The Pili Army only has three days off during the Spring Festival. After the holiday, all the soldiers and civilians immediately returned to intense work, and no one complained about it. To be able to survive in these troubled times is extremely lucky. Moreover, under the rule of the Perak Army, not only can I have enough to eat, but I can also eat two bites of meat during the Spring Festival. If it weren't for the Thunderbolt Army, it's hard to say whether the people in western Sichuan could have escaped the Mongolian army's butchery. The area occupied by the Mongolian army on the east bank of the Jinma River is full of wormwood at a glance. Skeletons and bones can be seen at any time along the road. In some places There was even no rooster crow for dozens of miles. Even if they escape from the areas occupied by the Mongolian army, the lives of the people are not easy, and they cannot escape the suffering of freezing and hunger. In addition to the Mongolian cavalry who often looted, burned and killed, bandits in the mountains and forests also came to take advantage of the situation. After finally harvesting some food, the government sent people to collect taxes and took away most of the rations. It was a scene of "the wine and meat smelled stinky in the rich families, and there were frozen bones on the road".
Ouyang Xuan actually wanted the soldiers and civilians to rest for a few more days, but the situation forced him to do so. The Perak Army did not requisition grain. In addition to lowering the prices of agricultural products and increasing the prices of industrial products to gain a scissor difference, the main income was industrial, mining and commercial income, and the other was war seizures. Although there is enough food at the moment and military products are produced by ourselves, we can still meet the current military expenditures. However, once industry, mining and commerce stop working, there will be no income, so they have to shorten their rest time as much as possible. Although it is the slack season for farming, there is still a lot of farm work such as building bridges and roads, building ditches and weirs. As the saying goes, "If people work hard, spring will come early." Only by doing these things well can we ensure the harvest of food.
In fact, Ouyang Xuan was not completely free during the three days of vacation. On New Year's Eve, he and other senior officials of the Perak Army went to visit scientific researchers, soldiers on guard duty, military factory technicians, and Miao and Tibetan students who came to study in the Perak Army. On the day of the Spring Festival, he had just sat down to talk to Yang Yan. His brother-in-law and Ran Zhong came out again, so he had to call them in. It took him another half day to deal with the affairs of Qibo Prefecture. On the second day of junior high school, Xia Xiaogen, who was on duty at the staff department, sent many urgent documents, and he had to take time off to deal with them. These official documents actually arrived yesterday. Seeing that there was nothing urgent, Xia Xiaogen delayed them for a whole day.
One of the official documents was sent from Jiangyuan County. After Huang Dagen reviewed it, it was forwarded to Ouyang Xuan. Jiangyuan County wrote in an official document that the Mongolian army on the east bank of the river was very violent and did not allow the people to live happily during the Spring Festival. Instead, they drove the people and Zhuang capital into Wenjiang County. Huang Dagen wrote in the above review opinion that the staff was not clear about the Mongolian army's intentions and had sent people to conduct reconnaissance but with no results. Huang Dagen has learned a lot of words now, but his handwriting is crooked, but it can be seen that he is extremely serious. Letting Xia Xiaogen, who is quite talented in reading, writing and literacy, be his assistant to make up for his shortcomings.
Ouyang Xuan frowned after reading the letter. It is said that the main reason for his frown was not that the Mongolian army drove away the people during the Spring Festival. He was used to the brutality of the Mongolian army, and he had also seen worse acts of brutality than this. He was thinking about why the Mongolian army did this. This year's Spring Festival is his third Spring Festival in this world. Every Spring Festival, the Mongolian army will take the opportunity to cause trouble. During the Spring Festival this year, the Mongolian army on the other side of the river actually had no military operations, and there were even fewer patrols. "When anything goes wrong, there must be a backbone." Behind this calm situation, the Mongolian army may be planning some conspiracy. Intuition made Ouyang Xuan's back feel cold, so he called Huang Dagen to discuss and made emergency arrangements.
Western Sichuan is often hazy in winter, and the sun often goes without sight for ten and a half days, which even gave rise to the idiom "Sichuan dog barking at the sun". The weather during the Spring Festival this year was particularly gloomy, and there was thick fog a few days before the Spring Festival. Since the first month of the year, the fog has become thicker and thicker and lasts longer and longer. On some days, the fog does not even dissipate at noon, which has brought great inconvenience to the production of various industries. In response to this bad weather, the staff reminded all sentry points to be on alert to prevent sneak attacks by the Mongolian army. On the other hand, they carried out key defenses in Guankou Village and Daojiang County to prevent the enemy from entering from the river through the heavy fog. Cross the river at the shallow end of the upper reaches.
The fog is especially dense on the fifth day of the first lunar month, and people with excellent eyesight can only see three or four meters away. When it was still dark in the morning, the guards at the east gate of Chongqing City heard loud shouts from below the city. Because of the heavy fog, the gate of Fucheng would not be opened, so the guards used large bamboo frames to hoist people up to the tower. The visitor's face was covered with blood. He claimed to be a squad leader of the Sandushui Guard Company and claimed that he had urgent military information to report. The guard did not dare to neglect and hurriedly took him to the staff headquarters.
Huang Dagen, who was sleeping in the staff headquarters, asked about the situation and hurriedly sent people to mobilize troops and horses, and then sent people to invite Ouyang Xuan. It turned out that in the early hours of this morning, the Mongolian army took advantage of the cover of night and thick fog to suddenly attack the Sandu Water Fortress. Caught off guard, most of the defenders of a company were killed or wounded, and the company commander also died in a sneak attack by the Mongolian army. The deputy company commander retreated to the inner fortress with more than thirty people. Sandu Water Fortress is divided into two parts: inner and outer forts. Compared with the vast outer fort, the inner fort is more like a watchtower in the Fan area. Although it is not large in area, it is tall and strong. The fort gate is also wrapped in iron sheets, making it extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack. Although the Mongolian army was large in number, there was nothing they could do in their eagerness. Seeing the Mongolian army slacking off, the deputy company commander sent the squad leader to report the news.
According to the squad leader, the incoming Mongolian army was about 500 people. They were all infantry and did not have cavalry. They should be all Mongolian and Han troops. After these Mongolian troops occupied the outer fort, they not only stepped up the siege of the inner fort, but also tried to destroy the artillery in the fort. The weather in western Sichuan is humid, and the Pili Army set up special arsenals in each fort to prevent their firearms from rusting and gunpowder from getting wet. As an important fortress of the Jinma River defense line, Sandushui also has reinforced concrete fortresses to store artillery and ammunition. The arsenal is next to the inner fort and is protected by the firepower of the inner fort. Grenades dropped from the top of the inner fort can easily repel enemies trying to get close to the arsenal.
Although the Mongolian army did not capture the inner fort and arsenal, it is conceivable that as time goes by, Mongolian reinforcements will continue to arrive. It is difficult to hold on to these two places for a long time. After all, "the ants will kill the elephant" . Once the Mongolian army completely captures the Sandu Water Fortress, it will be able to gain a firm foothold on the west bank of the Jinma River. Without the Jinma River as a barrier, the Perak Army could not fight with the Mongolian cavalry in the field, and had to retreat to Yongkang City, Hengyuan Fort, Chongqing Fucheng, and Xinjin City. The plain area between Wenjiangjing and Jinma River will become a place for plunder by the Mongolian army. The hard work of the Pili Army here will be in vain, and even Fucheng will be under the front of the Mongolian army.
It is not impossible for the Mongolian army to cross the river on a large scale through the Sandu River. It was the dry season, and many shoals were exposed on the Sandu River. The widest point between these shoals was only more than ten meters, which greatly reduced the difficulty for the Mongolian army to set up pontoon bridges or even block the river. It now appears that the Mongolian army drove a large number of civilians to Wenjiang City before the Spring Festival, obviously to prepare for this military operation.
What's even worse is that the thick fog seriously weakened the strength of the Perak Army and Navy. In this weather with only a few meters of visibility, even veteran fishermen dare not sail on the river. What's more, the warships equipped with artillery have a deep draft and are heavy. If they are not careful, they will run aground or even capsize in the narrow river. As for the bombardment of warships, it was even more impossible. Indiscriminate shooting would not only fail to harm the enemy, but would also be burned by the Mongolian troops who sneaked in. The Mongolian army's kerosene was so powerful that once the ship burned, it was impossible to extinguish it.
