In the sixth year of Yuan Shuo of Li Jixuan, which was also the second year of Li Yu's Dali calendar, the northern and southern forces with the Yangtze River as the dividing line were formally formed. The north was the emperor's puppet supported by Li Siye, and the country was still called Tang. The south was the Zhengshuo of the Tang Dynasty.
The imperial court headed by Li Yu.
The idea of ruling by dividing the river is not yet correct. The upper reaches of the Yangtze River are in the middle of Shu, and the entire area is already Li Siye’s sphere of influence. There is no distinction between north and south of the Yangtze River. But north of the Yangtze River in the middle reaches, there is Jiangcheng with the Yellow Crane Tower, and
Both Jingmen and Xiangyang were still in the hands of the Southern Court.
Xiangyang is the north gate of Jingzhou, and Jingxiang is a strategic location connecting Shuzhong and Hanzhong. The Yangtze River and Hanjiang River flow down from Shuzhong and Hanzhong respectively and converge in Jiangcheng. As long as Xiangyang is opened, Jingxiang is easily accessible.
Jingxiang can use the power of the Central Plains, Hanzhong, and Shuzhong to supply the southward war, and can also control the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, forming a strategic advantage over the lower reaches.
Therefore, starting from Yuan Zheng, Li Siye began to coordinate the efforts of the whole country and organized 130,000 troops to go south to attack Xiangyang. At the same time, he asked Guanzhong, Hebei, Henan and other places to transfer taxes into military grain to provide military support for the army.
In early March, he personally led an army of 180,000 people southward, with Cen Shen, Gao Shang and Yan Zhuang as his staff, Duan Xiushi, Bai Xiaode, Tian Zhen, Cui Qianyou, Tian Chengsi, Xue Song, Li Huaixian and others as generals. He mobilized 500 Xuanwu artillery pieces.
There were more than 900 giant Kongming lanterns in Yumen. There were more than 3,000 ships transporting food and gunpowder from the canal, and 200,000 civilians were recruited to support the campaign.
Therefore, Li Siye confidently believed that Xiangyang would definitely be captured within three months, otherwise it would become a scorched earth.
Li Siye's preparations were not limited to these. He also tied up Guo Xi, the third son of Guo Ziyi, and Zhang Xun's mother and clan relatives from his home in Puzhou, Hedong. At the same time, he also brought with him Li Guangbi, who had surrendered in the past.
Prime Ministers Cui Yuan, Fang Guan, and a group of old friends of Guo Ziyi in the Qian Dynasty achieved the effect of persuading him to surrender.
The army soon arrived in Nanyang, and Tian Chengsi, who was stationed outside Xiangyang City, came to see him and reported the situation of the defenders of Xiangyang City.
"My Lord, there are more than 50,000 Tang garrison troops in Xiangyang City. Guo Ziyi is the commander-in-chief and Zhang Xun is appointed deputy. He patrols the city wall day and night in rotation for two days without slacking off."
Li Siye could have guessed these situations, and there was nothing new about them. He asked Tian Chengsi: "In Mr. Tian's opinion, can my 180,000-strong army capture Xiangyang within three months?"
After hearing this, Tian Chengsi was horrified. After a moment of hesitation, he crossed his hands and said, "Lord, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it in three months."
"The scale of the troops mobilized this time is the largest in all previous campaigns. It uses a lot of baggage and consumes a lot of ammunition. It is far superior to big cities such as Yunzhou and Youzhou. Is it possible that this Xiangyang City is built with copper walls and iron walls?"
"Although it is not an iron wall, Xiangyang is definitely not the Xiangyang of the past. After Li Heng went south, he sent people to reinforce the city wall. After Guo Ziyi withdrew from Hanzhong to Xiangyang, he also repaired many city defense facilities against our army's Xuanwu artillery.
In order to prevent gunpowder and violent thunder and lightning, they also built many forts on the city wall. Many wooden buildings were demolished in the city, and all houses were built with rock and green bricks. The houses were either connected by stone corridors or dug out caves by tunnels.
"My subordinates once sent people to ride on the Kongming Lantern to inspect the situation in the city. The interconnected structures are so impressive that as long as the gong is sounded, all the soldiers and civilians in the city disappear within a cup of tea and are moved underground."
"Even if my lord attacks the city wall, I'm afraid it will be difficult. The city wall is made of blue bricks made of boiled glutinous rice mixed with lime, and sealed with iron juice. No matter how heavy the hammer is, it cannot be shaken."
Li Siye's face darkened, he sat on the bed and leaned forward and asked him: "Then how long do you think it will take for our army to attack the city before we can capture Xiangyang as we wish?"
"At least half a year, maybe longer."
"Half a year," Li Siye said, "it will take half a year. I have 500 Xuanwu cannons, which can pour out shells and gunpowder every day to attack the city, and more than 900 Kongming lanterns, which can rise into the sky day and night to monitor bombing. I don't believe it."
They eat, drink, and urinate underground, and if you don’t believe them, you won’t show your face.”
Tian Chengsi decided to say something nice. Otherwise, Li Siye would not be able to hold back his anger and walk around.
"My lord, to put it bluntly, the attack and defense of this city is all about using means. It is said that the devil is as high as one foot and the road is as high as one foot. This is exactly the reason."
Li Siye asked him: "Then who is the devil and who is the Tao?"
"Isn't it obvious at a glance? People all talk about subduing demons, but why haven't they said that demons subjugate the Tao? Whoever is strong is the Tao. Now that the lord is strong and attacks the city, the Southern Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty can only passively defend. It is clear at a glance who is strong and who is weak.
No matter how good their defense is, it is just defense. My lord, you will be able to capture the city one day, and there is no way to change this result."
"You are right. No matter how well you defend, it is useless. As long as it is a city, it will be breached one day. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. We will start attacking the city tomorrow. Give Guo Ziyi a meeting gift."
The meeting ceremony Li Siye said was that five hundred cannons were lined up under the city wall, and two rounds of volleys were fired at the city wall. Fireballs shot up on the top of Xiangyang City. At this moment, the soldiers who were defending the city were hiding.
From the watchtowers lined up on the city wall, one can hear the roar of artillery fire from the lookout outside.
When the artillery fire ended, the soldiers of the Tang army came out from the watchtowers to guard the various crenels. These watchtowers were evenly distributed on the city wall, with one every ten steps on average. They could quickly rush to the defensive position, and they could also quickly run back to avoid the shells.
Li Siye stood on the watchtower of the besieged city and sneered: "You think that's all I have? Let me lift the Kongming Lantern into the sky and drop bombs on whoever shows up!"
On the first day, Li Siye did not send soldiers to build ladders to attack the city, but in the early morning of the second day, he directly ordered two siege battalions to rush towards the city wall, and the Kongming lanterns rose into the sky at the same time.
Most of the watchtowers have defensive functions. There are observation holes and archery holes on the side facing the outside of the city. However, large defensive equipment such as bed crossbows, shooting poles, and mercy pillars can only be operated in the open air, so when the enemy attacks the city,
At that time, most of the soldiers were still exposed to the sun.
The giant sky lanterns were naturally able to seize this wonderful opportunity. They took out the powerful fire thunder from the hanging basket, lit the twister and threw it towards the city wall.
The soldiers of the Tang army burst into flames and jumped off the city wall screaming. Lei Wanchun, a general under Zhang Xun, was furious. He fully drew his long bow with both hands and shot at the ghost balloon in the sky, but the arrow flew high to the sky.
It lost kinetic energy everywhere, missing the Kongming Lantern and falling down again.
He rushed to the Fuyuan Crossbow on the city wall, first worked with the two to string it up, and then lifted the crossbow stand with a roar, held it with both hands and pointed the arrow toward the sky. The string of the Fuyuan Crossbow popped out,
The thick arrow flew into the sky, penetrated the hanging basket of the Kongming Lantern, and then penetrated the balloon from below. The Kongming Lantern suddenly deflected, the bronze oil tank leaked from the side, and the hot oil poured down with flames and ignited it.
The hanging basket fell to the ground with screams and raging fire, and there was a second explosion with a rumble.
The other Kongming lanterns were so frightened that they raised them higher. There were very few fierce men like Lei Wanchun in the Tang army, and they would not be able to knock down the Kongming lanterns every time. The flames continued to rage on the city wall, and the Tang army
There were many casualties.
Zhang Xun loudly ordered: "First retreat to the towers, and wait until the enemy troops climb up quickly before attacking! I don't believe they dare to drop bombs on our own people!"