Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, tragedies caused by the discordant command of soldiers and horses have also abounded. As long as we talk about the example of Emperor Zhezong taking advantage of the aftermath of Wang Anshi's reforms to launch a four-way crusade against the Western Xia Dynasty and ending in defeat, we can see the consequences of a large-scale battle lacking a commander with absolute authority.

Naturally, Meng Hui is not without authority among the generals in Jinghu. Among the generals above the level of the capital commander who currently holds the military power of one side in Jinghu, his authority may be greater than that of Zhao Kui, the highest military and political governor in Jinghu, after all, Zhao Kui's pacification of Li Quan's rebellion was a few years ago, and Meng Hui has been fighting on the battlefield against the Mongol army since the destruction of Jin by the United Mongolia, and has been quite successful. Although Zheng Yunming has risen quite rapidly in the past two years, he is still a newcomer after all, and his prestige in the army is not as good as that of Meng and Zhao. If there is anyone in the domain who can control these different troops, Meng Heng must be the first choice.

But Zheng Yunming is still not at ease, he knows that the generals of the Dao are not compatible with each other, the Great Song Dynasty has this sad tradition, there are many people who sit and watch the friendly army trapped but are worried about the loss of their army and hesitate to advance, not to mention others, once Zheng Yunming leaves Yingzhou, Li Boyuan will honestly lead the army to the powerful Mongol Empire army, it is unknown.

"This is a decisive battle to determine whether Jinghu can have a peaceful situation in the next five or ten years, and for the Mongols and the Great Song Dynasty, it is tantamount to a big gamble that blocks the future of the country, and at such a time, the slightest thought of stagnation by anyone can become an irreparable mistake." He said to Meng Heng: "This can't help but worry me. ”

Meng Hui's expression suddenly had a hint of fierceness, he stroked the cowhide scabbard on his waist with his hand, and said in a deep voice: "You don't have to worry about this, this sword will not only drink the neck blood of the Hu people, but also welcome the neck blood of those who are greedy for life and afraid of death who stay in violation of the order." ”

Zheng Yunming's heart sank, this is the unique temperament of a famous general who has been rolling in blood for many years, and the gap between him and Meng Heng, Zhao Kui, and even Shi Tianze, Liu Heima and Zhang Rou may be here.

He arched his hand at Meng Heng and said: "In this way, everything in Yingzhou is entrusted to the marshal, I will immediately lead the army to set off tomorrow, and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Xiangyang are all in the hands of the marshal." ”

Meng Hui also solemnly returned the salute and said: "As long as Meng Heng's life is there, I vow to lift the siege of Xiangyang." ”

From Xiangyang City down the river for more than ten miles, is a pass of the Han River, a mountain on the adjacent shore is uplifted, the local people call it the Ghost Gate Mountain, naturally this place is the place where the water is fast and the river is narrow, and it is also called the Ghost Gate Pass by the local people.

But the Mongols did not understand this, and they renamed the terrain near Xiangyang according to their own understanding, according to the usual custom in the steppe. Because the shape of the mountain is like a sheep lying cross-legged, it is called sheep mountain. The Ghost Gate Pass is informally called the mouth of the sheep and horses.

It was densely populated with ships and horses galloping back and forth on the shore, as if it had become an outpost for the Mongol army to block the Song Dynasty reinforcements from supporting Xiangyang. The water defense system that did not have the power on the surface of the Hanshui River in Yingzhou was completely copied and strengthened on the surface of the Guimenguan River, and this time the banks of the Hanshui River were full of vigilant cavalry, and Zheng Yunming could only bring humiliation on himself if he wanted to use the method of sneak attack by land.

Five miles downstream of the Guimen Pass, two hundred fishing boats full of soldiers were deployed, carrying not Mongolian soldiers who were not good at water warfare, but infantry archers levied from Yunzhou and Caozhou, there were countless lakes and lakes, and the Liangshan Water Army that was not inferior to the Dongting water thieves was once bred, the soldiers were accustomed to wind and waves, and they were also proficient in archery, and the wealth of Shandong made them most of them equipped with simple fish scale armor and shackles, compared to the Mongolian cavalry that was not waterproof, they were more competent for the mission of the first line of blocking line.

Two miles further up, about 4,000 troops were gathered to ambush on both sides of the Han River, some of which were Tatar tribesmen from the Tasi headquarters, but the main ones were the Wuer infantry who had tasted defeat under Xiangyang City, although they may not have tried their best to fight under Xiangyang City, but they were much happier to let them act as archers who sent arrows from the shore to blockade the ships of the Song Dynasty, and this was probably the easiest job on the battlefield, unless the Song people could come ashore to fight them closely, otherwise they were destined to be the passive beaten side, as long as they are caught in a crossfire network composed of accurate vultures and archers, not to mention that the Song army is completely annihilated, at least they must suffer enough casualties.

On the surface of the Guimen Pass River, there are more than 100 small warships. These warships were not civilian ships taken from all over the country, but regulated warships that were urgently built in the north, including forty-four water sentry horses and sixty multi-oared boats, all of which were piloted by the sailors of Shandong and Hebei, which can be regarded as the regular naval army used by the Mongols for the first time in the southern expedition.

In addition to these warships, there were also ten water platoon forts of similar size and size to the two near Yingzhou, and after the Mongol army gathered, they could call on a large number of people looted from Jinghu Lake as labor, so that they could make a large number of wooden platoon artillery forts for intercepting the Song Dynasty sailors who had a superior advantage on the water.

The water defense of the Ghost Gate Pass, even in the eyes of the Song Dynasty, is quite strong and complete, obviously Qu out is also very satisfied with the defense of the Ghost Gate Pass, from here, there are no special defense facilities, all the troops are dedicated to besieging Xiangyang.

As long as Zheng Yunming breaks through this ghost gate, there will be no major obstacles to returning to Xiangyang City.

The question is what tactics to use to break through these three levels that seem to be more solid and reliable than in Yingzhou.

Meng Hui didn't ask Zheng Yunming this question before he left, because Zheng Yunming's actual actions had already been answered. He transferred all the naval vessels under the command of the deputy commander of Jing'e and Hubei, and then seconded 100 warships under the command of the Jiangzhou Commander, and set up a posture of breaking through the enemy's water blockade head-on with a dignified formation.

"The trick is to be fast!" Before setting off, Zheng Yunming gave the most reprimanded to the generals of the navy, and repeatedly emphasized the difference of this operation: "Don't be greedy for merit, don't love war, keep in mind our purpose, that is, let me lead the 3,000 infantry brothers to rush back to Xiangyang City, only when this goal is achieved, can our operation be called a success." ”

"In this operation, the naval army was all under the command of Peng Man. All ships must obey Peng's orders, and those who violate the order will be taken on the spot and will not be treated leniently. Zheng Yunming made a gesture to Peng Man: "You come and explain the deployment of the navy." ”

Peng Man agreed, and held a small wooden block in front of everyone: "In this operation, the main purpose of this operation is to escort the troop transport fleet, and General Zheng Dutong and Yang Commander will lead 3,000 infantry brothers to Xiangyang on a hundred fast oars, and the center of our operation will be to safely escort these 100 fast oars. ”

He placed three black wooden blocks in the forefront: "The front of the formation, we must arrange strong firepower, and strive to break through the interception of the enemy's small boats, vanguard, you lead thirty water sentinel horse gunboats in front, spread out into a wild goose formation formation, once you find that there are enemy ships on the water to intercept, do not ask for orders, attack first, fire a round of artillery and then retreat to the rear." Got it? ”

Zhang Weixiao coldly said yes and took the order.

Peng Man added: "The Mongols are bound to follow their previous methods of warfare, and spread archers all over the shore, using bows and arrows to stop the advance of our army and kill and wound the men on board. I took the left and right flanks each with four four-chariot boats as the leader, led fifty oars covered by shields on the broadside, arranged more archers and crossbowmen, and while advancing, the arrows and the Mongolian archers on the flanks fired at each other, as long as there was an effective defense against them for a period of time, and the convoy passed smoothly, it was done. ”

"Next and most importantly, the Chinese fleet, which will be the absolute main force to break through the enemy's blockade, will be led by me with two eight-chariot ships in front, followed by eleven compass boats, followed by a large force composed of iron harrier boats and oars, and ten two-chariot ships at the rear, responsible for attacking the enemy's main force."

"The troop transport fleet of the deputy capital commander will follow us and wait for our army to sweep away the enemy and protect them to return to Xiangyang safely."

"This is the arrangement of this expedition, do you understand it?"

Everyone responded in unison, and they all said: "Everything must obey the order of the system!" ”

Zheng Yunming watched from the sidelines as Peng Man gave orders, and there was a law to make arrangements, and a few months ago, he was just a taciturn commander in the Tulong Army. Now he has exercised a real courage in the water army. It was enough to make Zheng Yunming feel gratified.

He secretly asked Yang Luo, "What do you think of Peng Man's array?" ”

Yang Luo nodded slightly: "Although I don't really understand water warfare, but the truth in the army is actually like this, as long as there is a law for scheduling, each performing its own duties, and commanding effectively, there will be no mistakes in battle." ”

He changed his words and continued: "But this only establishes my invincibility, and if I want to win this battle, I must also expect the enemy to be victorious." And that's not something we can grasp. ”

Thousands of ships of the Mongol army have been gathered in front of the hedgehog, although there are not many warships, but in the war of bows, arrows, knives and guns, the warships were originally just tools to carry soldiers. If you want to successfully break through the ghost gate, it is by no means as easy as expected.

On the day the fleet pulled anchor and set off, there were no clouds, and the northwest wind rose slightly, blowing on the faces of the sailors advancing towards the north, although the wind direction was unfavorable to the Song army, but the wind was not strong enough to affect the battle, if the Mongol army was equipped with enough firearms, Zheng Yunming might be worried that the smoke of gunpowder would obscure his side's vision, but for now, it seems that Fengshen could not provide any effective enough help to the Mongol army.