Chapter 433 The Yellow River must change its course
In Daming Prefecture, Hebei Province, Da Mengge was still recuperating from his injuries. He and Hubili also spent the Spring Festival of 1241 in the Central Plains.
After escaping the Yellow River, Hubili finally felt safe. He calmed down and thought carefully, and felt that he was fooled by Da Meng in the battle in Central Plains last year.
In this battle around Xuzhou, the Mongolian army lost its rare southern navy, and the cavalry and infantry lost nearly 100,000 combined. Less than 20,000 loyal and brave men were brought across the Yellow River, and almost all of them were under the control of Da Mengge. All the losses were caused by his subordinates, so it was obviously a huge loss.
Moreover, Mengge took the lead in the breakout, showing his heroic and brave idol-like demeanor as a grassland boy. This made Hubili, who used wisdom and strategies, pale in comparison and seriously fall behind.
The voices praising Mengge in the army grew louder and louder. Mengge was delighted. He hung his arms and played rock-paper-scissors with the princes and generals, and drank with them. He also tried to win over brothers and friends from all directions. His prestige soared like a rocket.
Now, his big brother's arms and legs are all healed, and he is full of energy and vigor and calls Hubili to discuss matters.
Hubili was very unhappy and made an excuse that it was spring and he had a lot of military and political affairs to deal with, so he just asked his elder brother to tell him if he had anything to say.
Meng Ge knew that his younger brother was angry, so he called two beautiful girls to serve him, and said with a smile, "Why are you panicking? The river is still frozen."
Let's discuss how to deal with Li Quan in Shandong?
This fellow pretended to obey our grassland empire but actually disobeyed it, which was disloyalty. He did not send a single soldier, a pound of food, or a single arrow when we fought a fierce battle in Xuzhou. This was unjust. It would be difficult to put an end to the anger in my heart if I don't punish such a disloyal and unjust person.
This was because Da Mengge went to discuss matters with King Lu, but King Lu was lukewarm towards him, so he summoned Hubili.
King Lu, who ruled
Hubili asked angrily how to cure it? Should we go and fight again?
Li Quan is just a fence-sitter, he will follow whoever gives him benefits.
Brother Meng said angrily that since we gave him such a large piece of land, he has to pay tribute to us and recruit soldiers.
Then he cursed again: The Han army is a group of stupid pigs. Even 100,000 men could not resist Zhao Yulin's mighty army in the battle of Xuzhou. It was a waste of food.
Hubili was dissatisfied and asked him if he hadn't seen clearly that the Shenwei Army's weapons were more advanced and far surpassed those of the Mongolian Army, and that the Qian Army's equipment was even worse, so it was normal that they couldn't defeat Zhao Yulin. We can't confront them head-on, but should play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses.
Brother Meng doesn't think so. He said that we, the men of the grassland, are fighting for our lives. As long as we dare to fight and fight hard, what enemy can we not defeat?
To be tolerant and to be a coward, how can this be the true character of a man from the grassland?
Hubili said that the Song army was not all spineless. The Shenwei Army fought hard with us this time as usual and did not retreat. Once the enemy's firearms were used, they could not withstand it at all.
At this time, a secret report came from the scouts: Secret report from the front, the Shenwei Army was mobilized in large numbers, repairing ditches and roads to help the people with spring plowing.
Mengge snorted coldly and said: Damn, here’s another trick of winning people’s hearts and making those untouchables happy. Are they going to occupy Henan and not leave?
Humph, when the seeds sprout and grow into green seedlings, I will send out cavalry to trample them, and three riders will dig up the roots and eat them. Let’s see if Zhao Qi’er can still sit still.
After reading the military report, Hubili said: What’s more, the Shenwei Army is rebuilding the Cunjin Dike, it’s incredible.
Meng Ge asked disdainfully: What's the big deal about building a dike?
Could it be that he is so rich that he wants to melt the gold to build the embankment?
Does Zhao Yulin really have so much silver?
Mengge had just returned and was not familiar with the place names in the Central Plains. His question made Hubili laugh and cry, and he said lightly that Cunjin Dike was the section of the Yellow River dike that we dug up back then. The water of the Yellow River rushed out from the Cunjin Dike in Daming County, passed through Xuzhou and changed its course into the sea.
Mengge was so frustrated that he was speechless. After thinking for a moment, he immediately shouted "Wow!" Damn it, the Shenwei Army is trying to change the course of the Yellow River and rush towards us.
Brother Da Meng is not stupid after all, he knows what the Shenwei Army is going to do.
However, Hubili said that after the Shenwei Army blocked the Cunjin Dike, the Yellow River flowed back to the northeast, and Shandong was gone.
Da Meng immediately understood that if the Yellow River changed its course to the northeast, passing through Daming and heading straight to Zhending Prefecture, Shandong would be completely separated. At that time, the Shenwei Army only needed to give Li Quan a little benefit, and this guy would not obediently surrender to the New Song Dynasty.
Mengge was furious and shouted for a fight, saying that the bully had come to his doorstep and he should be beaten back.
Haha, he forgot that his hometown is thousands of miles away from here on the prairie, and it is not like this at all.
Hubili said indifferently that Zhao Yulin had deployed four columns of 80,000 troops on the banks of the Yellow River, and there were 40,000 troops just building the dike, all of whom were eager to take turns to fight. How could they fight?
Let's take a break. After the battle of Xuzhou, Prince Lu's troops were severely damaged. Most of his generals were lost, and the wounded camp is overcrowded. They haven't recovered yet, and they all changed color when they heard that the Shenwei Army is coming.
Brother Meng cursed him as a coward in his heart, still thinking that the medicine he had given this brother in Xuzhou was a bit too strong, and snorted coldly and said, "Let them do it first, and we will destroy it after they have repaired it..."
On the Cunjin Dike by the Yellow River, Li Dagui's troops of the Shenwei Army were working intensively and meticulously to build the dike. This time the dike repair was really time-sensitive and the task was heavy.
However, Zhao Yulin gave Da Kui a secret weapon. He brought his own troops and a column of garrison troops here. Forty thousand troops took turns working. Every day, ten thousand of them were on the front line, ready to guard against the Mongolian army. Thirty thousand brothers were engaged in the intensive repair of the dike as if they were doing usual drills. After working for nearly two months, the ice and snow upstream melted, and the water came. Da Kui led his troops away from the construction site.
Hubili reported that the Yellow River had boiled. The Shenwei Army had left, and the levee had not yet been built when water from upstream came in. Only a small amount of river water flowed eastward, and there was no major problem.
Hubili was very glad that the Shenwei Army did not repair the Cunjin Dike after all. It was really a waste of time for a blind man to light a lamp.
Brother Da Meng laughed out loud, laughing at Zhao Yulin, a fool, for doing stupid things, wasting people's money and time, and exhausting the army.
After a short rest, Hubili felt a little uneasy again. He didn't know what tricks the Shenwei Army and Zhao Yulin were playing at this.
I always feel that Zhao Yulin's work is not that simple.
However, an explosive piece of news came from the grassland, which immediately made them put the matter aside and focus on the north.
The insider report that Mengge left at the grassland royal court: the grassland Khan has died. To be precise, the Khan survived the cold winter and passed away reluctantly when spring came.
Or perhaps the Khan had already ascended to heaven in the cold winter, but the royal court kept the news secret.
Da Mengge was ecstatic. This was a perfect opportunity to take back the Khan throne. If he wanted to go back to Mobei, he had to go to the royal court to fight for the Khan throne.
What Central Plains?
What is Cunjin Dike?
It's all just some trivial stuff.
After giving some instructions to Hubili, Da Meng led Subutai and 20,000 elite soldiers and headed straight for the Mobei royal court.
Besides, Zhao Yulin in Kaifeng Prefecture was busy with official business all day long, and he also had to be on guard against the Mongolian army crossing the river for a surprise attack. After working non-stop for more than a month, he finally received the news that Da Kui had completed the task.
After the Shenwei Army deployed to the northeast along the Yellow River, Zhao Yulin arranged for Da Kui to repair the river embankment. He did not ask him to repair the Cunjin Dike immediately to change the course of the Yellow River, but to lay the foundation of the river embankment first.
Because the section of the levee destroyed by the Mongolian army seemed to be more than ten miles wide, and it was an impossible task to spread out tens of thousands of people sparsely.
However, we can lay the foundation first.
The Shenwei Army mobilized a large amount of earth and cement, and built the river embankment by adding concrete reinforcement to the foundation. The width of the embankment was doubled compared to the original one. This wide and deep design was much easier to operate.
Therefore, along the line, we could only see dense crowds of people carrying things on their shoulders, but we didn't see any dam being built. That was because Zhao Yulin had never asked them to build it.
This section of the river bank is low-lying and most easily damaged. If such a small section is dug up, it will collapse like a thousand-mile embankment being breached by an ant hole. Without absolute control, he will not block the river mouth.
Another important reason is that the Yellow River has been diverted for some years, and a few people have moved into the previously dry riverbed. These people must be informed that the Shenwei Army is repairing the dike and blocking the breach so that they can go ashore and leave the riverbed that is about to be flooded.
He would never do something like breaking the dike and creating a flood zone, drowning ordinary people.
The Shenwei Army worked hard at Cunjin Dike for a while, and the effect was immediate.
The common people of Daming Prefecture were secretly happy, and were quietly spreading the news that the Shenwei Army was coming to attack. Look, the Shenwei Army was building a levee, and they were going to change the course of the river.
The common people in Shandong spoke much louder. When the neighbors closed the door and had a drink and chatted, they all said: Wow, the Shenwei Army is going to retake our Shandong. The Shenwei Army is building a levee to change the course of the Yellow River. The northern barbarians can no longer come and go as they please on horseback. The thief Li Quan has no master to flatter him, so he will not surrender to the Shenwei Army obediently.
The stories about this and that in Hebei and Shandong became more and more miraculous as they spread, most of them were about the Shenwei Army's march eastward or northward to retake their homeland.
The undercurrents are full of expectations, as if the land that has been frozen for many years has welcomed the warm spring sun, and the grass under the frozen soil is about to break through the ground.
After seeing that the goals of spring ploughing and preparation and Cunjin Dike repair had been basically achieved, Zhao Yulin held a meeting and planned to build a blast furnace in Anyang to smelt refined iron.
Anyang developed steel smelting during the rule of the Mongolian army in the past, but it was nothing compared to the steel smelting technology of the Shenwei Army in Cuiping Mountain and Xinshi Hongmeng Valley.
However, after discussing together, all the generals still felt that Anyang was too close to the border and was not conducive to defense. They could select the ore in Anyang, but it would be better to smelt it in Zhengzhou.
