Zhao Tai stationed troops on the north bank and unexpectedly received Lu Wende's offer.
After Lu Wende left, the Qi army stationed on the north bank carried out drills step by step, waiting for the ships to arrive.
The Huaihe River is wide and there are not enough ships for the Qi army to cross the river. However, tens of thousands of people gathered on the north bank, which also put huge pressure on the Mongolian army on the south bank.
At the Mongolian camp on the other side, after Sawur sent someone to inform Kublai Khan, he ordered the Mongolian cavalry to patrol the Huaihe River in sections, while he himself thought hard about strategies to defend against the enemy.
In the Mongolian army camp, a bonfire was lit in the middle, cattle and sheep were roasting, and the temperature made people feel hot.
The angry Sawur, with a Mongolian hairstyle and only a brocade robe, was sitting in the tent. There was a large pot of beef on the eucalyptus in front of him, and a dagger was inserted into the cow's head. He was full of barbarian spirit. breath.
Sawur is not an ordinary person. His full name is Monggetu-Sawur. He is the younger brother of the Mongolian general Zhebei. He is the only person in the Zhebei family who follows Tuo Lei.
As a battle-hardened Mongolian veteran, he was not particularly panicked when Zhao Tai's army pressed on. After being initially surprised and angry, he soon began to think of countermeasures.
The Huaihe River is very long, and he only has 10,000 cavalry. It is not an easy task to block the Huaihe River and prevent the Qi army from crossing the river.
However, although the Huaihe River is long, there are not many places suitable for crossing the river. As long as you figure out where it is easy to cross the river, and then focus on defense, it will be much easier to block the Qi army.
As a foreign invader, Sawur naturally didn't understand the Huaihe River, but it didn't matter if he didn't understand it, the local people must know it.
"Come here! Bring this person in!" Sawul put a piece of beef into his mouth.
Not long after, the two Han men were carried in like chickens by the Mongolian soldiers and thrown directly to the ground.
One of the two was dressed as a scholar with a goatee, and the other was wearing a patched coarse cloth with dark skin, resembling a fisherman.
Both of them were elderly and seemed to have some experience.
Sawur swallowed the beef in several mouthfuls, inserted the dagger into the cow's head, looked at the two men with beast-like eyes, and asked coldly, "The bandits have arrived on the north bank, where do you think they will cross the river?"
The fisherman looked confused and shook his head, "Young man is just a fisherman. Who knows where the army will cross the river!"
Sawur waved his hand, "Take it out and chop it!"
The fisherman's face was full of shock and he was trembling with fear. Two Mongolian soldiers lifted him outside the tent and chopped him with a knife.
The scholar who stayed in the tent was so frightened that his legs trembled. A stream of warm liquid flowed down from the roots of his thighs. His whole body was like mud, and he lay limp on the ground.
This man's name is Fan Tongwen, an old Confucian scholar from Chuzhou Prefecture, living in a big town outside the city.
After the Mongolian army crossed the river, he and thousands of people in the town were captured by the Mongolian army. The women in the village were turned into playthings and most of the men were killed. Because he could read and write, he recorded the money, grain and materials seized for the Mongolian army. Only one life was spared.
Although the Mongols have entered the Central Plains, they still adhere to the law of the jungle on the grasslands and do not regard the lives of the Han people at all. They just kill them as they say without any mercy.
Seeing that he was the next one, Fan Tongwen was horrified and said without waiting for Sawur'er to ask, "You know how to stop the thieves from crossing the river!"
"Oh?" Sawur pulled out the dagger and asked coldly, "Tell me about it!"
Fan Tongwen was sweating on his back. He could feel that the Mongolian soldier standing behind him was holding the handle of his knife, waiting for an order to chop off his head.
Fan Tongwen swallowed a sip of saliva, moistened his dry throat, changed from sitting to kneeling, and then said with sincerity and fear: "The Huaihe River is thousands of miles long, and it is fortified everywhere. It requires many soldiers and horses."
Sawur nodded. He only had 10,000 cavalry and could not fortify everywhere, so he asked the local southerners for help. "Keep talking!"
Fan Tongwen was a little more courageous. He had been in the Mongolian camp for so long and knew that the main force of the Mongolian army was moving south and that Savul's men were not strong enough, so he continued: "After the Yellow River captured the Huaihe River, the water volume of the Huaihe River increased greatly, and the lower reaches of the river were extremely wide. The river course is one If the river is wide, it will take a long time to cross the river. After crossing Lianshui downstream, the river is as wide as the Yangtze River. If the bandits cross the river from the lower reaches, it will take half a day if there is wind, and they may not be able to cross in one day if there is no wind. All the bandits can cross the river. It must be the section from Chuzhou to Lianshui."
Upon hearing this, Sawur stood up, and Dabu walked up to him and lifted him up, "Is this true?"
Fan Tongwen was so horrified that he said, "How dare a villain deceive Wanhu? If he tells a lie, Wanhu will cut the villain into pieces!"
Sawur's nose moved and smelled the smell of urine. She couldn't help but throw him to the ground again, with a look of disdain on her face, "Southerners are really all cowards!"
Sawur walked back and sat down, and then asked: "So the place where the rebels can cross the river can only be the Huaihe River section from Chuzhou to Lianshui!"
Fan Tongwen trembled, lying on the ground like a puddle of mud, trying to calm down, "Wanhu, even this section of the Yellow River is wide enough. If there is no wind, it may not be possible to cross it in half a day."
After listening to this, Sawur felt confident in his heart. He glanced at Fan Tongwen, suddenly picked up the dagger, cut off a piece of beef, and threw it in front of him, "It's for you. Get out!"
Fan Tongwen climbed up, picked up the beef, thanked him quickly, and then rolled out of the tent.
Seeing his funny appearance, Sawur and several Mongolian generals in the tent burst into laughter at the Han man's ugliness.
Sawu'er laughed for a moment, then ordered: "If it is as the southerners said, it will be much easier to defend the Huaihe River. I have the advantage of the horse army. As long as I find the rebel army crossing the river, I can quickly assemble it before they gain a foothold." Steady, break it in one fell swoop.”
Saying this, Sawur walked to the map and pointed to the river, "Give me the order to divide into five thousand-man teams, each team is responsible for fifty miles of the river. If any thieves are found crossing the river, immediately send a warning signal with smoke!"
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"Yes!" Many generals immediately punched their chests and bent down to salute.
The Huaihe River is wide, and the Qi army does not have large boats. It would take half a day to row across.
How far the Mongolian cavalry can run in half a day, a hundred miles is not a problem.
Therefore, the Mongolian army only needs to place some scouts on each section of the river. Once a ship is discovered on the north bank, the Mongolian cavalry can rely on their horse speed to assemble in advance at the landing place of the Qi army.
At that time, the Qi army had just landed, there were not many troops and horses, and the formation was not yet formed. The Mongolian horse army was recharging its strength. As long as it rushed to the beach, the rest would be massacre.
In Sawur's mind, there was a picture of the Qi army's landing troops being attacked by his cavalry. The Qi army was either killed or driven into the Huaihe River and drowned.
If this is the case, the Mongolian army will achieve a great victory against the Qi army, and Sawul will gain a high prestige among the Mongolian army, stand out in the limelight, and be appreciated by high-level officials.
Thinking of this, Sawur couldn't help laughing, "Hahaha~ The one who can defeat Zhao Tai is me, Mongge Tu-Sawur!"
