The main forces besieging Jiading City were the Mongolian Han army of Wang Dechen and the new auxiliary army of Yang Dayuan. Although these two Mongolian armies were good at fighting tough battles, they did not gain any advantage in Jiading City. All siege methods such as digging tunnels, fire attacks, and rushing vehicles were used. They were either defeated by the defenders or had no effect, so they had to dig trenches and besiege them. Although the strength of the Mongolian navy improved rapidly and even defeated the Meizhou navy, it could not help the Jiading navy, and the two sides fought evenly. Jiading City can still receive continuous support through waterways, so although the Mongolian army is large in number, it will not be able to capture Jiading for a while.
In this stalemate, the main forces fighting between the two sides were bed crossbows and trebuchets. The Mongolian army was large in number and the territory outside the city was vast, so there were many siege weapons. Although Jiading City had few siege weapons, it was located high up and protected by walls, so neither side could suppress the other. The turning point in the battle came with the arrival of grenades. After the grenades supported by the Perak Army arrived, a captain in Jiading City had a sudden idea - to use a trebuchet to throw grenades. Yu Xing actually didn't care about these old-fashioned grenades given by the Perak Army. He felt that the throwing distance was short and the damage was small, and the power was far inferior to that of artillery. He immediately agreed to use the trebuchet to launch the grenades with the mentality of giving it a try.
The captain first used a grenade-sized stone to test fire, then estimated the time and adjusted the length of the match rope to accurately determine the time of explosion. After preparations were completed, a trebuchet was used to test the mines. I didn't want to achieve good results with the first blow. A single trebuchet is a probability shot. Missing is normal, but hitting is an accident. This test-fired trebuchet was aimed at the Mongolian army's trebuchet, and it missed without any suspense. Instead, it hit the mud two or three meters away. Seeing iron lumps falling from the sky, the curious Mongolian troops came forward to watch. Fearing that the grenade would explode before hitting the target, the captain kept the match rope longer. At this time, there was a sudden explosion, blowing up the Mongolian troops watching.
After their first victory, the Jiading defenders threw grenades at the Mongolian siege weapons. In fact, grenades do not do much damage to siege equipment, and the killing effect is not as good as stones, but the killing effect on soft targets such as personnel is excellent. The four flying shrapnel killed or injured the Mongolian troops within four to five meters of the explosion, which completely made up for the shortcomings of the trebuchet's low accuracy. This caused the previously evenly matched siege weapon showdown to completely fall to the side of the Jiading Army. Siege equipment can still be manufactured after it is destroyed, but skilled operators need time to train, and if one dies, one will be missing.
When the Jiading Army had thrown all the grenades supported by the Perak Army, the Mongolian army's siege troops had lost their combat effectiveness - there were still many bed crossbows and trebuchets, but almost all the operators had been killed or injured. Although the grenades have been used up, there is no shortage of stones. The Jiading defenders continued to bombard with trebuchets, and the Mongolian army, which had lost a large number of siege equipment operators, lost the ability to fight back and had to withdraw the camp, allowing the Jiading army to destroy all the siege equipment they had left in place. .
One night in mid-February, the Mongolian army besieging Jiading City suddenly retreated quietly. In fact, there are signs of the Mongolian army's retreat. The Mongolian army camp began to be busy a few days ago. Yu Xing judged that the Mongols may be preparing for a new offensive. The Mongolian navy was also extremely ferocious during this period. It organized an attack two days ago, but suddenly left the battlefield when it had the advantage and went straight to the upstream direction of Meizhou, leaving no sampans and boats on the Jiading water surface. dinghy. Next, the Mongolian Yelvmaizhu cavalry suddenly disappeared, along with them the cavalry of Wang Dechen's tribe.
Looking at the empty camp of the Mongols, Yu Xing even hesitated. We should pursue them, but we are afraid that this is a Mongolian plot to lure the Jiading army away from the stronghold of Fort. Don't chase him, he really doesn't want to give up the chance of victory. Not many Mongolian troops were killed this time. How can we win military glory? Compared to Yu Xing's calmness, his generals were much more eager to pursue. Some of these generals followed Yu Xing for nearly ten years and defeated the Mongolian army's siege of Jiading many times, and were gradually promoted as a result. In their eyes, the Mongolian cavalry could neither catch up nor defeat them. Although Wang Dechen's Mongolian and Han troops could catch up but could not defeat them, it was possible to use the heads of Yang Dayuan's newly attached troops in exchange for military merit.
Yu Xing was troubled in his heart, but he couldn't resist the instigation of his generals. Although he was a local emperor, he did not dare to ignore the interests of his generals. As the saying goes, "Destroying someone's money is like killing one's parents." These people lick blood with their swords, just to exchange military exploits for power and wealth. In the eyes of these generals, the opportunity to beat the drowned dog was obviously not to be missed. Under the strong request of his men to fight, Yu Xing hesitated for a long time and finally ordered the pursuit. However, he did not send the main force to the direction of Longzhou where the Mongolian army retreated. Instead, he ordered to march to Meizhou. It was only a partial division that pursued Yang Dayuan's newly attached army. Although Yu Xing's character is despised by others, he is undoubtedly a capable person, otherwise he would not have defeated the Mongolian army's siege of Jiading several times during the brutal tug-of-war between the Song and Mongolian armies, and retained this most important city in western Sichuan. His pursuit order avoided catastrophic failure and saved the lives of countless soldiers.
The partial division pursuing in the direction of Longzhou was ambushed by the Mongols and suffered a major defeat without any surprise. This partial division took advantage of the familiar terrain and traveled quickly with light equipment, and soon caught up with Yang Dayuan's troops. To the surprise of the Jiading army, Yang Dayuan's troops did not flee, but instead faced them without fear. Yang Dayuan's new auxiliary army was originally the elite of the Song Army and was quite famous among the Song Army in Sichuan. After surrendering the Mongols, the inherent constraints of the Song Army's bureaucratic system of controlling military force with civility were eliminated, and their combat effectiveness increased instead of falling. Just when the two sides were fighting inextricably, the Mongolian cavalry, which had not been seen a few days ago, suddenly appeared on the battlefield, outflanking the Jiading army from both wings, and instantly drove the Jiading army to pieces. Fortunately, the battlefield was surrounded by hills and low mountains, so the cavalry could not catch up. The Jiading army was familiar with the terrain and hid among the trees and grass, so they were able to avoid the entire army being destroyed.
Yu Xing personally led the main force to Meizhou, but was met with a counterattack by the Mongols. Yelu Maizhu's cavalry had already been waiting there. It's just that Yu Xing was already prepared for the army. This time he led his army northward to advance both by land and water, with infantry advancing along the river along with the ships. This kind of marching route allows the infantry and naval forces to support each other. Although the speed is not as fast as taking the official road, it is also the safest. In addition, Yu Xing's goal was only to regain Meizhou and not to compete for time, so he adopted a steady and steady strategy. Under the cover of naval firepower, the Jiading army calmly formed a formation when facing the Mongolian cavalry assault, and had ships to protect their backs. The Jiading army even used powerful crossbows to kill and injure many cavalry and horses. Yelv Maizhu saw that there was no gap to take advantage of, so he had to retreat.
Before Yu Xing led his army to Meizhou City, he led his troops back in a hurry. On the one hand, Liu Heima re-sent naval forces from Chengdu to reinforce Meizhou City. The Jiading navy attacking against the current had no advantage at all against the Mongolian navy with Meizhou City at its back. On the other hand, an urgent report came from Jiading City, and a large number of Mongolian cavalry appeared under the city again. At this moment, Jiading City is empty of troops, and the main force defending the city is Minzhuang, a temporary organization. It is not a big problem to defend the city in the short term, but it is very difficult to hold on for a long time.
After Yu Xing led his army back to Jiading, the Mongolian army retreated. At this time, no one mentioned the topic of pursuit again. Instead, they all said: "Don't chase after poor bandits." In fact, the Mongolian army did not lose many troops when it attacked Jiading. On the other hand, the Jiading army suffered very heavy losses. In addition to the disastrous failure in pursuing Yang Dayuan's partial division, the fall of Meizhou City in the early stage also resulted in the loss of many soldiers.
