"Lao Ka, I'm not squeezing you, the task of escorting the fleet is also very important. If our shipping routes and commercial ports can't effectively create profits, I won't be able to withstand it for long in front. And the war is definitely going to die, I owe you a promise, I must let you go home once, and then I will transfer you to the main fleet and follow me to fight in the north and south, so that even if you die in battle, I will not feel guilty, don't you say? "When arranging the division of labor among his captains, Karl was very reluctant to be the commander of the escort fleet, although the official position was promoted, but in his opinion, the task of escorting merchant ships was too simple, and it was enough to give it to those trainee officers, and veteran captains like him should not do this kind of work.

"Well, sir, I accept the task. I would like to ask privately, do you think the management method you came up with is feasible? Every time you make a decision, you have to go out of your way to consult with others, and sometimes you have to deliberately please them, including me, why is that? Is the balance you call really that important? Hearing Hong Tao's explanation, Carl had nothing to say, Hong Tao was his savior, don't look at himself on the board of directors and dare to vote against it, it doesn't mean that this will make Hong Tao happier. If Hong Tao didn't usually show this desire, Carl would not have voted against it, and he would be more willing to take a long sword and cut down those directors who really voted against it. Against Nima! Who brought your current life to, you still have the face to object!

"Old Ka, I don't know if this is good or bad, so let's take it as an attempt. You see Qizu they forge cannons. It's also constantly trying all kinds of methods. Failed many times. In the end, the most suitable way was found. In fact, managing a group is the same, which way is better, you need to keep experimenting. I have a successful precedent in this way, but there are also lessons from failure, so we might as well give it a try. It's better if you succeed, it's okay if you fail, it's a big deal to start in another way, life always has to pass. And you can look at it more. Think about it, when you return to your cousin's country, you can also talk to him, maybe he will be more touched, after all, he has more experience in running the country than we do. By the way, let me remind you, after arriving in Cape Town, don't bully Lao Mai, it is not easy for him to guard that land for the company thousands of miles away. You have to risk your life all day to trade with the local natives. If you want to get rid of him, I'll let you go where to keep watch. Send you supplies once a year, so that you can't even see your son! Hong Tao was very relieved that Karl was the commander of the escort fleet, he and Bo Jiao were both old men who had followed him to sea at the beginning, and they understood many of their ideas most thoroughly. And he is also the most familiar with sailing, and he is still a ruthless guy, and there will be no mistakes at the technical level. It's just that this guy's religious leanings are more extreme, and he needs to be reminded at all times.

In addition to these warships, Hong Tao had seven whaling ships and four salmon-class cargo ships at his disposal. Although these ships are not designed according to battleships, they have no problem acting as convoys, at least their speed can keep up with the main fleet, and after a few small cannons, they also have enough self-protection ability, and there is no need to send battleships alone to escort them. All that remained were a dozen or so small clippers, which, as long as they were communicating between the various ports, had neither a combat function nor enough to act as transport vessels.

In terms of manpower, there is no shortage of skilled sailors and officers in Jinhewan. After several years of uninterrupted training, most of the people in Jinhewan have had the experience of serving on warships. Although they are not yet professional sailors, if necessary, they will soon be able to get on top, and how skilled they are dare not say, at least they can meet the daily operation of the ship. Coupled with the number of whaling ships and sailors lent to merchant ships in the Southern Song Dynasty, Hong Tao no longer had to worry about having a ship and no one to drive it. Even if you get another main fleet out, you can go out to fight in minutes.

Hong Tao was preparing for war on his side, and the Mongol army was not idle. From June of the second year of Duanping, they assembled near the defense line of the Southern Song Dynasty. When Hong Tao got the news in August, not only him, but even the Southern Song court believed that a war was inevitable, and that troops and supplies were being sent to the northern defense line all summer. At the same time, in order to reduce the inflation caused by the preparation for war, the Southern Song Dynasty began to allocate funds from the inner treasury to stabilize the prices in the market.

Originally, after the blow of Duanping and returning from the defeat of Luo, the Southern Song Dynasty lost a lot of manpower and financial resources in Henan, resulting in a very bad economic situation on the Yangtze River defense line, and the lack of materials and people. But at this time, it was seen that the economic strength of the Southern Song Dynasty court, even after the defeat, could still rely on its own adjustment ability to intervene in the market, and did not try to raise taxes and issue more currency, so that prices were out of control. Generally speaking, in the years when the Yangtze River defense line of the Southern Song Dynasty court was not breached, and the regime was relatively intact, the currency depreciation of the Southern Song Dynasty was not very serious. It was only at the end of the war that the imperial court could not withstand the consumption of the Mongol army, so the economy entered a vicious circle, which is the potential of the war.

By the end of summer, the Mongol army had finally begun to attack. They were the first to launch the Western Route Army, led by Wo Kotai's second son Kuo Rui, the forward tower navy from Fengzhou, in one fell swoop to take Hechi (Hui County, Gansu), and at the same time launched a full-line attack, from Qinzhou (Tianshui, Gansu), Gongzhou (Longxi, Gansu), the multi-road army to Jiezhou (Chengxian County, Gansu), Xiliang Prefecture (Mianxian County, Shaanxi), Fengzhou (Fengxian County, Shaanxi).

In fact, at the beginning of the year, the Mongol army had already begun to clear and surrender the remnants of the Jin State in the surrounding areas of these places. After the fall of the Jin State, these Jin troops refused to hold the city in this area, did not recognize the Mongol state, and often had contact with the Southern Song Dynasty army. If the Southern Song Dynasty court had moved faster at that time, don't think about it, taking in the remnants of these Jin countries would be equivalent to adding thousands of cavalry and tens of thousands of infantry soldiers out of thin air. The Jin and the Mongols were mortal enemies, but as long as they had a place to stay, they would not surrender to the Mongols. It's a pity that the Southern Song Dynasty court is looking ahead and backwards, but it can't make up its mind, on the one hand, it is afraid that these remnants of the Jin Kingdom will not be able to dominate, and on the other hand, it is afraid of stimulating the Mongols. As a result, people threw a bunch of flattering eyes in vain, and the Southern Song Dynasty army did not reach a consensus with these remnants of the Jin State until the Mongol attack began.

Now it's okay, even if it's a mortal enemy, it's better than really dead, part of the remnants of the Jin State were killed in battle, and some of them surrendered to the Mongols, and they were immediately organized into the vanguard by the Mongolian army, turned the spearhead, and directly became the vanguard of the attack on the Southern Song defense line. The remnants of the Jin State have been stationed here for many years, and they are very familiar with the local terrain, so they have become a perfect leading party, and soon broke through the defense line of the Lizhou East Route Army and drilled into the Lizhou defense area, which is like a broken bamboo, and it is difficult to stop.

The Southern Song Dynasty court did not release fewer people in the Sichuan defense area, and they also knew that it was very important, once Sichuan was lost, the Mongol army could advance east along the Yangtze River, so it would be difficult to defend. There are four imperial armies responsible for guarding Sichuan, the Mian Garrison Division, stationed in Chuzhou, guarding the Xianren Pass, and governing the Chengzhou Army and the Tianshui Army; Lifu Division, stationed in Lizhou, guarding the Qifang Pass, under the jurisdiction of the Jiezhou Army, Xihe State Army; Xingyuan Military Division, stationed in Xingyuan (Hanzhong, Shaanxi), guarding the military and resting passes, under the jurisdiction of the Fengzhou Army; Jin Shu Division, stationed in Jinzhou, guarding Raofeng Pass, under the jurisdiction of the Liangzhou Army, Yangzhou Army.

These four troops are known as the four major military divisions, with a total of more than 80,000 people, originally strong soldiers and horses, and more than 15,000 war horses in their heyday. But since Wu Xi rebelled and invaded with the Jin army, he kept retreating, and by the time the war began, there were only more than 5,000 war horses left. Moreover, they cannot decide for themselves how to fight, and need to accept the deployment of Sichuan's pacification envoys.

In fact, these four major military divisions were quite capable of fighting during the Song-Jin War, and they never let the Jin army step into the defense area for half a step. It's a pity that Wu Xi rebelled later, led the Jin soldiers into Shu, and almost destroyed the passes along the way, and they have not been repaired until now. Losing the protection of the pass, it was difficult for the Southern Song army to deal with the Mongol cavalry in the field, and basically did not win a few battles, and was pushed to the city of Chuzhou by the Mongol army.

At that time, Zhao Yanqi escaped from the battle, only Gao Jia, the governor of Cangzhou, desperately resisted, and when Hong Tao saw this battle report, Cangzhou was still in Gao Jia's hands for the time being.

Compared with the western front, the Mongol army in the center was much gentler, and they did not rush to attack, but played the trick of tuntian, bringing grain and grass from the north while cultivating grain in their assembly areas. It's not that the Mongols are not in a hurry, but it's useless to be in a hurry. After more than ten years of war between the Mongols and the Jin Kingdom, the area from the Yellow River to the Huai River in Henan has become a barren land of thousands of miles, similar to a no-man's land. When the Southern Song army went out of Henan to recover Sanjing, they could not get grain on the spot, and when they were defeated and fled, the Mongols chased after them for a while and did not pursue. It's not that they don't want to chase and kill, but the Mongolian army also eats and horses have to eat grass, and the Mongolian army at this time is no longer a nomadic tribe marching with cattle and sheep, and after entering the south of the Yellow River, the sheep and horses still have no grass to eat.

To launch an attack in this kind of place, you must first do a good job in logistics, otherwise once the front is frustrated, you will have to starve, and this battle will be lost without fighting, so the Mongolian middle route army is relatively slow, and even a part of the people has become the eastern route army, trying to find a breakthrough from the Huaixi region.

When this battle report was sent to Hong Tao through the Ministry of Statistics, it was already the end of October of the second year of Duanping, and even the maritime merchants who had gone south to Kabalan had left. The war in the north doesn't seem to have affected them, and a lot of news hasn't even gotten through. They only knew that the court and the Mongols were a little unpleasant, and they did not realize that the war had started again. This year's leather, camphor, and cotton prices are very good, and these maritime merchants are all working hard to buy them from Southeast Asia and big food countries that are rich in these things, and then bring them back to make a lot of money. (To be continued.) )