In the third year of Xianchun, that is, at the end of August of the second year when the Mongols launched the Battle of Xiangyang. Shandong Rizhao is a bumper harvest scene.

In the wide yard, soybeans are piled up one by one. Such a bumper harvest scene should have made Li Manlin, the landlord of Rizhao, happy, but the face of the former Han army prince was not very good, especially when he looked at the eyes of several guys next to him who were standing tall and belly-folded.

However, those guys didn't seem to care, and they all smiled. When the soybeans that belonged to them were weighed and the strings of copper coins were delivered to them, several people were already smiling without their teeth.

What an uninformed guy! Li Manlin disdainfully gave those people an evaluation in his heart. But Li Manlin knew that he was just complaining. When Song Jie's envoy proposed to pull several surrounding landlords to plant soybeans and sell soybeans together, the former Han military marquis was completely unwilling.

Coincidentally, just a few days later, the order of the Mongol court to collect civilian weapons arrived in Rizhao. All weapons must be in the official camp, and all those who possess weapons in private possession will be punished as treason. The prefectural magistrate then began to collect weapons in the countryside like mad dogs. Li Manlin, who originally had a ghost in his heart, thought carefully about the interests, and finally reluctantly compromised with several landlords around him.

The soybeans were quickly loaded into a cart and sent to the beach to be transported, and Li Manlin said to the cadres in charge of the matter: "You told my brother Song that this side has begun to recruit manpower, and it is said that it is going to attack Haizhou. ”

After hearing this, the cadres were stunned for a moment, and their expressions showed some panic. However, after all, he had been trained, and he quickly calmed down after panicking, "But I wonder if Mr. Li's family has been forcibly taken away?" ”

Li Manlin snorted, and this reaction made the cadres not understand that Li Manlin was dissatisfied with the Mongol conscription, or that he was dissatisfied with the Mongols not recruiting from him. In fact, the cadres were wrong, and Li Manlin heard that the cadres seemed to have confidence in victory, so there was some ridicule in his heart. Li Manlin guessed correctly, the reason why the cadres asked was that they instinctively worried that someone in Li Manlin's family participated in the war and was killed. If this kind of tragedy happens, it will be difficult for everyone to cooperate in the future.

There was no way to say this kind of heartfelt words directly, so Li Manlin continued to talk about the war, "You tell Brother Zheng that these people are going to take advantage of the autumn harvest to go to Haizhou to grab it." There are often wars in that place in Haizhou, what else is there to rob? You're probably the only one who can grab it. ”

Rizhao is not far from Haizhou, and Zheng Jie, who is a cadre in Haizhou, received the news on the same day. Not by boats, but by carrier pigeons. This is the ninth news about the war, and since even Li Manlin knows about it, this news should not be a rumor.

The benefits of farming in Haizhou are so great that no one is willing to hand over this inheritance. A few years also gave everyone plenty of time to prepare, and the area controlled by Zhao Jiaren immediately began to act.

By mid-September, the first Mongol troops had finally arrived near Haizhou. The leader of the general was a former Han army marquis Zhu Qiong, Zhu Qiong Qianhu had been to this area with the army, and in his impression, the road to Haizhou was empty. However, at this time, a castle appeared next to the main road.

wanted to rub his eyes, but Zhu Qiong Qianhu still resisted such a childish action. He put his hand on the pergola and looked over, making sure he was really right. What appeared in front of him was not a stockade, but a city.

Just when Zhu Qiong's thousands of households were building a pergola and looking out, the sentries at the head of the city were also operating binoculars, nervously observing the enemy in the distance. At this time, the autumn was crisp, and from a condescending view, there were about 100 people in the Mongol army, and the others were infantry.

The figure in the telescope shuddered, and the sentry let go of the barrel, listening to his heavy breathing, feeling his heart pounding. For several years, the shadow of war has always hung over everyone, and now it has finally become a visible enemy in reality. The sentinel was embarrassed for a while.

His heart was beating so fast that the sentry felt a tightness in his chest, which was very uncomfortable. He inhaled slowly, as the military training taught, and then closed his mouth to a small outlet, and slowly exhaled that breath. After doing this a few times, the uncomfortable feeling finally subsided a lot. At this time, there was already action in the city.

Since yesterday, Tanma has determined that the Mongolian striker is running towards the northern city of labor where everyone is located. Labor North City is located in the northernmost part of the entire reclamation area, guarding the main traffic artery. At least if you want to take the main road, you have to pass this way. Sure enough, the Mongolian army came directly with such a swagger.

At this time, the artillery had already been pushed to the head of the city, and the guards at the head of the city were holding their weapons tightly and stationed in various combat positions. The combat troops in the barracks rushed out of the barracks and assembled in the square in the city. The personnel of Haizhou reclamation are all integrated into the combat unit, and these people have a total of at least four months of military training every year. Now these actions are carried out every month, and everyone is very proficient in this.

Not to mention the movement in the city, Zhu Qiong Qianhu outside the city asked the troops to stop in front of a bridge at this time. Haizhou can also be regarded as a plain area near the sea, where the water network is dense, if ordinary people are in a hurry to cross the river, it is not easy to stop, but if the army does not have something urgent, it will not swim across the river, so cross the river from the bridge.

The sudden appearance of the city was at the confluence of the two rivers in front of it, and the rivers naturally formed a moat on two and a half sides, and if they wanted to approach from the land, the army had to go around downstream and go up again. If you go all the way to the road with a bridge, the road passes right on the flat ground between the city wall and the river. With a little military concept, you know that you must not send yourself under the walls of death.

"You guys go check it out first!" Zhu Qianhu said to Tan Ma.

After crossing the wooden bridge, the horse mounted and went forward, and the horse went around the moat in front of the city and ran back. "Qi Qi Qianhu, this piece is all fields, and it has been harvested! No ambush. ”

Isn't this nonsense! Zhu Qianhu was very slanderous about Tanma's last sentence in his heart, and it was not easy to set up an ambush on such an endless plain. Zhu Qianhu sat on the horse, and he could basically see the terrain in front of him clearly at such a low height. As long as this river is crossed, Zhu Qianhu will be located on a large flat land in the middle of the two rivers. To the north is the territory of Mongolia, and to the south is the city of Zhao Jiaren.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Qianhu ordered: "Ten miles back." Camped. ”

Seeing that the Mongols had retreated like this, Song Jie, who was in the city, snorted, and was very unhappy in his heart. It would have been nice if the Mongol army had entered the open space in front of the city, and the troops had drawn up many battle plans, and it was generally considered very certain that the enemy would be destroyed in the open space in front of the city.

After another two days, the main forces of the Mongol army finally arrived. This army had a total of 5,000 men and horses, and was led by five thousand households, and the leading general was a thousand households named Gorten. Along the way, Wanhu's face was not so good-looking, and the people around him didn't dare to talk nonsense, for fear of making Wanhu unhappy. In fact, this Wanhu is not angry because of his subordinates, nor is he deliberately trying to trouble his subordinates for the sake of Liwei. There is a river separated by ten or twenty miles on this road, and it will take some time for the infantry to complete such a long road, and the cavalry marches faster than the infantry, and the feeling of crossing the river is even more dense.

In addition to the many rivers, in order to cross the river, you have to often take long detours and walk to places with bridges. Gorten Wanhu was very dissatisfied with such a march. Moreover, he didn't really understand why the Mongol army had to use such a huge force to fight for Xiangyang, and it was a more efficient offensive route to go directly from the southeast of the mountain. Now that he has walked for such a short period of time, Gorten Wanhu understands what the reason is. Moving southeast from the east is indeed not a suitable offensive line.

Stopping at the camp prepared by Zhu Qiong Qianhu first, Gorten Wanhu rode south to check the terrain. After seeing the enemy's city, Wanhu asked Zhu Qiong, "Can the people in there go out of the city to fight?" ”

Zhu Qiong hurriedly replied: "In the past few days, they have been shrinking in the city and not coming out. Look, that means they want to wait for us to attack the city. ”

"Siege?" Gorten blinked, he felt that at least his subordinate Zhu Qiong still had the least intelligence, the long-range weapons they carried were only bows and arrows, and the biggest weapon that could carry out the impact was the spear. Using these things to siege a city is probably like banging your head against a wall.

After a moment's thought, Gorten said, "Send someone to tell the chief of the city." If they surrender now, we will ensure that he will continue to be the lord of the city. But if they are not convinced, they will make an appointment with us. If we can defeat us, we will retreat. ”

The Mongol envoy entered the city and brought the news of the commander to the defenders of the city. Let the Mongolian envoy go back first, and Song Jie immediately convened a meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, invective against the Mongols made up the bulk of the content.

Before the war, there were three types of plans. The most advantageous thing was that the Mongols took the initiative to launch an attack on the northern city of Laodong, and the defenders of the city could make full use of the artillery and familiar terrain to deal a fatal blow to the Mongol army. The second is that the Mongol army enters the open space between the rivers, and the defenders can use the previous arrangement to carry out a war of encirclement and annihilation.

However, the Mongol army did not give everyone a chance at all, and people stayed comfortably in areas suitable for the Mongol army to exert their strength. If they wanted to attack them, the defenders of the northern city of Labor would need to cross two rivers. Advance to a position away from the city walls. When they go there to fight, the forces of both sides have the meaning of eliminating the advantages of the other. The Mongols were really cunning and ghostly.

scolded and mouthed happily. After scolding, the discussion began, and after a round of discussion, everyone felt that no matter how the Mongols shouted, they just held on to the city. If the Mongols did cross the northern city of Labor and move south, then they were to be flanked or outflanked according to the plan. If the Mongols could not bear the mood to attack directly, then strike at them as planned.

Discussions went and went, but there was no result from the discussions. When the speaker felt that he had nothing to say, Song Jie spoke, "We have also conducted many field trainings. If you think that the commanders of each company can obey the order and listen to the command, do you have a fight with the Mongols? ”

The discussion was no longer passionate. After Song Jie's words were finished, the venue fell silent. However, from the small movements of everyone looking at each other, nodding slightly, biting their lips, clenching their fists, and tapping on the table, it can be seen that the atmosphere of the whole venue is heating up.

Song Jie looked at the crowd and asked again, "Let's take a head-on battle with the Mongols." What do you think? ”8)