On the seventh day of the ninth month of the first year of Kaiqing, Jia Rudao boarded the port of Hanyang. As soon as he came ashore, he felt the ground shake under his feet, and he immediately became unsteady on his feet. Zhao Jiaren supported Jia Nidao in a timely manner, so that Jia Nidao did not fall all of a sudden.

After standing for a while with his support, Jia Yidao felt that the violent shaking of the ground under his feet turned into a gentle shaking. Gently pushing Zhao Jiaren's arm away, Jia Rudao tried hard to squeeze out a smile, "I didn't expect it to be so fast from Yangzhou to Hanyang." ”

Zhao Jiaren didn't speak, he didn't study the boats that rowed, and he didn't expect his fleet to run from the mouth of the Yangtze River to Hanyang in 18 days. The price is also huge, even if it is four shifts a day, even the oars have a leg pedal design, Zhao Jiaren only feels that his arms and legs are very heavy.

Other troops had already arrived in Hanyang, and local officials learned that Jia Yidao, the privy envoy and ambassador of Xuanfu in western Beijing, Hunan, northern China, and Sichuan, had brought troops to meet them, almost with tears in their eyes.

"Do you still have a place to stay?" Jia Rudao asked.

"This ......, the dwellings have been filled with reinforcements." The official said with some chatter.

Seeing that Jia Rudao was about to attack, Zhao Jiaren hurriedly interjected, "Jia Gong, since this is the case, let them quickly find us a flat land to live in." ”

It's not that Zhao Jiaren wants to exonerate this official, even if he kills the official at this time, he probably won't be able to find a place to live. And what Zhao Jiaren needs at this time is to hurry up and let the troops repair. Lie down a little earlier, and recover your strength and energy a little earlier.

The local official in Hanyang was also clever, and he hurriedly said: "There is also a temple outside the city, which can also accommodate some people." If you don't dislike ......"

Jia Yidao knew Zhao Jiaren's thoughts, and he shouted at the official: "Take Zhao Tidian now." After settling down, go and make room for him in the city. ”

The temple is not small, and it is no problem to shelter seven or eight hundred people from the wind and rain. At this time, 300 troops were transported on ordinary river boats, and 1,200 arrived in Hanyang. If there are some people living in the ship, all the people will not suffer outside. Of course, if there were no marching bedding, this sin would still not be less. Although the temple is large, there are not many beds at all.

After two days of rest, the troops finally felt relieved. The next day, Zhao Jiaren called the cadres in the army for a meeting. He said straight to the point: "Everyone has seen the difference between sea boats and river boats, I didn't bring you here to let you die, and no one can beat us in things on the water." In two days, we will have to fight with the Mongol navy. If you have anything to say, just say it. ”

The cadres were silent, they all fought pirates, and they all fought the Mongol navy. From a military point of view, there really isn't much to say. After being speechless for a long time, someone finally asked, "Headmaster, will the imperial court give a reward this time?" ”

"You want to be a soldier?" Zhao Jiaren asked in a flat tone.

The one who spoke just now seemed to be burned, and hurriedly waved his hand, "Headmaster." I have no intention of doing so. ”

Zhao Jiaren glanced around his subordinates and saw that no one was enthusiastic about the feudal officials, so he continued with satisfaction: "If the Mongols are defeated in this battle, the imperial court will give the feudal officials and a reward. If you don't want to be a soldier, then the official will naturally be fine. As for the reward, I can only distribute it to everyone after the court rewards it. The rules for dividing money have long been set, and everyone is still unclear or dissatisfied with this rule? ”

"Nope." This time, the opinions of the crowd were very unanimous.

Zhao Jiaren didn't want to brag about anything, in the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty, when the wages of migrant workers were in arrears on a regular basis, it was almost unheard of for him to pay wages on time and in quantity. In Europe a few hundred years later, Prussia, which was able to do this, simply wrote the on-time pay in the march anthem and sang it.

However, after the core problem was solved, everyone still wanted to talk and stopped. Zhao Jiaren looked at those uneasy eyes, and he also knew what everyone was worried about. Everyone here has no experience in river warfare, and even if they have confidence, they feel uneasy.

After glancing at everyone again, Zhao Jiaren said loudly: "Don't worry, I will be with you when I fight." As long as we're together, there's no enemy we can't solve! ”

Sure enough, after hearing this categorical remark, everyone's expressions were relieved, and there was a light in the eyes of those fierce personalities. When they chose to go to Zhao Jiaren's subordinates to mix rice, they didn't come here to fight, and even now, there are still many people who don't like to fight. But the battles made everyone believe that they had the strength to defeat all enemies. Even if it was against the ferocious Mongols.

On September 11, Zhao Jiaren got up early in the morning. Yesterday, he told Jia Rudao that he was going to take a fleet to the river to get acquainted with the river surface in this area. Jia Rudao didn't stop it, but just asked Zhao Jiaren to be careful very seriously.

The sky was bright, and Zhao Jiaren's troops had eaten their full meal and were ready to sail. When Zhao Jiaren appeared and jumped onto a brig, the ordinary soldiers in the fleet couldn't help but cheer. For those cadres, they still have various considerations, and they are unlikely to unconditionally agree with Zhao Jiaren's words. In the eyes of ordinary soldiers, Zhao Jiaren is the embodiment of invincibility. This does not come from rational judgment, but from the accumulation of experience. As long as Zhao Jiaren leads the team to attack, there is not a single time that it is not a big victory. These soldiers also instinctively felt that Zhao Jiaren put their life and death in his heart.

The cheers spread from one ship to another, and as the cheering crowd grew, the sound grew louder and louder, and even Jia Nidao in the city could hear it. Just when Jia Nidao didn't know what was happening, the cheers stopped abruptly, which made Jia Nidao even more nervous. If he could see the past that had just happened, he could see Zhao Jiaren pull out his stabbing sword in his right hand, raise it high into the air, and then swing it vigorously in the direction of Ezhou, and shout at the same time: "Let's go!" ”

With Zhao Jiaren's call and guidance, the soldiers roared loudly, and then boarded the ship under the leadership of the cadres. It didn't take long for the fleet to move towards Ezhou.

There is a five-zhang high platform outside the city of Ezhou, which was ordered to be built by Kublai Khan, the younger brother of the Great Khan of Mongolia, after arriving at the city of Ezhou. He took his generals and guards to a high platform to direct the battle. The Song generals in the city were very tenacious and knew how to defend the city. Rushing cars, crane cars, the Yuan army tried their best to damage a city wall, and the Song generals blocked the gap very quickly. At this time, the city wall of Ezhou was in tatters, but the city wall remained intact.

Wang Donglu stood behind Kublai Khan, looking condescendingly at the city wall of Ezhou, and couldn't help but think of the capital of Dali. That city is much more dangerous than Ezhou, after hundreds of years of construction, it is really easy to defend and difficult to attack, but Dali is still finished. Faced with the onslaught of the Mongol army and the betrayal of the traitors, Duan Yu Duan Xingzhi, the king of Dali, finally chose to surrender.

I recalled the panic when the city was surrendered, and recalled the fear of the Mongol army at that time. Wang Donglu believed that Ezhou would definitely be captured, because the younger brother of the Mongol Great Khan, Kublai Khan, was already determined to conquer Ezhou.

Kicking and kicking, with the sound of footsteps, someone ran up the road of the high platform. When the man got on the high platform, Wang Donglu saw that it was a spy. The spy knelt on one knee in front of Kublai Khan and said loudly, "Report!" There are boats on the river. ”

"Got a ship? How much? Kublai Khan asked with a smile.

"More than forty ships." The spy replied, "It's all boats." Dong Wenbing and Dong Qianhu had already led the ship to meet the enemy. ”

Hearing Dong Wenbing's name, Wang Donglu remembered a month ago. At that time, Kublai Khan, who arrived on the north bank of the Yangtze River, wanted to cross the river, and there were thousands of ships of the Southern Song Dynasty navy lined up in the river, and the water and land lineup was strictly organized. Dong Wenbing, a thousand households, said to Kublai Khan: "The Yangtze River is dangerous, and the Song Dynasty thinks that it is a country, and it is bound to defend it. ”

Kublai Khan let Dong Wenbing fight. Dong Wenbing led dozens of brave soldiers to rush forward, and rushed forward with drums and drums, and went straight to the south bank. Zhang Rongshi, the general of the Xi Water War, led his army to fight on the north shore in a light boat, captured 20 Song ships, captured 200 people, and beheaded the Song general Lu Wenxin. Zhu Guobao, the general of the Naval Army's Wanhu Xie Cheng Department, led the elite soldiers to fight with the Song army in the middle of the stream, and fought 17 battles, captured more than 1,000 Song ships, and killed and drowned many Song soldiers. The Song army was defeated in all three directions, and the Yangluo Fort defense line was also defeated, so the Mongol army quickly crossed the river.

The Song army, which had thousands of warships, was still defeated by the Mongol army, and Wang Donglu felt that more than 40 small ships would be crushed in an instant under Dong Wenbing's onslaught.

Turning his head casually, Wang Donglu saw that there was indeed a group of strange-looking ships sailing over on the river with the flag of the Song Army. On the southern shore controlled by the Mongol navy, hundreds of ships flanked the ships.

Seeing Wang Donglu's sight, everyone on the high platform turned their heads one after another. In the end, even Kublai Khan got up and walked to the edge of the platform, holding on to the fence and looking up at the river.

The boats with their spinnakers were just that, and to Kublai Khan's surprise, it was the small boats. They were long, narrow, and presumably rowers were rowers under the banners held up above the boats, who occupied most of the boats. The Mongol ships rowed fewer sailors than those armed in battle, and the Song army had only one sailor standing on the bow of these ships. Kublai Khan frowned slightly, feeling that something didn't seem right.

The large number of oarsmen made the Song army move like galloping horses on the river, and the Mongol ships were as sluggish as infantry in heavy armor. However, there was only one person in the bow of the Song army, and the Mongol army had to have seven or eight soldiers on board. Kublai Khan was skeptical that the Song army's meager manpower could do anything.

Then Kublai Khan saw that the soldier at the bow of the Song army seemed to have made some movements, and the strange-looking gadget at the bow of the ship spewed out a puff of smoke, and then a Mongolian naval ship more than 20 paces away on the opposite side vibrated violently. The Mongol sailors on board fell into the water one after another, and the ships of the Mongol sailors broke into several pieces and sank in an instant.

Wang Donglu stood behind Kublai Khan, and saw everything Kublai Khan saw with his own eyes, and his first feeling was that he wanted to laugh. What happened on the river in the distance was a farce, and the boats that could cross the river were shattered like papier-mâché. The appearance of those Mongol soldiers falling into the water is very funny.

A moment later, the two events of spewing smoke and the shattering of the ship formed a logical relationship in Wang Donglu's mind. His expression froze instantly, and a strong chill rushed down his spine to his head, making Wang Donglu shiver greatly. This...... Is it witchcraft?

The Song ships on the river slid lightly, and they adjusted their hull positions so that the bow was facing the Mongol naval vessels. With puffs of smoke spewing from the bow, the Mongol naval vessels shattered.

In the silence, Kublai Khan suddenly spoke angrily, "What is that?" ”

Hearing this question, Wang Donglu couldn't help but shudder. Since following Kublai Khan, this was the first time he had seen Kublai Khan burst out with such strong emotions. When the superiors erupt in such pure emotions...... It was their scariest time.