Basa stayed at the foot of the mountain for a long time, and he turned around and understood that if he wanted to take Changshu City before the army arrived, he could only attack from the side of the mountain in the west of the city. However, they had to climb the mountain and attack on their backs, and they had to dismount and fight, and it was not easy to succeed in climbing the city, and I don't know how many people would die on the mountain road of the attack.

After the exploration of the city was completed, Basa returned to the camp, and the scouts who went out of the camp to investigate also returned to their lives. They inspected the surrounding area for 30 miles and found no trace of the Song army, not even a single one of the people, and what made them even more frustrated was that the fleeing soldiers and civilians carried out the fortified walls and red fields before leaving, not only hiding the grain and belongings, but also setting fire to the straw and wheat straw. At this time, the fields have not yet been cultivated, the weeds have not sprouted, and the main food of the livestock is straw, which means that their war horses have nowhere to graze, so they can only rely on their own grain and grass to feed.

At this time, Basa realized the urgency of time, and he knew that after the Southern Dynasty received the news of his southward movement, the Song troops stationed in Jiankang, Shaoxing and other places would all arrive, and the little emperor in Yangzhou would also lead his army back to defense, and they would arrive in five days at most with their foot strength, and their own army would definitely have already crossed the river by then. Once you can't continue to go south because of lack of food and grass, you will definitely face the fate of being surrounded and annihilated.

Then he must capture Changshu within three days, obtain grain and grass, and replenish the army before he can continue to move south, so that the siege of the city is urgent, even if he pays huge casualties. And now he only hopes that the city of Changshu is scarce and difficult to withstand his repeated attacks, and he can capture the city before its reinforcements arrive......

At the time of Basa to explore the city, Changshu guarded the five brigades of the imperial front guard army and Luo Datong was also patrolling the city with everyone, they climbed the head of the Zhenshan Gate located on Yu Mountain to look north, stationed in the enemy soldiers in Yujia Town outside the city, there were those who strengthened the soil fence, there were those who herded horses by the river, and those who cut down trees in the woods next to the town, just like a nest of ants busy, in and out, although they could not see the specific situation, but also knew that the enemy army was preparing for the siege.

Looking at the enemy's general flag, Luo Datong knew that the enemy's front army that arrived in Changshu was at least 10,000 people, but he also received a report from the spies that the central army of Mengyuan who invaded south last night had already crossed the river, and it would be able to reach the city in three days at most, and at this rate, the rear army would not arrive in more than five days. Then Changshu City was facing a siege of 100,000 troops.

Before the Laba Festival, the armies began to secretly withdraw from the city of Yangzhou by various means, and the fifth brigade of their escort army also retreated by the fleet of transporting baggage, in order to hide their tracks, more than 10,000 people in the whole brigade were crowded in the small cabin, eating, drinking, and lasa were among them, and they suffered the old sin. After turning into the Yangtze River through the canal, he traveled more than 200 miles and turned into Baimaopu under the nose of Meng Yuan. In order to prevent the enemy's eyes from detecting that a large army had entered the city, they all entered the city at night, only two days before the Mongol army.

Even after entering the city, they still did not dare to show their whereabouts, they could only hide in the warehouse, even if they went out to carry activities, they could only pretend to be the husband who carried the materials, until they saw the warning signal that the Mongolian army crossed the river in front of them, they dared to show their faces, but they still used the method of only entering and not allowing them to go out, and blocked the city, in case the enemy army found out that the Song army was prepared.

"Luo Dutong, the enemy army has been pressing on the city, why don't you let the whole army go to the city to defend?" Chen Boyuan, who is often familiar with the county, asked anxiously. He saw Meng Yuan riding back and forth under the city, even if he was only a civil official, he knew that Meng Yuan was ready to attack the city, and the main general who took over Changshu City with a holy decree still let the army stand by in the city, only a few soldiers went to the city, and also changed into clothes to wear the military uniforms of the baggage army and even the village soldiers, which made him puzzled and even more uneasy.

"Chen Zhixian, Your Majesty's holy decree has made it clear, let us not only defend Changshu City, but also firmly attract the enemy here. If the battle has not yet begun, let the whole army go to the city to defend, and the enemy army will know that we have already prepared, realize that this is a trap, and maybe give up and continue south, ruining Your Majesty's plan! Luo Datong explained.

"Your Majesty knew that Meng Yuan would invade Changshu in the south?" Chen Boyuan was stunned when he heard this.

"It's not just about invading Changshu in the south, but about seizing the entire Jiangnan!" Luo Datong corrected.

"In this case, why didn't Your Majesty return to Jiangnan, but crossed the river with the enemy?" Chen Boyuan wondered.

"Chen Zhixian, Your Majesty is wise and martial, and the mystery is not something that we can spy on, as long as we obey the holy orders!" Luo Datong twisted his face and said sharply.

He was also born in the old battalion, and was selected into the guard battalion to accompany His Majesty to inherit the unification, and later entered the new army training camp, and then served in the forbidden army step by step to be promoted to the commander of the commanding officer. It is precisely because he watched the little emperor grow from scratch, from weak to strong, and develop the small court, so he has blind respect for the emperor, and he is naturally very unhappy when he hears Chen Boyuan actually questioning His Majesty's arrangement.

"Luo Dutong, the lower officials are by no means disrespectful to His Majesty, they just feel that it is so unreasonable. Chen will obey the holy order and assist the capital to defend the city, even if he will not give up! Chen Boyuan was also very depressed about Luo Datong's indignation, he was also the first Jinshi in Qiongzhou to open a department, and he was a protégé of the Son of Heaven. Although their level of that department is not high, their loyalty to the emperor is also evident, so they bowed to the north and said with a straight face.

"Chen Zhixian, in the eyes of this official, don't be surprised." Seeing this, Luo Datong also understood the misunderstanding, and said with a smile, "Chen Zhixian also knows that Changshu City is the rear of our army, and it has hoarded 500,000 stone grain and a large number of military ammunition. After the enemy crossed the river, they went straight here, hoping to capture Changshu to obtain supplies and use it as a base to continue southward. So our mission is to defend the city no matter what the cost, even at the cost of burning jade! ”

"Luo Dutong, the lower officials understand." Chen Boyuan is not stupid, although he is easy to say, he also knows that the situation is urgent, and he solemnly said, "The victory and defeat of Changshu is related to the victory or defeat of the war, and it is also related to the survival of the Great Song Dynasty. ”

"Chen Zhixian, don't worry too much, although the fifth division of our army is the last, it is not a weak brigade, and there is this strong city to rely on, Chen Zhixian's great help will definitely be able to live up to His Majesty's trust, hold the city, and wait for the change of the battle situation!" Luo Datong looked at Chen Boyuan, patted the thick city wall again, and said with confidence.

"What does Luo Dutong need, don't be polite, as long as it is beneficial to the country, even if it is proposed, the lower officials will do their best!" Chen Boyuan said sincerely.

"In this way, this official will be disrespectful!" Luo Datong was very pleased with his positive and cooperative attitude, after all, a magistrate who could wholeheartedly cooperate could make him less troublesome, and he didn't have to worry about a fire in the backyard, and he could concentrate on the enemy, "The enemy army that is coming to Chen Zhixian at the moment is only the forward, and there will be hundreds of thousands of enemy troops arriving one after another in a few days, they lack heavy supplies, and only by taking the city can they get what they need to continue to go south, so this battle will be very tragic." This will inevitably make people's hearts fluctuate and panic, and I also want Chen Zhixian to appease the people and prevent civil strife. ”

"Well, this is a matter within the official duties, so you don't have to worry about it, but ......" Chen Boyuan nodded, but hesitated and swallowed the following words back into his stomach.

"Brother Chen, we are guarding the lonely city together, it can be said that we live and die together, we should treat each other with all sincerity, and if there is anything we have to hide, we can say it." Luo Datong looked at his slurping and spitting, wanting to speak and stopping, and understood that he had something to say, but he had some scruples, so he turned his face and stared at his eyes and smiled.

"Since Chen Dutong is like this, the lower officials have a few words, whether they should be said or not, they will be blunt!" Luo Datong is also a person who has rolled in blood and fire, with murderous aura in his eyes, and with the awe-inspiring aura of the superior who is not angry and arrogant, Chen Boyuan involuntarily shuddered in his heart, and his eyes couldn't help but dodge, but he quickly calmed down.

"Chen Dutong, did you ever think that there was also a baggage army stationed in Changshu City, and they were all adapted from the Mengyuan Han Army and the New Annexed Army. If it is usual, they can still be decent, but at the moment, the enemy is outnumbered, will they have different hearts and open the city to surrender the enemy? ”

"Hehe, Brother Chen's words are just a pun!" Luo Datong laughed when he heard this, but there was inevitably a hint of bitterness in the laughter.

Most of the baggage troops of the Great Song Dynasty came from prisoners in battle, and the first, second, and third baggage divisions were formed in Qiongzhou, and the fourth and fifth divisions were successively formed after the recovery of Jiangnan. Later, some craftsmen were transferred, and some Beigui people were recruited to form the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Dushui Divisions of the Engineering Division and the Capital Water Army, which were jointly managed by the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War, which were responsible for the construction of the city and the tasks of controlling floods and dredging waterways.

Since Changshu City was designated as a logistics base for providing baggage for the front-line military towns, the stored materials naturally belonged to the deployment of the Baggage Division of the Ministry of War, and the soldiers thus managed were also subordinate to a regiment of the Fourth Baggage Division under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, with a regimental headquarters, a guard brigade responsible for guarding and escorting materials, a storage brigade for the management of warehouses, and a transportation brigade responsible for the transportation of materials.

According to the different tasks, the establishment and personnel of each battalion are also very different, the largest number is the transport brigade, which is organized into a mule and horse transport squadron, a vehicle transport squadron, a boat squadron and a transport squadron, with a number of 1,000 people; The guard brigade with weapons is a battalion with three or three formations, and the weapons it holds are all light weapons such as muskets, and its combat effectiveness is much lower.

It can be seen from this that the imperial court should be said to have no complete trust in these troops formed by surrendering troops, and they are all on non-combat missions. And now Chen Boyuan mentioned this matter, and the team of the Fifth Brigade of the Protector Army was also formed by the Han army captured in the Battle of Ezhou, which is also the reason why Luo Datong is 'multi-hearted'......