Naturally, the large-scale mobilization of troops by Mongolia and the Southern Song Dynasty could not be hidden from Zhao Tai's eyes.
Seeing that winter was coming soon, everyone in Qi became anxious.
At this time, Zhao Tairen was not in Yecheng, but staying in Haizhou, watching the shipyard building gunboats and training the navy soldiers.
On the East China Sea, Zhao Tai rode a gunboat and rode the wind and waves on the sea.
At this time, Wang Bin appeared behind Zhao Tai and said worriedly: "Your Majesty, Mongolia has mobilized troops to the north bank of the Huaihe River. The Southern Song Dynasty transferred the Mongolian Communists to Huangzhou and deployed the imperial army on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Now they are waiting for winter, and they should attack us. Take action."
Zhao Tai smiled and said, "Why, sir, are you anxious?"
Wang Bin said: "How can I not be anxious!"
"Indeed, if it were just Mongolia, I would not be afraid of him." Zhao Tai said: "If we add the Southern Song Dynasty, Huainan will indeed be in crisis."
After the winter in Mongolia last year, they attacked Qi State and caused some damage to Qi State, but it did not shake the foundation of Qi State.
This year the Mongolian army once again crossed the river on the ice. The Qi State was more prepared than last year, and the losses after the Battle of Langshan have been gradually recovered, so there is no need to fear the Mongolian cavalry.
Mongolia realized this and decided to bring the Southern Song Dynasty together.
The addition of the Southern Song Dynasty will inevitably change the balance of strength.
The Mongolian army was powerful in field battles, and the Southern Song Dynasty had good attack capabilities.
Last year's Mongolian invasion did not achieve much results, mainly because the Mongolian army lacked the ability to attack difficult positions.
If Mongolia and Song Dynasty jointly attack Huainan, it will definitely cause great trouble and losses to Qi.
Wang Bin said: "Your Majesty is well aware of the threat of the Meng-Qi alliance, but has not made any more deployments in Huainan. I think your Majesty has only paid attention to the navy recently. Could it be that he wants to sneak attack the Southern Song Dynasty with the navy."
Zhao Tai was noncommittal, "Sir, do you think a sneak attack is possible?"
Wang Bin pondered for a moment, "I feel that a sneak attack may not solve the problem."
Zhao Tai asked: "Why?"
Wang Bin thought deeply: "It is still uncertain whether the Southern Song Dynasty will send troops. If we launch a surprise attack, we will take the initiative to tear up the peace agreement and completely force the Southern Song Dynasty towards Mongolia."
Zhao Tai nodded slightly, "Sir, continue."
Wang Bin continued: "There are also gunboats in the Southern Song Dynasty now. Although they are not as numerous as us, it is almost impossible for us to achieve the results of the Pizhou battle. As long as the surprise attack cannot cause fatal losses to the Song army, we will They will be completely trapped in a situation where they are attacked by Meng and Song."
Zhao Tai stroked his beard and said, "Sir, what you said makes sense. If we want to make a surprise attack, we must have a fatal blow, otherwise we will be very passive."
Wang Bin asked: "What does the king mean?"
Zhao Tai smiled slightly and asked, "What day is today?"
Wang Bin said: "Today is the eighth day of October."
Zhao Tai calculated the time and said in a deep voice: "So in more than a month, the north will freeze again."
Wang Bin said: "Yes! Once it freezes, the Mongolian cavalry will attack!"
Zhao Tai nodded, "In that case, it's time for Gu to take action. Sir, please ask the Ministry of Rites to send a team of envoys to the Southern Song Dynasty. Tell King Gu to invite the Emperor of the Song Dynasty to come to the mouth of the Yangtze River to watch our Qi Navy conduct water warfare exercises." .”
Wang Bin instantly understood Zhao Tai's intention, "It turns out that the king wanted to use the navy to deter the Southern Song Dynasty!"
Zhao Tai said: "Yes, it is to deter them so that they dare not take action."
Wang Bin said: "What if Zhao Yun doesn't dare to come?"
Zhao Tai smiled and said: "If he doesn't come, he will send ministers to observe."
Wang Bin saluted, "I understand."
At that moment, Zhao Tai called Lu Wende and asked, "Wende, how many days does it take for the navy to get from Donghai Island to the mouth of the Yangtze River?"
Lu Wende made an estimate in his mind, "Six days is enough."
Zhao Tai turned to Wang Bin and said: "Tell the Southern Song Dynasty that the lonely king will conduct exercises on the 25th."
~~~~~~
Nine days later, the Qi envoy arrived in Lin'an by sea and conveyed Zhao Tai's invitation.
In the Lin'an Palace, Zhao Yun felt a little confused after receiving the invitation. He summoned the ministers to ask, "The King of Qi invited me to the mouth of the Yangtze River to watch the Qi Navy's drills. My dear friends, what do you think the King of Qi means?"
Ding Daquan said: "This must be because the Qi State saw us mobilizing troops and was worried that we would join forces with Mongolia to attack Huainan, so it wanted to use the navy to drill to scare the Song Dynasty."
When Zhao Yun heard this, he couldn't help but became furious, "Zhao Tai really bullied me too much! Doesn't he know that I, the Song Dynasty, also have gunboats? Why does he think that I will be intimidated by him?"
Zhao Yun was annoyed. He felt Zhao Tai's contempt for him and felt that Zhao Tai looked down on him, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty.
Ding Daquan said: "Your Majesty, the Qi State is indeed arrogant. I thought we could also send the gunboats to the mouth of the Yangtze River to let Qi State know the strength of our Song Dynasty."
Compared with the Qi State, the most obvious advantage of the Southern Song Dynasty was its large population and size.
Under this advantage, Qi State was still making artillery, while the Southern Song Dynasty could use its scale advantage to catch up with Qi State in a very short period of time.
After hearing this, Zhao Yun was a little tempted. He wanted to feel proud, but he was worried about his own safety.
Zhao Yun thought for a moment and thought about Zhao Tai's contempt for him. He finally stood up and said loudly: "Okay, let's drive the gunboat over. I want Zhao Tai to see the power of my Song Dynasty Navy."
After Zhao Yun's decision, the Southern Song Dynasty immediately mobilized troops to deploy defenses at the mouth of the Yangtze River to ensure that Zhao Yun, who was observing the military exercise, would not be attacked by the Qi army.
On the 24th, the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty arrived in advance, and Zhao Yun rested for a night in Jiangyin. On the 25th, Zhao Yun arrived at the edge of the Yangtze River and boarded the viewing platform built by the Song army.
At this time, on the river, Qi's fleet had not yet arrived, and twenty gunboats from the Southern Song Dynasty were sailing on the river.
The Song Army's gunboat fired at the target ship. The sound of cannons rumbled and smoke filled the river.
This was the first time that Zhao Yun saw a gunboat shooting at targets, and he was immediately shocked by the scene in front of him.
"This is my Great Song Dynasty Navy!" Zhao Yun's face flushed and he was very excited.
Jia Sidao smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this is the Navy of the Song Dynasty."
Zhao Yun looked at him approvingly, "Sidao, I didn't misjudge you, you did a good job!"
At this time, Zhao Yun watched for a while, then suddenly looked up and found that the sun had reached the zenith. He couldn't help but wonder: "Why hasn't the navy of Qi Army arrived yet?"
Ding Daquan smiled and said: "Maybe they heard my Song Dynasty Navy firing cannons, which frightened them so much that they didn't dare to come over."
Although Jia Sidao believed that the Song Navy was developing rapidly, he knew clearly that even if the Qi Army did not increase a single gunboat in the past two years, the number of gunboats in the Song Navy had only caught up with the Qi Army's level two years ago.
"It should be there soon!" Jia Sidao looked far away at the river.
At this moment, in the direction of the Yangtze River estuary, a large black spot was seen going upstream, and the Qi navy warships finally appeared in the sight of the Southern Song Dynasty monarchs and ministers.
