At the same time that Zhang Ren was taking several counties on the northern front, the Jing army's offensive on the southern front was also in full swing.

After the establishment of the Second Field Army Group composed of the Second Army Corps, the Sixth Army Corps and the New Second Army Corps, it quickly completed the assembly in Xiangyang, Guan Yu served as the commander of the Second Field, commanding an army of 150,000 people, with beautiful hair and flowing hair, extraordinary, Guan Yu was full of spirit, received Liu Ze's order to march, and immediately sent troops to Fancheng.

From Xiangyang to the north, it is Wancheng, as long as the Jing army conquers Wancheng, Xu Du is under the direct threat of the Jing army, so Guan Yu's road is the shortest way for the four-way army to attack, and it is also the most important way for Liu Ze to think, in addition to Guan Yu's second field, Zhang Fei's third army also joined the battle sequence, Guan and Zhang brothers have not fought side by side for many years, this time to be able to meet again, naturally very happy.

In order to assist Erye in crossing the Han River, Gan Ning also specially sent a fleet to help in the war. At the same time, Guan Yu also received the support of one of the most powerful troops, the artillery division, a full 100 field green artillery pieces. This unit was originally subordinate to the Supreme Command and directly under the command of Liu Ze, but this time Liu Ze was specially transferred to Guan Yu for command.

Cast iron artillery is too heavy, only suitable for defending the city and not conducive to field warfare, Ma Jun in the research and development of ship-borne bronze cannons, and began to develop bronze cannons suitable for land warfare, on both sides of the gun body installed iron wheels, through the guò mule horse pull to improve the mobility of the artillery, for the first time can be put into the field and siege warfare, this breakthrough, undoubtedly make the Jing army's attack force more powerful. Bashu Pass is mountainous and cannot be used by artillery, but from Xiangyang to the north into the Central Plains, almost all the way to Pingchuan, there is no doubt that artillery has a place to use.

When Guan Yu sent out his troops, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival in August. After a series of heavy rains, the water of the Han River swelled, and the generals advised Guan Yu to postpone the use of troops and wait until the flood of the Han River subsided. Guan Yu stroked his beard and laughed: "This is God helping me, and the march at this time can be completed." ”

Guan Yu then ordered the deputy governor Cao Xing to lead an army to cross the river first. But they did not reach Fancheng, and weired several tributaries of the Han River in the Pukou River, ten miles west of Fancheng, and ordered the fleet sent by Gan Ning to wait on the south bank of the Han River, and when everything was ready, all the troops boarded the ship together and killed Fancheng.

The Jing army moved frequently in Xiangyang, and Cao Ren, the governor of Wancheng, naturally couldn't sit still, so he went to Fancheng in person to supervise the defense of the front line in Fancheng. At this time, the guard of Fancheng was the deputy governor Li Dian. He was full of confidence in Fancheng's ability to defend the city, Fancheng, as the most outpost of Cao Wei, played a pivotal role at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and the Wei army naturally spared no effort in the construction of Fancheng, making Fancheng a fortress like a solid fortress.

"To nail Fancheng to the edge of the Han River like a nail!" This is Cao Cao's instructions for the new Fancheng, in order to deal with the artillery of the Jing army, Fancheng was built from the beginning of the most sturdy method, and the city walls no longer use rammed earth or brick structures. Instead, a whole block of boulders was used, and the stone-built Fancheng was the strongest fortress.

Li Dian was confident in Fancheng's defenses. After Cao Ren's inspection, he also felt that there were no loopholes, so he returned to Wancheng, after all, Wancheng is also the focus of defense, and Cao Ren needs to be in charge himself.

But they all ignore the geographical location of Fancheng, which is low-lying and cannot be seen when the Han River is shallow. Once the Han River swelled, Fancheng was in danger of being flooded.

Guan Yu has guarded Xiangyang for many years, and he knows the topography here well, so he ordered Cao Cao to cross the river in advance and dam various water outlets. After the river water rises sharply, as soon as the water is released, Fancheng will be reduced to a water town.

It was a night when the wind was raging, the torrential rain was pouring, Guan Yu ordered Cao Xing to dig embankments and release water at various water outlets in the upper reaches, and the flood roared down, like the sky and the earth cracked, and the inside and outside of Fancheng became an ocean.

The ships of the navy were already waiting on the south bank of the Han River, and Guan Yu led the army to board the ship and cross the Han River at night. Compared to the dawn of the day, the army has been killed under the city of Fancheng, at this time the Han River flood is flooding, it is impossible to distinguish where is the river, there is the grange, look at it, a vast miao, water and sky.

When the day dawns, the rain is slightly lighter, but the flood has not subsided, the streets and alleys of Fancheng, all are flooded into the water, the army and the people are miserable, there are many drowning, known as the strongest Fancheng city wall, at this moment most of them are also soaked in water, the distance from the water surface to the head of the city, it is only a few feet, the city is a vast ocean, except for a few high roofs, there is no building in Fancheng.

Li Dian stayed up all night, the two armies had not yet clashed, but he had to fight against the flood, there was no place to stand in the city, Li Dian had to transfer the soldiers and civilians of Fancheng to the city wall. Originally, the city wall only had a narrow passage, and there were not many people standing at all, and at this time, the defenders and people in the city crowded onto the city wall, and for a time it was overcrowded and impassable.

At this time, Li Dian's head was big, he never thought that this flood would come so violently, Fancheng was completely submerged, and now Fancheng has completely lost its defensive ability, and if the Jing army takes advantage of the weakness to attack, the Wei army has no power to fight back. Li Dian secretly prayed that it would not rain in the sky and that the flood would recede quickly. But what he never imagined was that this flood was not only a natural disaster, but also a man-made disaster.

Just when Li Dian thought that Guan Yu was also soaked in the water in Xiangyang, the Jing army had already taken hundreds of warships to kill under Fancheng. At this time, the city wall of Fancheng, in the eyes of Jing Jun, was just a low wall a few feet high, and this low wall was densely packed with people.

Li Dian's face turned pale as soon as he landed, but in the face of Jingjun's shouts to persuade him to surrender, Li Dian ignored it at all, and ordered the archers to shoot their bows and arrows.

The shouting from the opposite side stopped, and the defenders' arrows were responded to by a more violent rain of arrows.

Even in the fierce battle of defending the city, there is no need for too many people to stand on the city wall, and at all times, there must be enough space on the city wall for the defenders to move, adjust each other's defenses and use the defense equipment. At this moment, the city wall of Fancheng was crowded with people, not only did it not help to defend, but what was more tragic was that the dense crowd of people and counties were crowded together, and it was impossible to escape the shooting of the Jing army's arrow rain, and rows of arrows were whistling, and there was no need for any aiming at all, and the rows of Wei troops and the people of Fancheng fell, and the arrows were not missing, often an arrow could even penetrate two or three people.

Seeing that the situation was critical, the deputy general Dong Chao said to Li Dian: "Fancheng can no longer be defended, and if it continues to fight, the whole army must be destroyed, it is better to surrender, and it is still possible to save his life." ”

Li Dian was furious and said: "A certain has followed the king of Wei for decades, and the king of Wei has treated him kindly, and a certain would rather die in battle than be a person who lives in moderation!" He pulled out his sword, slashed Dong Chao, and ordered the defenders to refuse to death. The sergeants were frightened and had to fight to the death.

Dong Chao's younger brother Dong Heng was also in the army, and when he saw Li Dian kill Dong Chao, he hated him deeply, so he led the defenders of Dongcheng to provoke the white flag and surrender to Guan Yu. As soon as Dong Heng fell, the Wei army in a desperate situation all defected, and for a while, there was a tide of descendants.

Governor Huo Jun led his troops to the head of Fancheng City, the Jing army was like a wolf and a tiger, all the way to the slaughter, the Wei army could not resist, and retreated one after another, and died under the swords and arrows of the Jing army, and trampled on each other, countless.

Guan Yu rode on the warship, arrived at the west gate of Fancheng, and looked at Li Dian who was fighting trapped beasts at the head of the city and said: "Li Dian! You have no way out, why not come down early! ”

Li Dian glared angrily and scolded: "I am a famous general in the country, how can I be a pariah!" Li Dian looked around left and right, the Jing army attacked in all directions, and there were only a few dozen personal soldiers left around him, knowing that today was inevitable, so he drew his sword, looked north, and shouted: "King Wei, Li Dian is incompetent, he can't hold Fancheng, go first!" "Let's talk about it, and the horizontal sword kills itself. Dozens of pro-soldiers around Li Dian also committed suicide, and none of them surrendered.

Guan Yu looked at it and sighed: "Li Mancheng is a loyal and righteous person!" So he asked Li Dian's body to be collected and buried outside Fancheng.

Li Dian died, most of the Wei army surrendered, and Fancheng fell. After entering the city, Guan Yu asked people to dredge the river, clear the flood, and reassure the people. A few days later, the flood receded, and Guan Yu did not stay long in Fancheng, so he led his army to Wancheng. (To be continued......)