The city of Haizhou was brightly lit, and more than 200 of Li Pu's subordinates did not bring weapons, and moved the dead and wounded Mongol soldiers from the city one by one. The dead were very quiet, and the wounded inevitably cried out in pain when they were moved, and some of the injured were afraid that they would be left behind, and cried for help with painful and desperate voices, hoping that they would not become forgotten existences.

Haizhou Tong Judge Hou Qi watched this move in the city, and said with some sighs: "Zhao Tidian is really benevolent. ”

Zhao Jiaren was nervously watching the handling work, worried that Li Pu's subordinates would do some nonsense. Hearing this, Zhao Jiaren almost choked. He turned his head to look at Hou Qi next to him, at this time, no one around the two of them picked up the lamp, and he couldn't see Hou Qi's expression in the dark night.

Since he couldn't judge from his expression, Zhao Jiaren could only communicate by words, "Is Hou Tongju joking?" ”

"Huh? Zhao Tidian is stumped, isn't there a virtue of a good life? Hou Qi asked suspiciously. He felt that Zhao Jiaren did this benevolent and righteous thing in order to let the other party know that the Great Song Dynasty was a state of benevolence and righteousness, so that he would have a good impression.

"My men haven't trained for night battles. Moreover, we came from afar, fought against the Mongol navy, and were very tired. The purpose of this is twofold, to buy time for them to rest. After Zhao Jiaren finished speaking, he couldn't help but turn his head and look at the city. It was dark, and I didn't dare to light too many torches, so I could only see some shadows under the city. Zhao Jiaren's subordinates ate and were sleeping soundly wrapped in quilts.

Retracting his gaze, Zhao Jiaren continued: "The other is to let these Mongols collect their corpses, but they don't have a chance to carry out a surprise attack. The closer we get to dawn, the more time we have for our vigil to trim. In war, I am afraid that a little more strength will be of great use. ”

After listening to Zhao Jiaren's words, Hou Qi was silent for a long time, Zhao Jiaren couldn't see the expression of the general judge, and he didn't bother to understand Hou Tongju's thoughts. In terms of his ability to defend the city during the day, Zhao Jiaren no longer has much confidence in Hou Tongju's ability. However, the general judge has obediently handed over the command, which is a very general choice.

The Mongol soldiers finally collected all the corpses and wounded under the city, and when they left, Zhao Jiaren immediately sent troops to set up tripwires and hang bells. If the Mongols were stupid enough to come over from here, they would probably be able to provide an alarm. In addition to the siege during the day, there should also be guards in other places.

After dealing with these, Zhao Jiaren declined Hou Qi's suggestion to invite him to go to the yamen to rest, and wrapped himself in a quilt to rest with his troops under the city. This is war, no matter how Hou Tongju views the war, the war in Zhao Jiaren's heart is cruel and tense, filled with almost suffocating harshness. The loser has to pay with his own life.

Even so, Zhao Jiaren still slept until dawn. After a good night's sleep, Zhao Jiaren felt energetic and confident of victory. During the period when Shangcheng commanded and prepared for battle, Zhao Jiaren was still sorting out the situation in his heart.

On the opposite side, Li Pu, the governor of Yidu (Shandong) Province of Mongolia, was born as a marquis of the Han army, at least according to the information provided by Zhao Jiaren's initial intelligence network. During the Mongol period, out of the need to fight against the Jin and consolidate the rule of the north, the Han army was set up in the former Jin Dynasty ruled area in the north, and the powerful landlord armed leader of the Han land was appointed as the Wanhu to divide the roads. Under the condition of fulfilling the obligations of the Mongol rulers such as paying quality, tribute, and conscription, these Han army and ten thousand households could govern their territory, command the soldiers and the people, and inherit their positions, and autocratic one.

At this time, the Yuan Dynasty had not yet been established, and the golden horde of the current Great Khan of Mongolia, Meng Ge, was set up in Hotan, thousands of miles away from Shandong. Möngke's younger brother Kublai Khan once established a large tent in Middle-earth in Hebei, but Kublai Khan was suspicious of Möngke and had to return to Möngke from Hebei. This is some information that Zhao Jiaren knew in later generations, and in addition, his understanding of the situation in Shandong is probably that the current governor Li Pu is the son of Li Quan, the warlord of Shandong at the end of the Jin Dynasty. In the eighth year of Zhengda (1231), after the death of Li Quan, Li Pu attacked Yidu Province and supported his own army. The Mongol Khan Meng Ge went south, and Li Pu naturally also needed to fulfill the obligations of the Han army and send troops to follow. Judging from the current situation, Li Pu said that he moved the Mongol Great Khan, and he did not send troops to follow the Mongol Khan to attack Sichuan, but launched an attack from Shandong to contain the Song army.

A few months ago, Li Pu's offensive was fruitless and he chose to withdraw his troops. It can be seen that Li Pu's intelligence network learned that Xia Gui and Mao Xing led their troops to leave Haizhou and the Lianshui Army, so they sent troops to attack again. If it weren't for Zhao Jiaren's unexpected arrival, Haizhou would probably have fallen.

was arranging artillery and defense systems at the head of the city, and Zhao Jiaren's personal entourage reminded: "Mention it, Hou Tongju is coming to the city." ”

Zhao Jiaren looked back and saw that Hou Qi had brought his subordinates and picked up some meat to the city. The two didn't say hello either, and said 'hard work' to each other, and Zhao Jiaren asked: "I don't know how many soldiers and horses are still in the city at this time?" ”

"Less than a thousand." Hou Tongju's voice was quite bitter.

Zhao Jiaren sighed, but couldn't say anything. The last time he went to Haizhou, Xia Gui took his subordinates to guard Haizhou, and there were thousands of people in the city. Zhao Jiaren didn't have to worry about the defense of Haizhou City at all, and only used to fight the Mongol naval army at sea. When he went to the city yesterday, he saw that there were not many Song troops at the head of the city, and it could not be said that the Song army did not do their best, and it was quite difficult for hundreds of people to defend Haizhou City.

Haizhou City began to be built in the Qin Dynasty, and has been the political, economic and cultural center of the Hai, Jiangxi, Shu and Guan regions since the Qin and Han dynasties, and is known as the "Huaikou Giant Town", "the famous county of the East China Sea" and "the first city in the east of Huaihai". If it is a small city with walls, a few hundred people can defend it. At the scale of Haizhou City, hundreds of people can't hold it at all.

What is Jia Yidao doing? Although Zhao Jiaren knew that this was not Jia Nidao's pot, as a pacification envoy of the two Huai, Jia Nidao was at most a political commissar of the military region. According to the system of the Great Song Dynasty, it was the envoys of the Lianghuai system who managed the military of the two Huai. But Zhao Jiaren still couldn't help complaining in his heart, with Jia Yidao's ability, he would not have no right to speak.

Not only complained, Zhao Jiaren was still a little uneasy in his heart. He originally came to Haizhou this time to fight the autumn wind of the Mongols, but he stepped on the tail of the Mongol army. According to the system, the pacification of Fujian Road suddenly appeared thousands of miles away from Fujian Road, which is not easy to explain. In addition to telling Jia Nidao that he was originally going to Haizhou to do business and sell cotton cloth to Shandong, Zhao Jiaren also asked Jia Nidao to help cover up. It was Jia Rudao who invited Zhao Jiaren to go around Haizhou, and then he encountered the Mongols attacking Haizhou. But whether Jia Yidao will agree or not, Zhao Jiaren does not dare to be blindly optimistic in his heart.

Before fighting against the Mongols, we must first do everything possible to fight against the system of the Great Song Dynasty. Even though he knew that he was a little guilty now, Zhao Jiaren still had a strong dissatisfaction in his heart. In any case, it was Zhao Jiaren who fought bloodily in Haizhou City. And Zhao Jiaren's side of the Haizhou general judge Hou Qi has the right to report to the Lin'an court, this is the power of the general judgment, this is the system of the Great Song Dynasty, and there is no problem of crushing people to death at the level of officials. If he is impeached by those who enjoy peace in the rear, Zhao Jiaren will really feel dissatisfied in his heart.

At this time, he heard the dull sound of the horn from the city, Zhao Jiaren couldn't talk anymore, he grabbed the battlement and looked outside, only to see that the Mongolian army's brigade was marching towards Haizhou City, and on a new day, the Mongolian army launched a new attack.

"Quick! Hurry up and set up a shed to prevent arrows. Zhao Jiaren hurriedly shouted. The subordinates were also working intensively, the wooden cannon shield used on the battleship had been dismantled and transported to Haizhou City, and the planks that were originally planted on the battleship were placed flat on the shelves that covered the gun emplacements. The other squads, led by the squad leader, trained quickly for the troops to practice how to hide behind the battlements of the city wall.

Fortunately, in the third year of Baoyou (1255 AD), Li Tan repaired the city of Haizhou again, and the city wall could bring enough security to the defenders. Zhao Jiaren could only comfort himself.

Putting aside his thoughts about Jia Yidao, Zhao Jiaren lifted his spirits and prepared to face a new day of battle.