The wind is roaring, the horses are roaring, and the Yellow River is roaring!

Although the water of the Yellow River after entering the winter is not as turbulent as in summer and autumn, the rushing river still rolls up waves from time to time due to strong winds, and one wave is two or three zhang high, which makes people feel frightened.

But even so, the battle to cross the river was still in full swing, and hundreds of large and small ships carried thousands of elite thieves to the south bank. However, the Song army on the south bank had already been arranged, and a larger number of ships intercepted the enemy in the way of division and outflanking, and for a time the sound of killing on the river shook the sky, almost covering up the sound of the wind and the sound of the water.

There had been no less than ten head-to-head river duels like today's, but each time, the attack of the thieves was eventually routed by the defenders. And the reason for this, in addition to Zhang Shuye's proper deployment and proper use of troops, also lies in the weaknesses and deficiencies of the thief army itself.

Yes, this army that can defeat both the Liao and Jin people is indeed the most elite army in the Great Song Dynasty today, and there is no army in the world that can match it, but this refers to a land battle. Now as soon as it is in the water, the situation is completely different, most of the soldiers in this army with the Shandong army as the main force are not familiar with water, which reduces the number of soldiers and horses that Sun Tu can use by half.

And even the soldiers and horses recruited by Jiangnan, as well as the troops surrendered by Liangshanbo in the past, they may have good water quality, but they are not used to fighting on such a turbulent Yellow River for a while. At the beginning of the battle to seize the river, the thief army even had a situation where the boat capsized without engaging in battle, and now it was able to drive the boat steadily, but once it confronted the enemy head-on, it still quickly fell into passivity and could only retreat in a hurry.

Today's battle situation quickly appeared a similar result after noon, as a wave came, the two defender boats that were surrounding the thief army ships deftly flashed past, but they were swept sideways by the river and slid dozens of feet, but the three larger ships on this side were directly overturned, and the two or three hundred soldiers on the top screamed and fell into the water, forcing the ships that should have continued to join the battle to come forward to save people first, thus leaving the situation completely in the hands of the defenders on the south bank.

Seeing this, Sun Tu could only sigh and ordered: "Mingjin withdraw the troops." "If we continue to fight like this, it will not be possible to change the situation that the enemy is strong and we are weak on the water, so it is better to find an opportunity after the troops are collected.

With the crisp bell ringing in Dangdang, the thief army and navy, which were still entangled with the enemy ships, began to retreat gradually, and finally retreated safely to the north shore after a while. All the soldiers were soaked, but they were ashamed and angry, and after seeing Sun Tu, they knelt on the ground together: "We are not effective in fighting, and I ask the general to punish me." ”

"Get up, water warfare is not my specialty, and this result is expected. Everyone went back to change their clothes and rested, and then I thought about crossing the river. Sun Tu picked up the two generals in front of him, comforted everyone a few words, and then brought the important generals back to the big tent to discuss.

After each of them took their seats, Song Jiang took the lead in sighing: "If the leaders of our Liangshan Water Army were still there, the battle would not be so difficult now." ”

This statement immediately won the approval of many former Liangshan leaders, yes, you must know that in the past, there were water war masters such as Li Jun, Er Zhang Ertong and San Ruan in this army. But as a result, they either died in battle or left, resulting in no qualified water war commander in the army.

In this regard, Sun Tu has a different view: "In fact, judging from the water potential of the Yellow River, even if they are really here, they may not be able to please them. The so-called natural danger is exactly where the defense is not conducive to attacking, and our army is not strong in water warfare, even if there are a few generals who are skilled in water, I am afraid it will only be a drop in the bucket. So I feel that I still have to think of other ways to cross the river, and I am afraid that it will not work out if I only rely on water warfare to attack. ”

After everyone heard this, there was also silence for a while. In the more than half a month that he was trapped on the north bank of the Yellow River, he really dealt a big blow to everyone, and it also let the soldiers know that they were not really invincible, at least the defenders in front of them could repel themselves again and again.

At this time, Dong Pingyou said solemnly: "General, I think that it may not be beneficial for us to delay any longer." We fought so many battles before, it was precisely because we were caught off guard by the people of the world, and we saw that we were in great power, so there was a situation where cities fell without a fight. But now, we are trapped here, but it will inevitably make some wall grass begin to waver and wait and see, and the imperial court can continue to be replenished with soldiers and horses, and prepare for the next defense, so ......"

"I understand what you mean, we must cross the river as soon as possible and defeat the frontal Uncle Zhang's night department, right?" Sun Tu waved his hand and said in conclusion.

"Exactly. Therefore, we can no longer just tentatively storm the north shore as before, but have to attack in a big way, and crush the other side with our superiority in strength. I believe that the defenders of the south bank are actually a little panicked now, they are far from our opponents, as long as we have a boat rushing to the south bank, the result will be completely different. We can no longer afford to care about the casualties of our soldiers. Dong Ping said, hugged his fists again and said: "In addition, since this idea was made by the last general, the last general asked for the order to personally lead the troops into the water to launch an attack, this time there is no return!" ”

His statement immediately ignited the passion of the other generals, and more than a dozen generals immediately stood up and clenched their fists: "General, I also ask for battle to cross the river." Even if we are not familiar with water warfare, it is not impossible to fight. If it continues like this, time will be delayed, and the morale of the army will be easily shaken......"

Sun Tu's gaze swept over these generals one by one, and his heart was also moved. But then, he shook his head again: "This is the next policy in the next policy, I will not gamble with the lives of my brothers unless I have to." ”

"But ......" Dong Ping was about to say more, but was interrupted again by Sun Tu: "Actually, you don't have to be so anxious, so I have my own plans for stability." You must know that this time it is not only us who have started the army, but also the robes of Jiangnan to follow up. Sometimes, we have to learn to trust our comrades. ”

"I'm afraid it's hard to hit Tokyo with the soldiers and horses on the Jiangnan side, right?" Someone muttered something in a low voice, and although the others had never said such a thing, they also agreed with the expressions on their faces.

It's not that they look down on their robes, it's really that in order to go north to attack Liao, the Jiangnan side has already transferred the strongest part of the combat power away, and although there are still some Shandong troops left, they are far inferior to the elite soldiers here after all. In addition, there are even fewer generals left in Jiangnan, and there are almost no generals who can really take charge of themselves. In this way, it is really hard to expect something big to happen over there.

Sun Tu smiled: "You will be mistaken, I am not expecting Jiangnan's robe to enter Tokyo before us, but they can still play a great role in this battle." Don't forget, Jiangnan is the wealth, money and grain of the Great Song Dynasty. ”

This sentence finally woke up the generals, and several people almost said in unison: "What does the general mean, is it to rely on Jiangnan's brothers to cut off the transportation of money and grain to Tokyo to defeat them?" ”

But how does that help us? The money and food supply of the defenders on the south bank came from the land of Gyeonggi......" Yang Zhi frowned.

"I'm talking about the land of Gyeonggi, but it's actually from the city of Tokyo. But have you ever thought about it, most of Tokyo's money and food come from Jiangnan. If Tokyo itself has a food crisis, will they be able to provide enough food and grass for the front? Sun Tu said confidently: "If it is replaced by those who focus on the overall situation, it may not be easy to say, but the people of the DPRK and China, which one can have such a mind?" Cai Jing: Will they let themselves go hungry for a full meal for the front-line soldiers? ”

At this moment, everyone finally understood, and the somewhat depressed look on their faces finally relaxed: "What the soldier said is that it seems that time is our chance." ”

"Exactly." Sun Tu nodded and smiled: "Not only that, but in my opinion, there is another factor that is more favorable to us as the passage of time, but neither the enemy nor the enemy is aware of it. Maybe in a few days, all the problems will be solved. ”

Unlike the morale of the North Shore Army, the atmosphere here in the South Bank defenders was a little depressing.

In the smoke of the cooking, several generals came to see Uncle Zhang with solemn expressions: "Zhang Shuai, this is the third day, and half of the food of the soldiers is still deducted, if it goes on like this, I am afraid that everyone will be dissatisfied." ”

"Yes, Zhang Shuai, why hasn't the court delivered the next batch of grain over, so that the brothers are hungry, I'm afraid they won't be able to confront the rebels and hold the Yellow River defense line."

Uncle Zhang looked at these subordinates with a heavy face, and only after a while did he snort: "What, do you want to use this matter to negotiate terms with Ben Shuai?" Or have you already had a different heart and want to collude with the rebels on the other side? ”

Feeling his might, these generals were shocked, and hurriedly bent down to salute and admit their mistake: "The last general doesn't dare, and the last general is really a little anxious about the affairs of the army." Now I haven't had enough food for three days, and my morale is very low......"

"Of course, the official knows that there are some difficulties at the moment, but there are always some difficulties in transporting grain from the north, and it is natural to delay for a few days on the road, you just have to rest assured, the official has his own countermeasures." After Uncle Zhang casually left them away, his face finally showed a deep sense of unease. The matter was not as simple as he said, because just last night, he had received a secret report, because now that even the city of Tokyo itself was cut off from food due to the Jiangnan Rebellion, so it was naturally impossible to transport the surplus grain to the front. But in this way, it made the military horses guarding the south bank of the Yellow River suffer.

"How's that okay?" Uncle Zhang didn't have a way to do it for a while.

At this time, there was a shout outside: "It's snowing again, it's a lot of snow this year......