Zhao Tai frowned. Zhao Kui and Zhao Fan said they were not theirs, so who could they be?
Zhao Tai couldn't figure it out for a while and couldn't help but look at the think tank Wang Bin, "Sir, what do you think?"
Wang Bin thought for a moment and said, "Since they are not two sworn men, could it be Kublai Khan's plan to lure us to the decisive battle in Huaixi?"
Kublai Khan stayed in Yangzhou and was attacked from both sides. However, after crossing the canal and entering Huaixi, he got rid of the situation of being flanked.
Now there should be 90,000 troops around Kublai Khan. Although the strength of the troops is not as good as that of the Song army, its combat power is not weaker than that of the Song army.
If he is not willing to give in, it is indeed possible to attract the Song army to a decisive battle.
Zhao Tai stroked his beard and was thinking about this possibility, but Wang Bin overturned his conclusion, "However, the two ministers said that there are no soldiers and horses in Huaixi, so we will definitely suspect that this sudden appearance The identity of the Song army that came. It doesn’t seem to make sense that Kublai Khan designed it this way.”
Zhao Kui and Zhao Fan were stunned for a moment, and Zhao Fan said: "Indeed! We don't have heavy troops stationed in Huaixi. If Kublai Khan was using tricks, we wouldn't believe it in the first place!"
Zhao Tai frowned and said, "Are those reinforcements coming from other directions?"
Zhao Kui walked to the map hanging in the tent and looked at it with a frown, "This group of troops suddenly appeared in Chuzhou, and I couldn't see clearly. Could it be that the Huai army from Bianjing broke through and arrived in Huaixi?" "
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Zhao Tai suddenly clenched his fists and stood up, "At first, because Kublai Khan had so many troops, our army had no chance of winning, so we chose to force Kublai Khan away and sit back and watch his retreat. Now there are soldiers and horses in Chuzhou that can stop Kublai Khan. , no matter whose unit it is, it is an opportunity for us to beat the dog in the water."
Zhao Tai had insufficient troops before, so even if he added Chuzhou and Yangzhou Song troops, he didn't have much chance of winning.
Now another Song army appeared in Huaixi, and there was a fierce battle with the Mongolian army, and fighter planes appeared.
If the Qi army and the Huainan Song army can be gathered together, plus this sudden appearance of troops, Kublai Khan can at least be skinned, not to mention leaving him behind.
Zhao Tai glanced at the two men and said excitedly: "My two husbands, the most urgent task at the moment is to send scouts to continue to explore the situation and get in touch with the blocking army. Then the army will immediately move westward and bite Kublai Khan hard! "
Zhao Kui and Zhao Fan realized that this was indeed an opportunity, and they might be able to keep the nearly 100,000 Mongolian troops.
Without Zhao Tai, they would never have had such courage, but Zhao Tai and his 80,000 Qi troops strengthened their courage.
Zhao Kui was hesitant. It would be a decisive battle to catch up. If he lost, the Song Dynasty would be doomed.
Zhao Fan said excitedly: "I will send scouts to investigate right now."
Zhao Tai looked at Zhao Kui and said, "Prime Minister, this opportunity is rare!"
Zhao Kui clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "Okay! I will give the order to assemble troops immediately!"
Something happened suddenly. Zhao Kui had just arrived at the Qi army camp and before his buttocks got hot, he hurried back to Yangzhou to mobilize troops.
Zhao Tai did not dare to delay. Although he did not know which Song army blocked Kublai Khan, according to Zhao Tai's knowledge, if he did not send troops immediately, the Song army would probably be destroyed.
As soon as Zhao Kui left, Zhao Tai issued a military order for the entire army to assemble and prepare to march westward.
The Qi army had just won a victory and its morale was high. When they heard that Kublai Khan's birds had escaped and the army was going west to pursue them, the infantry immediately rushed out of the tent, took all their equipment and gathered outside the camp.
The cavalry troops jumped on their horses, rushed out of the camp gate, and took the lead in advancing toward Chuzhou.
In less than an hour, nearly 80,000 Qi troops and 20,000 Chuzhou Song troops were assembled in the camp.
Zhao Taisui, as the Zongwang of the Song Dynasty, called on the entire army to fight bravely, annihilate the Tartars, report to the country, and protect the common people.
Since the army entered Huainan, the officers and soldiers of the Qi army have seen many evil deeds by the Mongolian army, and the crimes committed by the Mongolian army are too numerous to describe. Especially when the army just heard about the tragic situation in Gaoyou, the officers and soldiers of the Qi army felt the same pain as the people of Jianghuai and shared the same hatred against the enemy. They hardly needed any mobilization to get angry. marched westward.
Zhao Kui galloped all the way back to Yangzhou. He knew that to annihilate Kublai Khan, he had to gather all the Song troops north of the Yangtze River to have a chance.
If Kublai Khan can be destroyed, he will gain extremely high prestige and may be able to extend his political life.
Now that he decided to pursue, Zhao Kui no longer hesitated and immediately ordered the Song troops from Yangzhou, Hezhou, Zhenzhou and other places to immediately dispatch to pursue the Mongolian army northward.
The Imperial Guards in Jiangbei were timid about pursuing them, but the generals did not dare to disobey the orders given by Privy Councilor Zhao Kui.
Soon, 30,000 Song troops from Yangzhou, 10,000 Song troops from Zhenzhou and Hezhou each gathered out of the city and pursued northward all night.
For a time, all places in Jiangbei were agitated because of the unexpected encounter between Chu soldiers and Kublai Khan outside the state.
In order to destroy Kublai Khan, the garrison troops in various states and counties were rushing towards the state.
March 28th.
The vanguard of the Chu army led by the Mongolian Communists ran into the furious Kublai Khan.
At first, the two armies did not know each other's true or false situation, nor did they know the strength and intentions of both sides.
The Mongolian Communists mistakenly believed that the Mongolian army had discovered the Chu army's intentions, and quickly ordered the army to find favorable terrain and set up camps on the spot for defense. At the same time, they sent messengers to rush the rear troops to come to meet them.
Kublai Khan thought that the Song army on the opposite side was a blocker sent by Zhao Tai. He thought that Zhao Tai had anticipated him and fled to the west, and Zhao Tai's main force was already nearby.
For a time, Kublai Khan did not dare to move lightly, and quickly sent scouts to look for Zhao Tai's main force, but the scouts did not find Qi's army.
The two sides were in a stalemate for half a day. Kublai Khan could not calm down and ordered his Han army to launch an attack to test the strength of the Meng Communist Party.
After this test, Kublai Khan found that there were not many soldiers and horses on the opposite side, only about 30,000 people.
However, it was already dark by this time, which was not conducive to fighting. Kublai Khan could only wait until the early morning of the next day before launching an attack.
Early the next morning, at dawn, Kublai Khan led his army out into battle and ordered the Mongolian army to launch a fierce attack.
On the 29th, the whole day, the cry of killing resounded in the hilly areas of the northern border of Chuzhou.
The Mongolian army used the Han army as the main offensive force, attacking one after another. As a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty, Meng Gong was well-deserved. He built fortifications to stabilize his position and used strong bows and crossbows to repel the Mongolian attacks one by one. .
This shocked Kublai Khan. After two days of contact, he had figured out the identity of the other party. He was the Song Army from Jingchu.
Kublai Khan originally thought that the southerners had no warriors, but he did not want such a force to suddenly appear.
At this time, Kublai Khan had an absolute advantage in Huaixi, so he had the idea of annihilating this Song Dynasty.
At dawn on the 30th, just as the Mongolian Communists were preparing to welcome Kublai Khan's fierce attack, Kublai Khan changed his strategy and sent tens of thousands of horse troops to bypass the hills where the Mongolian Communists were guarding.
This shocked the Mongolian Communist Party. Knowing that the Mongolian army was going to make a sneak attack, the main force of the Chu army led by Shi Songzhi had no choice but to abandon their position and fight and retreat to the northwest.
