Outside Lin'an City, Zhao Kui is about to go to Jiangbei. Zheng Qingzhi and others see Zhao Kui off.
After Zhao Yun adopted Zhao Kui's advice, the Southern Song Dynasty court began to operate according to Zhao Kui's strategy.
At this time, at the edge of the pier, Zhao Kui was about to get on the boat, but he was very uneasy.
He finished the practice wine handed to him by Zheng Qingzhi and said with a serious face: "Prime Minister Zheng, I originally wanted to lead more forbidden troops, but Li Zhixiao and others said that the forbidden troops should guard the line. There are not many troops in Jiangbei now, I expected It’s going to be hard.”
Zheng Qingzhi nodded, "Brother Nan Zhong, if you have any requests, you can tell me."
Zhao Kui said seriously: "Prime Minister Zheng, I only have two requests. First, this battle is not easy to fight. I am not sure of defeating the Mongolian army, but I still have the ability to prevent the Mongolian army from crossing the river. Therefore, Prime Minister Zheng is in the court. , no matter how difficult the battle in Jiangbei is, or how unfavorable the news is, we can't mess up our position, let alone make peace! We should take Jingkang's shame as a warning!"
When the Jin army came to Bianjing City, the Northern Song Dynasty court wanted to negotiate peace. As a result, the two saints hunted north and the Central Plains was lost.
Zheng Qingzhi nodded, "Brother Nan Zhong, don't worry. Jingkang is still humiliated, and I will never let the Song Dynasty suffer humiliation again."
Zhao Kui nodded and then said: "Secondly, the Northern Army is fierce in the field. If we want to force it to retreat, we can only surround Wei and rescue Zhao. The soldiers in Jinghu and Sichuan can only advance northward. We must not let them go eastward because of the crisis in Jiangbei. , join Jiangnan to aid."
Zheng Qingzhi knew that Zhao Kui was speaking from the bottom of his heart, "Nan Zhong, don't worry. I will try my best to accomplish these two points."
Zhao Kui held up his hand and said, "In that case, I'll leave it to Prime Minister Zheng."
Zheng Qingzhi said: "Besides these two points, are there any other requirements?"
Zhao Kui thought for a while, "There is one more thing, I just don't know if I should talk about it or not!"
"When did this happen? You can speak out!" Zheng Qingzhi said.
Seeing what he said, Zhao Kui said: "I know that my husband is on guard against Zhao Guorui. He is afraid that he will not be able to get rid of his big tail and become a separatist force in the vassal town. However, the current situation, if Zhao Guorui had not stood firm in Pizhou and given us time to prepare, I am afraid that the situation would have only changed. Worse. Now that the imperial court is at war with Mongolia, it needs Guorui even more, so I hope that the imperial court can complete the recruitment as soon as possible. Even if Zhao Guorui is given more power, he must continue to fight against the Northern Army."
Zheng Qingzhi was silent for a moment, nodded and said: "Thanks to Guorui this time. If he hadn't blocked the Mongolian army in Shandong for two months, our situation would have been even more passive. Don't worry, Nan Zhong, I will definitely facilitate the recruitment this time."
"That's it! I'm relieved!" Zhao Kui cupped his hands, "Prime Minister Zheng, I'm going!"
At the moment, Zhao Kui said goodbye to Zheng Qingzhi and others, and then led a group of officers to board the building ship, leading nearly 10,000 forbidden troops, and headed north of the Yangtze River.
~~~~~~
Pizhou City.
One hundred thousand Mongolian troops were divided into two groups, 50,000 troops continued to besiege Pizhou, and 50,000 troops went south to attack the Southern Song Dynasty.
Kublai Khan did not lead his troops to attack the Song Dynasty, but stayed and commanded his troops to besiege Pizhou.
It can be seen that in Kublai Khan's mind, Zhao Tai was more difficult to deal with than the Southern Song Dynasty.
On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, the Mongolian army divided its forces and went south for half a month. During this period, the Mongolian army outside the city did not attack Pizhou again. It seemed that it was determined to trap Pizhou City.
At this time, Zhao Tai stood at the top of the city, took a copper pipe from his subordinates, then put it in front of his eyes, stretched it and looked at it.
The telescope is not a rare item to Zhao Tai, but to many loyal army generals, it is an artifact.
The principle of this thing is relatively simple, mainly because the concave and convex mirror is difficult to make, but Zhao Tai can't find glass, so he can use colored glaze and crystal.
He gathered the materials and asked a craftsman to build him a telescope.
At this time, Zhao Tai took a telescope and observed the Mongolian army camp. He saw only human figures passing through the camp, but nothing unusual was seen.
Suddenly, Zhao Tai put down his telescope, took a quick look with his naked eyes, and then picked up the camera again and aimed it at the Mongolian camp. In the circular field of view, a group of Mongolian soldiers entered the camp with hundreds of carts.
Zhao Tai looked at the Mongolian troops and pushed the vehicle with all their strength. It was obvious that the things on the vehicle were quite heavy.
"Your Majesty, what did you see?" Tang Liang asked.
Polishing lenses is not easy, and Zhao Tai only has one telescope now.
Zhao Tai watched for a while, handed the telescope to Tang Liang, and then said in a deep voice: "A convoy entered the Mongolian army camp. It seems that the Mongolian army going south has gained a lot!"
The Lianghuai River is no better than Shandong. Zhao Tai's territory has experienced many wars and has little population. It is easier to strengthen the walls and clear the country, and to relocate the people.
The Southern Song Dynasty had been peaceful for a long time and had a large population. When the Mongolian army came to kill them, it was impossible to move all the dense population.
Although Zhao Tai was in Pizhou and bought time for the people of Huaihe and Huaihe, due to the uncertainty of the war in the Southern Song Dynasty, he was lucky and did not actively relocate the people at all.
Therefore, when the Mongolian army entered Huainan, even if they could not capture the big city and massacred various villages and towns, they could still grab a lot of money.
Tang Liang and others took over the telescope and took turns to observe the convoy entering the camp. A group of Mongolian soldiers moved bags of food from the car.
When everyone saw this scene, their expressions became serious. Tang Liang said worriedly: "Your Majesty, the Mongolian army plundered food from the south, and then sent it to the camp outside the city in a steady stream. The Mongolian army will not worry about food and drink, and we will be trapped to death by them sooner or later. ah!"
Zhao Tai stored a large amount of grain and grass in Pizhou City, enough for the army for a year, and was prepared for a long-term siege.
At the same time, Pizhou and even the entire Shandong were blocked and cleared, making it impossible for the Mongolian army to obtain supplies from Shandong.
In this way, there will be sufficient food in the city, but the Mongolian army outside the city has difficulty in obtaining food, so it will be difficult to besieged for a long time, and sooner or later the troops will run out of food and retreat.
Now that the Mongolian army is moving south, the army is plundering Huainan, and the food stolen from Huainan is continuously transported to the city. Pizhou's situation is in danger.
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "If the Mongolian army can obtain food from Huainan, holding on to Pizhou will be a dead end."
"Your Majesty, what should we do?" Tang Liang and others looked at Zhao Tai.
Zhao Tai looked at the Mongolian army camp outside the city with deep eyes, "We have defended Pizhou for many days and have bought enough time for the people of Huainan and the Southern Song Dynasty court. Now that the Mongolian army has gone to war with the Southern Song Dynasty, we should also think about how to break out of the encirclement. ”
"Now the Mongolian army has dug ravines outside the city and is surrounded by heavy troops. Without the support of soldiers and horses, it may be difficult for us to fight out!" Li Chunzhu said.
Zhao Tai turned around, looked at everyone, and said with a smile: "You don't have to worry. I decided to stick to Pizhou and thought of a way out. Now most of the Shandong Mongolian troops are gathered under Pizhou City. Li Fen and Wuxian are resting like this Soon, it’s time for them to take action.”
Tang Liang said: "The king's intention is to let Li Jun and the Wuwei Army launch a counterattack and mobilize the Mongolian army outside the city."
Zhao Tai nodded: "Send a pigeon message and ask Wu Xian and Li Fen to launch a counterattack. Kublai Khan will definitely dispatch troops to deal with it. When the number of troops outside the city decreases, our chance to break through will come."
