"It's probably a lot more difficult for you. But for the thousands of people in Jinghu, with you blocking in front, I don't know how many people's lives and property have been saved by Ludao, with such merits, it is better than building ten pagodas in Lin'an, a little bit of sword and danger, how can it be enough? Meng Heng completely ignored Zheng Yunming's dissatisfaction with this big sentence, waved his hand at both of them, and said, "Please come with me." ”

At this time, a huge map had been hung up in the hall, and since the beginning of the war, Zheng Yunming advocated extensive survey of the terrain in Jinghu to create more detailed topographic maps. The first to respond was Meng Heng, who was stationed downstream. Although they did not have the sophisticated tools that could be used to conduct topographic surveys at this time, and they did not know how to draw contour lines, their general method was still the traditional field observation and then marking the mountains and rivers respectively, but the survey of Jingzhou's topography was more detailed, and many valleys and tributaries that had not been discovered before were discovered, and the distribution of the terrain that could be ambushed was also detailed.

Meng Heng said to Zheng Yunming: "Since the Tartars were deflated under the city of Xiangyang, they went south to attack the prefectures and counties in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Fortunately, this year's fortified walls were cleared in time, except for a few conquered state cities, the garrisons of other states and counties were still strong, and fortunately, Xiangyang held on to the upper reaches so that the Mongols had some scruples about the back road and could not gallop wantonly in the hinterland. Now there are traces of Mongolian cavalry activities in more than 10 prefectures and counties along the river, how to expel them from Jinghu, what did the officials think? ”

Before Zheng Yunming could answer, Jiang Hai preemptively said: "I also talked about this matter with Deputy Dutong Zheng yesterday, and now the safest way is for Meng Shuai to lead the main force to take a certain class of warships up the river, break the Mongolian troops in various places on the road, and then reinforce the Xiangyang Zhao envoys, join forces in one place, and then return to the division to fight a decisive battle with the enemy, which can be fully successful." ”

Jiang Hai's opinion is the traditional tactics of the Great Song Dynasty to deal with the previous invasions of the Hu people. After the southern crossing, this method was changed from land to water transportation. After changing to water transportation, it is true that the Hu cavalry has fewer opportunities to intercept reinforcements in the middle of the road. This is also because although it is recognized that Jiangnan is cowardly and northerners are brave, the country's garrison of the border area after the southern crossing is actually much stronger than when it was in the north. Jiang Hai also held this view, as long as they could suppress the Mongols on the Yangtze River, they could ensure the safety of all states and counties along the river. The Mongols could not attack the city, so they naturally took the initiative to withdraw their troops, could it be that when the summer heat and horses were thin, they were counterattacked by the Song soldiers, and all the troops were buried in Jinghu?

Meng Hui turned his head to look at Zheng Yunming and saw a slightly unnatural look on his face. This opinion may not be his true thoughts, but it is just the first time that Zheng Yunming and Jiang Hai have cooperated in their lives, and some of their inner thoughts are reluctant to mention to Jiang Dutong.

He frowned, officialdom is a necessary survival skill to watch people speak, but if this set is used in war, it will inevitably make mistakes. Zheng Yunming has this habit, which is not a good thing for him and his army.

He thought about it, this may be the result of the official eunuchs' ears, and in the future, he will have more experience in the field, and this kind of mature official gentry habits will gradually fade.

"If the official has any idea, explain it to us in person." He knocked on the weapon rack made of miscellaneous wood with the horsewhip in his hand: "We are people in the army, and we don't need any of the sets that should be promised in the Xianggong Mansion, if you don't agree with Jiang Dutong's statement, you might as well say it bluntly, if there is anything wrong with his plan, you don't understand it, and you will lose your brother's life." ”

Zheng Yunming sighed: "At this time, the military situation is urgent, how can I still engage in the trick and the snake, I really have a plan in my heart, but this plan is too dangerous, my original idea is to let the two orthodox take the main force to follow the regular tactics and gradually advance, I only use my own troops to implement this bold and excessive plan, if the loss of troops is only my own business, it will not implicate the two." ”

Meng Heng sank his face and said solemnly: "What is this, the army is recruited and trained by the general, but it is definitely not the general's own private property!" The soldiers and horses under your command are not called the Zheng Family Army, they are called the Jingchu Army stationed in front of the Imperial Palace! There is no saying that the loss of our soldiers is called the loss of the country, the loss of your soldiers is your own private matter, and every conquest of you is an out-and-out official matter! If this plan can be won, the three of them will be rewarded together, and this plan will not be sold, and the three of us will be responsible together. ”

Since ancient times, the imperial court has paid salaries, and generals have recruited their own soldiers, which is a customary rule. It's just that in this kind of army building model, the soldiers have formed a serious personal dependency relationship with the generals after the most reckless, in today's words, that is, "in the army, but only know that there are generals, and do not hear that there is a son of heaven." This is also the source of the imperial court's deep suspicion of the commanders in the army, even a rogue like Li Quan, who was born as a thief, walked on thin ice when he was suspected by the imperial court, not to mention Meng Heng, a backbone general who was regarded as the pillar of the country.

Of course, Zheng Yunming understands that he is just a little provoking this famous general. Only by letting Meng Heng make his attitude clear, can he pull these two generals whose identities are higher than his own into his plan.

And when he really laid out his plan towards the two of them, it made the two generals on the side of the commander of the Great Song Dynasty doubtful.

To be fair, the overall layout of the Mongols in Jinghu is not leaky, but it is not so easy to be exploited by the Song people. On the thousand-mile-long front, 80,000 households lined up in a line, suppressing the maneuver of the Song army on the whole line. Among them, deep into the south of Jingshan and north of Jiangling is the Jurchen Wanhu Jiagu Liuqi Division, and after several battles with the Song army sent by Jiangling on the narrow mountain road, it was unable to capture the large cottages led by Lao Yashan, and had formed a confrontation with the Song army on the front line of Nanshan, and no one could help the other. However, if the Song army wanted to attack from this place and then lift the siege of Xiangyang, by the way, it would not be so easy to threaten the right flank of the Mongol army on the entire Jinghu battlefield. Because for the Song army, which was accustomed to fighting in large corps, the Jingshan Mountain Range was also too small to launch a large-scale infantry formation, and fighting on a narrow road required courage and combat skills, both of which the Song army could not have the upper hand over the Mongols.

Most of the Mongol forces were concentrated in the western part of Hubei, where the three thousand households of Yan Shi, Shi Tianze and Zhang Rou were gathered, as well as the Liu Heima Department who was responsible for plundering in Huaixi, in addition to the Marshal of the Jizhou Artillery and Water Army, Jia Ra Tahun, and Xiao Zharaer, the Khitan Wanhu, who had not been in Xiangyang and Zheng Yunming. Qu Chu, the commander-in-chief of the expedition to the south, sat in Zaoyang, and the army was in the middle of the dispatch.

On the entire thousand-mile front, the crucial node lies in Yingzhou, and at this time, Yingzhou's strategic value is no worse than that of Xiangyang. Starting from Yingzhou, whether it is going north to the Xiangyang battlefield, south to the Ezhou battlefield, or attacking Huangzhou along the river, or attacking Jiangling against the water, as long as this place is occupied, the marching distance to attack the four main towns of Jinghu is very short. Moreover, Yingzhou controls the Han River and Jin, and there are waterways that directly lead to the four major towns, as long as this place is occupied, it is extremely convenient to send a large army from here to attack any city of the Song army. More importantly, it was the most important transit point for the Song Dynasty to mobilize troops, distribute grain and grass, and transport materials.

The Jinghu Consulate General, which was responsible for the allocation of grain, grass, money and salaries for the entire Jinghu and the strong supply of the main forces of the Song army, was located in Yingzhou City at this time. Yao Zhiyuan, the commander of Jinghu, the subordinates of the entire Jinghu Consulate General and the sixteen warehouses full of grain and copper coins, are currently surrounded by enemy troops in Yingzhou City. As a defensive fortress itself, Yingzhou is close to Hanshui on the left and Funiu Mountain on the right. Backed by Ezhou, it can be called a city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Naturally, the walls and defenses of this city are not as good as Xiangyang City, but with Xiangyang in front as a screen, if there is a northern army to attack, before the breakthrough of Xiangyang, it will not dare to attack Yingzhou with all its might. However, as the key point of guarding the Han River waterway and the traditional famous city of Hubei, Yingzhou has become a battleground for soldiers since ancient times, and many battles have been carried out around Yingzhou. Zhao Kui once said to Zheng Yun: "Whoever controls Yingzhou will occupy the initiative in Jingzhou's strategy." ”

At this time, the city of Yingzhou stretched for miles and was covered with Mongol tents. The Mongol king Tath personally led the troops of Wanhu Tuxue and Wanhu Yena Kuibatu to encircle Yingzhou. They had received reliable information from the spy jackal lurking in Jinghu, which the Song Dynasty used as a supply center and supply base. As long as Yingzhou is conquered, it is equivalent to cutting off the blood vessels that the Song people supply to Xiangyang, and it will not be so difficult to attack Xiangyang again.

At this time, Yingzhou was not easy to overcome. The thousands of officers and soldiers under the direct jurisdiction of the Consulate General of Yingzhou were well-equipped, and because of the rich rewards, their morale was also very high. In order to protect his supply base, Jiangling's deputy commander Bei Zhijie, Shi Songzhi, who was made along the river, sent thousands of elite soldiers to reinforce Yingzhou, and Li Boyuan, the once famous general of the late Jin State, as the commander-in-chief sent by Jiangling to assist the Huguang commander-in-chief to defend this place. Although Li Boyuan was not strict with his subordinates, since the Xiangyang Mutiny and was punished by the imperial court, he was also cautious everywhere and guarded the imperial city with his heart. Let Tath hold the army of 20,000 households in his hand and couldn't pull it out suddenly, so he had to switch to a long-term battle under the city of Yingzhou.

At this time, Tath had to worry about how to break through Yingzhou City, which was desperately defended by more than 20,000 Song troops, but also had to worry about other things. He rode a white horse without a single motley hair on his body, standing on the bank of the Han River, observing the situation downstream. Guan Jun Qianhu also rode a horse and stood at the bottom, talking endlessly.