The Yuxi Timur army was annihilated, the Jiangnan region returned to peace, and the Huaihe River became the focus of the war. At the same time, the entire pattern also changed. While the Mongolian Yuan mobilized the personal army of the guards to go south, Zhao Bing received information, and the Yuan army stationed in Mobei also began to move and prepare to go south. Everyone knows that Mobei is not only the birthplace of the Mongol Empire, but also the place where Mongolia started, and it also has a large number of core troops with strong combat power.

According to information, the Yuan army stationed in Mobei, except for the Asu army under Yusilu, the commander of Yusilu, the other guards, horses, and the remaining guards, and 19,000 households of the Mongolian army, as well as the 19,000 households of the Hala Chi army, including the King of Anxi, the Prince of Wang Gu's son-in-law, and the Prince of Chi Qileis. It can be seen that the Yuan Dynasty's army stationed in Mobei was not only a large number, but also the elite troops of the Yuan army, whose qualities were far greater than the guards and ten thousand households stationed in the Central Plains and the Lianghuai region.

Zhao Bing understood that these Yuan troops were transferred south, which brought great difficulties to the plan to advance the Central Plains that he had been secretly planning, but he thought that this was also an opportunity. The two countries gathered in this decisive battle. If they won, they could advance north to the Central Plains; while the Mongolian Yuan lost all their foundation, not only fell from the world's largest military power to a second-rate military country, but also did not have the capital to compete with the Song Dynasty. Only by withdrawing from the Central Plains could they survive.

However, Zhao Bing also knew clearly that the unification of dynasties in China was often the north unified the south, but the unification of the country from south to north was rarely successful. As far as he knew, only the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang did it. He still remembered that when the Ming Dynasty ruled and ministers discussed the strategy of the Northern Expedition, the generals advocated taking Dadu directly, but Zhu Yuanzhang thought:

After the Yuan Dynasty was established for a hundred years, the city guards must be solid. If the army was suspended and could not be broken immediately, they would be stopped under the strong city, and the salary would not be continued. If the reinforcements were gathered in four groups, they would not be able to fight and retreat without any capital. It was not my benefit. I would like to take Shandong first and remove it from the shield; to lead Henan, cut off its wings; to pull Tongguan and guard it, and to seize its hush. The situation in the world, enter my control, and then advance to Yuandu, and then the power would be isolated and the support would be eliminated. If you do not fight, you can defeat it. Once you overcome the capital, you will walk through the clouds, Jiuyuan and Guanlong, you can sweep down.

In history, before the Northern Expedition, Zhu Yuanzhang was based on Jinling, pacifying Chen Youliang in the west and controlling the upstream of Jingxiang; destroying Zhang Shicheng in the east and consolidating the foundation of the Three Wus. Controlling Jingxiang in the east and ensuring control of the situation in the Yangtze River; consolidating the Three Wus and ensuring the stability of the rear. However, after experiencing the impact of the Liu Futong Uprising, the Yuan Dynasty was in poor military preparations. The generals it relied on were like Kuogutemur who occupied Shanxi, and Li Siji and Zhang Liangbi who were in charge of military power and profit, and each made a move to protect the territory and seize the separatist situation, attacked each other, and were not unified. This also gave Zhu Yuanzhang the opportunity to defeat and directly attack Dadu.

Zhao Bing thought that although the current situation was not as good as Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition, the general trend was not bad. He sent Wen Tianxiang to the west to Sichuan and Shu, and even if he could not recover the entire territory, it blocked the Mongol Yuan's path to invasion from Sichuan and Shu along the river. Moreover, the Battle of Jiangdong annihilated the Mongol Yuan stationed in Henan, Wanhu Prefecture, Shandong two capitals, occupied Huainan, and had already taken the initiative in strategy, so he could learn from his strategy.

After losing control of the area south of the Jianghuai River, the Yuan Dynasty could only rely on Henan, and Shandong was used as a southern barrier to resist the Song army's northern expedition. Zhao Bing believed that the focus should be on the attack on Shandong. It not only had the southern barrier of the capital, but also monitored the major arteries of north-south water transportation, and occupied a central position between the north and the south, so it was best to take it first to remove its shield.

Once the Yuan Dynasty lost Shandong, it would be like a wide open door and no natural barrier to defend the attack of the Song army. After the one side captured Shandong, it could use the northern section of the Grand Canal to drive along the current. Taking Henan could protect its flanks. As for the capture of Henan, Zhao Bing also thought that with his comprehensive strength, it was not enough to use troops to Guanzhong, and should be temporarily on the defensive line on the west route to prevent the Yuan army from going east from Guanzhong.

Zhao Bing also understood that in any overall competition, the Central Plains is a must-fight place, and that is the real arena to compete for the victory. Only with the geographical conditions of the Central Plains with all connections can we obtain the situation of controlling the eight directions. Only when the Central Plains are stable can the four directions be stable; if the Central Plains are chaotic, the situation in the four directions will inevitably lead to scattering. If the Central Plains are not managed well, there will be no way to compete for the world; if the Central Plains are not managed well, there will be no way to seek long-term stability in the world.

However, when the world is in chaos, the Central Plains will become a place where all sides can be attacked. The centrifugal force of the collapse of all directions can be enough to tear the situation of the Central Plains, making the Central Plains a turbulent intersection, and the gathering torrents can destroy any efforts to defend the Central Plains. However, it is easy to occupy the dangerous land of the Four Gangs of mountains and rivers, but it is difficult to occupy the Four Battles of the Central Plains.

Therefore, Zhao Bing learned from Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy of expeditioning the Central Plains in the north, first captured Shandong, then rotated westward to capture Henan, then marched into Hebei, and attacked Yuan Dadu. After Dadu came down, he entered Shanxi, and used this as a springboard to march Guanlong, seize Bashu, and unify the world. The difference is that he is now blooming everywhere, using the tactics of disrupting Yunnan and marching into Sichuan and Shu to restrain the troops of the Mongolian Yuan, and then attacking the two Huai Rivers so that the enemy could not take care of each other, so that the Mongolian Yuan could only passively follow its own rhythm and lose control of the strategic initiative.

Zhao Bing naturally knew that his tactical disadvantages were also obvious. First of all, using troops everywhere caused great financial pressure and made him unable to increase his troops unlimitedly; and if he wanted to spend less money and do more, the flowers bloomed from all sides made the front line long, resulting in dispersing troops and making it difficult to implement large-scale encirclement and large-circumcision tactics, he could only use troops carefully to make up for his lack of physical strength with his brain.

At this moment, Zhao Bing was also enjoying the pain of being trapped in a cocoon. He first froze outside the Yuxi Timur Corps, and he had been frozen outside Yangzhou for several months, and then he risked the empty city plan to settle it. At this moment, the Central Plains were clearly in front of him, and Bianliang seemed to be at his fingertips, but he did not dare to act rashly. He understood that bold use of troops does not mean recklessly. He could not defend the city with the little force in his hand, and he could not defend it even if he was besieged. Therefore, he was so greedy that he scratched his ears and heads and dared not eat, and could only look at the other side.

To win the battlefield and to solve the lack of troops, Zhao Bing knew that there was only one way to use, which is the so-called "injuring one finger than cutting one finger", which is the tactic of the great man's "concentrating superior forces to fight an annihilation war". At present, both sides are dispatching troops to the front line, and the battlefield for the decisive battle must be placed in Xuzhou, a hub.

Xuzhou can be regarded as a place that Chinese military strategists must fight. Zhao Bing once read a statistics in his previous life that the wars that occurred in Xuzhou were recorded more than 400 times. The earliest one occurred in the 21st century BC, namely Peng Boshou's conquest of the Xihe River; the most recent one was the Huaihai Battle, one of the three major battles that liberated the country. On average, every ten years or so, the place in Xuzhou will have to fight again. Even in peacetime, Xuzhou also had heavy troops to guard and set up quite high-level military command organs, so the place that must be fought is veritable.

So, why did military strategists compete for Xuzhou? In fact, it is because its geographical location has important strategic significance in military affairs. Xuzhou has always been the junction of north and south, and is at the center of Beijing and Nanjing. It is a barrier to defend the tax center of southern Jiangsu. It can be said that the prosperity of southern Jiangsu is closely related to the barrier function of Xuzhou. Moreover, it is guarded at the key point of transportation. It can control the North China Plain in the north, attack the south of Jiangnan, go west to enter the hinterland of the Central Plains, and push east to have a harbor as a retreat. It is known in history as the key to the north and the important town of the south!

In the words of Xuzhou people, the city they live in is "not south or north, neither big nor small". In the eyes of southern military strategists, occupying Xuzhou is equivalent to getting a key to open the lock of the northern gate; in the eyes of northern military strategists, taking Xuzhou is equivalent to occupying a bridgehead for marching to the south. Therefore, the ancients said that "the gains and losses of Pengcheng are always bound by the prosperity and decline of the north and south."

Although this place belongs to the Huanghuai Plain, the mountains in southern Shandong extend here, so the area is undulating and surrounded by mountains, and it is like an upright pot. In the era of cold weapons, these mountains were like the natural barrier of Xuzhou City. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It can be said that one man is at the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open. The rivers outside Xuzhou City, and sometimes the Yellow River often diverted and flowed through Xuzhou, were protected by the Yellow River and also had a natural defense effect.

In addition, Xuzhou has had smooth waterways since ancient times. Before the Southern Song Dynasty, the city of Xuzhou was surrounded by Sishui on the north and east, and the Bian River flowed through the west. From the Sishui north, you can connect to Jinxiang, Qufu, and Dingtao; from the Bian River to the west, you can reach Kaifeng and Luoyang; from the Sishui south, you can go to Huaiyin. These cities that can be accessed by Xuzhou were very important at that time, and some were also places that military strategists must compete for.

In wars, especially major wars, the army must be mobilized, and the speed of troops must be fast. Military deployment must be completed in the shortest time and at the fastest speed. In addition to mobilizing troops, there is also common sense of "the troops and horses should move first". Under this condition, transportation conditions become a key. If anyone occupy Xuzhou, transport troops, weapons, and food and grass, there will be no difficulty. In addition, land is also connected to all directions, and stations have been set up here throughout the ages to quickly convey messages and mobilize troops.

Especially during the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River broke its mouth and seized Si and flowed. After the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan was in power and renovated the Grand Canal, and Si Shui was included in the Grand Canal system of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which brought Xuzhou's status as a transportation hub to a higher level. At that time, the food was taken from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. If this water artery was blocked, most of them would be hungry and the capital was in danger. Xuzhou was the only place for this water artery, so it was known as the "bridge of the five provinces", and it went north to connect to Shandong, Hebei, the capital, and the south to Zhejiang.
Chapter completed!