In the first year of the Battle of Xiangyang, the Mongols only tried to break through Xiangyang, and the Song fleet was still able to move freely on the Han River. At that time, Jia Yidao felt that it was very important to try to pry the wealth in Zhao Jiaren's hands, even more important than the Battle of Xiangyang.

At this time, the battle of Xiangyang was in the second year, and Jia Rudao no longer had the heart to consider Zhao Jiaren's wealth. The Mongols sent more and more troops in the Xiangyang area, and they not only besieged Xiangyang and Fancheng on land, but also built more and more forts on both sides of the Han River downstream of Xiangyang and Fancheng.

Trebuchets were placed under each fortress, and every time the Song sailors went up the river, the trebuchets would bombard the military ships fiercely. If the Song army wanted to attack the trebuchets from land, they had to face the strong fortresses built by the Mongols. The Song army was defeated by the Mongols in several land battles and suffered very heavy losses. In the end, it had to abandon the landing operation and go all out for water transportation.

Military affairs kept coming every day, which upset Jia Yidao. Recalling that time in Ezhou, Jia Rudao felt that he did not have the pain he has now when he faced the Mongol army in the city. Then Jia Yidao found that at that time, there was Gundam defending the city, Lu Wende was reinforcing the army, and Zhao Jiaren was in the navy. Xiang Shibi, who was killed by Jia Nidao, and Liu Quan, who has now surrendered to Mongolia, and other generals also fought bravely under Jia Nidao at that time.

Now it is war time again, Gundam is idle, although Zhao Jiaren is still helping, he is hiding far away in Fuzhou to manage his business. While Xiang Shibi was imprisoned, Liu Cheng and others surrendered to Mongolia and were fighting against the Song army as an enemy at this time. The only thing Jia Yidao could rely on was Lu Wende, who was besieged in distant Xiangyang.

How can we break the encirclement that besieges Xiangyang? Jia Rudao found that he actually had no idea at all.

At this time, in the Mongolian military camp under Xiangyang City, Liu Cheng said loudly in a loud voice: "Marshal Boyan, we have trapped Lu Wende. Xia Gui wants to take advantage of the rising water in the spring field when the river is wide to send supplies in, and they must have no return! ”

Bo Yan's expression was calm, and his expression did not change in the slightest because of Liu Cheng's bold words, just as he learned a few months ago that the Song army fleet had sent a large amount of supplies to Xiangyang. In front of Boyan, a map was spread, which marked the Mongolian walled cities on both sides of the Han River, as well as the size and number of trebuchets under each walled city.

After Liu Chuan finished speaking, Zhang Hongfan, the ninth son of the general Zhang Rou, introduced the actual effect of these walled cities. Zhang Rou followed Kublai Khan to participate in the Battle of Ezhou a few years ago, and after returning home, she repeatedly stressed to her most promising son, Zhang Hongfan, that the war with the Song naval army must not be careless.

Although he did not meet Zhao Jiaren, the general of the Song State emphasized by his father Zhang Rou in this war, Zhang Hongfan still implemented caution into all his actions.

The width of the river next to each Mongolian fortress, the range and loading weight of each trebuchet, and the destructive ability of the trebuchet to ships are clearly described by Zhang Hongfan. Boyan listened quietly, and asked if he encountered something missing. Zhang Hongfan gave a detailed answer to this.

When the Q&A was over, all the Song rebel generals present at the meeting had happy expressions on their faces. From this introduction alone, it can be seen that if the Song Navy wants to swim against the current, there is probably no other possibility except for the loss of troops and generals. The Mongol generals went south to carry out orders, and the destruction of the Song Dynasty was motivated by loyalty to Kublai Khan. For the rebels, they all had a strong desire to destroy the Song Dynasty. Now that they have betrayed the Great Song, the continued existence of the Great Song is only a repeated reminder of their past failures. Even in order to find psychological balance, these people want to wipe out the Great Song who makes them feel all kinds of negative and painful emotions.

Seeing that one of the objectives of the meeting had been basically achieved, Boyan first assigned the task, and at the same time warned the generals guarding the various walled cities to be cautious and not to let the Song army take advantage of the situation. The meeting was then adjourned.

After the meeting was over, Boyan called Zhang Hongfan and other generals to the inner tent. These people were all Mongol generals or generals of the Han army Shihou family who defected to Mongolia when the Mongols attacked the Jin Kingdom. To these loyal guys, Boyan asked a question, "Do you think you should break through Xiangyang at this time, or should you besiege Xiangyang like this first, and go all out to attack the Song army that came to help Xiangyang?" ”

Encirclement and reinforcement is the Mongolian army's forte, and for a young man like Zhang Hongfan, he can fully understand this tactic. After more than a year of intense fighting and construction, the Mongol army, which was busy vomiting blood, finally completed the layout of its position. The Song army was procrastinating and slow to react before, and it was the turn of the Song army to get busy.

As the commander-in-chief, Boyan is of course very clear about the overall situation, and he doesn't need anyone to explain to him, he directly motioned to Zhang Hongfan to speak.

Zhang Hongfan stood up unhurriedly and said: "If the Great Khan just wants to teach the Song State a lesson and seize the land north of the Yangtze River in the Song State, we should break through Xiangyang all the way south and occupy the land north of the Jiang at this time." If the Great Khan wanted to destroy the Song State, then our army should have fought here for a few more days, and when the Song army suffered heavy losses, it suddenly broke through Xiangyang, and took advantage of the Song army's fear to break through Lin'an in one fell swoop and destroy the Song State. ”

Boyan was very satisfied with such an astute subordinate, but he was only satisfied. The choice of strategy is different from the choice of tactics, and tactics can be quickly adjusted according to the situation, and can even be executed completely according to the personal characteristics of the general. However, the strategy had to compromise on too many things, for example, before completing the siege of Xiangyang, Boyan had no idea that he would have to mobilize 100,000 troops to achieve his goal. Initially, he thought it would take up to 50,000 people.

After mobilizing 100,000 men, Boyan found that his original plan to teach Zhao Jiaren a hard lesson on the Haizhou side had failed, and the Mongols could not come up with enough troops to launch an attack on Haizhou. From another point of view, Zhao Jiaren has been operating comfortably in Haizhou for three years, and he can continue to operate so comfortably. The correct strategic choice must be based on reason, that is, it is so unreasonable. Even if Boyan is full of malice, Zhao Jiaren can get the goal that Boyan's greatest kindness can't achieve.

Of course, Boyan is not such a small-bellied person. Zhao Jiaren was crazy in Haizhou, while 100,000 Mongol troops besieged Xiangyang, and a lot of grain was consumed every day. This was also a key point that had a huge impact on strategy, and Boyan was eager to calculate the best entry point to launch the most effective southward offensive when the Song army was consumed to the greatest extent. But he couldn't, and his men seemed even more unable to do it.

Maybe it was because he was too preoccupied, and Boyan didn't notice that some of the generals had some emotions of their own in the depths of their eyes.

About a month later, Hao Jing, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, received a letter. After reading the letter, Hao Jing invited Lian Xixian and others to his house. These people include Han people from the north and people from the Western Regions, and they are quite different just by looking at their appearance. But politically, they all advocate recuperation, and they are all princelings. The Great Khan Kublai Khan was not the object of their education, so these people believed that the prince Zhenjin, who had a deep interest in Confucianism, was the object of firm support.

After listening to Hao Jing's introduction, Lian Xixian frowned, "A battle that can be fought in a year, but it takes 100,000 troops to last outside for several years?" Does Boyan think that the treasury is very rich? ”

"It's an army of 130,000." Monk Zicong, who was present at the meeting, corrected the numbers. Mongolia does not like to falsely report its troops, 100,000 troops are 100,000, and 130,000 is 130,000.

Lian Xixian unconsciously bit his lip, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Even if it is one of the five troops, how can the treasury stand it if so many troops are outside for a long time. Not to mention that since he did business with Zhao Jiaren, the treasury has been losing money. ”

"Not to mention the cost of buying artillery." Hao Jing said in a heavy tone.

Monk Zicong took over again, "We don't buy artillery anymore. The Great Khan also felt that the consumption of artillery was too great, not to mention that it was extremely difficult to cast cannons, and it was also difficult to make gunpowder. The return cannon recommended by Boyan to the Great Khan was much better than the artillery. Now our artillery is used on military ships, and all the artillery used in the siege of the city is returned. ”

"Oh?!" Hao Jing and Lian Xixian responded almost at the same time.

Hao Jing was happy, and Lian Xixian was relieved. They didn't know much about the artillery itself, and it was the huge cost that appealed to them. Knowing that this hole had finally been plugged, both of them were sincerely happy.

Monk Zicong didn't have a happy expression, "But I want to tell the two of you that I think the Great Khan is determined to destroy the Song this time." Now that you have decided to do so, you will probably only upset the Great Khan if you say anything. ”

Hao Jing said without hesitation: "Since you want to destroy the Song Dynasty, you can directly occupy Jiangbei first and wait for the Song Dynasty to have internal turmoil." ”

Monk Zicong said with a smile: "Occupying Jiangbei, Song Guo is only afraid that he will keep fighting." At that time, on the contrary, we were restless every day, and since we were ready to do it, we had to kill it with one blow. Procrastination is not good. ”

Lian Xixian was not convinced, so he debated with Zicong. As a result, after talking about it for a while, he found that Monk Zicong was reasonable, and he couldn't refute it. At the moment of pause, Monk Zicong waved his hand and said, "Xixian, you know that I don't know how to march and fight. If you can't even argue with me, how can you convince the Great Khan. I advise you to be prepared before advising on this matter. ”

was commented on like this, Lian Xixian blushed and wanted to refute it with all his might. However, Hao Jing interjected, "It's better to do this, let's start with Zhao Jiaren's matter first." If the Great Khan really felt something, then he would further tell about Xiangyang. ”

Although Lian Xixian ridiculed his quilt Zicong monk, he also felt that what Hao Jing said made sense. In the end, I had to agree to such a step.

When he went to court the next day, Lian Xixian took the lead in bringing up the time of the Mongolian court's deficit to Zhao Jiaren. To Lian Xixian's surprise, Mongolian nobles also said that Zhao Jiaren's asking price was too expensive, hoping to reverse the situation.

Ahmat of the financial management faction also rarely expressed his support for Lian Xixian on this matter, "Great Khan, what Pingzhang said is very true. I don't think we can afford it. That Zhao Jiaren farmed in Haizhou and had a population of many acres. I think we might as well send troops to Haizhou, arrest his population, and force Zhao Jiaren to take money to ransom people. If we are willing to redeem people, of course we will earn back all the money we have spent before. If he refuses to redeem him, we will also take possession of his land north of Haizhou. It's a benefit for us. ”

Lian Xixian was shocked when he heard this, he originally hoped to oppose the war. Unexpectedly, his proposal led to a war in Haizhou. However, at this time, it was no longer possible for Lian Xixian to say anything, and the ministers in the Mongolian court agreed one after another. Even the Great Khan Kublai Khan nodded his head again and again.

Look at the situation is irreversible. Lian Xixian sighed and decided not to talk nonsense anymore. However, thinking of Zhao Jiaren's treachery and the easy to attack situation in Haizhou, Lian Xixian felt that he should be able to make a fortune on this battlefield, and it could be regarded as a small supplement to the finances of the Mongolian court.