Chapter 545: Recovering Henan

Meng and Fan did not dare to get too close, and only wandered about seven or eight hundred meters away from the west gate of Yingtianfu, sometimes pointing at the city wall with their weapons, and sometimes laughing, as if they were demonstrating, without taking the Yuan army in the city in their eyes at all.

Bo Yan said with a grim expression: "According to the news sent back by the scouts, the army of the Southern Dynasty is still a hundred miles away, and the Nanbo Village, where its pioneer battalion is stationed, is also fifty miles away. Meng Tianxiang was bold enough to dare to come to the camp alone. Marshal Ashu, you are here to sweep the battle for Boyan, and I and the three generals Ali Hague, Azhuhan, and Zhang Hongfan will go out of the city and drive them away to boost the prestige of our army. ”

Ah Shu nodded and said, "Okay." ”

For Boyan, Ah Shu and other generals of the Yuan army, they were eager to use a victory to boost morale, even if it was just a trivial victory.

"Brother Meng, someone has come out." Although Fan Liangfu had never seen Boyan and the others, he could also feel from the momentum of the four of them that the comers were not good.

"Well, these four people are the generals of the Yuan Army, Boyan, Ali Hague, Azhuhan and Zhang Hongfan." Meng Tianxiang carefully identified it and said, "These generals of the Yuan Army are all strong in martial arts, and the person at the head is Boyan, the deputy marshal of the Mongolian Middle Route Army, whose martial arts are still above me, Brother Fan, let's withdraw." ”

Meng Tianxiang knew that Boyan was powerful, although he was not afraid, but the four generals on the other side were all very good, and it would be difficult to get out once they handed over, and now was not the time to show the courage of a horseman. As soon as he thought of this, Meng Tianxiang turned his horse's head and walked away with Fan Liangfu.

Ali Hague chased dozens of steps and shouted loudly: "Meng Tianxiang, since you dare to come, why don't you dare to fight?" ”

Seeing this, Ah Shu on the city wall immediately beat the war drums, and the guards beside him shouted loudly: "Marshal Boyan is mighty, and the enemy has fled." ”

Boyan did not pursue, called back Ali Hague, and returned to the city.

Ah Shu smiled bitterly: "Marshal Boyan, this marshal has been in the army for many years, and it is the first time to use such a 'victory' to boost morale. ”

Boyan also smiled bitterly, and whispered helplessly: "Marshal Ashu, the matter has come to this, it's not that we can't wait, but that the firearms of the Southern Dynasty are too sharp, maybe General Shi Yuqi is right, the power brought by advanced technology is not something we can compete with." ”

Ah Shu said: "Now I can only hope that the emperor can imitate the musket as soon as possible." ”

"Yes." Boyan nodded, and said to the guards on the side, "Pass the order, once the Tianfu City is destroyed, go out of the city from the east and north gates, and go to Xiangzhou." ”

"Yes, Marshal." Boyan's personal soldier replied.

When Meng Tianya returned to the station, I led tens of thousands of troops to Nanbo Village. Although this village called Nan Bo is not big, its location is the original capital of the Shang Dynasty in ancient times, and later because of the frequent diversion, flooding and corresponding sediment accumulation when the Yellow River flooded south, this ancient name was buried in the ground, and the towering palace and bustling streets have disappeared so far.

"Your Majesty, Ying Tianfu City is not tall, far inferior to Bianliang, and its solidity is not as strong as Dengzhou." Meng Tianxiang and Fan Liang replied.

"I know. Meng Tianxiang, Fan Liangfu. I snorted.

"The end will be."

"Why did the two of you go to Yingtianfu alone?"

Meng Tianxiang saw that my expression was serious, and hurriedly knelt down with Fan Liangfu and said, "Your Majesty, the original intention of the last general is to find out the defense situation of Ying Tianfu. ”

"Since the two of you are the vanguard of the left and right, you should perform the duties of the vanguard, leave behind thousands of soldiers, and do the scout business yourself, is this matter appropriate?"

"Your Majesty, the last general will know his mistake, please punish the emperor."

"Alright, get up, this is the first time I have read it to you, and I will not punish you. However, you must remember that you are the general of my Great Song army, not a ranger. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, the last general will remember."

"Well, the generals will listen to the order, rest tonight, and attack the city tomorrow."

After three days of continuous bombardment by forty guns, the defenders of Ying Tianfu gave up resistance and abandoned the city.

After entering the city, I only stayed in Yingtianfu for half a day, leaving a force of infantry troops to garrison Yingtianfu, and then ordered the army to continue to march north, until Xiangzhou, an important town in the northeast of Henan. On 16 March, the Mongol Central Route Army abandoned Xiangzhou, which had been bombarded, and continued northward, withdrawing to the southern part of Hebei Province to Zhaozhou (present-day Handan and Yongnian).

In the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, the peasant rebel army Xia King Dou Jiande and Liu Heimin successively built their capitals here, called Zhaozhou. Because it is an important pass from Henan to Hebei and even Dadu, and it is built between two mountains, it was reinforced and renovated at the end of the Jin Kingdom, after the Mongols destroyed Jin, especially in recent years, after Kublai Khan defeated Ali Buge and ascended to the throne of Khan, he once again sent people to strengthen the city of Zhaozhou. Although this city is not large, its solidity can be compared with the stone city of Yingzhou in the Song Dynasty.

On the night of entering Xiangzhou, I received good news from the Lin'an Palace, Empress Quan Jiu gave birth to a son on March 2, this little prince is the historical Song Gong Emperor, the seventh emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty Zhao Xian, but the date of birth was advanced by two years and four months.

The next day, in the name of the birth of the prince, I gave the soldiers a day of rest and temporarily slowed down the pace of the attack.

After the recovery of Xiangzhou, the whole of Henan was already under the control of our army. However, the main force of the Yuan army is still there, and the longer our army's defense line is stretched, the easier it will be to be broken by the Yuan army, after all, the current firearms are limited, and it is not possible to equip the whole army. Therefore, the next step is to secure the line of defense so as not to lose again.

After lunch, I asked Gongsun Xiaochen to call all the generals in Xiangzhou to arrange and deploy the tasks of each army in the next stage.

"Generals, the whole territory of Henan has been recovered, but there are still 50,000 elites in the Mongolian Middle Route Army, and there are also many Yuan troops in the surrounding provinces, so I have decided to rest in Xiangzhou for a period of time, and then go north after the military and political affairs in Henan are stable. To this end, I have drawn up the following plans for consultation with the generals. ”

"I will first talk about government affairs, first, I will order Jia Taishi, Lu Aiqing, and Zhao Aiqing in Xiangyang City, and let them set off immediately and rush to Bianliang to sit in town; Second, Wen Tianxiang, president of the Lin'an Administrative Yuan, personally led a team to lead a group of officials to station in major cities in Henan, and set up Henan provincial governments to restore normal order in various places as soon as possible; Third, in late April, I planned to conduct a special imperial examination in Henan to select a group of officials at the provincial, prefecture, and county levels; Fourth, in view of the special situation of Henan, a series of preferential policies have been formulated, such as tax exemption, tax reduction and other measures or regulations that are beneficial to the local economy. Matters related to government affairs will be discussed after the arrival of the Taishi and others. Gongsun Xiaochen, for the above three points, you send someone to notify the relevant personnel to implement them. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Now let's talk about military affairs." I continued, "First of all, the expansion of the Bianliang Military Region. At present, the Bianliang Military Region already has the strength of two armies, and I plan to recruit troops on the spot in Henan in the near future, and strive to complete the full establishment of the three compartments of the Bianliang Military Region by the end of May. Second, on the issue of the selection of envoys to the Bianliang Military Region, what are your proposals? ”

As the commander of the first military region in the north, the stakes are very high. What's more, this issue is also relatively sensitive, because all the generals have not spoken out, and no one wants to be this bird.

After a period of silence, the commander in chief of the army, Lu Wenhuan, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the last general proposes that Lord Jiang Wanzai Jiang temporarily serve as the first envoy and deputy envoy of the Bianliang Military Region, and the last general will promote General Fan Tianshun, the commander of the 17th chamber, and General Fan Liangfu should be the chairman of the military region's senate and one of the commanders, and the other two commanders can be selected from the local area. ”

I praised: "Very good, General Lu's suggestion is good, do other generals still have different opinions?" ”

Yin Yinglei said: "Your Majesty, the last general will add that a group of students who are about to graduate from Lin'an Military University can be transferred to the Bianliang Military Region and let them serve as middle and lower-level generals." ”

"Well, General Yin's proposal is also very good, you must be able to apply it after learning, otherwise you will become Zhao Kuo on paper." I saw that the others didn't mean to continue talking, so I said, "Well, I agree to General Lu's proposal, and General Fan Tianshun, the commander of the 17th chamber of our army, will be transferred to the Bianliang Military Region as the deputy envoy, and General Niu Fu, the former deputy commander of the 17th chamber, will be the commander of the 17th chamber. Gongsun Xiaochen told Lu Xiufu what I meant and asked him to deal with it. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Third, as firearms become more and more abundant, I plan to transfer some men from the Northern Expeditionary Army from the Middle Route to support the Eastern Route. General Xie Daolin, I have decided that you will lead the troops of the Second Division of the Imperial Forest Army and the two artillery battalion squads to the East Road, and cooperate with Li Tingzhi's troops to take Shandong. ”

Xie Daolin said without hesitation: "Yes, the last general will obey the order." ”

Yin Yinglei said: "Your Majesty, General Li and General Xia on the East Road are on par with the Mongolian East Route Army, as long as there is the support of the Imperial Forest Army and artillery, we can quickly recover the entire territory of Shandong. ”

I smiled and said, "General Yin, don't forget that there is also Li Beiyang's Great Song Naval Division." ”

Yin Yinglei smiled and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, it should be the capital of the three road armies." ”

However, at this time, I did not expect that Li Beiyang did not follow the prior arrangement, but chose to land from the area of Sanshanpu (now Dalian) on the Liaodong Peninsula.

"Fourth, in view of the situation in the city of Zhaozhou, General Lu will work with the Senate Office to formulate a battle plan, as long as Zhaozhou is broken, Hebei will be completely exposed to our army."