The sudden deterioration of the war situation began at the end of April. After Niulin led his army to reinforce Chengdu, the Mongolian army gained momentum, and the balance of the battlefield gradually shifted to the Mongolian side. Pu Zezhi organized several major offensives in succession but were repelled by the Mongolian army. Immediately afterwards, Wang Dechen led five thousand fine cavalry from the Mongolian garrison in Lizhou to rush to the rescue, which put the Song army at an even greater disadvantage. After the Mongolian army took the initiative on the battlefield, they continued to storm the Song army's camp. However, blocked by trenches and fences, the cavalry's advantage was unable to be used. Although the Song army was exhausted from fighting, they were unable to break through the camp in their eagerness and did not take much advantage. Seeing that the forceful attack failed, Niulin adopted Liu's black horse strategy, sending troops to harass the Song army's food routes, and sent a large number of rangers to plunder the countryside of prefectures and counties, using a scorched-earth policy to weaken the Song army's supply and war potential. Under the wanton plunder of the Mongolian army, the Song army had no choice but to huddle in the cities of prefectures and counties, allowing a large number of forts and stockades in the countryside to be breached, property and food looted, a large number of houses burned, and the people were either killed or plundered. Slaves, the rest fled in all directions.
The people fled in the same direction as before, with most of them seeking refuge in nearby prefectures and counties. This time, the government accepted the refugees into the city. In addition to Pu Ze's order, it was also due to the serious lack of population in the cities in western Sichuan after Liu Heima invaded Chengdu. More importantly, there was still about half a month before the wheat was ripe for the summer harvest. Harvesting requires labor, and in addition to supplying military supplies, there is also surplus food for refugees. A few people from wealthy families took boats to Jiading Prefecture and Chongqing Prefecture, while some refugees fled into the mountains. For a time, a large number of refugees poured into the mountainous areas of western Sichuan prefectures such as Peng, Qiong, Mian and Chongqing. Among them, due to the publicity during the early reconnaissance operation, the northwest mountainous area of Chongqing Prefecture controlled by the Perak Army had the largest influx of refugees, with more than 20,000 people. In addition to being resettled in Jiguan Mountain, some of these refugees were resettled in Wugenshan, Meihuazhai and other places under the rule of the Pili Army. The huge amount of resettlement work made the people in charge Li Shuang, Lu Dezhi, Yang Xiucai and others busy again. Fortunately, the climate was warm at this time, and there was no shortage of wild vegetables and fruits. In addition to the relief food provided by the Perak Army, the refugees could not have enough to eat. Okay, but it's still possible to survive.
Those who fled to the Perak Army were not only refugees, but also a defeated army of 200 people. After Pu Zezhi counterattacked Chengdu, the Mongolian cavalry stationed in Qingcheng County, Daojiang County and Guankou Village east of Yongkang City retreated to Chengdu, leaving only the new auxiliary troops stationed. After Yao Shi'an of Yunding City learned that the Mongolian army had withdrawn, he ordered his confidant Lin De stationed in Pengzhou to recover these three places to expand his territory. The new auxiliary armies in these three places were originally the Song army's Xiang troops. Their combat effectiveness and fighting will were very low. When they saw Lin De leading his army to attack, they surrendered again. In an instant, Linde's troops expanded from 500 to 3,000. The growth in strength also brought about the expansion of ambitions. Lin De, who was in the air, also became obedient to Yao Shian's orders. He not only refused to select elites to go to Yunding City, but also refused to send money and food to Pu Zhezhi's military camp. The three places he occupied were the dismantled Yongkang Army. In the Song Dynasty, the army was a military and political institution at the same level as the state and government, and was often located in important military locations. In this troubled world, strength is the king. If you follow one's example, he can become a warlord who can separate one side with his strength. He had lived in trepidation under the mean and unkind Yao Shi'an for a long time, and he had really had enough of this life of being dependent on others.
However, Linde was not proud for long. After the Mongols took advantage of the battlefield, they sent people to plunder the prefectures and counties. As a result, Qingcheng and Daojiang counties that surrendered to him surrendered to the Mongols. In fact, Linde was not unprepared for these capricious surrenders. After he occupied three places, he sent his confidants to lead one hundred elite troops to garrison two cities respectively to monitor and suppress the newly annexed vassal troops. The 500 people directly under him are the elite troops of the Song Army in Yunding City, and their combat power is much stronger than the surrendered troops in Qingcheng and Daojiang counties. Therefore, these people who surrendered were not treated equally, but were insulted and robbed of their property. Lin De didn't take this seriously, because the same was true within the Song Army in Yunding City, and the soldiers were divided into three, six, and nine grades. But what he didn't expect was that although these rebels were poor warriors and were as timid as mice in front of the Mongolian cavalry, they were as fierce as tigers in killing their own people. The Mongolian cavalry briefly persuaded the two cities in Qingcheng and Daojiang to surrender, and then they killed Lin De's confidants and surrendered.
"It's not that you can't betray, but it depends on how big the benefit is." If the price is right, Linde is also willing to surrender to the Mongols. So when a Mongolian hundred-man team persuaded him to surrender at the foot of Guankou Village, he was tempted to surrender and prepared to send envoys to negotiate with the Mongols. There are still a thousand troops in Guankou Village. According to the Mongolian recruitment and surrender standards, he can obtain the official position of county magistrate, which is not much different from his official rank in the Song army. Although in the Song Dynasty system, county magistrates were civil servants and had a much higher status than military attachés of the same rank, but Lin De was not satisfied. What he wanted was the position of magistrate of Pengzhou, and he wanted the Mongols to control Qingcheng and Daojiang counties. The territory and men were returned to him.
The reason why Linde was so confident to negotiate terms with the Mongols was that he still had 300 direct subordinates under him, and the remaining 700 were also elites selected from the newly annexed army. It's a pity that this village is too small, and the garrison of a thousand people is the limit, otherwise Linde would personally lead more troops. Guankou Village was originally a military stronghold of the Yongkang Army. Its defensive facilities were much more complete than those of Qingcheng and Daojiang, which had incomplete defenses. The Mongols had to pay heavy casualties to capture it, which was why they chose to garrison it here. Linde's confidence also comes from the special geographical location of Guankou Village. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers. Next to the village is the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project built by Li Bing and his sons. It not only tightly controls the tea horses from the western Sichuan Plain to Wei and Maozhou The northern route of the ancient road also strangles the water conservancy lifeblood of millions of acres of fertilized land in the western Sichuan Plain. Its importance is self-evident. In Linde's view, the Mongols did not suffer a loss by exchanging the position of a prefect for such an important place.
The envoy sent by Linde to negotiate with the Mongols had not yet left the stronghold, and the surrender troops who did not follow common sense mutinied again. Seeing that the Mongols were trying to persuade them to surrender outside the city, but Linde refused to respond, they really couldn't wait. On the one hand, they were afraid that the Mongols would invade and massacre the city, and on the other hand, they also needed Linde's head as a certificate of surrender to the Mongols. . To say that Linde relied on his 300 elite men to defend the stronghold, he was not afraid of the Mongolian centurion outside the stronghold, let alone the 700 mutinous soldiers. However, Lin De was caught off guard and was attacked from both sides. In panic, he led his army to flee. Because he was afraid that Yao Shi'an and Pu Zhezhi would be punished, and he had seen the Pili Army's propaganda leaflet, Lin De, who was being hunted, had no choice but to flee towards Hengyuan Town. When he fled to Yongkang City, he counted the number of people and found that there were still 200 people following him. Lin De originally wanted to defend Yongkang City, but the city had been completely moved by the Thunderbolt Army. The city's defense facilities were dilapidated and deserted, and it was impossible to hold on due to lack of food. But the soldiers under his command were clamoring to go to Jiguan Mountain because they were afraid of the Mongols. Lin De had no choice but to follow the others to Hengyuan Town, and was temporarily placed in Wandanping, the deepest part of Jiguan Mountain, by the Pili Army.
