In the twelfth lunar month of this year, the war was actually still going on.
In the Jinghu battlefield, Tachaer launched the final offensive against Fancheng; in the Lianghuai battlefield, Shi Shu has sent troops to cooperate with Tachaer; in the Sichuan-Shu battlefield, Niulin has taken control of western Sichuan and is preparing to attack Chongqing next year...
In the southwest, A Shu has led his troops into Luo's ghost country in the Song Dynasty's Jisi area, and will fight Lu Wende in Bozhou.
But there are some small places that have been overlooked, such as southern Sichuan, which is sandwiched between the natural dangers of the Yangtze River and the mountains of Sichuan and Yunnan.
Last year, Wu Lianghetai's invasion of Shu did not harm this place; the Mongolian army in Dali suffered heavy losses, and it was already difficult to attack the Song Dynasty from its belly; although the Song army was defeated in the battle of Chengdu, the Mongolian army also suffered a heavy blow
Unfortunately... these have given Qingfu County an opportunity to recuperate.
The small county town looks very peaceful during the New Year, and even shows a faint look of prosperity.
At the same time, another mountain city in southern Shu was built in this year, Lingxiao City.
Lingxiao City is located at the junction of Changning County and Xingwen County. It can reach the Yangtze River directly from the Changning River to the north, and can support the Yangtze River battlefield on the northern line at any time.
If the Mongolian army attacks southern Sichuan from Dali, Lingxiao City can send troops to strangle Wuchi Road.
Therefore, after Wu Liang joined forces to invade Shu, Pu Zhezhi immediately ordered the construction of Lingxiao City at the expense of a large amount of money, food and labor.
Li Xia deduced that the Mongolian army would not come in the next year, so he built Weining City boldly and confidently. However, Pu Zezhi's status was different and his considerations were also different. Without Lingxiao City, Chongqing Prefecture would be in danger of being attacked from both sides at any time.
Many strategies were also affected. For example, how could the Song army dare to leave western and northern Sichuan with confidence?
It is true that the Mongolian army in Dali turned to the Guishi Luo Kingdom. This does not mean that Lingxiao City is meaningless. Perhaps it is precisely because of Lingxiao City that Ashu does not dare to attack southern Shu for the time being.
This is the game between Marshal Shu of the Song Dynasty and Marshal Dali of Mongolia.
In terms of defense against the Five Feet Road, Qingfu County and Junlian Prefecture are far closer than Lingxiao City, but the terrain is not good and there is no such steep and tall square mountain with a flat top.
Li Xia chose to station troops on the plains, while the Song Dynasty officials chose mountain cities to station troops, out of a subtle judgment of their own strength and the combat power of the Mongolian army.
Li Xia was not as afraid of the Mongolian army as the ordinary Song army. He agreed with Yu Jie's mountain city defense system, but believed that it should not rely solely on mountain cities, but should use mountain cities to strangle key roads, expand lines with points, and expand areas with lines.
At the same time, Mongolia ensures the livelihood of the military and civilians.
All in all, the strategic significance of Lingxiao City partially overlaps with that of Qingfu Army.
Then, the Changning Army and the Qingfu Army stationed in Lingxiao City must form a tacit understanding in order to better allocate their forces and even support the Yangtze River defense line while resisting the Dali Mongolian Army.
In October, Lingxiao City was built. Yi Shiying immediately sent people to Qingfu County to invite Li Xia, but the reply he received was that "Li Zhixian has gone to official business."
It was not until the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month that Li Xia took care of the affairs of the county before heading east to Lingxiao City to meet Yi Shiying.
The journey is not far, the distance between the two places is less than a hundred miles. However, the mountain road is winding and winding, and it will take eight hours to ride a horse slowly.
After spending the night sleeping in the open air, Li Xia arrived at the foot of Lingxiao Mountain after clearing the air the next day.
Looking up, the mountain is tall and straight, reaching into the clouds.
The mountain road up the mountain only allows one person to pass. The guide is in front, Jiang Fan follows the guide and guards in front, and Li Xia is followed by two guards.
"The magistrate should be careful. It rained a few days ago. The moss on the ground is very slippery and there are poisonous snakes."
"Um."
"This road is known as the 'Forty-Eight Turns' and it is difficult to walk. There is another road that is even more difficult to walk. You have to cross the suspension bridge from the cliff. I am afraid that I will die."
"Yes, with such terrain, it will be extremely difficult for the Mongolian army to capture it..."
After walking for two full hours, Li Xia finally climbed up Lingxiao Mountain at noon.
Lingxiao City is even larger than Yunding City. From the bottom of the mountain, it looks like a huge natural rock. Only when you get closer can you recognize it as a city wall.
Before climbing to the top of the mountain, you are faced with a stone wall half a man high, which was used for the Song army to squat behind and shoot arrows. If the Mongolian army attacked the mountain, this line of defense would allow them to calmly deploy their troops at the city gate.
A shout came from behind the stone wall.
"Who is coming?!"
"Li Xia, the magistrate of Qingfu County, came to visit and asked to see Yi Shouchen. This is the order..."
After a while, the defenders carefully confirmed that the signal was correct before removing the arrow clusters and letting them go.
Li Xia leaned over and drilled through the small hole, turned again, and saw the city gate. On the left was a huge natural rock, and on the right was an abyss. The road was only one step wide. If he didn't pay attention, he would fall into the cliff without any trace of his body.
"Let Li Xia, the official of Qingfu County, enter the city!"
With a creaking sound, the city gate was opened...
My eyes suddenly opened up.
As far as the eye can see, it is an endless stretch of flat land. The fields outside the camp in the distance are in order, and the soldiers on the campus city nearby are neatly arranged.
The sound of drums and horns..."
After entering the city, I turned around and saw a row of small characters carved clearly on the huge rock beside the city gate.
"In the Yimao year of Xingchang in the Song Dynasty, Tatar thieves came from Yunnan. In the next year, the governor Pu Zezhi took the emperor's order and ordered the commander Zhu Xusun to take measures on the border of Changning in Luxu. The next year, the city reached the sky to secure food for the troops and went out to attack.
Entering the stronghold area. Menstruation begins in the fourth month of leap and ends in the tenth month of winter. Yi Shiying, the governor of Changning, is in charge, and Zhu Wenzheng, the general manager of Tongchuan Road, supervises the work..."
Li Xia silently looked at the five words "Zhichen Pu Zezhi", with no artificial thoughts in his heart.
I thought of the Battle of Chengdu, of Jia Sidao’s words that Pu Zezhi had been impeached, and of the Song Dynasty’s army and people resisting Mongolia for more than 20 years, with millions of people bleeding in Sichuan...
Under such circumstances, there is still a new city built and standing on the mountain. How determined is it?
Unexpectedly, it seemed as if an awe-inspiring aura was blowing towards my face.
The vicissitudes of the world and the torrent of history.
What is eternity? What is merit? Is it the history book or the current world?
…
"Li Zhixian!"
Li Xia heard the shouting and turned around, only to see Zhu Cheng running towards him.
He was still wearing armor in this cold winter month. He had obviously just finished training. When he got closer, he saw big beads of sweat hanging on his face.
"Li Zhixian! You are finally here. The guardian has been waiting for you for a long time!"
Zhu Cheng spread his arms as if he wanted to hug Li Xia, but stopped abruptly.
Li Xia spread his hands, and the two of them hugged each other, and Zhu Cheng burst into laughter.
The friendship between the two was not deep, but Li Xia helped Zhu Cheng burn down the forest garden of a wealthy family, and also sent food to Changning's army, so he was worthy of his enthusiasm.
"Let's go quickly. Yi Shouchen has just finished ordering the troops and is eating. I will take you there..."
"good."
Li Xia glanced back before turning around. His eyes jumped over the city wall and he could see the mountains in the distance. It made people feel that the heaven, earth, mountains and rivers were all in front of him, and he suddenly felt proud...
The lunch dish is very simple, a bowl of whole grains covered with two pieces of bacon and a little pickled vegetables, and paired with a bowl of hot soup as light as water.
The general guarding a city or the magistrate of a county sat on a small bench and ate with the soldiers.
"Lingxiao City is newly built and the vegetables haven't been planted yet, which makes Feiyu laugh."
"Yi Shouchen is very polite. The soup will warm your stomach."
Yi Shiying smiled and said: "I heard that you are getting married, what should I give you as a congratulation... By the way, I brought two volumes of military books..."
He looked around and saw that there was nothing else, so he led Li Xia towards his residence.
The mountain city is obviously poor, not as good as it was in Changning County.
Li Xia looked around and saw that Yi Shiying had lost a lot of weight, his cheeks were covered with bones, and his beard had become a lot whiter.
It took half a year to build such a huge city, which was obviously extremely difficult.
After a brief exchange of greetings, they sat on a rickety bench and talked about business.
"It would be a pity to fight in Chengdu."
Yi Shiying had no tea leaves, so he picked up some dry charcoal to make a fire and boil water. He sighed: "I still remember the last time we met, and I commented on Liu Wuzhong with you. I didn't expect to meet again. He had already experienced the defeat of Jiantandu.
"
"The defeat of Jiantandu is indeed a pity." Li Xia said: "I have heard a lot of things recently. From the war between the Song and Jin Dynasties, to the alliance with Mongolia to destroy the Jin Dynasty, and then to the resistance against Mongolia in these years, the Song Dynasty had too many opportunities, and people with lofty ideals came one after another, but they often failed.
I fell short...I wonder why I was unable to seize these opportunities?"
How many heroic things have happened in more than twenty years?
Li Xia only heard about Meng Gong destroying the Jin Dynasty, Zhao Kui's troops marching out of Heluo, Jia She running Shandong, and Yu Jie guarding Sichuan and Shu... all of which are regrettable.
Yi Shiying didn't know how to answer, so he was silent for a long time, shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "I heard the battle report, and I have been thinking about it for several months, but after thinking about it, even if Marshal Pu replaced me to guard Jiantan Crossing, he still wouldn't be able to hold it."
"I wonder how the imperial court will deal with Liu Zheng?"
"Shuai Pu has written a letter to plead guilty and accept the blame. Fortunately, the battle in Chengdu was not without results. Atahu was killed and more than 100,000 people were relocated. It is a blessing among misfortunes."
Yi Shiying slowly fanned the fire and said: "Now that Lingxiao City has been built, I want to move five thousand people to the mountains to work in the fields. What's Feiyu's wish?"
"Okay, I will make arrangements after I return to the county." Li Xia said, "Send some more food and materials to the mountain. The New Year is coming soon, and the soldiers and people on the mountain should have a good New Year."
Yi Shiying laughed heartily.
Although he is a civil servant, he has been in the army for a long time and is not the temperament of his mother-in-law.
"In this way, my two volumes of military books are worth it...so worth it."
Li Xia also smiled, truly happy.
After joking, Yi Shiying clapped his hands on his knees, with a mixture of joy and sadness in his eyes, and asked, "What does Feiyu think of the upcoming war?"
Li Xia's smile faded and she answered seriously.
"I dare to assert that next year the Mongolian army's offensive will be more fierce, and the scale of the war will be far greater than in previous years..." To provide you with the fastest update of the end of the Song Dynasty, Chapter 399 Lingxiao City is free to read.