On March 16, the spring rain had not stopped, and the Tuojiang River entered the flood season.
The sound of waves entered the tent, and Niulin's murderous eyes were still staring at the map.
He thought that when Yesuda'er was ten years old, he met a wolf on the grassland. Yesuda'er killed it alone, dragged the wolf's body back home, and when he saw him, he threw himself into his arms and cried loudly.
Unexpectedly, when they came to the south, Yesuda'er met a wolf again, but this time, the child could not come back and went to Changsheng Heaven...
While thinking about this, someone walked into the tent.
"Tell me, where did Li Xia go?" Nulin asked.
He didn't turn around, his tone was like the cold rain outside the tent.
I couldn't help but feel a little scared in the car, so I reported: "Looking at the whereabouts of the Song Army, it seems that they have retreated back to Yunding City..."
"I don't hear 'as if', are you sure?"
"I'm sure, the sentry horse has checked the footprints along the way. The Song Army must have gone to Yunding City..."
Nulin was not surprised.
He had made many assumptions. The Song army did not dare to fight with the large Mongolian army, and could not match the marching speed. After ambushing the Milihuo people, they could only retreat north.
Because going south will encounter most of the Mongolian army; going east to cross the Tuojiang River and going west to cross the Longquan Mountains are too risky.
Li Xia didn't have much choice: defend Jianzhou, attack Chengdu, or retreat to Yunding City.
And returning to Yunding City is indeed the best choice, as it can throw the problem back to Nulin.
"You're going to continue your journey to the south, Lu? I'm right on Yunding City, and I'll kill you again at any time. Divide your troops to block me? Try it, Yesuda'er didn't block me last year; or you can attack Yunding first.
, I defend with 4,000 men, and you attack with 10,000 men, it’s fair..."
It seemed that Li Xia's shouting could be heard in his ears, and Niu Lin frowned in thought.
Twenty thousand troops were not much in the first place, but now that we have lost nearly three thousand, it is no longer appropriate to divide our troops again. Even if we add five thousand men to surround Yunding, we may not be able to surround Li Xia, and if the troops going south are insufficient, they will not be able to destroy Syria and Lu.
Navy division is meaningless.
After thinking about it, Niu Lin gave the order: "Send a quick horse to inform Wanyan Shizhu of the situation and order him to hold on to Luchuan County to avoid being attacked by the Song army. Wait until I capture Yunding City before raising my troops to go south..."
The reason why he didn't attack Yunding City before was not because he couldn't attack it, but because it was unnecessary.
Even if a mountain city can be self-sufficient, if it is besieged for a year or two, the defenders on the mountain will naturally be unable to bear it. When Chongqing falls, some people will inevitably surrender. Therefore, it was not worthwhile to attack Yunding City at that time.
It's different now. Since the Song army may descend from the mountain at any time to disrupt his strategic plan, they must seize this nail regardless of casualties...
On March 20, when the spring rain stopped, Niulin had gathered his troops at the foot of Yunding Mountain, overhauled artillery vehicles, and prepared to attack the mountain.
It is true that Yunding City is difficult to attack, but last year Yao Shian's rebellion and the fierce offensive of the Mongolian army have consumed most of the food, grass and materials in the mountain city.
When Pu Zezhi withdrew from Chengdu, he only supplemented Yunding's troops to more than 3,000 men, precisely because he knew that the food grown in the mountain city could only feed these troops.
Once the Mongolian army attacks the city at all costs, it can at least destroy the spring plowing of the defenders on the mountain. The Song soldiers are not stupid. They know very well that they cannot plant food in the spring and will not be able to survive this autumn. They will feel desperate.
At the same time, Zhang Shi's defeat will also bring a sense of oppression to them...
The Mongolian army is very good at fighting psychological warfare. For example, massacre of a city is a powerful psychological shock. During the Genghis Khan period, countless cities they conquered surrendered without fighting.
Niulin ordered people to drive the people of the Song Dynasty from all over the country, forcing them to climb high mountains, destroying the defenders, knocking trees and rolling stones.
If the seriously injured civilians survived the smash, they were driven under the Yunding City, wailing all day long, and continuing to put pressure on the defenders.
Learning from the failure of his first attack on Genting, he no longer made any rash advances.
He knew very well that facing a general like Li Xia who was very talented in fighting, the most important thing was not to make mistakes. If he didn't make mistakes, he would be able to overwhelm him with his strength and not give the opportunists a chance to make a comeback.
"There is no rush." Niulin told the car again and again, "To attack such a dangerous place, we must attack it slowly."
There was actually no rush in the car, but I felt that Niulin looked calm on the surface, but in fact he still had a selfish desire to avenge his son.
There are so many reasons to attack Yunding City, but the most fundamental reason is not because Li Xia is on the mountain.
However, Nulin still seemed very cautious and analyzed it over and over again.
"Last year I was too impatient. I just wanted to defeat Pu Zezhi first. I didn't have the patience to waste time in Yunding City. I summoned Yao Shi'an to surrender and sent Du La to climb the mountain at night for a sneak attack. Instead, I exposed my flaw for Li Xia to catch. This time
It’s different. We have time. There is an old saying in the Song Dynasty, which is called ‘The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain’. Even if Yunding Mountain is leveled, these Song troops will still be annihilated.”
The people in the car responded quickly: "Marshal Du is right. These Song people are also strange. Zhang Shi, who is in charge of the army, is a big fool. Instead, he is a small magistrate. Every time he ruins our plans, we should get rid of him first."
Nulin didn't want to listen to these flattery, and his eyes fell on the towering mountain in front of him.
The weather was good today, and the sun finally came out. The Mongolian army's artillery carts threw corpse oil fireballs, which hit the mountains and forests, igniting the damp trees and sending up thick smoke.
This kind of siege method cannot destroy the city immediately, but it can make it invincible.
Nu Lin thought about it carefully, there was no way Li Xia could defeat him...
Then, sentry horses galloped from the south in the distance.
"Report to the marshal!"
Nu Lin turned around, her eyes gradually darkened.
He had a vague premonition that there would be bad news again...but it shouldn't be.
"Marshal of the capital, Zizhou... Zizhou was captured by the Song army again!"
"What did you say?!" he asked as he caught up in the car, "What do you mean Zizhou was captured? Where did the Song army come from?"
"A Song army came out from the west, killed the Zizhou defenders, robbed the ships and baggage, and went down the river."
There was still confusion in the car.
"The west side? That's the mountains and forests. How many people are there in the Song army..."
"Snapped!"
Suddenly there was a loud noise, and Nulin slapped the car over and knocked it to the ground!
"Uh-huh! How dare you ask where the Song Army came from?!"
Nulin finally couldn't restrain her anger, grabbed a whip and whipped it into the car.
"I asked you to trace the traces of the Song Army, and you just perfunctory me like this? Let my warriors be walked around like roe deer!"
"Marshal Du...Marshal Du...I really found traces of the Song Army. They did escape to Yunding City..."
Nulin became even angrier, and the whip in her hand made a "whoosh" sound, and the face in the car was beaten to pieces.
"Don't you understand yet?! Li Xia is not in Genting City at all!"
The cowhide raft floated on the Tuojiang River, being beaten by the river water.
Li Xia squinted his eyes because of the river wind. He glanced at the four hundred cavalrymen running along the bank, and then turned his eyes to the Tuojiang River.
After ambushing the Mi Li Huo Zhe, he indeed asked Yi Qing to return to Yunding City with 2,000 men and captured armored horses, and forged traces to make it look like all the Song troops were withdrawing to Yunding City.
And he took the Qingfu Army and Changning Army, a total of more than a thousand people, withdrew into Shanliangzi in the west.
They took advantage of the rain to hide their traces. They did not dare to set up camp or light a fire to cook. They only dared to hide in the woods and caves and chew cold food that was soaked in rain.
Some people died of illness, some were seriously injured and did not receive medical treatment...but no one became a deserter.
In the rain, after the Mongolian army sentries discovered traces of the Song army retreating to Yunding City, they no longer had any suspicion.
Bad weather can make lazy and careless people even more sluggish.
Li Xia was certain that the Mongolian army was not good at defending the city and would not leave too many troops to guard the dilapidated Zizhou City. After all, no Song troops were found around Zizhou.
There are ships in Zizhou City. There are not many, but they are enough to carry his people.
Li Xia completely imitated Niu Lin's fighting style. Four hundred cavalry rode along the river, and nearly eight hundred soldiers sailed down the river, traveling both by water and land, directly towards Luchuan County.
He still didn't dare to fight Nulin. His goal was the Wanyan Stone Pillar.
…
"I said that I would defeat the Mongolian navy and destroy its ships, but Feiyu said that the New Lin cavalry was going to turn around and come back, and that's true."
"So, let's attack the Milihuo first and bypass Niulin." Li Xia said: "Now, we can defeat the Mongolian navy and destroy its ships."
Zhu Cheng laughed against the river wind and said: "Every time, avoid the strong and attack the weak, pick up the good ones and hit them, and sooner or later you will be able to bring down Niulin."
He didn't care at all that there were only a thousand people on his side, his eyes were full of expectation.
"I think Yi Shouchen is about to leave..."
Under Lingxiao City, on the bank of Changning River.
Yi Shiying strode forward with his sword in hand. Liu Jinsuo, Xu Kui, Mao Yi'er and several hundred generals of the Qingfu Army followed behind him.
Liu Jinsuo seemed to have just been taught a lesson, with a bleak look on his face and his head lowered.
At the beginning of the new year, he led his troops to Lingxiao City to train with the Changning Army, and indeed he benefited a lot.
But after receiving the news of Zhang Shi's defeat, he also followed Li Xia's instructions and handed a secret letter to Yi Shiying.
"Yi Shouchen, my county magistrate said that with the current situation, my husband should work hard to protect the country without caring about his own life...I can't remember exactly what he did. Anyway, the specific strategies are in the letter."
At that time, after Yi Shiying read the secret letter in his hand, he became furious and scolded him angrily.
"Li Feiyu is so brave! I must take a copy of his book, he is the county magistrate!"
"..."
Liu Jinsuo was sprayed with spit, so he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of Yi Shiying anymore, he just felt aggrieved.
But in just one day, Yi Shiying had ordered all his troops, horses, and ships to reinforce Luzhou.
…
Two thousand elite soldiers rushed down Lingxiao Mountain quickly, but Yi Shiying's face remained as dark as water.
He strode onto the boat, glanced at the soldiers, and said no more words, only two words.
"Let's go!"
Luzhou Divine Arm City.
Zhu Xusun stared at the messenger in front of him and asked slowly: "Is this what Yi Shouchen meant?"
"Yes, the minister said, 'My husband must defend the country without caring about his own life.' When the Yangtze River defense line is in danger, he does not want to be trapped in an isolated city, but wants to fight to the death."
Zhu Xusun looked around at the general station. Even though he felt that the Luzhou army had suffered a huge defeat and its morale was low, he still made up his mind.
"Pass my order to prepare to counterattack Luchuan County and recapture the mouth of the river..."