Shi Zhongshu stood on the city wall of Guankou Village, holding a telescope in both hands and looking at the Mongolian army camp three or four miles ahead. It was already dark at this time, but the camp he saw through the lens was very quiet. Only people occasionally moved around, and it seemed that the Mongolian soldiers were still sleeping soundly. However, he knew that there might be murderous intentions behind the apparent tranquility. Perhaps the Mongolian army was pretending to be careless and deliberately lured the garrison of Guankou Village to attack, and then let the cavalry that had already been ambushed to carry out a counter-attack and seize the city gate in one fell swoop. Three or four miles is really not a long distance for the charging Mongolian cavalry. Even if the city gate is not captured, as long as the Perak army's retreat route is blocked, a great victory can be achieved.
A few days ago, secret agent Huoli led his army to the vicinity of Guankou Village in response to Niulin's appointment. In the Battle of Hengyuan Fort, he suffered heavy losses from the Perak Army Fort and Navy Artillery, so he set up camp four miles away from Guankou Village. None of the artillery can hit it. Although Niulin asked him only to contain the Pili Army, it did not mean that he did not want to avenge the defeat of Hengyuan Fort. "A general who doesn't want to win is not a good general." Now that you have come, you can't leave empty-handed. Now is the time when Ali Buge and Kublai Khan are fighting. Winning a victory is good for both his reputation in the Mongolian army and for the Ali Buge he supports.
This time, the secret fire brought a thousand cavalry and two thousand new auxiliary troops. It was obviously impossible to capture Guankou Village under the protection of the gunboat with this small number of troops. In the eyes of the Mongolian army, Guankou Village was like a combination of a turtle and a hedgehog. It was not only protected by a strong shell, but also covered with sharp thorns. The secret person Huoli, who had suffered a lot, adopted the clever strategy of his newly attached general. He wanted to lure the defenders out of the stronghold and then use the cavalry to launch a surprise attack. As soon as they left the village and reached the plain, the defenders of Guankou Village were just a ball of tender turtle meat with their shells removed.
Who knew that Shi Zhongshu had already seen through the Mongolian army's tactics and ordered the defenders to hold on. When a large group of Mongolian troops approached and provoked them, they used shotgun shells to disperse them. They ignored the sporadic Mongolian cavalry. Anyway, many trenches were dug near the city wall and many mines were laid. As long as they dared to approach, they would definitely not come back. The newly attached army also sent envoys to bring women's clothes, and laughed at Shi Zhongshu for not daring to challenge him. He was really as timid as a mouse. Unexpectedly, Shi Zhongshu was not angry. He happily accepted the clothes and said that his wife's clothes were suitable. The newly-attached envoy had no choice but to return in dismay. Before leaving, he was beaten severely as punishment for his betrayal of his ancestors and his willingness to become a traitor. In this regard, Shi Zhongshu argued that although the two armies were not allowed to kill envoys when fighting, they did not say that they could not beat people.
Seeing that giving women clothes could not anger the defenders, the secret agent ordered people to insult Guankou Village with obscene words. Naturally, the defenders did not want to just be scolded. They also used obscene words to greet the female relatives and eight generations of ancestors of the Mongolian army. They also used many new and varied methods to directly silence the Mongolian army. When the plan failed, the Mongolian army came up with another plan to show weakness, pretending to be lax in arms, military discipline, and morale. The Mongolian army's appearance of being possessed by opera spirits made the defenders of Guankou Village laugh. The Mongolian army was barbaric and brutal, but its military discipline was extremely strict. Even the Song army, whose military discipline was originally corrupted, became a new auxiliary army, and its military discipline would become even stricter. It's just that even ordinary soldiers of the Perak Army can see the Mongolian army's show of weakness, why can't Shi Zhongshu see it?
Although Shi Zhongshu had mediocre qualifications and no outstanding military talents, he was still promoted to the position of garrison commander. The important factor was his steady and steady character. The garrison brigade is mainly responsible for the defense of important places and fortresses within the Perak Army. It only needs to defend the strongholds and fight the battle. The brigade commander is selected based on loyalty first and execution ability secondly. As a soldier at the beginning of Liuliba's army, Shi Zhongshu, who has a down-to-earth nature, fully meets this requirement. Before Mi Zhe Huoli led his army to invade, Ouyang Xuan and Huang Dagen told him that he only had to hold on and not waste the battle, and he carried out this request to the letter. Although there is only one battalion of garrison troops in Guankou Village at the moment, with the firepower support of firearms and warships, it is impossible for the secret agent Huoli to succeed.
Just when the war in Guankou Village was in a standoff, Baizhang City seemed calm. Cao Zhizhou led his army to attack Jiading, but did not relax the defense of Mingshan City. On the contrary, he transferred hundreds of troops to Mingshan City. At this time, the defenders of Mingshan City continued to dig trenches around the city and built fortifications to prevent artillery bombardment in the city to prevent the Perak Army from taking the opportunity to attack. However, the Pili Army made no major moves in the direction of Yazhou. In addition to sending a large number of reconnaissance personnel, they were also making defensive preparations. Ouyang Xuan also insisted on the demands of the Baizhang City defenders. In the opinion of the staff, as long as the Mongolian army was defeated in Jiading, not only the famous mountains but even the entire Yazhou would be in the bag.
Not only Baizhang City was actively preparing for defense, but also the Perak Army forces in Ya and Li Prefectures. After Cao Zhizhou openly surrendered to Mongolia, some of the Yifan Qingqiang tribes in Yali, Diao, Yan and other prefectures chose to support Cao Zhizhou, some chose to support the Pili Army, and some tribes remained neutral. In view of the drastic changes in the situation after Cao Zhizhou surrendered to Mongolia, the Perak Army caravans in these states were transferred to Yazhou's Chutiao Valley and Qianbao's fortress next to the Lizhou Salt Mine. Both of these places were easy to defend but difficult to attack. . Cao Zhizhou did not send people to attack these strongholds, but deployed garrison troops around them. In his opinion, it would not be too late to capture Jiading first and then free up his hands to clean up these places.
Long before Liu Da'er took action, Ouyang Xuan sent messengers to Weimao, Dajianlu, Bozhou and other allies to inform them to prepare in advance to defend against the Mongolian army's surprise attack. Weimao and Dajianlu are both in high mountain and canyon terrain, and many passes have been built at strategic points. Coupled with the firearms purchased from the Perak Army, it will be difficult for the Mongolian cavalry to pass no matter how many cavalry there are. Bozhou and Miao territory also have undulating mountains, dangerous roads and dense forests. However, the Mongolian army will not send cavalry to attack. Instead, they will send tribes such as Baiman and Wuman who are also good at mountain warfare to attack. Although Bozhou itself will not be endangered, it will make other people unable to attack. The Shaomiao tribe fell into war. After getting the news, Yang Wen sent people to various tribes in Miao territory to warn, and at the same time sent a Bozhou army to the Luo family village of the Dong tribe in the Luo family ghost country to support Luo Sou and his son in fighting the invasion.
Compared with the peripheral defense, the Perak Army is undergoing large-scale mobilization inside the territory. At present, the summer grain harvest has been completed and the planting of rice has basically ended. It is a good time to mobilize the militia to join the war. Although this year's summer harvest is an average year, the harvested food is enough, and can even support two or three large-scale military operations. The production of arms has always been in an efficient state. In addition to the production capacity of artillery and muskets, which cannot meet the demand, grenades and landmines can not only meet the needs of the military and allies, but also have a lot of them in stock. Among the ammunition, there are also a lot of artillery shells in stock, and there is a shortage of musket bullets because of the lack of key raw materials such as copper.
All preparations for the army are in place. According to the battle plan of the general staff, the Perak Army will march southward to Jiading and will advance both by land and water. The navy naturally went down the Minjiang River, while the army was divided into two parts. One part set off from Changqiu Mountain and Pengshan City, captured Meizhou City and then headed to Jiading. The other part took a boat to Jiading City after the navy seized control of the water surface of the Minjiang River.
