Chapter 429: Battle of Xuzhou
At this time, Zhao Yulin was holding a banquet for all the officials in Kaifeng. All the generals had gone to the front line in Xuzhou to participate in the battle, leaving only Li Dagui with 20,000 main forces to guard Kaifeng. This guy was sitting at the table drinking wine with a frustrated look on his face.
Zhao Yulin accompanied Mr. Fan to toast each table with a smile, and specially introduced the brave general Li Dagui to the old man.
Da Kui was flattered. There were so many people at the banquet, but the Third Young Master just smiled and walked past them. When he walked to Da Kui, he stopped to introduce him to Mr. Fan. This was a great honor.
Mr. Fan praised Da Kui highly, and said earnestly that Kaifeng would be the front line of our New Song Dynasty's defense against the Mongolian army in the future, and General Li would have to suffer.
Only then did Da Kui feel the weight of the burden on his shoulders, and he loudly stated on the spot: The Shenwei Army will protect Kaifeng's peace until the death.
The invited guests in the hall stood up in awe and then burst into warm applause.
After the banquet, Zhao Yulin and Fan Gong came to the small hall to have tea.
The old man sighed repeatedly and said that it was unimaginable that the damn northern barbarians would destroy such a prosperous city like this. The imperial capital, which once had a population of one million, now has less than 20,000 households left, and this is the popularity that has gradually gathered in the past few years.
As the old man spoke, he was already overcome with grief and sobbing. He had felt the desolation of the north when he was in Yingtian Prefecture. Along the way, he saw large tracts of barren land, destroyed villages, and dilapidated cities.
When he walked into Kaifeng again, he was shocked to see that the huge city was full of broken walls and ruins, and many of the destroyed overgrown with weeds and wild trees, making it like a ghost town.
Fortunately, there is a street along the Bian River where people and boats are coming and going and it is still quite popular, otherwise he would have suspected that he had arrived in hell.
Fan Zhong said: He fully agreed with his brother's strategy to implement downgraded management for the prefectures, states and counties in the recovered areas, but it would be hard for Madam Chen Chen. This place is so dilapidated that there is not even a decent road. This will make Madam Chen suffer.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said it was okay and he would spend more time with Chen Chen.
The old man immediately said that this was making his brother and his wife suffer here.
Zhao Yulin smiled, shook his head and said that people were needed everywhere. He decided to encourage immigration here, open up large-scale farming, and quickly restore vitality here.
Fan Zhong immediately nodded in agreement.
He said that the canal must be dredged to facilitate water transportation between the north and the south. Only in this way could the popularity of the north be quickly restored and the richness of the thousands of miles of fertile land be restored.
Fan Zhong nodded again like a chicken pecking at rice, and kept saying "Good, very good".
Then he said that these were huge expenses and how much money would be needed. He had to go back to Chengdu to discuss it with Lord Cao and the officials of the Central Council.
Zhao Yulin said he couldn't leave, so he had to trouble Mr. Fan to make the trip. He took Hu Lan to the dock to see Fan Zhong off, and then devoted himself to the intense post-war reconstruction.
In the northeast of Xuzhou City, the Shenwei Army was still fighting with the Mongolian Army.
At dawn, the Mongolian army began to break out. Mengge led his troops to attack fiercely towards the north, and the two armies immediately entered a stalemate.
Since the Shenwei Army's heavy firearms were not in place, both sides fought with flesh and blood. Yang Xingyun's column of new recruits barely withstood the repeated attacks of the Mongolian Army and did not allow the Mongolian Army to break out of the encirclement.
Lai Chuanfang, Gu Shan and Liu Qiangguang commanded four columns to encircle and annihilate Kou Wenbuhua. Miao Gui issued a death order that this Mongolian army must be destroyed. Because Kou Wenbuhua repeatedly attacked the Shenwei Army and tried to kill their third young master. It was too abominable. Most of his generals were heinous and desperate criminals, and they could not be allowed to escape.
Therefore, the battle to annihilate the enemy in Liujiazhuang was extremely fierce. Koukou Buhua knew that he was doomed, so unlike Mengge and Hubili who broke out from the north and south, he made a desperate attack to the northeast, trying to join Hubili and his men.
How could Lai Chuanfang give him a chance? The Mongolian army tried to break through the encirclement of the Shenwei Army several times but was intercepted every time, and they continued to attack.
Finally, Lai Chuanfang was forced to use the guards guarding the command tent to force the Mongolian army to retreat. Both sides were like dueling warriors who had exhausted their physical strength and took two steps back to take a short breath.
At this time, Yang Xingyun urgently dispatched two corps to support Liujiazhuang, and a vanguard corps of the Jinzhou Column finally arrived from Suzhou.
Lai Chuanfang was overjoyed and ordered the cannons to be set up immediately to bombard him.
At dusk, Hubli heard the rumbling of artillery fire from the west. The explosions hit his chest like a sledgehammer. He knew that the heavy weapons of the Shenwei Army had arrived and Kou Wenbuhua's rear guard was about to be destroyed. He immediately went to Mengge to discuss the matter. The two brothers had no strategy and broke out to the north without any plan.
This time, Yang Xingyun did not fight to the death to block the Mongolian army's way. Instead, he let them escape after inflicting heavy casualties and then chased them closely from behind.
The Mongolian army fled desperately along the route they were familiar with, but they found that the road ahead was flooded within ten miles, and the further they went, the more it turned into a swamp.
After further inquiries, I learned that the Shenwei Army had dug up the old course of the Yellow River and flooded Chenjiawei yesterday, just as they had done in the past to prevent the Song Army from recovering the three capitals.
Meng Ge looked at the endless ocean and howled to the sky, crying out sadly: Could it be that the Eternal Heaven wants him to die here?
Hubili did not put his hope in the gods like his brother did. He immediately found a scout who was familiar with the terrain and continued to escape.
Zhao Yulin saw Hulan was in a bad mood yesterday, so he tried his best to make her happy and fall asleep. When he woke up, it was already bright. He felt that the white light in front of him was too dazzling, so he went out to see that the surroundings were covered with snow. It turned out that there was a heavy snow last night.
He took a shower, changed his clothes, and sat down in the warm room. Just as he took a sip of hot tea, the guard reported that an urgent military report had arrived.
Zhao Yulin took it and took a look. It was a letter from the Minister of War Miao Gui. A great battle last night lasted until dawn. The Shenwei Army completely and thoroughly annihilated more than 40,000 people of the Kouxubuhua tribe of the Mongolian army that was behind them, defeated the main force of Hubili, annihilated 30,000 of his troops, and captured more than 30,000 alive. The Mongolian army was completely defeated, and the remnants fled all the way to the north. The life and death of Mengge and Hubili was unknown.
The Shenwei Army continued to expand its victory, and Yang Xingyun was still chasing the Mongolian Army.
Zhao Yulin had already heard Hu Lan approaching, and handed the military newspaper to her.
The little woman was trembling all over before she even finished reading it.
In fact, Hu Lan had heard the guards whispering three days ago that the Shenwei Army had surrounded the Mongolian Army in Xuzhou and was fighting a fierce battle with the enemy. Mengge and Hubili were both put in their trap, haha.
Hulan certainly hoped that the Shenwei Army would win and that Zhao Yulin would win the battle. However, she also did not want to see her two brothers die in front of her, and she felt very conflicted.
Therefore, it is easy to understand why she has been inexplicably angry and in an abnormal mood in the past two days.
The little woman looked at the military newspaper with a nervous look on her face, and her hands were shaking as she held the letter paper.
Zhao Yulin pulled her close to his arms and explained that he had tried his best to keep her away from military intelligence these days because he was worried that it would ruin her mood.
Hu Lan asked softly: Will her two brothers die in the battle?
That is, the couple killed her two brothers.
Zhao Yulin said noncommittally that he only ordered the extermination of Kouqiu Buhua, and General Yang Xingyun only gave the order to pursue him. As for whether her two brothers could escape?
We can only leave it to God.
However, he did not want Mengge and Hubili to die in this battle.
The little woman rubbed her body in his arms, rubbing the corner of her clothes without saying a word.
Zhao Yulin said to herself: Her two brothers had made a wrong calculation and actually concentrated their forces to attack Suqian, attempting to block the river and cut off the food supply route of the Shenwei Army north of Suzhou. The Mongolian navy marched south to Luoma Lake, and the Song and Mongolian armies took the lead in fighting there.
However, Hubili did not estimate the extremely fast marching speed of the Shenwei Army. Instead, he started from Yingtian, the farthest point, and captured Dangshan and broke through his western gate in one fell swoop. When he was already showing signs of defeat, he and Mengge's entire army pressed towards Pizhou, dreaming of escaping and even taking Suqian, but the result was this.
Hu Lan asked quietly: We got married and went north to Kaifeng. Are you trying to trick her two brothers?
Zhao Yulin hesitated for a moment and said, "Yes, and no. The so-called military strategy is to use tricks. When it comes to using tricks, her two brothers are better at it than her husband."
Their inspection in Kaifeng was an aboveboard and necessary activity, and they came in person and did not deceive anyone.
The two were sitting in the room awkwardly when the guard reported that Madam Chen Chen had arrived.
Zhao Yulin immediately stood up and went out to greet her. When the young lady saw him, she pounced on him. He picked up Chen Chen and swung her around three times before putting her down. He asked her in surprise, "How could you come so quickly? You must not have rested on the way?"
Chen Chen nodded in agreement and asked about his new wife. He wanted to see what Miss Hulan would look like after marriage.
Zhao Yulin said with a wicked smile, "What's so good about it? He's still walking in a duck gait just like her."
Chen Chen pinched him hard, and they walked towards the government office hand in hand. He told Chen Chen about Hulan's worries, the battle of Xuzhou, Mengge and Hubili were surrounded, Hulan was in a bad mood, and as a sister, she should pay more attention to her.
Chen Chen understood immediately. When he walked into the room and saw Hu Lan’s face full of black lines, he knew that the problem was serious. He pushed Hu Lan out to do the work and sat down to chat with Hu Lan.
Chen Chen asked Hu Lan: Are you getting married now?
Hu Lan said in a daze, "Yes, I'm married."
Chen Chen smiled and said that everyone in Shunfeng knew about it. Her elder brother ordered in front of the guards: From now on, my sister is no longer a child of the grassland, and she will be killed without mercy. My sister married a Song man and is no longer a member of the Tulei family.
Hu Lan showed a hint of surprise and looked at Chen Chen in confusion.
The little girl continued: "Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog. Since I have married you, I am the woman of the commander of Zhao in the new Song State. I am already your woman, why do you blame me for doing something wrong? Brother Yulin, this is fighting for the country."
She continued: Brother, you really care about your feelings. To discuss military affairs, they would go to the government office far away. In the past, Brother Yulin would discuss matters wherever it was convenient.
Hu Lan gradually regained her spirits after listening to Chen Chen's story. The two began to ask each other questions and chatted with Chen Chen in a random manner...
