The Mongolian army once again captured the city of Chengdu, which shocked the entire Xichuan. Although the city of Chengdu had suffered three massacres and plunders by the Mongols since 1242 and was in dilapidated condition, the garrison and government had already moved to Yunding City, and the city only had a few thousand people. Although the city of Chengdu was once again occupied by the Mongols, the loss of property and population to the Southern Song Dynasty was not great, but Chengdu was located in the center of Xichuan and its strategic location was extremely important. Using Chengdu as a base, the Mongolian army could attack and plunder everywhere, then capture the entire Xichuan, and then move down the river to attack Jiading Prefecture, Chongqing Prefecture and other places.
In fact, the Mongolian army did exactly that. After gaining a foothold, Liu Heima immediately sent out cavalry to plunder. Liu Heima was originally a Khitan. He had been very brave since he was a child. Because of his outstanding military achievements, he was granted the title of Ten Thousand Households by Wo Kuotai Khan. He was the leader of the thirty thousand households of the Han army. The Han troops brought by Liu Heima in this raid on Chengdu were all cavalrymen who had experienced hundreds of battles. Although they were not as elite as the Mongolian cavalry, their combat power was far superior to that of the Song army. These highly mobile cavalry plundered and killed all over the Xichuan Plain. They attacked the state capitals where they could, and looted the rural population and property where they could not. The officers and soldiers had no way to deal with them. A thousand Mongolian cavalry men could scare the Song army in the prefecture city to close the city gates all day long and not dare to leave the city to fight in the field. Facing a small group of Mongolian cavalry, the Song army, which was mainly infantry, had nothing to do and could only watch the opponent flee. Since Chongqing Fucheng is only more than a hundred miles away from Chengdu, it is also a place where the Mongolian army frequently raids. Although Pan Tongzhi recruited 1,000 people from all over the country to join the Xiang army, and adding the original 2,000 people, the total defense force reached 3,000, but he also knew that these soldiers were weak in combat, and he was afraid that he would lose all his troops in one battle. Originally, they adopted a defensive strategy and allowed the war to break out in the territory.
When the cavalry under Liu Heima appeared near Hengyuan Village, the fortress at the T-shaped intersection of Wanjiaping was only half-built. This fortress uses one-third of the more than ten acres of land at the T-junction. It not only has defense facilities such as towers, observation towers, artillery positions, and ammunition depots, but also living facilities for more than a hundred soldiers. Cannons placed on the ten-meter-high fortress wall can completely cover the mountain road. Enemies attacking from outside the mountain will be attacked head-on as soon as they enter the T-junction along the narrow mountain road. However, due to the limitations of the construction site and the huge amount of work, although a large amount of newly developed cement was used, the construction progress has not yet reached Ouyang Xuan's goal. However, although the fortress has not been completed, the Perak Army has already had countermeasures against the possible invasion of the Mongolian army. Mountain warfare is a shortcoming for the Mongolian army, which is good at riding and shooting. As long as the Perak Army uses a dense formation of giant shields and spears in the front in dangerous areas, with grenadiers and artillery behind, it can easily defeat the Mongolian army's invasion. In addition, the Perak Army also drilled blast holes on several cliffs entering the mountain. If necessary, they could also blow up the road into the mountain. Therefore, although the mountain people were a little uneasy after hearing the news of the Mongolian invasion, they were relieved when they saw that the Pili army was not panicked.
Different from the peaceful life of the people in Jiguan Mountain and the prosperous development of industry and mining, at this moment, the western Sichuan plain below the mountain has turned into a hell on earth. Yongkang County Magistrate Cheng Jinyong abandoned the land and fled. He led his soldiers to escort the young people in the city, took all the valuables in the city, and went to Yunding City, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Yongkang City in the sky was occupied by the Xiong Ben gang. After recruiting bandits everywhere during this period, Xiong Ben had more than 300 people under his command. In addition to the main ravine of Jiguan Mountain in the mountainous area northwest of Chongqing Prefecture, there are also several smaller ravines such as Tianguo Temple. Yongkang City also guards one of the small ravines. There are also small groups of bandits in these ravines. After seeing Xiong Ben gaining power, they come to seek refuge one after another.
Xiong Ben did not go to Yunding City not only because Cheng Jinyong was afraid that his banditry was too strong and would cause trouble, but also because he had been a bandit for too long and did not want anyone to control him. After acquiring Yongkang City, Xiong Ben moved there, leaving only forty or fifty people to guard Hengyuan Village. On the one hand, Yongkang City is the county town after all, and its city defense is much better than that of the dilapidated Hengyuan Village. On the other hand, he is really afraid of being beaten by the Perak Army, and the farther away from them, the better. At this time, Pan Zongzhi seemed to think that the world was not chaotic enough. After learning that Xiong Ben had occupied Yongkang City, he sent a messenger to confer Ouyang Xuan as the Yongkang County Lieutenant. This was obviously to deliberately provoke the Perak Army to rob Xiong Ben. turf. However, what he did not expect was that Ouyang Xuan accepted the appointment but did not send troops to Yongkang City, and there was no fight between the two sides. This made Pan Tongzhi furious and cursed Ouyang Xuan as a cunning fish who took the bait but spit out the hook.
Ouyang Xuan was very busy during this period. How could he have time to care about what Pan Tongzhi thought? In addition to paying attention to industrial and mining production and military training, he also guides military technology research and development, and visits various refugee resettlement sites from time to time. The burning, killing and looting by the Mongolian army caused the people in the countryside of Chongqing Prefecture to flee in all directions. The prefectural city only accepted young people who could fight or officials and wealthy families, while the fortresses such as Yongkang and Hengyuan were either dilapidated or occupied by bandits, so the people dragged their families away one after another. Come towards the mountains with your mouth. The busiest person during this period was Li Shuang. In just one month, two to three thousand people suddenly flooded into the mountains. The eating, drinking and eating of these people really gave him a headache. Ouyang Xuan saw that Li Shuang had a heavy workload, so he transferred Yang Xiucai to be in charge of planning, and Dong Hu was in charge of screening personnel. After all the trade team returned to the mountain, he ordered Zhu Tiaozi to come to assist and settle the refugees.
"There is strength in numbers." Population is an important part of strength in any era. As long as there are guarantees of daily necessities and means of production, a larger population means more labor and soldiers, and greater strength. Fortunately, there is no shortage of food in the mountains. The trading company has bought back a large number of daily necessities including grain, salt, cloth, etc. from outside the mountains. In addition, the supplies accumulated by the Xiong Ben gang for many years have been seized. The supplies in the mountains are now enough to last until next autumn harvest. The mountain people had no objection to the influx of refugees. Instead, they warmly accepted them to live in various villages and helped build winter shacks. There is currently a shortage of labor in the mountains. Except for some of the young people who are engaged in industry and mining, the rest are either building roads and forts or reclaiming wasteland. There is really no spare labor to build houses. However, the refugees also know how to be grateful. As long as they are well fed, warm, and have a roof over their heads, they are extremely satisfied. Didn't Brother Xuan say that there are abundant building materials in the mountains? As long as you are willing to endure hardships, life will get better and better, and there will be spacious houses in the future.
