On the Yangtze River, the Song fleet was slowly moving up the river, with a length of more than two hundred miles from end to end, making it a spectacular sight.
But Jia Sidao's main battleship has been changed.
When he arrived in Huzhou, his warship was too big and heavy and ran aground in a weir. The commander-in-chief Liu Shiyong personally led more than a thousand people to pull it in the water, but it couldn't be pulled. Jia Sidao had to change to another ship.
ship.
This incident is obviously unlucky, but it also illustrates many problems from the side, such as the disrepair of the canal's water conservancy and the decline of the navy's sailing skills.
It wasn't until more than ten days after leaving Huzhou that Jia Sidao's mood recovered slightly.
When they arrived in Anqing, Xia Gui, who was then the envoy along the Yangtze River and the Sichuan policy envoy, arrived with his troops. Jia Sidao then invited him to board the main ship and hold a meeting to discuss matters.
This warship is also large and only shakes slightly.
The large cabin is covered with thick soft blankets, and you can't feel that you are on a ship when you are in it.
"The last general has seen Duke Ping Zhang!"
Xia Gui was about to salute as soon as he boarded the ship. Jia Sidao quickly stepped forward to support him, looked at Xia Gui for a long time, and asked, "Xia Qi'er can still fight?"
But he was unusually calm and said: "In these years, Zhang Hongji and I have been working together on our smuggling from the north. I don't believe that Zhang Hongji didn't leave any backup when he was taken away from Baozhou."
Liao Yingzhong spoke for a while, then pointed to the west and continued: "After taking Kuizhou, Yun'an Army..."
Jia Sidao was pleased and emotional.
Dong Wenyong went to Gaocheng, but failed to recruit Gaocheng as expected. Instead, he was injured. As a result, before he could recover from his injuries, he heard that the Dong family was beheaded in Yanjing. He was obviously injured.
A huge blow.
"This is Baidi City. It is located in the middle of the river. It looks to Kuimen in the east and Yong'an City in the west. It has been an important place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack since ancient times. When Yu Jie was in office, Baidi City was added to make it a Sichuan city.
One of the eight east pillars..."
The problem is that the Mongolian army still went down the river, but the Song army went upstream.
Dong Wen's eyes darkened and he said slowly: "He is waiting for... Zhang Hongfan."
~~
It's November soon, and it's snowing heavily in the north.
In fact, in the Song Dynasty today, there are not many generals available.
"yes."
Liao Yingzhong said: "Marshal Xia, don't be impatient, just listen to me."
The wrinkles on Xia Gui's face deepened, thinking that he hadn't even reached Wanzhou yet, and behind Wanzhou there were Zhongzhou and Fuzhou.
After hearing this, Jia Sidao took out a wine bag from his arms and took a sip, as if everything had nothing to do with him.
"Don't worry, Mr. Pingzhang, the last general still has some strength." Xia Gui's voice was as loud as a bell, and it was hard for people to believe that he was already a seventy-year-old veteran.
He only realized a problem today. The news of the attack on Kuimen recently came, and the people of the Song Dynasty were excited. It seemed that the recovery of Sichuan and Shu was just around the corner. But there were some deeper problems that Jia Sidao obviously did not mention before.
"Because it is an isolated island in the middle of the river, it can be besieged."
Under his command were Zheng Yunbiao of Shunping Ten Thousand Households, Di Pei of Ten Thousand Households of Xingtang Dynasty, Zhang Hongqing of Shuntian Xuanquan Ten Thousand Households, etc.
Zhang Hongdao listened to this voice and sighed, pretending that he did not hear Dong Wenyong's murderous intention, and said: "Yes, as far as the Yuan army is concerned, the most suitable candidate for guarding Baozhou is Zhang Hongfan, not Wu Gu Dai. No more delay.
Go down and Zhang Hongfan will be here."
"Zheng Yunbiao and Zhang Hongfan have been close friends since childhood; the Di family has a personal enmity with me, and it was the Di family that I framed back then; as for my eleventh brother, he has been a hostage in Mengting since he was a child, but maybe we can give it a try..."
If possible, he certainly wouldn't want to storm the city built by his father.
The leader of the Yuan army was Wu Gudai, the king of Hejian in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
Jia Sidao spoke first and said, "Tell Marshal Xia about the war situation in Sichuan and Shu."
While I was deep in thought, someone suddenly made an announcement outside the tent.
After Li Xia persuaded Xingzhou to surrender, the Yuan army gave up its counterattack on Zhending Mansion, and then decisively abandoned Gaocheng and retreated directly to Baozhou.
"Handsome."
"This is the Yangtze River. After our navy recaptured Jiangling, it marched westward along the Yangtze River and passed through the Xiling Gorge, Wu Gorge, and Qutang Gorge. This was the most difficult section of the road."
Baozhou was originally the city he was most confident of winning, but because of the Zhang family's relationship, Kublai Khan was most on guard against Baozhou.
"Secondly, do you know what Wu Gudai is waiting for if he can't come out?"
Liao Yingzhong immediately began to arrange his soldiers to spread out the map.
It can be said that since the Tang army conquered Luoyang, it has hardly fought a few tough battles, and has continuously recovered a large number of cities in Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, etc. While the baggage line was stretched, some cities also needed to be divided and garrisoned.
Including the Yuan army in Shanxi, Ahema retreated to Taiyuan, ready to return to Baozhou at any time.
Originally there were many, but to kill and to escape, now we still have to use veterans like Xia Gui.
He pointed again to the west of Qutang Pass.
After greetings, everyone took their seats.
In this way, he could appease people's hearts in the winter and wait for the spring to directly attack Yanjing City, which had lost its barrier.
The initial enthusiasm was inevitably diminished.
Along the way, there were hundreds of people in this small pass and one or two thousand people in that big city. The Tang army had already deployed the minimum number of troops, but how long would it take to fight like this?
This made him feel the pain of the Mongolian army being trapped in the defense network of the mountain city in central Sichuan.
"You say it's difficult, but it's harder for Li Xia than for us. Let me tell you, Kublai Khan hasn't taken full action yet just to wait for Li Xia to open up the baggage line and then drag him to death. Therefore, our chances of winning will become more and more important.
big……"
Li Xia's strategic plan is to capture Baozhou before the Chinese New Year.
Coupled with the cold weather, many soldiers from the south were not used to it, and the offensive finally began to slow down.
"There is no chance of victory in a forceful attack. The Yuan army has been conserving its strength, but our army has many soldiers from Sichuan and Shu who cannot withstand the severe cold. Baozhou should be defeated wisely."
On the seventh day of November, Zhang Hongdao stationed troops on the south bank of the Tang River to confront the Yuan army.
Liao Yingzhong clicked on the west side of Qutang Gorge and said: "This is Qutang Pass. Qutang Pass is Kuimen. Our army has captured Kuimen. Speaking of the Battle of Kuimen, the Tang army deployed five hundred troops in Qutang Pass.
Elite troops, and two artillery pieces were installed to sink us..."
Liao Yingzhong hesitated slightly and did not answer immediately. Instead, she waited for the map to be laid out before giving instructions to the generals.
"Yes, in this current situation, the sooner we can capture Yanjing, the better." Dong Wenyong said: "I can see that you are in a hurry."
"yes."
It stands to reason that Dong Wenyong would be easily impulsive when talking about Zhang Hongfan like this.
"Marshal Xia is right, Kuizhou is difficult to conquer, so we hope to recruit its defender Zhang Qiyan and deputy general Zhang Wan. These two are Yu Jie's old troops, and may be loyal to the Song Dynasty."
"You mean, there are insiders in Baozhou City who can switch sides?"
Dong Wenyong turned to look at the wind and snow in the north and said: "There must be, but now the armies are facing each other, and it is difficult to contact the other party."
Liao Yingzhong moved her finger a little further to the west and said: "This is Kuizhou City. The Kuizhou administrative seat was originally moved to Baidi City, but after Li Xia became the commander-in-chief of Shu, he moved the administrative seat back to Fengjie County. The strength of the Tang army in Kuizhou City
Not many, less than two thousand people."
In his words, there is no one more suitable to conquer Baozhou than Zhang Hongdao.
Xia Gui was surprised and asked: "You mean, Baidi City hasn't been captured yet?"
Ugudai was the grandson of Kuolejian, the sixth son of Genghis Khan. He may not have been very good at fighting, but he commanded the army in the name of the clan king mainly to coordinate the various troops.
"Pingzhang Gong." Xia Gui finally sighed: "This battle is harder than the general expected."
Zhang Hongdao originally intended to attack by force, but Dong Wenyong persuaded him to stop him.
But what he didn't expect was that he held on to his strength and insisted on returning to Zhang Hongdao's army.
Liao Yingzhong nodded lightly and said: "But Kuimen has been captured. The Tang army deployed 800 elite troops in Baidi City. Our army took it by surprise and regardless of casualties, used warships to block its waterway to support Qutang Pass. Therefore,
Successfully captured Kuimen."
To recover the terrain in Sichuan and Sichuan, the best route for the Song Army is to take the waterway to attack Chongqing, and then take the waterway to Chengdu.
"Is it possible for these generals under Wu Gu to persuade them to surrender?" Dong Wenyong asked again: "If we can send someone over, we might be able to find out."
Kublai Khan's intention was already obvious: to withdraw his troops, use Baozhou as a buffer, hold Yanjing, wear down Li Xia, and then wait for the counterattack.
"There are not many troops." Xia Gui said: "But do you know how many times Kuizhou City has defeated the Mongolian army?"
"Baidi City and Qutang Pass are separated by less than half a river. After capturing Kuimen, our army has been attacking the city for at least a month. An isolated island in the middle of the river has not been captured yet?"
Xia Gui then asked: "I heard that our army has captured Kuimen. Can Kuizhou City be captured?"
Zhang Hongdao lowered his head and pondered.
Recently, Li Xia was busy appeasing the newly attached cities and preparing the supplies after winter, so he gave Zhang Hongdao full authority over the battle of Baozhou.
Zhang Hongdao's heart tightened slightly when he heard about the soldiers from Sichuan and Shu. He also thought about the news about the fall of Kuimen. However, this matter is still hidden from the soldiers. He did not say more about it. He just said: "I also know the truth, but the guarantee
The state should be moved sooner rather than later. For one thing, the Yuan army wants to delay, but our army needs to capture it quickly."
"I know all this." Xia Gui said, "I'm asking, has Kuizhou been captured?"
"If it's not difficult to fight, why should I go out in person?" Jia Sidao asked back, stood up, patted Xia Gui on the shoulder, and said, "This is the only chance."
"What's wrong?"
"There is a secret message for you. It was sent in with an arrow."
Zhang Hongdao took it and took a look and was very surprised.
He subconsciously glanced north and murmured: "How could it be?"