A good shooter is not famous for his arrows, but because he shoots accurately.

- Hmong proverb

One day, a Southern Song general who had surrendered to the Great Yuan Dynasty, Liu Quan, presented Kublai Khan with a strategy to destroy the mother country of the Southern Song Dynasty: "Attack Xiangyang first, and withdraw to defend it." If there is no Xiang in the Southern Song Dynasty, there will be no Huai, and if there is no Huai, Jiangnan will be at your fingertips. ”

Xiangyang is located at the southern end of the Nanyang Basin, divided into Xiangyang and Fancheng, respectively on the north and south banks of the Han River, interdependent, across Jingyu, control the north and south, the terrain is very dangerous, since ancient times, it is a place where soldiers must fight, and it is also the frontline town of the Southern Song Dynasty to resist the Mongolian army.

Kublai Khan summoned Dalai and Nuhai to listen to their opinions.

Nuhai said: "As a strategic location, Xiangyang is the west gate of the Southern Song Dynasty and a very important support point for the Jingxiang defense line. If Xiangyang is lost, Jiangling is in danger. If Jiangling is in danger, the danger of the Yangtze River is not enough to be feared. If the Yangtze River is no longer a natural risk, after the door is opened, a large area of land in the south of the Yangtze River will be unsafe, directly threatening Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. ”

Kublai Khan thought for a while and decided to adopt Liu Quan's suggestion to attack Xiangyang first, appointing Dalai as the commander and Nuhai as the deputy marshal, leading a large army to implement a strategic encirclement of Xiangyang.

They rushed to the vicinity of Xiangyang and saw that the Southern Song army was heavily defended, so they first stationed there, and Nuhai was responsible for establishing a land stronghold as a base for attacking the Southern Song Dynasty in the future.

Liu Cheng put forward another suggestion: "The Jinghu system makes Lu Wende extremely greedy as an official, and he refuses to let go of even such a small fortune as a small profit." We can bribe him with small favors and then make our demands. ”

Dalai happily sent two envoys of the Yuan army, with a pair of precious jade belts, to meet Lu Wende.

Lu Wende really took the bait, and accepted the jade belt with a smile.

The envoy of the Yuan army then asked: "In order to protect our goods and prevent thieves from stealing, is it feasible for us to build an earthen wall on the periphery of Xiangyang City?" ”

Lu Wende, who was confused, actually replied: "What's the matter?" Fix it, fix it. ”

Dalai immediately ordered the Yuan army to build forts on Lumen Mountain southeast of Xiangyang and Baihe City in the northeast, and established the first stronghold to encircle Xiangyang.

The Yuan army soon built more than 10 castles on the periphery of Xiangyang, completed the strategic encirclement of Xiangyang, cut off the connection between Xiangyang and the northwest and southeast, and thus fully controlled the road of the Southern Song Dynasty to aid Xiangyang.

Xiangyang has completely become an isolated city.

Dalai's army was invincible on land, but it suffered a big loss on the rivers and lakes because of the ineffectiveness of the naval army, and he was almost captured alive by the officers and soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty, exposing the weakness of the naval army. As a result, Dalai put Nuhai in charge of building a naval army and seeking a tactical advantage to subdue the Southern Song Dynasty.

At this critical moment, Liu Cheng made another suggestion to Dalai: "I am a crack soldier, and the one who should be broken, but the water battle is not as good as Song Er." Seize the strengths of the other, build warships, and learn the navy, and it will be all right. ”

When Dalai heard this, he thought that this suggestion was also good, and immediately ordered Liu Cheng to be responsible for organizing the manufacture of warships and training sailors, and strive to conquer Xiangyang as soon as possible.

Liu Cheng and his men quickly built 5,000 warships, trained the navy day and night, and obtained 500 warships sent by Sichuan Province to establish a large-scale naval army, which made up for the tactical disadvantages of the Yuan army and prepared the necessary conditions for strategic offensive.

From the construction of Lumen Fort and Baihe City to the complete siege of Xiangyang, the Yuan Dynasty army was already in a completely strategic advantage.

Only then did the court of the Southern Song Dynasty realize that the great period was approaching, and hurriedly issued an emergency mobilization order across the country, striving to save the crisis, and launched a battle against encirclement and aid to Xiangyang.

In the winter of 1268, in order to break the Yuan army's siege of Lumen and Baihe, the Southern Song general Lü Wenhuan ordered the defenders of Xiangyang to attack the enemy forces outside the city, but was defeated by Nuhai's army.

Subsequently, the armies of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Great Yuan fought a three-year-long battle on the outskirts of Xiangyang City. The Southern Song army repeatedly carried out heroic counteroffensives, but was defeated by the troops led by Dalai and Nuhai.

The casualties of the officers and soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty were very heavy.

In the spring of 1272, Dalai and Nuhai, who were besieging Xiangyang, received Kublai Khan's holy decree to speed up the destruction of the Song Dynasty, and immediately led the Mongol-Han alliance army with the Han general Liu Chuan to launch a general attack on the military town of Fancheng.

The Mongol-Han coalition forces quickly broke through the city and occupied the outer city, further compressing the encirclement.

The army of the Southern Song Dynasty was unable to break through and had to retreat to the inner city to hold on.

Li Tingzhi, the ambassador of the Jinghu system in the Southern Song Dynasty, saw that the situation on the front line had reached the point of burning his eyebrows, and hurriedly recruited more than 3,000 militiamen in Xiangyang Prefecture, Yingzhou (now Zhongxiang, Hubei Province) and other places, assigned them to the militia leaders Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui, and rushed to Xiangyang to rescue.

Before leaving, Zhang Shun stood on the parade platform and loudly encouraged the soldiers: "The task of rescuing Xiangyang this time is very arduous. Everyone must have the determination and fighting spirit to die. If any of you don't go to the battlefield of your own volition, you can leave now, and if you don't go, it will affect the rescue event. ”

At that time, the 3,000 temporarily formed Southern Song Dynasty naval troops were excited and high-spirited, and shouted loudly together: "Resolutely complete the task!" Resolutely not to be a slave to the country! ”

The battle for the rescue has officially begun.

Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui assembled a fleet at Gaotou Port, connected hundreds of military ships into a phalanx, installed muskets and artillery on each ship, and prepared a sufficient number of strong bows and crossbows.

In the middle of the night, the fleet set off at anchor, using the red light as a signal, riding the wind and waves, and rushing straight to the encirclement.

Zhang Gui charged in front, and Zhang Shun supported in the rear. Their fleet broke through the encirclement of the Yuan army. When they arrived at Mohong Beach, the fleet was blocked by the Yuan ships covered in the river, sandwiched in the middle, unable to pass.

Zhang Gui ordered the officers and soldiers to forcibly attack the warships of the Yuan army.

The soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty were full of courage, first shooting the enemy ships with strong crossbows, and then smashing the iron cables with big axes, and they were invincible, breaking through the dense blockade and fighting for 120 miles.

Dalai saw that his soldiers were killed and drowned, and he was so angry that he stomped his feet on the command platform, but he was helpless.

At dawn, reinforcements from the Southern Song Dynasty triumphantly arrived at Xiangyang City, which had been besieged by the Yuan army for five years, and sent supplies such as salt and cloth. The successful rescue of Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city.

When inspecting the soldiers, they couldn't find the coach Zhang Shun, and everyone was shocked. A few days later, the soldiers and civilians of Xiangyang found his body in the water, only to see him wearing armor and holding a bow, his eyes wide open, and he still maintained a heroic posture of killing the enemy.

With deep sorrow and admiration, everyone ceremoniously buried Zhang Shun and built a temple for him.

Although Zhang Gui's support brought great hope to the defenders of Xiangyang, the situation in Xiangyang was still very grim under the strict blockade of the Yuan army.

Zhang Gui contacted Fan Wenhu, the palace marshal of Yingzhou, and after negotiation, the two sides agreed to implement a north-south pincer attack, open up the peripheral communication line of Xiangyang, and Fan Wenhu led 5,000 elite soldiers stationed in Longweizhou as a response, and Zhang Gui led the army to meet the division.

Zhang Gui bid farewell to Lu Wenhuan on the agreed date and prepared to lead 3,000 officers and soldiers down the Han River. When he inspected the soldiers, he found that one of his own soldiers who had been flogged for violating military orders was missing.

Zhang Gui's heart suddenly became uneasy, and he hurriedly said to the soldiers: "Our plan has been leaked. Maybe the traitors are still on the way, and the enemy has not heard from us. Now the only way is to strike quickly. ”

Zhang Gui decisively changed the plan of the secret operation and took advantage of the night to fight his way out of the encirclement.

When Dalai and Liu Cheng learned that Zhang Gui had broken through in a hurry, they immediately sent tens of thousands of people to intercept it, and once again blocked the river tightly.

Zhang Gui was fighting while walking, and saw from a distance the battleships in the direction of Longweizhou were like clouds, waving flags, thinking that it was Fan Wenhu's receiving troops who had arrived in advance, so he ordered someone to raise a fire notice.

When the opposing ship saw the light, it sailed silently towards it.

When the ship arrived under his nose, Zhang Gui found that the ship was full of Yuan troops who had arrived.

It turned out that the reinforcements sent by Fan Wenhu retreated for thirty miles because of the storm and did not arrive. Dalai obtained information, but waited for work, just. It turned out that he had seen through the plan of Zhang Gui and Fan Wenhu, and forcibly occupied Longweizhou first, and stayed there to wait for Zhang Gui to enter the encirclement.

The two armies engaged in a fierce encounter at Longwei Island.

The officers and men of the Southern Song Dynasty suffered heavy casualties in the battle because of continuous combat and extreme exhaustion, and they became more and more powerless. Zhang Gui was also outnumbered, and was finally captured by the Yuan army and killed by the hated Dalai himself.

Dalai also ordered four surrendered Southern Song soldiers to carry Zhang Gui's body and display it in the streets of Xiangyang City, in an attempt to force Lü Wenhuan to surrender voluntarily with a heart attack.

When the Southern Song Dynasty soldiers guarding the city saw this scene, they were sad and let out a cry.

Lu Wenhuan, who was standing on the city tower, was furious, and immediately sent someone to kill the four traitors, snatched back Zhang Gui's body, buried him with Zhang Shun, and established a double temple to worship.

Efforts to aid Xiangyang have thus failed completely.

Autumn is coming, geese are flying south, and the weather is about to turn cooler.

In order to capture Xiangyang as soon as possible, Dalai adopted the tactics of dividing and besieging the city. He believes: "Xiangyang has Fancheng, and there are lips like teeth." It is advisable to attack Fancheng first, and Xiangyang can be obtained without attacking Fancheng. ”

At the beginning of 1273, in order to cut off outside aid to Xiangyang, Dalai commanded the Yuan army to launch a general attack on Fancheng from the northeast and southwest.

Dalai commanded the Yuan army to burn the pontoon bridge on the river between Fancheng and Xiangyang, so that the reinforcements in Xiangyang City could not go out of the city to rescue.

Fancheng was completely isolated.

Before the war, in order to strengthen the firepower of the Yuan army, Kublai Khan ordered Nuhai to come to Xiangyang with the Huihui gunsmith Yisimain who had been requisitioned from the Western Regions, and make Huihui cannons that could fire boulders on the spot to strengthen the strength of attacking the city. Ali Hague, another Huihui, set up a Huihui cannon and violently blasted through the southwest corner of Guo outside Fancheng.

The Yuan army on land took the opportunity to quickly enter the city.

The warships of the Yuan army led by Liu Quan also arrived at the river of Fancheng.

Niu Fu, a general of the Southern Song Dynasty, regarded death as if he were at home, and led the officers and soldiers to start a face-to-face street battle. In the end, because he was outnumbered, Niu Fu died in his post, and the general Wang Fu also went to the fire to set himself on fire.

Fancheng fell.

After the fall of Fancheng, the situation in Xiangyang became even more critical. Lu Wenhuan sent people to the Southern Song court in Lin'an many times to report the emergency. However, the imperial court was also stretched thin and never sent reinforcements again.

The soldiers and civilians in Xiangyang City were in a desperate situation where they were unable to hold on and had no reinforcements, and they even had no firewood for cooking, so they had to tear down the rafters of the houses to use them as firewood.

In the spring of 1273, Dalai led the Yuan army from Fancheng to attack Xiangyang with all his might, first bombarding the Xiangyang City Tower with Hui Hui Artillery in turn.

For a while, the crying and shouting in Xiangyang City were all day long, and the hearts of the soldiers and civilians began to waver. The generals took the lead in surrendering out of the city. Seeing that he was alone, in order to save the lives of his brothers, Lü Wenhuan led the army and civilians of the city to surrender to the Yuan army.

The Battle of Xiangyang, which lasted for 12 years, was a key battle in the change of the Song and Yuan feudal dynasties in Chinese history, and finally ended with the victory of the Great Yuan and the defeat of the Southern Song Dynasty.

On the side of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan's strategy for attacking the Song Dynasty was correct, and the selected good generals such as Dalai, Nuhai, and Liu Quan were excellent, focusing on the development of the naval army, and vigorously promoting the policy of recruiting surrenders and pacifying, forming a military and political superiority, resulting in the Southern Song Dynasty army always being in a situation of passive beating.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Battle of Xiangyang was a key battle that decided the fate of the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was mainly the troops of the Lü military group who participated in the last Battle of Xiangyang.

The loss of the two cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng led to the eventual demise of the Southern Song Dynasty a few years later.

Dalai and Nuhai, who had won the victory in Xiangyang, were overjoyed and ordered all the liquor shops in Xiangyang to serve wine for free, so that the Yuan army, which had been fighting for many years, could drink the happy wine to celebrate their achievements.

In those days, the stone-paved streets of Xiangyang were full of Yuan officers and soldiers who were drunk in twos and threes, and their ears were red and staggered.