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Chapter 1278 Invitation to Battle

On the seventh day of October, Yuan Dadu.

Kublai Khan has put on a golden armor.

The courtiers rushed to him one by one, listened to his order, and left in a hurry.

Yuan Jun finally had a sense of urgency.

"Khan, Naiyan's soldiers and horses have withdrawn from the Tuanhe Camp."

"Tachal, the damned grandson, he is not as vicious as he looks, and ordered him to guard the east side... Has Ahema arrived yet?!"

So Ahema hurried into the big tent and prostrated himself on the carpet.

Kublai Khan looked at him coldly and asked, "How many cannons have you built?"

"Big Khan, two more doors have been built and are being moved to the top of the city. In addition, there are eight return cannons that have been installed, and the fierce oil tank and thunderbolt cannon are also ready..."

Ahema lost Taiyuan but was not killed by Kublai Khan precisely because he was still in charge of it.

Since six years ago, Da Yuan has hoped to imitate Tang Jun's artillery.

After all, since the Genghis Khan era, the Mongolian army has attached great importance to these ordnance skills, and often left the lives of craftsmen when massacring cities.Defeating the decaying Kingdom of Jin, and relying on the firearms of the Kingdom of Jin to march westward, is also one of the reasons why the Mongolian army is invincible in the world.

In order to spy on Tang Jun's firearms manufacturing methods, the Eagle Guards repeatedly sent spies to Chang'an, and Ahema often used smuggling businessmen in Shanxi to spy on this matter.However, what he got was always just a little bit of information.

Fortunately, as the Tang army saw more and more artillery, many people in the Yuan army realized that it was not too difficult.

After doing everything possible to probe, and constantly groping and studying, Ahema finally drew the blueprint of the artillery two years ago, and handed it over to Kublai Khan to cast the cannon in Dadu's Manufacturing Bureau.

It is a pity that the Tang army has already begun the Northern Expedition, and gradually attacked Yanjing.

What else can these cannons do?
Ahma only hoped that they could save their own lives...

"The Tang army has already begun to attack the city. You go to the top of the city and order the warriors to fire cannons. This Khan wants to see that you are worthy of this Khan's forgiveness."

"Khan, don't worry!" Ahema's forehead was sweating slightly, but he still responded: "As long as the minister is still there, the Tang army will never be allowed to enter the capital."

Kublai Khan looked up at the city defense map. Someone had already marked the positions of the newly added artillery and return artillery.

As soon as Ahema retreated, another messenger rushed over.

"Khan! Marshal Ailu sent an urgent report..."

Ailu was a general sent by Kublai Khan to garrison Juyongguan.

At this time, Kublai Khan took the letter and glanced at it, his eyes were fixed, and a trace of anger flashed in his eyes.

According to Zhu You rebelled.

Yanmen Pass has been lost.

Maybe the Tang army will attack Juyongguan soon.

But after Kublai Khan thought for a long time, he didn't make any decision about it, but just sent an order to Ailu, ordering him to guard Juyongguan.

Afterwards, he ordered Kexue to kill the messenger sent by Airu.

He didn't want those Mongolian generals to clamor to withdraw to the grassland.

What should be done now is to defeat Tang Jun...

~~
Tang Juntuan River Camp.

"Marshal, Marshal Zhang from Baozhou is here."

When Zhang Jue heard the transmission, he turned around and rushed out of the camp to meet Zhang Rou in person.

Behind him, seeing this scene, Shi Yan couldn't help but said to his uncle Shi Jin: "The three marshals are all named Zhang, and they can't tell the difference."

"Shut up, you have to be capable, one day someone calls Marshal Shi, and smoke will rise from our ancestral grave."

"Is it difficult?" Shi Yan patted his chest, "I have done so much at such a young age."

"Don't be mad at me, I just want you to save your life on the battlefield."

After a while, Zhang Jue led Zhang Rou, Zhang Hongdao and others into the tent to introduce each other.

After hearing that these were the generals from Diaoyu City, Zhang Rou's eyes were a little different, and she said, "It's amazing, it's amazing."

Shi Yan couldn't help straightening his back, thinking that it would be different if Meng Ge was beheaded in the battle of Diaoyu City. No matter where he went, everyone had to look up.If Kublai Khan can be killed this time, then it will be fine...

After being so distracted, I turned around and saw several Marshals Zhang discussing around the map.

"The army has already arrived at the city of Yanjing, and it's not easy for all the roads to fight on their own."

"Your Majesty should be here in a few days."

"That's good, I'm still familiar with the terrain."

"Marshal Zhang, do you have any ideas on how to fight this battle?"

"The city is too big for our troops to encircle, but the cavalry of the Yuan army can keep harassing us."

"As far as I know, the Yuan army may not have much food and grass, and they will definitely attack our supply line with cavalry."

"At the beginning, we still had to focus on counter-attack and harassment. When the Yuan army died of the desire to attack the supplies, we could force them to fight us."

"..."

Shi Yan listened and felt that these analyzes were too boring, and gradually became a little distracted.

He thought to himself that maybe he really can't be a general, maybe he can only be a fierce general.

Looking back, I saw Liu Jinsuo standing among the generals, with his eyes closed and his head tilted down from time to time, as if he could doze off while standing.

On the contrary, although Aji was originally an illiterate female general, now she is staring at the map while listening to the analysis of several marshals fascinated.

Suddenly, a whistle sounded from outside the tent.

Shi Yan was startled, thinking it was an enemy attack.Later, a soldier was seen rushing into the tent.

"His Majesty is here!"

"What?" Zhang Jue was also taken aback, and exclaimed, "So fast?!"

The generals still had doubts in their hearts and rushed out of the camp. After waiting for a while, the figure of a knight came into view from the wind and snow in the distance, followed by a dragon flag.

~~
"Shut up!"

The cavalry reined in the horseshoes and kicked up the snow on the snow.

Li Xia got off the horse and rubbed his face that was frozen by the cold wind.

If the generals in front did not recognize him, it would be hard to believe that His Majesty the Emperor rushed back to the front line in such a hurry.

"Your Majesty, I just got the letter this morning..."

"It seems that the messenger's footsteps are faster than mine."

Li Xia raised his hand and said, "Stop talking in the army, and get ahead."

He ordered the soldiers of the selection camp to settle down first, and then walked into the camp with big strides, reaching out to pat familiar generals as they passed by.

"Liu Jinsuo, you're getting fat."

"Your Majesty, the subject is clearly strong."

Li Xia patted Shi Yan's shoulder again, and said, "A lot taller?"

Shi Yan smirked twice, but didn't know how to respond.

He foolishly followed back to the big tent, only to see Li Xia standing in front of the map.

"You were discussing strategy just now? Is there any result?"

"The ministers think that this battle should first prevent the Yuan army from attacking..."

The bonfire in the tent roasted until the snow on Li Xia's body turned into water and fell to the ground drop by drop.He took a veil and wiped his face, but shook his head after hearing the analysis.

"This battle can't be so troublesome. I plan to directly fight Kublai Khan. What do you think?"

All the marshals were taken aback.

And generals like Liu Jinsuo and Shi Yan suddenly became more energetic.

"A decisive battle?" Zhang Jue asked suspiciously, "Kublai Khan has a strong city to defend, so why would he want to have a decisive battle with His Majesty?"

"Whether he likes it or not, just wait for the soldiers from all walks of life to arrive and attack directly."

Li Xia raised his hand, pointed at the map, and said: "Our supply line is all along the Taihang Mountains to the north. If the Yuan army still wants to attack in a roundabout way, let them go. The number of troops sent will not be of great effect. If there are more troops around Kublai Khan, the number of troops around him will decrease."

"But what if the Yuan army attacks the city behind us?"

"Long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. To reduce losses, the best way is to defeat Kublai Khan's main force as soon as possible."

Zhang Rou was a little surprised, because what Li Xia meant was that even if the cavalry of the Yuan army went back to make trouble, it would not matter.This is completely different from the previous step-by-step strategy.

After starting to attack Yanjing, he suddenly changed his attitude completely.

"Before we were facing the alliance between Yuan and Song. We sought stability and could not make mistakes. Now that Zhao and Song are in civil strife, Meng Yuan wants to take advantage of the cold winter to drag the war to next year. We must be fast and fierce."

"That's what the last general meant!" Liu Jinsuo suddenly said loudly, "It's too cold here, if you're going to grind, it's better to fight to the death directly with Menglu!"

Shi Yan also nodded, and suddenly felt that he could be the generalissimo again.

I saw Li Xia said again: "I have ordered you all to deliver all the military supplies before the end of October. And all the soldiers and horses will also arrive before the end of the month to form a comprehensive encirclement."

As he spoke, he picked up the writing brush on Zhang Jue's desk and drew two arrows on the map.

"At that time, Liu Yuanli will join Nie Zhongyou, Yan Zhuer and other tribes to sweep the Yun and Shuo area, and then attack Juyongguan from west to east; as for Yang Ben, he will be here..."

After all, the marshals were much smarter than Liu Jinsuo, and now they fully understood how to fight this battle.

"Zhang Jue, you lead your troops to station in the east of Yanjing City, so that you can restrain the Yuan army for Liu Yuan's Ministry of Rites."

"The minister obeys the order."

"Zhang Hongdao, you lead the cavalry of your headquarters to station in the southeast direction, and be ready to respond at any time."

"The minister obeys the order."

"When you encounter a war, make your own decision."

After Li Xia finished speaking, she turned to Zhang Rou and said, "How about Zhang Rou leading the infantry in the Tuanhe camp with me?"

"The old minister obeys the order."

"Pull up my dragon flag in the camp and let the Yuan army see it."

~~
The battle in the old woodlands did not count the time for marching, and it only took two days for the decisive battle between Kublai Khan and Brother Ali Bak.

He thought it was different to fight Li Xia this time, so he planned to use the Han army's style of play, such as defending the city, defending and counterattacking, and then cooperate with the Mongolian army's harassment tactics.

However, as soon as Li Xia's flag was hoisted, and seeing that the Tang army only used the simple tactics of increasing troops, Kublai Khan realized that Li Xia, like Brother Ali, wanted to fight to determine the outcome...

(End of this chapter)