Chapter 443: Boyan's Insights

As soon as my words fell, I heard Han Jing say bluntly: "Your Majesty, the grass people have not been good at reading since they were children, and they only know a little about the art of war. After listening, I was stunned for a moment, and then asked Hu Yande: "Hu Yande, what about you?" ”

Hu Yande said: "Your Majesty, the grass people were forced by their father to learn the art of war since they were children, so they memorized it by heart and have not forgotten it to this day. However, because the grass people did not have the opportunity to go to the battlefield, they could only be regarded as words on paper. ”

The answers of the two were beyond my expectations, the seemingly reckless Hu Yande was well versed in the art of war, but Han Jing, who looked like a gentleman, was not good at reading. Once again, I lamented that people should not be disguised, and they should be all over the world.

"Hu Yande, Han Jing."

"The grass people are here."

"Tomorrow afternoon, you will go to the Military Affairs Yuan to report, and the specific duties will be decided after I discuss with the Military Affairs Yuan."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Yue Fang, what about you, what do you need?"

Yue Fang said: "Your Majesty, the grass people have no skills, and they have no worries about food and clothing at present, which is enough, and there is nothing else to ask for." ”

"Good, willing to be bland, sometimes it is also a realm." I smiled and said, "Yue Fang, in the future, if your Yue family has any needs, Hu Yande and them can tell them, and I will try my best to meet them." ”

"The grass people thank the emperor for his grace."

After Hu Yande and the others left, Yuan Jian said: "Congratulations to Your Majesty, you have these two generals." ”

"Hehe, the more the merrier."

In mid-December, General Wang Anjie, deputy envoy of the Lin'an Military Region, and General Wu Songhan, commander of the third compartment, led more than 12,000 officers and men of the third compartment to Yingzhou. The arrival of the third compartment of the Lin'an Military Region made the Mongolian Ashu and others excited, although there was only one compartment of military strength, but the Mongols felt that the reinforcements of the Southern Dynasty finally seemed to be impatient.

On the day of receiving the news, Marshal Ashu convened a small military meeting.

"Generals, a reorganized box of the Lin'an Military Region of the Southern Dynasty has recently arrived in Yingzhou City, plus the original thousands of men and horses, it has almost reached 20,000, and there is no doubt that these 20,000 soldiers of the Southern Dynasty are coming towards Xiangfan, so our army must be ready to besiege the city and send reinforcements at any time."

The generals said in unison: "Yes, Dashuai." ”

Ah Shu whispered a "hmm" and continued: "The strategy formulated by the Great Khan to besiege but not attack is to hope to eliminate as many Song troops as possible outside Xiangyang City, and this opportunity will come soon. Before that, the oppression of Xiangyang cannot be relaxed, General Azhuhan, your troops continue to attack Xiangyang every day. ”

"Yes, Marshal." "However, many of our army's stone throwers need to be overhauled after continuous launches. ”

Like any weapon, there is a limit to the number of times a stone thrower can be used, even in later generations with advanced technology, it cannot avoid maintenance, let alone in the last years of the Song Dynasty.

"That's a problem." Ah Shu thought for a while and said, "Ah Tinghan, your army launches half of the number of stone throwers every day, and the remaining half, whether good or bad, takes turns to overhaul and warrant. ”

"The last will obey."

"General Liu Quan, after the first batch of warships is built, you will lead my Chaoshui Division to try to compete with the Xiangyang Naval Division in a small area."

"Yes, Marshal."

"Ladies and gentlemen, although the land route between Xiangfan and Fan has been blocked by our army, but its waterway is still passable, recently, Ben Shuai, General Shi and General Liu have carefully observed the terrain around Xiangyang, and decided to block the passage of its waterway as much as possible in the next step, and block the communication between Xiangyang and Fancheng, that is, the connecting pontoon bridge on the Han River."

Zhang Hongfan said: "Marshal, if you want to block the waterway in Xiangyang, you have to have General Liu Quan's sailors, and we don't have this ability for the time being, right?" ”

Shi Tianze said with a smile: "General Zhang, to completely block the waterway, of course, it depends on General Liu's sailors, but before the warship is built, our army is not without other methods, we are all people from the north, and we don't know how to fight water, so let's ask General Liu to talk about it." ”

Liu Quan's words were simple: "There is a high tide or low tide in the general waters, and the water level is relatively low at low tide, so a fence can be placed in the river to block the passage of the large warships of the Song Dynasty's sailors." Of course, it is not of much use at high tide. ”

Zhang Hongfan nodded, and secretly thought to himself, he claimed to be a genius in the world, and he was familiar with military books, but he didn't expect that there was a lot of emphasis on water warfare.

Ah Shu said: "General Shi and General Liu are right, we can't wait until the warship is built to block the waterway of Xiangyang, the generals will obey the order." ”

"Yes, please give the order."

"General Atahai."

"The end will be."

"Your department will continue to complete the construction of the fortress in the area of Wanzhang Mountain, and connect it with the fortress of Baihe City."

"Yes, the last will be ordered."

"General Liu."

"The end will be."

"You hand over the supervision of the shipyard to General Zhang Xi, the chief of the naval division, and you will lead the people of the headquarters to erect a fence at Guanzitan thirty miles south of Xiangyang City to block its waterway."

"Yes, the last will obey."

"General Huaidu."

"The end will be."

"You go to Hutou Mountain outside Fancheng, and order General Ali Hague and General Kong Yuan to start building a castle in Hutou Mountain, and at the same time build a solid platform in the Han River outside the Yingxu Gate in Fancheng."

Huaidu said: "Solid platform? Marshal, forgive the end of ignorance, why is this? ”

Ah Shu smiled and explained: "General Huaidu, you can set up a stone thrower on the solid platform, and the distance from Yingxu Gate to the pontoon bridge is not far, so you can let the stone thrower directly attack the pontoon bridge connecting Xiangyang and Fancheng to cut off its contact." ”

"The handsome and wise, the last general will respect the order."

"The rest of the congregation will follow the original plan and there will be no mistakes. Ladies and gentlemen, it is almost the New Year of the Han people, and Ben Shuai plans to launch one or two siege campaigns at the end of the month, so that the people of Xiangyang and Xiangfan will not have a good New Year. ”

"Yes, Marshal."

"After the New Year, Ben Shuai estimates that the Song army in the Yingzhou area will take action, so you should be prepared and not be despised. In addition, Ben Shuai has asked the Great Khan for help, and strives to transfer another batch of stone throwers. ”

"The Last General's Order."

On December 27, the fourth year of Xianchun, Mongolia went to the capital.

Yin Tianya and Liu Bingzhong happily came to Kublai Khan's big tent.

"Great Khan, the main project of the new palace in Shangdu has been completed." Yin Tianya smiled as soon as he entered the room.

"I've seen the Divine Venerable." Hao Jing, the emperor in the house, said, "This is half a year earlier than the estimated time." ”

Kublai Khan was also quite excited: "Very good, Liu Aiqing, this is a great achievement, and Ben Khan will reward it." ”

Liu Bingzhong knelt down and thanked: "Thank you, Great Khan." ”

Yin Tianya said: "Great Khan, you can move into the new palace one day." ”

"Well, Yin Shenzun, you choose an auspicious day, and Ben Khan also hopes to settle in as soon as possible."

"Great Khan, the deity has already calculated that the 25th of February next year will be a day of great luck."

Kublai Khan said cheerfully: "Okay, it's set for February next year." Liu Aiqing, this matter will be handed over to you. ”

"Yes, Great Khan, obey the order."

"Liu Aiqing, you go down first, Ben Khan and the four of Shenzun, Emperor Shi, Zhenjin, and Boyan will discuss the current situation."

"Yes, Great Khan."

After Liu Bingzhong left, Kublai Khan said: "Judging from the news sent back by Ashu, the Southern Dynasty has increased its troops to more than 20,000 people in the Yingzhou area, and new reinforcements should arrive in Xiangfan next year. ”

Boyan first said: "Great Khan, this southern expedition to the Song Dynasty is different from many countries in the Western Regions in the past, the Southern Dynasty has strong cities, many people, and sufficient grain and grass reserves, easy to defend and difficult to attack, our army built castles around Xiangyang and Fancheng, and it is the first time to take the way of long-term siege of the city. The Great Khan's strategy of besieging and reinforcing the city was fully agreed, and if it was trapped but not attacked, it could slowly consume the strength of the Xiangyang army, and secondly, it could attract reinforcements from the Southern Dynasties. The military strength of our dynasty is stronger than that of the southern dynasty, but this battle of Xiangyang is not only a test of our army's patience in long-term combat, but also a test of our DPRK's logistical ability and internal affairs. ”

Kublai Khan agreed: "Well, Boyan, your opinion is reasonable, Ben Khan has prepared for this, even if this war lasts for ten years, Ben Khan will persist." Since the return of the emperor, the internal affairs of our dynasty have been greatly improved, which is also the premise that Ben Khan believes that he can fight a protracted war. ”

Zhenjin said: "Father Khan, General Boyan is right, although the soldiers of our army are brave and good at fighting, they have always liked to use the method of quick battles, and in the protracted battle of besieging Xiangyang, it is inevitable that there will be impatience, which also needs more guidance from Father Khan." ”

"It's natural, Ben Khan will repeatedly admonish Ashu. Emperor, our army's logistical supply is fine, right? ”

Hao Jingdao: "The minister has ordered the government at all levels last year to give incentives to those who open up the wasteland, and there is surplus fertile land in various places that can be rented to Han peasant households, and there is no discrimination. ”

"Well, the emperor has worked hard."

Hao Jing took a breath and said, "Great Khan, this is a matter within the minister's responsibility. ”

"Emperor, how are you doing lately?"

"Back to the Great Khan, the ministers are fine, and the medicine of the Divine Venerable is still very effective."

Kublai Khan nodded, and said to Boyan again: "Boyan, the 30,000 cowardly Xue army can go out at any time, right?" ”

"Back to the Great Khan, the cowardice has been achieved, and it is feasible at any time."

"Well, in March next year, the remaining 60,000 soldiers of the East Road Army will be reorganized, and after the new palace is opened in February, you will first take 5,000 cowardly Xue troops to Nanyang to sit in the town, and gradually increase troops to Xiangfan according to the situation of the reinforcements of the Southern Dynasties."

"Yes, Great Khan."

Hao Jing said: "Great Khan, General Ashu asked the imperial court to increase the number of stone throwers, and the minister has gathered a hundred small stone throwers, fifty medium stone throwers and twenty large stone throwers, so General Boyan will bring them together." ”

"Yes, Emperor, how is the progress of the return artillery?"