On March 28, three thousand Dali soldiers came from Shanchan City and stopped again in front of Duan Shi's barracks by the flooded river.
Duan Shi, who was protected by his personal guards, stepped forward and ordered: "First of all, the general ordered you to let me take command and go to Tongyicheng to intercept the Song army... I now order you to cross the river immediately and leave the baggage behind. I will personally take the escort."
.”
After the handover was completed, three thousand people began to cross the flooded water.
…
Duan Shi turned back to look at Bao San again.
"What are you looking at?!" Bao San yelled and cursed.
Duan Shi turned his head and stopped looking at him or speaking. The bitterness on his face became stronger.
Bao San asked someone to escort Duan Shi down, and he strode into the camp.
"County Lieutenant, the Dali Army has begun to cross the river."
Li Xia was standing in the camp looking at the map, talking to Gao Mingyue in a low voice. Hearing the words, he turned his head and said: "Let the soldiers watch them crossing the river. If they find anything unusual, they will immediately attack halfway across the river. But if everything goes well,
There is no need to act rashly.”
"yes."
After a long time, Bao San turned back again, cupped his fists and said: "County Lieutenant, all three thousand Dali troops have passed through the flood."
Li Xia said: "Let Duan Shi go and watch him dismantle the pontoon bridge after crossing the river."
"Let it go?"
Bao San scratched his head, extremely puzzled.
He looked like he wanted to speak but didn't dare.
Li Xia said: "Just say what you want to say."
Bao Sandao said: "The villain doesn't understand. Yesterday, when the thousand Mongols passed by, we had a chance to attack them halfway. It's the same today, but why don't we attack them?"
Li Xia said: "If you attacked those thousand Mongols who were half-crossed yesterday, how many people are you confident you could annihilate?"
"There should be two to three hundred people."
"Why only two or three hundred?"
Bao Sandao said: "When the Meng Tatars cross the river, we make a sudden attack and can kill some, but their horses are fast and they can run far along the river and then reorganize."
"How many people will we lose?"
"After one round of arrows from the Mongolian army on the other side, we lost less than a hundred people."
Li Xia asked: "There were 100 casualties and 300 Mongolians killed. Did you make a profit?"
"made money!"
"If we are in the Song Dynasty, we can say this." Li Xia said: "For example, in the battle last year, we had the Xuzhou Army and the Luzhou Army in the north, and the Changning Army in the south. We had the initiative. We had to stay behind despite the casualties.
The combination of Wu Liang and Tai was of extremely high strategic significance because it could severely dampen the morale of the Mongolian army.
But this is Dali, which is Mongolian territory. We exchange one hundred men for his three hundred. When he regains his strength, we can catch up again. It is still a month's journey back from here via the five-foot road. Will the Mongolian army not be able to catch up with us?
So what’s the point of exchanging eight hundred celebrating talismans, two hundred village soldiers, and one thousand people for three hundred people?”
"Yes, I understand."
"Since we didn't even fight the Mongols yesterday, why do we need to fight some Dali soldiers today?"
Bao San asked again: "Is that part really going to be released like this? The villain always feels that it was so hard to catch it, so it would be a pity to let it go."
"That's because you value him too much." Li Xia lowered his head to look at the map again and said calmly: "He is nothing and is not worthy of your attention."
"Yes, then the villain is going to release Duan Shi now?"
"Let it go."
Li Xia waved Bao San away and looked at the map again, with thoughts in his eyes.
Gao Mingyue stood aside and said nothing.
Gao Changshou mused: "Right now, Shanchan City's troops are weak. As long as we pass through quickly, we can go east to the Wumeng tribe."
"Yes, we have almost transferred all the enemy's forces to the west. Now we are heading east, and there are not many enemies in front of us who can stop us from returning."
"Then why are Feiyu still hesitating?"
Li Xia said: "I'm worried that the thousand cavalrymen who came first will catch up, and I'm worried that the Luo Po tribe will surround us. So... I actually have a little idea."
"Um?"
Li Xia pointed to the map and said: "Look, the flood originates from the southeast of Yunnan City, flows from west to east to Weichu City, turns north at Weichu City, and merges into the Jinsha River from south to north.
If we don't go east, but go south along the flooded road, we can reach Weichu, then turn west and return to Yunnan City all the way."
"Return to Yunnan City?"
"Yes, everyone thinks that now that we have escaped our pursuers, we will definitely move eastward, and they will definitely pursue us eastward first. The cities in the west will not be on guard."
Gao Changshou raised his eyebrows and said, "A surprise attack on Dali City?"
"Yes, a surprise attack on Dali City." Li Xia said: "We can put on the clothes of the Dali Army and return disguised as counterinsurgency..."
When Gao Changshou heard this, his eyes lit up.
Gao Mingyue asked in a low voice.
"Why?"
Li Xia murmured: "Yes, why..."
When he came up with the idea of a surprise attack on Dali City, his heart was filled with excitement. After thinking about it over and over again, he felt that it was very feasible.
But it was meaningless. Even if Dali City was captured and Duan Xingzhi was killed, it would not make much sense. When the Mongolian troops from various places counterattacked, they would not be able to defend themselves, so they could only go north and return to the Song Dynasty via Lingguan Road.
The danger on this road is much higher than walking on the Five Feet Road. Forget about other things, taking the Lingguan Road to Yazhou and the Chengdu area are under the rule of the Mongolian army. It is better to find a way out in Dali.
The gain outweighs the loss, and there is no strategic purpose for Li Xia to do this.
Li Xia thought about it over and over and finally gave up the idea.
"Let's go. Go east immediately, let's go back..."
At the same time, Xu Kui was running wildly on the road.
He had a message to bring to Li Xia as soon as possible.
The Tongchuan Road pacification envoy Zhu Wusun, who also knew Luzhou, mobilized Qingfu County Township Yong to go north. According to Li Yong's analysis...the Song army will regain Chengdu this year.
Xu Kui was going to tell Li Xia that if he wanted to participate in the battle to regain Chengdu, he must go back immediately.
On the west bank of the flooded river, Duan Shi suddenly heard a loud noise behind him.
Looking back, I saw that the pontoon had collapsed.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then he thought of the conversation with Li Xia.
"I did what you asked, will you really let me go back?"
"Why not?" Li Xia said: "What does it mean to me to kill you? Without Duan Shi, there will still be Duan Xu and Duan Kong serving as loyal dogs to the Mongols. There are so many descendants of the Duan family, I can't kill them all, so why not?"
It’s better to keep you, who is scared out of my wits.”
"You look down on me?"
"Yes. You must be capable in order for me to respect you."
"I do not believe."
"You think about it." Li Xia said: "What I want is enough time for me to leave safely. You have two choices after you go back. One is to tell the truth, and the other is to pretend not to know anything. You are not captured by me, so
There is no deception either."
"Pretend to know nothing? How can I hide such a big thing?"
"You figure it out yourself..."
Now, Li Xia has fulfilled his promise. It's time for Duan Shi to find a way on his own.
He calmly analyzed the situation and believed that he was still able to hide it. After all, Li Xia started fighting without making peace. The only problem now is that there are a thousand people missing...
Duan Shi thought about this all the way as he walked towards Tongyacheng.
After walking for more than half a day, I suddenly saw dust flying in front of me, so I led the troops first.
Duan Shi quickly rode up to meet him.
…
"General first."
"Did you meet Song Jun on the way?"
"No, it seems that the Song army fled to the north or south." Duan Shi said, "By the way, I left a thousand people to guard the flood."
He was also furious first.
He didn't have an attack at first, and he asked first because he wanted to see if Duan Shi was being captured and forced. He didn't expect that Duan Shi would dare to deceive him at this time.
"Get this rebel!"
Duan Shi was stunned for a moment, and before he could utter the words he was full of fabrications, he felt a pain in his body and was knocked off his horse by Ye Xian's head hammer.
A Mongolian soldier quickly grabbed him and held him down.
"General Ye first! Misunderstanding... misunderstanding... What on earth is going on? Misunderstanding..."
It took more than half a day before Duan Shi understood what was going on.
He was taken back to Tongyacheng by Meng soldiers and thrown into a cell.
In the darkness, there was a "clucking" sound, and then someone came over with a torch.
Duan Shi squinted and saw someone pushing a wheelchair, getting closer and closer.
Suddenly, his body trembled, and the hairs all over his body stood up.
"Gao Qiong?! Is it you? You...you didn't leave...you didn't leave with Li Xia?"
Gao Qiong sat in a wheelchair, lowered his hands and said, "Why should I leave?"
"Gao Qiong, what's wrong with your hands and feet? Are they broken? Did Gao Junjin do it?" Duan Shi said quickly, "I didn't do this, I don't know. It was Gao Junjin who did it in the beginning.
It's him who came to me to sue you. Really, I didn't instigate him. I thought you left with the Song people...how...how dare you stay?"
Gao Qiong said slowly: "Of course I am staying here to kill you."
"You can't kill me! You don't dare to kill me! I am the prince of Mongolia, and I will be the general manager of Dali in the future... You can't kill me."
"I dare." Gao Qiong said.
He has become a useless man with both hands and feet, but his words carry an unquestionable power.
"You colluded with Sarimonk. I have evidence."
"You're talking nonsense!" Duan Shi roared, "Don't even think about framing me!"
"Framed? You sent people to rescue Sarimonk from the battlefield. The evidence is conclusive. Am I the one who framed it?"
Duan Shi was stunned and his eyes widened.
Only then did he remember.
"I didn't collude with the demon monk!" Duan Shi yelled, "I did it to make more contributions... I sent people to follow him to... to make more contributions in the future. You can't frame me, you can't
.”
Gao Qiong stared at him as if he were looking at a dead person and murmured: "Don't forget... Dali is the Dali of the Mongols..."