Shangguan Che was very relieved to see that she had already learned how to take the initiative to understand the reasons for the failure, touched her head and replied: "There are strategic reasons and there are human reasons, let me tell you carefully." ”

So he adjusted his sitting posture and said: "At that time, the Southern Song Dynasty was in power by the powerful minister Jia Rudao, this person concealed it internally, humiliated and sought glory externally, when the Yuan army surrounded Xiangyang City, the situation was very urgent, but he did not reveal half a point to the imperial court, which was the first. Second, Liu Quan, the general of the Southern Song Dynasty, surrendered to the Yuan army and offered a strategy of 'attacking Xiangyang first and withdrawing its defense', which was adopted by Kublai Khan, who bribed Lü Wende, the Jinghu envoy of the Southern Song Dynasty, with a jade belt, and asked for a market outside Xiangyang City (a market set up on the border by the Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties to exchange markets with neighboring countries), and Lü Wende agreed. Later, Kublai Khan requested that an earthen wall be built on the periphery of Xiangyang City on the grounds of protecting goods and preventing thieves, but Lu Wende did not think much about it and still agreed. As everyone knows, Kublai Khan built these earthen walls to defend Xiangyang City.

In 1268, Kublai Khan sent his general Ashu to build forts in the southeast and northeast of Xiangyang City, cutting off the Song army's aid to Xiangyang.

In 1270, Kublai Khan sent the general Shi Tianze to build a long siege in the west of Xiangyang City, and then built a city in the south to connect the fortresses, so that Xiangyang City became an isolated city isolated from the outside world.

Then, Kublai Khan sent people to build more than ten castles on the periphery of Xiangyang City, and established a strategic base for a long-term siege of Xiangyang City. After that, a naval army was established and preparations for the siege were completed on both land and water.

In the same year, Liu Quan, the general of the Southern Song Dynasty, conspired with Ah Shu that 'I am a crack soldier and a horseman, and the one who should be broken, but the water war is not as good as Song Er's. Seize his strengths, build warships, and learn the navy, and things will help', so Kublai Khan ordered Liu to reorganize the navy and build warships. Liu Quanthen began to train the navy and ordered man-made warships, and soon built 5,000 warships. Later, he received 500 warships sent by Sichuan Province, so as to have a fairly large naval army. ”

"During this period, was there no corresponding countermeasure on the side of the Southern Song Dynasty?" Jiang Yuetang asked.

Yes, in September 1270, Fan Wenhu, the deputy commander of the Southern Song Dynasty, led a naval army to reinforce Xiangyang, and the Yuan army immediately ordered the water and land armies to meet the battle, Fan Wenhu was defeated and had to flee in a hurry. In 1271, Fan Wenhu again led his army to aid Xiang, and Kublai Khan sent Ashu to lead the generals to meet the battle, but the Song army was still defeated and lost more than 100 warships. ”

"Alas. Jiang Yuetang sighed.

Shangguan Che deliberately asked, "Why are you sighing?"

Jiang Yuetang said: "At this time, the encirclement of the Yuan army has been completed, and it is more difficult for the Song army to attack than to climb the mountain, and the loss of Xiangyang City is basically a foregone conclusion. ”

"Well, that's true. Shangguan Che said, and continued: "In 1272, Li Tingzhi, a general of the Southern Song Dynasty, recruited more than 3,000 militiamen from nearby areas, and sent Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui to lead them to support Xiangyang City with the materials urgently needed in Xiangyang City.

Before leaving, Zhang Shun said to the soldiers: "The task of this aid operation is extremely arduous, and each of us must have the determination to die. ”

The soldiers were all in high spirits and expressed their determination to complete the task, so the rescue operation officially began. The two generals formed a phalanx, and placed muskets, cannons and strong bows and crossbows on the boats, Zhang Gui was in front, Zhang Shun was behind, they first used strong crossbows to shoot the enemy ships, and then used big axes to engage them in short combat, with high soldiers to defeat the Yuan army and retreat. In the battle, Zhang Shun was killed, and a few days later, the soldiers and civilians of Xiangyang City found his body, when he was floating in the water, with angry eyes, armor and bow, as if he were alive. He was buried and temples were built for sacrifice. That's an afterword.

After Zhang Shun's death, Zhang Gui and his soldiers continued to fight tenaciously, and finally broke through the encirclement of the Yuan army and delivered supplies to Xiangyang City.

This was the first victory of the Song army in this five-year siege, which greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers in the city. At this point, the Song army on the periphery finally got in touch with the Song army in the city, and they agreed to open up the communication line on the periphery of Xiangyang City, and then Fan Wenhu met in Longweizhou, so as to achieve the purpose of pinching the Yuan army from the north and south.

Zhang Gui said goodbye to Lu Wenhuan and led 3,000 sailors down the Han River, but when he found that there was one less person when he ordered the troops, he immediately realized that their plan had been leaked, and immediately said to the soldiers: "Our plan has been leaked, and we can only take action before the enemy has time to respond." So he released the ship and opened fire overnight, breaking out of the encirclement of the Yuan army.

After the Yuan army learned about it, he immediately sent tens of thousands of people to intercept it, surrounded the river to death, Zhang Gui traveled while fighting, and when he approached Longweizhou, Zhang Gui found that the direction of Longweizhou was fluttering with flags and warships like clouds, thinking that Fan Wenhu had come to answer, and was busy raising fire to show it. The opposing ships rushed in the direction of the fire.

When the opponent's ships approached, Zhang Gui realized that it was all Yuan army, and immediately started a battle with it. During the battle, the Song army led by Zhang Gui was quickly defeated due to excessive exhaustion and insufficient numbers, and Zhang Gui was captured, but he would rather die than surrender, and was finally killed.

After that, the Yuan army sent four people to carry Zhang Gui's body to Xiangyang City, forcing Lü Wenhuan to surrender, Lü Wenhuan refused to surrender, killed the four with his own hands, buried Zhang Gui and Zhang Shun together, and set up two temples for sacrifice.

In order to capture Xiangyang City as soon as possible, the Yuan army adopted the tactic of dividing and besieging in the autumn of 1272, that is, attacking Fancheng first.

Xiangyang and Fancheng are interdependent on each other between the Han River, 'crossing Jingyu, controlling the north and south', the terrain is dangerous, and it is a place where soldiers must fight, so the Yuan army thinks that 'Xiangyang has Fancheng, and there are lips in the teeth. It is advisable to attack Fancheng first, and Xiangyang can be obtained without attacking Fancheng'.

As a result, the Yuan army attacked Fancheng from the northeast and southwest in early 1273, and sent artillery to bombard the city, and soon the pontoon bridge connecting Xiangyang and Fancheng was burned, making it impossible for the Song army in Xiangyang to come to the rescue of Fancheng.

Liu Cheng led his troops to bombard the southwest corner of Fancheng with back artillery, and rushed into the city, and Niu Fu, the Southern Song Dynasty defender of Fancheng, led his troops to fight with him in a street battle, but he was outnumbered and finally surrounded by the Yuan army, Niu Fu also refused to surrender and set himself on fire, and Fancheng fell.

When Lu Wenhuan, the defender of Xiangyang City, learned of this, he immediately complained to the Southern Song court, but he had no choice but to continue to defend it.

In February 1273, Ali Hague, the general of the Yuan army, led an army to attack Xiangyang City, and the soldiers and civilians in the city were unable to resist and surrendered out of the city.

At this point, the Yuan army captured Xiangyang City, and the siege that lasted nearly six years finally came to an end. Kublai Khan took the opportunity to attack the Southern Song Dynasty, and in 1279, the Song army was completely annihilated in the Battle of Yashan, and the Southern Song Dynasty was completely destroyed.

Kublai Khan began the great unification of the country and established the Yuan Dynasty. ”

When Shangguan Che looked at Jiang Yuetang after speaking, he found that the latter was in tears, and hurriedly handed her a handkerchief, and asked, "Now, do you know the reason for the defeat of the Song army in this battle?"

..............

Dear friends, a watch is coming. I couldn't help but burst into tears when I wrote about the plot of General Zhang Shun's sacrifice, I admired the people with integrity and character, these people are real men, no matter how long history has passed, the spirit of these people will remain in the world.