From these two pieces of information, it is not difficult for Zhao Yu to find that due to the shortage of food, the Empress Dowager Nanbi forbade the transportation of grain to the northwest, this reason seems reasonable, but it is not difficult to find that she wants to use this to coerce the kings of the northwest to compromise, so as to hold back real gold. This shows that the struggle between Nanbi and Zhenjin has entered a new stage, you must know that the northwest is not only the fundamental land of Mongolia, but also the area with the most frequent wars, Kublai Khan's government will use most of the taxes collected from Jiangnan every year to the northwest, on the one hand, as military rations, on the other hand, but also for mercy, so as to win over the kings, in order to stabilize the situation in the northwest.

Now that the south will run out of grain and grass, it will inevitably cause panic in the northwest garrison, and it will also make the army unstable. This will have two consequences: one will submit to Nanbi and support its prison state, or the prince it supports will inherit the throne; In the two, Zhenjin took this opportunity to put forward the conditions of supporting his succession and promised to continue to feed back to the northwest, while the enraged kings supported Zhenjin's succession, and then rightfully deposed Nanbi.

But now there is a spoiler called Duwa, who invades the Vultures and raids the state. The crisis forces the kings to end the dispute as soon as possible, elect the Khan king or support the Nanbi prison state, which will accelerate the fermentation of the conflict, trigger a war, and solve the problem by force. Under the internal and external troubles, the Yuan court was further divided. Of course, it is not ruled out that they may huddle together to keep warm, and temporarily reach a compromise with the outside world, but Zhao Yu feels that whether Jiangnan is important or the northwest is important, the Mongolians have their own answer. In short, no matter what, I can buy myself some more time to get through this most difficult period.

After passing the Xingguo Army in one day, the boat entered the war zone, where the river narrowed, and the fleet turned into two columns and turned to the northwest to continue moving. At this time, the wind changed, and the ships could only sail by constantly adjusting their sails, and the speed was slowed down, and the flotilla that moved slowly for miles was also the most vulnerable to attack, especially when the two sides were still under the control of the enemy. Zhao ordered more lookout posts, and at the same time dispatched clippers to patrol the left and right sides to provide early warning for the fleet.

"Official, it's snowing!" Since yesterday, the sky has been gray, and it has rained lightly in the evening, and as soon as the morning dawns, Wang De, who has been called, enters the cabin and says.

"It's snowing?!" Zhao Yu sat up and asked with some disbelief, although it was winter when he came to this world, he only experienced the winter rain, but he had never seen snow, let alone after arriving in Qiongzhou, which made him always think that there would be no snow in the ancient Jiangnan.

"Seriously, the little one has already seen it, and the deck is white!" Wang De nodded vigorously and said,

"Oh, it's snowing." Zhao Yu pulled his shoes and got out of bed and threw himself down in front of the porthole, pushed open the window and looked out, and sure enough, there were snowflakes falling in the sky, and he shouted excitedly.

"Official, don't freeze!" It was rare for the little emperor to be so happy, and Wang De also smiled and pulled the blanket to put it on him.

"Change, I'm going to go up to the deck to see, I haven't seen snow in years!" Zhao Yu looked around with a blanket for a while, then twisted his face and said.

"Yes, Qiongzhou has lived for ten years, and I haven't seen snow again!" Wang De also echoed, did not understand the meaning, but simply felt that the little emperor was a child after all, and of course he was excited to see snow for the first time since he was a child, and closed the window and asked someone to wait for the little emperor to wash and change clothes.

Zhao Yu changed his clothes and couldn't wait to climb to the roof deck, but seeing that there was already an inch of snow on it, he stepped on his feet excitedly and heard a long-lost 'creak' sound. Reaching out to catch a few falling snowflakes, watching them turn into droplets in the palm of his hand, and licking them with his tongue, an innocent smile appeared on his face.

'Knock, knock, knock! Zhao Hao was awakened from a moment of fugue by the sound of the drum, which was a signal for the ships to communicate with each other and indicate their position. He frowned and climbed to the lookout and looked forward, but the visibility had become so poor by the rain and snow that the foreship mast of the fleet could no longer be seen, and the flags hoisted were even more blurred, leaving only a vague shadow of sails three miles away. The riverbank was even more shrouded in gray, and nothing could be seen, but the snow was falling heavier and heavier, and he knew that it was very dangerous to sail in such a climate, and the warship was carrying infantry troops, and the consequences of a collision were unimaginable.

"The ship was ordered to raise the red light on the main mast and the yellow light on the stern mast and keep the ship at a distance of sixty paces to prevent collision. The sentinel ship expands the warning circle, discovers the enemy, and releases the horn gun. Zhao Yu immediately ordered with a stern face when he found out about the danger, and the excitement just now was swept away.

"Your Majesty, this day is better for the flag, and the night is better for the lights, and the red light is a warning, but the yellow light is what it means?" Zheng Yong asked with some puzzlement.

"This kind of foggy day is different from the night, and it must not be rigid and must vary from time to time." Zhao Yu looked through the telescope to the north shore and casually explained, "The red light can be used to warn well, but the yellow light is more conspicuous than the red light in rainy and foggy weather, which is conducive to the observation of the rear ship." ”

"Well, my subordinates have been taught!" Zheng Yong nodded, he also found that after the yellow lantern was raised on the front ship, it was indeed clearer than the red light on the mast.

"Huh......"

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?" Zheng Yong suddenly heard the little emperor's startled sound and hurriedly asked.

"Oh, it's okay!"

"......" The little emperor waved his hand and said that it was okay, but Zheng Yong found that his gaze obviously stayed for a moment before looking away, he picked up the telescope and looked over there uneasily, and immediately closed his mouth and immediately shifted his gaze.

The second warship accompanying the starboard side of the imperial ship was carrying the officers and soldiers of the Mountain Brigade, and a group of soldiers gathered on the deck, all of them were slang people born in Hainan, who should have seen snow for the first time, and were even more excited than the little emperor, and were frolicking together. And one of the soldiers was wearing the same style as His Majesty's white coat, but with more red trim, and the placket seemed to be decorated with gold embroidery, which was very abrupt among the troops, standing on the deck and quietly looking at the side of the imperial ship, and this beauty was more charming in the falling snowflakes.

"Your Majesty, it is very dangerous to sail in the wind and snow, why don't you stay in Daye for a day before you go!" Zheng Yong immediately recognized that it was the little emperor's daughter-in-law who had not passed through the door, how could he dare to look at it again, and His Majesty let out a surprised sound and saw the same scene without asking. He found that the little emperor's eyes were a little confused, and he always glanced in that direction intentionally or unintentionally, and asked with a chuckle.

"No, the fleet is anchored on the river, and it is against the current, and there are still enemy troops on both sides, and once there are police officers who are difficult to move, it will be a catastrophe. Even if you slow down, you must not stop! Zhao Yu immediately refused.

After passing the Xingguo Army, the patrol sentinel ships continued to report that enemy scouts had appeared on the north bank of the river and followed them along the way, indicating that the enemy had noticed their fleet and closely monitored their movements. This does not rule out that the enemy will take action, and if the ship is stopped, they will lower the fireship downstream, and it will take time for the ship to move from anchor to movement, and I am afraid that the formation will be disrupted before it can react.

"Your Majesty, this snowfall will be even colder, I'm afraid that those slang soldiers of the Mountain Brigade will not be able to adapt, so it is better to transition them to the imperial ship." Zheng Yong suggested again.

"Huh?!" Zheng Yong suddenly changed the topic, which made Zhao Yu a little surprised, and looked at him with a frown and a puzzled snort.

"Your Majesty, there are currently only the guard battalion and the Imperial Front Office of the Entourage on the imperial boat, and the regiment of the pro-guard brigade is on the baggage boat, and it can also carry thousands of people!" Zheng Yong looked at His Majesty and explained.

"Are you cold?" Zhao Yu immediately understood what he meant, this was creating opportunities for himself, but he was a moral model and a benchmark for the people. It can be explained that Li Sanniang was brought into the palace to recuperate from her injuries at the beginning, but in wartime, she took her daughter-in-law who had not passed through the door to the imperial ship, wouldn't this ruin herself? But he didn't say it, and he couldn't say it himself, but asked rhetorically.

"Subordinates are not cold!" Zheng Yong was a little puzzled, but he also replied honestly.

"It's the first time you Tan people have encountered such cold weather, right?" Zhao Hao smiled.

"This ...... This, subordinates are accustomed to the wind and waves at sea, and it is easy to adapt to them at sea. Zheng Yong replied with some embarrassment, but he also understood what the little emperor meant.

"In the future, we will go deeper into the Northland, where the climate is colder, this snow is more common, the land of the golden people in the past is snowy in winter, but there are no animals, even Bianjing is several times colder than here. And our army is all southerners, so I and the rest of the army must gradually adapt. Zhao Hao sighed lightly and said. It's not easy to think about yourself as an emperor, Jiangdong has not been completely recovered, you have to think about the Central Plains, the northeast, and the northwest, and I don't know how many years this war will end.

"Your Majesty, after all, there are female soldiers in the Mountain Brigade, and they are not as resistant to roughness as men." Zheng Yong reluctantly reminded directly, hoping that His Majesty could take pity on the fragrance and cherish the jade.

"Send them some blankets!" Zhao Yu knew that in order to facilitate the care and protection of Li Sanniang, there was a special team of female soldiers in the mountain brigade as his personal soldiers, and after a little consideration, he still refused to allow them to get on the boat, but he still allowed some care......

Affected by the rain and snow, the next morning the fog locked the river, and the visibility was further reduced, and the fleet could only move forward at turtle speed. Frequent encounters between the striker and enemy ships in the fog often lead to a brief clash and then separate retreats. And the ship responsible for pilotage is still the ship sent by the Xingguo Army Water Village, and the ship that delivered the battle report has not appeared for three days. This indicates that they have entered the periphery of the Ezhou battlefield, triggering the enemy's warning circle, and a battle could occur at any time.

Zhao Yu ordered the small sentry ships to retreat to the two flanks of the fleet as a perimeter guard, and the dragon ships with strong combat effectiveness and protection served as patrol duties, so that they would not suffer losses in the encounter and quickly break away when they encountered a strong enemy. At the same time, the fleet entered the first level of combat readiness, and not only the warships had to keep vigil, but the troop carriers also increased the number of lookout posts, and sent soldiers to take turns on duty to prevent enemy ships from infiltrating and sneaking attacks.

On December 18, the fleet affected by the weather delayed its voyage, and there was still more than 100 miles to travel from Ezhou, but fortunately, the sky had cleared and the wind direction turned to the southwest, and if it was smooth, it would be possible to reach it in two days at most. To Zhao Hao's delight, the warship sent by Wen Tianxiang finally sent the latest war report, but when he saw the broken clipper, he was nervous, and summoned the general who sent the letter to the ship to inquire personally.

Under the question, Zhao Yu was even more frightened, in the two days when the two sides lost contact, the Yuan army took advantage of the fog to sneak attack the Song army camp, and the two sides fought fiercely before they repelled the enemy with the camp. The enemy naval forces also made frequent sorties to block the river, and they sent warships to contact them many times, but they were intercepted by the enemy. This time, they sent a total of five clippers, but only this one broke through the siege and arrived, and the rest of the ships were probably more than lucky.

After Zhao Yu listened to the messenger and placed the messenger, the grim situation in front of him made him quite uneasy, after returning to the command room, he carefully read the battle report written by Wen Tianxiang himself, he opened the map, marked the latest battle situation on it, and examined it for a long time. Ezhou is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, choking the entrance of the Han River, but the Song Dynasty has not yet formed the scale of modern Wuhan, only the scale of a military state, it is under the jurisdiction of Jinghu North Road in the administrative division, and Xiangyang, Jiangling constitute the Jinghu Theater, across the river and Huainan West Road as neighbors, and Jiangnan West Road Xingguo Army border, the situation is very dangerous.

It is precisely because of the geographical location of Ezhou that can aid Shu in the west, Huai in the east, and Jinghu in the north, since the Wei and Jin dynasties, Ezhou City is one of the important towns in the Yangtze River Basin, and after development, it has become the largest city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in the Song Dynasty, and a regional political, economic and cultural center. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the famous general Yue Fei and Yue's army were stationed here, which shows its important military geographical significance.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, Ezhou was known as "the giant town of today", the business in the city was prosperous, there were rich businessmen, and a lively night market was opened in the city, known as "the candle sky and the lights of the three watch cities, shaking the moon and the flag of the boat for thousands of miles". Merchants from all over the world gather, the city is quite prosperous, the residential market is endless, there are alleys and alleys in the meantime, and the comings and goings are like weaving. At the same time, the population in Ezhou City was large, and it reached 100,000 households before Ningzong Jiading. Therefore, it is also an important economic town in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and an important commercial channel connecting the south and north of the Yangtze River.

Zhao Yu knew that the Yuan army did not intend to abandon this important stronghold in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. In the Mengyuan War, Kublai Khan personally conquered Ezhou, besieged the city for six months and failed to break the city, and returned in vain. Later, Boyan led the army to attack Ezhou, first took Xiangfan, and then annihilated the Song Jinghu Water Division before he was able to break the city. The Yuan army broke through the defense line of the Yangtze River, and the army moved south to the south of the Yangtze River.

Therefore, both sides know the importance of Ezhou to the war situation, if the Song army captures Ezhou, it can stabilize Huguang, and then stabilize Jiangdong; On the contrary, if the Yuan army lost Ezhou, they would have to cross the Yangtze River again if they wanted to restore Jiangnan, so they wanted to use this as a bridgehead to counterattack Huguang. Ezhou is of great strategic significance to both sides, and in such a situation, it can be said that whoever occupies this place will seize the opportunity. With both sides determined to win, a vicious battle may not be avoided......