Zhao Tai learned that Wuxian was trapped and understood Wokuotai's intentions, but did not rush to rescue.
Zhao Tai decided to build a city on the upper reaches of the Nanyi River, so that his troops would be besieged by the Mongols.
"Gu know!" Zhao Tai just nodded, "Gu sent artillery to Wuxian. Even if Wokuotai comes personally, there is nothing he can do about it for a while."
After Zhao Tai finished speaking, he rolled up his trouser legs and went to the field to continue planting rice.
Wo Kuotai led his troops. Deep down in his heart, Zhao Tai actually wanted to lead his troops to fight Wo Kuotai immediately.
If the Qi army can defeat Wo Kuotai, then he can take advantage of the situation to drive the Mongolian army out of Hebei and even capture Hedong.
However, Zhao Tai is still facing the same old problem now, that is, the treasury is empty, millions of people have missed spring plowing, and the treasury has no money and food to support him in a decisive battle with Ogedai.
Moreover, the world is divided into three parts, and Zhao Tai is sandwiched between Mongolia and Song Dynasty. Zhen and Wo Kuotai have a decisive battle. The war may not only be between Meng and Qi. Zhao Tai must save some money to deal with special circumstances.
Now Zhao Tai can only let Wu Xian stick to the city and buy time for Qi to resume production.
When Wokuotai's army besieged Wuxian, Zhao Tai led the army and civilians to continue to expel the Mongolian cavalry to the west. He dug and dredged canals and canals connecting the Nanyishui River and the Hutuo River, and used these water conservancy works to divide the Hebei Plain vertically. , and clear out the Mongolian Rangers in the divided land one by one.
By the beginning of April, the Qi army reached the upper reaches of the Nanyi River and dug a canal connecting its tributary Tang River to the Hutuo River.
In this way, even if the Mongolian army rode upstream from the Nanyi River and entered the territory of Qi, they would be blocked by the Hutuo River to the south and the Tang River and canals distributed vertically to the east.
When Zhao Tai was expelling the Mongolian cavalry to the west, the Qi army and civilians starting from Zhending also established a defense line at Sushui.
At this time, except for Dingzhou and Baozhou, other states and counties controlled by the Qi army were protected by Qi's two horizontal and three vertical water networks, so the people could produce with peace of mind.
Zhao Tai immediately ordered the people in various states and counties to actively carry out farming, and at the same time dispatched the Qi army to eliminate the Mongolian rangers who had slipped through the network in various states and counties.
South of the Hutuo River, the last 200-man Mongolian cavalry was forced into the "Ji" bend of the river and fell into a desperate situation. It was defeated by the Qi army.
In several states in central Hebei, the Mongolian Rangers were forced to retreat to Baozhou to join the main force of the Mongolian army.
In May, the Mongolian army continued to surround Wuxian, while the Qi army was stationed outside Baozhou to prevent the Mongolian army from interfering with the production of Qizhou County. They intended to control the war within Baozhou and were unwilling to engage in a decisive battle.
Outside Langshan City, the Mongolian army set up a company camp outside the city and surrounded Wuxian.
At this time, if it was just to bring the plundering cavalry into Qi territory back to Mongolia, Wokuotai's goal had been completed.
In the Mongolian army commander's tent, many Mongolian generals gathered to discuss the military situation.
Wo Kuotai looked at the sand table, frowned and asked, "Isn't that guy Zhao Tai still moving?"
The Mongolian army besieged Wuxian, and Wo Kuotai waited for Zhao Tai to respond, but Zhao Tai seemed to have no intention of rescuing Wuxian.
Yang Weizhong said: "Reporting to the Great Khan, after Zhao Taina drove our rangers to Baozhou, there was no next move."
Ogedei stared at the map, "What has he been doing recently?"
Yang Weizhong said: "Zhao Tainao recently visited Xiongzhou, Bazhou, Qingzhou and other places to encourage people in each state to farm. In addition, he also met with scholars from Hebei in Xiongzhou and said that Qi State would open schools to recruit scholars in the autumn, so that Hebei Scholars should study more and strive to gain fame in the exams!"
After hearing this, Ogedai's face turned ugly, "So, the impact of Ben Khan's cavalry plundering has been eliminated by Zhao Tai?"
Yang Weizhong said: "Our cavalry has plundered for several months and indeed caused a lot of damage. Now Zhao Tai is transforming the land in Hebei, turning dry land into paddy fields, and planting a lot of rice. However, Hebei is no better than the south, and the water resources are not as good." The only land that is sufficient and can be transformed is the area close to rivers with abundant water flow. Therefore, our plundering of Qi State must have had an impact."
Hearing this, Wokuotai's face looked better, "Then what do you think Zhao Tai means now?"
Yang Weizhong said: "Reporting to the Great Khan, according to the information received by the Police Patrol Department, Zhao Tai may be waiting for the autumn harvest! The war last year affected the autumn harvest of Qi State. This year, Zhao Tai must protect the harvests in various parts of Qi State. Therefore, I think Zhao Tai definitely wants to wait until the autumn harvest before launching a counterattack."
Ogedai pondered for a while and sneered: "I will not give him this opportunity."
Wo Kuotai walked to the map, glanced at it, and asked in a deep voice: "How do you think this Khan should continue to destroy Hebei and leave Zhao Tai with nothing to gain?"
Yang Weizhong said: "Great Khan, the Qi army is now using the river network to prevent our cavalry from going deep into Hebei to plunder. If a small group of cavalry is sent, not only will it be difficult to break through the Qi army's defense line, but the Qi army will also use the river network to divide the land of Hebei into small After the block, the range of activities of our cavalry was greatly restricted, making it easy for the cavalry to be surrounded and annihilated by the Qi army. Now that the Great Khan wants to destroy Hebei, the previous strategy of sending out cavalry in all directions is no longer feasible, and a large army must be sent!"
Hearing this, Wokuotai's eyes fell on Wuxian's position and said solemnly: "If I lead the army south, Wuxian will be able to cut off my retreat. It seems that I need to attack Wuxian first no matter what!"
After Wokuotai crossed the Nanyishui River and surrounded Wuxian, the cavalry active in Qi State came one after another to join the main force of the Mongolian army.
During the more than two months when Wokuotai besieged Wuxian, the Mongolian army launched multiple attacks on Wuxian and basically figured out the defenses of Langshan and Dong'an. However, Wokuotai was not determined to capture the two cities. city.
Now that Zhao Tai is continuing his strength, if Qi is allowed to complete the autumn harvest, Qi will threaten Youzhou in turn.
If Qi occupied Youzhou and drove the Mongolian army out of Hebei, then even if the Western Expeditionary Army returned, it would not be easy for Mongolia to destroy Zhao Tai.
On the contrary, if Mongolia keeps Youzhou and creates a gap in Qi's Great Water Wall, then when the Western Expeditionary Army returns, the Mongolian army can directly push Qi's army back to Shandong and even destroy Qi in one fell swoop.
Thinking of this, Wo Kuotai said in a deep voice: "Send the order, let the cavalry arrest the nearby people, and then drive them to pile soil under Dong'an City, and pile the soil all the way to the city."
In the recent attack, the Mongolian army discovered that the Qi army's artillery had a long range and was very powerful. As a result, the Mongolian army's siege equipment was destroyed by the artillery on the road before it even got close to the city wall.
If the Mongolian army wanted to break through the Qi army's city, large equipment would only become a target, and the Mongolian army could only attack the city with simple siege ladders. As a result, the Mongolian army would inevitably suffer heavy casualties.
Now Wo Kuotai is very concerned about the losses of the Mongolian army. Even the servant army is not willing to spend money at will, so he wants to capture the people of Qi to serve as cannon fodder for the siege.
