Chapter 415 Southern Expedition Plan

Lu Xiufu said: "Your Majesty, the Military Affairs Yuan has just received this war report, and it is too late to discuss it, the minister thinks that there are two possibilities, one is that the Mongols are testing the defense capability and resistance of our dynasty, after all, there has been no formal war between the Song and Mongolia sides for six or seven years, and they are not very clear about the changes in the military strength of our dynasty; At present, the number of Han soldiers in the Mongol army has exceeded that of the Mongols themselves, and when Kublai Khan is about to march south, he does not want to see the Han people on both sides of the country have any contact. ”

"Well, that makes sense, ladies and gentlemen, what do you think?"

Fan Wenhuan, the secretary of the military department, said: "Your Majesty, the two points that Lord Lu said are very likely, in addition, the minister adds two possibilities, that is, the Mongols are deliberately paralyzing our army, so that I have a contempt for the whole court, thinking that they are nothing more than that, and there is also misleading us, so that our army feels that the Mongols will launch attacks from Sichuan, Xiangyang, and even the Jianghuai area, so as to disperse the defense forces of our army." ”

"Yes, it's possible. Lu Aiqing, passing on my will, ordered Lu Wende to question the Mongolian side through the field and lodge a strong protest against the Mongolian army's attack on our Fangzhou. ”

Lu Xiufu hesitated: "Your Majesty, is this useful?" ”

I didn't want to say it: "It's useless, Lu Aiqing, the execution is." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Protest, protest again, is the diplomatic rhetoric and techniques of later generations, whether it is useful or not, whether it is justified or not, it will be seriously protested, of course, since the field exists, it should naturally be used, in terms of the hostile relationship between Song and Mongolia, the field is the only channel for dialogue, Fangzhou belongs to the rule of Xiangyang, as the envoy of the Xiangyang Military Region, if Lu Wende, who is the envoy of the Xiangyang Military Region, remains silent about this, how can he not say it.

"Lu Aiqing, in accordance with the established policy, order all military regions to strengthen vigilance, and there must be no mistakes."

"Yes, I obey."

At the end of March, Xiao Qi reported to me on the investigation of Yanfu Temple.

"Yanfuji Temple is a small temple that was founded during the reign of Xiaozong (the second emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty and the most outstanding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty) and has been unknown for nearly a hundred years. The common name of the contemporary host is called Wang Yonghe, the legal name is Yun Ze, the Yun Ze monk is a local, his parents died since he was a child, because of neglect of discipline, he was good at fighting and brawling when he was young, and he was full of splashing behavior, and there was no trace of him for about three years in the middle, ten years ago, Yun Ze fell into the monk in Yanfu Temple, and got the favor of the previous host, in the second year of Yun Ze's monkhood, the old host died of serious illness, and designated Yun Ze as his heir before his death. After Yun Ze took office, the incense at the temple also did not improve, and Yun Ze often went out alone. There were originally only twelve monks in Yanfu Temple, since Lian Zhen came here to place an order, before and after more than a year, the number of monks has increased to thirty-four, in the past year or two, probably because Lian Zhen is in Yanfu Temple to place an order, Yun Ze rarely goes out. Judging from the reactions of the surrounding villagers and the local Lizheng, this Yunze has rarely interacted with people since he became a monk. ”

I said, "On the surface, this Yunze has no bad deeds. ”

Xiao Qi nodded: "That's right." ”

"Xiao Qi, what has Lian Zhen been doing in the past few days?"

Xiao Qi said ashamedly: "Official, the little one sent someone to keep an eye on him, Na Lian Zhen once went down the mountain once, but the person who sent it lost it." ”

"Really?" I frowned and said to Yuan Jian, "Sir, you once said that this person has martial arts, do you know the depth of his martial arts?" ”

Yuan Jian said: "This minister can't be sure for the time being, the person sent out by Xiao Qi to track is a good tracker in the Jinyi Guard, and his light body technique should not be under Yun Zhongfei, according to this, it is very likely that Monk Lian Zhen's martial arts are still above Yun Zhongfei." ”

"Above Yun Zhongfei? That is to say, Lian Zhen's martial arts skills are likely to be higher than Wen Zhang's? ”

"Well, Your Majesty, the masked man's martial arts were above Wen Zhang or Lan Yu at the beginning. Your Majesty, do you want to try it? ”

"No, sir, you don't have to startle the snake, this Lian Zhen must not be simple, it may be a reclusive master, maybe, forget it, we don't have to guess, Xiao Qi, just send someone to keep an eye on Yanfu Temple, for Lian Zhen, if you can stare at it, it doesn't matter if you can't keep an eye on it. From Lin'an to Miao Village, it will take more than half a month to go back and forth, and after Tian Jingtou's confirmation comes back, we will discuss, you first check what Yunze has been doing in the three years since he disappeared. ”

"Yes, official."

Mongolia, in the study of Kublai Khan's palace, Ah Shu and Boyan walked in respectfully.

"Ministers and Ashu, ministers and boyans see the Great Khan."

"Flat, no courtesy."

"Xie Da Khan."

Kublai Khan got straight to the point and said: "Both, Ben Khan asked you to come today to talk to you about the southern expedition. ”

Boyan said excitedly: "Great Khan, have you made up your mind?" ”

Kublai Khan nodded and said: "Judging from the information from the Southern Dynasty, Ben Khan believes that the atmosphere of the Southern Dynasty is becoming more and more wrong, and its domestic economic development is rapid, and the longer it lasts, the more unfavorable it may be to our Dynasty. ”

Ah Shu hesitated for a moment and said, "This September? Great Khan, will it be too hasty, the construction of the sailors of our dynasty will not be completed until three years later. ”

Kublai Khan said: "Ben Khan has already considered this, and he has also told Liu Chuan that he must ask him to build a naval division that can compete with the Southern Dynasty by the end of next year, even if it is only in the Han River." ”

Boyan asked, "Will it have to wait until next year?" ”

"No, just do it at the same time. Ben Khan's initial plan was to divide the southern expedition into two phases, the first of which was to focus on the Battle of Xiangyang, trapping Xiangyang and destroying the main forces of the Song army under the city of Xiangyang, which was expected to take place between three or four years; The second stage is to attack in an all-out way, from Sichuan, Jianghuai, and Xiangyang, and take Lin'an first, and you look at the map. ”

Kublai Khan pointed to the map on the wall and said, "Ben Khan will tell me in detail about the plan for the southern expedition, and you will see if there are any additions or suggestions." ”

"Please instruct the Great Khan."

"First of all, Ashu led the vanguard of the Middle Route Army to march into the Xiangfan area of the Southern Dynasty in September this year, and by August this year, the castle built by our dynasty in the southeast of Xiangyang City in the Lumen Mountain can be completed, therefore, the first task of our army is to establish the first stronghold in Lumen Mountain, and by the middle of next year, the castle of Baihe City can also be completed, and the whole army of the Middle Route Army will be dispatched to establish a second stronghold in Baihe City, and in this way to cut off the connection between Xiangyang City and the Handong region, and form a semi-encirclement of Xiangyang, by the end of next year, After the completion of the construction of the Baizhang Mountain outside the city of Xiangyang, the grain road of Xiangyang can be cut off, so that the north and the south are not connected, and after that, the south of the Da Xian Mountain, Hutou Mountain and other places will also build fortresses one after another, the forts are connected, all the land traffic in Xiangyang City will be controlled by our army, as long as Liu Quan's water division can contain the water division of the Southern Dynasty, our army can further shrink and press, build a new city to trap Xiangyang, and at the same time build a fort in Wanshan, in order to cut off the westward traffic of the Han River, set up a fence in Guanzi Beach, and cut off the passage of the Han River to the east, so on, Xiangfan will become a lonely city completely. ”

Boyan couldn't help nodding and praised: "The establishment of the field has created extremely favorable conditions for the siege of Xiangyang, I really don't know how the Southern Dynasty would allow Lu Wende to do such a thing." Six years ago, the Great Khan sent an envoy to bribe Lü Wende, the envoy of the Jinghu system of the Southern Dynasty, with a jade belt, to set up a field outside the city of Xiangfan, and later built an earthen wall on Lumen Mountain outside Xiangfan in the name of preventing thieves and protecting goods. ”

Ah Shu said with a smile: "Lu Wende is insatiable, if I successfully take Xiangyang, this Lu Wende is the 'first hero' of our dynasty." Back then, if it weren't for the jealousy and rejection of Liu Quan by Lu Wende and others, our dynasty would not have gotten Liu Quan, the general of the navy. The Great Khan, the ministers have no objection to the arrangement of this stage. ”

"Okay, when Xiangyang becomes an isolated city, what do you think the Southern Dynasty will do?"

Ah Shu and Boyan said at the same time: "Naturally, troops will be sent to rescue." ”

"Yes, Ben Khan's strategy for Xiangyang is to besiege but not attack, and Xiangyang is a place where soldiers must fight, the Southern Dynasty will definitely send troops to rescue, at this time, our army can rely on the earthen walls of the castle connected into a ring, lure the enemy deep, and force the Song army that is not good at attacking to attack our fortress, and when the morale of the Southern Dynasty army is exhausted and the main force is destroyed, our army can first take Fancheng, Fancheng is broken, and then it can easily take Xiangyang." Kublai Khan said proudly, "With the bravery of my Mongolian soldiers, this battle will be won." Oh, by the way, one more thing, in two or three years, our dynasty's tempering cannons will be mass-produced, and then it will increase our chances of victory. ”

"Yes, the Great Khan is wise."

Kublai Khan continued: "After occupying Xiangfan, our army can enter the Yangtze River from the Han River, bypass the heavily defended Diaoyu City of Chongqing in the Southern Dynasties, and go all the way east along the Yangtze River, which will soon approach Lin'an, the center of the Southern Dynasties. In one fell swoop, the Lin'an Military Region of the Southern Dynasty and the Imperial Forest Army of the little emperor Zhao Yu were destroyed, and if Lin'an was lost, the Southern Dynasty would definitely panic, and our army would take advantage of the situation to attack Li Tingzhi and Xia Gui's Jianghuai Army in the north and south, and then go all the way south, take Fujian, seize Liangguang, and finally move westward to destroy the Sichuan Military Region of the Southern Dynasty. ”

Ashu said: "After our army captures Xiangfan, it is not a problem to take Lin'an, and once Lin'an is captured, the southern vitality has been exhausted, and it will no longer exist, so as long as our army occupies Xiangyang, the war is actually over." ”

"Yes, the key battle between Song and Mongolia is the Battle of Xiangyang." Kublai Khan agreed.