Chapter 17 two

Soon, Zhenjin and Antong brought back the oracle of Mengge Khan: Kublai Khan would replace Tachar to lead the East Route Army to continue attacking Ezhou as originally planned. With Mengge Khan's imperial decree, Kublai Khan can justifiably recall those former officials who had followed him for many years but were forced to return to their hometowns because of the Hook Kao incident.Not long after, monk Zicong, Dou Mo, Yao Shu, Hao Jing, Lian Xixian, Zhao Bi, etc. were ordered to travel starry night and gathered in Puyang, Henan.Kublai Khan, who was in power again, held an important military meeting in his tent with the participation of the host kings and the staff of the vassal government.

Zhang Rou, deputy commander and veteran of the East Route Army, first made a speech: "My East Route Army lost a hard battle and was severely reprimanded by Mengge Khan. What is the reason? I think there are both subjective reasons and objective reasons that cannot be ignored. The subjective reason is that my command was improper, which caused our army to advance blindly; the objective reason is that the rivers and lakes in the south of the Yangtze River are criss-crossed and the river network is densely covered. Food and grass, no medicine for wounds, we had no choice but to withdraw our troops and return north.”

Speaking of this, Zhang Rou raised her head and looked at Kublai Khan, her voice was clear and firm: "Please punish according to the military law, Zhang Rou accepts the crime." Zhang Rou's opening remarks were not blunt, just right. On the surface, she was reviewing her own faults, but in fact she emphasized the objective reasons for the failure of the Eastern Route Army. . Tachar, the king of the Eastern Daozong, looked stern.As the deputy commander, Zhang Rou took the initiative to take full responsibility for his offensive failure. Although he was not surprised, he was grateful.

Kublai Khan, who lived in the center of the tent hall, looked away from the military map, and said calmly: "Zhang Shuai speaks uprightly, and this king admires him very much. But this king believes that the most important thing now is not to pursue who is responsible, but to accept the responsibility." What do you think of the lessons learned from the failure of this attack on Ezhou, and a new battle plan based on it?" All the generals looked at each other with approval in their eyes. "Old Marshal Zhang's words just now are very enlightening to me. What he said is true. If our 100,000 cavalry are fighting on land or on the grasslands, they are often invincible, but once we get to the ravines and water networks The advantages of water towns in the southern country no longer exist. There is a saying in the art of war: "Know yourself and know the enemy, and you can win every battle." We only understand our own military advantages, that is, we are good at field battles and long-distance raids, but we ignore that Song Yiyi waits for work and defends in the city. Use his strengths to overcome my weaknesses, because if he does not go out of the city for a decisive battle, your strengths will not be brought into play. I think this should be the main reason for the defeat of the Eastern Route Army. In this sense, the Eastern Route Army is actually It is a useful attempt for our operation. Therefore, I only invited you here today, the purpose is to brainstorm and listen to your opinions."

The venue fell into silence.The main generals of the Eastern Route Army did not expect Kublai Khan to be so open-minded and far-sighted. Many people originally came with the feeling of being questioned by Xingshi, but after hearing Kublai Khan's words, their doubts disappeared. "Mr. Zhang, why don't you give me a start?" Kublai smiled and looked at Zhang Rou, a famous general of the four dynasties who was full of hair but still in good spirits. "Since His Royal Highness wants me to say a few words, I will not be polite, and I have the right to throw bricks to attract jade." Zhang Rou gently twisted her white beard, "I will talk about the relationship with the Song Dynasty from the perspective of policy gains and losses. This dynasty is more than powerful, but Benevolence and kindness have not been negotiated. Now that the war is at the end, the people of the world are desperate to resist the attack of the Mongolian army. Only because of the battle is death, surrender is also death, and it is better to fight with death than to surrender. If our army treats surrender The soldiers and civilians all adopt a lenient policy of no killing, so that each has a way out, so I believe that even if there are hundreds of cities in Song Dynasty, they can be marched down, and the cause of peace is just around the corner."

"What Zhang Gong said is very true, and this king will definitely fulfill it." Kublai Khan praised. "Govern the Han land, you should use the method of governing the Han land. If it is true, the world will be ruled, and the north and the south will return to their hearts. Why worry that the Song Dynasty will not be destroyed, and the country will not be unified!" Kublai Khan's eyes glanced over the face of the host king Tachal seemingly inadvertently, and he saw that Tachal was still expressionless. "What Mr. Zhang said, I will keep it in mind. Mr. Hao, I know that you don't always like to talk, but if you express your feelings, you must be from a high-level place. Today, everyone expresses their opinions, and you may as well talk about your thoughts."

Hao Jing was born in Lingzhou, Shanxi Province. Yuan Haowen, a master at the end of the Jin Dynasty, came from his grandfather Hao Tianting.Hao Jing's family was poor but eager to learn. He studied hard in Tiefo Temple for five years.The back library is in Zhang Rou's house, where he can browse his rich collection of books.In the sixth year of Mengge Khan (1256), he was called to the north to meet Kublai Khan in Shatuo, and presented dozens of things, which were highly regarded, so he stayed in the palace to serve Kublai Khan.At this moment, because Zhang Rou's words are all in line with her heart, she can't feel the inspiration, and she can't vomit.

"I'm just talking about my views on the failure of this attack on Ezhou. Fundamentally speaking, the failure lies in the continuous use of troops and the lack of national strength, which makes it difficult to continue to support a large-scale conquest war. This is one; from the perspective of strategy and tactics, it is mainly The choice of the main attack direction was wrong, which was caused by abandoning Mongolia's past advantages of surprising victories and being good at field warfare and blindly attacking tough areas. The second." He said succinctly. In fact, Hao Jing had objections to Mongolia's rash attack on the Song Dynasty this time.On the way to the south of Kaiping, he made many camera admonitions, expressing his worries about the instability of the current situation and the future of the Song Dynasty.

The first time was in Zhending, Hebei Province. Kublai Khan listened to Hao Jing’s advice, deeply thought it, but said helplessly: “To send troops to Song State today is the order of the Great Khan. The so-called emperor’s order cannot be violated. Once the war is over , this king will send you as our envoy to make peace with Song Ting, so as to reassure the people." The second time was when passing through Puzhou, Henan. Kublai Khan discussed countermeasures with his subordinates after he obtained the information that Song ordered all parties to guard against the border. If there is a sign of defeat, I will pour out of the country, and if there is internal turmoil and external difficulties, it will be at a disadvantage for our country."

Based on the above point of view, Hao Jing suggested that Kublai Khan "form an alliance and prepare to wait for the Western Division" and "cultivate morality and simplicity, and wait for the time to move".Hao Jing's persuasion attracted Kublai Khan's attention to a certain extent, and he especially wanted to hear Hao Jing's opinion at the Song Song Conference held this time. Hao Jing took a sip of tea and continued: "Since the founding of Mongolia, I have been fighting for years, the people are poor and the army is exhausted, and the already withered national strength is not enough to cope with such a huge conquest in such a short period of time. That's aside. Ever since Genghis Khan, the Mongolian army has won surprises and is known for being good at field battles. However, when Meng Ge Khan sent troops to Sichuan this time, the six armies were thunderous, and the action plan was completely exposed to the enemy, not to mention that the primary goal was to conquer the enemy's fortified city. This is sincere The so-called defeating the enemy's strengths with our own weaknesses, using our limited forces to compete with Song's huge army, and the terrain in Sichuan is dangerous, given time, I fear that our army will show defeat."

Kublai Khan thought so deeply, but he was powerless to change the established combat policy. At this time, the first quarter moon hangs alone in the eastern sky, dyeing the earth a piece of silvery white, like a frost-like wheat stack, which can't be seen at a glance.