Wanyan Yong dug the embankment of the Liang River five miles southeast of the city, and the river sloped out of the river and dropped steeply by two zhang, until it reached equilibrium three days later, and joined other tributaries to return to the lower reaches of the Liang River. However, the deepest part of the water outside Liaoyang City is more than zhang, and there are two feet in the shallow place, forming a Zeguo with a radius of 100 miles, and the embankment built outside Liaoyang City blocks the surging river, making the city become an island in the ocean.

Fortunately, Zhao Ta cleverly ordered the army to retreat first, even so, the tiger generals and leopard winged troops who had arrived in the city were all submerged in the water, except for the men, horses, weapons and equipment, all the grain, grass and baggage they carried were not in the water, if it was not for the follow-up fleet to arrive, they would really be hungry. The water level of the Liang River has dropped too much, and the depth of the river is only more than zhang, so it can only pass small boats, and the Yongzi-class warships of the Song army are no longer navigable, not to mention the god-class warships that Zhao Ta is riding.

In the past few days, Zhao Tan and the generals have been sleepless all night, thinking that they can quickly attack the hinterland of the Jin State with the strong combat effectiveness of the Song army, and the two groups in the west and south can merge under the city of Huining and complete the Northern Expedition before the arrival of the harsh winter. But now that a monstrous flood created by Wan Yan Yong has cut off their way forward, how can they make everyone willing to withdraw their troops like this, but in the face of a sea of Ze country, there are powerful firearms and hundreds of huge ships, but they are helpless against the people in the city!

"Your Majesty, the water has gradually slowed down, but the river is still pouring in, the water level is still rising slowly, it is the rainy season, if the water recedes until autumn." Ma Wei sent people to monitor the water situation from time to time, and reported to the emperor in the morning.

"Well, it's just the beginning of May, and we're still five months away from the end of autumn, and the cold is coming soon, and it's not in our favor. We can only wait until next spring to attack again, we can't afford to wait! Zhao Ta looked up to the sky and sighed. The words were full of helplessness, and he thought that he would finish the battle. Now it seems that everything is going to fail.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, it's a big deal that we'll come back next year!" Chen Yu comforted.

"For the Northern Expedition, I have been preparing for many years, gathering the strength of the whole country, spending countless food and salaries, and it is easy to negotiate peace with the Northern Expedition again." Zhao Ta said with a wry smile, such a large-scale war, even with the current financial resources of the Great Song Dynasty, cannot be supported. But who knows what will happen in the future, maybe it's just a long way off.

"Your Majesty, although we are blocked, the Zhao Li Corps is advancing towards its Beijing Division, and it will definitely be able to capture Huining Mansion." Ma Kuo said.

"Master Ma, don't you know, Zhao Li's logistics and supply will be very difficult after entering the grassland, not only will he be harassed by the Jurchens all the time, but the road will also be long and difficult. So we plan to be after the opening of the South Road. The two armies were supplied with heavy grain and grass by water transport, but now that we were blocked under the city of Liaoyang, Zhao Li could not get supplies, and he did not last long before he had to retire due to lack of food. Zhao Zhi also smiled bitterly when he heard it. Explain to him.

"Yes, there is a report in the southwest, and it is the rainy season in the grassland now. The roads are muddy and difficult to navigate, making it impassable for vehicles. It is difficult to ensure a long-term supply due to the transportation of livestock. I ask that we move forward quickly and join the army as soon as possible. Zhao Lian said.

"Order Zhao Li to slow down the march and not go deep into the grassland to reduce the pressure on logistics and supplies, and wait for the next order." Zhao Ta thought for a while and said, their troops equipped with firearms are more dependent on logistics, and now that they are blocked here, the Jin army can concentrate their forces against Zhao Li's corps, once the logistics supply is not available, it will repeat the mistakes of the past.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhao Lian replied, under the current form, it can only be like this, and the battle plan formulated earlier has been disrupted.

"Ma Wei, can the small warships in the Liang River sail now?" Zhao Ta turned to Ma Wei and asked.

"Your Majesty, my subordinates ordered people to survey the waterway, the Yongzi-class warships cannot be navigated, but the vehicles and ships of the Jiangling Navy can pass unimpeded, and even go to the flooding area, but Liaoyang City cannot be broken by a small boat alone." Ma Wei said.

"Who said that the city was going to be attacked, I want to go around by boat, and I can't think of any way to hold it here." Zhao Ta said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, this ...... Isn't that too dangerous? Ma Wei was surprised when he heard this, he didn't expect the emperor to inquire about this matter and wanted to go to the river in person.

"The danger of fart, we can't get in, and they can't get out, can I still watch their emperor drown?" Zhao Ta saw that several ministers wanted to come up to persuade each other, and waved his hand and said.

"Okay, my subordinates will go and prepare." Ma Wei said helplessly, and the others could only shake their heads and sigh, they all knew the emperor's temper, since he said it, he would definitely do it, and whoever persuaded him would be in vain......

After Shaoqing's ship was prepared, Zhao Ta was disembarked by Zhao Yong, Zhao Lian and several ministers who accompanied him and disembarked the flagship of the Jiangling Naval Army. In order to ensure the safety of the emperor, the generals dispatched sixteen warships, with three as the lead, responsible for surveying the water situation and reconnoitering the enemy's movements; After that, ten warships formed a circular formation and protected the flagship in the center; The Defender consists of another 'Wyvern' and two 'Flying Tigers' vehicles.

Zhao Ta and the others were riding a car and boat for the first time, which was novel and interesting, because the river drained into the wilderness, the water flow slowed down, and the river surface was as calm as a mirror. The warship was hung with full sails, and under the sailors' hard work, it was like flying on the water, and the strong wind brought by the speed hit the face, making people suddenly feel that the heat on their bodies disappeared with the wind, so that Zhao Ta, who was standing on the top deck, actually had the feeling of speeding in a speedboat in his previous life, and his mood suddenly became cheerful.

As the ships moved eastward, the river narrowed and the exposed embankments grew taller. The warship no longer dared to sail wantonly, lowered its sails, and only drove it with wheels, reducing its speed, and the lead ship began to continuously insert long poles into the river to detect the depth of the water level to prevent it from running aground.

"Majesty, one mile ahead is the place of the breach, continue to move forward, the water flow river is unstable, and the hull is unstable, and it is a little dangerous." Du Feng saluted the emperor, his words were very restrained, and he didn't dare to raise his head to face it.

"Hehe, have you ever been there?" Zhao Ta asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty, the last general has been ordered to investigate the water situation many times, and he has been there many times." Du Feng replied.

"You've been here many times and it's good to stand here, I won't be so unlucky, I'll capsize the first time I come, right?" Zhao Ta quipped, causing everyone around him to laugh.

"His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, a person who is favored by God, and he will be able to turn danger into a disaster when he encounters trouble." Du Feng blushed and muttered.

"Haha, if God takes care of me, he won't give me such a big problem, it should be that God thinks that he has nothing to do with me, and taking it to Heaven will only give him a headache, so he can only let me steal my life again and again!" Zhao Tan laughed.

"Your Majesty laughed, please go down to the cabin, so as not to be in danger." Du Feng was teased by the emperor one after another, and said curtly, but he was very useful in his heart, it turned out that the emperor was really as approachable as the legend.

"Commander Du, although you can rest assured that you can sail, your majesty has often played in the river since he was six or seven years old, and even if he was fully armed and went down to the water, he could move freely, and he could cross the river during the flood season, and this bit of water was helpless." Zhao Yong saw that Du Feng was still nervous, and said that he gave him a reassurance.

"Oh, it turns out that His Majesty's water kung fu is so good, and the last general is really ashamed." Du Feng was stunned and said, carrying dozens of pounds of equipment on his back can cross the river in the flood season, even if he is a veteran who has been in the army for many years, not everyone can do it.

"Don't worry, the privy councillors can do it, and if the ship capsizes, they can swim back on their own!" Zhao Ta stretched out his hand and pulled it, including Zhao Yong, Zhao Lian, Zhao Yan and others, and said.

When the boat reached the breach, it was obvious that the hull of the ship began to shake violently, and the bow of the ship was biased towards the outlet. The people sitting on the boat are all the top figures of the Great Song Dynasty, where does Du Feng dare to slack off, personally stand at the bow of the ship to inspect the water potential, command the warship, and just hold the helm handle himself. The fleet has a thrilling passage to Guò, and Du Feng's battle clothes are soaked with sweat, and it is all fake to say that he is not nervous.

But Zhao Ta seemed to be unsatisfied, and continued to go west along the river, looked at all the three breaches dug by the Jin army, and ordered someone to sketch a detailed map. Three breaches, the westernmost largest, and then through the impact of the water flow wide up to 20 zhang, two narrow also have more than 10 zhang size, the water surface is more than one zhang lower than the embankment, and the water is still flowing into the flood area. Then Zhao Tan ordered the fleet to sail from the breach into the flood discharge area, and he also went to see Liaoyang City.

Du Feng had no choice but to obey the order, and ordered the fleet to sail out from the breach to the wind direction of Liaoyang City. At this time, there was already a sea outside Liaoyang City, and it was difficult to see the houses and trees, leaving only a hazy shadow on the water, and there was no trace of the grand occasion in the past. Due to the complicated water conditions, the fleet could only explore the way and move forward, so the speed was very slow, and it was out of the range of the Jin army's trebuchets.

Zhao Tan stood on the deck and observed Liaoyang City with a telescope, and a large embankment around the city almost covered the city, making it impossible to see the situation outside the city. On the embankment, the Jin army also set up lookout posts and embankment patrol soldiers, and when they saw the Song army fleet approaching this side, they sounded the alarm, and they didn't care if they couldn't shoot it, it was a burst of random arrows. And Zhao Ta didn't give the order to fight back, and took a boat to besiege the city from afar, provoking the Jin army to jump for a while.

"Everyone has seen that if you want to break the city, there are only two ways, one is to block the breach, and then fight after the water recedes; The second is to send troops to blow up the embankment outside the Jin Army and flood the city with water! Zhao Ta rubbed his somewhat sore eyes, turned his face and said to everyone.

"Your Majesty, it is not easy to block the breach during the flood period. It is most feasible to blow up the embankment and flood the city and send warships to bombard, but I am afraid that the water is not deep enough for the warships to come within the range of the artillery. The rest can only secretly send commandos to blow up the embankment with explosives, but it is not easy to get close to the embankment under the strict supervision of the Jin army, and the Jin people must also be prepared, if the gap is too small, they will quickly plug it, and even if the city is flooded, we still can't break the city! Zhao Yong thought for a while and said...... (To be continued......)