The junction of Henan and Hubei, Xinye County, Xiangyang Prefecture.

"Xiangyang of iron, Fancheng of paper paste."

Hanshui turns a 90-degree bend outside the city of Xiangyang, the north and east of Xiangyang are surging rivers, the south and west are surrounded by mountains, and there are rivers such as Xiangshui, the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, very dangerous. (Xiangyang Da in the south of Xiangyang is a number of hills of three or four hundred meters, although not too high, the mountains are tall and steep, and dozens of hills are connected together, forming a natural barrier of Xiangyang City.) ）

Since the Ming army invaded Xiangyang Mansion three months ago, Lianke County, but could not conquer Xiangyang City for a while, so they dug trenches, built company camps, surrounded Xiangyang City, and built wharf pontoon bridges on the other side of the Han River, blocking the river with wooden piles and hemp stones, cutting off the waterway between Xiangyang City and the outside world.

This is the number of long-term sieges, and the Ming and Qing armies inside and outside the city know in their hearts, the Ming army is not in a hurry to attack, and the Qing army does not go out of the city to counterattack...... There is no need to waste strength and sacrifice human lives, and the key to the victory or defeat of this battle depends on the results of other battlefields. If the Qing army wins in other battlefields, as soon as the reinforcements arrive, Xiangyang City will immediately lift the siege, and if the Ming army wins, Xiangyang City will naturally break the city after it runs out of food.

For three months in a row, everyone was facing each other, the dawn here was quiet, and there was no fighting on the Western Front.

This morning, the sentinels of the Qing army found that there was an abnormal situation on the other side of the Han River, and after receiving the report, Shen Zhixiang, the chief general of the Qing army, immediately took several of his subordinates to climb the Xianshou Mountain and look at the reality of the Ming army on the other side.

"Uncle, the southern thief is going to fight Xinye!" Shen Yongzhong pointed to the billowing smoke and dust on the avenue on the other side and said, "The Southern Thieves Brigade is dispatched. It seems that there are six or seven thousand people, including two thousand cavalry, hehe. Plug Yinxi and Li Guo really dare to make a capital, maybe they still want to attack Nanyang! ”

"Really? I can't see clearly, do the southern thieves really have 2,000 cavalry? "Shen Zhixiang was Mao Wenlong's general in his early years, and he descended to the Qing Dynasty with Kong Youde and others, and was named the Duke of Xushun. He is over fifty years old this year, and he has been fighting in the bitter cold land of eastern Liaodong for many years, and he looks powerful and powerful on the outside. In fact, he was full of injuries and illnesses, and his two presbyopia were exhausted, but he still couldn't see the situation on the other side clearly.

"Not bad. It's all cavalry! "Shen Yongzhong is Shen Zhixiang's nephew, Shen Zhixiang has no son, so he loves him very much and treats him as his own son.

"Plugging Yinxi, a Huguang barbarian. There are not a few horses. These two thousand cavalry should be Li Guo's soldiers and horses. Shen Zhixiang stroked his gray beard and said in a deep voice: "After the southern thieves invaded Xiangyang Mansion, we cut off contact with the outside of the city, and I don't know how the war is going on in Jingzhou, and when King Gongshun (Kong Youde) will be able to send reinforcements." Well...... since Li Guo has transferred troops to the north and has spare strength to attack Xinye, I am afraid that the war will be unfavorable on the side of King Gongshun. ”

"That. So what do we do? Shen Yongzhong was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the situation was strict.

"Nothing to do...... Cough! Ahem, ahem! Shen Zhixiang suddenly coughed violently. His face was flushed, his whole body trembled, his chest was like a powder magazine full of explosives, constantly exploding one after another, surging and crazy, his cough with a strange sound like breaking glass, and the lobes of his lungs would have been rotten as soon as an experienced doctor heard such a cough.

"I'm old, and I probably don't have a few days to live." Shen Zhixiang finally stopped coughing, pressed his chest and said: "After I die, you have to stick to Xiangyang, even if you run out of food, you can't open the city and surrender." There is no hurdle in this world that cannot be overcome, and you can get through it by gritting your teeth...... As a military general, try not to surrender if you can, otherwise you will regret it for the rest of your life, and you will be bullied by others, don't learn from me! ”

"Uncle is just a little sick, why do you say this? Besides, after my uncle returned to the Qing Dynasty, he was repeatedly favored by the country, and the scenery was infinite, so why should he be so depressed? "Shen Yongzhong's subtext is very obvious, when the mountains and rivers are really exhausted, of course you have to surrender to save your life, besides, after your old man surrendered to the Manchu Dynasty, he will live a good life!

"Is the scenery infinite? Hehe, I can't tell others about this kind of taste, dumb people eat dumplings, and I know ...... in my heart"

If it had been ten years ago, Shen Yongzhong dared to speak like this, Shen Zhixiang would have slapped him a long time ago, but he didn't have so much spirit now. Children and grandchildren have their own children and grandchildren, but it is not possible to see that it is no longer possible, and it is normal for people to surrender and save their lives, and they were not like this at the beginning.

In fact...... Shen Yongzhong's idea is also right, although the Manchu Tartars won the world, they just had to work for them, and they couldn't really die.

But...... Until the last moment, you still can't surrender.

"Son, if I have three long and two short, you will be in charge of the military affairs in the city, and if the southern thieves don't come to attack the city, you can't go to war lightly, and if you run out of food, you will eat two-legged sheep, and if you can last one more day, you will last one more day, remember?"

……

The spring breeze was triumphant, and the Ming army's 4,000 infantry and 2,000 infantry marched north along the Han River and arrived at Xinye two days later.

Xinye is located at the opening of the southern end of the Nanyang Basin, itself has no danger to defend, when Cao Cao's army attacked the Xiangfan area from the Fangcheng pass, after passing the Bowangpo, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang had to abandon the city and flee.

Wu Jingdao, the governor of Henan, also knew that the Xinye line was not easy to defend, so he only stationed a few thousand soldiers and horses in the city, and then vigorously built the city defense and built the county seat into a strong fortress, but there were not too many troops around the county seat. His main elite are all arranged in the Fangcheng Pass and the Nanyang area, first blocking the passage to the Central Plains region, and secondly, trying to hold Nanyang City.

On the two roads to Shaanxi and Luoyang, he only held a few key passes, and his troops were much smaller than those of Fangcheng Pass. Shaanxi is someone else's territory, not heavy troops, although Luoyang is very important, but there are many mountains between it and Nanyang, eight hundred miles of Funiu Mountain is not an exaggeration, if the Ming army gets into it, just wait to starve to death in the deep mountains and old forests.

Unexpectedly, the Ming army had already set its sights on Funiu Mountain.

After arriving in Xinye, Ma Jinzhong commanded the infantry to launch a feint, and the Qing army in Xinye City closed the four gates, as if facing a great enemy. However, the 2,000 cavalry of the Ming army turned to the northeast, took advantage of the dry season, swam across the Baihe River and the Lihe River, traveled 300 miles in one day and one night, broke through the Qing army's defense line, and inserted into the southern foot of Funiu Mountain through the narrow gap between Nanyang and Tang County......

The layers of mountains seem to have no boundary, and two thousand Ming cavalry march through the mountains, and the long procession is like a team of ants.

The mountain road was rough, and the soldiers had already dismounted and pulled the reins to move slowly. Turning over a hill, there was another valley in front of me, with a dense black woods, and a stream wading out of the valley, which looked a little gloomy.

"General Xiao Li, don't worry, we are used to walking in this valley, we can pass through the horse team, and after passing over, we can get rid of the Tartars' pursuers." Zhang Qilun is the leader of the Funiu Mountain volunteers, and he is duty-bound to act as a guide at this moment.

"Alright, let's go." Li Laiheng nodded, urged the horse to take the lead, and walked towards the valley.

Now Li Laiheng has completely lost his youth, and at the age of his early twenties, he has a thick beard, and his appearance is not angry and arrogant. In the past few years of his career, he stood out in the camp, repeatedly performed miraculous feats, and was already a general in his own right, alongside Yuan Zongdi, Liu Tichun and others, and was appointed as the chief general of 2,000 cavalry, launching a surprise attack on Henan.

The valley is dense, there is no daylight, it is already the middle of the second lunar month, and the forest can still see the remnants of ice and snow from time to time, and the ground is full of thick leaves, toppled tree trunks, and abrupt stones...... Along the creek, there is a passage that is not called a road at all, barely passable.

War horses have spirituality, and they will avoid tree trunks and stones on the road, and when they encounter slippery ice, they will walk more steadily than people. The pioneers cut off the branches that stood in their way, the rearguard swept away the horseshoe prints, and the two thousand cavalry disappeared silently into the valley.

"This valley is a place where soldiers die, it's too dangerous! Do you want to set up an ambush here and eat Wu Jingdao's pursuers? Zhang Nai's chased after him and proposed to Li Laiheng.

"Well, it's good, I'm afraid that they won't dare to enter the valley and delay time in vain." Li Laiheng shook his head: "Let's hurry up and go, we don't have much food with us, don't compete with these small fish and shrimp." ”

Zhang Nai is Li Zicheng's righteous son, born as a child soldier, two years older than Li Laiheng, and a generation higher (Li Laiheng is Li Zicheng's nephew), but the two of them are of the same age, have similar tempers, and have always had a good personal relationship.

Both are rising stars in the camp, Li Laiheng and Zhang Nai, who can be called the Gemini constellations of the younger generation, but they have different abilities. Zhang Nai's martial arts are proficient and he is a general who charges into battle, and Li Laiheng is a young man and a handsome person who leads the overall situation, so this time he entered Henan, Li Laiheng served as the main general, and Zhang Nai's served as the deputy general.

Almost to the end of the valley, there was a cliff in front of him, and a white practice hung upside down, and there was no way out in front of him.

Li Laiheng and Zhang Nai's were slightly stunned, but Zhang Qilun was not in a hurry, and took everyone around, brushed aside the branches, and passed through a few big stones.

"Let's go, the front is Laojun Mountain, and then it's Wuduo Mountain, and then Wuduo Mountain is Jijiaojian, and then it's Baishizhai, not far from home......"

"How many days can you get there?" Zhang Nai shouted and asked.

"Hurry up and go, about four or five days." Zhang Qilun didn't look back, and replied loudly.

"How many days does it take to go from Baishizhai to Dengfeng?" Zhang Nai asked again.

"That road is too far and difficult to walk, at least eight or nine days." Zhang Qilun stopped, turned around and asked, "Do the two generals want to fight Dengfeng?" This road is too narrow in some places to pass the horse, so let's go north to Luoyang. ”

has arrived at Funiu Mountain, no longer afraid of leaking military secrets, Li Laiheng replied: "The road is not good, it can be repaired, Luoyang is the ancient capital of the Nine Dynasties, the famous city in the world, I am afraid that it will not be easy to fight ......" (to be continued......