After a heavy rain in late July, taking advantage of the swollen river surface and widening of the river surface, the Perak Army navy went up the Jinjiang River from Pengshan and officially launched the military operation to seize Chengdu. In addition to the navy brigade, the Perak Army in this direction also had two thousand Jiading troops led by Zan Wanshou. According to Ouyang Xuan's order, the naval brigade was responsible for controlling the water surface and providing fire support for this operation, while the Jiading Army was responsible for the landing operations. It would have been unimaginable for the officers and soldiers of the Jiading Army to attack Chengdu with only 2,000 men plus more than 1,000 naval troops before. But now with the powerful firepower of artillery warships as the backing, not only Zan Wanshou was full of confidence in victory, but also the morale of the reorganized Jiading Army was high.
After the Battle of Jiading, Zan Wanshou selected soldiers from Jiading, Sangui, Jiuding and other subordinate counties. He also selected hundreds of soldiers from the surrendered soldiers and formed six battalions according to the establishment of the Perak Army. Each battalion was also Five hundred people. Considering that the war was imminent, Zan Wanshou did not make major changes to the command system, but only enriched the soldiers and officers of the Perak Army for each company, platoon, and squad. After Zan Wanshou secretly joined the Perak Army system, Ouyang Xuan urgently allocated a large number of grenades, landmines and light artillery to the Jiading Army. These light firearms are easy to use and quickly improve the combat effectiveness of the Jiading Army. They are especially suitable for use in close combat and urban street fighting. They are perfect for attacking Chengdu. As for the heavy firepower of the siege, there is no need to worry at all. The firepower of the naval brigade gunboats is even stronger than the firepower of the entire field division. As for the enemy camp far away from the shore, Le Quan'an also patted his chest and assured him that the light ship cannon could be dismantled and fired.
To attack Chengdu from Pengshan along the waterway, we must capture the Guangdu City fortress controlled by the Mongolian army. Guangdu City is located on the bank of Jinjiang River, less than fifty miles away from Chengdu. Liu Heima plundered Chengdu when he raided it, and it was completely destroyed in the battle between Niulin and Puze. Therefore, when the Perak Army descended from the mountain and raided Chengdu at the beginning, the city was still in ruins. After the Mongolian army and navy were severely damaged one after another, in order to prevent the Perak army and navy from going north to Chengdu, Liu Heima ordered people to build a new fort on the ruins of Guangdu, and transferred 500 new auxiliary troops and 1,000 households to farm here, in order to Let it become the outpost of Chengdu City, delaying or even blocking the Perak Army.
However, even though the newly attached army set up a large number of water barriers in the river and dug a large number of anti-gun trenches next to the camp, the Guangdu camp still fell under the control of the Perak Army within half a day. The fences, iron cables, and hidden piles set up in the river disintegrated one after another under the powerful blasting ship. For Le Quan'an, even if the enemy completely blocked the channel with sunken ships, it would only be a slight trouble. As for the fortresses built of rammed earth and wood, they simply could not withstand the bombardment of the heavy artillery on the warships and fell apart one after another. The newly attached soldiers who fled into the trenches to avoid the artillery shells were also defeated by the Jiading Army who launched a surprise attack and fled in all directions. After re-selection, the Jiading army was all elite and had high morale. In addition, they were equipped with firearms, which more than doubled their combat effectiveness. They formed a tendency to defeat these new auxiliary troops with low morale.
After capturing the Guangdu camp, the Pili army ships continued to sail northward. During this process, the fleet was constantly attacked by siege weapons such as ballistae and catapults set up by the newly attached troops on the river embankment along the way. It was also attacked by fire warships. There were also a large number of Mongolian rangers who continued to use rockets. attacks, but under the powerful firepower of the Pili Army warships, these attacks by the Mongolian army were defeated one by one. Two days later, Zan Wanshou led the army to ten miles outside Chengdu. Here, the Mongolian army sank ships filled with sand and gravel into the channel, blocking the path forward of the Perak Army ships. Due to the rapid flow of water and numerous blockages, Le Quan'an estimated that it would take more than three days to clear it.
Just when the Mongolian army in Chengdu was in chaos, Cao Ergou led the field division from Sandu Shui to Wenjiang City. According to the staff plan, after the field division attacking from the land route captured Wenjiang City, it would push all the way across to join the waterway attack force led by Zan Wanshou at the foot of Chengdu City. The field division was large in size and followed by thousands of militiamen transporting baggage. Naturally, there was a lot of movement. Before they could cross the river, they were detected by the Mongolian army's rangers. In fact, this was one of the reasons why the General Staff asked the navy to take action first. The navy brigade and Jiading army troops were approaching Chengdu, so the Mongolian army did not dare to mobilize troops on a large scale in the direction of Wenjiang. Another reason why the navy moved first was that the road was too muddy and slippery after the heavy rain, and they had to wait for the road to dry slightly before they could march.
Equipped with heavy artillery, the combat effectiveness of the two infantry brigades of the field division has been greatly improved, but it has also greatly reduced the mobility of the army. In order to enhance mobility, Ouyang Xuan and the staff thought of many ways, including mounting light artillery in carriages, heavy artillery mounts equipped with iron wheels, and a large number of mules and horses. It's just that heavy artillery often weighs hundreds or even thousands of kilograms. Although light artillery is light, most of them only weigh one to two hundred kilograms. Even the light artillery used by cavalry and special forces weighs forty or fifty kilograms. These iron lumps and ammunition made it difficult for the army to move faster. What's more, in order to prevent the Mongolian army from raiding, the infantry of the Perak Army also brought anti-cavalry weapons and equipment such as triangular nails, horse-proof horses, heavy spears, and giant shields. These necessary baggage naturally slowed down the marching speed.
The field division still uses the standard march pattern, that is, two infantry brigades in tandem protect the baggage convoy in the middle, and the cavalry brigades protect the two wings of the convoy. On the march, small groups of Mongolian cavalry kept coming to harass them, but they were all driven away by the Perak Army's cavalry. Sandushui was only about twenty miles away from Wenjiang. Although the official road was in disrepair, the roadbed was still there and the road surface was flat and wide, so the marching speed was not slow. When it was still early in the day, the field division arrived at Wenjiang City and recaptured the city in one fell swoop. In fact, the Mongolian army attached great importance to this county town, which was close to the Perak Army. Before the secret leader was executed in Huoli, he led a heavy army to garrison here. Kublai Khan transferred a large number of Mongolian troops from Sichuan to the north to compete with Ali Buge, and the secret fire cavalry stationed in Wenjiang was one of them.
After the Mi Zhe Huoli cavalry was transferred, there were a thousand new auxiliary troops stationed in Wenjiang City. Although compared with the Sichuan Army's garrison in various counties, Wenjiang's garrison is considered to be too large. In other counties, there are only five or six hundred troops, and even only two or three hundred troops. However, Liu Heima also understood that this city was on the front line of fighting the Perak Army, and its defense was obviously very important, so he transferred another 500 cavalry from Pengzhou to Wenjiang. However, the Perak Army and Navy attacked Chengdu two days ago, forcing him to transfer his cavalry back to Chengdu. When the Pili army began to cross the Sandu River, Liu Heima knew that those thousand people would never be able to defend Wenjiang, so he told the new generals of the annexed army who were guarding the city that they only needed to hold on for two days and he would lead a large army to come to the rescue. Unexpectedly, the defenders Didn't even hold on for an hour.
In fact, it is not the fault of the new auxiliary troops guarding the city, because the field division is too powerful. Cao Ergou only used one infantry brigade to attack Wenjiang City, and only used less than half of the artillery. However, after several rounds of heavy artillery, the Wenjiang City Gate was blasted open, and all the siege equipment was destroyed. Dozens of meters were blown down, and the defenders on the city wall were blown to pieces. More than a hundred people were killed or injured in a short period of time. The rest were all stunned and knelt down to ask for surrender. What if you don't surrender? If you want to escape, can you escape the cavalry of the Perak Army?
