Seeing that they could not prevent Li Jun from ascending the city, the defenders of Jinan immediately ordered Jinan to be abandoned.
As soon as the Mongolian soldiers withdrew from the city, Li Jun, who had reached the top of the city, occupied the city wall and opened the city gate.
At this time, Li Fen gave an order, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses under his command swarmed into Jinan.
Seeing this, Zhao Tai smiled and said: "Commander Li's soldiers are really elite, they can be said to be the best among all three!"
Wang Bin, Zhao Tai's military advisor, glanced at Zhao Tai and knew that Zhao Tai was plotting against Li Fen again.
Li Fen had a dark face. He knew that his subordinates were able to invade Jinan first because of Zhao Tai's help. Zhongyi Town deliberately gave the credit to Li Jun.
Although Li Fen still hated Zhao Tai in his heart, seeing that Jinan had been obtained and Zhao Tai wanted to show his kindness, he said in a deep voice: "Now that Jinan is taken, what should we do next?"
Zhao Tai said in a deep voice: "After Jinan is obtained, it will threaten Hebei, and the Mongols will not tolerate it. Fortunately, Wo Kuotai and the main force of the Mongolian army are besieging Kaifeng and have no energy to recover Jinan, so we have time to prepare. .”
Having said this, Zhao Tai said to Wang Bin: "Military advisor, tell Marshal Li my strategy."
Wang Bin slightly cupped his hands, and then said to Li Fen: "Commander Li, what we have to do now is to try our best to integrate Shandong before the Mongols turn their main force to Shandong to prepare for the Mongols to attack."
Li Fen said in a deep voice: "How much time do we have?"
Wang Bin said: "Previously, our commander-in-chief severely wounded Zhang Rou and Shi Tianze, which left Mongolia with not many available troops in Hebei. Judging from the current situation, if the Mongols want to counterattack Shandong, they can only have the troops to deal with it after the main Mongolian force captures Kaifeng. We. Based on the current situation, the Mongols also need to rest and recuperate after taking Kaifeng, and it will take time to cross the river. We have at least half a year to prepare."
"What can you do in half a year?" Li Fen looked solemn.
Zhao Tai smiled and said: "Half a year is just a conservative estimate. Now that we have captured Jinan, but Wokuotai has not yet captured Kaifeng, we still have the opportunity to interfere with the Mongolian army to capture Kaifeng. In addition, the Southern Song Dynasty's army has entered Suzhou. A direct threat to Kaifeng will also contain Mongolia's military strength. Therefore, our situation is actually very optimistic."
After listening to Zhao Tai's words, Li Fen felt that at least he was safe now.
Just as he was saying this, a general galloped over and said, "Commander Qi, our brothers have taken control of Jinan. The remaining enemy troops are breaking out to the north. General Peng is leading his troops to pursue us!"
When Li Fen heard that he had taken control of the city, he said to Zhao Tai, "Commander Zhao, let's enter the city together."
Zhao Tai said in a deep voice: "I am not interested in territory or official position. I have only one ideal in my life, which is to drive out the Tartars and restore China. If this ideal is achieved, I will give up everything and return to my hometown to be a rich man. Marshal Li He is a hero, someone who can carry the banner of resistance against Mongolia. I am willing to respect Marshal Li as the leader of the Shandong Alliance. Jinan is an important town in Shandong. Since it was captured by Marshal Li, it belongs to Marshal Li and I will not enter the city."
Li Fen was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Zhao Tai would give Jinan to him.
This Zhao Tai had planned for a long time and spent countless energy to drive away Kublai Khan and capture Jinan.
Now that he doesn't want Jinan, wouldn't his work be in vain?
Zhao Tai works hard for himself and helps others. He is truly a great person.
For a moment, Li Fen didn't know Zhao Tai's intention. He stood there hesitating, thinking about whether there was a trap in it.
Zhao Tai did not give him much time to think, and said in a deep voice: "Now that we have captured Jinan, we should try our best to expand the results before the Mongolian army reacts. I suggest that Zhongyi Town fight to the west to contain those attacking Kaifeng. Wokuotai, while Marshal Li will fight north to regain as many prefectures and counties as possible and establish a buffer area for Shandong."
After Zhang Rou and Shi Tianze were severely wounded, the Mongolian troops in Hebei were relatively empty, while in the direction of Kaifeng, heavy Mongolian troops gathered.
Li Fen immediately nodded: "Okay, let's split up."
At that moment, Zhao Tai said goodbye to Li Fen, and then led the army to the west, chasing the Mongolian army fleeing westward, and repelling the reinforcements sent by Ogedai.
A few days later, Zhao Tai led his troops to Dong'a County, Dongping Prefecture, and met Wuxian, the military governor of the Wuwei Army.
Before the war began, Wu Xian was ordered to cross the Yellow River and make a gesture of reinforcements to Kaifeng.
After Kublai Khan saw through Zhao Tai's intention, he asked Wokuotai for reinforcements. Wu Xian's mission changed from pretending to rescue Kaifeng to preventing Mongolian reinforcements from approaching Jinan.
He led his troops and fought and retreated all the way. Shortly after arriving in Dongping Prefecture, Kublai Khan fled from Jinan to Dongping Prefecture and joined the Mongolian army who came to rescue him.
However, Kublai Khan did not lead the reinforcements to capture Jinan. Instead, he hurriedly withdrew to Henan as soon as the reinforcements arrived.
After Zhao Tai colluded with Li Fen, the total strength of the Jin army in Shandong exceeded 100,000. Kublai Khan naturally did not dare to look back, but decided to flee to Kaifeng before making plans.
As soon as Kublai Khan left, Zhao Tai arrived in Dongping and successfully joined forces with Wuxian.
At this time, Wu Xian learned that Zhao Tai had given Jinan to Li Fen, and he couldn't help but frowned, "Commander, we have been planning for so long, how can we give Jinan to Li Fen?"
Zhao Tai said solemnly: "Although I drove away Kublai Khan and captured Jinan, with the strength of your brothers and I, we cannot control the entire Shandong. Jinan is an important town in Shandong. In the future, Mongolia's counterattack will inevitably become a Mongolian attack. The key point is that if we capture Jinan, we must heavily defend it. Will I defend it or will my brother defend it?"
Wu Xian frowned and said, "Jinan's defense is indeed a problem. However, Marshal, why did you elect him as the leader of the alliance even if Jinan was given to Li Fen?"
Wuxian is still convinced by Zhao Tai, but Li Fen is his loser.
Now that Zhao Tai is lower than Li Fen, he will also be lower than Li Fen, and he will naturally be unhappy.
Zhao Tai said in a deep voice: "The land of Shandong must not only defend the Yellow River and the Grand Canal in the west, but also defend Mongolia in the north. The strength we have alone is indeed a bit stretched. Then Li Fen's territory is in Yidu. As well as Deng, Lai, Ninghai and other prefectures and counties in the Shandong Peninsula, our occupation of Jinan is equivalent to helping Li Fen block the Mongols. When handing Jinan to Li Fen, I have doubts about whether he will defend it carefully, so I have to Appoint him as the leader of the alliance."
As soon as Zhao Tai explained, Wu Xian understood that Zhao Tai did not really regard Li Fen as the leader of the alliance, but deliberately flattered Li Fen and wanted Li Fen to be the leader, so that Li Fen could take responsibility and withstand the pressure from the front.
In this way, Li Fen became the nominal master of Shandong, and it was difficult for him to preserve his strength in the face of the Mongolian attack.
Wu Xian couldn't help but nodded, and suddenly realized: "I understand. From this point of view, it is not bad to give Jinan to Li Fen and elect him as the leader of the alliance. At least the Mongols are coming from the north, and Li Fen should be able to deal with them with all his strength."
When Zhao Tai saw that Wu Xian understood, he smiled and said: "Brother, it's good if you understand! I plan to let Li Fen also sworn sworn brothers with us. I wonder if you have any objections, brother?"
