In the lobby of Prince Qin's Mansion, an important piece of information had just been unfolded.
"Kublai Khan has changed the name of his country; Brother Alibaba gave up Harah and Lin and turned to attack Aruhu..."
After hearing this, Li Xia moved the war chess placed at Hala and Lin on the map to the west.
But after thinking about it, he suddenly stopped and asked Hao Tianyi and Dong Wenyong in the hall: "In the eyes of ordinary people, does the capital city of Hara and Lin have great significance?"
Hao Tianyi said: "The Mongol people live in grassy areas, and although they worship the capital,...how to put it, it is definitely not as important as Kaifeng to the Song people."
"The people of Song Dynasty lost Kaifeng, but their country was not destroyed yet." Dong Wenyong sarcastically said.
Li Xia then looked at Hu Legen, whom he had specially summoned, and asked, "What do you think?"
Hu Legen scratched his head, thought for a while, and replied: "In the eyes of the Mongols, the Great Khan is not the one who occupied Hara and Lin City, but the one who defeated the enemy."
"Good summary."
Li Xia complimented Hu Legen casually, and understood why Brother Ali gave up Hala and Lin directly.
Stealing troops, money and food are more important than occupying Hara and Lin.
Combined with the information about the Western Regions he heard from Yelu Xiliang last year, he could already deduce the general direction of the battle for the Mongolian Khanate.
To put it simply, Ali Buge first sent Aruhu, who supported him, to inherit the Chagatai Khanate, and then ordered Aruhu to recruit soldiers, horses, money and food from the Chagatai Khanate for him to fight against Kublai Khan.
At that time, Li Xia only heard that Aru was able to raise an army of 150,000 and was sure that this person would never surrender to Brother Ali. Now this situation can be said to have been expected.
What to do next?
We need to create more trouble for Kublai Khan, and we can't let him destroy Brother Alibaba too easily.
To say they are looking for trouble is nothing more than to send troops.
The problem is that after a whole year of fighting last year, Sichuan and Shaanxi are also exhausted.
If we squeeze out money, food and troops, one or two small battles can be sustained, but it also depends on the strength of the Mongolian army.
For example, if he sends 10,000 to 20,000 men to fight a small group of Mongolian troops, capture a few cities, and then divide his troops to defend them, this is the limit that Li Xia can currently achieve.
But if he encounters a large force of Mongolian troops and blocks his 20,000 or 20,000 elite soldiers outside the defense line, unable to return, and the food and grass are cut off, the entire army is wiped out. The Mongolian army comes again and the troops on the defense line are stretched thin, then it is impossible to counterattack.
Got into big trouble.
There are only two directions that can be attacked now, Xingqing Prefecture and Yan'an Prefecture.
These two places are far away from the Central Plains and are also far away from the core area where Kublai Khan's troops are concentrated.
If you think about it this way, you will find that the troops in the Central Plains composed of the Han army, the Semu people, and the Qingxue army were already far more threatening to Li Xia than the Mongolian army in the desert.
This is not only a question of whether the Mongolian army's combat effectiveness has declined.
But as the Mongolian army continued to march westward, the Mongolian territory continued to expand, and the struggle for the throne of Khan continued, due to various reasons, there were not enough Mongolian troops to garrison in the Xixia hometown.
Of course there is still a terrifying Mongolian army in the west, but whether it is Aruhu, Alibuge, or even Hulagu, at least they have not set their sights on Li Xia yet.
Li Xia hoped not to be noticed by these people, and did not intend to contact Ali Bu Ge to join forces to attack Kublai Khan.
He felt that once Brother Alibu noticed him, it was very likely that instead of sending people to join the alliance, he would send troops to rush into Guanzhong to rob him, and then implement the strategy of "compensating the Song Dynasty".
This idea sounds absurd. But in fact, this is what the Jin State did to the Song State back then.
And at this moment, Brother Alibu is doing this to Aruhu.
Sometimes it's hard to imagine why the other party is so irrational? But that's the case with barbarians who only believe in killing.
A beast will not ally with people in order to defeat another beast. It will only eat people clean and wipe them clean to increase its strength.
Li Xia was even a little worried that Kublai Khan might let go of Xingqing Mansion's frontline troops and attract Brother Ali to tackle the key problem.
Thinking about it this way, it would be better to capture Xingqing Mansion and hold the Helan Mountain defense line in your own hands.
"Xingqing Mansion."
While muttering softly, Li Xia clicked on Xingqing Mansion on the map to see where Mongolia could send troops to support Xingqing Mansion.
There is only Jiuyuan City in Hetao, which is where Genghis Khan named "Baotou".
Li Xia frowned slightly, looked at Hao Tianyi, and asked, "Are you sure that He Dan has been stationed in Jiuyuan City with 50,000 soldiers and horses?"
"Your Majesty, I'm sure. Hao Tianting told others that 'Zong Wang Hedanshang has led 50,000 troops and is stationed in Jiuyuan'."
Hao Tianyi cupped his hand, feeling faintly happy.
He felt that the news he brought back was a meritorious service.
But the next moment Li Xia said: "According to my latest information, when the Battle of Guanzhong ended in March, Hedan had already led his troops north to support Brother Yixiang in attacking Hala and Lin."
This is still the information sent by Zhang Hongji.
It's not that He Dan only went north in the past two months, but that he has never been stationed in Jiuyuan City, which is inconsistent with Hao Tianyi's information.
Hao Tianyi was stunned and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, I definitely heard you right."
He defected to Li Xia from Taiyuan and brought a lot of very confidential and useful information. For example, it was very easy for Kublai Khan to confront Ali Bu Ge. Aru Ku sent envoys to see Kublai Khan many times, and it was very likely that they would join forces to attack Ali Bu Ge.
.
This is only known because Hao Tianting is Zhenjin's personal attendant.
Zhang Hongji's intelligence came back today and proved that most of the information was correct.
The only discrepancy is the military strength of Jiuyuan City.
Dong Wenyong came out and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that one of the two pieces of information must be false, and that someone in the Yuan Dynasty deliberately released it to confuse us, to induce us to send troops, or to intimidate us so that we do not dare to send troops.
"
After he finished speaking, he turned to Lin Zi and asked, "I wonder if the Military Intelligence Department can detect the strength of Jiuyuan City's troops?"
Lin Zi shook his head and said: "It's difficult. The only way to go to Jiuyuan City is through Xingyuan or Yan'an Prefecture, and you have to cross the Yellow River. The Hetao is a vast area with few people, making it difficult for strangers to enter. Moreover, after the First World War in Guanzhong, the opposite side was heavily guarded, lest our
People sneak in."
Dong Wenyong then asked Hao Tianyi: "Do you think Hao Tianting deliberately let you get the information?"
After asking this question, Hao Tianyi hesitated, shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be so."
Just looking at this answer, Hao Tianyi seemed a little less confident compared to his seventh brother.
Of course, it is also possible that Zhang Hongji's information was false and his purpose was to attract Li Xia to send troops to encircle and annihilate them.
Li Xia thought for a while and already had a judgment in his mind, but he couldn't prove it yet.
Whether to use troops or not was a major matter, and he did not dare to order Li Zengbo to send troops to Xingqing Mansion until it was determined.
"The discussion will end here today, in the forest, Hu Legen will stay."
Before leaving, Hao Tianyi took another look at the map and put away his lack of confidence, thinking that Zhang Hongji's news should be false.
Maybe Zhang Hongji deliberately spread false news, or maybe he was deceived.
He wanted to remind Li Xia a few more words, but when he raised his eyes and saw Li Xia's calm and determined look, he took the words back and walked out honestly.
King Qin always made rational and accurate judgments, and had no suspicion at all... This was what Hao Tianyi felt for a moment, so he felt at ease.
In the hall, Li Xia watched everyone else retreat, and said to Lin Zi: "Go to Hulegen's army and recruit more people. If you want Mongolians, send additional troops to Xingqing and Jiuyuan to explore."
"Yes." Lin Zi said: "I'm just worried that the Mongols will escape after arriving in Hetao..."
"No." Hu Legen had already replied: "I only have subjects who are loyal to the king!"
Lin Zi then agreed and asked again: "Yes, then I will go to Hexi and handle this matter myself."
Li Xia nodded and said, "Go."
Because he started so quickly, various agencies, including the Military Intelligence Department, have not yet cultivated sufficiently mature middle-level talents, and many things have to be done by the chief officer himself.
But I think this situation will not last long. Li Xia has begun to set up a large number of schools and prepare for the official selection examination.
…
Over there, Lin Zi left the Qin Prince's Mansion and turned around to see a subordinate rushing over.
"Secretary."
"I'm here just in time. I have to go out on business and call Old Wu to see King Qin. If anything happens in Chang'an..."
"Secretary, something seems to have happened over there in Junzhou? Several brothers cannot be contacted."
"Where are the goods for this month? Do you still want to hand them over?"
"Hand in. It doesn't look like the smuggling was discovered. Maybe something happened to the brothers themselves?"
Hearing this answer, Lin Zi was stunned and became a little confused.
"Let's go back to the Yamen to make arrangements. Could it be that the Meng people also have a military intelligence department..."