The struggle of the reborn prince

Wan Yanyong dug the Lianghe embankment five miles southeast of the city, and the river slanted out of the river and dropped two feet steeply. It took three days to balance out and flow into other tributaries to return to the lower reaches of the Liang River.However, the deepest water outside Liaoyang City is more than ten feet long, and the shallowest part is two feet, forming a Zeguo with a radius of hundreds of miles. .

Fortunately, Zhao Tun's cleverness made the army retreat one step ahead. Even so, the tiger generals and leopard wing troops who had already arrived at the city, except for their troops, weapons and equipment, all their food, grass and luggage were lost in the water. If the follow-up fleet did not arrive, they would Really hungry.However, the water level of the Liang River dropped too much, and the depth of the river was only more than ten feet, and only small boats could pass.

In the past few days, Zhao Tun and all the generals have been sleepless all night. They thought that they could quickly attack the hinterland of the Kingdom of Jin by relying on the strong combat effectiveness of the Song Army. The battle of the Northern Expedition.But now that a monstrous flood created by Wan Yanyong has cut off their way forward, how can everyone be reconciled to just withdrawing their troops like this, but they are helpless in the face of a vast expanse of powerful firearms and hundreds of giant ships People in the city!

"Your Majesty, the water has gradually slowed down, but the river is still pouring in, and the water level is still slowly rising. It is the rainy season now. If the water recedes after autumn." Mawei sent people to monitor the water situation from time to time, and reported to the emperor report.

"Well, it's just the beginning of May, and there are still five months before the end of autumn, and the severe cold will come soon, which will not be conducive to our operations. We can only wait until next spring to attack again, we can't afford to wait!" Zhao Tun sighed. road.The words were full of helplessness, and he thought that he could do all the work in one battle.Now it looks like it's all coming to naught.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, at worst we will come back next year!" Chen Yu comforted.

"For the Northern Expedition, I have been preparing for many years, gathering the strength of the whole country, and consuming countless food and salaries. It is easy to negotiate peace again for the Northern Expedition." Zhao Tong said with a wry smile. Such a large-scale war cannot be supported even with the current financial resources of the Song Dynasty.But who knows what will happen in the future, it may be in the foreseeable future.

"Your Majesty, although we are hindered, Zhao Li's corps is advancing towards its capital, and it will certainly be able to capture Huining Mansion." Ma Kuo said.

"My lord Ma, you don't know. After Zhao Li enters the grassland, it will be very difficult to supply logistics. Not only will he be harassed by the Jurchen all the time, but the journey will be long and difficult. Therefore, our plan is to open the channel on the South Road. The supply of food and grass supplies the two armies, but now that we are blocked under the city of Liaoyang, Zhao Li cannot get supplies, and he will not last long before he has to retreat due to lack of food." Zhao Zhi also smiled wryly.explained to him.

"Yes, there is a report in the southwest. It is also the rainy season on the grassland. The roads are muddy and difficult to pass, and vehicles cannot pass. It is all carried by livestock, and it is difficult to guarantee a long-term supply. Please move forward quickly and join forces as soon as possible." Zhao Lian. Said.

"Order Zhao Li to slow down the marching speed, not to go deep into the grassland, so as to reduce the pressure on logistics supplies, and wait for the next order." Zhao Tong thought for a while and said, their troops equipped with firearms are more dependent on logistics, and now they are blocked here, Jin Jun It is possible to concentrate its forces to deal with Zhao Li's corps. Once the logistics supply is not available, it will repeat the same mistakes of the past.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhao Lian replied. Under the current situation, this is the only way to go. The battle plan made earlier has been disrupted.

"Ma Wei, can the small warships in Lianghe be able to sail now?" Zhao Tang turned to Ma Wei and asked.

"Your Majesty, my subordinates have ordered people to survey the waterway, and the warships of the Yongzi class cannot navigate, but the vehicles and boats of the Jiangling Navy can pass through unimpeded, even to the flooded area, but the city of Liaoyang cannot be breached with only small boats." Ma Wei Said.

"Whoever said that the city is about to be attacked, I want to take a boat to go around, but I can't think of any way to do it here." Zhao Tong said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, this... is this too dangerous?" Ma Wei was surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect that the emperor asked this matter because he wanted to patrol the river himself.

"It's dangerous, we can't get in, and they can't get out. How can I watch their emperor drown?" Zhao Tuo waved his hand and said, seeing that several ministers wanted to come up to persuade them.

"Okay, this subordinate will go prepare now." Ma Wei said helplessly, while the others could only shake their heads and sigh, they all knew the emperor's temper, since he said it, he would definitely do it, and it would be useless to persuade anyone... …

After Shaoqing's ship was ready, Zhao Tong, Zhao Yong, Zhao Lian and several accompanying ministers disembarked and boarded the flagship of the Jiangling Navy.In order to ensure the emperor's safety, the general's water army dispatched sixteen warships, with three as the lead, responsible for surveying the water situation and reconnaissance of the enemy's movements; after that, ten warships formed a circular formation to protect the flagship in the center; the rear guard Consists of another 'Flying Dragon' and two 'Flying Tiger' vehicles and boats.

It was the first time for Zhao Tun and the others to ride a car and boat, which was novel and interesting. Because the river water leaked into the wilderness, the water flow slowed down, and the river surface was as calm as a mirror.The warship is full of sails, and under the sailors' strenuous efforts, it is like flying on the water. The strong wind brought by the speed hits the face, making people feel that the heat on the body is gone with the wind, and Zhao standing on the top deck Tama actually has the feeling of speeding on a speedboat in his previous life, and his mood suddenly becomes brighter.

As the warship sailed eastward, the river gradually narrowed, and the exposed embankments became higher and higher.The warships no longer dared to drive recklessly, lowered their sails, and only used the oars to drive, reducing the speed. The leading boats also began to insert long poles into the river continuously to detect the water level and prevent them from running aground.

"Your Majesty, the breach is one mile ahead. If you continue to move forward, the rapid current will cause the ship to become unstable." Du Feng saluted the emperor, his words were very cautious, and he didn't dare to look up.

"Hehe, have you ever been there?" Zhao Tong asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty, the last general has been ordered to investigate the water situation many times, and he has been there many times." Du Feng replied.

"You have been here many times and you are still standing here. I won't be so unlucky that I capsize the first time I come here?" Zhao Tong joked, making everyone around laugh.

"Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, a person who is favored by the heavens, and will be able to turn danger into safety." Du Feng blushed and murmured.

"Haha, if God favored me, he wouldn't give me such a big problem. It should be because God thinks he has nothing to do with me, and taking me to heaven will only cause him a headache, so he can only let me survive again and again!" Zhao Tun laughed.

"Your Majesty was joking, please go down to the cabin to avoid danger." Du Feng was teased by the emperor one after another, and said awkwardly, but he was very happy in his heart. It turned out that the emperor was really as approachable as the legend said.

"Commander Du, you don't have to worry about sailing. Your Majesty has often played in the river since he was six or seven years old. Back then, even when he was fully armed, he could move freely in the water. He was able to cross the river during the flood season. This little water can't help His Majesty." Zhao Yong Seeing that Du Feng was still nervous, he spoke up and gave him a reassurance.

"Oh, it turns out that His Majesty is so good at water, the last general is really ashamed." Du Feng said in a daze, carrying dozens of kilograms of equipment to cross the river during the flood season, not everyone can do it, even veterans who have been in the army for many years arrived.

"Don't worry, the privy secretary made them all able to do it. If the boat capsized, they would be able to swim back by themselves!" Zhao Tang stretched out his hand and said, including Zhao Yong, Zhao Lian, Zhao Shi and others. .

When the boat reached the breach, it was obvious that the hull began to shake violently, and the bow of the boat was tilted towards the water outlet.The people on the boat were all the top figures of the Great Song Dynasty. How could Du Feng dare to be negligent, standing on the bow of the boat to observe the water situation, commanding the warship, and holding the helm by himself.The fleet passed this section of the river without any risk, and Du Feng's battle clothes were completely soaked in sweat. It would be a lie to say that he was not nervous.

But Zhao Tun seemed to have more ideas, and continued to go west along the river, looked at all the three breaches dug by the Jin army, and ordered someone to draw a detailed map.Of the three breaches, the one on the westernmost side is the largest, and after being impacted by the water, it is as wide as twenty feet, and the two narrower ones are more than ten feet in size. Pan area.Then Zhao Tong ordered the fleet to sail into the flood discharge area from the breach, and he also went to see Liaoyang City.

Du Feng had no choice but to obey the order, and ordered the fleet to come out of the breach and head towards the wind direction of Liaoyang City.At this time, the outside of Liaoyang City was covered with vast ocean, houses and trees were hardly visible, only a hazy shadow was left on the water surface, and no trace of the grand occasion of the past could be seen.Due to the complicated water conditions, the fleet could only move forward by exploring the way, so the speed was very slow, and it was out of the range of the Jin Army's trebuchet.

Zhao Tong stood on the deck and observed Liaoyang City with a telescope. A levee around the city almost completely covered the city, making it impossible to see the situation outside the city clearly.On the levee, the Jin army also set up lookout posts and soldiers patrolling the embankment. When they saw the Song army fleet approaching, they rang the alarm bell.And Zhao Tun didn't order to fight back, and took a boat to besiege the city from a distance, making a complete circle, which made the Jin army jump around.

"Everyone has seen how the situation is. If you want to break the city, there are only two ways. One is to block the breach and fight after the water recedes; the other is to send troops to blow up the embankment outside the Jinjun city and flood the city with water! "Zhao Tun rubbed his sore eyes, turned his face and said to everyone.

"Your Majesty, it is not easy to block the breach during the flood season. It is most feasible to blow up the embankment to flood the city and send warships to bombard the city, but I am afraid the water is not deep enough for the warships to enter the range of the artillery. The rest The only option is to secretly send a commando to blow up the levee with explosives, but it is not easy to get close to the levee under the strict supervision of the Jin army, and the Jin people must have been prepared. If the gap is too small, they will quickly block it. Even if the city is flooded, we still can't break the city!" Zhao Yong thought for a while and said... (to be continued...)