"Officials, I have a word, but I don't know whether to say it or not..."

Yuwen Xuzhong was wearing a thick and warm fur coat, with sleeves in his hands, bowed behind Zhao Kai, the emperor of Luoyang in the Song Dynasty, and walked step by step in a corner of the snow-covered Shangyang Palace Royal Horse Farm. He couldn't even look at the female squad riding tall green Tang dragon horses strolling on the snow, but just frowned and looked worried.

He arrived in Luoyang as the "angel" of the Southern Song Dynasty in the coldest month of the first month of the third year of Hongwu. His purpose was to urge the "Crown Brother" Zhao Kai to send troops to Songzhou while the yellow area east of Kaifeng Prefecture had not yet been thawed, so as to force the Jin soldiers who invaded Huaixi to retreat.

The war between the Jin Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty broke out in full swing along the Huai River after the two envoys Liu Yu and Cai Songnian were killed!

Although the group of civil officials in the Southern Song Dynasty were very brave (except Zhao Mingcheng), their skills in fighting were a bit loose.

Their wishful thinking in the Jiangdu court was not worth mentioning in front of military experts like Wanyan Zongbi. They thought Wanyan Zongbi could not cross the river from Huaixi before the frozen area in winter, so they had time to arrange the defense of Huaixi calmly.

However, Wanyan Zongbi sent troops before the Yellow River Flood, and unexpectedly marched from the water - using wooden ships recruited from the Si River to launch a strong attack on the Song army at the Mopankou, the fortress at the intersection of Huai and Si on the north bank of the Huai River!

The geographical location of Mopankou Fortress is very important. It not only stuck to the mouth of Sishui into Huaihe, but also the only way for the Southern Song navy to go upstream from the Mokou Shuizhai, Chuzhou, a large stronghold in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River (which is the intersection of the Huaihe River and the Canal) to enter the middle reaches of the Huaihe River. Therefore, the Southern Song Dynasty built Mopankou Fortress on the high ground on the north bank of the Huaihe River, and also stationed a new army in the battalion. Because part of the Yellow River water flowed from Sishui to Huaihe River, a large area of ​​land around Mopankou was flooded by river water, making Mopankou Fortress a natural danger.

However, this natural danger became difficult to defend because of the appearance of the fried pot - it was not that the natural danger was no longer dangerous, but that the fortress of the Midwindou needs to be reinforced, and at the same time, it also required that the defenders of the Midwindou have enough fried pots to be equipped with.

However, it took time to transform the fortress and to try the production of the fried pots, while Wanyan Zongbi made a beautiful time difference and used the cannon installed on the cannon to launch the fried pots, forcing the defenders at Mopankou to abandon the city.

After capturing Mopankou, Wanyan Zongbi immediately arranged large-scale bombardment cannons at the Mopankou fortress to block the river channel and prevent the Song army from the downstream from reinforced the fortress in the middle and upper reaches through the Huaihe River. Then Wanyan Zongbi personally led tens of thousands of elite troops to take wooden boats, from Sishui into the Huaihe River, and went upstream to launch an attack on the Song army strongholds in the middle and middle of the Huaihe River.

Because he took the lead and caught the Song army off guard, Wanyan Zongbi fought very smoothly in October, and successively captured Sizhou City (located on the north bank of the Huai River), Xuyi Town (located on the south bank of the Huai River), Zhaoxin (located on the south bank of the Huai River), Zhongli (located on the south bank of the Huai River), and other places, and seized a large amount of food and grass.

Then, Wanyan Zongbi led his army southward and attacked Chuzhou and Zhenzhou, where the troops were empty, occupied Chuzhou Prefecture City and Guabu Town, Jiangbei Dukou Town in Zhenzhou, and fought to a place that was only a river from Jinling City.

But just when Wanyan Zongbi wanted to collect ships and cross the river to attack Jinling, the Jianghai boat in the Southern Song Dynasty, which was equipped with a pot of explosives, appeared on the surface of the Yangtze River!

These large boats in the river not only prevented Wanyan Zongbi from taking the risk of crossing the river (if Li Gang, who assisted Queen Zhu Lian, staying in Jinling at this time, really knew how to fight, he should have let Zongbi cross the river), but also brought 10,000 iron-armored elite soldiers led by Xue Bi.

Then, these ten thousand elite soldiers landed on the Yangtze River beach near Guabu Town under Zong Bi's nose!

Wanyan Zongbi quickly sent general Li Cheng and Han Chang to lead tens of infantry and cavalrymen to fight, but he kicked the steel plate!

The combat power of these Southern Song Iron Armored Infantrymen is very strong! The number of divine arm bows they equipped is very large and its power is amazing, far exceeding the divine arm bows encountered by the Jin soldiers in the north (those are unqualified products). Moreover, the divine arm archers of the Southern Song infantry are equipped with long spears.

When setting up the formation, they can insert the tail of the spear into the ground and load the gun rod on a special triangle bracket, forming a simple horse-resisting rifle array, which can effectively block the impact of enemy cavalry. If the Jin cavalry dismounts and attacks, they can pick up the spear and form a gun array... For both one and one soldiers, it is worth the money!

The swords and axes listed behind the Divine Arm Bow (Gun Array) are also "dual-use soldiers". They also serve as "pocket throwers". The expensive bombs are thrown out as if they don't have money... How can this be a war? They are simply throwing money!

Although Wanyan Zongbi's army also had explosive pots, the number was incomparable to the Southern Song army - the Southern Song Dynasty had the ability to make money!

Fighting a good war turned into throwing money... How could the Jin Dynasty compare with the Southern Song Dynasty? The "money output" (actually copper output) of the Southern Song Dynasty was a hundred times more than that of the Jin Dynasty!

So Wanyan Zongbi fell into a tough battle since the Battle of Guabu Town!

However, the Jin soldiers' combat power is still very strong, and the generals of the Jin soldiers are all long-standing generals, which are much stronger than the martial Jinshi and "military scientists" in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Wanyan Zongbi, who invaded Huainan, did not retreat to Huaibei after the Battle of Guabu Town, but continued to fight in the Huainan area west of the canal, and used his mobility to continuously attack the "clumsy" Southern Song Iron Armored Army.

However, although the group of military enthusiasts in the Southern Song Dynasty were always defeated, they were able to defeat without defeat. The characteristics of the new army of the Southern Song Dynasty were that they had strong killing and strong defense. When they were rich, they were very morale, but their impact and mobility were relatively weak.

Therefore, the offensive they launched in the field was not very powerful... Even if they had the upper hand, the Jin soldiers could withdraw from the battle in time.

But once they form a formation and guard or form a formation, the Jin soldiers can't do anything to them.

In addition, although the new army of the Southern Song Dynasty was mainly infantry, they were not without cavalry - but their cavalry was "strange", a "Caima armored cavalry", which was to put a heavy vest on the "Caima" and add an armored cavalry, and then carry out a panting jogging attack.

Of course, Caima charge cannot deal with the cavalry of the Jin thieves, but it poses a great threat to the infantry and dismounted cavalry of the Jin thieves... Therefore, the Caima cavalry of the Southern Song Dynasty adopted a combat method that followed the infantry. When the bombing pots turned the battlefield into smoke, they often used the cover of the smoke to launch a short and rapid impact, which was also very troublesome.

Of course, it is not enough to see such an army that relies on iron armor, strong crossbows, fried pots and vegetables to fight when they really go to the northern plains - their logistics line will be cut off by the enemy.

However, there is no problem in Huainan, where water is densely packed, they can adopt the method of advancing along the river. In this way, their logistics are guaranteed and their defense is backed. If they really don’t work, they can still get on the ship and retreat.

However, the battlefield where the Jin and Song dynasties (Southern Song) battles are in the ruling areas of the Southern Song Dynasty... The land that has been ravaged belongs to the Southern Song Dynasty.

So after more than a month of fighting, the civil officials in charge of the army found it difficult to win, so they sent Yuwen Xuzhong to Luoyang on a starry night and asked Zhao Kai to send troops to attack Songzhou under the rule of the Jin Dynasty.

However, Yuwen Xuzhong, who arrived in Luoyang in the first month of the following year, did not ask Zhao Kai to send troops straight to the point, but talked about the general trend of the world.

"Say whatever you want," Zhao Kai stopped and looked back at Yuwen Xuzhong with a smile, "Mr. Longxi is my stronghold, what can I say?"

Yuwen Xuzhong said: "The official family, now the world is already a true stadium... three feet, not two points!"

"Three feet?" Zhao Kai raised his eyebrows, "Can my elder brother be Sun Quan?"

Yuwen Xuzhong shook his head, "Jiangdong is the Jiangdong of the scholars and officials... The King of Wu (referring to Zhao Huan) abolished warriors and used Jiangdong literati, which actually promoted the method of unity of civil and military affairs in Jiangdong.

Without warriors to control, Jiangdong scholars would have to come out to lead their troops themselves! This would have left the generals leading the troops without any constraints, and the Jiangdong scholars could not shirk responsibility... So Jiangdong has a master!"

Now Zhao Huan is just the nominal master of Jiangdong, and the real master of Jiangdong is the group of civil servants in charge of the new army.

"There is a master..." Zhao Kai nodded, "That's right, Jiangdong does have a master! The soldiers in Jiangdong have a master, and Jiangdong has a master!"

In troubled times! Of course, it’s a knife that leaves power!

If the sword handle in Jiangdong has a master, Jiangdong has a master!

If Jiangdong swordsman has no master, then Jiangdong will not have a real master... Now the one who carries Jiangdong swordsman is a group of civil servants in charge of military affairs, then the real Jiangdong lord is them!

"Mr. Longxi thinks I should send troops to help these lords of Jiangdong get out of trouble?" Zhao Kai asked, "If I help them, they will accept that I will become the lord of the world?"

Yuwen Xuzhong smiled and said, "This is hard to say... But isn't it important to have a two-legged alliance under the three-legged tripod? Jiangdong has no cavalry and it is difficult to roam the northern country. Therefore, after expelling the Jin thieves, only Your Majesty can get all the Central Plains... If Your Majesty obtains the Central Plains, is he afraid that he will not be able to take Jiangdong? Besides, the group of literati in the military in Jiangdong has no title! Moreover, there are more than one literati in the military in charge, and it is impossible for anyone to replace him.

Once the King of Wu dies, as long as your Majesty can quickly take Jinling and get the title of great righteousness, you can take Jiangdong all... And Huaixi is the place where Your Majesty quickly takes Jinling! Will Your Majesty sit down and watch Huaixi be destroyed by the Jin thieves and destroyed into white land?"

Zhao Kai laughed and thought to himself: This Yuwen Xuzhong is probably also in the same group as those Jiangdong scholars. Now he wants to trick me into sending troops when he draws a big cake! It seems that the old saying that the butt determines his head is correct at all!

However, it is still right to expel the Jin soldiers from the Central Plains first. If the Song Dynasty fights by itself now, the Jin thieves will reap the benefits!
Chapter completed!