The wind is roaring, the horses are roaring, and the Yellow River is roaring!
Although the Yellow River water in winter is not as turbulent as in summer and autumn, the rushing river water still stirs up waves from time to time due to strong winds. One wave can be as high as two or three feet high, which is scary.
But even so, the battle across the river was still in full swing, with hundreds of large and small ships carrying thousands of elite rebels heading towards the south bank. However, the Song army on the south bank had already made arrangements. A larger number of ships intercepted the enemy forces by dividing and outflanking them. The sound of killing on the river was loud for a while, almost covering up the sound of wind and water.
There have been no fewer than ten confrontations like today's confrontation over the river, but every time, the offensive of the rebel army was eventually defeated by the defenders. The reason for this, in addition to Zhang Shuye's proper defense and use of troops, was also due to the weaknesses and shortcomings of the rebel army.
Yes, this army that was able to defeat both the Liao and Jin people is indeed the most elite military force in the Song Dynasty today. No army in the world can match it, but this refers to the land army. battle. Now that they are in the water, the situation is completely different. Most of the soldiers in this army, with the Shandong Army as the main force, are not familiar with water, which reduces the number of soldiers and horses that Sun Tu can use by more than half.
Even the troops recruited from Jiangnan and the troops surrendered from Liangshanbo may have good water skills, but they were unable to get used to fighting on such a turbulent Yellow River. When the battle for the river was first launched, the anti-thief army even capsized the boat without engaging in battle. Now they were able to sail the boat steadily, but once they faced off against the enemy, they still quickly fell into Passive, can only retreat in a hurry.
Today's battle situation had a similar result soon after noon. As a wave came, the two small garrison boats that were surrounding the rebel ship nimbly dodged past, but were washed sideways by the river. It slid tens of feet, but the three larger ships on this side were directly overturned. Two to three hundred soldiers on board screamed and fell into the water, forcing the ships that were supposed to continue to join the battle to go forward to save people first, thus allowing The situation was completely under the control of the defenders on the south bank.
Seeing this, Sun Tu could only sigh and ordered: "Ming Jin withdraws his troops." If we continue to fight like this, it is impossible to change the situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak on the water. It is better to withdraw our troops and then look for opportunities.
As the crisp bell rang, the thieves' navy, which was still entangled with the enemy ships, began to gradually retreat. After a while, it finally retreated safely to the north bank. All the soldiers were soaked to the skin, but they looked ashamed and angry. After seeing Sun Tu, they all knelt on the ground: "We are not fighting well, please ask the general to punish us."
"Get up. Water fighting is not what we are good at. This result was already expected. Everyone should go back and change clothes to rest. I will find a way to cross the river." Sun Tu helped the person in front. The two generals comforted everyone, and then brought the important generals back to the big tent for discussion.
After everyone took their seats, Song Jiang took the lead and sighed: "If the leaders of our Liang Shanshui Army were still here, the battle would not be so difficult now."
This statement immediately won the approval of many former Liangshan leaders. Yes, you must know that in the past, this army included Li Jun, Er Zhang Er Tong, San Ruan, etc.
A master of water fighting. But as a result, they either died in battle or left, leaving the army without a qualified water warfare general.
Sun Tu had a different view on this: "In fact, judging from the water flow of the Yellow River, even if they are really here, they may not be able to get away easily. The so-called natural danger is a place that is good for defense but not good for attack, and our army is already fighting on the water. It’s not strong. Even if there are a few generals who are skilled in water, I’m afraid it’s just a drop in the bucket. So I think I still have to think of other ways to cross the river. I’m afraid it won’t work if I just rely on water warfare to attack.”
After everyone heard this, they were also silent for a while. Being trapped on the north bank of the Yellow River for more than half a month really gave everyone a big blow, and it also let the soldiers know that they were not really invincible anymore. At least the defenders in front of them could defeat them again and again. .
At this time, Dong Pingyou said solemnly: "General, I think that delaying it any longer may not be beneficial to us. The reason why we fought and won consecutively before was precisely because we caught everyone in the world off guard and saw our momentum, so we did There have been cases where cities surrendered without a fight. But now, we are trapped here and it is difficult to move forward, but it will inevitably make some wallflowers start to waver and wait and see. The court can also continue to receive additional troops and horses to prepare for the next defense. ,so… "
"I understand what you mean. We must cross the river as soon as possible and defeat Zhang Shuye's troops in the front, right?" Sun Tu waved his hands and concluded.
"Exactly. So I think we can no longer just tentatively attack the north bank like before, but we have to attack in a large scale and use our superiority in strength to overwhelm the opponent. I believe that the defenders on the south bank are actually a little scared now. Yes, they are far from our opponents in terms of combat power. As long as one of our ships rushes to the south bank, the result will be completely different. We can no longer shrink back and care about casualties." Dong Ping said, clasping his fists again: "In addition, Since this idea came from the last general, he asked for orders to personally lead his troops into the water to launch an attack. This time there will be no victory but no return!"
His statement immediately ignited the passion of other generals. At that moment, more than a dozen generals stood up and clasped their fists: "General, I also want to fight across the river. Even if we are not familiar with water fighting, it is not impossible for us to fight. If we continue like this, Not to mention that time is delayed, military morale is easily shaken... "
Sun Tu's eyes swept over the faces of these generals one by one, and he was moved in his heart. But then, he shook his head again: "This is the worst of the worst. I will not gamble with the lives of my brothers unless it is absolutely necessary."
"But..." Dong Ping was about to say more, but was interrupted again by Sun Tu: "Actually, you don't have to be so impatient. I have my own plans for seeking stability. You must know that we are not the only ones raising troops this time. , and Paoze from Jiangnan is following up. Sometimes, we have to learn to trust our comrades."
"Is it difficult to reach Tokyo with the soldiers and horses from Jiangnan?" Someone muttered in a low voice. Although others did not say such words, the expressions on their faces agreed.
It's not that they looked down on their own troops. In fact, in order to go north to conquer Liao, the Jiangnan side had already transferred all the most powerful troops. Although there were still some Shandong troops left, they were far away after all. Not as good as the elite soldiers here. In addition, there are even fewer generals staying in Jiangnan. There are almost no generals who can truly act alone.
. Considering this, it's really hard to expect anything big to happen there.
Sun Tu smiled: "You may be mistaken. I am not expecting Jiangnan's Paoze to advance into Tokyo before us, but they can still play a great role in this battle. Don't forget Well, Jiangnan is the land of wealth and food in the Song Dynasty."
This sentence finally woke up the generals, and several of them said almost in unison: "General, do you mean to defeat them by relying on the brothers in Jiangnan to cut off the money and food transportation to Tokyo?"
"But how does this help us? The money and food supplies for the defenders on the south bank come from the capital..." Yang Zhi frowned.
"I'm talking about the Gyeonggi region, but it actually comes from the city of Tokyo. But have you ever thought about it, most of Tokyo's money and food comes from Jiangnan. If Tokyo itself has a food crisis, can they still provide sufficient food and grass for the front line? Sun Tu said confidently: "It might not be easy to say if it were those who put the overall situation first, but who among the people in the court can have such a mind? Cai Jing and the others would starve themselves for the sake of a full meal for the frontline soldiers. Belly?"
At this time, everyone finally understood, and the depressed expressions on their faces finally relaxed: "What the soldiers said is that it seems that time is our opportunity."
"Exactly." Sun Tu nodded and smiled: "Not only that, in my opinion, the passage of time has another more beneficial factor for us, but it is something that neither the enemy nor we have noticed. Maybe in a few days , all problems can be easily solved.”
Unlike the renewed morale of the troops on the north bank, the atmosphere here among the defenders on the south bank seemed a bit depressed.
Amidst the smoke, several generals came to see Zhang Shuye solemnly: "Shuai Zhang, this is the third day, and we are still deducting half of the soldiers' food. If this continues, everyone will be dissatisfied."
"Yes, Zhang Shuai, why hasn't the imperial court sent the next batch of food? If the brothers are left hungry, they may not be able to fight the rebels and defend the Yellow River defense line."
Zhang Shuye looked at these subordinates with a serious face, and after a while he snorted: "What, do you want to use this matter to negotiate terms with me? Or do you think you have different intentions and are thinking about treason with the other side?" Did the military collude?"
Feeling his power, these generals were shocked. They hurriedly bent down and saluted and admitted their mistakes: "I don't dare, I don't dare. I am really anxious about things in the army. Now we haven't had enough food for three days." , morale is already very low..."
"Of course I know that there are some difficulties at the moment, but there are always difficulties in transporting food to the north. It is natural to be delayed for a few days on the way. Just don't worry, I have my own countermeasures." After Zhang Shuye dismissed them casually, his face changed. Finally, he showed his deep uneasiness. The matter was not as simple as he said, because just last night, he had received a secret report. The reason was that even the city of Tokyo itself had run out of food due to the chaos in the south of the Yangtze River. Naturally, it was impossible to transport excess food to the front line. . But in this way, the army and horses guarding the south bank of the Yellow River suffered.
"What should we do?" Zhang Shuye was at a loss for a while.
At this time, there was a cry outside: "It's snowing again. There's so much snow this year..."