"Yes, Your Majesty," Jia Sidao and others replied while secretly thinking that His Majesty was really generous to Lu Wende, and the reward was unexpectedly heavy.
Lu Wende was a famous general in the late Southern Song Dynasty. Throughout his life, he "strung himself among the soldiers, fought on three sides, and fought hundreds of battles." He created a series of brilliant achievements. In the process of the Song Dynasty resisting the Mongolian invasion, his role was It should not be underestimated. It can be regarded as the mainstay of the Southern Song Dynasty's fight against Mongolia. The Southern Song Dynasty court also relied heavily on it. "It was listed among the three orphans and respected as the two towns." Liu Zheng once said after the surrender of Mongolia: "The southerners only relied on one "Black Carbon Group," also shows its important position in the military of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Of course, Lu Wende also had an extremely corrupt side. He took bribes and perverted the law, excluded dissidents, and took refuge with Jia Sidao. But at least during his lifetime, he did not surrender to Mongolia. For the losses caused by setting up a forecourt, Lu Wende also felt guilty and suffered from the consequences. , died on December 10, the fifth year of Xianchun (1269).
I named Lu Wende based on the memory of later generations, so I don’t know what Jia Sidao and others were thinking.
"Shichen, Lu Aiqing, Zhao Aiqing, the three of you rest here for the night. I will talk to you in detail about the Senate in the evening. You can just return to Xiangyang tomorrow."
"Yes, I obey the order,"
"Lu Shikui, General Lu Shimeng,"
"The end will be here,"
"Now that your father is ill, I order you and the two of you to accompany the three grand masters back to Xiangyang to show your filial piety."
Lu Shikui hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the war is about to begin. As the last general of the Song Army, at this moment, do you..."
I interrupted: "Yes, you are soldiers of the Song Dynasty, but you are also sons of man. Although the war is imminent, you will not miss these few days. I will give you fifteen days of leave. Just go and come back as soon as possible."
Lu Shikui and Lu Shimeng stopped talking and kowtowed in thanks: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
Brother Lu Wende has worked hard in the Xiangyang Military Region for decades and has a high prestige in the Xiangyang Army. I asked brother Lu Shikui to return to Xiangyang to see his father for the last time in order to win people's hearts and show my virtue of benevolence and righteousness.
Of course, no one knew that Lu Wende's time had come.
In mid-November, news came from Yin Yinglei that his troops fled in all directions and finally got rid of the Yuan army's pursuit and were approaching Bianliang.
Although Yin Yinglei spoke lightly in his letter, I knew very well that the hardships involved could not be expressed in words. Just like in the 25,000-mile Long March in later generations, after Yin Yinglei's troops ran out of missiles, I The original intention of letting him establish a base was changed, and instead he was asked to join the army.
"Xiao Chen, map,"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Gongsun Xiaochen responded while unfolding the map on the wall.
"Xiu Yan, how many missiles are there in the army now?"
Tian Xiuyan said: "Back to the emperor, there are currently 18,000. According to Lin'an news, the second arsenal under the Gunpowder Supervision has started construction in early September, so the production speed is much faster."
"Okay, it's time to capture Xuchang," I pointed to the map and said, "Jiang Aiqing's troops don't have much food and grass left. Winter has arrived. We should capture Xuchang as soon as possible and open up the connection between Dengzhou and Bianliang. Xiaochen, The public will come here to discuss matters,"
A group of generals had rested here for more than a month and had long wanted to send troops to attack the Yuan army. When they heard that the emperor had held a military affairs meeting, they were all gearing up and excited.
Gongsun Xiaochen, who accompanied the army as a counselor, first introduced: "Generals, at present, our Bianliang Military Region has expanded to the strength of two armies. Although the Yuan army has sent many additional troops to Bianliang, the Yuan army that besieged Bianliang has The troops are still mainly concentrated in the south and east of the city, while the Yuan troops in the west and north are all new troops who have not been trained well. They have long been driven back by the fire of our army and stationed fifty miles away. Therefore, our Bianliang garrison can enter from the west gate. , you can come and go at will through the north gate,"
"Let's talk about Xuchang again. Judging from the information our army has, there are only more than 10,000 Yuan troops in Xuchang City. Their defender is Guo Kan, a famous general of the Yuan Dynasty. This Guo Kan is a descendant of the famous general Guo Ziyi of the previous dynasty. He is brave and has strategies. He once Expedition to the Western Regions and victory in every battle. However, our army has the advantage of artillery. It is not difficult to capture Xuchang. The only thing we need to be wary of is the attack of the Nanyang Yuan Army. Generals, please read, "
Gongsun Xiaochen pointed to the large map on the wall and continued: "Our army's scouts spent nearly two months to complete this detailed map of Henan. If the Nanyang Yuan Army wants to attack our army, it may be in Li At present, the conditions for attacking Xuchang are mature. Taking into account various circumstances, our army has formulated a preliminary plan as follows. First, General Zhang Shun, who is familiar with the route, will lead more than 6,000 people and Wanyan Tianlei. Two small artillery battalions led by the general arrived in Xuchang via Jiaxian County, north of the Changwu Army, and gathered with General Yinyinglei's troops to form the frontline troops to attack Xuchang. They were under the unified command of General Yiyinglei. In the early morning of November 27, At the same time, Wen Zhang's troops in Bianliang City, led by Fan Liangfu, went south through the west gate of Bianliang, bypassed the Yuan army besieging Bianliang, and attacked the north gate of Xuchang."
"Second, General Wu Songhan led his own troops and a brigade and a half of the Second Division of the Royal Forest Army, under the unified command of General Wu Songhan, to block the possible arrival of the Nanyang Yuan Army south of Jiaxian County. Third, General Fan Tianshun led The troops of the headquarters and the two brigades of the 3rd Division of the Yulin Army are under the unified command of General Fan Tianshun to block the possible arrival of the Nanyang Yuan Army south of Yancheng. The two armies support or coordinate with each other depending on the movements of the Nanyang Yuan Army. They mainly used muskets and thrown bombs to block the Nanyang reinforcements from reinforcing Xuchang City."
"Fourth, the rest of the troops will accompany the emperor, and Marshal Lu will be stationed in Dengzhou. The outer pine is tight and the inner is tight. If the Nanyang Yuan army does not save Xuchang and attacks Dengzhou with all its strength, our army can retreat to Dengzhou city. Fifthly, once Xuchang is captured, Then the Yinying Lei Department, a brigade of the third division of the Yulin Army, and two armies of General Fan Tianshun will be stationed in Xuchang, and the remaining units will return to their starting points. Sixth, if the Nanyang Yuan Army dispatches in large numbers and marches towards Xuchang, Our main force in Dengzhou will take the opportunity to advance eastward and attack Nanyang. The above is a draft plan for attacking Xuchang. I invite all generals to put forward their own opinions."
Wu Songhan said: "Your Majesty, generals, at present, the Nanyang army is standing still. It's not that they don't want to move, but they dare not move. As long as our army moves quickly, Xuchang will be captured before Ashu and Boyan can react." Therefore, General Zhang suggested that General Zhang Shun, who was responsible for the main attack, could sneak northward in batches before the 27th, and only operate at night, so as to achieve secrecy, while General Zhang and General Fan's troops When setting off, they each brought twenty taels of virtual artillery carts to serve as suspects, so that the Yuan army, who was afraid of artillery, would be worried."
"General Wu's suggestion is very good," Zhang Shun said. "I have received some advice from General Fan Liangfu. The food route our army used to escort military supplies last time was quite hidden. This time we will be able to reach the outside of Xuchang without anyone noticing."
Wanyan Tianlei followed: "As long as we can reach Xuchang smoothly and the artillery battalion's twenty cannons concentrate their firepower on a city gate, it should only take half an hour to blast out a passage."
,,,,,.
After more than two hours of careful calculation, I finally announced the combat plans of each army.
Starting from November 19, all the scouts in the Dengzhou military camp were dispatched to inquire for information along the east and north roads. On the evening of the 21st, General Zhang Shun personally led an army and quietly left Dengzhou. Camp, headed north. Along the way, General Zhang Shun left soldiers at every key location to support the follow-up troops and monitored the roads. On the evening of the 22nd, another group of troops under Zhang Shun protected him. The artillery battalion set off in the direction of Xuchang. At dawn on the 24th, Wu Songhan and Fan Tianshun each led their teams to set off from the Dengzhou Military Camp.
After receiving the news, Boyan and A Shu, the commanders of the Nanyang Yuan Army, immediately summoned their generals for discussion.
Boyan first said: "Marshal Ashu, generals, this time the Southern Dynasty army went north for two purposes. One is to enter Bianliang directly, and the other is to attack Xuchang, an important town in the south of Bianliang. According to the reports from our army's scouts, we will accompany the Southern Dynasty In addition to the musketeers, the army marching northward also had forty sealed tanks. These forty tanks should be pulling the artillery of the Southern Dynasty. If they enter Bianliang, our army can temporarily stand still and wait for them to enter the city. We will see later whether to besiege the city; if they are attacking Xuchang, then our army can stop the Song army in Jiaxian area,"
A Shu said: "Compared with the Battle of Xiangyang, the Imperial Guard Army of the Southern Dynasty Army has one more reorganized division, which means there are thousands more musketeers. This is not a good thing for our army. However, this time the Southern Dynasty Army The army's march north has obviously divided the layout of its firearms. Therefore, I believe that our army should be divided into two groups, one group going north to fight the Song army in Jiaxian County, and the other group attacking Dengzhou."
"Okay," Boyan thought for a while and said, "If the army of the Southern Dynasty marching north took away forty artillery pieces, then there would only be fifteen artillery pieces left in Dengzhou's army. However, in the past month or two, no one knew that the Southern Dynasty army had Whether there are new firearms arriving, but no matter what, since such an opportunity arises, our army will naturally not let it go. The longer time goes by, the more firearms will be in the Southern Dynasties, and the more disadvantageous it will be to our army."
Ali Hague said: "Marshal Boyan, Marshal, give the order,"
Boyan nodded and said: "There are a total of 70,000 to 80,000 Southern Dynasty troops in Dengzhou, half of whom went north. Judging from the intelligence our army has, the Emperor of the Southern Dynasties did not go north with the army, but stayed in Dengzhou. Therefore, the key target of our army's attack this time is Dengzhou. All generals will obey the order. Marshal A Shu will arrange the tasks of each army."
"Generals, if you can kill the emperor of the Southern Dynasty, it will be worth losing countless Xuchangs," General A Shu said, "General Ali Hague,"
"The end will be here,"
"I command you to lead 10,000 cavalry troops, hoist more flags and fanfare, and march to Jiaxian County with 50,000 troops and horses,"