In fact, as early as when Lan Qiao and others left Peiping for Tianlian Peak, the northern and southern armies had already entered the stalemate stage of testing each other before the war.

On the first day of February, Zhu Di sent Zhu Neng and Qiu Fu as the vanguard, leading an army of 50,000, bypassing Dongchang and other major cities in Jinan, and marching directly into Jining. The remaining troops, totaling 150,000, were assembled in Baoding Prefecture, waiting for Zhu Gaoxu and others to attack Lanqiao.

After everyone arrived, they immediately headed to the Jining front line, with a total force of more than 200,000.

At the right time, Jining was originally garrisoned by the Southern Army generals Ping'an, He Fu, Chen Hui and others. Sheng Yong wanted to repeat the strategy of luring the enemy deep in the battle of Dongchang, so he ordered them to make only symbolic resistance in Jining and then withdraw at night.

Zhu Di captured Jining with ease, and then captured Peixian County without any effort. The battle process was almost exactly the same as the consecutive capture of Cangzhou and Dezhou before the Battle of Dongchang.

Finally, when Zhu Di's army crossed the Bian River and arrived at Xuzhou City, he sighed: "Luring the enemy deeper, this is the battlefield chosen by Sheng Yong. To the south of the Bian River and to the north of the Huai River, there are undulating mountains and rivers.

The net is so dense that the mobility and combat capabilities of our northern cavalry will be restricted to the greatest extent."

Sure enough, Xuzhou City no longer looked like Jining Pei County, and Chen Hui, who was responsible for defending the city, no longer abandoned it lightly, but held on to the city.

Zhu Di continued to attack for several days, but when he saw that Chen Hui could not get out, he summoned the generals to discuss countermeasures.

"Ziyi, please tell everyone first the garrison situation and troop distribution of the various units of the Southern Army."

Ling Yufei cupped his fists and said loudly: "According to the latest information obtained by General Mo, the Southern Army is divided into three groups."

As he spoke, he drew out his sword, drew three long lines on the ground of the Zhongjun tent, and explained one by one: "These three lines can be regarded as approximately parallel, representing the three main rivers from Bianshui to Huaihe. The northernmost is Bianshui.

The southernmost one is the Huaihe River, and the middle one is the Suishui River."

"We are here now." He drew a small circle on the south bank of Bianshui River and pointed at the small circle with the tip of his sword. "This is Xuzhou. It is garrisoned by the Southern Army General Chen Hui. With him is Lan Lan.

In Xiye, the number of troops in the city is between 60,000 and 70,000."

He then drew a circle on the south bank of Suishui River in the middle of the three long lines: "This is Suzhou. The generals of the Southern Army are safe. He Fu is stationed here. The number of troops should be around 100,000."

Finally, he drew a large circle on the long line representing the Huaihe River: "Finally, there is Sheng Yong's Chinese Army Headquarters, stationed on Huaishang to the north of the Huaihe River, with about 150,000 troops."

Zhu Di nodded, strode to Ling Yufei, asked him to borrow the sword, and drew a line, but it connected the three circles symbolizing the three cities of Xuzhou, Suzhou and Huaishang into a line.

"The Bianshui River, the Suishui River and the Huaihe River all flow from the northwest to the southeast, while the connection between the three cities in Xuzhou, Suzhou and Huaishang is from the northeast to the southwest. With three rivers and three cities, Shengyong built defenses according to the water network.

It is extremely lawful and has the rigor of a military strategist."

"In this way, the battlefield is naturally divided into two parts. One is the northwest part of the three-city connection, which is the upper reaches of the three rivers. He gave it to us. The other part is the southeast part of the three-city connection, which is also the upper reaches of the three rivers.

Even the lower reaches of the three rivers, he refused to give way."

"We don't have naval warships, so occupying the upper reaches is of little significance to us. As long as Sheng Yong holds this line of defense, he can cut off our march route to the capital and fall into a desperate struggle in the Central Plains."

"He took advantage of our labor expedition and wanted to drag us down alive."

Zhu Di's analysis of the battle situation was penetrating, fully demonstrating his outstanding military talents as a leader.

Qiu Fu suggested: "Therefore, we should besiege but not attack, cut off Xuzhou's food route, force He Fu and Ping'an to support Xuzhou from Suzhou, and then ambush them halfway."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "What Lao Qiu said was to surround the point and call for reinforcements. I have another idea."

Zhu Di liked to let his subordinates brainstorm ideas, and said happily: "Xu'er, let's talk about it."

"It's easy to encircle the point and call for reinforcements. I'm afraid it's safe. They have to be prepared. They should be careful when they come. Our army's strength is not an absolute advantage. If we get caught in the internal and external attacks between them and Chen Hui, I'm afraid we won't be able to take advantage of it."

How cheap is it?”

As the second son of Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu did not need to care too much about Qiu Fu's face. He said: "Instead of encircling a point to call for reinforcements, we can also try to divide our troops into two groups, one to surround Xuzhou City, lure Ping'an He Fu to rescue, and another group to go out.

Qi soldiers, find a way to go around to the south bank of Suishui River, take advantage of the empty Suzhou after Ping An Hefu left, and capture the city of Suzhou in one fell swoop."

As soon as he said this, all the generals on the Yan Army side, including Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu, nodded frequently. Although some of them meant to please His Highness, the Second Highness, most of them did so from the bottom of their hearts.

totally agree with his idea.

Zhu Di pondered for a long time and finally looked at Lan Feng who was standing aside: "Qing Huan, what do you think?"

Lan Feng thought for a while, and first gave Zhu Gaoxu a thumbs up: "His Second Highness's plan is more thoughtful than Ping An's. Once they take the bait, let us occupy Suzhou, which will not only give us an important stronghold on the south bank of Suishui River.

, and even left behind them and their 160,000 to 70,000 troops, including Chen Hui."

Seeing that Lan Feng also supported him, Zhu Gaoxu was about to smile and say something modestly, but the latter suddenly changed the topic and raised his eyebrows: "However, have you ever thought about another possibility, that is, Ping An Hefu in Suzhou,

Maybe they won’t come to support Xuzhou at all?”

"We have cut off Xuzhou's supply of grain and grass. Are they going to die without saving us?" Zhu Gaoxu argued.

"Of course I won't do it if I don't save him." Lan Feng sighed and walked slowly around the map drawn with his sword on the ground twice. "But, since Sheng Yong intends to use the terrain of these three cities and three rivers to prevent our army from going south.

, the food and grass must have been allocated in advance. Let’s not say how long the food and grass he has stored can last, even if it is just a month, Ping An Hefu will come to support in a month, so we are just waiting here for a month? "

"The water network along the Huaihe River is dense. It is too easy for the imperial court to transport grain and military supplies through waterways. On the contrary, we have to go on expeditions and have difficulties in supplying grain and grass, so we dare not waste time. While consuming Xuzhou, we are actually consuming ourselves.

.”

The truth he said couldn't be more clear and obvious. Many generals who had agreed with Zhu Gaoxu just now were now in deep thought again.

Zhu Di coughed lightly and broke the dullness in the tent and said: "Xuzhou is a strong city. It is difficult to attack by force, and it is too time-consuming to siege. I wonder what Qing Huan has a good plan for?"

Since Dao Yan stayed in Beiping with Zhu Gaochi, Lan Feng had become one of the most trusted advisers under Zhu Di's account.

He took Ling Yufei's seven-hole tuning sword from Zhu Di and drew another line on the map, pointing from Xuzhou to the southeast and across the Suishui River: "If we ignore Xuzhou and directly cross the Suishui River east of Suzhou,
Chapter completed!