Kublai Khan and Kublai Khan faced each other tit for tat in the big tent in order to compete for the opportunity to lead the army on the expedition.

Wokuotai slapped the table and said, "Stop arguing!"

Seeing Wokuotai's anger, the two of them could only stop their activities, but they still glared at each other angrily.

The last time Huainan was defeated, Kuo Duan regarded it as a great shame and humiliation, and he hated others to mention it.

In front of so many people, Kublai Khan said that he was a defeated general and was not worthy of leading an army. How could he not be angry?

After Tuo Lei's death, Ogedei sent Meng Ge to the west. Kublai Khan's spirit became highly tense, and he was always vigilant that Ogedai would be detrimental to his family.

Now he is a hedgehog, ready to sting anyone at any time.

Seeing that the two of them were quiet, Wokuotai had to comfort him and said, "You two don't have to be impatient. You both have a chance to lead the troops on an expedition!"

Kublai Khan and Kuo Duan sat down one after another. Both of them looked unhappy, and the relationship was finally settled.

Wo Kuotai said in a deep voice: "The Kingdom of Jin is our ancient feud with Mongolia. I understand your feelings. Especially Kublai Khan. I know that you want to avenge Tuo Lei! I also want to avenge my fourth brother, but you can't be impatient.

!The Han people's art of war says that the Lord must not be angry and raise an army, and the general must not be angry and fight. You can't even control your own emotions. How can I trust you to lead the army?"

Kuo Duan heard the words and lowered his head to admit his mistake, "Father, I was wrong!"

When Kublai Khan saw this, he could only say: "Great Khan, I made a mistake!"

Wokuotai nodded slightly and said, "We in Mongolia can be where we are today because all the tribes are united as one, so that we can be invincible! You two are both members of the Golden Family, how can you be at odds with each other? You must not do this in the future, and I will not pursue it this time.

!”

The two could only plead guilty again.

Wokuotai's handling made many princes and nobles quite satisfied.

At this time, when they came back to the matter of attacking Jin, Wo Kuotai glanced at the two of them and said to everyone in a deep voice: "Although we eliminated the main force of the Jin army last time, the Kingdom of Jin is still a centipede insect. I think.

It’s not easy to destroy it!”

With that said, Wo Kuotai looked at Yelu Chucai and said, "Prime Minister, tell everyone about the situation!"

Yelu Chucai stood up and saluted, "It's the Great Khan!"

He first asked someone to hang a map of the Central Plains in the tent. Wo Kuotai then stood up and led everyone to stand in front of the map.

Yelu Chucai bowed to everyone, then pointed to the map and said: "The Jin Kingdom is now trapped in Henan, and they rely on the Guanhe Defense Line to resist our attack. If we want to destroy the Jin Kingdom, we must destroy their Guanhe

Line of defense.”

Wokuotai said solemnly: "Yes, they blocked our route into the Central Plains by relying on Tongguan and the Yellow River. We can only have the opportunity to cross the river and enter Henan after the Yellow River freezes. Once the Yellow River thaws, if we don't

If we can destroy the gold, we must retreat to avoid being trapped in Henan by them. This means that if we cannot destroy the gold within three months, we will return without success."

After hearing what the two men said, everyone started talking a lot.

Chi Laowen said: "If it weren't for the Yellow River, the Jin Kingdom would have been destroyed long ago. Under the current situation, it would be very difficult to break through Kaifeng within three months."

Although the Mongols acquired a large number of craftsmen after conquering the north and gained the ability to attack fortresses, the real improvement in the Mongols' siege capabilities had to wait until artillery was returned from the Western Regions.

If the Mongols are to attack a big city like Kaifeng now, if the defenders are determined, they may not be able to capture it in a year and a half.

Yelu Chucai said: "Now that the Jin Kingdom and the Southern Song Dynasty are in alliance, if we cannot destroy the Jin Dynasty within three months, after the army withdraws across the Yellow River, the Jin Kingdom will have time to rest and recover, and through the assistance of the Southern Song Dynasty, it will regain its strength. In this way

Come, we will have to fight again next year. If it continues in the long run, it will be very detrimental to Mongolia."

Everyone present frowned. The Mongolian army took advantage of the freezing of the Yellow River and crossed the river to attack Kaifeng. They fought for three months but could not defeat it. They had to retreat when the Yellow River thawed. The three-month attack was a lonely one.

By then the Mongols had suffered heavy losses and they withdrew across the Yellow River, allowing the Jin army to leave the city for production and obtain supplies from the Southern Song Dynasty.

If this happens several times, the powerful Mongol Empire may not be able to bear it.

Chi Laowen frowned and said, "Prime Minister, what should we do? Is there nothing we can do against them?"

"Of course!" Yelu Chucai shook his head. He pointed at the map and said, "We just need to change our strategy and adjust the goal of this gold attack."

Everyone looked at him and heard Yelu Chucai continue: "This time we will not seek to destroy the gold in three months, but strive to open a gap in the Guanhe defense line and gain a firm foothold south of the Yellow River.

.In this way, when the Yellow River thaws, we don’t have to withdraw across the Yellow River!”

Saying that, Yelu Chucai pointed at Tongguan, "In this expedition, we will still divide our troops into three groups, but instead of besieging Bianjing, we will attack Tongguan all the way to open the passage from Guanzhong into Henan. Attack Xuzhou all the way from Shandong to contain the Jin Dynasty.

The army prevented it from reinforcing Tongguan. It moved all the way south from Hebei to capture Zhengzhou and cut off the connection between Kaifeng and Luoyang. Then it marched westward to cooperate with the troops in Guanzhong and captured Luoyang and Tongguan."

Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this, and Chi Laowen praised: "This strategy is good. If we capture Tongguan and occupy Luoyang, the Yellow River will thaw, and we don't have to retreat across the Yellow River. The army and supplies can enter Henan through Tongguan and maintain the army's operations."

.”

Yelu Chucai said: "That's right! In this way, we don't have to be limited by the three-month ice period of the Yellow River. Even if the Yellow River thaws, we can besiege Kaifeng for a long time until Kaifeng is captured. In addition, if we don't attack Kaifeng directly,

able

To confuse the Southern Song Dynasty and make the Southern Song Dynasty think that the situation of the Jin Kingdom is not critical. Given the close relationship between the Jin and Song Dynasties, as long as the life of the Jin Kingdom is not hanging by a thread, the Southern Song Dynasty will not send troops. And when we occupy Tongguan and Luoyang, it will be too late for them to send troops.

!”

Wo Kuotai waited for Yelu Chucai to finish speaking, glanced at everyone, and then asked: "Do you have any objections to the Prime Minister's strategy?"

In the past, when Mongolia attacked the Jin Dynasty, they were quite impatient. They always wanted to take advantage of the freezing of the Yellow River to capture Kaifeng and destroy the Jin Kingdom.

However, Kaifeng is a big city in the Central Plains. The Song and Jin Dynasties had been operating for many years, and it was impossible to conquer it in three months.

When they attacked, in the middle of the attack, the Yellow River was about to thaw, so they had to retreat and withdraw their troops, which meant that many people died in vain.

Now according to Yelu Chucai's plan, they will not attack Kaifeng first, but open the passage to Henan, and then besiege Kaifeng. They don't have to worry about the army being separated in Henan, without supplies, and being defeated by the Jin army.

As long as the Mongols open a hole in the Guanhe defense line to ensure the logistical supplies of the Mongolian army in Henan, they can besiege Kaifeng for a long time without worrying that logistics and reinforcements will not be able to enter Henan after the Yellow River thaws.

After hearing this strategy, Chi Laowen and other Mongol generals had no objections, and Kublai Khan and Kuo Duan also had no objections.
Chapter completed!