After Zhao Yu issued an edict to mobilize the whole army to prepare for Xuzhou, both the enemy and our armies were rapidly converging on the battlefield, and the Huaidong area was already covered with war clouds. According to the intelligence of the Bureau, the Mengyuan guards came by two routes: the west route was issued from Dadu by land through Fanyang, Zhending, and Zhengzhou; The east road chooses the waterway, along the canal to the south, and the soldiers all point to the Huaidong area.

Although the enemy from the two routes went south at the same time, because it was still the time when the northeast trade wind was still prevalent, and the southward movement of the boat was a headwind, many sections of the river needed to be navigable, so that the enemy forces on the two routes gradually widened the distance, forming a situation in which the west road was prominent and the east road was lagging behind. Now that the enemy army on the west road has crossed the Yellow River from Zhengzhou, the sentinel reported that they should go to Bianliang; The enemy army on the east road was about five days behind the west road, and the destination was obviously Xuzhou.

Zhao Hao analyzed that the two enemy forces from the south of Dadu should be the main force of the enemy, and they also realized that they controlled the canal, so they controlled the passage to the north, and could directly threaten the security of Dadu. Therefore, they temporarily abandoned Huaixi, and put the main force in Huaidong, and their troops divided into two routes to occupy the node cities on the new and old canals respectively, blocking their own access to the north, and forming a left and right flanking situation, waiting for the opportunity to launch a battle.

Zhao Yu was not surprised by Meng Yuan's strategy, and now he launched an attack on all fronts, and several armies marched together, seemingly taking the initiative. However, it is not difficult for discerning people to see that the focus is still in Huaidong, so if the entire front is compared to a long snake, as long as the head of the snake is cut off, the entire offensive rhythm can be disrupted, and the flank of the own side will be exposed, and after losing cover, they will have to stop the attack and give up continuing the Northern Expedition.

Now that the Mengyuan army is coming in two ways, Zhao Yu judged that he should want to use the large corps combat method to fight with himself, although this is to show the commander's broad horizons, and determine the ownership of the region with the victory or defeat of the main force, but he also knows that the higher the level of the general, the easier it is to make the mistake of abandoning the small and taking the big and finally losing the big because of the small. Therefore, it is not wise to abandon the peripheral strongholds and passes to determine the outcome in a battle, once the main force fails in the decisive battle, there is not even a place to stay, that is the end of a thousand miles, and the two Huai will gain and lose.

The reason why Xuzhou has become a battleground for soldiers, and the defenders are often in an advantageous position, is that its land extends in all directions, and it is very easy for reinforcements from all sides to go to help, which causes great trouble to the attacker, so Zhao Hao thought that the decisive battle for this battle was in Xuzhou, but the kung fu should be on the periphery, and only after controlling the peripheral strongholds, the siege was invincible first, and then the decisive battle with it was the right way.

Zhao Hao looked at the map, and Xuzhou was surrounded by important towns, with Xiapi in the east, Yingtianfu (Nanjing Shangqiu in the Song Dynasty) in the west, and Fuli and Shouzhou in the south. And his strategic goal in this battle was to capture Shangqiu and then recover Bianliang. Shangqiu was located between Bianliang and Xuzhou, and its strategic location was important for the campaign, and the city was also politically significant for the Song dynasty.

Shangqiu is also known as Songzhou, "the south controls the Jianghuai, the north is adjacent to the river, Pengcheng is on the left, Bianliang is connected to the right, the shape is victorious, enough to protect the southeast, the throat of Shaanxi, the main road of the north and south of the river", it is an important circulation node city since ancient times. Taizu Zhao Kuangyin once served as the envoy of the German army in Songzhou, and was considered to be the birthplace of the Zhao family, so the founding name was the Song Dynasty.

Because Songzhou is the land of Zhao Kuangyin's dragon diving, so in the third year of Zhenzong Jingde, Songzhou was upgraded to "Ying Tianfu", which means "conforming to the mandate of heaven". After the seventh year of Dazhong Xiangfu, he was promoted to Nanjing in Tianfu, and the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty was accompanied by Luoyang in Xijing and Beijing. After being upgraded, he built a palace in Shangqiu, built a temple, and enshrined the royal appearance of Taizu, Taizong and Zhenzong.

The Song Dynasty built many shrines in the capital and some important places, but most of them only had one or two emperors' imperial appearances, while Nanjing enshrined three holy monarchs at the same time, which shows that it occupies an important position in the temple of the original temple of the ancestors. After the Jingkang Revolution, the two sects of Huiqin were taken away by the Jurchens. Gaozong Zhao Gou Feng Empress Dowager Yi aimed to build an altar in response to Tianfu to ascend the throne, can be called the emperor less than half a year, forced by the strong military pressure of the Jin soldiers, had to move the capital to Hangzhou, and the Jin State across the river to confront each other, creating the Southern Song Dynasty. Then the Jin army crossed the border in a big way, Ying Tianfu was lost, and after a short recovery at the end of the Jin Dynasty, it fell into the hands of Meng Yuan.

However, Shangqiu has produced two 'founding kings', and its important position is still not lost, if Zhao Yu is in his hands again, it can show his 'Zhongxing' merit. However, Shangqiu is still 700 miles away from Xuyi, and if the lone army goes deep along the canal, even if Shangqiu is recovered, and the surrounding important towns are still in the hands of the enemy, it is easy to be cut off from the back road, and it is difficult to hold on to the lonely city for a long time.

Therefore, Zhao Yu issued an edict the next day, ordering Chen Fenglin's troops to go out of Shanyang, cross the Huai River to attack Xipi, obtain the advancing bridgehead, and block the enemy army along the Mengyuan waterway down the river; He also ordered Du Ge to lead 5,000 troops out of Sizhou to attack Fuli along the Huai River to the west to prevent the enemy from sending aid to Shouzhou; At the same time, Liu Zhixue, the commander of the second army of the forbidden army, was strictly ordered to step up the siege of the city, use all measures to recover Shouzhou as soon as possible, protect the flank of the army, and wait for the opportunity to cross the river to the north to recover Huainan......

"How do you think the city will be attacked?" After Liu Zhixue received the holy decree, he immediately convened the generals to discuss how to capture Shouzhou as soon as possible, but the generals were silent for a long time, and he could only ask.

Since he led his troops out of Wuhu Lake to cross the Yangtze River all the way to the north to attack, because the main forces of the two Huai enemy armies were attracted to Jiangdong by the little emperor's strategy, only the garrison soldiers were left in the town, they were like the state army of the dynasty, although the establishment was large but more or less different, tens of thousands of households commanded 7,000 people, 10,000 households commanded 5,000 people, and the lower 10,000 households commanded only 3,000 people, mainly used to maintain local security, arrest bandits, combat effectiveness is not strong.

And because of the demolition of the city, the enemy army has no danger to defend, and is often defeated in the first battle, and even the soldiers and horses have fled before they have arrived. Therefore, in addition to spending some effort in the Battle of Luzhou, the Second Army did not encounter a major battle on the way to the army, and more often chased the enemy. But after entering Shouzhou, the situation reversed, Liu Zhixue thought that he could easily capture the city as before, but he didn't expect to fight a battle just after entering the territory.

Shouzhou was once the capital of Chu, and as far back as the Qin and Han dynasties, it has become one of several important commercial cities in the country. Cao Wei of the Three Kingdoms greatly revitalized Tuntian here, rebuilt Jun Shaobei, and developed irrigation, "since Shouchun from Beijing, farmers and soldiers in the field, the voice of chickens and dogs, and Qianmo belongs". The economic prosperity has caused the population of the city to increase sharply, and the number of people in Shouchun City has grown to more than 100,000 at one time. Therefore, since the Jin Dynasty, and even the Tang and Song dynasties, Shouchun has continued to be known for its prosperity.

Historically, a rich land will inevitably become a food for the marauders to compete with each other, because Shou County is located in the important position of the Xiangjiang River, it has been a military town for thousands of years. Therefore, the garrison of Shouzhou was tens of thousands of households, with a strength of 7,000 people, and they used the platform to arrange ambushes to attack the vanguard of the Second Army.

The forward battalion of the Second Army quickly occupied a high ground and built improvised fortifications to wait for reinforcements, and then the army arrived to defeat the ambush and chase all the way into the city, closing the city gate and not leaving. Although this battle was not large, it showed its attitude, so it was impossible to persuade him to surrender, and there was only one way left. But after a few days, whether the Song army deliberately showed weakness and withdrew, or scolded the formation to provoke a battle out of the city, the enemy army refused to engage in the battle again, and just defended the city as a turtle.

"Du Shuai, Your Majesty wants to take the city quickly, but the general thinks it is impossible, and he needs to think about it in the long run!" Yan Feng, the commander of the first division, saw that Du Tong was looking at him, he could only express his opinion, and said with a bitter face.

"Du Shuai, the last general thinks that the strict control system is reasonable, and he should explain the truth to His Majesty and ask for a delay in the attack!" Zhou Fu, the commander of the second division, immediately responded.

"What about you? Do you think you want to slow down the attack? Liu Zhixue listened to what the two said, but he still endured his anger and turned his face to look at Li Tingdao, the commander of the third division.

"Du Shuai, the last general...... The last general also thought that it would be very difficult to conquer the city in a short time. Li Ting saw Dutong's dissatisfaction, but after thinking about it, he still said what he thought in his heart.

"A group of cowards, Your Majesty is not thin on us and has given us heavy responsibilities, but you are prevaricating and cowardly, and you have the grace of the mighty emperor......" Liu Zhixue couldn't hold back the fire anymore, and scolded him.

"Dutong, if it's not the last general and other cowardice, there is really nowhere to start!" Seeing that Du Tong scolded for a while, his voice gradually lowered, Yan Feng held the tea and said with a smile.

"Yes, the enemy army in the city is not out, and we cannot use our strength; besieged the enemy, but our army was insufficient, and the siege was not tight in any case; Forcibly besieged the city, the city was strong and towering, and our army lacked siege equipment, making it difficult to get into the city; And if you want to blow up the city, the foundation of the city is wide and thick, and the stone is repairing the city, so you can't dig it! Li Ting also hurriedly said.

"Hmph, how can you besiege the city, when Taizu conquered the Southern Tang Dynasty, he besieged Shouzhou for three years before conquering the city. Even if the river is dug and the city is irrigated, it is difficult to flood the city wall, and I don't know why it was built so strong in the first place! Zhou Fu snorted.

"Alas......" Liu Zhixue sighed when he heard this, and his face was also bitter. He also knows that the city of Shouzhou is strong, not comparable to the general city, the ancient city of Shouchun is very large, the north is close to the water, the east is adjacent to Dongjindu, the west is to the west of the city, and the south is ten miles, with an area of about 25 square kilometers, which is the second largest city in the capital of the Warring States period after Yanxiadu, the capital of the Yan Kingdom. Due to the passage of time and changes in the landform, most of the earthen city walls have been submerged in the ground or completely destroyed. After the Han Dynasty, the site of the city was reduced to the northeast corner of the ancient city, that is, the area of Chengguan in the present Shou County, and the descendants mostly followed its site.

In the Song and Jin dynasties, Shouzhou, which was on the verge of Changhuai, still became a place of repeated contention between the two sides. After the Song and Jin reached a peace agreement, the Southern Song Dynasty declared itself a vassal to the Jin, starting from Huaishui in the east, bounded by the line of Dasanguan in the west, with the Jin ruling area in the north and the Song ruling area in the south; Song sent New Year's coins to Jin. After the Song-Jin confrontation was formed, Shouzhou happened to be on the edge of the river, so Shouzhou City naturally became a very important defensive point. As a result, Gou'an's imperial court continued to rebuild Shouchun City in the continuous war, which lasted for more than 80 years, and all the methods of defending the city that could be thought of were used......