It has been almost a month since Cheng Yu's trip. The five reconnaissance teams he led were responsible for reconnaissance in the southern area of Chengdu. The current mission has basically ended. For the past two days, he had been lurking at the agreed meeting point, waiting for the various reconnaissance teams to converge. When the scout team led by Su Saner was attacked by the Mongols, he was resting in the reeds on the roadside with the three soldiers who had returned to the team. However, the faint sound of horse hooves in the distance made them alert. After a while, a fire broke out in the woods in the distance, and then a group of Mongolian cavalry rode towards them.
During this period of reconnaissance, the Perak Army reconnaissance team was extremely cautious in their activities, trying to avoid major roads and take remote paths, and also tried not to conflict with the Mongolian army, official troops or even bandits. Since the Mongolian army in Chengdu has been suppressed by the Song army, and there are very few reconnaissance cavalry out, the various reconnaissance teams under Cheng Yu did not conflict with the Mongols, and the ammunition in their hands was basically not consumed. When he discovered that the Mongolian cavalry was coming towards his hidden direction, Cheng Yu decided to raid the ten-man Mongolian team. Now with a force of three to one and an ambush, Cheng Yu had full confidence in annihilating the Mongols.
As expected, after a blast of grenades and a burst of gunfire, these Mongolian soldiers were either dead or injured and fell under their horses one after another. The biggest gain of this battle was the capture of eight war horses. In the past, small-scale battles between the Perak Army and the Mongolian Army were often rout battles. War horses were also captured, but they were all injured and could no longer be used, so in the end they all became Got horse meat. The Mongolian reconnaissance cavalry team that was completely wiped out this time was also equipped with standard equipment. It had ten men and twenty horses. Except for five horses that were killed and seven horses that could not walk due to injuries, the remaining eight horses became the spoils of the Thunderbolt Army. Cheng Tuan was overjoyed at this unexpected gain. After leaving his personnel to take care of the two reconnaissance teams that had not yet returned, he returned to Hengyuan Town with horses and other trophies.
When all fifteen reconnaissance teams from the Chengdu-Yunding City direction returned to Hengyuan Town, it had been a month since their departure. These fifteen reconnaissance teams originally had a full strength of 150 people, but only 141 people returned, including one who died of illness and eight who died in battle. Three of the war dead were killed by bandits and Mongolian troops, while the other five were killed by Yao Shian's men in Yunding City. In a canyon ten miles away from Yunding City, Yao Shian's soldiers suddenly killed the Perak Army soldiers dressed as Taoist priests. Even though the Perak Army soldiers reported their identities as Chongqing Prefecture Xiang soldiers at the last moment, the Yunding City soldiers still did not stop and had no choice but to rise up and resist. However, Yunding City's soldiers were outnumbered. Although the soldiers of the Perak Army inflicted heavy casualties on the opponent with grenades and muskets, more than half of them themselves were also damaged by the crossbows. Fortunately, the two seriously wounded soldiers stayed behind and fired grenades in the chasing group. This bravery of dying together scared the Yunding City soldiers from pursuing them, allowing the reconnaissance team to escape. However, it was also Everyone is hurt.
Fortunately, although there were casualties in personnel, no muskets and grenades were captured by the enemy during this trip. The Song Army classified weapons such as divine arm crossbows, thunderbolts, and muskets as top-secret weapons. They were strictly used and kept in peacetime. Even if they were destroyed during combat, they could not fall into the hands of the enemy. The Pili Army's management of firearms is even better. Every firearm is even numbered and managed in a ledger. Of course, Ouyang Xuan also knows that technological diffusion is inevitable, but he must try to slow down the speed of technological diffusion so that the military technology of the Thunderbolt Army can create a generation gap with the hostile forces. You must know that the technology of the Southern Song Dynasty was the pinnacle of ancient China, and there were many talents in the areas controlled by the government. As long as there were samples, it was not too difficult to learn and imitate the firearms of the Thunderbolt Army. What worries Ouyang Xuan even more is that these talents are just used by the government, and they are afraid of surrendering to the Mongols. You must know that the Mongols are also very good at learning and treat talents well. This can be seen from the fact that they do not kill craftsmen and Confucian scholars in every massacre.
From the intelligence compiled afterwards, it was learned that the indiscriminate attacks on Yunding City were related to its extreme xenophobia. Although they also fought with the Mongols, they also regarded robbery as commonplace, and even robbed the food and grass of friendly forces. Since Yao Shi'an took over, Yunding City has become his private territory. When Yu Jie was in charge of Sichuan, he tried many times to enter Yunding City but was unable to do so. After Yu Jie, Yao Shi'an was even more obedient to the imperial court and refused to listen to the announcement, and there were faint signs of separatism. The Pu family was a powerful family in Sichuan. Although Pu Zhizhi was a civil servant, he had a strong personality. Yao Shi'an did not dare to deny him face, but he was just making excuses.
Yunding City has 8,000 soldiers, making it the most powerful fortress in central Sichuan besides Chongqing Prefecture. In this battle of Chengdu, Pu Zhezhi asked for 7,000 soldiers, but Yao Shi'an only sent 4,000 soldiers. The reason was that Yunding City had to defend against Mongolia. Outside of raids, there is a shortage of food. Yao Shi'an's two reasons are really far-fetched. Although Yunding City is one of the "Eight Pillars of Sichuan" and has an extremely important geographical location. It is also the headquarters of Chengdu Prefecture, but currently all the Sichuan Army is huddled two hundred miles away. Chengdu obviously does not have the ability to attack this dangerous fortress. Pu Zezhi was bound to win the attack on Chengdu, and he brought even more supplies with him on this trip, basically bringing with him all the accumulation of the Shu region in the past ten years since Yu Jie. His principle is to send as many troops as possible and give them as much food as they need. If Yunding City sends out fewer troops, it will give them less food. However, even so, Yao Shian is still unwilling to send more troops and horses, fearing that the loss of troops and horses will affect his strength. In his mind, having soldiers is the most important thing these days. As for the food shortage problem, as long as it lasts for two more months, the wheat in the Chengdu Plain will be ripe, and there will be no shortage of food.
The intelligence brought back by the reconnaissance in the direction of Chengdu dispelled Ouyang Xuan's concerns - the original historical trend has not changed. During the attack on Chengdu, although the Song army entered the city and launched fierce street battles with the Mongolian army, and even occupied half of the city and killed the Mongolian army coach Atahu, the Mongolian army was extremely tenacious and refused to retreat. The army had no choice but to withdraw from the city. As the Mongolian garrison troops from various parts of western Sichuan continued to withdraw to Chengdu, the Mongolian garrison was able to defend the city.
As time went by, the situation became increasingly unfavorable to the Song army attacking the city. What's even worse is that Niulin, who was attacking in eastern Sichuan, has led a strong army to return for reinforcements. It is reported that the Song army has defeated Liu Zheng's troops at Jiantandu in Suining Prefecture and Duan Yuanjian's troops at Lingquan Mountain, and has rushed towards Chengdu. Come. Once Jiantandu and Lingquan Mountain are lost, there will be no danger to defend the Chengdu Plain, and Pu Ze's troops will be in danger of being attacked from both sides. The Mongolian Wang Dechen Department in Lizhou, stationed in northern Sichuan, also sent reinforcements to Chengdu. The Song army's offensive in the current battle of Chengdu is very fierce because Pu Zezhi wanted to capture Chengdu before the Mongolian reinforcements arrived. Ouyang Xuan and other senior leaders of the Perak Army knew that the Song Army was currently besieging less than 5,000 Mongolian troops with 40,000 troops and horses. The situation seemed to be dominant, but in fact it was exhausted and it was already showing signs of defeat.
