At the end of October, the Yellow River froze, and the war between Meng and Jin began again.
Based on past experience and limited by the Ice Age of the Yellow River, most people believed that the pace of the battle should be very fast.
In order to destroy the Jin Dynasty, the Mongols must launch a fierce offensive, aiming to achieve decisive results before the Yellow River thaws.
However, as soon as the war began, it deviated from the judgment of most people, and everything was strange.
In Suining County, Zhao Tai sent 6,000 reinforcements to support Xuzhou, and then he was busy strengthening the defense of Suining and paying attention to the development of the war situation.
Soon, Zhao Tai received information from Xuzhou. Kuo Duan led an army of 50,000 people, crossed the river on the ice, and arrived at Xuzhou City.
Just when everyone thought that the Mongolian army would storm Xuzhou, Kuanduan and his troops were stationed in the northern suburbs of Xuzhou without any action.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Tai received information from Kaifeng. After the Yellow River in Kaifeng froze, the main force of the Mongolian army stationed in Weizhou did not move.
On the first day of November, Suining County, the residence of the Jiedu Envoy of the Zhongyi Army.
Winter is originally a beautiful time after the autumn harvest, when people recuperate, enjoy the fruits of the year, and prepare for the New Year.
But for the people in the Central Plains, winter brings them suffering and uneasiness.
In the past, when the Jin Kingdom's field elites were still there, the Mongolian cavalry did not dare to go deep into the hinterland of Henan, but after the battle at Sanfeng Mountain, the Mongolian cavalry no longer had any worries.
At this time, because the Mongolian cavalry had crossed the river, the people in various states and counties in the Central Plains were worried about being looted and massacred by the Mongolian cavalry, so they hid in the county with their families.
Zhao Tai had already made arrangements for this, but tens of thousands of people poured into the small county town at once. It could be said that it was overcrowded, and even the Jiedushi's residence was packed with people.
At this time in the festival hall, Zhao Tai looked at the intelligence and frowned slightly, "The Mongolian Army's East Route Army stationed troops under Xuzhou City, neither attacking the city nor attacking other places! The main force of the Mongolian Army in Weizhou is even more strange. It has not yet been Move! This is weird!" Zhao Tai looked at the map, frowning and thinking.
Wang Wentong said: "It is indeed strange. Logically speaking, Mongolia should take advantage of the fact that the Jin Kingdom suffered heavy losses in Sanfeng Mountain and has not yet recovered its strength, seize this winter, and deal a fatal blow to the Jin Kingdom. Otherwise, wait until next winter, and the Jin Kingdom will recover after a year. , then it will be even harder to fight.”
Zhao Tai smoothed his short beard and nodded: "Sir, you are right! The Mongols will never watch the Jin Kingdom regain its strength. They must have some conspiracy!"
Wang Wentong said: "Now the two Mongolian armies have not attacked the city. If time continues like this, this winter will be over."
Zhao Tai looked at the map and pondered: "The Mongols shouldn't miss this winter, but they won't launch an attack. Even if they launch an attack now, it will probably be too late to break through Kaifeng. Could it be that their goal is not Kaifeng and Xuzhou?" ?”
Having said this, Zhao Tai suddenly looked solemn, strode in front of the map, pointed at it, and then suddenly changed his expression, "Not good!"
Wang Wentong was surprised and said: "What did Mr. Xian discover?"
Zhao Tai pointed at the map with a solemn expression, "Now the Jin army has placed all its troops in Xuzhou and Kaifeng because of the Mongolian armies on the east and north routes. Now the Mongols want to attack the two cities. First, the Jin army is heavily defended and difficult to break. Secondly, there is no time. If I were Wokuotai, I would definitely not attack these two cities!"
Wang Wentong nodded slightly, "What is the goal of the Mongols?"
Zhao Tai looked at the map and pointed at Zhengzhou, "It should be here. Wo Kuotai will definitely take advantage of the main force of the Jin army to gather in Kaifeng to capture the weakly defended Zhengzhou. They will capture this city and block the Kaifeng Jin army. Then march westward to capture Luoyang, capture Tongguan together with the Mongolian army on the west route, and open the passage into the Central Plains."
Wang Wentong was shocked and his expression changed drastically. Now the Jin Kingdom's troops are mainly concentrated in Kaifeng. There is no problem for Luoyang's troops in the west to block the Mongolian army on the west route outside Tongguan. But if Wo Kuotai's army on the north route does not attack Kaifeng, But if they attack Luoyang, the situation will not be good.
"If Tongguan and Luoyang are captured by the Mongolian army, the Mongolian army will not have to cross the Yellow River to return north before it thaws, and the Kingdom of Jin will be in danger!" Wang Wentong said anxiously: "Ms., we must remind the Kingdom of Jin!"
Over the past year, Zhao Tai's power has developed rapidly, but the time is still short after all, and it has not really grown.
If the Jin Kingdom is destroyed so quickly, then Zhao Tai will have to face Mongolia directly, and the situation will be extremely unfavorable to the Zhongyi Army.
Therefore, Wang Wentong looked anxious, worried that the Jin Kingdom would not last long.
Zhao Tai shook his head and said solemnly: "It's too late. Wo Kuotai stationed in Weizhou and made a gesture of attacking Kaifeng, which caused the Jin Kingdom to gather heavy troops in Kaifeng. If the Yellow River had not frozen, the Jin Kingdom could still mobilize troops and horses. Rearrange defenses. Now that the Yellow River has frozen, the Mongolian cavalry can cross the river at any time. If the Jin Dynasty mobilizes troops and horses again, they will be attacked by the Mongolian cavalry when they leave the city. With the Jin army's current field combat capabilities, they can only stay in the city to protect themselves. To leave the city is to die.”
The two of them were discussing the situation in the festival hall, when a rush of footsteps came from outside the hall.
Zhao Tai's troops entered San Yu into the festival hall and reported urgently, "My lord, please open this urgent letter."
Zhao Tai and Wang Wentong looked at each other, then took the letter and read it, their faces suddenly darkened.
Wang Wentong asked: "Sir, what did the letter say?"
Zhao Tai gave him the letter and said in a deep voice: "As expected, Wo Kuotai did not attack Kaifeng. Instead, he divided his troops into two groups, attacking Zhengzhou all the way and attacking Hulao Pass. The Zhengzhou defenders did not have enough troops to be defeated. The Mongolian general Guo Dehai captured it. The Mongolian forward who attacked Hulao Pass was repelled by Chen Monk and his hundred cavalry."
After Monk Chen realized that the Mongolian army's target might be Luoyang, he hurriedly led a hundred Zhongxiao troops to Hulao Pass.
As soon as he ordered the garrison in the pass to strengthen their defense, Subotai led more than 10,000 cavalry to the pass.
Seeing this, Monk Chen deliberately showed weakness and placed only a small number of troops and horses on the city. This made Subutai think that there were not many defenders at Hulao Pass, so he dismounted and rushed to build siege equipment.
At this time, Monk Chen suddenly ordered his subordinates to open the door and rush out of Guancheng with the legendary iron pagoda, killing the Mongolian army by surprise.
Subotai had no time to fight, and the Mongols were smashed to pieces by Tiefutu. The Jin army's infantry followed Tiefutu and went forward to harvest, while Queen Subutai Cang withdrew.
After Wang Wentong read the letter, he praised: "Monk Chen is indeed a famous general of the Jin Kingdom, and he actually defeated Subotai."
Zhao Tai said with a stern face, "Subotai are all light cavalry. Monk Chen took advantage of his unpreparedness and launched a surprise attack. Although he repelled Subotai, it was impossible to cause much damage to him. I think we will wait for Wokuotai's troops to join forces." , the Mongols will be able to regroup and attack Hulao Pass again, and the situation will not change!"
Wang Wentong frowned and nodded, and then asked: "My lord, the Privy Council asked us to reinforce Luoyang, what should we do?"
