After the Mongols recruited Yongkang and Hengyuan to surrender, their spies heard that there was also an official army in the mountains. The Mongolian general Yelu Maizhu, who had captured the area, ordered Yongkang County to send people to recruit them. Yelu Maizhu was a general under Liu Heima. , also a Khitan.
It's just that Xiong Ben is eager to use the hands of the Mongols to destroy the Perak Army, so he is willing to send people there. However, he still had to show off, sending people to turn back halfway as soon as they entered the mountains, and reported back with added insults that Ouyang Xuan despised the Mongolian army.
Yelv Maizhu sent Mongolian envoys to the mountains. Although the soldiers and people along the way were not friendly to the Mongols, they did not make it difficult for them.
The messenger claimed that as long as the Perak Army surrendered, Ouyang Xuan and others could preserve everything, but the result was obvious.
From Yelv Maizhu's point of view, the impact of the Perak Army's refusal to surrender was very bad. However, the Mongolian army was currently focusing its main energy on conquering the plains and was currently short of troops, so it only sent a small number of troops to harass them.
In the description of Xiong rushing to buy a house in Yelv, the Pili army was just a small group of fleeing Xiang troops, which gathered in the mountains and forests after threatening a large number of mountain people who were not convinced by the king.
This made Yelv Maizhu think that they could surrender as long as they sent people to threaten them with force. This was the first time the Mongolian army harassed the mountains.
When the incoming Mongolian army reported that the mountains were steep and well-defended, he still didn't take it seriously, so he sent another hundred-man team to use force.
"persuade". There are also large and small factions in the Mongolian army. Among Yelv Maizhu's men are Mongols, Xixia people, Jurchens and Han people.
The first time the centurion of the Mongolian army disturbed the mountains was the Jurchen who surrendered. Yelv Maizhu sneered at his words.
The status of surrendering generals and soldiers in the Mongolian army is not high, and the hatred of Jin for destroying Liao caused a gap between the Jurchen and Khitan tribes in the Mongolian army.
Yelu Muizhu, who was a Khitan like Liu Heima, naturally regarded his clan as his close confidant. Most of the centurions who entered the mountain for the second time were Khitan, and the centurion was his cousin.
But he never expected that the Perak Army would not only refuse to surrender, but his cousin would even die under the strong wall. After this battle, after many inquiries, Yelu Maizhu had a preliminary understanding of the strength of the Pili Army, although his intelligence sources were unreliable.
The more he got to know him, the more he felt that this Song army should not be underestimated and was not a ragtag group as Xiong Ben said. Although Yelu Maizhu was very angry about his cousin's death, those who fought in the army were used to life and death.
However, the Perak Army persisted despite the wave of surrender and became a role model for the anti-Mongolian forces, which had a greater political impact. Therefore, he decided to attack the Perak Army and completely level the anti-Mongolian forces in the mountains as a special effect.
Yelu Maizhu learned through intelligence that the Perak Army had 200 people and about hundreds of militiamen. This information was actually deliberately spread by Dong Hu's intelligence personnel, but everyone, including Xiong Ben, believed it.
Because in their eyes, this mountain is a poor place. The Perak Army does not collect taxes or exploit the mountain people. It is already very good to support an army of two hundred people. The Perak Army never exceeds 200 people every time it goes into battle. It is clear evidence.
If it were in the plains, Yelu Maizhu was convinced that with the Mongolian army's unrivaled cavalry and shooting, they could easily defeat the Perak Army by sending only a hundred-man team. As for the militiamen with hoes and pitchforks in their hands, they were just a scrap of numbers. That’s all.
As for the statement that the thunderbolt weapon is more powerful than the sky thunder, it is nothing more than the Southern Song Dynasty Xiang army and bandits with low combat power making excuses for their incompetence and spreading rumors.
But Yelv Maizhu also knew that if he wanted to attack the steep fortress in the mountains, his own troops would be both insufficient and incompetent.
As a captain of thousands, Yelv Maizhu's Mongolian army had been decimated several times and actually only had more than 800 men. Recently, Liu Heima transferred 300 cavalry to the direction of Meizhou. Now he only has more than 500 troops.
Plain areas such as Chongqing Mansion, as newly conquered areas, are also the focus of operations. They need highly mobile cavalry to maintain pressure, and it is impossible to deploy large-scale deployments to attack the mountains.
Therefore, Yelv Maizhu decided to dispatch a hundred-man team from his headquarters to guard the formation this time, and let the new auxiliary army, the Southern Song Dynasty Jiangjun, attack the Perak Army.
For Yelv Maizhu, this is a no-win deal. Defeating the Perak Army is of course a good thing. If the Perak Army is not defeated, it can also take the opportunity to consume the strength of the new vassal army and eliminate the threat of their rebellion.
Of course, he believed that although the new auxiliary army was weakened in combat power, it was good at siege. As long as there were enough numbers, it could still defeat the Perak army that was defending in danger.
To this end, Yelv bought 1,200 new auxiliary troops. These new auxiliary troops were 600 from Dayi County, 400 from Qingcheng County, and 200 from Yongkang County. These soldiers were all former Song Dynasty soldiers. Military compartment army.
Yelumai lived in Chongqing Mansion and took command. He sent a cavalry team of 100 to follow the new annexed army, both to guard the formation and to monitor the military operation.
The person who commanded the new auxiliary army was Zhao Shicai, the magistrate of Dayi County newly appointed by the Mongols. This man was originally the magistrate of Dayi County in Qiongzhou. When the Mongolian army invaded, he killed the magistrate and presented the city to surrender.
He was the most enthusiastic and proactive in sending troops this time, and he was also very good at flattery, so Yelv bought him and appointed him as the commander of the new annexed army.
After receiving the appointment, Zhao Shicai was so excited that he vowed to defeat the Perak Army and capture Ouyang Xuan alive, so as to pave his way to promotion and wealth.
Compared with the arrogant Zhao Shicai, Xiong Ben is much more low-key. On the one hand, he was really frightened by the firearms of the Perak Army, and he really didn't want to stand out; on the other hand, although he also wanted to eat meat and sleep with Ouyang Xuan, he still had doubts about whether he could defeat the Perak Army.
It was this desire for revenge and fear of damage to his strength that made Xiong Ben shrink back and hesitate. He first acted cunning and complained to Yelv Maizhi in tears, saying that Yongkang County had a small population and was in decline due to the looting of the Perak Army. Now, There were few young generals and many old and weak soldiers, so it was not easy to pick out 200 soldiers. He also suggested to Yelu Maizhu that although the fortress was strong, the guards were stupid, so they could send people pretending to be refugees and merchants to trick them into opening the gate.
Xiong Ben has been in the mountains for many years and is very familiar with the conditions in the mountains. His analysis of the pros and cons is also clear and logical. In addition, his acting skills are realistic, so he won over Yelu and nodded repeatedly.
Seeing that he was affirmed, Xiong Ben took the opportunity to propose that the soldiers in Yongkang City were weak in combat and were not suitable for a frontal attack, but that capable personnel could be selected to sneak attack Wanjiazhai from the side roads in the direction of Yongkang City, and could also take on the responsibility of guarding grain and grass. These requests were also approved. Yelu was allowed to buy and live.
Zhao Shicai had no objection to Xiong Ben's cunning behavior of pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger. He was now eager to express himself to win the favor of Yelu Muizhu. He was afraid that others would steal the credit from him, so Xiong Ben offered to be an assistant, which was exactly what he wanted. .
