After many court discussions, several governors in Beijing basically agreed to carry out a limited counterattack against Mengyuan, so as to combat the enemy's invasion of Jiangdong by the enemy army in Henan and Shandong provinces and ensure the safety of Gyeonggi; In addition, it can also contain the enemy army of the two Huai, so that they do not dare to reinforce Sichuan and Shu without authorization and interfere with the western expedition; Third, it can eliminate the signs of appeasement that have reappeared between the government and the opposition. Of course, the main reason is that he can't get on the stage, and it can't be said that the emperor is angry with his wives before he will be angry with Meng Yuan!

After the opinions of the deacons were unified, Zhao Yu presided over a meeting to discuss with the chiefs of the provinces and ministries, and informed them of the current situation and the necessity of this battle. In fact, it is a discussion, the tone has already been set, and it is more of a formal need, and in essence it is a pre-war mobilization meeting, which assigns tasks to various ministries and provinces to carry out a comprehensive war mobilization.

After so many years of accumulation of experience, Zhao Yu has not only become an expert in propaganda work, but also cultivated a group of talents. In this era, due to the backwardness of transportation, there are very few people who can travel across prefectures, and there must be nine out of ten people who have never been out of the county in their lives, and there are few channels to obtain information, so there is room for play.

Therefore, while preparing for war, the 'tongue' of the Great Song Dynasty also began to speak out, and the newspapers reported one after another that Meng Yuan sent troops across the river to attack Jiangdong, killing and injuring the soldiers and civilians of our dynasty, and looting people and property. Of course, in addition to the official unified voice, there are many 'romances' and gossip, and even 'refugees' have begun to flow to the Gyeonggi region. However, their purpose was the same, not to create panic among the people, but to inspire rebellion against the atrocities of the Meng Yuan.

At the same time as creating public opinion about the war, Zhao Yu also began to dispatch troops, and he issued an order to summon Zhao Mengjin, the commander of the First Naval Division, Dong Yicheng, the commander of the First Naval Division, Chen Fenglin, the commander of the First Army of the Forbidden Army, Sun Kai, the commander of the Fourth Army, and the military commanders above the command of all departments to go to Beijing to discuss the policy of fighting against the enemy, discuss the battle plan, and receive the combat mission.

In addition to defeating the enemy, Zhao Hao's goal in launching this battle was to set the intensity of the war to be limited. Limited objectives, on the other hand, include seizing parts of the enemy's territory and waiting for favorable moments. The seizure of part of the enemy's territory is the goal of offensive warfare, and waiting for favorable opportunities is the goal of defensive warfare. According to modern military theory, the principle of offensive warfare with limited objectives is that the losses are less than the benefits gained by occupying the enemy's territory, that is to say, the benefits gained by occupying the enemy's territory are greater than the losses, and then it is appropriate to carry out the operation of occupying the enemy's territory.

Offensive warfare with limited targets has three characteristics, including: There is no distinction between primary and secondary objectives; There is no adequate concentration of forces and dispersion of military operations. Because the size of the total goal is limited, the sub-goals are also divided into primary and secondary; Because the size of the target is limited, there is no need to increase the results by concentrating forces sufficiently; Because the overall objective is limited, the lack of concentration of forces leads to the dispersion of military operations.

A limited-target offensive war is the seizure of part of the enemy's territory, which brings four benefits, including: weakening the enemy's state and army; increase the strength of our country and army; The burden of war is shifted to the enemy; Favorable conditions in the event of peace. Defensive warfare with limited objectives is the practice of waiting for favorable moments, including the ability to maintain the territory as much as possible in order to gain time and defend actively. A finite-target offensive war benefits by occupying the enemy's territory, while a limited-target defensive war is a defense that resists the enemy's occupation of one's own territory and reduces the enemy's benefits.

From this point of view, Zhao Yu formulated a strategy of defensive counterattack and planned to open up two battlefields, because he knew that even if his side occupied part of Mengyuan in the counterattack, the enemy army could still take the same action in other places, and could not achieve the strategic goal of preventing the enemy from attacking Jiangdong. And as long as his military actions are not of great significance, Meng Yuan will not give up his actions because of this.

Therefore, Zhao Yu thought that even if the goal could not be to defeat the enemy, there could still be a direct positive goal, and of course this positive goal could only be to occupy a part of the enemy's national soldiers. The occupation of a part of the enemy's territory weakens the enemy's national power and thus its army, and on the other hand strengthens our national power and army; It is possible to partially shift the burden of our war onto the enemy; Moreover, the occupied areas may be considered as a form of net profit at the time of the conclusion of the peace treaty, or they may be possessed or may be exchanged for other benefits......

"I have already talked about the purpose and objectives of this battle, do you have any objections to the generals?" The generals of the edict rushed to Beijing on time as quickly as possible, and Zhao Yu held a military meeting in the palace the next day, and he did not talk too much nonsense, and directly explained the intention of the battle.

"Your Majesty, the minister has no objection!" Ni Liang, the commander of the imperial guards, got up first and saluted.

"Well, what about the others? You can speak your mind freely, and you don't have to scruples! Zhao Hao smiled and pressed his hand to let Ni Liang sit down. He was not surprised by his answer, Ni Liang held heavy troops to guard the important places in Gyeonggi, and he had a lot of power, but he put his position very right, and everything he did was based on his own horse, never asked about politics, just did his own job and let him do what he did. But this does not mean that he is still a fool, after so many years of experience, he has become more and more mature.

"Your Majesty, your subordinates think that since they want to move troops against Jiangbei, why don't they take the initiative to attack, and why do they want to cross the river?" Zhao Mengjin got up and asked.

"Your Majesty has made it clear that this battle is to annihilate the enemy under the jurisdiction of Wanhu Prefecture in Jiangbei, Henan, and Shandong, and to remove the threat to Jiangdong and cooperate with the western expedition as the purpose of this operation. And letting the enemy cross the river is naturally to cut off the enemy's retreat and encircle and annihilate the enemy's brigade. Han Zhen explained.

"Han Shumi said this, and he didn't dare to agree." Zhao Mengjin was not satisfied with Han Zhen's explanation, and frowned and said, "For the enemy in Jiangbei, our army can sail from the open sea with a naval army and enter the Tongyang Canal to intercept the enemy on the line of Taizhou and Tongzhou. ”

"What Zhao Zhi's envoy said is not unreasonable, if it was a good plan at that time, but in the current situation, if our army lands from Hai'an and enters the canal, it will face the worry of fighting on both sides, and the current mobilized troops are too insufficient. However, if the number of troops is increased, the military expenditure will be huge, and it will also lead to a shortage of troops in Jiangdong and a weak defense of the river. Han Zhen thought for a moment and said.

"What Han Shumi said, the general will think it is inappropriate." At this time, Dong Yicheng got up and bowed to Han Zhen and said, "What Zhao Zhi said is that from the Tongyang Canal into the depth of the enemy, the general thinks that he can divide the enemy in Jiangbei and go straight to the city of Yangzhou. In this way, the two battles will be combined into one battle, and our army can also concentrate its forces on the line from Yangzhou to Hai'an, so how can we increase the number of troops! ”

"This ......" Han Zhen was speechless for a while, and he also knew in his heart that what the two of them said was not unreasonable, and it was also in line with His Majesty's consistent combat principles.

Since the restoration of the forbidden army in Qiongzhou, the Song army has been limited to the shortage of troops and financial resources, and has always been fighting against the enemy by focusing on attacking the enemy's main forces to achieve the combat goal with minimal attrition. That is, the enemy's strength should be reduced to several centers of gravity as much as possible, and it is best to boil it down to one center of gravity if possible. Again, the blow to the enemy's center of gravity is reduced to as few actions as possible, and even one major operation is best. In short, the first principle is to concentrate the action as much as possible, to keep all the secondary actions as subordinate as possible.

Another principle is to act quickly and not take detours, so as to achieve the effect of taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to make a quick surprise attack. Therefore, after the military operation has begun, it is not necessary to stop or suspend it without sufficient reasons, and to make every effort to accomplish the purpose of the operation. The battle plan proposed by Zhao Mengjin is obviously more in line with the two principles of simplifying the complex that the emperor has always emphasized.

"Well, that's a good idea!" In the argument between the two, Zhao Mengjin's proposal was more in line with the wishes of the generals attending the meeting, and at this time, Han Zhen could not make a reasonable refutation, but the battle plan to lure the enemy into depth was proposed by the emperor, and everyone's eyes were focused on him.

Zhao Yu knew that the way for military generals to make meritorious contributions was naturally to focus on military merits, but if they did not fight meritorious deeds, it would be impossible to talk about them, and it would be difficult to make meritorious contributions in small fights, so of course they hoped to expand the scale of the war, so now Zhao Mengjin's plan is the most reasonable and most respected by the general if it is in the situation of a full-scale war. But if this counterattack has been characterized as a limited war, its proposal could lead to a full-scale war, which would be anachronistic, and tactically difficult to achieve the goal of annihilating the enemy's living forces.

"Envoy Zhao, I ask you what range most of the enemy's recent attacks have taken place?" Zhao Yu stood up and walked to the hanging map and asked.

"Your Majesty, most of the enemy's crossing sites are in the area from Jiangyin to Jiangkou!" Zhao Mengjin replied immediately.

"How's the scale?" Zhao Hao then asked.

"Your Majesty, it's mostly a hundred-person team crossing the river to attack!" Zhao Mengjin replied.

"In this way, most of the soldiers used by the enemy army are stationed on Taizhou Road!" Zhao Hao asked again.

"The enemy's Taizhou Road garrison only increased after grabbing horses, mainly the enemy of the left-handed Wanhu Mansion." Zhao Mengjin was a little puzzled, these contents were explained in the military newspaper, but His Majesty still asked again and again, which made him confused.

"Then what do you think is the intention of the enemy army to use only a small force to cross the river and attack and disturb?" Zhao Yu still asked again and again.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Meng Yuan sent a small force across the river to attack the villages and outposts with the intention of reconnoitring the weak places of the Jiangnan defense line!" Zhao Mengjin replied.

"If you were a general, where would you choose to cross the river?" Zhao Yu nodded.

"Of course, the subordinates chose to be in the east of Jiangyin, there are few river defense garrisons in this area, but the water flow near the mouth of the river is gentle, and it is most suitable for crossing the river and landing!" Zhao Mengjin pointed to the map and nodded in the Kunshan area with his hand.

"Then since they have already detected the weakness of our army's defensive line, why are they reluctant to send a large army to cross the river?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile.

"This ...... The subordinates thought that the enemy must be the enemy, and they thought that crossing the river with the strength of only 10,000 people was just a moth to a fire, and it was not enough to threaten the safety of Jiangdong. Zhao Mengjin frowned and replied, even more puzzled in his heart, why did His Majesty still ask such a simple question.

"In this case, if according to your plan, we will land in Jiangbei across the sea, and we will be able to catch a few fish if we cast this net!" Zhao Yu took a sip of tea before speaking.

"Hehe, maybe you can catch a few trash fish!" Zhao Mengjin understood now, although his tactics were fought happily and he could quickly seize Taizhou Road, but such a large-scale operation could only surround one enemy team of 10,000 people at most, and he might even be empty, so it was really a loss-making deal.

"It is precisely because there are too few fish that His Majesty is reluctant to cast a net, so he decided to lure the enemy into the depths, but his subordinates are still puzzled." At this time, Sun Kai stood up and saluted, "Your Majesty just said that the enemy's strength is weak and he does not dare to cross the river without authorization, so wouldn't it still be a mistake?" ”

"Good question, there are not many fish now, that can only mean that your bait is not fragrant enough to attract fish, if you sprinkle fragrant bait, do you still worry about the fish not entering the net!" Zhao Yu sat back in his seat and slapped the case. Zhao Hao knew that the Fourth Army under the command of Sun Kai was stationed in Jiangyin, and the frequent attacks of the enemy mostly occurred in his defense area, so whether it was crossing the river to fight, or setting up an ambush in the south of the Yangtze River to lure the enemy into depth, he would take his troops as the main force, and of course he was the most anxious.

"Your Majesty's intention is to loosen the fence and cast incense bait to let the big fish swim into the net." Sun Kai's eyes lit up.

"My subordinates heard that Yuxi Timur is also a general who can conquer and fight, does Your Majesty think he can win the scheme?" At this time, Dong Yicheng asked. In fact, he was more inclined to Zhao Mengjin's proposal in his heart, so his naval army had the greatest results, but if he lured the enemy to Jiangnan, he would become a side drummer, so he still questioned it.

At present, Yuxi Timur is facing a big crisis, and while he is facing financial difficulties, he is also suffering from the trap examination, and one bad thing is to be dismissed from office. Therefore, his attack on Jiangnan was just to ease the contradictions with the central government and get rid of the worries of hooking the examination. And now that you have found the opportunity to cross the river and invade Jiangnan on a large scale, what should you do? Zhao Yu looked at Dong Yicheng and asked.

"If you face such a crisis, of course, your subordinates will take a gamble, and winning will not only solve the crisis, but also make a big difference. Even if you lose, you can avoid the current difficulties. Dong Yicheng's eyes rolled a few times and returned to the courtesy.

"Dong Dutong, you used to be the best gambler, if you bet against Yuxi Timur, how should you deal with it!" Zhao Hao asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty, don't laugh at your subordinates, I have already quit!" Dong Yicheng's face turned red and he saluted again and again, and then said, "If your subordinates bet against him, he has now figured out his hole cards, and he is destined to gamble, but at this time, he often feels that he must win, and he will be afraid of losing, afraid that he will mess up, and he will lose a mess." Because you at the gambling table, you can't rule out emotional interference when making decisions, and the more you are afraid of something, the more you will come, so your subordinates just need to calm down and wait for them to place their bets! ”