Seventy thousand Mongolian troops descended along the canal and arrived on the other side of Chuzhou two days later.

The movements of the Mongolian army were discovered by the Southern Song Dynasty, and both the Song and Jin armies became nervous.

When Kuoduan went south, he raised a banner and denounced the Southern Song Dynasty's reinforcement of the Jin Dynasty. He clearly pointed out that he would conquer Chuzhou, drink the Yangtze River, and make the Southern Song Dynasty pay the price.

On the city wall of Chuzhou, Zhao Fan climbed up and looked far away, and saw the spread of camps on the other side, flags fluttering, and a strong military presence.

Behind him, many officials from the Zhiji Department saw the Mongolian army on the other side and couldn't help shouting, "There are so many enemy troops!"

The Mongolian army camped on the other side for more than ten miles, with people howling and horses neighing. It looked terrifying, as there were nearly 100,000 horses.

These civil servants who were talking loudly in the yamen rarely saw such a scene. Many people could not help but tremble in their calves across the Huaihe River.

Zhao Fan looked back at them and raised his hand to point to the wide Huaihe River, "There are heavy troops gathered in Chuzhou City, and there are natural dangers along the Huaihe River. Even if the Mongolian army comes in force of 100,000 people, they will never be able to capture Chuzhou."

Chuzhou guarded the key points, just like the sword pavilion in Shu. As long as Chuzhou was in hand, the Mongolian army could not attack the Song Dynasty in a large scale.

While they were talking, several Mongolian warships rushed out from the other side. The Song army was not to be outdone, and immediately there were huge ships to attack them.

Not long after, the two sides met in the center. The Song army's warships were equipped with stone cannons. When they were far away, they used stones to hit them, and they used crossbows to shoot.

As soon as the two armies fought, the Mongolian warships were directly at a disadvantage. Soon they were destroyed and sunk by the Song army. Countless people fell into the water. Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining Mongolian troops turned around and fled back to the north bank.

The Song army's five-toothed warship pursued them all the way to the water village on the north bank. They threw a few stones at the Mongolian army's water village and fired a hail of arrows before returning victoriously.

Seeing this, Zhao Fan on the city smiled and said, "Mongolia has horses, and I have huge ships. Mongolia wants to break through Chuzhou and attack the Song Dynasty. It is undoubtedly a wishful thinking."

When the Song troops on the city saw the navy's victory, they couldn't help but burst into cheers.

The shouts from the south bank reached the north bank, which frightened the Mongolian generals. They realized that the Song army on the opposite side was not as weak as they thought.

Kuo Duan stood on the shore and witnessed the scene of the water battle. Before he could understand it, the battle was over.

This made Kuo Duan a little surprised. He didn't expect that the navy sent out to test would be defeated so quickly, which made many generals feel a little unsure.

But Kuo Duan quickly calmed down. He glanced at everyone and sneered: "The southerners can't hold a boat. Once my Mongolian cavalry crosses the river, they will be vulnerable. Now Zhao Fan has been attracted to me in Chuzhou.

Li Fen, you act according to your plan!"

Li Fen quickly clasped his fists and said, "The last general takes orders!"

~~~~~~

It was night, and the lights in the Mongolian camp were brightly lit. Soldiers holding torches patrolled back and forth, like fiery snakes wandering in the darkness.

When Zhao Fan climbed to the top of Chuzhou City, the soldiers on guard immediately saluted and said, "Mr. Zhizhi!"

Zhao Fan patted the soldiers on the shoulders, then came to the city wall and looked at the other side. He saw the Mongolian troops patrolling in the camp. He did not doubt that there was a trick, and told him: "Cheer up and pay close attention to the movements on the other side to prevent the Mongolian troops from sneaking across at night."

!”

The officer following him immediately clasped his fists and said, "I will obey your order."

At this time, on the north bank of the Huaihe River, Li Fen was riding on his horse, looking at the army advancing rapidly eastward along the river bank, but feeling a little melancholy in his heart.

Kuo Duan mobilized two Mongolian armies from Shandong to go south and attack the Song Dynasty in a large-scale attack. Li Fen always felt that it was a bit risky.

Although the Song army's combat power is relatively low, it is able to survive the attacks of Liao, Jin and Xixia until now and retain half of the land south of the Yangtze River. It obviously has a certain strength.

Although Li Fen had concerns, Kuo Duan insisted that there was nothing he could do.

At this time, Li Fen could only hope that after crossing the river, the Mongols would be able to show off their power and quickly make the Southern Song Dynasty surrender. Otherwise, the Southern Song navy would be cut off from their way back, which would be more of a loss than the gain.

Under the cover of darkness, Li Fen led three thousand elite troops and headed towards Lianshui.

The Southern Song Dynasty deployed heavy troops for defense along the Huai River. However, after all, it was impossible to station heavy troops everywhere in a river hundreds of miles long. There would always be weaknesses.

Generally speaking, it was difficult for Mongolia to understand the defense situation of the Southern Song Dynasty army. Without knowing which river sections were heavily defended, they did not dare to cross the river rashly.

Because we don’t know the strength of the troops on the other side, if we encounter the river that the Song army is focused on defending, the army that forces the crossing will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

This is also an important reason why the southern regime can rely on the Yangtze River and Huaihe River to resist the attack of the northern regime.

In this case, if the enemy wants to cross the river, they must either have a clear understanding of the situation on the other side and know that there are no troops or traps on the other side, or they must have strong strength and be prepared to force the crossing.

The current situation of the Mongols undoubtedly belongs to the former, and Kuoduan has already figured out the defense situation in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Originally, it was impossible for the Mongols to know Zhao Fan's deployment, but the Song Dynasty imposed severe restrictions on the army. In the early years, when generals went on expeditions, they had to march and fight according to the formation map drawn up by the court. They had no initiative. Now it is not so exaggerated, but Zhao Fan

How to arrange defense must also be reported to the court.

This means that once there are officials within the imperial court who possess these secrets, Mongolia will be able to obtain the deployment status of the frontline troops.

With Shi Miyuan's secret help, the Mongolian army opened the entire map this time, turned off the fog, and knew the Song army's defenses well.

According to the intelligence obtained by the Mongols, the focus of Zhao Fan's defense was in Chuzhou to guard the gateway for the Mongolian army to move south. Kuoduan then found another way to find a new place to cross the river.

The terrain on both sides of the Huaihe River is mostly plains, and the marching road is not difficult. The Mongolian cavalry moved quickly and arrived in Lianshui in the middle of the night.

"Marshal, the crossing point is just ahead!" Qianhu, a Mongolian army who came to meet Li Fen, pointed to a hidden river bend ahead, "I have hidden many fishing boats and sampans there!"

The Mongolian army prepared for this attack on the Song Dynasty for more than a month. After Li Fen received Kuo Duan's order, he sent troops in advance to collect ferries and find a place to cross the river.

Li Fen nodded slightly and asked, "Are the materials for building the floating bridge ready?"

"Reporting to the marshal, I have prepared enough ropes, chains, wood and boats!" the officer replied.

The navy of the Southern Song Dynasty was powerful. They could swim down the river at a speed no less than that of cavalry.

Therefore, the Mongolian army must cross the river quickly, and this requires the Mongolian army to quickly set up multiple pontoon bridges on the river for the Mongolian army to pass quickly.

The pontoon bridge used by the army to cross the river is also very simple to build. As long as you are well prepared, connect the boats end to end, fix them with ropes and chains and wooden stakes, and put wooden boards on top.

Li Fen then said: "Give me the order, the soldiers will go into the city to hide first. You can take me to the place where we cross the river to see!"

At that moment, Li Fen followed his subordinates, galloped for a while, and came to the foot of a hill and said: "Marshal, this is it!"

Li Fen looked at the river surface. It was very wide, but the flow was relatively gentle.

"What's going on on the other side?" Li Fen asked while looking into the distance.
Chapter completed!