Chapter 217: Crossing the River in Green Shirt
Xiangyang is located on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Han River. It was built in the sixth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han Dynasty. It is surrounded by water on three sides and backed by a mountain on one side, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This place is located at the confluence of the Han River and the Yangtze River, and its geographical location is very important.

It is not only a major transportation route connecting the north and the south, but also an important hub for communication between the east and the west.

Therefore, this place has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times, the most famous of which is the Battle of Xiangfan during the Three Kingdoms period.

In this battle, Guan Yu first besieged Xiangyang and Fancheng.

Yu Jin led seven armies of 30,000 people to rescue Fancheng, but encountered a natural disaster caused by heavy rain, in which the Han River overflowed and harmed the people, resulting in the flooding of the seven armies.

Guan Yu took the opportunity to attack by ship, captured Yu Jin and others, dealt a heavy blow to Cao Wei, and made a name for himself throughout China.

Then Lu Meng crossed the river in white clothes and attacked Jingzhou, causing Guan Yu to be defeated and flee to Maicheng.

White coat
Ou Zanghua stood in a guesthouse at the pier and said to the waiter behind him, "Waiter, please help me buy a blue shirt in town."

Upon hearing this, Ding Mian immediately took out two coins from his pocket and threw them to the waiter, urging him, "Go quickly and come back soon. The extra money will be considered as your hard work fee."

"Great! Thank you, sir." The waiter responded and ran over quickly.

Not long after, Ou Zanghua changed into a blue shirt, took a small boat, crossed the Han River in the morning sun, and arrived at Xiangyang City.

In addition to the branch guarding Xiangyang City, the Xiangyang Guard also had two thousand-household branches, namely Junzhou Branch and Fangxian Branch.

The current deputy commander of Xiangyang Guard is named Tang Tian, ​​and the title is hereditary.

At this moment, Mr. Tang was sitting in the hall with a very solemn expression.

He didn't expect that this bandit army actually captured Yicheng County, which is located above Fancheng and close to Xiangyang.

In Xiangyang city also lived Prince Xiang Zhu Youzhi (zhì). This prince had only ascended the throne three years ago. He was not as good as the best but better than the worst, which saved the Huguang Circuit Inspector General and the Xiangyang Guard House a lot of worry.

Just as Tang Tian was hesitating whether to take the initiative to attack and destroy the bandit army occupying Yicheng County, a soldier ran in, saluted, took out a waist badge and said: "Your Excellency, there is a guest outside who claims to be the Minister of Honglu Temple. This is his waist badge."

Tang Tian took the badge and looked at it, then said, "Take the guest to the living room and wait for a while. I will serve you some good tea."

"Yes!"

The soldiers responded and retreated immediately.

Tang Tian changed into a third-grade scarlet robe with a tiger pattern painted on it.

When he walked into the living room and saw Ou Zanghua wearing a blue shirt, he was slightly stunned.

Ou Zanghua stood up and bowed, saying, "Hello, Lord Tang."

"You're too polite, Lord Ou." Tang Tian quickly returned the greeting and walked in with his head held high.

"We came here this time because we received intelligence that there are more than 15,000 bandit troops who have captured Yicheng County and are threatening Xiangyang City at all times."

Ou Zanghua didn't waste time talking to Tang Tian, ​​and said directly: "Your Majesty has ordered that I can mobilize the troops from Huguang to help quell the rebellion. Now, please ask Lord Tang to transfer 6,000 soldiers and 100 artillery pieces from Xiangyang Guards to cross the river with me to wipe out this gang of bandits."

Runing is located in Henan Province. Since the sixth year of Zhengde, the Henan Garrison was led by Lu Wan, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, to suppress the bandit army.

In order to save time, Ou Zanghua simply took Tianjin Youwei with him and did not seek Lu Wan's assistance.

After hearing this, Tang Tian agreed immediately: "Since it is for the purpose of destroying the enemy army, we, the Xiangyang Guard, have no choice but to help. May I ask if Lord Ou has any plan to destroy the enemy?"

"I already have a plan in mind. Please ask Lord Tang to pass the order down. We will set out at 3 p.m. and attack the city at 11 p.m." Ou Zanghua smiled and said confidently.

"Night battle?" "Night battle!"

Seeing that Ou Zanghua was so confident of winning, Tang Tian nodded and said, "Okay, I'll coordinate it right away."

With Tang Tian's assistance, 6,000 Xiangyang guards quickly arrived, including 400 gunners, 600 musketeers, 1,000 shield and swordmen, and the remaining 4,000 were all spearmen.

When Ou Zanghua saw these soldiers, he could only say that they were barely useful.

In the evening, with the assistance of Han River fishing boats, six thousand soldiers and one hundred cannons were transported to the other side.

Then, taking advantage of the night, they rushed to a place called Jiangzhuang, where Gao Kexin and the Taishan Sect had already arranged food. Although the food tasted a little worse, it was enough to fill the stomachs of 6,000 people.

Taking this opportunity, Gao Kexin reported to Ou Zanghua that several groups of people wanted to enter Yicheng County during the day, but they were all killed by the elite troops led by Zuo Lengchan. So far, the Yicheng County bandit army should not know the news that the Runing bandit army has been wiped out.

Ou Zanghua heaved a sigh of relief and decided not to rush over to him overnight to mobilize troops and generals.

After eating and drinking, they rested until the hour of Xu, when the moon was bright. The soldiers took advantage of the moonlight and pushed their artillery to the hillside not far from Yicheng County.

Zuo Lengchan and others have already changed into the bandit soldiers' clothes, deliberately dressed in a messy manner, and have been waiting here for a long time.

When Ou Zanghua saw Zuo Lengchan, he immediately warned him, "Uncle Zuo, it's up to you guys from now on. Remember to only walk along the middle street, because our shells will land indiscriminately on both sides of the street."

"Don't worry, Lord Ou. They are just a bunch of bandits. They won't cause any trouble." Zuo Lengchan smiled and then mounted his horse. When the time came, he led the twelve riders in a circle and rushed towards Yicheng County.

The bandits who were patrolling on the city wall immediately perked up when they heard the sound of horse hooves, and one of them even woke up the commander of the city defense tonight.

As the horses approached, they could see the visitor's attire in the moonlight and they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I am Song Shan, the commander under the command of the Grand Marshal of the Third Army of Fengtian Zhengguo. I have urgent military information! Open the door quickly." Zuo Lengchan said as he threw Zhao Hao's badge up.

The city defense commander took the badge and took a look, and found that it was indeed the governor's personal item.

He looked at the people coming, there were only thirteen riders in total, and it was extremely dark around him. He hadn't heard any noise before, so he said, "Open the city gate and let the brothers in."

"Yes!"

On the hillside two miles away, when Ou Zanghua saw the city gate wide open, he immediately ordered: "Aim at the city wall and fire!"

Taoist priest Tianmen immediately stood up, holding a command flag and waving it down suddenly. One hundred cannons that had been adjusted in angle and filled with gunpowder ignited their fuses at the same time.

With a loud bang, a hundred shells flew towards the county town at the same time.

Below the cannonballs, more than eighty cavalrymen were rushing towards the city gate.

Ou Zanghua shouted loudly: "All soldiers, listen to my order. Kill one enemy soldier and you will be rewarded with five taels of silver! Kill the enemy envoy and you will be rewarded with ten taels of silver! Kill the enemy commander and you will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver! Forward!"

The drums of war rumbled, and Deng Bagong immediately stood up, raised his sword and shouted, "Follow me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was the first to rush out.

When the soldiers of Xiangyang heard that the reward was so high, they immediately followed.

At this moment, the bandit soldiers defending Yicheng County had not yet reacted when they were chopped off their heads by Zuo Lengchan's eleven cavalrymen.

No one closed the city gate, allowing the remaining eighty-odd cavalrymen to march straight in. Artillery shells kept falling on both sides of the cavalry. Every explosion meant the death of one or more lives.

The 6,000 Xiangyang guards who followed had an unimpeded passage and easily entered Yicheng County through the main gate. Some of the bandits were killed with one blow before they even woke up.

By the time Chang Wei, the commander of the Fourth Army of the rebel army, heard the noise and crawled out of bed, the cavalry had already reached the gate of his compound.
(End of this chapter)