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Li Hu stayed in Kaifeng for three days. He then accompanied Zhang Jun to the south and patrolled all the way. He arrived in Yangzhou at the end of December.

Yue Fei led the generals to greet him. Everyone hadn't seen Li Hu for a long time. They met again after a long time, which was extremely friendly.

In the evening, after the banquet, Li Hu and Yue Fei, Zhe Kecun, Song Jiang, Lin Chong, Wang Ju, Han Shizhong and other commanders sat together to discuss the battle across the river.

"Our opinion is that the time for crossing the river to fight is around March," said Yue Fei. "After entering April and May, it will be the plum rain season in Jianghuai. The rain will never end. It is estimated that it will last for more than a month. The river water will soar, making it more difficult to cross the river to fight."

"If we can't launch an attack around March, then we have to wait until the plum rain has passed. It's already summer, and half a year has been wasted." Zhe Kecun added, "We discussed it for a long time, carefully weighed it, and finally decided to determine the attack time in March."

"The Chinese New Year is coming soon. After the Chinese New Year, the attack time is up to three months. In these three months, we must make all preparations before crossing the river. The difficulty is too great, so we have been looking forward to the general's arrival in Yangzhou as soon as possible." Song Jiang smiled and said, "We look forward to it every day. It's not easy to finally wait for the general."

Li Hu laughed, "It's not easy for me. I rushed from Daibei to Jianghuai and ran for two months without stopping. Finally, I arrived on the Yangtze River. You urged me to cross the river again. Do you want to be exhausted? You always have to give me some time to take a breath?"

Yue Fei and the generals looked at each other and felt that Li Hu had something to say.

"The handsome man is indeed very tired, but three months of breathing time is not enough?" Lin Chong asked with a smile.

Li Hu smiled and shook his head, "Of course enough. The question is, can you prepare for crossing the river within three months? Even if you think you have the conditions to cross the river, are you absolutely sure to successfully cross the river? In addition, what is the strategy of the Privy Council's southern expedition? The Privy Council should formulate a strategy from the overall situation. They have their considerations. Perhaps they do not agree to you launch an attack in March." Li Hu looked at everyone and asked, "Is there any such possibility?"

The room became quiet, and the smiles on everyone's faces gradually disappeared, and their expressions gradually became solemn.

"Master, you are here. As long as you decide to launch an attack in March, will the Privy Council still dare to object?" Han Shizhong asked suddenly.

"Of course, as long as the Privy Council has enough reasons, it will certainly oppose my decision." Li Hu smiled, "Since last year's Western Expedition, I left Chang'an and did not have a thorough understanding of the overall situation. If the Privy Council has sufficient reasons, I must consider it carefully, and maybe I will accept their suggestions."

"However, our reasons are sufficient." Zhe Kecun said anxiously, "If we fail to cross the river before the plum rain begins, it is very likely to be delayed until autumn. This delay will last for half a year, and anything may happen in half a year, so we must not miss this opportunity in front of us."

The generals said your words and said I tried their best to persuade Li Hu. The strong desire to fight made Li Hu feel a headache. It is obvious that if they rejected their attack request, they would definitely seriously undermine morale, but the fact is that even three months later, the Hu Lie Army would not have the conditions to cross the river to fight, which made Li Hu very embarrassed.

=

It was late at night, and the generals said goodbye to avoid affecting Li Hu's rest.

Li Hu kept Yue Fei and asked him for his personal opinion.

"A few months ago, I was in a panic on the battlefield of the Central Plains. When Wanyan Talai led his army to kill Kaifeng, I could hardly hold on." Yue Fei was still in a state of fear when he thought of the situation at that time. "However, the battle situation suddenly turned around, and Wang De and Li Qiong led their troops to surrender, which led to a rapid reversal of the entire battle situation and finally won the victory."

Yue Fei said this and pointed to the south, "Today we have reached the north bank of the Yangtze River. Compared to this, the current situation is much better, but this does not mean that everyone is proud of underestimating the enemy, but that we have absolute advantage in our strength. With this strength, we can completely fight the Yangtze River and pacify the southeast in the shortest time."

Li Hu knew that Yue Fei had made up his mind, so he asked, "So, can the attack be prepared in the next three months?"

Yue Fei smiled bitterly and shook his head, "The time is too short. It's too late."

"How long will it take you?"

"It will be at least May," said Yue Fei, "but May is already the rainy season, and the river water surges, which is very unfavorable for the attack."

"So, you decided to cross the river forcibly at any cost, right?"

"I just said that opportunities are not waiting for them, but created. Only when we attack and force the rebels to get in a hurry can we find opportunities in the attack." Yue Fei said solemnly, "Everyone hopes that you will come. As long as you are here, we will definitely cross the river successfully."

Li Hu smiled and shook his head repeatedly, "I'm not a god, I have to take a boat to cross the river."

=

That night, Li Hu did not sleep and thought about the strategy of crossing the river.

The Hu Lie Army has not completely occupied the two routes of Huainan. Luo Lan and Wang Gui are currently fighting in the Huainan West Road. In Shandong, Wang Yuan’s reorganization of the army has not been completed. After the reorganization is over, these troops will have to work together for a while before they can go south to Jianghuai to meet the main force. In addition, such as raising money and grain, recruiting ships, etc., it takes time. Therefore, it is indeed very hasty to carry out the crossing of the river around March. However, as Zhe Kecun said, the earlier the battle, the better. If it is dragged down, the defense in the southeast will become more and more stable, which is obviously not good for the Hu Lie Army.

Li Hu thought for a long time and finally got a general idea.

That morning, Li Hu just closed his eyes and took a nap, but was awakened by the voices of the generals outside the house. Li Hu was too lazy to sleep anymore, so he was eager to take out his ideas and discuss with the generals.

"It is obviously too hasty to carry out the crossing of the river around March. Even if it is successful, our losses will be amazing and it will not be worth the loss." Li Hu stood in front of the map and faced the generals, saying slowly, "The Yangtze River itself is a natural danger. The rebels deployed heavy troops on the front line of Jiangning. If they forcefully attacked, they would not have a chance of victory. So my idea is that the Jianghuai battlefield and the Jingxiang battlefield will fight together, and the Jianghuai battlefield will make an attack on the front line of the Yangtze River to restrain the main force of the rebels. The Jingxiang battlefield will advance from Changsha eastward, first attacking Jiangnan West Road, conquering Hongzhou (Nanchang), then attacking Jiangnan East Road, capturing Raozhou (Poyang Lake), Shezhou (She County), and then killing Liangzhe and attacking Hangzhou."

Li Hu raised his hand and pointed to the map, and made a distance from Changsha, Hongzhou, and Shezhou to Hangzhou.

"This road is far from easy to walk on the Yangtze River waterway, but the rebels would never have thought that it could have the effect of attacking the enemy inadequately." Li Hu smiled, "When we get closer and closer to Liangzhe and get closer to Hangzhou, what is the point of the main force of the rebels continuing to guard the Yangtze River defense line? If nothing unexpected happens, Hangzhou will inevitably mobilize troops from Jiangning to support the south. In this way, our Jiangbei army can successfully cross the river and first capture Jiangning and Dantu's line. Then go south along the Grand Canal, capture Changzhou and Suzhou, and meet with the Jingxiang army eastwards in Hangzhou."

This is a attack idea and an idea of ​​Li Hu, which is not mature, so after he briefly explained it, he immediately asked the generals to discuss it together.

=

Yue Fei and Zhe Kecun discussed with a group of generals and gradually unified their opinions, and basically accepted Li Hu's attack idea.

As the Central Plains army, of course, they wanted to get the credit for pacifying the Southeast, so when they formulated attack strategies, they naturally had to attack from the front line of Jiangning. As for the Jingxiang battlefield, they were just restraining attacks. Now Li Hu completely overturned their strategy. The main attack on the southeast was no longer the Central Plains army, but the Jingxiang army, so a large group of generals, including Yue Fei, were a little disappointed.

"Jingxiang only has 40,000 to 50,000 troops. Can they take on the main attack task?" Han Shizhong expressed his doubts about the strength of the Jingxiang army first.

"It's said that it's 40,000 to 50,000 people, at least half of them can only be considered local troops. With such strength, can you fight from Changsha to Hangzhou?" Wang Bi simply made it clear, "Master General, since we are just doing restraining attacks in Jiangbei, it's better to transfer the main force to Jingxiang and let us take on the main attack mission."

Li Hu laughed, "If you agree with my idea, then you can draw up a specific plan immediately."

"Master, we have to give us the main attack mission." Zhe Kecun took the initiative.

"I'll make a condition." Li Hu said, "The Jingxiang army must enter the Liangzhe battlefield as the main attacking army, and this cannot be changed."

The generals understood Li Hu's meaning and no one raised any objections. Li Hu clearly wanted to let the Jingxiang army enter the southeast to fight. Mao's army, Zhang Guanyu and others had been garrisoning Jingxiang for several years, and they had no credit and worked hard. At this critical moment, Li Hu of course had to let these old subordinates make contributions.

=

Three days later, Yue Fei and others came up with a specific strategy for attacking the southern expedition.

After the New Year, about 100,000 troops were transferred from Jianghuai to Jingxiang, gathered in Changsha, and launched an attack with the Jingxiang army around March.

Yue Fei led his army to attack the Yangtze River on the Yangzhou line. After the main force launched an attack on Jiangnan, he would draw troops from Shandong, Zhongyuan and other places to gather south. Around May, no matter what the Jingxiang army achieved in Jiangnan, he would lead his army to launch a crossing river battle, attack Jiangning, and the Dantu line, and quickly advance towards Hangzhou.

Li Hu agreed to this attack plan and urgently reported it to Chang'an. At the same time, he wrote a detailed letter to Mao's army and Zhang Guanyu in Xiangyang, asking the two to assemble troops to Changsha from the date of receiving the letter to prepare for the attack.
Chapter completed!