Zhao Tai felt that the Mongolian army had gained a strategic advantage on the Western Front. Infantrymen like him had weak field combat capabilities. If they traveled thousands of miles to get there, they would undoubtedly be giving away their lives and could not change the situation of the war.
Therefore, he set his sights on the Mongolian army outside Xuzhou City.
Last time Kuo Duan led 50,000 Mongolian troops to attack the Southern Song Dynasty and suffered a disastrous defeat in Huainan. This time Kuo Duan led 50,000 Mongolian troops to Xuzhou and only had more than 10,000 Mongolian cavalry. Zhao Tai thought he could give it a try.
Anyway, there is no best choice now. There is nothing wrong with playing a dozen weaker but easier wide ends.
After all, Song Jun has played wide end, and he has also participated in it, so he has certain experience.
Now the strength arrangements of the Mongolian and Jin armies are exactly reversed.
The main force of the Mongolian army is on the western front, and the main force of the Jin army is on the eastern front.
Zhao Tai and Heda had different demands. Heda wanted to rescue the Western Front in order to protect the Guanhe defense line and the Jin Kingdom. However, Zhao Tai and the Southern Song Dynasty only wanted to use the Jin Kingdom to hold Mongolia back, and they were already prepared for the Jin Kingdom's demise. Prepare.
In Zhao Tai's view, after Wokuotai opened Tongguan, the Mongolian army on the west route and the Mongolian army on the middle route joined forces under Luoyang City, with at least more than 100,000 Mongolian troops.
In this case, the defeat of the west side is certain.
Since there is no ability to change the situation on the Western Front, it is better to eliminate the broad end of the Eastern Front.
This was not only to accumulate field experience for the Zhongyi Army, but also to prepare for his capture of Shandong and the demise of the Jin Kingdom.
Zhao Tai pointed at the map and talked about his plan, "Kuao Duan only has 50,000 people, and he only has 10,000 cavalry. His strength is not sufficient. If the general can lead Xuzhou's troops, he can contain Kuo Duan's infantry." Army, our Zhongyi Army, Southern Song reinforcements, Wuxian's Wuwei Army, and Kaifeng's reinforcements will march towards Xuzhou at the same time, and we will definitely be able to annihilate Kuaduan."
Seeing that Zhao Tai was beaten to death, Heda was unwilling to rescue Luoyang. Instead, he proposed a plan to annihilate Kuo Duan, so he could only settle for the next best thing.
After all, after the fall of Luoyang, Kaifeng will be directly exposed to the front of the Mongolian army. If the broad end of the eastern front can be solved, the Jin army will have one less threat from one direction.
Heda was speechless for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Although Kuoduan only has 50,000 men, his army's field combat capabilities are stronger than ours. If Kuoduan finds out that an army has left the city and is coming to Xuzhou, he will definitely send troops and horses to raid. What should we do?" "
Zhao Tai said in a deep voice: "Kuao Duan only has an army of 10,000 horses. No matter which group of people he attacks, the people and horses on the attacked group will immediately form formation on the spot, while the other groups will continue to advance."
Heda understood what Zhao Tai meant, which was to take advantage of Kuoduan's lack of troops. Kuoduan would attack one area and then stop there, while the other groups would advance quickly to encircle Kuoduan.
"The only way to resist the attack is to wait until all the troops arrive." Heda pondered: "But, can the attacked troops withstand Kuo Duan's attack? What if they are defeated by him one by one? What? Will it be a bit risky?"
Zhao Tai smiled and said: "This plan will definitely have risks. If Kuo Duan can't see the hope of victory, he will not give us the chance to annihilate him. This decisive battle will not be fought. Now it depends on the marshal and the court , Do you dare to take this risk?”
Heda fell silent after listening to Zhao Tai's words. Zhao Tai's plan did have great risks, but Mongolia's victory in the west was a foregone conclusion. Since the Jin Kingdom could not reverse the situation on the western front, if it could not win a victory on the eastern front, After a great victory, when the Mongols capture Luoyang, the Jin Kingdom will be destroyed.
"Okay! I agree with this plan." Heda gritted his teeth and made a difficult decision.
Zhao Tai looked at him and said solemnly: "Okay, let's split up. I will go to the Southern Song Dynasty to ask for help, and Marshal you will be responsible for persuading the court to send out all the cavalry in Bianjing City and rush to Xiayi County, Guide Prefecture. , and then agree on a time to march into Xuzhou together. In this battle, we must all exert our best efforts and all our elites come out together, only then can we possibly eliminate Kuo Duan."
Heda originally wanted to persuade Zhao Tai to send troops to rescue Luoyang, but Zhao Taiyi persuaded him and decided to eliminate Kuo Duan instead.
After discussing with Zhao Tai, he immediately set off for Kaifeng.
At this time, several reinforcements sent by Kaifeng City to the west were defeated by the Mongols. Almost all the troops who went west ended up being annihilated.
This made the garrison in Kaifeng City determined to rescue Luoyang. None of the armies dared to leave the city and head west to support Luoyang.
After Heda arrived in Bianjing, he discussed countermeasures with Wanyan Shouxu and Yila Pu'a. Seeing that they could not save Luoyang, the two had no choice but to agree to Zhao Tai's plan.
When Heda went to Kaifeng, Zhao Tai also arrived in Chuzhou and asked Qiu Yue, the new envoy of the Lianghuai system, for help, hoping to borrow thousands of troops, but Qiu Yue refused.
Zhao Tai could only go to Huaixi Zhizhi Envoy Quan Zicai and promised to give some of the captured horses to the Huaixi army after the war, in exchange for 2,000 men and horses.
However, although there are only two thousand people, there are one thousand cavalry and one thousand heavy infantry.
November 28th.
Zhao Tai returned to Suining with two thousand borrowed Huaixi elites. At the same time, troops and horses drawn from various cities were also assembled in Suining.
In this battle, Zhao Tai only left 4,000 troops to guard various places, and dispatched nearly 20,000 loyal troops, plus 2,000 Huaixi troops.
At the same time, Wuxian also gathered nearly 20,000 armed guards in Dangshan County.
Under Heda's persuasion, Kaifeng dispatched five thousand cavalry and entered Guide Mansion to stand by.
In early December, when the main Mongolian forces stormed Luoyang, Zhao Tai formulated the following strategy after communicating with Heda and Wu Xian.
Zhao Tai led an army of 22,000 people from Suining to Xuzhou. When Kuoduan heard the news, he would definitely lead his troops to attack.
At this time, Zhao Tai formed a formation on the spot and relied on the terrain to hold on. After Heda, Wuxian, and Kaifeng reinforcements moved south at Kuoduan, the cavalry from Kaifeng rushed directly to the battlefield, while Wuxia joined forces with Heda inside and outside to defeat the Mongolian troops remaining outside Xuzhou City. army, and then quickly rushed to the battlefield to encircle Kuoduan.
Before the war began, Zhao Tai dispatched fast horses to maintain communication with various ministries, and repeatedly emphasized that the key to victory in this battle was the coordination and cooperation between the armies. He hoped that no matter which troops were involved, they would be sincerely united and resolute. Follow the plan.
Zhao Tai warned Heda and others that Luoyang to the west was about to fall, and if the eastern front was defeated, the Jin Kingdom would surely perish.
Heda replied to Zhao Tai, saying that he would unite sincerely for the sake of the Kingdom of Jin.
On the sixth day of December, after detailed reconnaissance, Zhao Tai sent another confidant to Yidu to meet Yang You, preparing to use this advanced craft as a back-up if the war situation was unfavorable.
This expedition can be said to be quite risky for Zhao Tai.
Zhao Tai must consider the possibility that he will be surrounded by Kuaduan.
If this happens, Yang You will take the materials he collected to find Kuo Duan and claim that Li Fen and Zhao Tai are colluding to rebel, thereby forcing Kuo Duan to retreat.
On the seventh day of the lunar month, Zhao Tai had everything arranged and immediately gathered his army outside Suining City and decided to go on a high-profile expedition.
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