Chapter 402 Polemic Hearing Li Tingzhi's analysis, I suddenly thought, the historical Xiangyang City can hold on for five or six years, in addition to the strong city and the best efforts of the Lu brothers, maybe there is Kublai Khan deliberately delaying time and waiting for the Song army to come to the rescue, Lu Wende is right, Kublai Khan and I are likely to have the same idea, to surround the point and send reinforcements, both want to take the opportunity to destroy the other party's living forces outside Xiangyang City. In this way, the battle of Xiangyang may be more difficult than I thought.

However, this is fine, I still have to find a way to let Kublai Khan surround him with heavy troops.

"If you want to fight, I will fight." Let's let the outside of Xiangyang City become a testing ground for my firearms.

I retracted my thoughts and said: "Everyone, now suppose that Baihe City is also occupied by the Blue Army, Li Aiqing and Xia Aiqing, in addition to the flags planted on the sand table, each small flag next to it represents five hundred soldiers, the slightly larger flag represents two thousand soldiers, the largest flag represents ten thousand soldiers, the red and blue flags are the same, four Aiqing, you can start." ”

It was the first time for Lu Wende and others to conduct a simulated battle on the sand table, although I also knew that this kind of simulated battle might be very different, and maybe it didn't mean anything at all, but I still let them give it a try.

Li Tingzhi and Xia Gui are both famous generals in the world, especially Li Tingzhi, who was highly valued by Marshal Meng Hui back then, and Lu Wende and Lu Wenhuan are also experienced in a hundred battles, otherwise they would not be able to hold on to Xiangyang for six years. I asked them to conduct a simulation exercise, firstly, to see what they did in the battle of Xiangyang, and secondly, to see the tacit understanding between Li Tingzhi and Xia Gui. Although in the Battle of Anfeng, Xia Gui was quite grateful to Li Tingzhi for sending the most elite army under his command to help him, if I ordered Li Tingzhi to be the commander of the Jianghuai Military Region, Xia Gui, who was respected by his seniority, would definitely say yes on the surface, but in the actual course of the war, I was worried that the Luzhou army would inevitably have a situation of yin and yang disobedience.

In ancient times, communications were backward, and after the outbreak of war, once there was no clear authority, when there was a conflict, there was a high probability that no one would obey the other, and by the time I received their war report and made a decision, it was too late.

In the battle of Xiangyang in history, the Song Dynasty army was divided into its own affairs, and even if there was a subordinate relationship between the upper and lower levels, it was one of the main reasons for the defeat.

Xia Gui and Lu Wende were more anxious, and they were both quite familiar with the terrain around Xiangyang, so they took the lead in moving on the sand table, constantly changing the flag in their hands. Although the speed is fast, it is not out of order, and it seems to be orderly, which is enough to show the proficiency of the two of them in arranging the troops. Xia Gui, Lu Wende, and Lu Wenhuan are fellow villagers, all of whom are from Anfeng Army (now Shou County, Anhui) on Huainan West Road, Lu Wende followed Zhao Kui after joining the army, and Xia Gui served under Zhao Fan, Zhao Kui's brother, after joining the army, both of them rose step by step from the bottom because of the accumulation of military merits, and often fought together, so they were very familiar with each other.

Li Tingzhi and Lu Wenhuan remained silent, just quietly watching the changes in the flags on the sand table.

Xia Gui divided 30,000 blue troops to guard Lumen Mountain and Baihecheng, and another 20,000 soldiers surrounded Xiangyang, but did not attack, as the main attack force was 70,000 troops, whose goal was directly aimed at Fancheng, and the remaining 30,000 soldiers were on standby outside Xiangyang City.

As can be seen from the number of red flags in Fancheng, the defenders had fifteen thousand people. Located on the north bank of the Han River, Fancheng is much smaller than Xiangyang City, and the city is far less strong, and there is a pontoon bridge between the two cities to support each other.

Xia Gui's purpose was very obvious, to feint Fancheng and induce the Red Army to send reinforcements from Xiangyang.

Of course, Lu Wende understood Xia Gui's intentions, and the city gates were closed, only supporting back and forth from the pontoon bridge, which also made the Blue Army do nothing.

"If you want to take Fancheng, you must first burn the pontoon bridge on the Han River, and the importance of the sailor and the sailor is here." Xia Gui muttered in a low voice, "Master Li, what are your tricks?" ”

Li Tingzhi smiled: "Lord Xia, this Xiangyang City is known as the iron-clad Xiangyang, the blue army is attacking, it is bound to kill 800 enemies, lose 3,000 yourself, and attack Xiangyang with one to two times the force, it is difficult to win, Fancheng is small, and the number of 70,000 troops is too much, so it is impossible to deploy it at all." Under normal circumstances, he believed that under normal circumstances, he could only encircle but not attack, and first built fortifications in Lumen Mountain, Baihe City, and Baizhang Mountain, and adopted a step-by-step approach to narrow the encirclement and trap the Red Army in Xiangyang and Fancheng. At the same time, efforts were made to build warships, block the waterway hub, and completely block the contact between Xiangyang and the outside world, and when the food, military supplies and other materials in Xiangyang City were exhausted, and there would be no external news and assistance for a long time, there would be problems inside, and there would be a sense of despair in the heart. ”

Xia Gui thought for a while and said: "Lord Li is reasonable, first use Lumen Mountain, Baihe City and other fortresses to encircle and send reinforcements, eliminate the foreign aid of the Red Army, and let the Red Army in the city fight alone for a long time, and finally collapse on its own. ”

The historical battle of Xiangfan is basically the same as Li Tingzhi's prediction.

First of all, the Mongols set up a field on the periphery of Xiangyang, which led to the Mongols quickly gaining a foothold in the Xiangfan area, and later built an earthen wall in the field, which eventually made Xiangyang City an isolated city. The second is that the Song Ting's command is weak, and the troops who went to the rescue went their own way, and Zhang Shijie, Xia Gui, Fan Wenhu and others were ordered to rescue Xiangyang, but they were all defeated and retreated, and then Li Tingzhi was ordered to help again, but because Fan Wenhu did not listen to his orders, he was also defeated and retreated.

Of course, the defeat of the Xiangfan War was, in the final analysis, the corruption and incompetence of the Song court, which is beyond doubt.

When I saw that it was almost over, I said: "The victory or defeat of this war does not lie at all in the gains and losses of Xiangyang City itself, but in the encirclement and counter-encirclement outside Xiangyang City. ”

Lu Wende said: "Please make it clear to Your Majesty." ”

"Since Kublai Khan's announcement of the Southern Expedition, I have held a long discussion with the Military Affairs Yuan and the Ministry of War, and decided to use Xiangyang as bait to launch a war of attrition in the Xiangfan area of encirclement and counter-encirclement. Since it is bait, it is necessary to give the Mongols a little sweetness, which is why I tolerate the Mongols setting up a field outside the city of Xiangyang. As you know, the strength of the Mongol army lies in its cavalry, which is known as invincible in field battles, and in positional warfare, the role of war horses is no longer prominent. Of course, Xiangyang, as a bait, will fall into a bitter battle, and Lu Aiqing must be mentally prepared for this. ”

Lu Wende saw that I was taking the matter of the field on my shoulder, and looked at me gratefully and said: "Your Majesty, although rest assured, even if Xiangyang becomes a lonely city, the minister can guarantee that there will be no problem in ten or eight years." ”

"Lu Aiqing, it won't take so long, I estimate that it will only be three or five years at most." I smiled and pointed to Xiangyang on the map, "Everyone, please see, for the upcoming Xiangfan battle, my idea is that the 60,000 or 70,000 regular troops of the Xiangyang Military Region, as well as the regimental defense and elite people of the two cities, will hold the city, and I will personally lead the Lin'an Military Region, the Imperial Forest Army and the Naval Division to Xiangfan for reinforcements, and we must destroy as much of the living force of the Mongols as possible outside Xiangfan City." ”

Lu Xiufu, who heard me say for the first time that he wanted to drive the expedition in person, hurriedly persuaded: "Your Majesty is a golden body, how can you easily go to the front line, the minister thinks that it is enough to choose a good general in the court to go on the expedition." ”

Fan Wenhuan and Lu Wende immediately seconded: "Lord Lu is right, Your Majesty must not be in danger. ”

"Your Majesty must not be in danger." Xia Gui and others also said.

"What? Do you think that my soldiers can't protect me? ”

Lu Xiufu said: "No, that's not what the minister meant. ”

"Leave that aside for now." I waved my hand and said, "I am very confident in the battle of Xiangyang, of course, I will not be blindly impulsive, if the Mongols have reinforcements in addition to the 150,000 people of the Central Route Army, I will also draw reinforcements from Yangzhou and Luzhou Military Regions, in short, I will approach this war with an optimistic attitude and a cautious manner." Next, let's discuss another matter, that is, after the outbreak of the war, I estimate that it will be the year after tomorrow, I plan to merge the Yangzhou Military Region and the Luzhou Military Region into the Jianghuai Military Region, what do you think of this? ”

Li Tingzhi and Xia Gui looked at each other and said, "The ministers agree with His Majesty's decision. ”

I nodded, and threw the question out of the question: "Combining the two into one is naturally for the sake of unified command during the war, which must have more advantages than disadvantages, but what has made me hesitate is who should be the commander of the Jianghuai Military Region?" Is it Li Aiqing? Or Xia Aiqing? Or is it someone else from the court? ”

Xia Gui said without thinking: "Your Majesty, the minister is very old, and the Jianghuai Military Region will take on the important task of the Northern Expedition in the future, so the old minister recommended Li Tingzhi and Lord Li who are in the prime of life to take this position, and the minister will definitely support it unconditionally." Master Li is familiar with the terrain of Jianghuai and is a well-rounded civil and military talent, so he is really the best candidate. ”

I didn't expect things to be so simple, I asked directly, and Xia Gui answered very quickly.

Xia Gui has been an official for many years, and he is an old man. From Xia Qing and Xia Song, Xia Gui has long known that I secretly created the Dragon Tooth Organization after I ascended the throne, and Li Tingzhi is one of the first military celebrities to join the Dragon Tooth, which can be described as my first favorite in the army. Although Xia Gui can feel that I attach great importance to him, it is still incomparable to Li Tingzhi.

Before coming to the meeting, Xia Gui and his son Xia Song seriously discussed the matter, and if the imperial court proposed the merger of the two military regions, they would push the boat down.

Lu Xiufu said: "Li Daren is both civil and military, and he has won the true biography of Meng Heng, and the minister also agrees." ”

Jia Rudao also said: "The old minister also agrees. ”

"Well, after the outbreak of the war, the Yangzhou and Luzhou Military Regions were merged to form the Jianghuai Military Region, with Li Tingzhi as the envoy and Xia Gui as the deputy envoy."

After the merger of the two military regions of Yangzhou and Luzhou, the number of people can reach more than 100,000, which is definitely the largest military region in the Great Song Dynasty.

"Minister Li Tingzhi and Minister Xia Gui obey the order."

"Well, Li Aiqing, in the past, Marshal Meng Heng fought on the battlefield for many years, but he failed to leave a successor, you can be regarded as half of his apprentice, I thought, can you pass on Meng Shuai's skills?"