Chapter 449 Dispatch to Longwei Continent

Kublai Khan thought for a moment and said: "There is such a possibility, although the emperors of the Southern Dynasty are all timid and afraid of things except for the founding Taizu and Taizong, and the Zhao family after the southern crossing is even more so, there are almost no people who dare to drive the expedition, but only this little emperor Zhao Yu is different, and we can't be careless." General Boyan, pass on the order to Ashu, be careful, as for their idea of attacking Yingzhou, I just need to grasp the proportion. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Boyan, I have been hesitating to let you go to Xiangfan, the thieves of the khanates in the west today are not dead and are very unstable, but now it seems that the battle of Xiangyang should be the most important thing first. You are ready, and you will set off for the south in the near future. ”

"Yes, I obey."

"Zhenjin, send someone to spread the word that Namuhan, An Tong and Xiliji will enter the palace to see me."

"Yes, Father."

Namuhan, the fourth son of Kublai Khan, the mother and brother of Zhenjin, good at riding and shooting, brave and good at fighting, was named the king of Beiping. Cyriji, the fourth son of Meng Ge, was named the king of Hejian, good at strategy, and the city was very deep. An Tong, the third grandson of Mu Huali, the founder of Mongolia, was the right prime minister of Zhongshu at the time, both civil and military, but he was very protective.

About half an hour later, Namuhan and the other three came to the palace.

"Ministers see the emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live."

"No courtesy."

"Your Majesty."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the situation in the west is becoming more and more complicated, and many people in the four khanates are beginning to move, and most of the main forces of our army are at the junction of our dynasty and the southern dynasty, so I plan to send capable people to the west to control the local army in order to stabilize the situation, originally I planned to send General Boyan to the west to sit in the town, but the front line in Xiangyang has changed recently, so I have no choice but to let General Boyan go south."

"Please give an order from the emperor, and the ministers are willing to go to the west to share the emperor's worries." Kublai Khan's words were extremely obvious, and the three of Namuhan naturally understood his intentions and said in unison.

"Okay, Namuhan, I will appoint you as a messenger to the western border, in case the khanates are in trouble."

"Yes, my son."

"An Tong Aiqing, Xiliji Aiqing, I have appointed the two of you as deputy envoys to assist Namuhan in handling all important military and political affairs in the west."

"Yes, your ministers obey."

"Three Aiqing, the first task of our dynasty today is to destroy the Song Dynasty, you and others go to the west, try to implement the policy of Huai Rou, in order to secure the border land of our country, and then move westward after the Song Dynasty is destroyed, at the end of this month, you will set off to the west, and I will discuss with you in detail before leaving."

"Yes, Your Majesty, the ministers are retiring."

On March 3, eight days after Kublai Khan announced the change of the country's name, I received a message from Dadu Longya.

"The Yuan Dynasty is ahead of schedule?" I said to myself.

"Official, what do you mean in advance?" Quan Jiu, who was instructing the folding, asked.

"Huh? Nothing. Jiu'er, Kublai Khan changed the name of the country to Dayuan, and I felt a little sudden. ”

"Official, why is that?"

"The western part of Mongolia has been unstable, and the battle of Xiangyang will not be able to achieve results in a short time, although Kublai Khan's approach has won over the Han people in Mongolia, but it will be opposed by the conservatives of the Mongolian ethnic group, and it is difficult to weigh the gains and losses."

Quan Jiu said: "Does the official mean that Kublai Khan's approach is too anxious?" ”

"Perhaps, but the current situation will be focused on Xiangyang on both sides, and if I were Kublai Khan, I would probably do the same."

Quan Jiu seemed to understand whether he understood or not, and took out a copy from the recital on the table and said: "Official, this is the recital of Yang Fa, the deputy capital of the Privy Council, and it is a plan for the second voyage, and the official family will take a look at it first." ”

Compared with Ruan Sicong's first voyage, Yang Fa's plan was much more detailed. The entire fleet consisted of three warships, the flagship was still the Shenzhou, and the other two were also the best in the naval division, one was the Fujian and the other was Yangzhou. However, Yang Fa also noted in it that if the Fujian and Yangzhou were not suitable for long-distance navigation, they would return at any time. The route of the voyage is still according to the last trip, and the big difference is that this voyage has increased a lot of traders.

Due to the sufficiency of the position, I borrowed the "official ship" method of the Yuan Dynasty to lease the position to merchants who were willing to go overseas to do trade, and at the same time, I could also advance funds from the Great Song Yinzhuang to some merchants with insufficient funds to encourage export trade. However, my starting point was different from that of the later Yuan Dynasty, which tried to monopolize maritime trade and prohibit free trade among the people, while I allowed multiple forms of trade to coexist.

"Jiu'er, this performance is no problem, quasi-performance."

Quan Jiu covered the imperial seal and said, "Official, why hasn't Concubine Ling been here for a long time?" ”

"Ling'er, she has recently been training a two-hundred-strong special guard team with Mr. Yuan and Hu Yande."

"Is it the one who followed the official family on the expedition?"

"Yes. This personal guard was selected from the Imperial Guard Battalion, the Jinyi Guard, and the Dragon's Tooth Organization, all of them were martial arts masters, Ling'er was strengthening their explosiveness, and Hu Yande was training their horses to fight kung fu. ”

"I see." Quan Jiu seemed uneasy and said, "Official, do you have to drive the expedition this time?" ”

"Yes, Jiu'er, the battle of Xiangyang is related to the life and death of my Great Song Dynasty, and there must be no sloppiness."

"Then, the official must pay attention to safety."

I smiled and comforted: "Jiu'er, don't worry, I won't personally go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, just command." ”

"Well, official, when are you going to leave?"

"This is not necessarily, it depends on the development of the war situation, it is estimated that it will take a few months."

Quan Jiu said: "The official family, Concubine Yang's child will be born in about July, and the official family had better wait to see the child before leaving." ”

"Jiu'er, it's not up to me to have the final say, but it should be about the same. Well, it's getting late, and we should work hard. ”

Quan Jiu deliberately asked, "What hard work?" ”

I smiled silently, picked up the shy Quan Jiu, and walked straight to the bedroom.

Xiangyang Marshal's Mansion.

"Dragon's Tail Continent?" After receiving the news that Asahan had sent troops to Longwei Continent, Lu Wende said, "What does Asahan mean?" ”

"Dashuai, there are three possibilities." Lu Wenhuan looked at the sand table on the table.

"Er, let's hear it,"

"Dashuai, a while ago, Liu Cheng led the army to set up a fence in the Han River of Guanzi Beach, but was driven away by our sailors, this time Azhuhan sent a thousand people to be stationed in the area of Longweizhou, there is a possibility of continuing to set up a fence in the Han River, this is one of them; Second, the Mongols were aiming at Yicheng County between Xiangyang and Yingzhou; The third possibility is to lure Yingzhou into sending troops. ”

Lu Wende thought for a while and said: "The second possibility I think can be ruled out first, Yicheng County is very small, and there is no city to defend, if it is surrounded by my Yingzhou army and water division, the Mongols will only be a dead end, and Yicheng is not a place for soldiers to fight." The first scenario may exist, but as for the third scenario, by the way, will it have something to do with the arrival of the Imperial Guards? ”

Lu Wenhuan said: "The appearance of the Imperial Forest Army will definitely make the Mongolian Ashu guess, the marshal is right, it may be that they want to test whether His Majesty will be in Yingzhou." ”

"Well, Shi Meng, report this news to Your Majesty and inform General Wang Anjie of Yingzhou."

"Yes, Father."

Yingzhou city is built according to the mountain, the city is built with stones, the arrows and stones are not close, although it is not as strong as Xiangyang City, but it is also easy to defend and difficult to attack. When receiving Lü Wende's letter, Wang Anjie also learned that the Mongol pioneer Azhuhan had sent his thousand households to lead a thousand men and horses to garrison Longwei Continent, and there was a tendency to continue southward.

At present, Yingzhou has nearly 20,000 troops, mainly Wu Songhan's troops stationed in the east and west battalions in the north of the city, Zhang Shijie's troops stationed in the city, and the sailors in the west of the city.

"General, why don't you eat these thousand Mongolian troops?" Wu Songhan, who rushed back from outside the city, suggested as soon as he entered the house.

Wang Anjie looked at the map on the wall, and said without replying: "After General Li Zengbo and General Zhang Shijie arrived, we discussed together, this Ah Tinghan was too bold to dare to leave the Lumen Mountain camp with only a thousand people." ”

"Yes, General. Therefore, the last general suggested that it be taken down in order to extinguish its prestige. ”

"But what is the purpose of Athikhan?"

"General, no matter what its purpose is, our army only needs to attack it with several times its strength."

Wang An nodded and said: "Well, if it doesn't work, retreat immediately, I am very familiar with the terrain in that area, and it is impossible for the Mongols to set up an ambush in the area of Longweizhou." ”

In terms of position, among the generals in Yingzhou, Li Zengbo should be the most, but the status of the water division has always been inferior to the army, and Zhang Shijie, as the commander of the Imperial Forest Army, although the military rank is not high, is the emperor's pro-army, so Wang Anjie also wants to discuss with everyone, after all, the court did not designate the supreme commander of the Yingzhou army.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Zengbo and Zhang Shijie arrived at Wang Anjie's temporary command post one after the other. The four of them exchanged pleasantries slightly, and Wang Anjie said: "General Li and General Zhang, I have just received the news from the front that the Mongolian Qianhu has led a thousand men and horses to enter Longwei Continent, and the purpose is unknown, and Lord Lu Wende, the envoy of the Xiangyang Military Region, also sent a letter to confirm this. When you came, I discussed with General Wu Songhan whether our army should send troops to destroy this Mongolian thousand-man army. ”

Li Zengbo first said: "Although Longwei Continent is still some distance away, but for the cavalry, the journey of more than 300 miles can be reached in one day. ”

"General Wang, the last general also agrees." Zhang Shijie said.

Wang Anjie said: "Okay, since the two of you have no opinion, then it is decided, General Wu, you can talk about the specific plan." ”

Wu Songhan got up and said: "Generals, the number of cavalry troops in the second and third compartments of my Lin'an Military Region is the largest, and there are two cavalry armies in each, so in this campaign, our army will dispatch the 17th Army and the 19th Army under the jurisdiction of the third compartment, a total of 5,000 cavalry troops to Longweizhou, according to Your Majesty's instructions, our army cannot fight with the enemy in the field, and our army will attack in the form of sneak attacks in this campaign. ”