Chapter 738

The Chinese army and the Ming army fought in Xiangyang area. Both sides knew that the war was of great importance and did not dare to take it lightly?

Zhu Xieyuan had an advantage in military strength and was on the offensive side. Li Dingguo mainly had few troops, but he defended with the help of dangerous cities.

Xiangyang City relies on the Han River and can enter the Yangtze River. The water transportation is very developed, which is also the key to competing for the north and south.

If any force wants to surround Xiangyang City, it must cut off its internal and external ties. The main thing is to cut off its links between rivers.

The Mongols surrounded Xiangyang City and cut off all his internal and external traffic. It took ten years to fight down, which shows its importance.

Zhu Xieyuan's army, in order to win Xiangyang City, must first surround it, which seems a little difficult.

Because the water transportation in Xiangyang City is very developed, the Chinese Navy firmly controls the control of the Han River and the Yangtze River, although they can't take the Zhu Xieyuan army on land.

But Zhu Xieyuan's army did not dare to appear by the river, which was easily attacked by the Chinese navy.

Zhu Xieyuan gathered a group of sailors in Sichuan to move eastward along the river, but his Navy General saw that the Chinese navy was so strong that he didn't dare to fight easily.

Although the Chinese army was defeated miserably in Yiling, their navy marched all the way to the Three Gorges area. If they wanted to launch a fierce attack, it would not be difficult to take this place. They also beat the navy of the Ming army so hard that they didn't dare to lift their heads, didn't dare to go to war at all, and didn't even dare to use the Yangtze River to transport goods.

This is also the reason why Zhu Xieyuan's army is short of food and grass.

Zhu Xieyuan's army gathered a large number of grain in Sichuan and Chongqing, but it could not be transported to supply the front-line army, so it had to raise grain on the spot.

Those who came to besiege Xiangyang City must go both land and water to win the place. However, Navy Zhu Xieyuan was weak and could only send his powerful land division to besiege Xiangyang City on three sides.

His army formed several huge squares, overwhelming and overwhelming, which put great pressure on the Chinese army.

Because of the lack of troops, Li Dingguo gave up all the peripheral fortresses and checkpoints and concentrated his main force in Xiangfan county.

Fortunately, one side of Xiangyang City is close to the Han River. Their navy is strong and invincible. The enemy can't get close at all, which makes the enemy's siege an empty word.

Through the Han River, the Chinese Army continuously obtained the supply of military grain and materials. It became impossible to cut off the connection between Xiangyang City and the outside world.

Li Dingguo sighed that he was lucky to persuade the navy to stay at that time, otherwise the city would be surrounded on three sides and people would be terrified.

Now, although the Ming army is under the city, the people in the city are gradually moving towards stability, and no one is panic. This is because the Ming army has no way to surround Xiangyang, and it is even more difficult to win him.

Another point is that for those dignitaries, if they want to leave, they can also leave by boat. Of course, the boat fee is not cheap.

Xiangyang City has been under martial law since Li Dingguo took over. Especially after he heard of the great defeat in the battle of Yiling, he began to order the whole city to be under martial law and promise not to enter.

The main purpose of Li Dingguo's measures is to prevent the enemy from sending spies into the city, cooperating inside and outside, and breaking into the city.

Li Dingguo is very smart. Although he has never been a senior officer and can't talk about experience, some people's talents and abilities are almost born.

Li Dingguo is a kind of person who makes you a team leader and can do the work of hundreds of families. He makes him a teacher. He immediately works in an orderly and stable manner.

Many people think that Xiangyang City is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of enemy troops. It should be a panic, very panic.

However, under the governance of Li Dingguo, they did a very good job. The stability of the people in Xiangyang City is the premise for them to hold Xiangyang City.

Li Dingguo was also very clear that the other party tried every means to infiltrate into the city. His response was very simple, that is, close the city gate and promise not to enter. Moreover, his troops were concentrated on the front line of the city gate, and all people close to the city gate were driven away or executed.

In addition, he took a large number of dignitaries and officials as hostages in the city gate tower, which made him obtain more people. These people were registered, with sources and guarantees, which proved that they were innocent and safe.

Every siege and attack on the city, the first thing is to create panic. If they can't siege the city, naturally they can't panic. They are not afraid of the retreat of the Han River.

Originally, Li Dingguo wanted to clear away the surrounding areas. If time was enough, he would move all the people to the city. Their food and houses were burned down and gave nothing to Zhu Xieyuan's army. This is called the strategy of clearing away the surrounding areas and scorching the earth, but it was too late.

Li Dingguo went all out to fight for three days, mainly to improve the city's defense and get the cannons on the city wall.

But Zhu Xieyuan was very smart. It was not easy for him to fight for three days. He sent so many envoys to lobby the other party. The other party didn't even talk, so he cut off his head directly.

Li Dingguo admired this very much. If the other party had a member of the Liu royal family, Li Dingguo would certainly be timid and dare not let go, while Zhu Xieyuan was so cruel that he killed one without wasting any time.

Several armies quickly arrived at Xiangyang City and surrounded Xiangyang City on three sides.

Xiangyang City is composed of Xiangcheng city and Fancheng city. The two sides look across the Han River. Li Dingguo has insufficient troops, so he puts his main force on the two cities. He wants to give up Fancheng, but he also understands that the two cities have cold lips and dead teeth and rely on each other. His defense area is large, which gives the enemy more targets, but at the same time, Even the enemy's difficulty in encircling them has greatly increased.

The Ming army was also the one hundred thousand army, and wanted to be suck at them. They couldn't do anything, especially their navy, and there was no comprehensive siege.

After Zhu Xieyuan's army arrived, without any rest, he immediately made a tentative attack. Zhu Xieyuan sent his archers into a hundred steps and shot the city with bows and arrows.

The Ming army dispatched nearly 10000 archers to launch large-scale projectiles into the city. Countless arrows poured down on the city wall like raindrops.

Li Dingguo had long expected this.

His spies have got enough news that the Ming army did not carry heavy siege equipment. They only had some light weapons, which means that their siege method will be very single.

Li Dingguo ordered people to dismantle a large number of door panels and move them to the city wall. When the enemy used bows and arrows to shoot above, they used these door panels to block them. These bows and arrows did not hit them. It seems to be a powerful arrow rain tactic, which is not harmful to the Chinese army.

Li Dingguo knew that Zhu Xieyuan was an old hand in the siege, and his tricks could not do this. In fact, Zhu Xieyuan is very timid now.

The biggest problem is that their navy suck up. If the Navy does not give enough strength, they can not surround the city of Xiangyang completely, and can not exert pressure on the other side. The enemy can suck in and attack, retreat and defend, and they are not afraid of them at all.

The second is the real city of Xiangyang City. There are very broad moats. These moats lead into the Han River, and their reaches can even sail, which makes it impossible for them to quickly send troops and set up cloud ladders to attack the city.

At present, the offensive and defensive war between the two sides has not started, and the Chinese army has not cut off the hanging doors outside the city gate. If they cut off all the hanging doors, the enemy will have no way to attack the city.

For such a city, the only way is to first excavate the river, divert the water from its moat, then fill the moat with soil, and then set up a ladder to attack the city.

It takes a lot of time.

With the use of explosives, there are many new ways to attack the city. This is to dig a tunnel, bury a large number of explosives under the city wall, blow up the city wall and attack it. However, because there are vertical and horizontal rivers and underground rivers everywhere, they can't dig a tunnel at all. Zhu Xie Yuan's 100000 troops rolled in. It looks like a great momentum. In fact, he was interested in the small Xiangyang City, There is a feeling that a tiger can't bite a hedgehog.

Zhu Xieyuan meditated on the map. He also saw that the enemy's navy had become the key. If there was no way to solve the other party's navy, there would be no way to encircle Xiangyang and capture the city.

Zhu Xieyuan said, "the enemy's navy is the key."

However, I saw that the other side's naval divisions were all huge ships, which were very fast and came and went like the wind. The ships were full of cannons, just like mobile forts. The tactics of the Chinese army were very advanced. The traditional string warfare and fire attack were no longer used. The two sides used cannons to bomb you, which was rolling for the navy of the Ming army, They are not rivals at all.

Zhu Xieyuan said to Guo Chun, deputy commander of the Navy: "the enemy's navy is the key. If we can't solve the Navy, our army can't win Xiangyang at all. Do you have any way?"

Guo Chun is an old hand of the Navy. He has been responsible for the training of the navy in Sichuan. He is also an executor of the traditional water war. He is very clear about the traditional fire war and water attack, but after fighting with the enemy, he suffered a lot. He knows that the other side's artillery is very powerful and his Navy is not an opponent at all.

He did not dare to say such words to Zhu Xieyuan, so he had to say, "humble position, think of a way."

Zhu Xieyuan didn't want to eat this. He said, "kill the Chinese Navy within three days. You're the chief soldier, or you'll go home and cultivate."