Chapter 324: Summer Vacation at Qingcheng Mountain
Du Fan said worriedly: "It is the autumn harvest season now. The northern barbarian cavalrymen are swarming southward, trampling crops wherever they go, leaving no crops and causing great suffering to all."
You Shi was suddenly shocked and said: General Meng's troops are all farmers who serve as civilians in peacetime and soldiers in wartime. This time the northern barbarians invade, if they want to serve as soldiers and fight, they will not be able to harvest the crops, and if they want to harvest the crops, no one will serve as soldiers and fight. The northern barbarians really know how to choose the time to harm people.
Damn, Zhao Yulin felt that Hubili was really a talented person. He knew how to take advantage of the seasons and choose the best time to start.
He said that he would ask Mr. Du to take some silver from the Transportation Department and purchase some rice from Yue and Champa and store it in Changsha for emergency use. If Jinghu and General Meng are short of food, we can just dispatch it.
Mr. Du nodded and said that since the battle had begun, there was no need for us to set up a false front. You all probably saw through Qingcheng Mountain, so let's go back to the city.
Mr. Ding said that this was exactly what he had in mind, and the officials who were out on inspection would soon be home, so let's go back and take care of our business.
The gentlemen began to pack their luggage and prepare for the return journey.
The next evening, Zhao Yulin returned to his residence in Chengdu. The summer heat had just subsided and the weather had unexpectedly cooled down.
Chen Chen jokingly touched Feiyan's belly to look for the shadow of his youngest son, which made Feiyan hide here and there and kept shouting that she was hungry. They quickly set the table and started the feast. Several people sat around the stone table in the yard and ate while singing to the moon.
Zhao Feiyan told Chen Chen that the Mongolian army attacked Huainan and the battle to retake Luoyang commanded by General Miao had begun.
Chen Chen said happily that the Shenwei Army is mighty and our army will definitely be able to recapture Luoyang.
Zhao Yulin told Chen Chen that the Jinguancheng Service Center should take into account the functions of the Ministry of Industry and get the official business done. Seeing that there were more and more construction affairs, Mr. Ding asked the Ministry of Industry to set up quickly to manage the construction.
The little woman was happy. She was not afraid of too much work. The more she worked, the more motivated she became. She ran to the construction site all day long and her face was tanned.
Chen Chen just doesn't act like a lady from a noble family. She imitates Chen Xiaomin's arrogance and says, "Brother, come back to me tonight. Feiyan already has a child, so it's not convenient for her to serve you."
Zhao Yulin almost vomited after hearing this. He looked at Chen Chen with both anger and amusement. Xiaomin's shadow appeared on her. This woman had learned Xiaomin's tricks of acting cute and coquettish, and even surpassed her.
Zhao Feiyan was laughing like a blooming hibiscus flower, and she said cheerfully, "Go, go." She was really tired.
The little woman immediately pulled Zhao Yulin back to the room. Zhao Yulin said with a frown that it was still early and it wasn't even completely dark yet. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at for going into the house so early?
The little woman got angry and said in a cold voice that she still wanted to take a bath, and that her brother had to wait for her to take a bath. After that, she put her hands on her chest and stood there motionless like a piece of wood.
Fairy Banban, this is to ask Zhao Yulin to serve you throughout the whole process.
He closed his eyes and fumbled to undress Chen Chen. The little woman couldn't help laughing when she saw his funny movements. The couple went crazy all the way to the bathroom...
In Suzhou, Hebei, Hubili received a report that the siege on Shouchun had failed, so he ordered a detour and a direct attack on Hefei, the capital of Luzhou.
The Mongolian army successfully crossed the Huai River and entered the Song territory unimpeded to plunder, but they did not expect that they could not take over Shouchun, which was surrounded by water.
After Hubili ordered to encircle but not attack, Kou Wenbuhua personally supervised the battle, and the Mongolian army quickly approached Hefei.
Before the war, Yu Jie had a premonition that the Mongolian army would move south, and Huainan would be an important breakthrough point. Because as long as they follow the Huainan-Luzhou line, they can quickly advance to the Yangtze River, and it is very convenient to go west and east.
Unfortunately, Yu Jie was weak and the battle line was too long. When he learned that the Mongolian army attacked Huainan, he immediately dispatched troops to help. He was very clear in his mind that if the Mongolian army successfully marched south to Hefei, he would never have peace in Jiankang Prefecture.
However, the Mongolian army came with great force this time, and was obviously well-prepared, with a large number of surrendered navy troops. The small group of Song army could not resist at all. The interception points of Yujie were broken through by the Mongolian army one after another, forming a pincer encirclement of Hefei.
Yu Jie became anxious and repeatedly requested reinforcements from Lin'an.
However, the reinforcements from Lin'an were delayed. He sent people to contact Meng Gong urgently to send troops, and also sent a letter to Chengdu through the Imperial City Department, asking the New Song Kingdom to send troops to the rear of the Mongolian army to contain the enemy because they were all descendants of the Great Song Dynasty.
Zhao Bing in the Lin'an Palace was stunned when he learned that the Mongolian army was invading on a large scale and was heading straight for Luzhou across the Huai River.
What is this called?
Hasn't he already surrendered to the Mongol Empire? Why is he still fighting them?
On the one hand, Zhao Bing urgently dispatched troops to help Yujie, and on the other hand, he asked Shi's son to contact the diplomatic corps to negotiate with the Mongolian army to withdraw. But it was all in vain, as the Mongolian army had already surrounded Hefei.
The 20,000 imperial guards he had just assembled were handed over to Yu Jie, but they were defeated as soon as they encountered the Mongolian army. Yu Jie's men were ordered to gather them back and reorganize them, and they could only be used as rear guards.
At this critical moment, Meng Gong arrived with his troops.
Huainan is an important defense node on the Huai River. Meng Gong knew that Yujie had too few soldiers and was unable to do the job. When the army reported that Huainan had fallen and the Mongolian army had crossed the river, our General Meng immediately assembled his troops to provide support.
Meng Gong was an old hand on the battlefield and knew that the Mongolian army would definitely go down the river to seize Hefei in Luzhou. Once Hefei was lost, he would be attacked from the flank of the Mongolian army at any time in Huangzhou.
Therefore, the Song army had to defend Luzhou and Hefei and drive the Mongolian army across the Huai River.
It was the autumn harvest season, and he could see the golden rice standing in the fields. If he didn't harvest it, his army would be out of food in the winter. But if he didn't send troops to harvest the rice, the Mongolian army would definitely gain a foothold in Luzhou, and he would not be able to stay in Huangzhou or Ezhou.
The general gritted his teeth and left the old, weak, sick and disabled to collect the grain, and ordered the deputy general who stayed behind to give the grain to the common people if they couldn't collect enough, and to ensure that the grain did not rot in the fields.
Seeing that the situation was critical, he knew that it would be difficult to hold back the Mongolian army with his own strength alone, so he wrote directly to Yang Xingyun in Zhejiang and Sichuan, asking the Shenwei Army to attack the Mongolian army from the side.
After Meng Gong finished his arrangements, he led his troops to Luzhou. The situation on the battlefield was already very dangerous. The Mongolian cavalry had swept through several counties in Luzhou, the infantry had surrounded Hefei like an iron barrel, and the navy warships appeared in Xiaoyaojin, blocking out the sky.
Yu Jie found Meng Gong to discuss countermeasures. He pointed at the Mongolian navy helplessly and said that it was almost catching up with the entire naval fleet of the Song Dynasty, and there were also a large number of new ships.
Meng Gong said it was okay, he had a way to destroy the Northern Barbarians' navy.
He looked to the west and said that it was not enough to just destroy the Northern Barbarians' navy. He hoped that the Divine Might Army could attack Nanyang. When the Mongolian army saw that they were threatened from the rear, they would surely retreat...
At this time, Cao Youwen had already arrived in Neixiang. Miao Gui and Yang Xingyun followed him to report that they had received a military order from Chengdu to send troops immediately. It turned out that the Mongolian army had taken the first step.
Since the Mongolian army took the initiative in the east, their main force must be there. The intelligence obtained from the battlefield reconnaissance has not changed from the beginning of the year. The eastern group has already started the operation. The vanguard has just captured Zhenping County and is sweeping the outer strongholds of Nanyang.
Cao Youwen coughed a few times before saying that he came out to relax and didn't want to spend all day arguing with a bunch of old scholars in Chengdu. As for how to fight this battle, the brothers could make their own decisions.
The brothers were stunned and didn’t know what Lao Cao meant.
Miao Gui saw that he kept coughing and asked the general what was wrong and where he felt uncomfortable.
Cao Youwen waved his hand and did not tell them that his old injury had relapsed. He thought that if he acted more ruthlessly, Hubili, who was advancing southward, would stop his reckless advance, otherwise the pressure on General Meng and Yu Jie would be great.
If Luzhou were lost, the Mongolian army would inevitably threaten General Meng's east, or even cross the river to plunder the south of the Yangtze River, which would make the situation complicated.
Miao Gui said: Then wait until the army gathers and take Nanyang City in one fell swoop.
Yang Xingyun said that they should attack Nanyang immediately and not wait any longer because the war had already begun. Once the Mongolian army was ready to defend Nanyang, the attacking troops would have to pay a very high price to capture the city.
He said that he had twenty of the army's thirty red cannons, and he proposed to push out the cannons to attack Nanyang immediately. After taking Nanyang, the Mongolian army would consider whether their rear was stable.
Lao Cao coughed twice and said, "Let's do it. Catch him off guard and maybe we can really take Nanyang."
Miao Gui said that there were less than 50,000 troops near Nanyang, and reconnaissance revealed that the enemy in Nanyang was more than 30,000. After the siege, the siege force would be weakened. It was really a three-sided siege with one missing.
Yang Xingyun told him that there was another brigade of air force, and that the air force could be used to block the north gate and bomb the fleeing enemy.
After finalizing the plan, East Group immediately started construction...
In Chengdu, Zhao Yulin served Chen Chen in bed and made him happy. The little woman dressed him up handsomely and prepared him to go out on business.
As soon as he entered the government office, Mr. Ding told him with a smile that Shunfeng Division had received good news from Xiangyang: the Shenwei Army had conquered Nanyang and seized a large number of enemy weapons and supplies.
Zhao Yulin was very happy, thinking that the Shenwei Army's combat effectiveness had greatly improved after the training, which was very good. The gentlemen came in one after another, and Lord Ding called the maid to serve the first tribute tea from Qingcheng Mountain.
Hubili of Suzhou also received the report of the fall of Nanyang. Tachaer was furious. Although he had grabbed a lot of spoils here, he lost his old nest overnight.
He also cursed the Han army for being incompetent and handing over the Nanyang City, which they had worked so hard to build, to Zhao Qi'er.
In such a war situation, the question of whether to fight or not was placed before them.
Tacaer didn't believe it. He thought that Luoyang was heavily guarded and had at least two years' worth of food reserves. That was to say, as long as they defended the city, people would not starve to death in three or two years.
At present, the Mongolian troops around Luoyang must have retreated into Luoyang City. This city is tall, strong, and has food support. Let alone three years, it should be no problem to defend it for three months.
Kouqibuhua believed that Luoyang had restored the Song army's previous defense facilities, and many Mongolian princes and 10,000 Mongolian regular troops had moved in. With them supervising the battle, Luoyang should be able to hold out for a while.
