On the other side of Xiangyang, it is a huge military camp of the Northern Army, with Fancheng as the center, stretching for more than ten miles, when it is the morning food, the smoke curls up, and it gathers into a dark cloud in the sky above Fancheng.

"Do you count clearly?"

At the head of Xiangyang City, the lieutenant kicked the sun, who was in charge of watching the number of enemy troops, and told him to hurry up.

Shi Ri hurriedly said: "Captain Gongdu, I can see that when the enemy camp is cooking, there are at least 5,000 stoves smoking together!" ”

"One stove, ten people eat, that's 50,000."

"This is only the main battalion, according to the cavalry Sima Lao Wu on the other side of the Baishui River, there are three small battalions in the west and east of the big camp, each with 10,000 people."

"In other words, the enemy army arranged a scale of 80,000 men to attack Xiangyang."

Several military officials next to him quickly calculated the approximate number of enemy troops and looked at the lieutenant: "Lieutenant Gongdu, what should I do?" ”

You must know that the defenders of Xiangyang are only 10,000.

"I'm afraid of a bird!"

As the leader of the children of Heifu's old department, the co-captain who had made great contributions in the two battles of Wuchang and Jiangling had no hair on his mouth, but he had a bit of arrogance

He pointed to the 80,000 enemy troops on the opposite bank, as if he regarded it as nothing: "Across the Hanshui River, which is two or three hundred zhang wide, and even more obstructed by our army's boat division, can they still fly over with wings?" Seven or eight days have passed, and it's not like Wanghan sighs and is at a loss? ”

As soon as the words fell, the camp of the Northern Army on the opposite bank, hundreds of feet, broke out into a violent uproar, and the sound soared into the sky!

On the city wall of Xiangyang, the soldiers who were also cooking and eating almost heard the shouting, a spirit got up, picked up the weapons around him, and looked at the north bank of the Han River vigilantly.

The enemy did not attempt to cross the river, they simply cheered and sang for the arrival of a man!

80,000 people shouted in unison, and the sound, even from a distance of hundreds of feet, still clearly reached the ears of everyone in the Northern Expeditionary Army.

"Tongwu Hou Zhi!"

"Tongwu Hou Zhi!"

In addition to the banner of Jiaolong, which represents the status of the prince, a huge "king" character is embroidered on it!

Everyone looked at each other, and the recruit stuck out his tongue and licked his lips to soothe his emotions, unable to hide the fear in his eyes. Even if he has experienced countless fights, he has suppressed the pressure on his chest vigorously.

But each of them knew that the general, who had been invincible and invincible for decades, finally came, and immediately boosted the morale of the Northern Army!

But there is a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers.

The lieutenant behaved as usual, talking and laughing, and pulled the soldiers out of awe:

"The generalissimo said that Xiangyang is beaten with iron, and I will let Wang Ben taste the first defeat here!"

……

Fancheng is far older than the newly built Xiangyang, and it is said that this is the alternative of Zhongshan Fu in the Zhou Dynasty, because Zhongshan Fu was named Fan Bo, so this small town is also called Fancheng.

As soon as he arrived here, the gray-haired old general boarded Fancheng, and the situation on the other side of the river was unobstructed.

Xiangyang City is not large, because it is only used as a military fortress, without any official offices or residential areas.

However, the north city wall of Xiangyang, which is three zhang high, is only more than ten zhang away from Hanshui, which means that even if the river is crossed, there is no broad depth to launch the siege troops, but will be shot by the bows and crossbows arranged by the enemy.

There are also city walls on the other three sides, and the Han water is led around the city, and the moat is as wide as fifty or sixty zhang.

It can be seen that in order to build this strong city, Heifu really invested a lot of money, and within two months, he couldn't bear to cross the Han Dynasty to the north, and 40,000 people took turns to build it, so that the city could rise from the ground.

But for Wang Ben, Heifu's investment is worth it.

If you look at it farther, you will know that the east side of Xiangyang is a tidal flat near the river, and the west and south side are continuous mountains, which are Wanshan and Da Hyeon Mountains, and there are only two narrow mountain roads leading to the south.

"The art of war has clouds, the one who enters is narrow, the one who returns from the detour, and those who can hit my people are enclosed land, and this Xiangyang is an enclosed land."

Wang Ben watched in silence for a long time, and finally spoke up, the old general has fought countless battles in his life, whether it is Huaiyang, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, Daliang, which has a large population, or Xiangping, which is far away, he has a way to take it.

But the Xiangyang in front of him made Wang Ben really understand why it took ten full days for the striker he sent, and he was still at a loss for the opposite city.

No, the lieutenants of the vanguard actually didn't even touch the side of the city wall, because they didn't even come up with a perfect way to get the army to cross the Han River.

"General, that is Taohuazhou (Xiangyang Taohua Island)."

The forward general is named Sima Ying, the grandson of Sima Cuo, and he pointed to a huge island island in the water on the south coast of the west, and some warships can be vaguely seen entering and leaving the water village, which is the culprit who has blocked the northern army on the north shore for several days!

"The black thief in the construction of Xiangyang at the same time, but also on this Taohuazhou to build a small Yi, he seized the southern county, controlled a lot of Jiang and Han boats, most of them traced the Han upstream, concentrated here, our army wanted to help the Han attack Xiangyang, often blocked by it, tried to build two pontoon bridges, were all burned by the rebels."

If you talk about the position of the field, or even the moth attached to the siege of the city, they are all veterans who have fought the battle to destroy the Six Kingdoms, and they are still led by the soldiers of Shangjun and Guanzhong, and they are not afraid of the enemy.

But if you fight on the water, the faces of the soldiers from the north will not look good, the northerners are good at horses, the southerners are good at boats, the southern army is mostly from Chu, living on the waterfront, and the water is several times better than that of the northern army, plus almost all the boat divisions of the Qin Dynasty are concentrated in the coastal and south, the northerners can only stare at Xiangyang dry, and they dare not easily enter the water to fight - King Zhou Zhao drowned in the Han River, and the lesson of the southern expedition did not return, the captains can remember it.

Wang Ben didn't blame them too much, and said with a rhetorical smile: "Taking advantage of the momentum of mountains and rivers, and being a dangerous place, it is indeed not easy to attack!" ”

But his high opinion of this new city does not mean that there are no flaws.

Wang Ben paced to the east city wall of Fancheng, pointed to the big sandbar where the Tangbai River joins the Han River more than ten miles away, and asked, "What is the continent in the east called?" ”

Sima Ying said: "This continent is called Yuliang Continent, also known as Longwei Continent. ”

Wang Ben bowed: "The reason why the rebels did not build a water village on this continent is probably because it is too close to the north bank and it is difficult to defend, but it is cheaper for us." If you want to take Xiangyang, you must first win the water battle, otherwise the army has to take a long detour to cross the river, some time ago I was negligent, but the dead sheep are remedied, it is not too late, Sima Ying, you immediately send someone to land, build a large number of buildings on it, and build a water village! ”

"General, if the rebel boat division comes to harass ......" Sima Ying was worried, their poor boat was no match for the Southern Boat Division at all.

Wang Ben didn't care: "The pontoon bridge was also rebuilt, so that the rebels would lose sight of one or the other." ”

"No." Sima Ying received the order, but he didn't know the bottom in his heart.

"And that."

Wang Ben pointed to the west of Xiangyang City, the narrow plain between Hanshui and Wanshan ravines, and said: "The captain of Hanzhong has 20,000 soldiers, and when he reaches Zhuyang, I can make it advance to the east, build a camp on Wanshan, condescendingly, and observe the reality of Xiangyang, and also test how many reinforcements the rebels have hidden behind Wanshan and Da Xian Mountain." ”

With this Wang Ben's guidance, the next battle of the Northern Army was no longer aimed at forcibly crossing the Han River, but instead of accumulating water superiority, and testing from the west to seize the commanding heights of Wanshan......

After all the lieutenants were ordered to retreat, Wang Ben still stayed at the head of the city, holding the battlements, looking at Xiangyang, with a complicated expression.

"Tongwu Hou, the city is windy, do you want to go down?"

The young Changshi behind him kindly reminded him that he was a new staff member recruited by Wang Ben, and his family was Gan Mingtang, the son of the famous Ganluo, who was smart but died young, leaving only such a son.

Gan Tang has the style of his father, although he is young, he is very smart, and Wang Ben likes to take him very much.

"Gan Tang, you have always liked to talk a lot, just now I asked everyone if you want to add a strategy to break the city, you didn't say a word, why?"

Gan Tang smiled: "Because I guess that the Marquis of Tongwu does not intend to fight a tough battle in Xiangyang. ”

"Oh?" Wang Ben turned his head: "How can you see it?" ”

Gan Tang said: "It has been two months since the Marquis of Tongwu sent troops, and the urging of the court and the central government is tight, and the second emperor has to issue an edict almost every ten days to invite the Marquis of Tongwu to march. At present, the black thieves are sitting big, and there is Jingzhou, it is said that they are still sending troops to Wuhui and Bashu, and the bandits in the east and Chu are raging, and the world will be in chaos, and the general is afraid that he will not have time to slowly test and surround with the rebels here, and then train sailors from scratch. ”

"Therefore, I thought that several orders of the Marquis of Tongwu were just a posture of using Sima Duwei as a suspicious soldier to be stationed in Xiangyang for a long time and fight a decisive battle, but in fact, I am afraid that there are other plans."

Wang Ben smiled and said: "What a son of the Gan family, this clever and intelligent is about to catch up with your father." ”

He slowly became serious: "You are right, my original intention was to lead a large army to take Yan County directly and fight a decisive battle with Heifu, but who expected that Heifu had built a new city here, and I couldn't step into Hanshui." ”

Seeing that Wang Ben, who had conquered everything in his life, said so, Gan Tang smacked his tongue: "This city is really so difficult to fight?" ”

Wang Ben bowed his head, although he didn't want to admit it, but he had to admit it: "Back then, Lü Buwei made a guest to write "Lü's Spring and Autumn Period", and counted the world's famous and dangerous passes, with a total of nine. ”

"The rebels were able to find such a key place to defend, which is indeed a chokehold. Decades ago, if the Chu people could build a fortified city here, Wu Anjun would probably have to make trouble, and I would not have a way to break it quickly. ”

"The art of war, repairing the turrets, with equipment, will be completed in three months; It's been three months. It will be overwhelming and the ants will possess it, kill one-third of the soldiers, and those who will not pull out the city will also be attacked by this disaster. ”

"I have just calculated, if we really want to fight Xiangyang, I am afraid that we will have a division of 100,000 people, operating left and right, encroaching step by step, first better than water, cutting off its food reinforcements, and then the troops will come to the city, after years of siege, I am afraid it will take two ......or three years."

But Wang Ben can't even afford to wait for half a year, his health is already not good, and he is forced to lead the troops out of the customs, and he doesn't know when he will fall. The situation in the court and the world is getting worse and worse, although he knows that this battle is a late starter, but he has to move first.

However, Xiangyang City was like a moat, blocking in front of Wang Ben.

And this time, he no longer has the advantage and time when he besieged Daliang.

"When the first emperor was in the city, the famous city was withdrawn and the customs were removed, so that the world was unimpeded, but now, Heifu has rebuilt a strong wall in the country, dividing the country into north and south, which is really an unforgivable sin!"

After scolding Heifu, the old general muttered: "I can't let the army waste time here, I can only repair the water village openly, make a big move to attack Xiangyang, and attract reinforcements from Heifu, but secretly, I have to avoid the truth and make a false ......"

For decades, Wang Ben, who has been famous for fighting tough battles and never frowning in the face of Jiancheng Shenchi, must bow to reality today and retreat in front of Xiangyang City.

It was as if the war had not yet begun, and he had already lost Heifu for a while, which made Wang Ben a little frustrated.

Even though he was faintly unhappy in his heart, as an excellent general, Wang Ben had a reason to convince himself not to fight for a moment and not to die in Xiangyang:

For the victory of the war!

"Where does the general want to attack?" Gantang as a trick.

Wang Ben looked to the east, and the answer was obvious:

"Suixian!"

……

PS: The second chapter is at 12 o'clock or 12:30.