After winter, as the weather gets colder and colder, Western Sichuan has also entered the off-farm season. But at this time, the mountains under the rule of the Pili Army were in full swing, and there was no one idle. The young and strong labor force is reclaiming wasteland and producing in factories and mines, children of school age are in school, and women and the elderly are engaged in handicrafts such as spinning cloth and making shoes. Everyone is making their own efforts to prepare for possible large-scale invasion by the Mongols. In addition to working, the young and strong labor force also had to participate in military training in the garrison camp. They were all exhausted. However, the intensity of their military training was much easier than the training in the field camp, which was close to actual combat. In line with the principle of "sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in war" as Brother Xuan said, Cao Ergou often carried out marching training over mountains and ridges in the field camp, or conducted field survival training in the deep mountains. This harsh training method made the soldiers complain endlessly and secretly called him "Cao Devil".
Just like the historical trajectory in Ouyang Xuan's memory, Marshal Atahu of the Mongolian Army had already arrived in Chengdu before winter. After Liu Heima and Atahu joined forces, the Mongols immediately began a large-scale siege of the city and territory. What is different from the past is that this time the Mongolian army did not blindly burn, kill, and loot to create no-man's land to destroy the war potential of the Southern Song Dynasty. Instead, it adopted a combination of political and military means and used brutal massacres to force the Song army to surrender. . This form of war seemed much milder, but in fact it posed a greater threat to the Southern Song Dynasty regime. After slaughtering several prefectures and counties, the resistance of the Southern Song Dynasty officers and soldiers collapsed one after another, and most of the prefectures and counties in western Sichuan surrendered to the Mongols.
Among the four counties under the jurisdiction of Chongqing Prefecture, Yongkang and Jiangyuan have surrendered to the Mongols. Xiong Ben was appointed Yongkang County Magistrate by the Mongolian military because he occupied Yongkang City and Hengyuan Village. Jinyuan County, where Chongqing's capital city was located, had been abandoned by Pan Tongzhi because it was undefendable. He moved the population and troops to Shuijun Village in Xinjin County, a subordinate county. Xinjin Village is surrounded by water on three sides and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. There are hundreds of large and small warships. This is a difficult nut to crack for the Mongols who have no navy. The risk was not the main reason why Pan Tongzhi was unwilling to surrender, nor was it because most of his relatives were in Lin'an, but because he felt that the reward from the Mongolian army for allowing him to remain in his original position was too low. The current situation where most of the surrounding areas of the Perak Army have surrendered to Mongolia is definitely not a good thing for the Perak Army. Nearby states and counties are controlled by the Mongols, which greatly limits the Perak Army's space for activities and makes it more difficult to obtain important supplies and intelligence.
But even if everyone surrenders, Ouyang Xuan will never surrender. Of course, the Perak Army is also fully prepared. Even if the Mongolian army also attacks, they are confident of repelling the invading enemies because the Wanjia Fort, the biggest support in guarding the mountains, has been completed. This fortress built at the T-junction of Wanjiaping is a square castle. It is built according to the mountainous terrain, with one side leaning against the mountain and the other facing the river. It completely blocks the roads leading to Wanjiaping and Liuliba. To access the two places, one must Pass through the fort. In terms of defensive power, this fort is absolutely one man capable of blocking it. Its walls are about ten meters high and three meters thick. The foundation is paved with thick strips of stone. The steep and straight walls are made of concrete. become. To enhance the damage resistance, when the front wall was cast, thumb-thick steel bars were used as the skeleton. Although Wanjiabao does not have protective walls and trenches due to terrain reasons, the fort gate is reinforced with thin steel plates as armor, which is extremely thick and solid. During the acceptance inspection of the fortress, Ouyang Xuan ordered people to bombard it at close range with a light mother-child cannon. After three rounds of shotgun shells, the gate of the fortress was undamaged, with only shallow dents left on the armored steel plate.
Wanjiabao is easy to defend but difficult to attack because the road into the mountain is narrow. Although the Perak Army widened the road into the mountain after occupying Wanjiaping, it was still unable to pass large siege equipment. The light equipment that the enemy reluctantly brought into the mountain was unable to cause damage to the concrete wall. Moreover, because the attack surface is too narrow, the enemy cannot use the human sea tactic to swarm forward, and can only use the refueling tactic. To the Wanjiabao defenders, this was simply the enemy taking the initiative to give credit and kills. You know, as long as the enemy appears in the open space in front of Wanjiabao, they will be completely exposed to the firepower of the fort's artillery. The Perak Army installed rapid-fire sub-cannons on the city wall and the two turrets behind the city wall. The non-stop firepower produced by a total of twelve artillery pieces was definitely a nightmare for any attacker. Cao Ergou patted his chest and assured Ouyang Xuan that a company stationed in Wanjiabao could block the enemy's attack of ten thousand people.
The first attack on the mountain was a 20-man Mongolian reconnaissance team. They set out from Hengyuan Village and entered the mountains all the way to Wanjiaping, without encountering any obstacles along the way. Just when I expected that this reconnaissance operation would go as smoothly as a trip, I encountered an iron wall. As soon as they turned the corner, they saw a tall fortress in front of them blocking the way forward. Seeing that they could not advance, these Mongolian soldiers fired several rounds of arrows at the fortress to vent their anger, and then retreated out of the mountain.
The Mongolian army that invaded for the second time was a hundred-man army. This Mongolian army had strict rules and was extremely arrogant. The Mongols expected that the officers, soldiers and civilians here were as cowardly as in the plains. They had either fled long ago, or they should kneel down in front and ask for surrender. Seeing that the gate of the fortress was closed and the guards on the wall ignored their shouts and howls, the leading Mongolian officer ordered the attack in anger. After the Mongolian soldiers dismounted, some of them suppressed the top of the wall with bows and arrows, while others held swords and shields and braved the stones thrown at them. They rushed to the bottom of the fortress wall screaming and throwing iron hooks with ropes to hang on the top of the wall. The Mongolian soldiers climbed along the rope, but were hit with spears and stones by the soldiers of the Perak Army on the wall. They fell to the ground one after another. The archers behind were also blown to pieces by grenades thrown from the wall. In just one round, the Mongols lost more than 30 men, and the battle loss rate reached an astonishing one-third. The centurion who led the charge was also stoned to death.
The death of the centurion of the Mongolian army was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The Mongolian army, which was known for its strict military discipline, collapsed, leaving behind more than ten corpses and more than 20 wounded people, and fled out of the mountain regardless of their efforts. . To say that the Mongols' fighting power was not so unbearable, they were defeated so miserably because they were arrogant and ignored the tall fortress, and did not expect that the Shu people would still be so bloody after being slaughtered repeatedly. The corpses of the Mongolian soldiers who died in the battle were rushed to be carried and buried by the mountain people. This was the season of winter fertilization, and these corpses were excellent fertilizer. The wounded of the Mongolian army were not organized into labor camps, but were directly driven out of the mountains. The reason for this is to allow the wounded to consume the resources of the Mongolian army and disrupt its morale. One wounded person often requires two or three people to take care of him. Of course, before being released, these wounded Mongolian soldiers had their right fingers cut off to prevent them from shooting bows and arrows after being injured.
In this battle, only three people in the Perak Army were hit by arrows. One of them was seriously injured by an arrow in the face, and the other two suffered minor arrow wounds in their arms. For this reason, Shi Zhongshu, the commander of the first company of the field battalion guarding the fortress, was severely reprimanded by Cao Ergou. In Cao Ergou's view, the soldiers of the Perak Army wore rattan armor and were protected by arrow stacks and shields. The Mongolian army could still injure three people in one attack, which was really improper command. Shi Zhongshu was also reprimanded because he used the grenade rashly. In accordance with Ouyang Xuan's request not to expose their strength prematurely, the Pili Army currently tries not to use firearms to prevent the Mongolian army from making targeted preparations in advance. Since the invention of firearms in the Northern Song Dynasty, firearms have been gradually used in warfare. The Mongolian army suffered many losses in the battles with the Jin army and the Song army and gradually learned countermeasures. Although the firearms of the Perak Army are far more powerful than those of the Jin Army and Song Army, it is not unsolvable. Not to mention restraint methods such as fighting in rainy days and cavalry raids, civil fortifications and iron shields can also greatly reduce the power of firearms. You must know that the Mongolian army is invincible, not only because of its strong military force, but also because of its extremely strong war learning and adaptability.
