The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 240 Guo Jing attacks Xiangyang!
The Seven Quanzhen disciples reached a consensus, so there was no need to say more. Qiu Chuji looked at the three disciples sitting in front of him and said in a simple and deep voice, "Zhiping, Zhijing, Zhichang, pass on the master's order to gather the people from the various Taoist temples in the north. The three of you will each bring 200 disciples down the mountain and follow King Zhou's army south to destroy Song."

"We will obey the orders of the chief instructor." The three men stood up from their cushions and answered in unison, with a look of unwillingness to admit defeat in each other's eyes.

Now, the third generation of Quanzhen Sect disciples is headed by these three, and each of them has a group of fellow disciples supporting them, and none of them is submissive to the other. Changchun Zhenren Qiu Chuji is old, and the remaining five of the Seven Quanzhen disciples are unwilling to deal with worldly things and are devoted to practicing Taoism. Therefore, the next leader of Quanzhen Sect will be selected from the third generation of disciples.

"Go."

"Disciple retire!"

Sun Buer, the quiet and secluded person, looked at the direction where the disciples left, with a hint of pity in his eyes, "With so many disciples going down the mountain, I wonder how many will come back."

Qiu Chuji stood up from the cushion and turned around. Behind him was the statue of Wang Chongyang. This statue and even the Chongyang Palace had been renovated. The statue was about three meters tall and was painted with colorful lacquer, making it look lifelike, as if it were a real person.

As soon as he raised his head, he met the eyes of the statue. "For the Quanzhen Sect, everything is worth it!"

……

Deep in the desert, a majestic city rises from the ground. Its high walls, conical roofs, and red tiles with flying eaves are daunting. Around the city, there are sparse herdsmen grazing.

Not far away, a winding river was rushing away. By the river, women were washing clothes and men were leading their horses to drink water. Their eyes were full of awe and hope as they looked towards the distant city wall.

This is the capital of Mongolia, Kharakorum, which was built in the style of Luoyang in the Zhou Dynasty. It was divided into three walls: the outer city, the imperial city and the palace city. The circumference of the outer city was more than 50 miles. One hundred thousand households were relocated to the city, and slaves in the nearby river valley opened up fields and cultivated grains.

In order to build this city, Mongolia mobilized more than one million laborers in batches. The houses in the city covered a very large area. After seeing this city, the heads and nobles of various tribes moved away from their hometowns and moved into the city.

Genghis Khan lived in the Golden Horde with his wives, concubines and children.

Genghis Khan stood on the steps in front of the hall, looking down at the stone steps below, his eyes full of emotion, "Tolui, today I finally understand what it means to be an emperor. No wonder the cities in the Central Plains are built so magnificently."

In the past, Genghis Khan was invincible wherever his troops went, and no one could be his opponent. The largest and most crowded gathering in Mongolia was the kurultai, where grasslands within a radius of more than ten miles were filled with cavalry and war horses.

However, above these steps, in front of him is a wide square where he can receive his subjects, and behind him is a tall and luxurious palace for him to live in. This is the external charm of the palace wonder, and even Genghis Khan cannot escape it.

Before, he entered Zhongdu and saw the Jin Dynasty Palace. At that time, the palace was in the midst of war, all the people had moved away, and it was a scene of desolation. At that time, he entered there as a conqueror, and no matter how magnificent or tall the palace was, it could not shock his mind.

Now, this palace is his territory and the capital of Mongolia, where he and his subjects will live, and this capital also plays its role, attracting tribal nobles to live here.

Merchants from all over the world gathered here, and all kinds of rare treasures appeared one after another. The city not only had a arsenal, but also granaries, armories and other important places. In the future, it would be more convenient for him to recruit troops and summon officials below.

Supervising the construction of the city made Tolui mature. He was no longer as rigid as a soldier. He bowed his head and whispered, "Father Khan, Mongolia is the most powerful country in the world. Of course, we must build a capital city that attracts the world's attention. This city will not only have craftsmen from the Central Plains, but also craftsmen from Khorezm, Persia, Gurji and other places. It will be bigger and better than Luoyang in the Central Plains."

"Only the Great Khan of Mongolia is worthy of such a city!"

Genghis Khan's eyes sparkled like a tiger, "Well said! The most fertile land, the most beautiful women, and the most powerful warriors in the world are only worthy of our Great Mongol Empire. Your Anda spent two years of peace in the Central Plains, and finally launched a war to unify the north and the south. It's a pity that he has never been to our Great Mongol Empire, and he doesn't know how big the world is."

"Guo Jing, it's not easy for him either. Just building the city has kept me busy. There are so many people in the Central Plains. I don't know how he governs them." When talking about Guo Jing, Tolui's tone was much softer.

"You have finally calmed down in the past two years. I can finally rest assured that I can hand over the Khanate to you." As he said this, he looked up and gazed at the palace attic in the distance, "Next year, I will march west!"

"Father Khan, are you going to march west?"

Genghis Khan nodded and said, "Yes, the eagle of the grassland should not be trapped in this small city. There is a vast world outside waiting for us to conquer. The principalities in the west occupy fertile grasslands, but their strength is so weak. They should belong to Mongolia."

"The Khanates of the princes and kings have been stabilized, and it is time to start the war."

"Don't worry, father Khan. Leave the food, fodder and weapons to me."

"it is good!"

……

After the autumn harvest in 1229, King Zhou Guo Jing led an army of out of Luoyang. General Xuanwei Zhang Rou sent a detachment of from Shu. Naval General Shi Tianze led naval forces south along the waterway to attack Kuizhou Road. General Zhongwu Lu Guanying stationed troops in Jiankang to support King Zhou. A total of troops were mobilized.

This time, in order to destroy the Song Dynasty in one battle, Guo Jing took with him most of the elite troops of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the Shengjie Army, Beiwei Army and other elite troops who had followed him in his battles also went out together.

Suddenly, smoke of war rose all over the world, and all kinds of wars filled people's ears from east to west. Although it was autumn, the hot and stuffy air seemed to smell the disgusting blood on the battlefield.

The south, which had been peaceful for hundreds of years, finally ushered in war. The last war that affected the whole country was during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. At that time, even the south was divided into pieces, with kings and princes of all sizes.

Now, the South cannot escape the war and a new round of reshuffle is bound to take place!

The Zhou army set out from Xuzhou and crossed the river with the help of the navy.

On that day, flags covered the sky and thousands of sails were racing against each other. The scene was very spectacular!
……

Xiangyang, Meng Mansion.

Since the death of Meng Zongzhen, the prestige of the Meng family plummeted. Xiangyang faced direct military pressure from the north, and the court attached great importance to military power. Meng Zongzhen's eldest son Meng Xi failed to inherit his father's old Zhongshun Army and became a marginal figure in the army.

As the news of the Great Zhou declaring war on the Song State arrived, the imperial court panicked and tried every possible means to re-employ old generals and do everything possible to strengthen the army. As a result, Meng Xi was granted an official position by the court and was able to lead troops.

However, when the imperial edict was issued, there was a disagreement within the Meng family. The third brother, Meng Jing, felt that his eldest brother should not accept the imperial call and should take the family away from Xiangyang. He stood in the hall and glared at his eldest brother, "Now, half of the world is in the hands of the Great Zhou, and all places in the south are going to fight. Brother, do you want to use a city to fight a battle that is bound to fail?"

"The better you defend, the more of us will die. By then, the land of Jingxiang will be littered with corpses. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians will die. The elderly and children will starve to death, the young and strong will die in battle, and the houses will be burned to ashes. This goes against my father's original intention of defending our homeland, and also goes against the concept of our ancestors to defend our country."

"Under such a great situation, if you still can't think about the people, what's the point of being a rebel! What's more, the Great Zhou is not the Jin Kingdom, and Guo Jing is also a Han Chinese!"

Meng Xi showed a look of struggle on his face. "But my Meng family has been favored by the emperor for generations. How can we easily betray the court? How will the world view us?"

Meng Jing did not back down at all and asked him, "What kind of character are the brothers Lu Wenhuan and Lu Wende who are guarding Xiangyang? Don't you know that the court can use such people to guard Xiangyang?"

"But!" Meng Xi was still hesitating, but was interrupted by his third brother, "Don't say buts anymore. The fourth brother is already a seventh-rank lieutenant in the Great Zhou. Maybe he will be there to attack Jinghu Road this time. Do you want us brothers to kill each other?"

Thinking of the letter sent back by the fourth brother, his face was full of complexities. Finally, he closed his eyes and nodded woodenly, "Okay, third brother, I'll listen to you. I won't accept this conscription order!"

So, Meng Xi directly claimed to be ill and refused to accept the conscription order. During the war, the court had no time to make a decision and had to give up. A few days later, someone came to visit again, but found that the Meng Mansion was empty.

"Okay, okay, okay, go away, go away as far as you can!"

Inside the city, Lu Wende was furious when he learned that the Meng family had escaped. He walked out with a big stride, looking at the bright sky and the moving white clouds, his voice filled with anger.

Following the sky, the clouds turned to the southeast, passed the sky of Shangyong, and fell into Xiangyang, Jingzhou. Fires and weapons had already been ignited in the Xinye area. Even though the army was restrained when heading south, many villages and cities were still affected by the war. The people were afraid that the war would burn them, and they fled in panic with their families and children to avoid the war. The long line of refugees seemed to have no end as they walked through this autumn.

As the seat of Jingzhou, it was a towering and fortified city, but there was also an air of uneasiness in front of the 100,000-man army. Some wealthy families in the city had already taken their wives and children on the road to other counties. On the city wall, Lv Wende felt the atmosphere of impending storm, and it was as if a huge stone was pressing down on his heart.

In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Guo Jing had already settled in Xiangyang at this time and helped defend Xiangyang until the Mongol invasion more than ten years later.

And now, he personally led the army south, and the first important military town to be conquered was the city of Xiangyang.

……

Zhou army camp.

Guo Jing pointed at the map in front of him and said, "Guanying, when you said you wanted to be the vanguard when we destroyed the Song Dynasty, I will do as you wish and let you be the vanguard in this battle. Do you dare to accept it?"

In the tent, Lu Guanying's eyes suddenly turned red, and he half-knelt on the ground excitedly, "I will take the order!" With Lu Guanying's current status, being a vanguard is a waste of talent, but destroying the Song Dynasty has always been his long-cherished wish and has almost become a heart disease for him. He dreams of leading troops to destroy the Song Dynasty. Now, he can finally realize his dream.

Since ancient times, Xiangyang and Fancheng have been integrated. If Fancheng is lost, Xiangyang will also be lost. However, the geographical location here is very important. It is located in the core position of the narrow passage between the Nanyang Basin and the Jianghan Plain. It is an important transit station for north-south land transportation in the Central Plains, and a key node for water transportation connecting the Central Plains and the Yangtze River. "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu says: Xiangyang "is connected to Ru and Luo in the north, Qin and Shu in the west, Huguang in the south, and Wu and Yue in the east."

Upon learning that the main force of the Zhou army was about to arrive, Lu Wende ordered his trusted men to lead 30,000 troops to station in Fancheng. Soon after, 100,000 Zhou troops also pushed through Xinye and arrived at the north of Fancheng. The two armies confronted each other twenty miles apart.

He knew that the Song army was no match for the Zhou army, so he relied on the city defense and stayed inside.

Lu Guanying led an army of 30,000 and attacked fiercely for ten days, but still failed to capture Fancheng.

"Oh!"

One after another, gunpowder bags exploded on the top of the city walls. The porcelain pieces and stones inside flew out and penetrated into people's bodies. The Song soldiers within a few meters fell to the ground and wailed.

The surrounding Song soldiers held up their shields and dodged for fear of being blown up.

On the other hand, Guo Jing's thousands of cavalrymen attacked cities and captured land. Wherever they went, the city guards surrendered as soon as they saw the flag of the Zhou army. In contrast, the tens of thousands of troops in Fancheng, Xiangyang, were pinned inside the city and were completely ineffective.

Nanchang Prefecture, thousands of miles away, received news of the fall of the city. The impact of the breach of the Yangtze River defense line was too great. Coupled with the Zhou army's navy, the Song army's defense line was full of loopholes.

The intelligence from the Eagle Guards and the bravery of the Zhou army led to the fall of large numbers of cities in the south, which shocked the entire Song Dynasty. As a result, they were forced into a corner and issued more than a dozen golden orders in succession, forcing Lu Wende to fight against the Zhou army.

In the city, Lu Wende looked at the golden orders on the table with mixed feelings. If he wanted to keep Xiangyang, he had to defend it to the death. But the Zhou Kingdom had both navy and cavalry, while they were restricted in the city and dared not go out at all.

Pressure from the imperial court forced him to make a choice, and the morale of the troops in the city was also low, because most of them came from Jinghu, and the Zhou army was attacking their hometown.

If they just keep defending, Xiangyang and Fancheng will become isolated cities and will fall sooner or later. In the past few days, the enemy's catapults have thrown gunpowder and explosives, causing heavy casualties among them and dealing a heavy blow to their morale.

"Since we can't defend it, then let's not defend it!"

……

At some point, Guo Jing, who was leading the cavalry in battle, had returned to the camp outside Xiangyang City. "Hahaha, more than a dozen golden orders. I think Lv Wende will have to fight if he doesn't want to."

On the battlefield, the most taboo thing is micro-control, especially commanding from thousands of miles away.

Lu Guanying nodded, "Yes, the catapults and explosive packs caused too much damage to the soldiers defending the city. We almost captured Fancheng yesterday. Even without the imperial order, he had to fight."

"Okay, then let's have a good fight and take down this important town of Xiangyang!"

Late at night, Guo Jing walked out of the camp and looked at the city wall of Xiangyang in the distance. He had an inexplicable feeling in his heart. It seemed as if he had been to this city many times. The bell tower and the city wall on the city wall were inexplicably familiar.

(End of this chapter)