I don’t know how long I ran out, but it was almost dusk. The water was rippling in front of me, and a big river blocked the way. It turned out that I had already reached the Huaihe River.
"Go find the boat!"
Li Quan directed his soldiers to look for ships everywhere. They ran along the coast for several miles, but no ship was found.
Li Quan was anxious and angry. Yang Miaozhen pointed behind him and said tremblingly:
"Official...person, Song...junior!"
The wilderness on the south bank of the Huai River was densely packed with Song troops coming from all directions, with endless banners and an unknown number of people.
"Song Army's warship!"
Liu Quan then screamed.
Li Quan raised his eyes and saw Song Army warships coming from the east and west directions on the Huai River. The Song soldiers on board were loading ammunition and were busy.
"Peng! Peng! Peng!"
Li Quan was in a trance. The warships on the river suddenly fired their cannons. A burst of gunpowder smoke filled the air. The shells came stumbling and flew into the edge of the Mongolian army. Immediately there was a burst of earth-shaking screams.
"southwest!"
Yang Miaozhen shouted decisively, grabbed the reins of Li Quan's horse and urged the horse to go west.
"Want to escape!"
On the warship in Huai River, when he saw Li Yue fleeing to the southwest, Meng Gong put down his telescope and said coldly.
"fire!"
Although the south bank of the Huai River is flat, it is full of potholes and swamps. Fleeing to the southwest, the war horses couldn't run at all.
"Puffy!"
The Huaihe River was filled with smoke, the sound of artillery was heard one after another, and countless solid iron balls were fired straight at the Mongolian troops who were escaping in a hurry. Those Mongolian soldiers who had no time to escape, especially the Mongolian infantry, were smashed and staggered, which deepened the panic of those who fled.
The Song army's artillery fire continued, and the Mongolian army risked their lives and fled south of the Huaihe River. Horses kept screaming and falling, and the Mongolian army kept falling into the swamp, struggling desperately and shouting for help. The wasteland was a messy scene.
Under the artillery fire of the Song Army, they had to avoid the swamp on the ground. Unknowingly, Li Quan, Yang Miaozhen and others were separated. His horse ran too fast and fell to the ground. The horse immediately sank downwards, and the mud reached the horse's neck in an instant.
"Official!"
"Enfu!"
"General!"
Yang Miaozhen and others reined in their horses, dismounted and ran to the swamp. They handed over their spears to pull out Li Quan, whose legs were stuck in the mud.
"Entang, the Song army is catching up!"
General Li Jun shouted in horror.
"Continue to Salvation Mansion! Fight!"
Yang Miaozhen looked at Li Quan who was struggling desperately, turned around and mounted his horse, gathered the remaining people, and rushed towards the Song army on the opposite side.
After falling in love and fighting with the Song army for so many years, surrendering would mean death, and not surrendering would mean death. It would be better to charge and kill for a while, giving Li Quan a chance to escape.
Yang Miaozhen was surrounded by fierce soldiers and generals who had experienced hundreds of battles. At this point, they had no way out but a final blow.
Seeing the Song army spread over the mountains and fields, dozens of small cannons had been set up, Li Quan, who had just climbed up, had painful eyes and cried out.
"Fourth mother-in-law!"
The thunderous sound of artillery sounded, and Yang Miaozhen and other cavalrymen fell down one after another as they galloped forward, and the cavalry formation became much sparser in an instant. The sound of artillery continued, and the number of Yang Miaozhen's troops became smaller and smaller. As the Song Army's infantry rushed up, Yang Miaozhen's troops disappeared in the crazy assassination of the Song Army.
"Enfu, take the Major General away quickly!"
Li Quan was pushed onto his horse, surrounded by dozens of horsemen. He panicked and fled westward. He ran for dozens of miles and was no longer pursued by Song soldiers. The mountain peaks protrude in front of you, and it is adjacent to the vast Huaihe River in the north. At the foot of the north mountain, a wide mountain road leads forward.
"Nanshan!"
Li Quan felt a little more excited and rode forward.
Nanshan, the most famous mountain in Huainan, faces the thousands-mile long Huaihe River and is backed by nine beautiful peaks. Because of its elegant environment, it has been a gathering place for literati, scholars, and government officials throughout the ages.
When we get here, we should be able to escape.
"Puffy!"
There was a thrilling sound of artillery, raindrops of thunder struck down, and a mass of blood and flesh flew everywhere.
Immediately afterwards, groups of Song Army knights ran down the mountain road and rushed into Li's entire remaining formation. They fired crossbows and arrows and killed them mercilessly.
Li Quan was lying on the ground with blood dripping from his legs. When he saw the knights of the Song army surrounding him, all of them were murderous and their eyes were fierce, Li Quan struggled back and shouted loudly.
"Don't kill me! I am Li Quan, take me to see Emperor Song!"
"You are worthy of meeting me, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty!"
The knight on the horse sneered and jumped down, holding a spear and looking ferociously.
"Remember me when I get to the Lord of Hell. My name is Zhao Bisheng, and I am the commander of the Zaoyang Army of the Jinghu Border Army!"
"Don't! Don't! Don't..."
Zhao Bisheng stabbed Li Quan with his spear several times in succession. Before Li Quan could finish his words, blood dripped from his chest and throat.
Zhao Bisheng drew his sword and stepped forward, cut off Li Quan's head, mounted his horse and raised it high.
"Brothers, share His Majesty's reward! But no one can snatch the "soldier soul" from me!"
The Song Army cavalry were in high spirits, raising their swords and guns and cheering for joy.
"General, there is a child who was knocked unconscious by the explosion. It's nothing serious."
"It should be Li Quan's son. Take him back and ask for credit from His Majesty!"
The bodies were buried, the troops cheered and left, the mountains were silent, and the Huai River still flowed eastward, as if nothing had happened.
In the Jinling Martial Arts Hall and the Imperial Study Room, the news came that all Li had been defeated. Zhao Hong sighed, without any joy on his face.
It is hard to say whether the Zhongyi Army was domineering or because the national policy of the Song Dynasty was vacillating. In short, such a wonderful flower born in troubled times ended its life like this.
"Your Majesty, Yang Miaozhen and Li have all been killed. One hundred thousand Mongolian troops have been wiped out. Chuzhou has returned to the rule of the Song Dynasty, and the Huaidong frontier is peaceful."
Wei Liaoweng reported softly and put the memorial on the table.
For the Song Dynasty court, the elimination of Li Quan was good news. There were three fronts in the Song Dynasty: Northwest, Jinghu, and Huaidong. At least Huaidong was slightly safer. But it seemed that the emperor was not very excited.
"Fighting and killing all consume the Han people's own vitality. It shouldn't be like this."
Zhao Hong shook his head, picked up the memorial and looked at it, frowning and saying nothing.
Yang Miaozhen, the long-legged beauty, also passed away.
"Your Majesty, Li Quan's only son Li Fen is still alive. How should we deal with it? There are still more than 30,000 loyal and rebel prisoners. How should we deal with it? Your Majesty, please make it clear."
Wei Liaoweng didn't know the emperor's boredom, so he played carefully.
In the Battle of Huaidong, Li Quan was almost captured. There were more than 30,000 prisoners alone, and they were imprisoned in Yangzhou, Chuzhou and other places. It was overcrowded for a while. The Song army had strict military discipline and never killed prisoners, but how to deal with them still needed to be decided by the court.
"Mr. Wei, what do you think?"
Xuanzhen was already old, and Wei Liaoweng had taken over most of the government affairs of the Ministry of War. Soon, Wei Shilang will become Wei Shangshu.
"Your Majesty, Li Fen is the only son of Li Quan. He must eradicate the root cause and leave no further trouble. Among the captives of the Zhongyi Army, there are nearly a thousand generals above the captain level. We must not let them bite each other, remove the culprits, and then kill them. Incorporate into the army and serve the country. Our army and the Tatars may attack at any time, and it is a good strategy to capture and replace them."
Through screening, the most heinous criminals were removed, and the remaining soldiers were incorporated into the army to strengthen the strength of the border army, which was just right to deal with the Mongol army moving south.
"What kind of trouble can a ten-year-old child make? Let him go to school and live a good life. As for the prisoners of the Zhongyi Army..."
Zhao Hong thought for a moment and then said:
"Bite each other and get rid of the culprits. This strategy is feasible. We must also catch all the middle and low-level generals. Incorporate their prisoners into the army and forget about it. Our Song Dynasty border troops are all from good families. Joining these captives will make people The soldiers are uneasy and the morale of the soldiers is unstable. Soldiers have their pride. Not just anyone can become a soldier of our Song Dynasty."
The current Song army is implementing a policy of elite troops. If it were not for the ferocity of the Mongolian army, the number of border troops would not have increased significantly. Even so, the newly recruited officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty's border army were all innocent Song Dynasty people. The evil phenomena of "thieves and armies", including "redundant armies", have basically disappeared from the Song Dynasty's border army.
"Your Majesty, after screening, what should be done with the prisoners?"
Wei Liaoweng's face turned red and he was secretly frightened. Zhao Hong's words decided the fate of nearly a thousand middle and low-level generals in the Zhongyi Army.
Most of the generals of the loyal army are extremely vicious people, their hands are stained with the blood of the common people, and they cannot eliminate the anger of the common people. The emperor was decisive in killing and was indeed ruthless.
"I once said that even a piece of paper to wipe your butt has its value. With more than 30,000 people, there are many things that can be done. Our army is colonizing Africa, and there must be a shortage of immigrants. Let's break them up and transport them to Africa. "
Africa, what is it like?
When the steamship succeeds, he must take the ship south and west to travel around the world.
"Your Majesty is wise and I obey your orders!"
Wei Liaoweng accepted the order and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty may not know something. Since the promulgation of the Immigration Act, the wealthy families in Lin'an, Jinling and the Jiangnan coast have been comparing themselves to each other and are proud of having overseas estates. Borneo, Australia, Ceylon, and even Africa are now full of our Song Dynasty The property of a merchant. Just like the eldest son of the minister, because of trade with Nanyang, he now has a manor in Longmen, with tens of thousands of acres of land, thousands of trees alone, and hundreds of slaves to take care of the manor and plant crops. Rice, fruits and vegetables are incredible!”
Longmen would be Singapore in later generations. Wei Liaoweng's eldest son Wei Jinsi and Zhao Hong's father-in-law ran a shipping company together, focusing on overseas trade. Unexpectedly, a few years later, there were already estates overseas.
"Your Majesty, in fact, not only the wealthy families, but also many middle-class people in our Song Dynasty have hundreds of acres of land overseas and have become extremely wealthy families. If they stayed in the Song Dynasty, it would be difficult for them to have such an opportunity. The prisoners of the Loyalty Army went overseas, and after a few years, they may not want to come back."
Wei Liaoweng continued. The navy of the Song Dynasty expanded overseas and enriched a large number of people of the Song Dynasty.
"Right. Very good. Are the local indigenous people easy to get along with?"
The biggest benefit of overseas colonization was that it solved the problem of overpopulation in China, and at the same time, it also allowed the middle class of the Song Dynasty to begin to seek wealth overseas, instead of being involved in the internal affairs of the Song Dynasty.
Just like Wei Jinsi, the son of Wei Liaoweng, there are tens of thousands of acres of land overseas, with two to three crops a year. The increase in wealth is self-evident, and there is no need to bother in the Song Dynasty.
"Since the official army of the Song Dynasty came in, they built water conservancy projects, reclaimed land, repaired roads and houses, built schools, rescued the dying, and so on. Those indigenous people could eat well and cure diseases before it was too late to be happy. They were very easy to get along with. Compared with those under the rule of slave masters. It’s better, but it’s much stronger! Of course, there are some natives who don’t accept Wang Hua, so they have no choice but to attack him.”
Wei Liaoweng's words made Zhao Hong smile.
During the Song Dynasty's overseas colonization, the interests of overseas slave owners were harmed and they would definitely seek revenge. The navy officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty could only use force to clear the way, appease the ordinary people, and impart Confucian education.
With the combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty Navy, who can compete with those small overseas tribes?
"Wei Gong, you are the Minister of the Ministry of War. If you have time, please come with me to Nanyang, visit overseas, pick up some foreign girls, and enjoy the exotic customs."
Zhao Hong laughed, not ashamed.
His father-in-law, Zhou Jiacheng, has a manor in Borneo and Australia. He is as wealthy as anyone in the country and is expected to have many beauties. Australia's gold, copper, iron ore, etc., Zhou Jiacheng's shipbuilding industry played an important role.
I hope his father-in-law’s family can get over Zhou An’s murder as soon as possible.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to go overseas with your Majesty to experience it, but now that the strong wind is about to rise, it is better to get through the difficulty of the Tatar army heading south before us."
The Song Dynasty "expelled" the Mongolian envoys and destroyed the Mongolian Li Quan. In addition, the Song army rescued Xia a few years ago and captured Hexi from the Mongolian army. If there is no revenge, where will Mongolia's face be?
"The Mongol Empire is my greatest thorn in the side!"
Zhao Hong leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
If, as in history, Torre leads the Mongolian army south to forcefully borrow the passage, he must be given a thunderous blow to severely weaken the Mongol army and reverse the offensive and defensive momentum between the Song Dynasty and the Mongol Empire.
As for now, we must first go to Chuzhou and then to Hanzhong to prepare for the future war.
