Jiagou Post is an inn on the way to Suzhou in Xuzhou. It is still sixty miles away from Suzhou. It is located at the junction of hills and plains. After passing Jiagou Post, it enters the plain. Its terrain is like a water jar with a leaking bottom, surrounded by low hills on three sides, and a small plain with a 30-mile radius in the middle. There is also a lake water, which is divided into two parts by a ditch that runs across the east and west, forming a special terrain surrounded by mountains on three sides, one side is flat, and half a mountain and half a lake.

The Jiagou Post is just a Caoshi. With the opening of the post road, the establishment of the post station gradually gathered the population and gradually became a market town. Originally, the post station was just a small station for conveying official documents, but due to the diverting of the old canal after entering the Yuan Dynasty, it became an important commercial road to Xuzhou, and it also flourished rapidly and became one of the major post stations in Suzhou. At present, due to the war between the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the frequent exchanges and mobilization of the army brought a lot of business to those merchants. They were reluctant to give up and insisted on staying here.

In the evening of that day, a large Mongolian Yuan army entered Jiagouji, with a population of more than 20,000 people. Their entry immediately filled the small town with guns and knives. The streets were filled with foreign words that they could not understand. Even the formerly arrogant Mongolian chief did not dare to be arrogant in front of them. He arranged residences for them and contacted merchants to purchase them. It can be said that it was a feast for them. The ordinary people not only had to give up their residences, but were also conscripted as husbands to cook for these soldiers and herding horses.

The commander of the Halalu Guards, Tie Maichi, entered the post station at the hell of the post and moved into the best guest room. After washing up, he had already served the meal. He couldn't understand the postmaster's words, so he waved his hand to let him go out, leaving only his own personal soldiers to serve. After a few bowls of wine, he breathed a long sigh, and his fatigue from running around for a day seemed to have been relieved a lot.

Three days ago, Tie Maichi received an imperial edict sent by the Ministry of the Ministry overnight, and ordered him to quickly lead his troops to Fuli, work with the Tutuha tribe to defeat the Song army in front of him, and then wait for an opportunity to intercept the Song army retreating from Xuzhou, restore the lost territory in Huaibei, and wait for an opportunity to cross the Huaihe River to compete for Huainan. After receiving the order, he was a little surprised. According to the current situation, it should be to chase the Song army retreating from Xuzhou, seize the tunnel on the Huaihe River, and cut off the Song army's retreating path. Such an arrangement would be to seek far away.

However, even though Tie Mai Chi was questioning, the decree was strictly ordered to be implemented, and he had no choice but to implement it. He had heard that Fu Li's garrison sent surprise troops to attack the Song army's rear camp, burning its supplies, food and grass, and injuring the Southern Dynasty emperor. But Tie Mai Chi did not completely believe this. He did not think that the Song army would be so careless and would easily burn the camp. Therefore, when the Song army retreated, he did not rashly send troops to pursue it, but was worried that the Song army was deliberately setting up an ambush and luring him out of the city.

Therefore, after receiving the imperial edict, Tiemaichi did not send troops immediately, but sent a scout cavalry to track the retreating Song army to see if it pretended to retreat. It was not until it was confirmed that the Song army had withdrawn 200 miles away that it gathered its troops, arranged the remaining troops, and prepared Fu Li in front of it. As a famous general of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, Tiemaichi was not lacking in wisdom, otherwise he would not have lived today.

There are 130 miles from Xuzhou to Suzhou, and there are many mountains along the way. If the Song army learned that it was an ambush and attacked on the way, the terrain here could be used, but we could not avoid this dangerous path. Tiemaichi therefore decided to pass through this mountain road as fast as possible. Along the way, he had to send a large number of reconnaissance cavalry to carefully reconnaissance, and he would speed up the marching speed and not give the Song army time to prepare. As long as he entered the plain, it would be impossible for the Song army, with the main force of the infantry, to surround them. Moreover, Fu Li's Han guards were close at hand, and they would also send troops to respond after discovering it, so there would be nothing to be afraid of.

Today they walked all the way. In addition to a short rest and a short time to drink horses and feed, they all did not get off the horses and did not unload their saddles. After traveling for more than 70 miles, they finally entered Jiagouji before dark. Tiemaichi knew that although he was still one step away, he could enter the plain area, but it was like a city. As long as he guarded the entrances and exits at both ends, he could block the enemy's attack. It was much safer than staying overnight on the plain. He also needed to rest for a long distance, and he decided to rest here for one night, and he would be able to reach Fuli after another day tomorrow.

Since sending troops, Tie Maichi has been uneasy and feels unable to see the intentions of the Song army. The King of Mongolian Sect, who was reinforced in the past, suddenly received an order from the north to the north, saying that the Southern Dynasty naval army suddenly appeared at the city of Qingzhou's military power and had to return to defense, which made him nervous for a while. Judging from his experience, he believed that this was the Southern Dynasty's plan, and wanted to prevent Xuzhou from obtaining reinforcements so that it would be easier for him to conquer this important town. However, the Southern Dynasty's attack on him must rescue him, which made him feel distressed and could not stop the reinforcements from returning to the north.

Tiemaichi understood that the Song army was no longer the Song army of the past. They were able to raise an army from a small island, defeated famous generals such as Ali Hague, Liu Shen, and Suodu. They also attacked Lin'an by sea, defeating all the four Han army capitals, Wanhufu, who guarded Jiangnan. They controlled Jiangdong and Huguang in less than a year and recovered the Jiangnan area. They then defeated Boyan's attempt to recapture Jiangnan. Through a series of small battles, they forced them to turn to the defensive and reopen the peace talks. Boyan was demoted to the northwest.

Last year, it was just because of a border conflict that gradually turned into a war, resulting in the loss of Yangzhou and the defeat of Yuxi Timur's army in Jiangdong. His entire army was wiped out and the collapse of the defense system of Jiangbei and Henan Province, which allowed the Song army to take advantage of the opportunity to seize Huainan and Jingxiang areas, enter Huainan, and enter the Central Plains, threatening the capital.

The series of victories of the Southern Dynasties made Tie Maichi understand that this was not luck, nor was it accidental. In addition to the commander's good plan, there must be a strong brigade who could conquer the war, which made him already put aside his contempt for the Southern Dynasties. Tie Maichi concluded that it would be difficult for him to repel the current Song army with his existing forces. So while strengthening the defense of Xuzhou, he recruited young and strong men, raised food and grass, and prepared for a long-term confrontation; while fighting with the Song army for the surrounding towns, trying to maintain a large defensive depth and block the enemy from the periphery.

However, after several battles, the Song army relied on its sharp firearms to attack cities and capture camps, constantly compressing its own defense, making him feel that the decisive battle might begin. At this time, the Song army suddenly gave up the great opportunity to withdraw. Although the Tutuha tribe burned the Song army's baggage and the reason for the food and grass was the first, Tie Maichi still felt that the past was abrupt. He did not believe that the Song army had no power to fight. If he was in the current situation, he would definitely launch a decisive battle.

As a major military and economic and trade center, Xuzhou stockpiled a large amount of food and supplies, and fought to the death to seize the city, and the crisis of material shortage would be immediately lifted. Even if it was difficult to capture the city after a hard battle, Tiemaichi believed that the battle of the Song army would cause extremely heavy casualties to him. When he retreated at this time, he was unable to pursue him again, so the Song army could naturally retreat safely. However, the Song army retreated silently and resolutely for two hundred miles, leaving him with a confused look in the spring breeze.

Even though Fu Li was approaching, Tiemaichi did not dare to be careless. He did not rest after dinner, but led his team to patrol the camp. Jiagouji was just a small place, only the street where the post station was located was relatively prosperous, with two or three hundred families scattered around him. At this time, the houses had long been expropriated and were guarded by his direct thousand households. In order to facilitate the drinking of war horses, most of the war horses were concentrated on the lakeside for grazing, and camps were set up on both sides of the road. After leaving the town, the town was densely packed with tents.

Tiemaichi rode his horse and patrolled north along the way. After a while, he left the street and crossed the stone bridge over the long gorge and entered the northern area. There were more soldiers and horses stationed here, scattered in the surrounding fields. After asking for warning, he continued north for several miles and reached the mountain pass. There were two mountains with a canyon about four miles wide, perhaps because of the name of Jiagouji.

What Tiemaich was most worried about was this place. The exit in the south was only about a mile, and only a few troops could block the enemy's attack. The mountain pass was wide, and the enemy attacked from this direction. Not only could the mountains get close, but the terrain at the bottom of the valley was wide and there was a lack of shelter in the middle, which facilitated the enemy's breakthrough when attacking, and also blocked their retreat route.

At this time, Qianhu, who was stationed here, had already used the cut down trees to erect a fence, arranged a horse and a horn in front, erected a watchtower building, and established a simple defense system. Tiemaichi was not at ease about this, so he ordered people to dig a trench in front and sent people to set up a warning point on the mountains on both sides to prevent the enemy from sneaking into the cluster using the dense forests on the mountain to launch a raid. After patrolling again, he felt that there was no omission, so he urged the horse to return to the post station to rest with peace of mind...

At midnight, a Song army quietly appeared from the mountains and climbed up the mountain along the path on the east side of the mountain. It was covered with lush forests and had a variety of trees. From a distance, the forest rose and fell with the different mountains, and looked like sea waves. It made waves under the evening breeze, covering the heavy breathing of soldiers.

Ni Liang led a team of personal guards to walk along the mountain road trampled out by the vanguard. Although the night wind was cool, the front and back of his military uniform had been soaked with sweat and tightly pressed against his body. Others were not much better than him, especially those who carried heavy Baizi guns and mortar soldiers walking in the rugged mountain roads. From time to time, someone would slip and fall down the hillside with a cannon, which would make them bruised and swollen. However, they would climb up and move forward without caring.
Chapter completed!