After analysis, he found that the administrative offices of the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River set up by the Yuan court were all located in the north of the province rather than the heart of the province, with the characteristics of long and narrow jurisdiction, the center of gravity in the north, and the north to control the south.

It should be said that this characteristic is inseparable from the ruling policy of the Mengyuan region, and the vast and wealthy Jiangnan region with a large population is not only the area under its control, but also the key object of its economic plunder and military suppression. Therefore, in addition to the general administrative functions, the three provinces of Jiangnan are also their main financial collection places and large military regions.

If we look at the entire Jiangnan region, the garrison of the Mengyuan Zhenjun army is actually centered along the Yangtze River, in which from the mouth of the Yangtze River to the north and south coasts of the Three Gorges in Chongqing, at least thirty or forty wings of ten thousand households are densely stationed, and most of these ten thousand households are mainly Han troops, which are the main military forces of the Yuan court to monitor the Jiangnan region. Once there is a police in the hinterland of the south of the Yangtze River, the provinces will quickly draw troops from the various wings and Wanhu Prefectures and press south.

In addition to the Han army and the new annexed army, there were even some Wanhu mansions dominated by the new annexed army. The new annexed army was reorganized from the former Song Dynasty, and the Yuan court adopted a policy of using and preventing it, although the number of the new annexed army was quite large, but most of them were reduced to zero, and they were assigned to the government of 10,000 households in units of 1,000 households.

Even some of the purer new annex armies, Wanhufu, were mostly related to the Xiawanhu Mansion with limited troops, which were auxiliary military forces for the Yuan court to control Jiangnan. As for the southern part of the province, due to geographical environment, climate and other factors, it is not suitable for the long-term stationing of the Han army-based Zhenshu army, and it is in a secondary position in the Jiangnan Zhenshu system, forming this pattern of emphasizing the north and ignoring the south, and guarding the inside and the outside.

It was on the basis of this defensive situation of the Yuan court that Zhao Yu formulated a strategy of counterattacking the south of the Yangtze River, using the main force of his own army to take the Yangtze River defense line directly with the advantage of the naval army, and at the same time forming a separation, pinning down the enemy's main force, so that it could not go south for reinforcements. However, the Yuan army in the hinterland of the south of the Yangtze River had weak combat effectiveness, so it was handed over to the local rebel army with weak combat effectiveness to clean up, so as to strive for the strategic initiative.

As for the Wanhu Mansion of the Zhenshu Army in Jiangxi Province, in fact, it is also a posture of centering on the north and controlling the south with the north, and the Wanhu Mansion with strong troops, especially the tens of thousands of households dominated by the Han army, are mostly stationed at the northern end of the province and stationed on the Yangtze River with their backs. It is roughly similar to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huguang provinces. Coupled with the status of Ezhou as a strategic and important commercial town, the fortification must be tight, and the garrison is also the elite of the Han army.

You must know that Kublai Khan personally used 200,000 to conquer the south of the Yangtze River, and only Ezhou occupied half of the troops, concentrating generals such as Boyan, Ashu and Ali Hague, who were all famous generals who could conquer and fight for a while, and the elite divisions that were mainly used by the Mongolian army and supplemented by the northerners showed that Ezhou was easy to defend and difficult to attack. And now that the offense and defense are in different positions, the Song army has become the attacker, and the battle must end in a short time, Zhao Yu is still a little apprehensive.

Ezhou city since the Eastern Wu Sun Quan in the Chiwu two years to build the old base Xiakou City, here by the mountains and rivers, open the momentum of the bright distance, by the block, the high view of the pillow flow, the opposite bank is into the Jin, so the city is named after this. Twelve miles around the city, two zhang and one foot high, and then because of the state rule after the mountain is added to the left and right for the heavy city, set up two gates. After entering the Tang Dynasty, because the city is on the river bank, affected by the river wind, it is difficult to stand the wall, it is necessary to add the plate to build and repair every year, and the festival makes the cow monks and children to reduce the hard work of repairing the city every year, and the bricks are covered in the rammed earth wall, which improves the quality of the city wall, but the scale of the city has not changed greatly.

To the present dynasty Ezhou city has been a large-scale expansion, Huang You three years Zhizhou Li Yaoyu increased the repair of the city, after that the Ezhou city is twice the original Xiakou City, around twenty-four miles, two zhang one foot high, the door has three, the east is said Qingyuan, the south is said to be Wangze, the west is said to be Pinghu. Yuan because of it. Limited to the topography, the expansion of the city to the east, by the mountains and rivers, the construction of the city wall, forming an irregular circle, Sun Wu Xiakou City became a sub-city in the west of the city.

Ezhou City is located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Han River, the shape of the place is important, the control is connected to the Xiangchuan River, the side is connected to the Han River, and the Yong and Liang are connected. With the southward migration of the ruling center of the Song Dynasty to the east, the status of Ezhou further rose. During this period, due to the needs of the Song and Jin wars, Ezhou became more important, and the state city was not only the seat of Ezhou and Jiangxia County, but also became the seat of road-level institutions. During the Shaoxing period, the Jinghu North Road Transfer Division moved from Jiangling in the Northern Song Dynasty to Ezhou; In the fifth year of Shaoxing, the Metropolitan Control Department was established in Ezhou; Soon after, the Huguang Consulate General was added. The three major institutions are located in Ezhou City.

Due to the special topography of Ezhou City: the west of the city is limited by the Yangtze River, and the hills in the city are continuous. Extending from the Yangtze River in the west to the east, there are Huanghu Mountain, Phoenix Mountain, Hongshan Mountain, Luojia Mountain, Guizi Mountain, Fuhu Mountain, Nanwang Mountain, Moshan Mountain, Yujia Mountain, etc., forming a continuous and undulating mountain range. Huanghu Mountain is in the southwest of Fucheng, starting from the east nine miles, to the northwest of the county, traversing the whole city. There is a rock at the highest point of the mountain, the upper part is looking back at the mountains and rivers, the lower is the rough waves, it is called the Yellow Bird Rock, the famous Yellow Crane Tower is built on the rock head, but its function is used for military purposes as a watchtower on the river surface at the beginning.

Due to the limitations of the terrain and the pattern that has been inherited in history, the west end of Ezhou City is mainly government offices at all levels; Along the Huanghu Mountain, the line that spreads from west to east, in addition to the official offices, there are mainly schools, temples and other cultural and religious buildings; Residential houses and markets are mainly distributed in some low-lying areas in the east, north and south of the city; Due to the population growth, it is difficult to accommodate the old city, and the expansion of residential houses and markets to the east and south outside the city is more prominent. The area along the river in the west of the city has also become an area where transportation and trade flourish, and ships and people are densely populated.

The mountain in the city, Huanghu Mountain, has the advantage of controlling the whole city, and the government offices at all levels are surrounded by the foothills of the mountain, concentrated in the west, east and south feet of the mountain. The transshipment envoy is in the Qingyuan Gate of the state, that is, the old Jiangxia County and the county Cheng Hall"; The Huguang Consulate General is located in Wuchang Gate; The Metropolitan Control Division first placed the division in the state, and then moved to the foot of the Huanghu Mountain in the east of the city in the eleventh year of Shaoxing, which was basically distributed in the sub-city with high terrain.

Zhao Yu turned his gaze to the outside of the city, Ezhou City faces the big river, often threatened by the flooding of the river, in the late Northern Song Dynasty, outside the Pinghu Gate in the west of Ezhou City, built a long embankment to block the river, the embankment along the river and the lake, the traffic is convenient, the terrain is high and cool, with the increase of the embankment, widening and the improvement of quality, the embankment not only becomes the traffic artery, and even the residence is located, and a large number of ordinary people live along the line.

In addition, in the west and south of the city, there is a place where there is a lot of traffic with the outside world, and there are buildings that welcome the delivery. There is Nanpu in the south of the city, the source is out of the first mountain in Beijing, the west enters the river, the spring and winter dry up, the autumn and summer are rising, and the business travel is all moored in Pu. Youcao City was built in front of Parrot Island outside the south gate, which is an important commercial port, with developed river transportation and a large number of merchant ships. Above is the South Building, and the street stretches south-west along the causeway, stretching for several miles, with a span of at least five miles in the north-south direction. The densely populated and densely populated area is dominated by businessmen and traders, and together with Ezhou City, it forms a large-scale city.

After the Song Dynasty moved south, Ezhou successively became an important town of anti-Jin and anti-Mongolia, stationed a large number of troops, the camp covers a wide area, only the next district of the Yellow Crane Mountain in the east of the city, it reaches ten zhang from east to west, and the difference between north and south is doubled. Seven miles northeast of the city, there is Youyi military village. The river is wide and the port is busy, which is not only for merchant ships to berth, but also for warships to go out of the river for drills. In the northeast of the city, there is a riverside port with poplar at the mouth, and the naval army is stationed, and it has become a market town with a strong military color at that time. After entering the Yuan Dynasty, it inherited all this and is still a military town on the river.

Zhao Yu pointed on the map with his finger, the west of Ezhou City is close to the Yangtze River, there is only one gate of the bamboo gate, and there is a long revetment to block the enemy, and the soldiers are difficult to deploy on the river, and it is difficult to use soldiers; There are Fan Lake and South Lake in the north and south of the city respectively, that is, it is impossible to garrison the army, and it is difficult to attack the city; Only outside the East City Gate can there be a land route to the interior to figure it out, and troops can be deployed. It was also in this direction that the Mongolian army broke the city that year, and it was precisely by virtue of this terrain that Wen Tianxiang's troops dug trenches and fortified outside the eastern city, and arranged heavy troops to block the road for the Yuan army to go out of the city and block the impact of the enemy.

According to the war report, the Yuan Shui Army arranged the warships on the north bank of Yangluo Fort, which stood by the river, the water was deep and rapid, and it was an important place for soldiers to guard the mouth of the Han River. At that time, the Mongolian army lasted nearly six years and finally broke through the Xiangfan defense line. After the loss of Xiangfan, the Song court and the opposition were greatly shaken, and hurriedly adjusted their deployment, retreating the focus of strategic defense to the line of the Yangtze River, and taking Yangluobao as an important defensive town in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The Yuan army was determined to capture Yangluo Fort, so it launched the Yangluo Fort River Crossing Campaign, and finally defeated the Song army, not only seizing the bridgehead for crossing the river, but also annihilating more than 200,000 Song water troops.

This battle can be described as of great significance, and the Song naval army also lost its elite in this battle, and was no longer able to defend the Yangtze River defense line, so that the Yuan army conquered Ezhou and was able to continue to advance eastward along the river. Now the Yuan army's naval division is stationed here, which can block the Song army fleet along the river, and can also face the Ezhou city and the river, attacking and defending each other. Zhao Yu knew that in order to break Ezhou, he had to first annihilate the enemy's naval army and occupy Yangluo Fort to prevent enemy reinforcements from coming from the Han River......

"Your Majesty, twenty miles ahead, we have found an enemy fleet, which is coming down the river towards our fleet!" The next day, Zhao Yu was having dinner in the morning, and Zheng Yong entered the cabin to pray.

"How many are there on the boat?" Zhao Yu put down the chopsticks and said.

"Your Majesty, there are about 200 large and small warships, and they are flying the flag of General Chen, which should be the headquarters of Chen Yi, the Jinghu Navy who attacked Qiong that year." Zheng Yonghui reports.

"Where are we at the moment?" Zhao Yu drank all the porridge in the bowl in one gulp, picked up a piece of Hu cake, broke it apart, sandwiched a few pieces of meat, got up and came to the map hanging on the wall to eat and asked.

"Your Majesty, our current location is here, about thirty miles away from Ezhou City!" Zheng Yong followed His Majesty to the map, glanced at it and quickly found the current location of the fleet, and pointed with his finger.

"Well, Chen Yi, the general of the defeated army, is not to be afraid, he should be a striker!" Zhao Yu nodded. This Chen Yi was defeated in the Battle of Qiongzhou, and the warships were lost, although he escaped with his life, he was also demoted from 10,000 households to 1,000 households.

"Your Majesty, are we lining up to meet the enemy?" Zheng Yong asked.

"There is no need to change the formation first, the enemy army is going downstream, if it is changed to a horizontal formation, it is easy to be broken by it, and continuing to maintain the column is conducive to giving full play to the power of our gunwales!" Zhao Hao thought for a while, he knew that in the water war of this era, whoever occupies the upper hand and the downstream is equivalent to seizing the commanding heights, and they will lose the opportunity to go upstream.

Having said that, Zhao Hao didn't dare to be careless, and ate the Hu cake in his hand in two bites and went to the top of the cabin to watch the enemy. He roughly calculated, the speed of the current in this section of the river is about five knots, the speed of his own warship is more than seven knots at the moment, the actual speed is only about two knots, the two sides are opposite each other, but it will encounter in about half an hour, even if you want to line up, it is too late, you can only simply adjust the formation.

"Keep a distance of four hundred paces between the two teams, take the front with large warships, pass through the enemy formation, don't entangle with them!" Zhao Hao picked up the binoculars and looked at the river in front of him, which was shrouded in a layer of mist, and the warship seemed to be moving in the clouds, but he had no intention of appreciating it, so he first adjusted the formation. He can collide with enemy ships with large ships in front, and large ships are equipped with rocket launchers and heavy ballistas, which can strike at enemy ships at long range and open a breakthrough.

"Your Majesty, we have a large number of baggage ships, and we should also order the infantry on board to prepare to prevent the enemy from boarding the ships, and use the Baizi guns and thunder cannons to attack the enemy ships to reduce the pressure on the escort ships." Zheng Yong then suggested.

"Well, you have thought it through, the firearms of the infantry are powerful enough to penetrate the gunwale, and there should be no problem in self-protection." Zhao Hao nodded and praised, the Qiongzhou army is always dispatched to fight across the sea, and it is common to take a boat, even if the infantry army is at sea, there will be no seasickness and other discomforts, and it is also good at handling guns and guns on the ship.

"So the subordinates immediately arrange and prepare to meet the enemy!" Zheng Yong immediately gave the order to ring the alarm bell, raise the battle flag, and the whole army entered the battle state and adjusted the position of the warship. The infantry on the ships also pushed out rapid-fire guns and various types of artillery, selected gun positions on both sides, and arranged gunners to prevent the enemy from boarding the ship.

"Ordered the dragon boat to speed up along the left bank of the river, detour to the enemy's flank and rear to seize a favorable battle position, if the front battle is in a stalemate, immediately launch an attack, disrupt the enemy formation, and cover the advance of the fleet." Zhao Yu thought about it and said, there are nearly 20,000 infantry troops in the current fleet, and once the battleship is sunk and lost, it will be defeated, so the current task is not to annihilate the enemy's blockade, but to safely escort the infantry ashore.

"Yes, but what my subordinates are most worried about is that the enemy army will drop the fireship downstream, we can't avoid it, and it will be a disaster to break into our fleet!" At the same time as Zheng Yong passed the order, he also expressed his worries.

"That's true, but it's more dangerous to line up, tell all ships that if there is a fire, immediately sail out of the formation to save themselves, and don't block the channel of the ships behind!" Zhao Yu thought for a while. He knew that once the fire of the warship broke out, it would be difficult to extinguish, and letting the formation save himself was actually no different from fending for himself, but he could only sacrifice the individual for the sake of the whole......