Fancheng, and soon broke through the outer city of Fancheng. Song Jun retreated to the inner city and was besieged by the Yuan Army. At that time, although there was no shortage of food in the city, there was a shortage of salt, salary and cloth. Saying that Fan could not be dispatched, he ordered Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui to take three thousand men to Xiangyang and Fancheng by boat. At dawn on May 25th, after a fierce battle, Song Jun finally arrived in Xiangyang and Zhang Shun died. The arrival of foreign aid greatly encouraged the soldiers and civilians in Xiangyang and Fancheng. After Zhang Gui sneaked into Xiangyang, he sent someone to contact Yunzhou DuDu Fan to meet Longwei State. Later, Zhang Gui led an army out of the city to support him, but because of the traitor's betrayal and Fan's failure, the army was ambushed by the Yuan army in Longweizhou. Song Jun was besieged by the Yuan Army. After fighting, the whole army was wiped out, and Zhang Gui was injured and captured, and was killed by the Yuan Army. Since then, Xiangyang and Fancheng have cut off contact with foreign aid, relying only on the pontoon bridge on the Hanshui River. Later, the Yuan army burned down the pontoon bridge between the two cities, cutting off the connection between the two cities. Then the soldiers of the Yuan Army concentrated their forces and attacked Fancheng in several ways with guns returning to the city. /kloc-in the first month of 0/273, Fan Cheng was attacked by the Yuan Army, and the Song Shoujiang unified Fan Tianshun and committed suicide. Niu Fu, the accused, led hundreds of people to fight with the Yuan Army in the street, and also plunged into the sea of fire after being seriously injured. After the Yuan army occupied Fancheng, it turned to Xiangyang. In February of the same year, Lu Xiang, commander of Xiangyang garrison in Song Dynasty, surrendered to Yuan Army. Fancheng and Xiangyang, two major military towns, fell one after another, which determined the fate of the Southern Song Dynasty.

How did Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui lead the army to break through the obstacles of the Yuan Army and enter Xiangyang City?

Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui were ordered to rescue the besieged city of Xiangyang. Before leaving, he encouraged the soldiers to say: "The task of saving Xiangyang this time is arduous, and everyone must make up their minds to die. If some of you are not voluntary, please leave quickly and don't affect this action. " At that time, 3,000 sailors were in high spirits and vowed to complete the task. At the beginning of the rescue, Zhang Shun assembled a fleet to form a phalanx. Each ship was equipped with muskets and guns, and prepared a strong crossbow, ready to enter the encirclement of the Yuan Army. The fleet arrived at Mohong Beach and was blocked by Yuanjiang Army. Zhang Gui led his troops to storm, first shooting enemy ships with a strong bow, then slashing them with a big axe, breaking through heavy blockades and finally reaching Xiangyang successfully. However, Zhang Shun was killed in this battle. A few days later, Xiangyang soldiers and civilians found his body in the water. He was still wearing armor, holding a crossbow and his eyes were wide open. Xiangyang soldiers and civilians admired him very much, buried him and set up a temple for sacrifice.

How did Zhang Gui lead the army to break through and meet Fan's troops?

According to the date agreed with Fan, Zhang Gui led 3000 soldiers to the Hanshui River on time. When he counted the soldiers, he found that one soldier was missing. The soldier was initially whipped for violating military orders. Knowing that the news had leaked out, Zhang Gui said to the soldiers, "Our plan for today has leaked out. Now we have to attack quickly, and maybe the enemy has no time to act. " He decisively changed his action and set sail while it was dark, deus ex.

This battle was the key battle for the Yuan Dynasty to completely wipe out the Southern Song Dynasty. In view of Song Jun's specialty in guarding the city and the elite water army, the Yuan Army took a long-term siege, waited for an opportunity, made full use of its strengths and avoided weaknesses, and captured Xiangyang and Fancheng in one fell swoop, which destroyed the defense system of the Southern Song Dynasty and opened the way for marching into the hinterland of the Southern Song Dynasty and sweeping the south of the Yangtze River.