This time, Zhao Tai and the Song army suddenly launched a surprise attack, which made Wo Kuotai very angry.
He had been attacking the Kingdom of Jin for more than half a year, hoping that he could rest for a while after destroying the Jin Dynasty. Not wanting to get to the end, Zhao Tai and the Song army came to pick peaches.
Originally, the Kaifeng defenders had lost their fighting spirit, and the Mongolian army was able to capture Kaifeng without spending a single soldier. However, the intervention of Zhao Tai and the Song Army forced the Mongolian army to launch a strong attack, and ultimately lost tens of thousands of troops.
Not to mention, because of the intervention of the Song Army, Wo Kuotai had to give up Kaifeng, which he spent half a year to build, and spit out the Yudong that had reached his mouth.
Wo Kuotai worked hard to eliminate gold, but the benefits were given to the Song army, and Wo Kuotai was naturally annoyed.
Now that he learned that neither the Song Army's middle route nor the West Route Army went north, he decided to teach the Song Army who came to pick fruits a lesson.
"This Khan put the forwards of the Song Army into Luoyang just to use them as bait to lure the main force of the Song Army over!" Wo Kuotai said coldly: "There are no supplies in the city. The Song Army entering the city will soon run out of food. The enemy army will They must rescue them quickly. Then Ben Khan will be waiting for them to fight with Ben Khan!"
Yang Weizhong smiled and said: "If they come, we will defeat them first in the field battle, and then go back to deal with the Song army's vanguard. If they don't come, the Song army in the city will die after running out of food."
Wo Kuotai laughed loudly. Although this battle has not started, Wo Kuotai has already secured the victory. The question is only a big victory or a small victory.
…
After learning that Quanzi was trapped, the Song-Qi coalition forces moved toward Luoyang and sent people to contact the Song army in the middle.
But when the coalition forces were about to march to Yanshi, the troops Zhao Kui sent out to contact them brought back shocking news: the Song army in the middle did not go north at all.
This news shocked Zhao Kui and probably also shocked Zhao Tai.
Of the three routes agreed upon, Zhao Kui is the only one. Why fight? If we go any further, we will die.
Because the Central Route Army did not move northward, the East Route Allied Forces knew that the main force of Wokuotai was near Luoyang, so they did not dare to move forward.
At this time, in the coalition camp, Zhao Kui had a gloomy face, pacing back and forth in the tent, cursing, "The Jingzhou Zhizhi Division has strong soldiers and horses, but they have not sent troops north. This must be Shi Songzhi's mischief!"
Zhao Tai said with a dark face, "Mr. Sir, Wo Kuotai must be setting up a battle array on the outskirts of Luoyang now, waiting for us to surrender. At present, the strategy of the three-pronged northern expedition has failed. I think what we should do now is Think about how to reduce losses and how to get out unscathed."
Zhao Kui said in pain: "A great situation, a great situation, was ruined in one day!"
This Northern Expedition of the Southern Song Dynasty was definitely a good time, and the conditions were much better than Duanping's entry into Luo.
If the Song army marched north in three directions, cooperated with each other, and did not regain much of the south of the Yellow River, but took over all of Henan, there should be no problem.
In this way, the Southern Song Dynasty could establish a large buffer zone, which would give it more confidence to fight against Mongolia and prevent Mongolia from breaking into the core area at every turn.
The establishment of the Song Dynasty was different from other dynasties. Most dynasties were established after a major reshuffle, and the old aristocrats were basically eliminated by the new dynasty.
When the Song Dynasty was established, because of the unfairness of the country's victory, it did not purge the old nobles. Instead, it gave them benefits and did not inhibit land annexation in exchange for the support of the gentry and landlords.
This led to the fact that the Song Dynasty could not collect any land tax and could only focus on business.
Commercial development requires a stable environment. When the Southern Song Dynasty was fighting against the Mongols, the Mongolian cavalry broke into Sichuan and the Huaihe River. Each attack caused huge damage to the economy of the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty finally collapsed, and an important reason was its financial collapse.
If the Song army makes a three-pronged northern expedition this time to regain Henan and occupy the Central Plains, then the Song army can threaten Guanzhong to the west and attack Hedong and Hebei to the north. Mongolia will not be able to bypass Henan and attack the Song Dynasty.
The Song army in the middle route that was supposed to appear now did not appear, so the strategy of the three-pronged Northern Expedition and the restoration of the Guanhe defense line suffered a direct failure.
Zhao Kui was heartbroken and said, "My original intention was to revitalize the Song Dynasty and to advance the country's Northern Expedition. The soldiers from Shandong came out of righteousness and joined the troops from Huaihe and Huaihe led by me to capture Gui De and Bianjing, and then entered Hulao from the west. The troops from Jinghu Lake , defeat Deng and Tang, occupy Yinchuan, and threaten Luoyang from the south. The generals in Hanzhong will go out of Dashan Pass to shock the Three Qin Dynasties. In this way, the head and tail of Mongolia cannot care about each other, and the Central Plains can be determined!"
Everyone in the tent lowered their heads one after another, feeling very heavy.
Zhao Kui beat his chest, "But the people in Jinghu hesitated to advance and took advantage of the opportunity, which greatly disappointed me and the world!"
Faced with the current situation, everyone was speechless.
Wu Xian whispered to Zhao Tai: "The party struggle in the Southern Song Dynasty was fierce. Facing such a major event, if we cannot work together, it will be difficult to achieve a major event. We should return to Shandong as soon as possible!"
Zhao Tai nodded, "The party strife in the Song Dynasty has affected the military. When fighting in the front, there are internal constraints. How can we win the war with them? When the Luoyang problem is solved, my mother will go to Shandong to integrate Li Fen's troops and make the three towns into one. Can defeat Mongolia."
Wuxian was convinced. Seeing the chaos in the Song Dynasty, the two had no confidence in the Song army, so they decided to return to Shandong as soon as possible.
At this time, Zhao Kui finished venting and looked at Zhao Tai, "Guorui, now that the vanguard is trapped and the soldiers from Jinghu have not moved north, we are the only one. How should we rescue the Huaixi Army!"
After hearing this, Zhao Tai felt a little wary.
The Central Route Army of the Southern Song Dynasty did not go north, and the West Route Army had a long journey and there was no information for the time being.
However, judging from the fact that Wokuotai turned around and surrounded Luoyang, it must have been Guanzhong Wuyou who led his army to fight back.
In this situation, without an army to hold Mongolia, Zhao Tai did not dare to rush into it, and he would not agree. Zhao Kui asked him to save Luoyang.
Therefore, Zhao Tai pondered for a while and then saluted directly: "Mr. Xianggong, I think the strategy of restoring the Guanhe defense line has failed. The only idea at the moment is to rescue Xianggong Quan and then withdraw the army eastward."
Zhao Kui asked: "Does Guorui have a way to rescue the Huaixi Army?"
Zhao Tai said in a deep voice: "There are only two plans at the moment. The first is to let Mr. Quan break out of the encirclement and kill as many as he can. The second is to quickly put pressure on the Jinghu Commandery Department and order them to march immediately."
These two plans, one is to let Quan Zicai fight out by himself, the other is to wait for the troops in Jinghu, which indirectly shows that Zhao Tai is not willing to continue to advance westward.
Zhao Kui grimaced and pondered for a while, "The men and horses in Jinghu must have been influenced by Shi Dang. Quanzi has just been surrounded now, and the Huaixi army does not carry much food and grass. By the time Jinghu sends troops, it may be too late."
Shi Miyuan served as prime minister for thirty years and controlled the affairs of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was the leader of both the government and the public.
After Zheng Qing came to power, he reactivated the main fighting faction and transferred many main fighting factions to Lin'an, which gave the main fighting faction the upper hand in the central government. However, there were a large number of historical party officials in the local areas including Lianghuai, Jinghu and Bashu.
They were not satisfied with Zheng Qingzhi's policies, and they followed Zheng Qingzhi's orders in both positive and negative ways.
This time, the main war faction in the court formulated a three-way Northern Expedition strategy and ordered Jinghu and Sichuan to send troops to cooperate with the Huai army's Northern Expedition. However, Jinghu and Sichuan did not fully implement it.
Jinghu Zhizhi envoy Shi Songzhi believed that the imperial court's three-pronged expedition to the north would anger Mongolia and give Mongolia an excuse to go south to attack the Song Dynasty. Therefore, he had no power to cooperate. He only sent troops to Dengzhou as a token of the Communist Party of Mongolia without a serious fight.
In Sichuan, Zhao Yanna was afraid of incurring a Mongolian attack, so he did not send troops directly.
They believed that the Mongolian-Jin war caused the ruins of Guanzhong and Henan and the decline of people's livelihood. Even if the Song army temporarily gained an advantage and captured the Central Plains, it would be difficult to hold on to it in the future.
The supplies of the Song army were not as convenient as those of the Mongolian army. After occupying Henan and unable to obtain supplies from Henan, they would have to transfer grain from the Southern Song Dynasty to Henan, which would undoubtedly increase the burden on the court and the gentry and landlords.
Therefore, many people in the Southern Song Dynasty court were actually unwilling to make the Northern Expedition, and just wanted to settle in the southeast and live their own lives.
Zhao Kui was the envoy of the Lianghuai system and could not command the troops in Jinghu. He needed the court to send someone to communicate with Jinghu. By the time Jinghu made up his mind to go north, the grass on Quanzi's grave was already three feet high.
Therefore, the second option mentioned by Zhao Tai is not feasible at all, so the only choice left for Zhao Kui is the first option.
This made Zhao Kui frown, "Let the Jinghu side send troops. It's already too late, so the Huaixi army can break out."
Everyone in the tent bowed their heads in silence. The Mongolian cavalry surrounded Luoyang, and there was a plain more than a hundred miles east of Luoyang. The Huaixi army was mainly infantry and was hiding in Luoyang City. They could still protect themselves and wanted to break out of the city. , suffered an assassination by the Mongolian army, the losses must have been extremely heavy.
However, despite this, Zhao Kui seemed to have no other choice.
At this time, the 30,000 Huaixi troops in Luoyang City did not carry much food. After entering Luoyang, they found that Luoyang was just an empty city with no hair inside.
The 30,000-strong army was trapped for a few days, and the food they carried was quickly consumed.
"Ms. sir, the food is only enough for the soldiers for one day, and the horses have to be killed tomorrow." A general came up behind Quan Zicai.
Quanzi stood at the top of the city, looking far away from the city, feeling a little disappointed. After hearing what his subordinates said, he said in a deep voice: "You can't kill the war horses! The reinforcements haven't arrived yet, so there must be something wrong. Now there is food in the city." If we are exhausted, we will not be able to hold on for long even if we kill the horses. If reinforcements do not arrive, we will have no choice but to break out, and we will not be able to do it without horses by then."
After hearing what he said, someone asked: "Ms. sir, will the Zhizhi envoy come to rescue us?"
Quanzi was the commander-in-chief. When the Mongolian army turned around, he knew something might have gone wrong, otherwise the Mongols would not have suddenly come back and surrounded Luoyang.
Quan Zicai shook his head, "It's hard to say. Logically speaking, when our two armies entered the Luoyang Basin, the Mongols should have withdrawn into Guanzhong, but they did not retreat. Instead, they besieged us. Now I suspect that the South Route Army may have question."
Just as he said this, a general came over in a hurry and said, "My lord, the messenger from Zhizhi has arrived."
Quanzi just heard the words and quickly asked: "Where are the people?"
"I was just dragged up to the top of the city!" someone reported.
Quan Zi then asked: "Are you in Xicheng?"
After receiving the affirmative answer, Quanzi immediately hurried to Xicheng. Halfway there, he happened to bump into the messenger.
Just as the messenger was about to salute, Quanzi caught him and asked, "Will Mr. Zhizhi send troops to help?"
The messenger quickly said: "Mr. Sir, the situation has changed. This is a letter from the envoy to you, asking you to break out immediately."
Quan Zicai felt a shiver in his heart. He took the letter and read it quickly. The generals around him couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Sir, what's going on? What did the envoy say?"
"My prediction is good. The army from the south did not go north. The commander asked us to break out immediately. He will send troops to respond!" Quan Zicai said in a deep voice.
"Breakout?" Everyone's expressions changed, "There are Mongolian cavalry outside!"
Quanzi clenched his fists and said solemnly: "Then we have to break out!"
There was no food in Luoyang City, and the Eastern Route Army did not dare to come to relieve the siege. So before Quan Zicai, there were only two choices, either to surrender or to break out of the siege. Defending Luoyang would lead to death.
After receiving Zhao Kui's instructions, Quanzi did not hesitate and immediately asked people to make the remaining grain into food, let the soldiers eat a full meal, and used the rest as dry food, and prepared to break out of the siege overnight.
In the Wengcheng, Quanzi put on his armor, stood in front of the army with a sword in his hand, and said loudly: "Wear your armor!"
The 30,000-strong army was trapped for a few days, and the food they carried was quickly consumed.
"Ms. sir, the food is only enough for the soldiers for one day, and the horses have to be killed tomorrow." A general came up behind Quan Zicai.
Quanzi stood at the top of the city, looking far away from the city, feeling a little disappointed. After hearing what his subordinates said, he said in a deep voice: "You can't kill the war horses! The reinforcements haven't arrived yet, so there must be something wrong. Now there is food in the city." If we are exhausted, we will not be able to hold on for long even if we kill the horses. If reinforcements do not arrive, we will have no choice but to break out, and we will not be able to do it without horses by then."
After hearing what he said, someone asked: "Ms. sir, will the Zhizhi envoy come to rescue us?"
Quanzi was the commander-in-chief. When the Mongolian army turned around, he knew something might have gone wrong, otherwise the Mongols would not have suddenly come back and surrounded Luoyang.
Quan Zicai shook his head, "It's hard to say. Logically speaking, when our two armies entered the Luoyang Basin, the Mongols should have withdrawn into Guanzhong, but they did not retreat. Instead, they besieged us. Now I suspect that the South Route Army may have question."
Just as he said this, a general came over in a hurry and said, "My lord, the messenger from Zhizhi has arrived."
Quanzi just heard the words and quickly asked: "Where are the people?"
"I was just dragged up to the top of the city!" someone reported.
Quan Zi then asked: "Are you in Xicheng?"
After receiving the affirmative answer, Quanzi immediately hurried to Xicheng. Halfway there, he happened to bump into the messenger.
Just as the messenger was about to salute, Quanzi caught him and asked, "Will Mr. Zhizhi send troops to help?"
The messenger quickly said: "Mr. Sir, the situation has changed. This is a letter from the envoy to you, asking you to break out immediately."
Quan Zicai felt a shiver in his heart. He took the letter and read it quickly. The generals around him couldn't help but ask: "Ms. sir, what's going on? What did the envoy say?"
"My prediction is good. The army from the south did not go north. The commander asked us to break out immediately. He will send troops to respond!" Quan Zicai said in a deep voice.
"Breakout?" Everyone's expressions changed, "There are Mongolian cavalry outside!"
Quanzi clenched his fists and said solemnly: "Then we have to break out!"
There was no food in Luoyang City, and the Eastern Route Army did not dare to come to relieve the siege. So before Quan Zicai, there were only two choices, either to surrender or to break out of the siege. Defending Luoyang would lead to death.