After Zhao Yu's proposal was supported by Lu Xiufu, it also sparked heated discussions among the generals, and it was discussed from the development to the implementation of the plan, and it involved specific details. But just when everyone was discussing hotly, everyone found that the little emperor was silent, and Han Zhen was also frowning, as if he had something to say, but he wanted to stop talking.

"Does General Han have any objection to this?" Zhao Hao noticed that Han Zhen was abnormal, and asked in between discussions.

"Your Majesty, my subordinates are worried that once this battle begins, it is likely to repeat the mistake of 'Duanping into Luo' winning first and then losing!" Han Zhen was a little hesitant, but after smashing his mouth a few times, he still said it.

"What did General Han say?" Lu Xiufu turned his face to look at the little emperor, his face did not change at all, he was still angry and unhappy, and asked instead.

"I think Your Majesty has also realized that if our army enters Huainan and occupies Shouzhou, it will change the passive situation of our dynasty, but it has also ignited a powder keg, and in order to maintain the situation, we will have to launch a series of battles repeatedly. However, I am worried that the current imperial court is preparing from financial resources or ...... It's hard to hold on. But the fighter plane is hard to find, and His Majesty is very reluctant. And the most taboo thing at the time of the war is that the coach is hesitant and determined, and once there is a slight setback, he will give up, which leads to the whole battle becoming a pot of raw rice, and finally he can't eat it and can't spit it out! Han Zhenyan said.

"General Han is right, it can be described as a word." After hearing this, Zhao Yu first said, "Shouchun is not only the first strategic place in the Jianghuai region, but also has important strategic value for both the north and the south, and is a strategic place related to the overall situation. Therefore, as General Han said, the battle of Shouzhou was to ignite a powder keg, which moved the whole body, but I felt very weak at the moment, and it was difficult to grasp the situation. ”

"Your Majesty, at present, our dynasty is sitting on the land of nine roads and twenty-four mansions, with 500,000 water infantry troops, 60 million yuan in taxes every year, and millions of stone in grain storage, which is enough to support a big war. And after that, the situation will further improve, I don't know how many times better than when I was in Qiongzhou, why does Your Majesty have no confidence? Lu Xiufu asked puzzled.

"Let's let General Han say it first!" Zhao Yu didn't answer directly, but nodded Han Zhenyan.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Han Zhen stood up and saluted, "The current situation is that our DPRK has recovered the Jiangnan region and relied on the Yangtze River for defense, although the defense line seems to be stable and can form a confrontation with the enemy, but in fact, our DPRK's defense line has been strategically and tactically completely passive, and is forced to spend a lot of money with the enemy, while the Mongols can cross the Yangtze River at any time to attack the strategic support stronghold on our defense line." This shows that the Yangtze River defense line is not the considerable strategic standoff value in the eyes of the world! ”

"Whether it is based on the situation in which our dynasty is located, or the ambition of His Majesty, it is not desirable to constitute a strategic stalemate, but because it is impossible to obtain and consolidate the forward fulcrum, which makes the strategy completely passive, forcing our army to choose to establish a strong naval force in order to implement tactical maneuver for key point support, but the maneuver of the naval army is limited by the weather and season, and it cannot be compared with the strategic and tactical mobility of the Mengyuan cavalry. However, if it occupies the Huaishui River and even the Yellow River Valley, and wins a major strategic space, our army will have more bargaining chips in the formulation of strategies and the choice of tactics, so as to avoid plundering in the south of the Yangtze River, and there will be no need to do all its best for the Xiangfan defense line and gamble on the fortunes of the country! ”

"What General Han said is right, at present, 300,000 Chen soldiers of the two armies of our Great Song Shuibu are on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and the stronghold is defending, but it is still impossible to block every leakage, and once the enemy breaks through the defense line, there is no danger to defend again." Zhao Mengjin nodded yes.

"If you want to turn the passive into the active, you must capture the two Huai to win the strategic space, this is already clear to everyone, but why does General Han think that a series of battles are still needed to succeed?" Ni Liang asked a little puzzled.

"Ni Dutong, please take a look!" Han Zhen pointed to the sand table and said, "If our army only captures Shouzhou, the left flank is empty, and it is still facing the enemy's flank attack, so only by occupying Xiangfan can the entire defense line be stabilized." On the contrary, if Xiangfan is lost, not only will the defense of the northern foot of Dabie Mountain cease to exist, but also the situation of Dabie Mountain as a mountain danger will also be lost, not only will Jingxiang's army have to fully retreat to the Ezhou River, but at the same time, Lianghuai will also lose the protection on the left side, and the necessity of defense north of the Yangtze River will also cease to exist; The armies of the two Huai will be forced to abandon the Huai River and the vast area south of it and assemble on the Yangtze River south of Jiankang, preparing to deal with the enemy forces advancing eastward along the Yangtze River and its banks from the direction of Ezhou. ”

"I see, Xiangfan and Lianghuai are in the shape of dead lips and cold teeth, and the right wing of Xiangfan will also lose its protection if the two Huai lose their code, and they will be caught between Sichuan, Shaanxi and Lianghuai, not only can not return to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but they are also cut off from the lower reaches, and they have fallen into a situation of sitting and waiting to die. Thank you for the advice. Ni Liang bowed his hand and said, looking very teachable.

"Your Majesty, this is the only thing your subordinates know, please correct the deficiencies." Han Zhen saluted the little emperor again.

"General Han's military analysis is already very clear, and I have nothing more to say." Zhao Yu pressed his hand and asked him to sit down and said, "Although the layout of mountains and rivers is fixed, the significance of its military geography is due to the differences in the relationship between economic regions, as well as the distribution of the northern and southern borders and the advantages and disadvantages of the relationship between political powers......

Zhao Yu did not talk much about the military value of the two Huai, but instead talked about the strategic value of politics and economy. The Jianghuai region is economically developed, and the control of this region is not only a change in the size of the region, but also includes changes in important economic forces such as population and taxation within the geographical scope, so when it comes to the competition for important economic regions, the balance of power between the two sides of the war is very rapid. Especially when it comes to competing for an area of great economic impact.

Xiangfan's military value also lies in its control over the rich area of the Jianghan Plain. The fall of Ezhou, for the regime in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, lost economic control from Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and even Liangguang, ostensibly the fall of several cities, but the area of economic losses often exceeded the area of pure military occupation, the fall of Ezhou, Jiujiang not far to the east is almost impossible to defend, but the loss of Jiujiang means the loss of the Ganjiang River basin. Therefore, when only the economy and manpower of the Taihu Plain in the delta south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River remain, it is impossible to recover the defeat.

Zhao's short-term strategic intention was to build a strategic buffer zone and a forward rigid defense base for Jiangnan, the hinterland of the Southern Song Dynasty, so as to greatly reduce the loss of his own national strength and effectively deplete the enemy's vital forces. It was not his own initiative and rational choice, but the situation forced him to construct it. Of course, the defense line built relying on the Yangtze River was not all passive in terms of national economy and people's livelihood, strategy and tactics, because Jiangnan itself was the lifeblood of the Song Dynasty.

As for forging ahead into the Yellow River Valley, Zhao Yu has always played the banner of returning to the Central Plains and restoring the old capital, which is also expanding the strategic space externally. He thought that since the Yangtze River could be used as a natural danger barrier, then the Yellow River was not a natural danger? Luoyang, as the core of strategic support in the central and western parts of the Yellow River, has strong passes and obstacles in the east and west, and from an economic point of view, the Yellow River basin has thousands of miles of fertile fields, and its productivity and population are still extremely huge in a strategic sense. The Sichuan-Shaanxi region in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River was once a rich area comparable to the south of the Yangtze River, but now it is miserable to be spoiled by the Mongols, so naturally he is not interested in it for the time being.

Therefore, Zhao Hao's view is that the construction of a forward defense line in Luoyang is a complete and only correct intention in terms of strategic intentions, because the courtiers simply cannot understand that neither the Yellow River nor the Yangtze River can create a lasting stalemate. Especially under the premise of relying heavily on the river water network as the lifeblood, relying on the Yangtze River to hold on to it is a continuous loss of blood loss to one's own national strength! Striving for recuperation in these strategic buffer zones for the Yangtze River basin is the foundation for lasting sustainment, and shrinking south of the Yangtze River, the Great Song Dynasty will never be able to complete blood replenishment......

"Your Majesty, since advancing into Lianghuai can alleviate the embarrassment of our defense and obtain the rich land of Jianghuai, why are you hesitating? Could it be that Your Majesty still has doubts about the strength of our army and is worried that it will not be able to complete the combat mission! Lu Xiufu listened to the little emperor's analysis of the current situation and strategic deployment, he thought that what he thought was not inappropriate, and the fighter plane was difficult to find, but the little emperor suffered from gains and losses, which made him very puzzled.

"Zuo Xiang, at present, after more than a year of training and expansion, and all of them have been equipped with firearms, their morale is booming, as long as Your Majesty has an order, we will resolutely carry it out and swear to complete the task." Zhao Mengjin was not very satisfied with Lu Xiufu's statement, and got up to speak.

"Zuo Xiang, the armies have already completed their combat preparations, replenished their baggage, and can be ordered to go out at any time to defeat the current enemy." Jiang Cheng also felt angry, and got up to salute.

"There is no malice on the left, don't misunderstand. I also believe that all armies will be able to resolutely carry out their orders and complete their respective combat missions. Zhao Yu saw that the generals were not convinced, and hurriedly stopped, "Don't blame Lu Xiang, they are in the army all the year round, they have a straightforward personality, and they are open-minded, please forgive me if they offend." ”

"Your Majesty's words are serious, and the minister has been in the army for many years, don't you know!" Lu Xiufu waved his hand and smiled.

"The reason why I can't make up my mind is that I don't want to repeat the mistake of 'leveling into Luo'." Zhao Hao sighed and said the reason.

Duanping into Luo, refers to the Southern Song Dynasty in the United Mongolia to destroy the Jin Dynasty, sent troops to recover the former Northern Song Dynasty located in Henan Tokyo Kaifeng Mansion, Xijing Henan Mansion and Nanjing Yingtianfu Sanjing military operations, due to the lack of food and grass and no cavalry and other reasons, the final defeat by the Mongol army and retreated to the original defense line, this action also marked the full outbreak of the Song-Mongolian War.

"Your Majesty, although we lack cavalry at present, we have artillery, muskets, and sufficient food and grass, and we will never lose the upper hand in the face of the Mongolian cavalry, and the rivers in the Lianghuai region are dense, and it is difficult for the enemy cavalry to give full play to their advantages, and it will never be repeated again." Liu Zhixue is full of confidence and authenticity.

"If the lack of cavalry and the shortage of food and grass are used to explain the defeat of this battle, it may not be convincing, what does Lu Xiang think?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile on his face.

"Regarding the failure of Duanping into Luo, the people of the time thought that Emperor Lizong was in a hurry and rashly sent troops under the opposition of his ministers, so as to destroy the agreement with Meng Yuan, which led to the southern invasion of Meng Yuan, and left a disaster for future generations, which was the main reason, and Emperor Lizong also issued an edict to admit this mistake." Lu Xiufu replied.

"Does Lu Xiang also think that this is accurate? I'm afraid I won't believe it! Zhao Yu chuckled when he heard this, "At the beginning of the first year of Duanping, the ministers almost unanimously agreed that the destruction of the Jin Kingdom was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our dynasty to restore the Central Plains. The disagreement between Emperor Lizong and some of the ministers who opposed the dispatch of troops was that Emperor Lizong believed that the domestic rebellion had been resolved during the Shaoding period and that Li Quan had been suppressed, and that it was a good opportunity to send troops. Many ministers led by Qiao Xingjian believed that the dynasty did not have the ability to send troops to restore the Central Plains, and even if they recovered, they would not have the strength to defend the Central Plains. ”

The reason why later generations think that the blame lies with the emperor also comes from this, seeing so many opinions against Emperor Lizong's sending troops, and finally fulfilling them, they feel that they are correct. But I think that the downsides are well known, and that the only way to take risks is because it's the only way to survive. As long as people with a little strategic vision can naturally understand that even if the logistics of the trek from Jianghuai Jinghu to the Central Plains are not smooth, as long as the forward fulcrum can be stabilized and military reserves can be secured, it can still play a covering role in the Yangtze River Valley, so this risk is worth taking. Moreover, even if the risk fails, as long as it is under effective command, it can resist in an orderly manner and preserve the retreat of the forces, and there will be no losses beyond the expected bearability. ”

"Judging from the current analysis, if I didn't choose to march into Kaifeng and Luoyang at that time, it would actually be no different from after the defeat, because there is no second way for my dynasty. The scattered deployment of defensive strongholds along the river, full mobilization, and the strategic mobile defense of military forces and the consumption of the Mongol army across the river will not affect the fate of the defeat in the Chunyou period in the slightest, except for retaining materials and the army to give some bargaining chips to the passive defense. As for the defeat of the alliance that led to the southern invasion of Mengyuan, I think it is even more clinging, at that time, Mengyuan was in the middle of the day, and he was determined to dominate the world; However, our dynasty is unforgettable of its homeland and is bent on recovering the Central Plains. There will be a war between the two countries, and I am afraid everyone already knows it. ”

"Then what does Your Majesty think is the main reason for the failure?" The little emperor's new theory can be said to have subverted the views of many years, Lu Xiufu asked with a frown.

"The reason for the final implementation is the complete failure of the situation of losing land and losing people, and it is a problem of execution, not decision-making. Before the war, decisions were made without bridging internal differences, and after the decision, they did not strongly integrate to ensure execution, which was essentially because of all kinds of non-stop internal friction. Zhao Yu sighed heavily......