Jinan City, the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army.
Zhao Tai signed a peace agreement with the Song envoy in the morning, sent Jia Sidao out of the city, and returned to the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion in the afternoon.
At this time, in the festival hall, Li Fen and other generals were thinking hard about countermeasures around the sand table.
Suddenly, the guards outside the hall shouted: "The king has arrived!"
Li Fen and others quickly looked outside the hall and saw Zhao Tai coming in hurriedly.
As soon as he stepped across the threshold, he asked aloud, "How is your discussion going?"
Li Fen and others looked troubled and saluted, "Your Majesty, my ministers are still discussing."
Zhao Tai walked to the sand table and said with a smile: "Have we discussed any strategies?"
Li Fen said shamefully: "I have discussed several countermeasures, but too many resources have to be used, and the cabinet has made it clear that they do not support it."
Zhao Tai frowned slightly, then patted several generals on the shoulders, "We just went through the war last year, and the cabinet has some considerations. Don't be discouraged. I will work with you to find a way. I will definitely be able to come up with a strategy to deal with the Mongolian cavalry." !”
Li Fen said angrily: "Your Majesty, the problem now is that Hebei is a flat plain with no danger to defend. From the Taihang Mountains to the Bohai Sea, the battle line is as wide as 800 miles. With our military strength, we simply cannot prevent the Mongolian cavalry from penetrating southward!"
Zhao Tai frowned slightly. He glanced at everyone, and suddenly saw a man standing in the corner who hesitated to speak. He couldn't help but ask: "Zhang Wanhu, you have been in Hebei for a long time, do you have any strategy?"
When Zhang Rou saw Zhao Tai's roll call, she could only clasp her fists and say: "Your Majesty, I do have a plan!"
"Oh? Tell me quickly!" Zhao Tai encouraged quickly.
Zhang Judao: "I thought we could learn from the Northern Song Dynasty's strategy of defending the Liao Kingdom and use water instead of troops!"
"Leading troops with water?" Zhao Tai was a little confused.
Li Fen sneered, "What can we learn from Song Jun's strategy?"
Many Qi generals sneered at learning from the Song Army, and they obviously looked down upon the Song Army.
It’s not their fault. It’s hard for them not to think that the Qi army defeated 300,000 Song troops in a battle last year.
Zhao Tai waved his hand to silence the generals, "Zhang Wanhu, please tell me more specifically!"
Zhang Judao: "Your Majesty, you are using the rivers in Hebei to restrict the movement of cavalry. In the Northern Song Dynasty, in Hebei, they used rivers and canals to establish a three-horizontal and two-vertical defense system, dividing the Hebei plain into blocks, and successfully resisted Liao soldiers' attacks many times. .”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Tai immediately walked to the sand table and squinted to watch.
Hebei, Xianzhou.
Zhao Taigang signed a peace agreement with the Southern Song Dynasty and mobilized 30,000 soldiers and horses to enter Hebei.
Under the attack of the Mongolian cavalry, the spring plowing in Xiongzhou, Mozhou, Anzhou, Qingzhou, Hejian, Dingzhou and other places controlled by Zhao Tai suffered serious damage. If Zhao Tai does not send troops, he is afraid that Cangzhou, Xianzhou, Jingzhou and other places in the south will Spring plowing will also be affected in prefectures, Zhending, Daming and other prefectures and counties.
As a result, millions of people will have no livelihood, which will directly lead to 30% of Qi's population falling into famine, which will be a huge burden for Qi.
At the same time, a famine in Zhao Tai's land in Hebei will also make the people of Hebei and the northern princes lose confidence in Qi, and no one will easily join Zhao Tai.
At this time, outside Xianzhou City, a group of cavalry was galloping. Zhao Tai and the generals galloped to a high hill, then reined in their horses and stood stationed.
】
Zhao Tai stood on a high hill and looked down. A river was winding in front of him, like a jade belt, passing through the fields on both sides.
"Your Majesty, this is the Hutuo River." Zhang Rou pointed with a whip.
Zhang Rou was captured by Zhao Tai for a while. At first, he was unwilling to join Zhao Tai until Zhao Tai broke through the Mongolian and Song Dynasty's siege and slept with his daughter, who had just turned eighteen and was as beautiful as a jade.
Zhao Tai followed Zhang Rou's gaze and asked, "Where does this start and where does it go?"
Zhang Judao: "Your Majesty, the Hutuo River originates from the east of Hebei. It is thousands of miles long and crosses Hebei from west to east. The Mongolian Qingqi failed to penetrate deep into southern Hebei, and this river has a share of the credit."
The Mongolian cavalry was plundering Hebei. Zhao Tai asked the generals for advice, but no one could come up with a good strategy.
At this time, Zhang Rou made a suggestion to Zhao Tai, which was to draw on the experience of the Northern Song Dynasty, wait for the troops with water, and use the fortifications built in the Northern Song Dynasty to resist the harassment of the Mongolian cavalry.
The core of Qi's regime are mainly people from Henan and Shandong, and they don't know much about the situation in Hebei.
At this time, Zhao Tai's role in wooing the big families in Hebei through marriage became apparent.
Zhang Rou and others understand the geography of Hebei's mountains and rivers, the direction of rivers, and the history of Hebei and its network, so they can propose feasible strategies for Zhao Tai.
Zhao Tai turned to look at Wang Bin, "What do you think, sir?"
Wang Bin said: "The rivers in Hebei are frozen in winter and thaw in spring. If we can use the rivers in Hebei to resist the Mongolian cavalry in spring, summer and autumn, restrict their activities in Hebei, and allow the people to complete spring plowing and autumn harvest. When the Mongolian army crosses the river on the ice in winter, Bringing the people into the city or letting them build forts before the river freezes is indeed a solution to deal with the Mongolian cavalry. Of course, if we want to completely solve the problem, we still have to drive the Mongolian army out of Hebei and rely on the Great Wall and Yanyun The high mountains blocked the Mongolian cavalry from Hebei."
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "The Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun is located in a strategic location and is heavily guarded by Mongolian troops. Wo Kuotai will not give up easily, for fear that he will not be able to take it down in a short time."
Wang Wentong said: "Your Majesty, the farming in Shandong and Hebei was affected by the war last year, and the harvests of the people in the two places dropped sharply. If the harvest cannot be guaranteed this year, even if we occupy Huainan, there will be insufficient food. Now, the Mongolian plunder has affected Hebei. The livelihoods of 1.3 million people in the seven states in the middle are destroyed. If southern Hebei is also destroyed, the national treasury will not be able to provide so much money for food relief!"
After listening to Wang Wentong's words, Zhao Tai knew that the cabinet did not support Qi's army in launching a new war.
After all, there was a big war last year and Qi's reserves were exhausted.
If it were not for taking Huainan and seizing a lot of money and grain, Qi would have gone bankrupt long ago.
Now the cabinet has determined that more than one million people have missed the spring plowing, and Qi must raise money and food to ensure the survival of these people.
At this time, the Qi army was launching a war. First of all, Qi State had to prepare military rations, and secondly, it had to recruit civilians to transport the grain. This would affect production, and Qi State's finances simply could not bear it.
Zhao Tai muttered for a while, raised his whip and pointed at Hutuo River, "Zhang Rou, listen to the order!"
Zhang Rou immediately clasped her fists and said, "I'm here!"
Zhao Tai said: "King Gu has appointed you as the defense envoy of the Hutuo River, giving you the power to control and mobilize the troops stationed in the counties and counties along the river. You know better than Gu about where the Hutuo River is shallow and where it is suitable to cross. I don't want to see Mongolian cavalry. Cross this river and invade southern Hebei!"
Zhang Rou was overjoyed when she heard this. She immediately clasped her fists and said, "I accept my order in this humble position!"
At this time, Zhao Tai once again overlooked the Hutuo River and the land on both sides, and already had a plan in mind to resist the Mongolian cavalry.
"Go back to the city!" Zhao Tai immediately pulled out the horse's reins and led everyone back to Xianzhou City.
