Therefore, he deployed the cavalry corps on the line from Baizhang Mountain to Guimen Mountain, and constantly disrupted Meng Hui's plan to deploy the land division with a provocative short assault with extremely offensive power. This trick really worked, Meng Hui had to use his infantry to meet the elite rangers who came and went on land, and he was very uncomfortable for a while. The army's attack plan had to be put on hold for the time being, and even the navy's advance plan was disrupted.

For seven days in a row, the Song army stayed in their positions and did nothing, and they continuously sent cavalry squads to challenge, and the Song army could not hold out. Everyone in the Mongol army said that Meng Heng was frightened by the prince's fierce attack, and since then he has done nothing about Xiangyang.

After sunset on the seventh day, the right army of the guard Ma Junsi prepared to summon Chen Yingrui to the guards, saying that Marshal Meng Hui had something to summon. When he arrived in front of the Chinese military tent, he found that it was not only himself who had arrived, but also Peng Man, the commander of the Jingchu Army, and Zhang Xu, the commander of the Water Army.

"The Mongol army's attack on Xiangyang was as tight as a day, but our army was blocked by the Mongol cavalry in front of it and could not advance. Even the enemy forces outflanked our rear. Let us always be at risk of being encircled and annihilated, you say, how should we act in the current war situation? ”

What should I do? Just from the three people he recruited, he could judge how Meng Heng was going to act. Peng Man said: "Now the land route is impassable, the only option is to use a small number of troops and warships to go around behind enemy lines, attack the rear of the Mongol army in front of them, and then the large army will advance by boat, looking for favorable terrain near Xiangyang to rebuild the position." ”

Meng Hui stroked his palms and smiled: "It is worthy of being Uncle Zheng's subordinates, and the art of war should be like this." ”

He picked up a scroll from the table, unfolded it under the lamp, and beckoned to the three of them, "Come and see." ”

The troops, deployments, and routes of the operation are clearly marked on the map. Its core idea is indeed no different from Peng Man's words.

"Now there are 700 strong soldiers gathered on the riverside, and tonight let them take the ships and sneak through the garrison of the Mongols in front of them, and go deep into the rear of the enemy. Over here. He pointed to a spot on the map between the Ghost Gate Pass and Fancheng, "After the sentry sentry, there are twenty-four Mongol army camps stationed here. As soon as the ships arrived, the raiders landed and attacked the enemy barracks. Don't worry, according to the spies, most of the people who were captured from Jinghu and the husbands who came from the north were imprisoned, as well as the materials looted by the Mongols, and the enemy army only had some guards left. I don't ask you to occupy all these twenty-four barracks, it would be too difficult for a mere seven hundred men, as long as you can burn five or six of them, which will be enough to attract the attention of the Mongol cavalry in front of you, and let them divide their forces to the north. ”

He raised his eyes and stared at Chen Yingrui, and said, "This surprise attack team is all led by Chen Yingrui, and you can have full authority to command the battle." This is your first time taking charge of an army on your own, so be careful. ”

Chen Yingrui replied overjoyed: "It's all on me!" The marshal only watched the battle here, and watched how I made a big fuss in the rear of the enemy! ”

Meng Hui smiled, turned his head and asked, "Pull up the fleet at night and sail, is there a problem with the Jingchu Navy?" ”

Peng Man replied decisively: "When the army was built, Zheng Dutong had repeatedly emphasized the importance of overnight warfare, and he had already practiced the tactics of sailing in formation at night during the Dongting Lake exercise. The front and rear ships are guided by lights, and although it cannot be said that they can advance and retreat as freely as in the daytime, they can sail in the wind and at night, without any problems. ”

"That's very good." Meng Hui rolled up the scroll and said solemnly to everyone: "Everything ahead depends on your best efforts, and after the surprise attack team has made contributions, I will lead the team to come later." ”

The method of night sailing, which has also been practiced in ancient times, is nothing more than to mark the position of the ship in front of it with lights, and to keep a safe enough distance between the ships. Since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, people in the Central Plains have been able to sail at night in formation on the rivers, and today's merchants often have the matter of forming heavy transport ships at night. The government navy was greedy for comfort and was reluctant to sail at night, but as long as necessary, most of the Song army sailors were able to complete a night sailing operation.

A headlight was lit on the bow of each boat, and two rear lights were lit at the stern to identify the position, and the lamp heads were carefully covered with red yarn, which was Zheng Yunming's instructions. Because in the darkness of the night, the dark red light is the farthest as far as the eye can see, and it is inadvertently eye-catching. The ship strictly follows the rules, and the second ship departs only after the first ship has been sent out at the specified time. As long as you keep a safe enough distance, a night boat is actually a very simple thing.

Peng Man and Zhang Bo set off first on a four-car boat. It was the middle of winter, and the river wind was facing the cold, and Peng Man and Zhang Yu sat on the bow of the car and boat, as the leader of the entire fleet.

Peng Man has never liked to talk much, but Zhang Yu is an old man who likes to chat. He grabbed Peng Man's chatter and talked about Zhang Weixiao.

"If his mother hadn't died early, maybe he wouldn't have been as eccentric as he is today. Speaking of which, I don't control it strictly on weekdays, so that to this day, I often contradict me. Alas, it is really a sin created in the previous life"

"No, Zhang Weixiao is decisive and responsible, and he will definitely achieve great things in the future." Peng Man replied briefly.

Old Man Zhang smiled self-deprecatingly, and changed the topic again: "Speaking of which, since ancient times, it has been the old man who has been responsible for fighting wars, and the scholars who have been responsible for being officials. Zheng Guanren used scholars to lead the troops, and the effect was actually not bad. ”

"Purely using martial arts to lead troops, it only started from the time of Xuanzong." Peng Man said: "What's more, Cao Youwen, the famous general who is now guarding Shukou, is just a professor in Tianshui County. ”

At that time, Zheng Yunming was in Jinghu and Cao Youwen was in Shukou, and as a military official who was promoted from Jinshi Jian, he played a better ability to manage the army than the generals. And Cao Youwen led 8,000 elites to defeat several times his own strong enemies in the dangerous place of Shukou, which is even more amazing. There is even a royal historian in Lin'an who believes that since the effect of scholars leading troops is not worse than that of military generals, or opening a martial arts department in addition to the Jinshi department, it may be a feasible way to absorb scholars who can write and martial arts to train them into elite generals. But such an empty proposal was soon drowned in the daily mountains and simple seas of the Great Song Dynasty.

"But now the life of the two scholars is not easy, Jinghu needless to say, the Mongols surrounded Xiangyang several times, and the Zheng officials had to fight with the Mongol soldiers every day to survive. As for Cao Youwen, I heard that there were 500,000 troops in the attack on Xishu with the second prince of Mongolia this time, and I don't know if he had the life to live until the end of this Hu invasion. ”

"Cao You heard that I didn't know the way, and as for Zheng Guanren, it was not so easy to die." Peng Man said: "Don't you know that Dao Meng Dashuai has a famous stunt? ”

Meng Heng has a unique skill in his life, that is, to give people faces, and many brave generals and resourceful strategists in his camp who can fight are all selected by him using the method of face-to-face. Legend has it that when he was fighting with Meng Zongzheng and the Jin people, he once captured a general of the Jin Kingdom. As soon as he saw this person, he said: "Your Excellency will not be in the Great Song Dynasty for long, and you will definitely be able to return to the north safely in the coming day." However, this may not be a blessing for you. Sure enough, within a few days, the imperial court sent an official letter, ordering the Jinghu envoy to release the person back to the north to show goodwill because of the negotiation of peace and other matters. Soon after, Meng Hui captured another prisoner, claiming to be a subordinate of the Jin general, who was sent by Jin Ting to the Hebei front to supervise the battle soon after his return, and died in battle not long after. Since then, the people around him have been even more impressed by Meng Heng's face-to-face skills.

"So what?" Zhang Shu said with a smile: "Meng Shuai has met with officials, do you think he has a long life?" ”

"The number of life can only be counted as birth, old age, sickness and death, and the disaster of swords and soldiers cannot be counted." Peng Man said: "Meng Hui didn't count this, he just saw that Zheng Guan's life was very good, and he would inevitably be a very popular minister in the future, so he wouldn't be interrupted just in a single position." ”

Zhang Yu glared: "The official of the Xianggong will naturally be the Xianggong in the future, so do you still need to say it?" Based on this, did Meng Shuai conclude that Zheng Guanren would never be killed by the Mongols? ”

Peng Man said lightly: "Instead of believing this, I believe in General Tong at the head of Xiangyang City." ”

The two chatted in this way, one cold and the other hot, until late at night, and the outline of the riverbank rose and fell in the night, without the slightest abnormal appearance. Peng Man suddenly stood up and said, "It's here!" ”

The outline of the camp in the distance was clearly visible under the light of the lights, and the Mongols were completely unprepared for the surprise attack of the Song army. Peng Man shouted to the stern: "Give the troop carriers a signal and let them land and attack!" ”

The stern sailor lifted a lantern, shook it a few times in the night, lowered it, raised it again, shook it a few more times, and repeated it three times. The troop carriers behind understood and headed towards the shore.

Peng Man and Zhang Bo stood at the bow of the boat, watching the lights of the distant camp flicker, and the shouts of killing suddenly sounded, and soon the camp tent and Ao Bao began to burn a raging fire, and the figures ran around, and the fire and rising smoke in the darkness of the night wrapped the camp, and after less than a stick of incense, a small boat carrying the herald came and reported to Peng Manyu: "General Chen led the people to the second camp to attack, and he asked the villain to tell the two to lead the boat up the river, ready to meet the team at any time, and contain the rescued people." ”

"Meng Shuai's goal is to burn five or six camps, but I think General Chen's ambition is only afraid of more than five or six camps." Peng Man said to the herald: "Before leaving, Meng Shuai has an order, and the decision on the spot is up to General Chen, so there is no need to tell him, and our naval warship will set sail and follow the attack team." When Chen Yingrui needs a warship to come to greet him, just send someone to inform him again. ”

That night, the banks of the Hanshui River were constantly burning, and the twenty-four camps set up by the Mongol army on the shore were all destroyed by the Song army. In addition to rescuing the captured civilians and 20,000 people from the north, the Song army also captured a lot of booty. Peng Man's sailors went down the river full of people and booty, deliberately exposing this scene to the eyes of the Mongol cavalry.