Cao Ergou led the field brigade and, with the cooperation of other troops, encircled them step by step, forcing the Mongolian cavalry that was harassing everywhere to the Pujiang County area step by step. Ouyang Xuan was puzzled by the unusual behavior of the Mongolian cavalry. The core combat power of the Mongolian cavalry is mobility, but now it has penetrated into the area of the Perak Army. Although it shuttles guerrillas between cities and forts, interfering with the normal activities of the Perak Army, it also suffered huge losses in the counterattack. Tactically speaking, this is really not a good deal. The reason why the Mongolian army dominates the world is not lack of strategic and tactical masters. They definitely have other motives for doing so.
At this time, Ouyang Xuan received new trends from the Mongolian army in Chengdu - a large number of new auxiliary troops and civilians appeared along the Jinma River and Nanhe River. Under the supervision of the Mongolian cavalry, these newly attached troops and civilians set up camps on the opposite banks of Guankou Village, Sandu Water, and Caidu. After the camp was built, they began to dig trenches and build walls. It seemed that they were building a rammed earth fortress. Although the plains of western Sichuan are cold in winter, they are only wet and cold, and there is not much snow and ice. Therefore, the soil is still very soft, and trenches and walls can be dug very quickly. It only takes a few days to form a preliminary defense.
It seems that after the Mongolian army failed to attack Hengyuan Fort, they still adopted Liu Heima's method of using fortresses to deal with fortresses. In response, some senior Perak Army officials proposed destroying these fortresses in one fell swoop before they were built. The General Staff raised objections to this proposal. These forts under construction are not on the shore, but are still four or five miles away from the river bank. At this distance, the heavy artillery ships of the Perak Army were helpless. Even the heavy artillery equipped by the field brigade needed to advance two or three miles in front of the fortress to be effective. But when they got ashore and marched to the fortress, they were bound to be attacked by the Mongolian cavalry. Luuring the Perak Army to attack this fortress may be the real purpose of the Mongolian army.
Ouyang Xuan agreed with the staff's view that these forts were not worth attacking. The first is the issue of the odds of winning. In order to prevent the artillery baggage from being raided by cavalry during the march, the Perak Army not only mobilized the entire field brigade, but also mobilized a large number of troops from the naval brigade and garrison brigade and auxiliary civilian workers. This will inevitably lead to more problems in the Perak Army's defense system. The loopholes also affect economic development; secondly, there is the issue of cost-efficiency. Even if the Perak Army adopts the method of attacking Mingshan City and advances step by step with earthworks, all they will achieve is an empty earthen fence. Compared with expending a lot of energy and artillery shells, it is really not cost-effective. Ouyang Xuan believed that these urgently built fortresses were not permanent military fortifications, but were used to defend against the attack of the Perak Army. After all, these hastily built fortresses of rammed earth will fall apart after just one rainy season.
The next piece of information confirmed Ouyang Xuan's judgment. According to reports from the Xinjin City reconnaissance ship, the Mongolian army is blocking the waterway downstream of Pengshan City. This is obviously to prevent the Perak Army's navy from going south. Although Pengshan City is located where Jinjiang River merges into Minjiang River, the river is usually wide and deep. But when the water dries up in winter, the accumulated river sand turns the main river channel into a few ditches that can only pass small boats. In response, the Mongolian army not only failed to dredge the river, but also dropped a large number of water barriers and bamboo cages filled with stones in the already narrow river. These water barriers and bamboo cages do not block the flow of water, but they can make it impossible for large ships to pass.
The above information made Liu Heima's strategy clear. The Perak Army was not his target at all. Whether it is sending cavalry to harass at any cost, or building forts and blocking waterways, it is all to contain the Perak Army and prevent them from attacking Chengdu or going south. The real target of the Mongolian army is Meizhou and Jiading Prefecture. If Jiading can be captured, Xuzhou and Luzhou will be in danger themselves, and will not be able to support operations in the direction of Chongqing. When Ouyang Xuan slowly stated his judgment, Li Shuang, Yu Zhu and others suddenly realized, and the staff of the staff nodded in agreement.
Now that the strategic intentions of the Mongolian army have been determined, the next step is the response strategy. In addition to continuing to send reconnaissance personnel to find out the movements of the Mongolian army, the top priority is to send messengers to Meizhou and Jiading Prefecture to warn Yu Xing and his son. Since the Perak Army gunboats could not reach Pengshan City, they could not suppress the Mongolian navy upstream. This caused Liu Heima's newly trained navy in Chengdu to frequently go south, and together with the navy in Pengshan City, they formed an advantage over the Meizhou navy. Yu Dazhong is also a waste. After the last defeat, he closed the city gate tightly and gave up control of the river to the Mongolian army. Because the waterway was blocked, the Perak Army had to send people through the Mongolian-occupied areas to Meizhou and Jiading. Although there were carrier pigeons communicating with the insiders in Jiading City, reporting directly to Yu Xing would inevitably expose the Firefox network. And if the inner line of Jiading City is lost, the source of information will be even more blocked, and the Perak Army really cannot afford this risk.
Some people proposed to break the Mongolian army's blockade of Pengshan City's waterway and restore the southward navigation route. However, this proposal was rejected by everyone as soon as it was proposed. In particular, Huang Dagen's objections are well-founded. In his opinion, although the current Perak Army has built many new light boats, some of which are equipped with ultra-light artillery, they are not as good as the Mongolian navy in terms of quantity or training. Liu Heima's newly trained navy has hundreds of small boats, and the backbone are also elites from the former Song Army's navy. Their combat power cannot be underestimated. In comparison, although the Perak Army's light boats are equipped with ultra-light artillery, they have short range, weak firepower, and slow reloading, and have no advantage over bows and arrows. What's more, the Mongolian navy also occupies the advantage of fighting at home. It can not only receive support from siege weapons, but also from the bows and arrows of the infantry and cavalry. Due to the low water level, the Mongolian cavalry and the new auxiliary troops could even rush to the dry river beach to shoot at the ships. Under the combined attack of Mongolian ships, city siege weapons, and crossbows on both sides of the river, it was impossible for the Perak Navy to regain control of the water, let alone dredge the waterway. There is no chance of winning even if they make huge sacrifices to fight the Mongolian army. It is better to wait until the water rises in spring, and most of the blockages in the river will be washed away.
By the river near Pujiang County, Cao Ergou led a cavalry battalion to surround the Mongolian cavalry by the river. These Mongolian cavalry are the remnants of more than ten cavalry squads that attacked the territory of the Perak Army. They were encircled and merged into the one in front of them. They still have about seventy or eighty people and more than a hundred horses left. After days of driving and being beaten everywhere, these Mongolian cavalry were in a miserable state, but they still had a fierce look on their eyes, and they drew their swords and bows one after another, intending to fight. However, Cao Ergou didn't give them a chance to fight. He ordered his men to stop outside the range of the bow and arrow.
Under Cao Ergou's order, the soldiers of the Perak Army dismounted one after another and began to set up light tiger crouching cannons specially designed for cavalry. This made the Mongolian cavalry panic, and they all rushed towards the Perak Army. This artillery caused them to suffer a lot. Most of the dead companions were killed by shrapnel or died of wound infection. But before they could reach within the range of the arrow, the artillery of the Perak Army opened fire one after another, and the charging Mongolian army fell instantly. Some brave and fearless people still raised their knives and moved forward, but were hit head-on by grenades and muskets. Others turned around and jumped into the cold river water, hugging the horse's neck for dear life, trying to use their horse power to swim to the other side. But there was a boat waiting in the river, and before they could raise their hands and shout for mercy, spears were stabbed at them, and heavy oars were smashed down.
