Heda knew Zhao Tai's identity and didn't reveal it. He pretended to be happy and said, "That's great!"
The two of them went to Heda's study. Zhao Tai wrote a letter, stamped it with his seal, and handed it to Heda.
Heda took it and looked at it with a strange expression on his face. He was amazed, "Guorui, your handwriting is very unique. I'm afraid it will be difficult for others to imitate your notes!"
It took only a few years for calligraphy skills to be good, so it was difficult for Zhao Tai to practice it secretly. He himself felt that it was pretty good, but for someone who often writes with a calligraphy brush, it would be a bit unbearable to look at it.
Zhao Tai was quite embarrassed, "Marshal, if you send this letter, Chuzhou should be sending arms, food and fodder soon!"
Now that Mongolia is about to attack the Song Dynasty, Zhao Tai needs Heda to contain the Jin army, so he wrote this letter.
Furthermore, if he was the only one who took Song Yuan and did not give anything to the Jin Dynasty court and the Jurchen generals, they would definitely fall out.
Therefore, Zhao Tai can only give them some and hope that they can maintain a tacit understanding with him.
In this way, the Kingdom of Jin can receive a batch of assistance, and he can also develop his strength.
Heda collected the letter and sent it away.
Zhao Tai immediately said: "Marshal, do you have any other orders?"
Heda said: "If the Mongolian army goes south to attack the Song Dynasty this time, I will send troops to attack Shandong and contain the Mongols from going south. You are the deputy envoy of Xuanfu on the East and West Road of Shandong. I hope you can accompany the army when the time comes!"
Zhao Tai obtained a garrison of 3,000 people in Suining, recruited another 2,000 new soldiers, and had 5,000 men and horses, which seemed to be a lot, but he knew that his army did not have combat strength at the moment.
According to Wu Xian, his troops did not know formations and had no command system. They were at the level of rogue bandits.
But since Heda mentioned it, Zhao Tai didn't want to refuse.
If Mongolia goes south, Shandong will definitely be empty, which is an opportunity for Zhao Tai to train his troops, so he nodded, "I understand this humble position!"
Heda immediately waved his hand, "Then go back and prepare."
Zhao Tai immediately saluted and exited the study.
He went to see Ci Wuxian, had a meal with several Han military leaders the next day, promised to bring them a batch of military figures, and then hurriedly left Xuzhou and returned to Suining.
~~~~~~
In Chuzhou City, the Lianghuai system was set up in the yamen, and people came in and out.
At this time, in the public room, Zhao Fan was handling official business. An official came in hurriedly and put a letter on the table, "Ms. sir, this is a letter from the Kingdom of Jin!"
Zhao Fan heard the words, took the letter, opened it and read it, and couldn't help but frown.
Since the end of May, Zhao Fan has received warnings from various channels that the Mongolian army in Shandong may move south.
Today he received another letter from Zhao Tai, reminding him again of the Mongolian army's movements, asking him to be prepared, and urging him to request ordnance assistance.
After reading Zhao Tai's letter, Zhao Fan couldn't help but stand up, walked to the hanging map, stared at it for a long time, and said in a deep voice: "Send the order to the armies along the river to strengthen their vigilance, and allocate a batch of arms, money, and food to send to the Kingdom of Jin. .”
"Yes!" The visitor saluted, "I'll take care of it now."
Zhao Fan stared at the map, narrowed his eyes and said: "Li Fen is no better than a defeated general. If you dare to violate the situation, I will make sure you never come back."
~~~~~~
Pi County.
The Mongolian troops who came from all over Shandong gathered here. Outside the dilapidated Pi County city, they were surrounded by the Mongolian troops' camps.
At this time, 70,000 Mongolian troops gathered inside and outside Pi County. Not only were the troops stationed inside the city, there were also military tents outside the city that looked like tombs.
Li Fen led a group of Han generals, wearing armor, standing in the northern suburbs of Pi County, wiping sweat and looking into the distance from time to time.
"Marshal, the prince is here!" someone said pointing in the distance.
Li Fen looked into the distance and saw a group of people coming up the official road, escorting a carriage.
The wound on Kuaduan's butt was not healed yet and he could not ride a horse, so he came to Pi County under the escort of Su Wei after the Mongolian cavalry arrived.
Not long after, the carriage arrived in front of everyone, and Li Fen immediately saluted, "Welcome the prince!"
Kuo Duan raised the car curtain and glanced at everyone, "I'm talking about it in the city."
In Pi County City, in a relatively complete house, senior generals from the Mongolian and Han armies gathered together.
The weather is hot, and all Mongolians have taken off their hats, revealing their Mediterranean-style hairstyles and a few pigtails.
Kuo Duan sat in the middle hall with a rather weird posture. He glanced at the many generals and his eyes fell on Li Fen. "Li Fen, how are you preparing?"
Li Fen then clasped his fists and said, "Report to the prince, the general is ready."
Kuo Duan nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "The army of the Southern Song Dynasty is vulnerable. As long as we cross the Huaihe River, victory will belong to us."
Li Fen was a little worried, "Your Majesty, the Huaihe River is wide, and the navy of the Southern Song Dynasty is quite sharp. What if we can't retreat after we cross the river?"
The Mongolian cavalry was powerful, but it was difficult to cross the Huaihe River.
The land south of the Yangtze River is densely covered with rivers, which is not conducive to Mongolia's invasion.
The defense map they obtained in advance allowed them to reach the south bank of the Huaihe River before the Southern Song Dynasty could react. However, they only had 70,000 people and could not really defeat the Song Dynasty.
If the Song army came to their senses, used water to cut off their retreat, and at the same time mobilized various armies to encircle and suppress them, they might be trapped in Huang Tiandang like the Jin army back then.
This is what Li Fen is more worried about.
Kuo Duan smiled and said: "You don't have to worry about this. Our purpose in this war is not to destroy the Song Dynasty, but to force the Southern Song Dynasty to terminate its alliance with the Jin Kingdom. Given the weakness of the Southern Song Dynasty, as long as our army crosses the river and our troops point directly at Yangzhou, we will threaten In Lin'an, the Southern Song Dynasty will be unable to bear the pressure and negotiate peace with me. At that time, I, the king, can give the Southern Song Dynasty a hard blow and ask them to send us a boat across the river."
Kuoduan maintained contact with Shi Miyuan, who told him that as long as the Mongolian army crossed the Huaihe River and reached the Yangtze River, he could mobilize the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty to impeach Zheng Qingzhi, force Zheng Qing to step down, and then negotiate peace with Mongolia.
After hearing Kuo Duan's words, Li Fen reluctantly felt relieved.
The Southern Song Dynasty court had always been weak. Kuo Duan and Li Fen had told him about Shi Miyuan. If Shi Miyuan stirred up trouble from within, the Emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty would probably choose to negotiate peace out of fear.
Kuo Duan continued: "Now that the army is ready, we will move out immediately. One group will pretend to attack Chuzhou to attract the attention of the Song army. The main force will go to Lianshui and cross the river from the lower reaches. After crossing the river, Li Fen will lead the troops to outflank Chu. Zhou, surround Zhao Fan for me, and I will lead the cavalry to quickly go south and attack Yangzhou. I will force the Southern Song Dynasty to surrender within a month!"
The main force of the Southern Song Dynasty was defended along the Huai River, especially heavy troops were stationed in Chuzhou to guard this transportation hub.
If Mongolia wanted to destroy the Song Dynasty, they had to capture Chuzhou to obtain weapons, food and logistical supplies before they could go south along the Grand Canal. However, Kuoduan's goal was not to destroy the Song Dynasty, but to create momentum to put pressure on the Southern Song Dynasty. There was no need to attack Chuzhou, and he only needed to surround it. That’s it.
After hearing the order, Li Fen and others immediately stood up and saluted with fists clasped, "Yes!"
Not long after, the 70,000 Mongolian troops in Pi County marched south along the canal.
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