The Battle of Xiangyang: The Battle of Xiangyang in the Southern Song Dynasty that was misled by "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"

In the martial arts novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" by the hero Jin Yong, we saw the peerless love affair between Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu. "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" takes the Mongolian army's southern invasion of Xiangyang as the historical background. Guo Jing and his wife resisted the Mongolian army in Xiangyang for decades, and finally both died when the city was destroyed, composing a tragic historical legend. It is a pity that the novel is a literary work and is fictional after all. So what was the real Battle of Xiangyang in history? The First Battle between Mongolia and Song Dynasty: The warriors of the Southern Song Dynasty regained Xiangyang

The rise of Mongolia in Mobei. The Southern Song Dynasty was confronting the Jin Dynasty across the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River. The Mongolian army and the Song army then attacked the Jin Dynasty from the north and the south. In 1234, the combined forces of Mongolia and Song Dynasty invaded Caizhou, the last stronghold of the Jin Dynasty. Jin Aizong committed suicide and the Jin Dynasty died.

In the second year after the fall of the Jin Dynasty, that is, in 1235, the aggressive Mongolian military aristocrats began to launch an attack on the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, there was internal strife among the generals in Tangzhou (now Tanghe, Henan) in the Southern Song Dynasty. A senior officer named Guo Sheng killed his boss and defected to Mongolia. The Mongolian army took advantage of the situation and moved south from Tangzhou, aiming directly at Xiangyang. The first Battle of Xiangyang broke out.

At that time, the supreme ruler of Mongolia was Ogedai, the third son of Genghis Khan. While sending troops to the Southern Song Dynasty, Mongolia was also conducting a Western Expedition (the famous "Batu Western Expedition"). (hit the Danube River), so the Mongolian army attacking the Song Dynasty this time was not its most elite division. Coupled with the high morale of the Southern Song army and their desperate resistance, the Mongolian army almost marched southward outside Xiangyang City. After a fierce confrontation, the Mongolian army coach Qu Chu (the third son of Wokuotai) had to retreat with looting near Xiangyang.

Unexpectedly, when the powerful enemy retreated, there was an internal problem in the Song army: Xiangyang commander Zhao Fan spent the whole day feasting and having fun with some generals and did not cultivate military affairs. Due to lack of control, the Song generals started fighting with each other. . Song general Li Boyuan and others who had surrendered from the Jin Dynasty suddenly rebelled, set fire to the city walls and warehouses of Xiangyang, robbed a large number of officials, people, supplies and ordnance, and surrendered to Mongolia. Upon seeing this, another part of the Song army also took the opportunity to plunder.

Xiangyang was an important military town in the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty had been working hard here since the founding of the country. After more than one hundred and thirty years, it was reduced to ashes in a mutiny. How could the Mongolian army miss this opportunity? They immediately occupied Xiangyang, and immediately the Mongolian army, with high morale, gathered heavy troops in today's Hubei area and assumed a posture of crossing the Yangtze River.

If the Mongolian army crossed the Yangtze River, the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty would be a certainty. After Song Lizong in Lin'an found out, he was like an ant on a hot pot. Finally, he suddenly remembered one person - only by relying on him could the Song army have hope of turning the crisis around.

This person is Meng Gong. Meng Gong was born as a general, and his great-grandfather Meng An and grandfather Meng Lin were both Yue Fei's subordinates. Meng Gong himself was also a general with both wisdom and courage, and he almost never lost in battles with the Jin army. When the allied forces of Mongolia and the Southern Song Dynasty attacked Caizhou, the last stronghold of the Jin Dynasty, Meng Gong was the first to climb the city wall of Caizhou.

So, Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty ordered Meng Gong to lead his army to the front line to fight the Mongolian army.

When Meng Gong rushed to the front line, the Mongolian army was making rafts and preparing to cross the river. As soon as Meng Gong's army entered the battlefield, they immediately defeated the 24 Mongolian army's strongholds, causing the Mongolian army to retreat northward. Finally the battle situation was stabilized.

After that, in order to regain Xiangyang, the Southern Song Dynasty mobilized a large number of troops to start an extremely cruel tug-of-war with the Mongolian army under Xiangyang City for three years. Meng Gong showed extraordinary fighting resilience and patience in this battle. He uprooted the Mongolian strongholds near Xiangyang one by one, and finally recovered Xiangyang in 1239 relying on Neiying. At the same time, several other Mongolian armies that attacked the Southern Song Dynasty also retreated. The first Battle of Xiangyang ended with the Southern Song Dynasty's complete victory and the myth that the Mongolian army was invincible. The Second War between Mongolia and Song Dynasty: No war broke out in Xiangyang

In "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", the second Mongolian invasion of Song Dynasty started with Kublai Khan leading his army to attack Xiangyang, and ended with Meng Ge He was shot to death by Yang Guo at the foot of Xiangyang City. However in fact. During the second large-scale offensive of the Mongolian army against the Southern Song Dynasty, Xiangyang did not experience war.

At that time, Kublai Khan's army entered Guangxi from Yunnan (Mongolia had already destroyed Dali at this time) and was originally going to go straight to Hangzhou. Unexpectedly, news came halfway that the Great Khan Meng Ge was captured by the Song general at Diaoyu City. After hearing the news, Kublai Khan rushed north to fight for the throne of Khan. He fought left and right in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the end, he fought from Guangxi to the Yangtze River and returned north.

The plot of Guo Jing guarding Xiangyang is certainly wonderful, but it is a pity that Kublai Khan had not been to Xiangyang at that time. The founder of the Yuan Dynasty never led an army to garrison under Xiangyang in his life. The Third War between Mongolia and Song Dynasty: The defense of Xiangfan was postponed for five years

After the second Mongolian invasion of Song Dynasty, Kublai Khan and his younger brother Ali Buge fought for four years of civil war for the throne of Khan. . In 1264, Alibaba surrendered to Kublai Khan. In order to consolidate his position within the "Golden Family" of Mongolia, Kublai Khan wanted to destroy another big country to improve his prestige among the Mongols. The Southern Song Dynasty is naturally the best choice. At this time, the surrender of Southern Song general Liu Zheng gave Kublai Khan hope.

Liu Zheng was originally a powerful general in the Song Dynasty. He was born in the north and served as an officer under Yu Gong. After Meng Gong died in 1246, Liu Zheng, who was deeply influenced by his true heritage, made many military exploits for the Southern Song Dynasty in Sichuan and was known as the "Iron Hu Sun". However, he was jealous of the southern generals.

Among them, Sichuan Support Ambassador Lu Wende deliberately belittled Liu Zheng's military achievements when he performed his meritorious service. Liu Zheng refused to accept it, but Yu Xing, the highest military commander in Sichuan, wanted to punish him. Liu Zheng wanted to appeal to the court, but he had no way. Finally, fearing that he would be framed and killed, Liu Zheng had to surrender to Mongolia.

After Liu Zheng surrendered to Mongolia, he offered advice to Kublai Khan: Xiangyang was the most important military barrier in the Southern Song Dynasty, and he wanted to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty. Xiangyang must be taken first.

Therefore, Mongolia's next military preparations to destroy the Song Dynasty were mainly centered on capturing Xiangyang. Soon, Lu Wende, who had a grudge against Liu Zheng, became the guard general of Xiangyang, and Liu Zheng offered advice to Kublai Khan. According to his strategy, Meng Yuan bribed Lu Wende with a jade belt, and in the name of doing business with the Southern Song Dynasty and building a market, he secretly built a fortress on Lumen Mountain outside Fancheng and established a military stronghold to attack Xiangyang. It's ridiculous that Lu Wende thought he was getting a big deal.

Starting from 1267, Mongolia built cities around Xiangyang and Fancheng to cut off the supply of food in the city. At the same time, it trained its navy and slowly approached Xiangyang. In 1269, the Mongolian army, which adopted the method of "boiling the frog over slow fire" to advance into Xiangfan, finally completed the siege of Fancheng. Lu Wende didn't realize that he had been deceived until then. He reported to the court. The court sent Zhang Shijie, Xiagui, Fan Wenhu and other leading troops to rescue them, but they were frustrated under the fortress that the Mongolian army had already built. Lu Wende realized that he had made a big mistake, felt filled with regret, and finally died of gangrene on his back.

At the same time, the Mongolian army continued to fight steadily, trying to surround Xiangyang. The Southern Song Dynasty court sent General Li Tingzhi and his army to reinforce. Unexpectedly, Li Tingzhi was controlled by Fan Wenhu, the "supervisor of the army" of the imperial court, and was unable to enter the army. Xiangyang was surrounded by the Mongolian army in 1271.

At the same time, Kublai Khan ordered all armies to pounce on the Southern Song Dynasty. In his opinion, Xiangfan has become an isolated city, and it is just around the corner that the Mongolian army can sweep away the fallen leaves in the autumn wind, drink from the Masi Lake, march to Lin'an, and capture the Song Dynasty emperor alive. Unexpectedly, it took Xiangfan a full five years of fighting to win.

The guard guarding Xiangyang was Lu Wenhuan (Lu Wende's younger brother), and the guard guarding Fancheng was Fan Tianshun (Fan Wenhu's son). Both Lu Wende and Fan Wenhu can be said to be idiots, but their younger brother and son showed heroism in the tragic Xiangfan defense battle.

At that time, the Mongolian army set up fortresses at key locations around Xiang and Fan, and the Han River was covered with Mongolian warships and iron cables. All connections between Xiangyang and Fancheng and the outside world were cut off. Lu Wenhuan and Fan Tianshuang used the remaining food in the city to lead the soldiers and civilians to defend desperately. There was a small bridge between Xiang and Fan cities through which they could mobilize their forces. Lu Wenhuan and Fan Tianshuang used these limited favorable conditions to survive for five full years. During this period, Lu Wenhuan also took the initiative to attack the Mongolian army, and once invited Liu Zheng to a duel under Xiangyang City. When Liu Zheng arrived, Lu Wenhuan shot him with a bow and arrow. Liu Zheng was teased and wounded by an arrow. Thinking of his past quarrel with Lu Wenhuan's brother Lu Wende, he hated Lu Wenhuan so much that he directed his army more carefully to attack Xiangfan. He only waited for the day when the city was broken and killed Lu Wenhuan.

In 1272, the Mongolian army began to launch a general attack on Fancheng. The Mongolian and Yuan generals A Shu, Liu Zheng, and Ali Hague led their troops to break through the city wall, build a heavy siege, and further narrow the encirclement. The Song army had to retreat to Fancheng. The inner city held on. When the news reached Lin'an, Jia Sidao, the traitorous official of the Southern Song Dynasty, was extremely frightened. At this time, Xiangfan had been besieged by the Mongolian army for three years. However, under the control of Jia Sidao, Duzong of the Song Dynasty only knew about drinking and sex, did not care about government affairs, and knew nothing about the battle situation on the front line. Song Duzong was shocked when one of his court ladies told him that Xiangfan had been besieged for three years. But the palace maid was immediately executed by Jia Sidao.

But Jia Sidao also knew that if Xiangfan was lost, the Southern Song Dynasty would be destroyed. He ordered Li Tingzhi to rescue. Li Tingzhi recruited more than 3,000 militiamen, and led his two capable generals Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui to attack Xiangfan with a large amount of supplies, trying to break through the siege and deliver the supplies to the garrison in the city.

Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui were brothers. They were both farmers and brave in battle. One was nicknamed "Ai Zhang" and the other was nicknamed "Zhuyuan Zhang". This time when they were rescuing Xiangfan, Zhang Shun brothers knew that the danger was high. Before leaving, Zhang Shun told his subordinates that if there were any people who did not want to die, get out. Unexpectedly, the morale of the 3,000 militiamen was so high that even though they knew they would die, none of them were willing to leave.