Ouyang Xuan did not go south to command the Jiading Battle. On the one hand, he stayed in Chongqing Mansion to coordinate the entire war situation. After all, the secret agent Huoli was approaching Guankou Walled City, and the situation in Weimao and Yazhou might also suddenly change, and he needed to take command. On the other hand, it is because many new technology research and development are currently at a critical moment and require his guidance and coordination. Although the new type of gunpowder he is most interested in has been successfully developed, there is still some time before the next step of industrial production. In addition to the reason that the manufacturing equipment cannot keep up, there is also a lack of many key raw materials, and it is necessary to find alternative materials. Microscopy, penicillin, and cowpox vaccination have also made great progress. Once these technologies are applied, they will be of great significance in reducing mortality.
The battle south to Jiading was commanded by Chief of Staff Huang Dagen. Le Quan'an and Cao Ergou led their troops to advance by land and water respectively. They will first attack Meizhou together, and then go south to support the Jiading defenders. If Jiading City is compared to an anvil, the Perak Army is a sledgehammer swinging at the Mongolian army of the Niulin tribe. According to Ouyang Xuan's request, even if the Mongolian army cannot be completely annihilated, it will be severely beaten, especially the two traitors Liu Dal'er and Cao Zhizhou cannot be spared. After these two people openly surrendered to the Mongols, many Song Army generals and generals on the Sichuan battlefield also imitated their evil deeds and sacrificed their cities and forts to surrender to the Mongols. Fortunately, the scale was not large, and the impact was not as bad as the two men.
Starting from the waterway, most of the navy brigade was composed of troops. Le Quan'an only left half a battalion of regular navy troops to defend along the Jinma River. This half battalion seems small, but with the support of several basic water militia battalions along the line, there is no problem in preventing the Mongolian army from crossing the river. The reorganized naval brigade has three main battalions and one brigade headquarters battalion. The main battalion has one heavy artillery ship company, two light artillery ship companies and two escort ship companies. It is equipped with a total of three heavy artillery ships and ten light artillery ships. and twenty escort ships. This time Le Quan'an brought a total of three heavy artillery batteries, four light artillery batteries and five escort ship companies. They were equipped with a total of 72 heavy artillery, 80 rapid-fire cannons and dozens of light cannons of various types. There were a number of blasting ships, reconnaissance ships and a large number of baggage transport ships accompanying them. There were more than 300 large and small ships, more than 1,300 soldiers and more than 1,000 militiamen.
The field division that marched overland had a total strength of 4,500 men. Together with the accompanying militiamen of more than 5,000, the number exceeded 10,000. These troops were divided into three groups: front, middle and rear. At the front was a cavalry brigade of 1,500 men. The seizure and the large number of war horses purchased from the Tibetan area allowed the cavalry brigade to have one man and two horses. The number of war horses has reached more than 3,000, and its mobility is no less than that of the Mongolian cavalry. It's just that the Perak Army cavalry still belongs to the category of mounted infantry. After they arrived in Meizhou, in addition to sending reconnaissance cavalry to all directions, they immediately began to build fortifications and laid mines on the official road leading to Jiading to prevent the Mongols from attacking. The cavalry suddenly attacked. In fact, there were only a few reconnaissance cavalry in the Meizhou area of the Mongolian cavalry, so the results of the mines were extremely limited.
Behind the cavalry were two light infantry battalions and two heavy infantry battalions of two infantry brigades, totaling 2,000 people. An infantry brigade of the field division has two light infantry battalions and one heavy infantry battalion. Both of them have five companies with the same number of people. They are also equipped with standard weapons such as spears, giant shields, muskets, and grenades. The difference between them is that they are equipped with different field guns. The heavy artillery battalion is equipped with forty-five heavy field guns, while the light artillery battalion is equipped with ninety light field guns. These field guns were equipped with wheels on their carriages and were dragged by mules and horses, fully capable of keeping up with the advance of the infantry.
At the end of the marching column is naturally the logistics and baggage team composed of basic militiamen. The Perak Army integrates farming and warfare. These basic militiamen are all ordinary people in their prime, and they train constantly on weekdays. Although the weapons brought with the army this time are mostly cold weapons, their combat capabilities are actually not inferior to that of the new auxiliary army with a similar number. War is all about logistics, especially for the Perak Army, which uses firearms as its main battle weapon. It is even more important to protect the logistics and equipment, and there is no room for any loss. In the spirit of "be careful when sailing a ten thousand year ship", Cao Ergou specially mobilized two light infantry battalions to protect the logistics and equipment. The terrain of Meizhou and Jiading is mostly hills and low mountains. The official roads from Pengshan to the two places also pass through ravines or small basins between the hills. In order to prevent the Mongolian cavalry from raiding, Cao Ergou not only sent a large number of reconnaissance cavalry forward, but also ordered light infantry to advance along the mountain roads on both sides of the official road to cover the two wings of the large army.
Zhou Jianshen's false surrender made Liu Da'er feel like falling into an ice cellar. While he cursed the Pili army for being cunning and cunning, Zhou Jianshen was unfaithful, and at the same time begged Niulin to send troops to aid Meizhou City. Previously, he thought that after the Mongolia fell in Pengshan, Meizhou City would naturally rest easy, so Meizhou City and its subordinate counties did not have many troops. He even took many artillery on the city head to attack Jiading City, which could withstand thunderbolts. The army's two-pronged attack. What's more important is that the loss of Meizhou City will inevitably affect morale and even cause soldiers to mutiny. Most of the soldiers under Liu Da'er were from Meizhou and its subordinate counties. They were resentful at being forcibly recruited into the army. If their wives, children and children fell into the hands of the Perak Army again, the morale of the soldiers would naturally be unstable.
The terrain of Jiading City is difficult to defend but difficult to attack. Coupled with Zan Wanshou's proper command and the support of Pili weapons, the Mongolian army could not attack the city even though its number was several times that of the defenders. It is worth mentioning that although the special company of the Perak Army led by Yu San had a small number of people, it acted as a fire brigade and used firearms to disrupt the Mongolian offensive at critical moments many times, saving Jiading City from danger. The news that the Mongolian navy in Chengdu was severely damaged by the Perak Army who pretended to surrender made Niulin tremble with anger. In a hurry, Jiading City could not be captured, and there was police in Meizhou, so Niulin had to agree to Liu Dal'er's request and let him lead troops back to Meizhou for rescue. In order to cope with the Perak Army moving south, he transferred another 500 cavalry to the west bank of the Minjiang River, and together with the original 500 cavalry, returned to support the Meizhou garrison.
Liu Da'er led his men to Meizhou along both land and water routes. It's just that the return journey is upstream, and the speed is not fast at all. Although the land route involves traveling lightly and quickly, Jiading is nearly two hundred miles away from Meizhou, and this distance would take two days even with cavalry. It would take three to four days for Liu Da'er's elite troops to arrive, and even longer for his recently recruited soldiers, and the combat effectiveness would be significantly reduced after the forced march to Meizhou. On the other hand, there is only 40 miles from Pengshan to Meizhou. The infantry of the Perak Army can arrive at dawn and at night, while the cavalry brigade can reach it in half a day. Therefore, when the Pili Army's logistics and supplies troops arrived outside Meizhou City and began to build a fortress, sporadic Mongolian army cavalry appeared on the official road in the distance. These scout cavalry were the vanguard of a thousand cavalry led by Hudu. As for the navy and infantry led by Liu Daer, they were at least two or three days away.
Cao Ergou ordered the construction of two forts outside Meizhou City, one facing Meizhou City and the other facing the direction of Jiading, each defended by an infantry brigade. The cavalry brigade waited for an opportunity to attack under the cover of the two camps. According to reconnaissance, there were only a few hundred defenders of Meizhou City, and the number of Minzhuang who were driven to guard the city wall was only 3,000. In his opinion, it would be easy to capture Meizhou City with just one heavy artillery blast and an infantry charge. The only thing to worry about was the Mongolian cavalry sneak attack from behind while the field divisions were attacking the city. Immediately, he sent someone to contact Lequan'an, and the field division was fully responsible for dealing with the Mongolian cavalry, while the navy brigade was responsible for the siege.
