"As the most important role in the Mongols' southern expedition, they must be the elite troops led by the princes of the Tou Lei family. Some of these troops are already very familiar to us, such as Yang Weizhong, the new Jinghu North and South Road Xuanfu envoy who has been invading the Central Plains for many years. But There are more elites led by Meng Ge that we have never encountered before. Among them are three princes and a prince who followed Meng Ge on the western expedition. They are all famous generals with both wisdom and courage. According to secret reports from the north, Meng Ge's army. Including part of Kublai Khan's army, there are more than 100,000 people in total. This is the backbone of the fighting force in the Mongol Empire, and it is also the essence of the Mongols' ability to conquer the world. Only by completely eliminating this force can we say that it can be solved once and for all. "To sum up, the total number of the Mongolian army is about 400,000. In previous years, the Mongolian army has carried out several expeditions with 100,000 or more than 100,000 cavalry, so there is no doubt about its ability to organize large-scale wars. In recent years, wheat has matured in Henan and Hebei, and the Mongols have learned the technology of long-distance transportation of grain and grass from my country, using gravel roads and carts to transport enough grain from the Western Regions. It can be said that the Mongolian army is indeed planning an unprecedented large-scale southern expedition. The opponent we are facing is stronger than ever before." Zheng Yunming said without changing his face: "But before that, we had already lost 70,000 elite soldiers and Xiangyang City, which was the biggest support in Jinghu." "This is too much. These are all facts known to all the officials in the court. In today's world of advanced news and information, the only people who can't figure out the strength of the Mongols are old masters who can only pick up chapters and sentences without paying attention to worldly affairs. It is absolutely impossible for scholars with a little knowledge to understand the true nature of the Mongols. No understanding of the strength. If it were to be fully mobilized, excluding the troops that could be mobilized in the Han region, the number would be around 200,000. This would be a horse-riding legion equipped with horses. There is probably no armed force in the world that can compete with such a powerful legion, not to mention Plus 200,000 strong Han troops. What's more, before the war even started, the Song Dynasty had already lost most of the defenders in Xiangyang City and Jinghu, which they had relied on as a base of resistance in previous years. No one can understand how many means Zheng Yunming needs to reverse the disparity between heaven and earth, not even the emperor sitting high in the palace. That's why he asked in a rare worried tone: "How do you think the country should be deployed with the country's current situation of weak troops and few generals? I have ordered the Qing family to appoint ambassadors for Jinghu to control the troops and horses on the front line. Don¡¯t worry, tell me in detail.¡± Zheng Yunming stared at the wat tablet in his hand, trying his best to let the officials in the palace hear every word clearly. This is a life-and-death battle, and there is no need to worry about everyone. Nothing to hide. "Our general strategy is to save all unnecessary troops on the remaining fronts and assemble a large army to intercept the enemy in the hinterland of Jinghu." He said loudly: "At present, Yang Juan is leading 50,000 troops in Yunnan and the Mongols are trapped. Entering the jungle battle, Yang Juan, who has already gained the upper hand, has gathered more than 100,000 troops from Dali's old tribe and the Baiman and Wuman tribes. Not only is victory guaranteed here, but the battle situation is already stable, and the minister receives it. After His Majesty's imperial edict, he hastily sent a letter to notify Yang Juan, asking him to mobilize 30,000 troops from his headquarters and go north from Jingjiang Mansion to gather near Yueyang to wait for dispatch. " "I also checked the front of Sichuan, and the Mongolian offensive was sparse. , our army is not ready to continue to advance. Now the western Sichuan area is exhausted and deserted. The army wants to gradually regain the lost territory, but is trapped by the Mongolian city. Now there are actually more than 70,000 soldiers in central Sichuan, except for the front guards. In addition to the troops responsible for the strategic counterattack, another 30,000 troops were sent eastward along the river to station themselves in Jiangling, making it difficult for the Mongolian army to march straight into the hinterland of Jinghu. " " Although the qualifications of the thirty-sixth battalion of the Hunan Army built by the minister are still lacking, the children of Hunan are brave and militant, and have repeatedly made outstanding achievements since the formation of the army. However, after Jia Sidao took charge of Jinghu, the Hunan Army was far away from Guangnan West Road. , which is called guarding against the Mongols, but now that Yang Juan has led the Jinghu Army deep into Yunnan to deal with the Mongols, the Mongols no longer have the possibility of attacking the flanks of Jinghu from Guangxi, so they can concentrate the Hunan Army on the Guangnan West Road , about 20,000 people, first passed through Jingjiang Mansion, and then entered Hunan to meet the arrival of the main force." The emperor was excited when he heard this, and asked: "Main force? What main force?" This sentence really hit the key point. Where troops and horses are drawn from various places, they are always piecemeal and cannot be integrated into a pure organic armed force. The lesson of past wars is that having a smaller but well-organized armed force as the backbone is better than temporary deployment. There are numerous coalition forces from all over the country. Zheng Yunming raised his head, stared at the emperor's face with some taboo, and shouted loudly: "I will personally lead the new army of 70,000 people in front of the palace to go to Jinghu to defeat the captives, so that the country will be safe and peaceful, and your majesty can rest easy!" If the Song Dynasty still had a strategic mobile force that could be mobilized, it was the only one established by Zheng Yunming since he took office. The Dianqian Division originally had more than 50,000 soldiers and horses, and its equipment and training should have been among the best among the Song army.?However, the Song-Mongolian War lasted for more than ten years. Faced with the huge pressure of the Mongolian invasion, the defenders in various places had much priority in terms of equipment and supplies than the so-called imperial guards. Recently, even those in Guangxi suffered Areas threatened by the Mongols were supported by elite troops like the Hunan Army equipped with advanced firearms. Most of the Dianqian Division's troops still relied on long spears and short swords. At this time, the Song Dynasty was in danger of having strong branches and weak cadres. The military strength and quality of local vassal towns were stronger than those of the so-called central army. It's no wonder that Zheng Yunming's first task after taking office was that the emperor was eager to use his experience in building an army and asked him to guide the establishment of a new front division force. However, the emperor's choice of words was extremely clever. Zheng Xianggong only had the power of guidance and supervision. In fact, Zheng Yunming was responsible for all the planning, and the power of command of the troops was firmly in the hands of the emperor. Zheng Yunming was not unaware of the emperor's attempt to use this new army to guard against the transformation of local vassal towns, but the emperor would definitely do his best to create a new army that could attack and defend well, and the emperor gave him a lot of authority to reform the military system. Being so large allowed him to put into practice some of the military ideas and ideas he had accumulated over the years. This also formed the prototype of the current new army of the Dianqian Division. The Dianqiansi New Army is just a common name among the people. The official designation of this army is Dianqiansi Shenwu New Army. It is divided into Shenwu Front Army, Shenwu Middle Army, Shenwu Rear Army, Shenwu Left Deputy Army, and Shenwu Right Deputy Army. Jing Haijun (Navy Army) has six armies, each of which has a commander. Although the emperor vigorously reduced palace expenses, he used all financial resources to build an army of 63,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry. But how to train them into a real army, only Zheng Yunming knew the hard work involved. Even during his relegation, various letters and reports sent to Zheng Yunming's study every day were still piling up. But immediately someone expressed opposition and went out to report: "Now the old departments of the Dianqian Division have been abolished in many ways, leaving only more than 20,000 people. If Zheng Zhizhi takes away the new army, and if there are changes in the capital, what will happen?" Zheng Yunming sighed with emotion. Said: "This is a moment of life and death. Meng Ge Khan has mobilized the whole country to come. If we don't respond with all our strength, there will be an immediate danger of the mountains and rivers overturning. Although there are not many old troops left in the front division, after elimination training, They are all soldiers capable of fighting. It is impossible to launch a hasty attack in an ordinary incident. As for the sea route strategy, our army now fully controls the maritime strategic points of the East China Sea and has been suppressing the enemy along the Jiaodong coast. The focus of the opponent's attack. The Mongols have used the strategy of seizing the east and attacking the west in the past, but not this time. No matter they attack Huainan or Sichuan, the terrain and cities here are enough to contain the enemy's attack. Only the line from Xiangyang to Ezhou, Xiangyang Now that it has fallen into the hands of the enemy, the Mongolian army will inevitably move down the Han River, march directly to Ezhou, and then attack the south of the Yangtze River. This is a strategic trend and an option that no military strategist can resist. The general will lead the army to gather in Beijing. Lake, use all your strength to stop Meng Ge's attempt." A trace of hesitation flashed in the emperor's eyes. He did not doubt Zheng Yunming's determination to fight to the death. He was only worried about two things, what if Zheng Yunming was defeated, and what if Zheng Yunming won. . How could Zheng Yunming not understand the emperor's thoughts? He raised his eyes and looked at the monarch who had served him for many years. He was full of emotions. It was difficult to become a successful monarch. It was even more difficult to play the role of a successful monarch when the country was in turmoil. A torture. "This battle is related to the survival of the country. If I don't say something now, I may not have the opportunity to say it again in the future." Zheng Yunming said calmly: "Your Majesty is worried about two things. Secondly, if the minister can drive away the enemy, the power of the minister will be unstoppable. " As soon as he said this, everyone in the Jinluan Palace was shocked. If it were not for this critical moment, if the person who spoke was not Zheng Yunming, the speaker would inevitably criticize. Public suspicion. Zheng Yunming ignored the astonishment of the ministers in the hall and said directly: "Although the Mongolians are armed with armor in large numbers, in my opinion, the eight thousand households in the Han Dynasty have been entangled with us all these years and have suffered great losses. In order to pursue quantity, we must At the expense of the quality of the soldiers, a large number of civilians with no combat experience were recruited as soldiers. In fact, no matter how large the number of such soldiers and horses, they were useless. Back then, Emperor Jin Fei forced the common people to join the army and got 600,000 strong soldiers, thinking that Jiangnan would be conquered. The Yangtze River cannot be crossed. It can be seen that the temporarily recruited army horses must undergo rigorous training and accumulate experience to become a qualified fighting force. Such temporary recruitment of farmers to form a large army was the first mistake of the Mongols. "