Even if the Pili Army artillery is loaded with anti-personnel shotgun shells, it is not easy to hit a high-speed moving target like the cavalry. It's just that the secret fireman wanted to burn the grain, so he sent out all the 1,700 cavalry in his hands. They roamed around the grain camp and fired arrows, and their density was really not low. In addition, Ouyang Xuan ordered the artillery not to target the cavalry but to bombard the area 100 meters in front of the grain and grass camp, forming a barrage of firepower. This made the Mongolian cavalry unable to rely on the camp at all, and instead lost many men and horses. A few cavalrymen rushed to the camp and fired rockets during the intervals between shelling, but the effect was ineffective. A few rockets were quickly extinguished by the new annexed soldiers who stayed behind as soon as they hit the granary. Most of the rockets were extinguished due to water on the ground as soon as they hit the ground.
It should be said that the cavalry under Mi Zhehuoli, whether they were Mongolian or Han, were indeed first-rate and powerful troops. Although they lost more than 200 cavalry in only two charges, they were not defeated by artillery fire. Just when they were preparing to charge for the third time, they were stopped by the secret agent. Because a large number of warships came downstream, and these warships may belong to the Perak Army. Although it was the scorching heat of July, the secreter's heart felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar. At this moment, he already understood that he had fallen into the preset matchup of the Thunderbolt Army. In this game, the Mongolian army was always led by the Perak Army and was weakened step by step. He now finally discovered that the Perak Army had nothing in common with the traditional Song Army. Even if they did not have a fortified city but only simple fortifications, they could still fight with their artillery. This Ouyang Xuan was really cunning! The strength of the Perak Army is hidden too deeply! If he had known that they were deliberately showing weakness, he would never have attacked Hengyuan Fort. Instead, he followed Liu Heima's suggestion and built a castle several miles around Hengyuan Fort to trap him in the mountains. As for their navy, as long as the supply of firearms in the mountains is cut off, it will not be difficult to deal with them. It's just that now that things have happened, it's useless to regret it.
After thinking about it for a long time, Secret Man Huo had already thought about retreating. If you say that you return without success, you will definitely lose face and even be ridiculed, but you can stop the loss in time. The 5,000 new auxiliary troops and 15,000 civilians he had brought with him were all gone, and there were only 1,500 cavalry under his command that were still capable of fighting. If it were a field battle, Mi Zhe Huoli was confident that with these cavalry, he could completely annihilate the Pili Army, and even defeat 10,000 Song troops. It's just that these thunderbolt troops can only do nothing, and don't give him a chance to fight in the field. Instead, they use artillery to continuously harvest lives. Now that the food and fodder have been lost, the appropriate solution is to bring these cavalry back to Chengdu. If these cavalry suffered serious losses again, they would have no choice but to commit suicide and apologize to Mongolian Khan.
What made Mi Zhe Huoli determined to retreat was the ensuing battle of three crossings of water. According to the messenger, the artillery fire of the Pili Army attacking Sandu River was extremely fierce and had destroyed iron chains and a pontoon bridge. The defenders had no choice but to sink several ferries filled with stones across the river and cut down a large amount of wood and moso bamboo. By blocking the waterway, the Pili Army ships could be prevented from approaching further. However, the fall of the ferry was only a matter of time. It only took half a day for the Perak Army to clear the obstacles and continue the attack. Moreover, according to the messenger, when he passed through Chongqing Fucheng, he found that the defenders were preparing to withdraw to Chengdu. The defenders were already in shock after being bombarded by the Perak Army's warships. They also learned that the Sandu River was about to be insecure. They were afraid that their retreat would be cut off, so they abandoned the city and left. The secret messenger Huoli was shocked by what the messenger said. He left a group of cavalry to set fire to the camp on the mountainside, and then hurriedly retreated with his men to the direction of Yongkang City, preparing to go to Daojiang County to cross the Jinma River. It is about a hundred miles from Yokoyuan Castle to Sandu Shui. If you go at this time, the pontoon bridge will probably be cut off. The Mongolian army also has a pontoon bridge near Daojiang County. Although the traffic capacity is far less than that of Sandu River, it is more than enough to pass more than a thousand cavalry.
Seeing the sudden withdrawal of the Mongolian cavalry, Ouyang Xuan knew that Huang Dagen had already taken action against Sandu Shui as planned. But he didn't send anyone to chase him, or even send anyone to the cavalry camp on the mountainside. Firstly, the two-legged infantry could not catch up with the four-legged cavalry. Secondly, he was also afraid that the Mongolian army would suddenly counterattack. The Perak Army did not have the strength to fight in the plains with the Mongolian Army. Even if the entire army came together, they would not be able to withstand the impact of the secret fire cavalry. The most important thing at the moment is to digest the fruits of victory. In addition to identifying and sheltering the newly surrendered troops and civilians, the more important thing is to transport the food to a safe area. These two things are much more important than chasing the Mongolian cavalry.
It is said that although Huang Dagen's battle at Sandu Water went smoothly, it took a lot of effort to clear the obstacles in the waterway. While the Pili Army was busy cleaning up, the Mongolian army and the new attached army guarding the Sandu River escaped completely. Even the Mongolian cavalry stationed in Chongqing Fucheng fled to Chengdu through the two pontoon bridges that were still in existence. Of course, Huang Dagen did not gain nothing. Not only did they hold back the 500 new auxiliary troops in Chongqing Fucheng who tried to escape to Chengdu, they also gained a lot of food, grass and baggage. Part of this food and grass is military supplies for the Mongol army stationed in Sandu, and the other part is temporarily stored here to prepare for transfer to the Secret Fire Department. Of course, these grain and grass supplies are not as good as those captured by Hengyuan Fort, but they are much more than the grain and grass supplies abandoned by the Mongolian army on the side of Hengyuan Fort. When a fire broke out in the forest near the mountain, Ouyang Xuan ordered people to go check it out. Finding that there was no one in the camp, but there was still a lot of supplies, people went to put out the fire. Fortunately, the Mongolian army team that set the fire did not ignite too many points in their haste to escape. In addition, the trees were lush and humid in summer, so they still snatched about half of the grain, grass and other supplies.
After completely destroying the Sandushui pontoon bridge, Huang Dagen led the warship to continue upstream. When they arrived in Daojiang County, Huoli, the secret agent, had crossed the Jinma River from Daojiang County and fled to Chengdu. Huang Dagen was not upset about this, because Ouyang Xuan's order to him was to capture Daojiang County and Guankou Village upstream, and control the Jinma River. Ouyang Xuan's plan was to completely control the Minjiang River system above Xinjin City, control the jurisdiction of Qiongzhou, Chongqing Prefecture and the former Yongkang Army, and then slowly map out the rest of the fertile lands in the western Sichuan Plain. This area is fan-shaped, with the arc-shaped sides bordered by the tall and steep Longmen Mountains in the west and north, and on both sides by the Jinma River in the east and the Nanhe River in the south. These two rivers converge at Xinjin City at the handle of the fan. In Ouyang Xuan's strategic plan, as long as he controlled these two rivers with the advantage of the navy and built castles and defense systems in key river sections, the Mongolian army's attempt to invade could be stifled. In this river-based defense system, Xinjin City was naturally the core, followed by Guankou Village and Pujiang City on the Pujiang River, a tributary of the Nanhe River. If the Mongolian army wants to attack the Perak Army, it only needs to cross the Jinma River from the east to reach the core of the Perak Army. If it wants to attack the Perak Army from the south, it needs to cross the Min River, then pass through the low hills and hills of Meizhou under the control of Yu Xing, and then cross Qiongzhou can be reached by land after Pujiang River. This latter attack line is simply a nightmare for the Mongolian army's logistics. Therefore, in comparison, Guankou Village is more important than Pujiang City. The garrison here can not only prevent the Mongolian army from crossing the Jinma River, but also block the connection between the Mongolian army and the Tibetan area. Although the two prefectures of Wei and Mao surrendered to the Mongolian army, it was only because the local Tibetan leaders adhered to the "serious doctrine". They would join whoever was powerful to protect themselves, and they would not wholeheartedly work for the Mongols. In fact, in Ouyang Xuan's plan, the Pili Army's caravan will also enter the two states to trade in order to obtain strategic resources.
