Xiangyang, the world's first strong city. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoTwo cities on both sides of the Han River: Xiangyang and Fancheng depend on each other, when attacking from north to south, Xiangyang and Fancheng are the bridgeheads of the Yangtze River, the battle of the Song and Yuan dynasties, Yuan gets Xiangyang that is the Yangtze River; Attacking from the south to the north, Xiangyang is the gateway to the Central Plains, 27 years ago, Zhang Xianzhong planned to take Xiangyang. After losing Xiangyang, Yang Sichang committed suicide in fear of crime. Later, not long after Li Zicheng fixed the capital of Xiangyang, the Dashun army invaded the capital, and Chongzhen committed suicide.

The location of Xiangyang and Fancheng is very important, once the Ming army that already has the Yangtze River enters Xiangyang, it can attack and retreat, and it can also help Wu Sangui, who was killed from Hanzhong, to open a northern expedition channel. And Xiangyang was in the hands of the Qing army, and the Qing army could build a naval division down the river at any time, threatening the safety of the Ming army's transportation lines.

Although the Qing army's naval division is not to say that it is not comparable to the Ming Nanyang navy, and even the Yangtze River naval division cannot be compared, the Qing army has been staying in Xiangyang and may sneak attack the Ming army's transport fleet at any time, making the Ming army like a thorn in the back.

"Xiangyang must be taken! Get Xiangyang first, and then take two Huai! With Xiangyang in hand, the Tartars will not be able to block Wu Sangui, and when the time comes, the Tartars will inevitably be exhausted by the Northern Expedition to the east and west. "Wang Yuyou had formulated a battle plan in advance.

The city wall of Xiangyang City is solid, the city is high and the pool is deep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, impregnable, especially the moat of Xiangyang, the average width has reached 180 meters, and the widest point is 250 meters. When Zhang Xianzhong broke Xiangyang City, Yang Sichang's messenger was intercepted halfway, and tokens and documents were found on his body, which were stamped with Yang Sichang's big seal. So Li Dingguo dressed up as Yang Sichang's envoy and used a trick to infiltrate Xiangyang City, which broke Xiangyang.

After Chongzhen's suicide, the Qing army later followed Li Zicheng all the way to pursue, because Li Zicheng was insufficient and did not listen to Bai Wang's advice, as a result, Xiangyang was easily captured by the Qing army.

Today's Xiangyang, since the rise of the Qiongzhou army and the beginning of the Northern Expedition of the Ming army, the Qing army has painstakingly managed the city of Xiangyang, repaired the city that was destroyed in the war for many years, and built this fortified city into a solid one. To conquer Xiangyang, the biggest obstacle is the moat. With such a wide moat, it is very difficult to fill in a section of the passage, and it can only be forced to cross the river by rafts and boats, and once attacked by the head of the city, the losses will be very large.

Wang Yuyou pointed to the map and said: "When Meng Yuan attacked Xiangyang, he first took Fancheng and then conquered Xiangyang. Nowadays, the development of firearms is changing with each passing day. The two cities of the Pseudo-Qing Tartars are full of two strong forts! Moreover, according to the report of the spies, the Tartars transformed the cities of Xiangfan and built a large number of fortresses, which can be said to be very difficult to overcome! ”

"Report to the commander!" At this time, a personal soldier walked into the big tent, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "There is a confidential matter to report to the marshal!" ”

Wang Xinyu asked both the left and right to retreat, leaving only Wang Yuyou.

Only then did the pro-soldier report: "Dashuai, I intercepted a messenger from my humble position, saying that it was sent by Shen Yongxing, the Duke of Xushun, and there is a secret letter to be handed over to you, Dashuai." ”

"Xu Shungong?" Wang Xinyu paused for a moment.

Wang Yuyou said: "Shen Yongxing, the Duke of Shun, is the third generation of the Duke of Shun, the original first generation of the Duke of Shun Shen Zhixiang is the brother of Mao Wenlong's concubine, since Mao Wenlong's death, Shen Zhixiang defected to the Houjin Emperor Taiji. Because Shen Zhixiang had no heirs, his brother's son Shen Yongzhong was the second successor to Shungong; After Shen Yongzhong's death, because his son was young, Shen Yongxing became a knight. ”

The pro-soldier said: "What the military advisor said is extremely true, Xu Shungong is one of the Tartar guards in Xiangyang City. ”

"Then let the messenger in!" Wang Xinyu said.

The two pro-soldiers outside came in with the messenger, Wang Xinyu and Wang Yuyou looked at it, and saw that this person was wearing a sleeveless short shirt, but he was wearing a hat, and he was still wearing a hat in such a hot weather, which looked a little nondescript.

"Take your hat off!" Wang Yuyou said coldly.

The messenger took off his hat, and saw that most of his head was bare, except for a small handful of hair draped over the back of his head. As soon as you look at it, you can see that it must have come from the north. Generally, such a hairstyle is either a business or a spy on both sides. Business people have to come and go, in the Ming side is not allowed to keep braids, in the Qing court there are no braids and have to be beheaded, so after coming down, they will break up the braids, go back and tie them up again.

Except for those who do business, ordinary people come to defect, they don't have to go back, and they usually cut off their braids.

And this person is not a businessman dressed in clothes, and he has such a hairstyle, so he is either a Ming army spy or a Qing army spy, so he was caught just after entering the territory of the Ming army.

After interrogation, he learned that this person was not a spy of the Ming army, so when the Ming soldiers wanted to take this person down as a spy of the Qing army, this guy shouted that he was wronged, and said that he wanted to see the marshal and have something important to report. So Wang Xinyu's personal soldiers came to see him, and after some interrogation, they said that they were envoys sent by Duke Shun.

The soldiers carefully examined the person's body and found that there were no dangerous items such as weapons, poisons, gunpowder, etc., and only found a letter sealed with fire paint.

"The villain really has something important to see the handsome!" The man pleaded to his own soldiers.

The soldiers did not dare to slack off, so they sent this person to the camp of the Chinese army. However, the letters on this person's body were also carefully examined, and it was found that the letters were not in any danger and there was no poison on them, so they were sent to the Chinese army camp.

"Report to the marshal, this person said in the letter that Xu Shungong is willing to surrender. The letter was here, and the lowly was afraid that there was a poisonous substance hidden in the letter, so he took it upon himself to open the letter and carefully examine it before bringing this person in. destroyed the fire paint, and hoped that the marshal would punish the crime! The soldier knelt on one knee and saluted.

Wang Xinyu smiled and said, "You are loyal people, what is the crime? The letter from the Tartars of the north is to be carefully checked! Alright, present the letter! ”

The soldier took out the letter from his bosom and presented it with respectful hands.

Wang Xinyu opened the letter, read it carefully, and then handed the letter to Wang Yuyou: "Military advisor, do you see that this Xu Shungong said that he wanted to be our internal response, how credible is this matter?" ”

"This matter is somewhat credible! Now our army is like a bamboo, and all those who know the times are competing to vote! The Tartars thought that Xiangyang Jiancheng could stop our army? Wang Yuyou stroked his beard lightly and said with a smile.

Wang Xinyu asked the messenger: "Your master said that he would submit to our army, but what evidence is there?" ”

"My lord, our head of the family is willing to take the grandfather as a hostage! If you can communicate the contact information, after the villain goes back, the head of the family will send the grandfather and the son all over. The messenger replied.

"Grandpa? Who are they? Wang Xinyu asked.

"Shen Rui, Shen Gongzi also." The messenger replied.

"Shen Rui? Shen Rui is not the son of Shen Yongxing, but the son of Shen Yongzhong! Wang Yuyou frowned slightly.

The envoy replied: "Grandpa is only temporarily appointed to the post of Duke Shun, just because the prince is young!" The emperor has made Shen Gongzi the person who attacked the lord, and you can send someone to check this. ”