In October 277, Du pre-swore in Wancheng, Nanyang County, and started Ji Han's conquest of Eastern Wu.

The 150,000 army went all the way south, passed through Xinye, went down to Deng County, and came to Xiangyang very smoothly.

Needless to say, the historical status of the city has always been a confrontation between the north and the south, and the south can keep half of the country by holding Xiangyang. If Xiangyang is lost...... Think about the Southern Song Dynasty in later generations, it really fell apart in an instant.

In the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, Xiangyang was the place where the Han River and many rivers such as the Han River and the Bishui River converged. In addition to the dense water network, the Han River is fed by many rivers here, and the volume of water increases dramatically and the river surface widens. Soochow's naval forces could go straight up the Han River and garrison this section of the river.

To the north of the Han River is Fanseong. To the south of the Han River is Yangyang. Moreover, the abundant Han River makes a big bend when it flows through here. It envelops Xiangyang in the south and forms a peninsula. This kind of terrain really shouldn't be too beneficial for the defending side (Hechuan Diaoyu City, the terrain where the Whip of God is broken, is also such a peninsula terrain).

So, in that sense. Sun Hao is right not to give up Xiangyang: Xiangyang is too important for the southern forces. With the Xiangfan Twin Cities in hand, the northern army wanted to go south, and if they didn't take it, their battlefield was limited to the Han River Valley. For the Yangtze River, the lifeblood of the south, it cannot be a threat.

"General Qiyu, the forward troops of our army have arrived at the foot of Fancheng City. The city had a large group of Soochow defenders. Looking at its banner, the guard should be Lu Mu and Lu Jiyang. ”

"Hehehe, back then, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites asked Sun Yuanzong to hand over Lu Jiyang in Jianye, as the price for my Han to return the Sun Wu clan. Well, that time should have frightened Lu Jiyang. Therefore, anyone may surrender, but the Lu family will not surrender. This Sun Yuanzong still has the wisdom to know people. ”

This time, the vanguard of the Han army was Huo Biao, the son of Huo Zai. This was the first time he had worked under the command of a general of the former Jin Kingdom. It is extremely unsuitable for Du Pre's style of not directly talking about things, but going far away. However, in the end, he is his current boss, so it is not good to directly hard top at this time.

"General, the last general has already sent someone to dig a trench outside Fancheng City. Unfortunately, the groundwater here is too shallow, and a large amount of groundwater gushes out after digging less than a foot of soil. Therefore, the entrenchment used by our Han in Luoyang in the past to besiege the city is estimated to be useless. ”

"Well, that's mostly the geography of the South. In the past, it seems that most of the methods of trench siege of Da Sima are useless. ”

"General, how are we supposed to break the city?"

"Breaking the city? Why did Ben destroy the city? ”

"Then general, if we don't break this city, will it be possible for us to directly cross the Han River and go south? But this grain road? ”

"Hehehe." Similarly, this is also the first time that Du Pre led Ji Han's soldiers on an expedition. In the past, when I was in the Jin Kingdom, the superiority and humility were extremely obvious, and the commander-in-chief issued orders, which basically did not need to be explained. The lower generals and soldiers below had to bury their heads in execution.

As for Ji Han, due to the weak national strength in the past, it is very important for the generals to be single-minded. Therefore, starting from Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei, Guan Yi, and leading the troops to fight, they must communicate with their subordinate generals repeatedly as much as possible to explain things clearly.

What's more, the current Huo Biao is the son of Huo Zai, the second person in the Great Sima Mansion.

"General Zhonglang, let me ask you. How wide is this Han River? ”

"The vicinity of Xiangyang is wider, about more than 2,000 zhang. There is a very narrow river surface thirty miles upstream of Xiangyang, only more than 100 zhang. ”

"Therefore, as long as our army sets up trebuchets in the narrow part of the river, Wu Gou's sailors will not dare to come over. In this way, our troops will be able to cross the river safely. ”

"The general is right. But after my army crosses the river, this grain road? ”

"Hehehe, Fancheng is a small city in the end, and it can hold twenty or thirty thousand soldiers at most. I sent 50,000 people to be stationed at the foot of Fancheng, so what can Lu Jiyang do with me? ”

"Our army is far superior to the enemy, and it is only right to do so. Just after our army crossed the river? ”

"After our army crossed the river, it naturally went to take Xiangyang. Xiangyang is a big city, and it is much more difficult for the enemy to defend it. Wouldn't it be much easier than just attacking Fan Cheng? If Xiangyang is taken, how can Fancheng survive alone? ”

"That's the truth, so there will be no objection in the end."

"Well, then the general will allocate 50,000 people to the Zhonglang general, and you will be optimistic about Fancheng for the general?"

"The last general commands!"

On the third day of October, Du Pre and Huo Biao divided their troops. Then go west against the Han River, and after walking for about 30 miles, a pontoon bridge was erected in a place where the river was narrow and the trebuchet range could cover all areas. An army of 100,000 crossed the Han River safely.

Then, Du Pre led the army back to the east and arrived at the city of Xiangyang on the fifth day of October.

As a bridgehead for Cao Wei to defend against hostile forces in the south for decades, Xiangyang can of course be regarded as a city with high walls and deep walls.

At this time, it was Lu Shu's son Lu Mu who was only twenty-five years old in Xiangyang.

According to Sun Hao's deployment, there are a total of 50,000 national troops in Xiangfan and Xiangfan. Among them, 3,000 sailors were stationed in the Han River, ensuring the communication between the two cities on both sides of the Han River. For the rest of the infantry, Lü Mu led 30,000 Dongwu national troops and 3,000 private soldiers of the Lu family to defend Fancheng. On Lu Mu's side, there are only 17,000 national troops and 3,000 private soldiers of the Lu family.

Two young people, one did not dare to surrender because his ancestor attacked Guan Yu. One was reluctant to surrender because his father died extremely miserably in Fuling County. Therefore, Sun Hao was very relieved to put them on the front line, because he took a fancy to their firm will to resist.

It's a pity that it's young people in the end. Facing a scheming guy like Du Pre. It was just a simple detour that made most of the army of this corps useless.

On the fourth day of October, after Du Pre's vanguard crossed the Han River, he immediately sent a plate armor spearman and a light cavalry rank to advance rapidly, and quickly occupied the beachhead north of Xiangyang City: I really could not control the flow of materials and troops on the Han River. But if you Fancheng soldiers want to come over to support Xiangyang, please fight a landing battle first!

Landing battles? From the death of Sun Ce, especially after the death of Zhou Yu. The combat power of the infantry and cavalry of Soochow continued to decline. Not to mention the soldiers in the hands of Lu Mu and Lu Mu, except for the private soldiers of their own family, most of them are recruits who have never seen blood.

"Hahaha~~ These two shafts. Ben Jiang originally thought that it would take at least two or three months to get this Xiangfan. Now it seems that we will be able to take it all within October! Someone, herald! Of the 100,000 troops, 20,000 were stationed on the tidal flats on the south bank of the Han River, and the remaining 80,000 were attacked from the four gates of Xiangyang! ”

"Whoa!"

On the sixth day of October, after simply preparing some siege equipment, Du Pre-commanded the Han army to start the most unskilled ant-attached siege.

Xiangyang was too big, and the dilemma of insufficient troops of the 20,000-strong defenders was suddenly highlighted when they were attacked on all sides. As a result, it was only the first day of siege, and the Han army successfully hit the city.

Under the leadership of Lu Mu, the private soldiers of the Lu family and some Eastern Wu soldiers engaged in tenacious street fighting. But such resistance is futile. By the evening of the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the fighting in Xiangyang had completely stopped.

"General Qiyu, in the first battle of Xiangyang, our army beheaded more than 3,500 enemy troops, captured more than 16,000 people, and the enemy defender Lu Mu was killed in battle."

"Good, send Lu Mu's head to the guards of Fancheng!"