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Chapter 421 Upstream
What's in the city of Syria, Niu Lin is very clear.

He defeated the reinforcements of Xuzhou in Laojun Mountain, captured many defeated soldiers, and found out the strength of the troops in Xuzhou City.

When Shi Jun knew Xuzhou, there were 2000 defenders in the city; Zhang Shi mobilized [-] men in the first battle of Mahujiang, but they were all captured by Wulianghetai; after Shi Jun defeated Wulianghetai, he replenished his troops and recovered to more than [-] troops. people.

However, after Wei Wenbo took office, he abolished the number of troops and paid for nothing. In just one year, the number of defenders in Syria was no more than 2000.Therefore, Wei Wenbo has always refused to support Luzhou, until Zhang Shi's first line of defense was defeated, and under Zhu Yusun's forced order, he reluctantly emphasized the support of thousands of people...

After learning the news, Newell was fully sure of capturing Syria.

He sent Zhang Wei again to persuade Wei Wenbo to surrender.

It is obvious how a Zhizhou will react before the battle if he dares to pay for nothing like this.

Sure enough, when Zhang Wei reported back, there was indeed good news.

"Commander, Wei Wenbo agreed to open the city gate and surrender."

Niu Lin asked: "The city of Syria is closed, how did you contact him?"

Zhang Wei responded: "The villain sent someone to shout at the base of the city, saying that there was an old friend who wanted to talk to Wei Wenbo. He really put down the drawbridge and let people enter the city. The officials refused to surrender, and wanted to make an appointment with the general to take the Syrian state."

Niu Lin stepped onto the battle platform and looked towards the city of Xuzhou.

Now the navy of Wanyan Stone Pillar has not yet arrived, and Niu Lin only has [-] cavalry troops stationed on Yingpan Mountain, separated from the city of Xuzhou by the Minjiang River, and facing the mighty Yangtze River to the south.

In such a terrain, it is really not easy to forcibly seize Syria.

Niu Lin let the river wind blow his braids, and after thinking for a while, he said: "On tomorrow night, you enter the city first, control Wei Wenbo, open the city gate in the middle of the night, and take down the Sanjiangkou. I will send troops to cross the city by boat. Minjiang."

Zhang Wei quickly agreed.

He was about to step back, thought for a while, felt that he had made a contribution, finally dared to muster up the courage, and asked in a low voice: "Marshal, can Zhang Shi be spared? The villain will definitely persuade him to surrender."

"Don't worry, I will give Zhang Shi a chance."

Zhang Wei was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "Thank you, Commander! The villain will definitely win Xuzhou for the Commander!"

……

The boat wobbled, crossed the Minjiang River again, and stopped at the Hejiangmen Wharf at the mouth of the Sanjiang River.Zhang Wei got off the boat and looked up at the city wall of Xuzhou, still afraid that the Song army would shoot arrows from the top of the city.

Fortunately, Song Jun on the top of the wall acted as if he hadn't seen him.

Only a team of patrolmen stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "But General Zhang Wei Zhang."

"Exactly."

"Wei Zhizhou has been waiting for a long time, please invite General Zhang into the city to discuss."

~~
Niu Lin waited for another day, but the Wanyan Stone Pillar hadn't arrived yet.

But maybe there was no need to wait for the navy to arrive, Niu Lin arranged for [-] elites to rush to make some leather rafts, and quietly floated them into the Minjiang River at night.

He climbed to the top of the mountain himself and looked at the situation on the other side.

New Lin's eyesight was excellent, and from a distance, he could see the flames flickering on the city wall, moving back and forth five times.

This is the signal agreed with Zhang Wei, everything goes well.

Three hundred elite Mongolian troops gradually arrived at Hejiangmen, and responded by lighting torches...

Suddenly, Niu Lin turned his head to the car of the general under his command and asked, "The Li Xia who killed my child is an official from Qingfu County, Xuzhou?"

"Yes, Marshal." Che Li said: "When Xuzhou City is captured, I would like to lead troops to sweep Qingfu County to avenge Ye Suda'er!"

"Li Xia still only manages one county?"

"Seems to be."

New Lin's eyes were cold, and he sneered.

"Many warriors on our prairie lead an army at the age of 15..."

In the middle of the conversation, the sneer on Niu Lin's face suddenly froze, and he shouted: "Ming Jin! Call people back!"

~~
"Go!"

On the top of the city of Xuzhou, Gao Nianfeng shouted loudly, and arrow feathers shot at the Mongolian ships from the top of the city.

He personally led two hundred Qingfu troops and three hundred Syrian state troops to kill the Mongolian troops who were still disembarking by the river bank.

On the top of the wall, the hook in Jiang Fan's hand was firmly inserted into Zhang Wei's neck.

"I'll do it." Li Zhaocheng shouted, strode forward, raised a knife and chopped off Zhang Wei's head.

Blood was spilled all over Li Zhaocheng's body. His hands were trembling, but he held the head and tied it to the flagpole, and shouted: "Death to the collaborators! Swear to defend Xuzhou!"

"Oath to defend Syria!"

The soldiers on the top of the city roared one after another, and the torches were lit one after another, illuminating the river bank.

There, five hundred Song troops had already entered the chaotic Mongolian army...

~~
After a small setback, Newell restrained his anger.

He knows that the most important thing for a general is to calm down, and raising troops in anger will often not have good results.

He waited patiently for the arrival of the Wanyan Stone Pillar, while starting to build artillery carts, plundering the population, and methodically preparing to attack the city.

On the eighth day of March, the Mongolian army began to attack Syria.

The cannon carts slammed huge rocks and fireballs into the city of Syria; the ships were moored on the river bank and kept firing arrows at the city wall; the captives set up ladders from the deck and tried to climb to the top of the city.

Niu Lin knew that there were not many defenders in the city of Syria, and he would not be able to withstand such an offensive sooner or later, and he still had a lot of time to attack the city leisurely.

After conquering Xuzhou, he can safely sweep south of Shu and encircle the city of God's Arm.In this way, there is no need to worry about going east to Chongqing.

To be honest, he was very worried that he would be shot by the tail on the way to Chongqing, especially since Li Xia was in Xuzhou...

Niu Lin is very concerned about Li Xia, which is one of the reasons why he must destroy Syria.

He thought that he would meet that young man again this time, but he didn't expect to get any news from the other party until now...

"Big guy! Big guy!"

A fast horse galloped from a distance, rushed to the front of Yingpan Mountain, and roared loudly.

"Urgent report, urgent report!"

……

"Marshal Baodu...General Mili Huo Zhe was attacked by the Song Army at the foot of Yunding City...was attacked by the Song Army on the mountain and down the mountain, and was defeated..."

"Where did the Song Army come from under Yunding Mountain?!"

Newell was finally furious.

He had only 5000 troops, and he led 5000 people to the south, so he ordered Milihuo to lead [-] people to garrison Chengdu.

Because Yunding City was not captured, he ordered Mili Huo Zhe to surround Yunding Mountain.

"It's the Qingfu army. I don't know where the Qingfu army came from. They attacked Milihuo Zhe's camp at night, and the Yunding defenders also killed them..."

"E Xiu Te!"

"After the Song army joined forces, they captured Jianzhou again, burned Jianzhou's food and grass, destroyed more than ten floating bridges, seized ships and built ships, and now they are approaching Zizhou along the Tuojiang River. Zizhou is in an emergency, please Marshal Du for support..."

Newell was furious, breathing heavily, and clenched his fists to force himself to calm down.

The only sound left in the big tent was his breathing.

First of all, Niu Lin knew that he had to counterattack Zizhou immediately, not for the city.

The city is not important, but once the Song army blocks the upper reaches of the Tuojiang River, they can sneak attack the Mongolian army's luggage along the river at any time.

The strategic purpose of Niu Lin's battle was to open up the Yangtze River waterway, transport supplies for other armies, and conquer Hezhou and Chongqing.

If the butt is blocked, how can it be said that the waterway has been opened?

"Mingjin." Niu Lin gritted his teeth and said, "Order Wanyan Shizhu to immediately lead the navy to garrison Luchuan County and guard the baggage. The cavalry will follow the commander to Zizhou. Everyone, mount your horse now!"

~~
Zizhou.

Zizhou, namely "Ziyang", is an important town in the middle reaches of the Tuojiang River.It is also the see-saw battlefield between Mongolia and Song Dynasty.

This place has been occupied by soldiers and horses from both sides for more than [-] years.

Niu Lin did not leave too many troops to defend Zizhou City.

The Mongolian army has never liked to defend the city, and no one thought that the Song army would have troops to counterattack Zizhou.

Therefore, Li Xia captured Zizhou City without any effort, just waiting for Niu Lin to turn around and come back.

From the very beginning, Li Xia's strategic plan was completely different from that of Zhang Shi and others.

Zhang Shi is the defender of one side, all he thinks about is how to defend.But the land battle cannot be won, and the water battle is at a disadvantage, how can it be defended?
Li Xia was different, he was thinking about strategic issues...Meng Ge wanted to conquer Sichuan, focusing on Hezhou and Chongqing.Everything Niu Lin did was to prepare for Mengge's attack on Shu, transporting supplies, and closing the siege.

That's very simple, to prevent New Lin from getting through the waterway to Chongqing smoothly.

Therefore, if you want to attack the enemy, you must save it, instead of just defending, defending, defending... defending a battle that cannot be won.

Li Xia directly led his troops to the north, and did not even deal with the bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty. He asked for instructions, analyzed, waited for approval, and waited for the transfer order... After all this work, the Mongolian army might have already reached the Yangtze River.

Only by acting decisively can we turn the tide.

……

"Haha, Lizhi County has a good plan, should we immediately send someone to contact Zhu Anshi to attack the Mongolian army?" Zhu Cheng laughed and walked up to the city wall, and asked Li Xia, "If we can defeat the Mongolian army navy and destroy its ships, then we will be able to attack the Mongolian army." It can make it unable to attack Syria and Lu again."

"No, Newell will be back soon. He must use cavalry to cover the navy on land. Right now is not the best time to fight."

"Then how do we do it?"

Li Xia pondered, and said slowly: "Counterattack Chengdu, and defeat the Chengdu Mongolian Army again."

"Why?" Zhu Cheng asked, "But, the war between Syria and Lu is tight..."

"You don't have to just focus on the small battlefield. We captured Jianzhou and Zizhou and forced Niu Lin to return to the army. We have broken the siege of Xu and Lu."

Li Xia picked up four pieces of rubble and placed them on the dilapidated city wall, and said: "Niu Lin has only 2 people on this road. With us in Yunding City, he must leave troops to defend Chengdu. Then, as long as his troops are wiped out The strength is enough, and it is the same to destroy whichever one."

While speaking, he flicked away a piece of gravel on the city wall.

Zhu Cheng thought for a while, then smiled and said, "Understood, it doesn't matter which one you annihilate. Let's find someone who can fight well. The Mongolian army in Chengdu is chasing after us, so we must never have thought that we would fight back."

"That's right, it's better to cut off one finger than to hurt his ten fingers..."

(End of this chapter)