The reason why Liu Heima chose to station at Zhanlong Mountain was quite particular.
Zhanlong Mountain is located in the northeast of Chengdu City, between Chengdu City and Yunding Mountain City. Although two thousand Yunding garrison troops have entered Chengdu, there are still more than a thousand troops guarding the mountain.
Occupying Zhanlong Mountain will, on the one hand, cut off the mutual support between the two places; on the other hand, when Lizhou's baggage is sent, it will be difficult for Li Xia to harass the Mongolian army's food route from the southwest. On the other hand, Liu Heima can go south to cut off Li Xia's food route.
Grain Road.
But he did ignore the Western Sichuan Plateau to the west of Chengdu.
Speaking of the terrain in western Sichuan... In the second year of Tang Guangde's reign, in late spring and early summer, the Anshi War had just ended. Du Fu returned to Chengdu's Huanhuaxi Cottage and was about to recommend him to an official position, so he wrote a poem.
"Two orioles sing in the green willows, and a row of egrets ascends to the blue sky... The window contains the snow of Qianqiu in the West Ridge, and the door is docked with a ship thousands of miles away from Dongwu."
The Dongwu Wanli Ship refers to the ships sailing down the Yangtze River along the Minjiang River and sailing thousands of miles.
Xiling Qianqiu Snow refers to the fact that the snow on Minshan Mountain to the west of Chengdu never melts all year round.
Plateaus, plains, and rivers constitute the magnificent scenery that the Land of Abundance is blessed with.
"I originally thought that the Song Army's support would be sent by the 'Dongwu Wanli Ship', but I didn't expect that the 'Xiling Qianqiu Snow' would be used."
Hearing Liu Zhenyuan's reward that night, Liu Heima shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "If I let this kid get his way, after this battle, he will really be like 'a line of egrets ascending to the sky'."
"Not that much."
Jia Hou said: "Even if he is allowed to transport baggage and reinforcements from Lingguan Road, he can at most defend Chengdu. When the Great Khan conquers Chongqing, Li Feiyu's efforts will still be in vain."
"But when the time comes to recruit him to surrender, the conditions will be different." Liu Yuanzhen said, "The Great Khan is eager to go down to the Yangtze River, join forces at Jinghu, and destroy the Song Dynasty in one fell swoop. If Li Xia can hold Chengdu during the introduction, even if he cannot counterattack Hanzhong, he will have more options if he chooses to surrender.
Big benefit.”
Jia Hou said: "Dalang thinks...that's why Li Xia refuses to surrender now?"
"That's the only way it makes sense."
Liu Yuanzhen chuckled softly and said slowly: "If it weren't for Pu Lei, we really might have been defeated by Li Xia."
Liu Heima turned his head sideways, as if he was offended.
His eyes were full of majesty, and he said word by word: "Then defeat him."
…
On June 23, the first batch of grain and grass sent from Lizhou arrived on the north bank of the Qingbai River, and Liu Heima sent two thousand cavalry to receive it.
At the same time, the Chengdu Song Army also took action.
Li Xia sent troops to dig trenches outside the city, build strongholds and camps, deploy defensive horses, and expand the defense line ten miles to the northeast.
He seemed to be advancing step by step, surrounding Zhanlong Mountain and cutting off the Mongolian army's supply line.
In this regard, Liu Yuanzhen and Jia Hou deduced the war game and came to a conclusion.
"This is a false move."
"Why? It may be that they want to cut off our food supply."
"Impossible." Liu Yuanzhen said: "Li Xia knows that he can't do it. The infantry cuts off the cavalry's food route. It's a joke. If the city is not defended, how can it be fought in the field?"
"Then his move is intended to attract our attention to the east of Chengdu." Jia Hou said with a smile: "Is his food going to the west?"
"Yes, just take a look. There should be some news from Pu Xuefei tonight."
"Hit the east and attack the west. If I hadn't known about it earlier, I would have been deceived by Li Xia."
That night, a soldier from the Song Army quietly sneaked into Longshan and delivered the news to Pu Lei.
…
"It's indeed an empty camp!"
Liu Yuanzhen had seen the people sent by Pu Wei, and when he returned to the tent, his eyes were filled with excitement.
On the map, there is a small wooden fence in the northeast of Chengdu, with three small red wooden figures on it. It represents the defense line and the three thousand troops that Li Xia just deployed.
Liu Yuanzhen took these war games away and said: "Fake, there are no defenders in this camp."
Liu Yuanli asked: "Confirmed?"
"Li Xia pretended to counterattack, but actually he has led more than 6,000 troops and set off westward to defend Wenjiang, Chongzhou, Dayi, Qionglai and other places... There are only 4,000 defenders left in Chengdu City, temporarily guarded by Kong Xian."
"Pu Wei and the Jiading Army are in Chengdu?"
"In Chengdu, he can control nearly a thousand people. He will guard the east gate tomorrow night and agree to surrender the city."
Liu Yuanzhen picked up two war chess pieces and pushed them on the map.
"Conquer Chengdu City in one fell swoop, kill the defenders, and subdue part of the Song army."
Jia Hou nodded, pointed to the southwest, and said: "At the same time, ambush Li Xia in Xiling. This battle will be won."
…
The next day, Liu Heima did not use his eldest son Liu Yuanzhen to lead the army, but sent his fifth son Liu Yuanli to capture Chengdu.
"Your eldest brother is smart, but he is too sharp and not as stable as you." Liu Heima warned: "Remember to test whether Song Jun is deceitful first, don't be impatient."
In ordinary families, the youngest son is usually more impetuous than the eldest brother, but Liu Yuanli was different.
Liu Yuanli was only twenty-four years old at the time, but his behavior was much more mature than Liu Yuanzhen's.
"Father, can't you trust Pu Wei?"
"It is no longer necessary for Pu Lei to protect Zhao Song's death, and the information he sent should be true. But there is no guarantee that Li Xia has more plans."
Liu Yuanli nodded and said: "My child understands that this battle must be won. While winning, we must also be careful of Li Xia's back-up plan."
"It's good if you understand." Liu Heima felt more reassured about his son and said, "Go ahead."
Liu Yuanli then received the military talisman, went out of his tent, mounted his horse, and led 2,500 troops straight to the newly established defense line of the Song army in the north of Chengdu.
The plains are vast, horses' hooves tread on the grass, and elite cavalry rush past.
…
Run to the place where the Song army's defense line is within sight.
Suddenly I saw two streaks of smoke rising in the distance.
The sound of war drums sounded, followed by the sound of "dong dong dong dong".
It seems that there is also a cry of "enemy attack".
Obviously, the Song army had seen the Mongolian offensive.
"Oh! Stop!"
Liu Yuanli reined in the reins, raised his hands high, and ordered the cavalry to stop marching and prepare for formation.
He turned around and saw that many soldiers were still bare-armed and their helmets were still on their horses.
This is not because the soldiers are lax. In fact, the Liu family is very strict in running the army.
But these soldiers and horses seem to be all from the north, mainly Han people, and there are also Mongolians, Semu, Shatuo, Uighurs, Jurchens, Khitans, etc. who have committed crimes.
They used to guard Guanlong and Shanxi, but when they first arrived in the south, they really couldn't stand the hot weather.
If you are exposed to the scorching sun, you will easily suffer from heat stroke, and you will not be able to fight.
Although Liu Yuanli was angry, he was also considerate of his soldiers. After ensuring that the environment was safe, he asked his soldiers to go to the woods to avoid the noon sun, while he sent out to explore the horses and observe the Song army's reaction.
The cavalry took the initiative and could fight whenever they wanted. On the contrary, the Song army had to stand ready under the sun.
Liu Yuanli was never idle. Analysis of the news from Tanma showed that the Song army was probably setting up an empty camp outside Chengdu.
For more than an hour, almost no one was seen moving around.
When the sun fell, he first sent five hundred men to break into the camp, intending to test it.
"drive!"
Five hundred cavalrymen rushed towards the Song camp. Some of them fell into the ditch, but no Song arrows were seen.
They bypassed Juma and rushed towards the Song army camp...
"Is it really an empty camp?"
Liu Yuanli murmured, looking around.
Suddenly, there was a loud shout of killing, and the five hundred cavalrymen who rushed into the Song army camp were in a panic, apparently they had been ambushed.
"It's really a scam."
Liu Yuanli thought to himself, not surprised.
Li Xia was able to kill Niulin, so he was obviously no ordinary person, so he was right to be more cautious.
Liu Yuanli was about to withdraw his five hundred cavalry and return to the camp to report, but then, he suddenly frowned.
"wrong."
His eyes suddenly fell towards Chengdu City, and he saw no movement in the city.
A thought suddenly came to Liu Yuanli's mind, and he cursed secretly, "You Li Feixia, you have arranged everything carefully."
Thinking together, he immediately shouted: "The whole army obeys the order!"
The horn sounded.
"charge!"
Two thousand cavalrymen rushed towards the Song army's camp like arrows.
With a stern expression on his face, Liu Yuanli galloped into the Song army's camp. He saw only a few hundred Song troops in front of him retreating like the tide, running across the ravine on the wooden planks and escaping to Chengdu City.
"No need to chase!"
Liu Yuanli lazily pursued these men and horses, glanced over them, drove his horses forward, and kicked over a large pot, only to see a pot of water inside.
He was almost deceived by Li Xia.
"Quick! Send the news to my father. The Song army will have marched out of Xiling. Let my father rush to encircle it!"
"yes!"
"The entire army dismounts to rest, feed the horses, make food, and wait until nightfall. Follow me to take the city of Chengdu!"
…
With Liu Yuanli's calm temperament, he has concluded that Liu Yuanzhen's judgment is correct, and tonight is indeed a good opportunity to defeat the enemy and win.
I just hope that this trial during the day will not be delayed.
He looked up at the sky and saw the shadow of the sun dipping to the west... He still had time.
At night, Liu Yuanli sent hundreds of men with empty horses to go eastward, pretending that he did not want to attack the city and had withdrawn.
He led the troops himself, without riding a horse, and quietly sneaked to the east gate of Chengdu.
Looking up, there were less than a thousand guards on the city wall.
From this calculation, there are really only four thousand soldiers left in the city, guarding the four walls.
"Letter arrow."
The string moved, and a letter arrow shot onto the top of the east city wall.
Liu Yuanli squinted his eyes, and under the moonlight and the light of the torches on the wall, he saw a figure picking up the letter arrow and walking towards the tower.
He followed the figure and saw two Song Army generals standing there, seemingly talking.
The soldier who picked up the arrows went over and spoke to one of the generals.
Suddenly, the general suddenly drew his sword and knocked over another Song army general.
The figure leaned down and quickly stood up again.
Raise your hands and raise your head.
"Kong Xian is dead! Those who want to survive must obey my orders...open the city gate!"
…
With a creaking sound, the city gate of Chengdu opened wide.
Liu Yuanli thought for a moment, and after testing during the day, he was sure that this was not a scam.
It was his flash of inspiration that saw through Li Xia's arrangement from the subtle flaws.
As expected, he waved his hand and led his troops towards the city cave with great strides.
"Enter the city and control the city gates! Anyone who dares to resist will be shot to death!"