"The building boat crosses the snow melon island at night, and the iron horse is scattered in the autumn wind." When Zhao Hao stepped on the Guazhou ferry, Lu Jiaxuan's two poems couldn't help blurting out. After making the decision to adjust the direction of the attack, he quickly convened a court meeting to persuade several governors, and settled the concubines of the harem, and decided to drive the decision to conquer Yangzhou in person.

Zhao Hao's strategic intentions were very clear, and he personally led a large army to attack Yangzhou and make a posture to recover Huaidong. Yuxi Timur would never sit idly by and watch the Song army's big action, he estimated that he would have to make two reactions, one was to mobilize various troops to aid Yangzhou and block the enemy along the Jiangbei line; The second is to adopt the strategy of encircling Wei to rescue Zhao, taking advantage of the emptiness of Jiangdong's troops, to launch a long-standing southern invasion, crossing the river from Kunshan, which is weakly defended, quickly breaking the remaining armies, and approaching Lin'an.

In terms of possible countermeasures against the enemy, Zhao Yu and all the generals were inclined to adopt the second set of plans in Yuxi Timur, because this was in line with the strategy that Meng Yuan had always been good at using cavalry to maneuver quickly and using a large detour to attack the enemy's rear. Moreover, this strategy seems to be risky, but the benefits obtained are great, once successful, not only can relieve the siege of Yangzhou, but also may take advantage of the situation to capture Lin'an, and even look back to set up an ambush to annihilate the enemy who returned to help, and regain control of Jiangnan.

Therefore, Zhao Yu took the initiative to push Timur when Yuxi Timur was reluctant to act, as for how he moved, it depends on how the generals of both sides judge, but no matter how he is, he is already invincible. The enemy galloped to aid Yangzhou, and the tactics of besieging the city and sending reinforcements could be implemented to severely damage the enemy's vital forces; If they choose to invade the south to break the siege, they will already have a trap laid over there waiting for them to jump in, and they can also achieve the predetermined goal of this battle.

After making the decision, Zhao Yu immediately continued to use the method of undeclared war, he went out of Beijing in the name of leading the army to patrol the border, and at the same time issued an operational advance order to the First Army, which was already ready for battle, to cross the river. When Zhao Yu led the Imperial Front Escort Brigade to Danyang by boat along the canal north, the headquarters of the First Army had already captured Guazhou Town with the assistance of the navy and erected two pontoon bridges.

Guazhou evolved from the sandbar of the Yangtze River siltation, and by the middle of the Tang Dynasty, it had been connected to the land on the north bank and became a ferry port on the north bank of the Yangtze River. During the Kaiyuan period, Qi Huan opened the Yilou River for 25 miles, connecting the original canal, and connecting the Yangtze River from the south of Yangzijin to Guazhou. Since then, Guazhou has served as the intersection of the north-south canal and the east-west cross-shaped golden waterway of the Yangtze River.

Because Guazhou is located at the confluence of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, it is one of the important passages of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal into the Yangtze River. Since then, the main channel of the Yangtze River has gradually moved southward, and the distance between Guazhou and Jingkou has become closer and closer. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, Guazhou has gradually had a fortress. During the confrontation between Song and Jin, Guazhou became the front line of the war, and the city was built here to inspect the camp, where the Song army defeated the gold lord of the southern invasion Wanyan Liang, and now it is also an important place for river defense.

"Subordinates greet Your Majesty!" Seeing His Majesty landing, Chen Fenglin, the commander of the First Army, led the generals of the military department to greet him.

"You guys have worked hard, how is the war developing?" Zhao Yu raised his hand to return the salute, and asked bluntly without greetings.

"Your Majesty, please go to the camp to rest, and your subordinates will report again!" The emperor didn't care, Chen Fenglin didn't dare to slack off in the slightest, you must know that although Guazhou Town has been recovered, there are still stragglers who have escaped, who knows where to hide, if it is suddenly attacked, he can't afford to take responsibility.

"It's good!" Zhao Yu nodded. Seeing that the ferry was full of ships, that there were still warships entering the port, and that the shore was full of unloaded baggage supplies, and that the troops who had just come ashore were also waiting for the next order in the whole group, and that there was no place to speak, they agreed.

"Commander Tan led the guard battalion to follow, and the rest of the troops rested and stood by!" Ni Liang, the commander of the protectors, did not wait for the emperor to say more, and immediately turned around and ordered.

Zhao Hao immediately mounted his horse and went to the camp surrounded by the generals, and along the way he saw that the river fortifications had been destroyed during the forced crossing, and the town of Guazhou had also been destroyed in the war, the city tower had collapsed, the city gate had fallen, the war tent on the city wall had been destroyed, and several places had collapsed. Although he did not see the battle scene with his own eyes, he could also imagine the tragic situation of the fortress of Guazhou under the baptism of artillery fire, and the city was not much better under such fierce artillery fire. It is certain that Chen Fenglin will invite him to the camp when he is no longer suitable for living.

The first army camp is five miles outside Guazhou Town, Zhao Yu came to the outside of the camp to see that the camp is surrounded by horses and guns, and there are trenches dug around it, and a watchtower is erected at the corner of the village. In his opinion, although it had all the elements of a camp, it was extremely simple, and could only be regarded as a temporary camp, and the soldiers in it were already packing their bags, and it seemed that they were going to leave at any time.

"Your Majesty, the camp is shabby, don't be surprised!" Entering the handsome tent, Chen Fenglin invited the emperor to take a seat while making tea.

"The march is out, this is already good, let's talk about the current battle situation!" Zhao Hao didn't care, the handsome tent was very spacious, it could accommodate more than forty people, there were a few braziers lit in it, and the tent was baked warmly, and he sat down and roasted his hands on the brazier at his feet.

"Your Majesty, please see, after the subordinate units forcibly crossed the Yangtze River and captured the town of Guazhou according to the plan, the naval army, with the cooperation of the 1st Marine Brigade, quickly seized the various gates along the canal. Subsequently, the 1st and 2nd Divisions landed on the west bank of the canal, and according to the plan, they began to seize Dayi Town north of Yangzhou and Yizheng Town to the west, preparing to block the Gaoyou Army and Zhenzhou in both directions; The three divisions and two regiments advanced eastward with the cooperation of the first regiment of the cavalry brigade, preparing to seize the town of Elbow and block the land in the direction of Taizhou. The subordinates are preparing to lead the brigades directly under the First Army and the Runzhou Army to capture Yangzi Town in the south of Yangzhou, the Changzhou Army and the Jiangzhou Army have already crossed the river, and the Second and Third Divisions of the Second Army have also set off as planned. In this way, the encirclement of Yangzhou can be completed. Chen Fenglin knew the temper of the little emperor, so he was not too polite, and spread the map on the case and pointed out the positions of the various armies.

"Well, in which direction is the escort arranged?" Zhao Yu nodded, this time in order to attack Yangzhou, a total of five divisions of the forbidden army and three divisions of the state army were mobilized, plus the imperial guard led by himself, the strength of the army could reach 100,000. In terms of troops, it is very abundant, but it has to bear the two tasks of besieging the city and sending reinforcements, and if Meng Yuan goes all out to rescue, the troops are not sufficient.

"Your Majesty, your subordinates are ready to ask Your Majesty to lead the escort army to sit in Guazhou, command the armies to fight, and act as a reserve, ready to support the armies in battle!" Chen Fenglin said. According to the previous battle plan, His Majesty did not have anything to do, and of course he would not mobilize the escort army to participate in the battle, and even if he adjusted the battle plan, he also knew that His Majesty's personal expedition was more to lure the enemy, rather than to fight on the front line, so there was nothing wrong with such an arrangement.

"As a reserve, it seems that you really regard me as a play!" Zhao Yu listened to it, and said with a smile as if he was smiling at the case.

"Your Majesty has a word in advance, the holy car must be fifty miles away from the battlefield, and you can't break the contract!" At this time, Wang Yinglin, who was with him, immediately reminded. When the little emperor revised the battle plan, the deacons were strongly opposed to the matter of the personal conquest, and later he repeatedly explained that he was only acting as a bait to lure the enemy, not to be in the battle array, and repeatedly promised that he would only get the consent of the ministers, but the queen mother was still not at ease, not only sent Wang Yinglin to supervise with him, but also ordered Ni Liang to accompany him before giving up.

"Your Majesty, Yangzhou is less than sixty miles away from Guazhou Town, so you can coordinate the overall situation here, and do not violate the covenant with you, don't let your subordinates be embarrassed!" Chen Fenglin smiled deeply.

"I have no intention of breaking the contract, but you see that Yangzhou is located in the west of the canal, it must be the main battlefield of the enemy's rescue, the first and second divisions are relatively weak, and there is no master general to command, and Yangzi Town is close to the Yangtze River, and it is only a stone's throw away from the south of the Yangtze River, and it is blocked by the water army, so the enemy army will naturally not be in danger here. Therefore, I thought that by your command of the Hexi armies, I would guard the road of baggage and retreat in Yangzi Town, and in the event of a war crisis, I could easily retreat to Jiangnan to reorganize the defense line! Zhao Yu raised his hand to excuse them, pointed to the map and said to the two of them with a pleasant face.

"No!" Wang Yinglin and Chen Fenglin almost vetoed in unison after hearing this.

'Smack', Zhao Yu slapped the table hard, and shouted to the two: "The general will not be subject to the order of the monarch outside, do I still have to be coerced by you and others!" ”

"The ministers (subordinates) don't dare!" The two of them were taken aback when they saw that the little emperor was angry, especially the coercion, and they couldn't afford it, so they hurriedly saluted.

"Chen Dutong, you immediately lead the team directly under the First Army and the Changzhou Army to cross the river to join the 1st and 2nd Divisions, and unify the command of the Hexi Operation. Zhao Yu pointed at Chen Fenglin's nose and said sharply.

"Yes, my subordinates obey!" Chen Fenglin has been following the little emperor for more than ten years, and he has long developed the habit of 'obeying orders and listening to commands'.

"Your Majesty......" Wang Yinglin was in a hurry, and just wanted to persuade him, but was interrupted.

"Summons Ni Dutong and tells him that I want to stay overnight in Yangzi Town!" Zhao Yu turned his face and said loudly to the guards beside him.

"Governor Wang, how good is this!" Seeing the guards go to give orders, Chen Fenglin was a little panicked, everyone knew that Ni Liang knew that the little emperor would not disobey what he wanted him to do, let alone attack a small town, and now he would not frown even if he killed most of the capital. And he actually had a premonition that as long as His Majesty came to the battlefield, it was almost impossible to keep him away, and he couldn't stop it at all.

"What else, obey!" Wang Yinglin was also helpless at this time, when he was in the court, all the ministers couldn't persuade him, how could he stop it, he could only say with a relatively wry smile......