To the south of Diaoyu City is the Mongolian army camp.
Shi Tianze climbed up the hill early in the morning and looked at the Song Army flag on the top of Diaoyu City.
"Wang Dechen failed to conquer last night."
Shi Shu nodded and responded: "The success has fallen short."
"If you come in front of the Great Khan, don't show any joy in others' misfortune." Shi Tianze told him.
"My nephew knows. After all, Diaoyu City is different from Kuzhu Pass. Wang Jian's troops are far superior to Zhang Shi and Yang Li. If my nephew had been replaced last night, the results would have been far worse than Commander Wang. My nephew will not be arrogant because of this."
Shi Shu squinted his eyes and stared at Diaoyu City, still thinking about ways to break the city.
Shi Tianze glanced at Shi Shu out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly thought of something, and said, "Have you noticed? Everyone in the army only wants to capture this city."
Shi Shu responded naturally: "The Great Khan has been devastated since he entered Shu. He only rested here for two months. And he encountered such a stubborn Song army. How can he be willing not to break the city? Where is the power?"
"As far as the war situation is concerned, it is of little significance." Shi Tianze said: "Diaoyu City is the gateway to Chongqing. To attack it, in order to protect the supplies, we only need to surround the mountain city and block the defenders."
Shi Shu shook his head and said: "But the Great Khan will not give up."
Brother Meng is indeed in no hurry. On the Jinghu battlefield, Tachaer was defeated, and Kublai Khan has not yet gone south, so there is no need to rush to join them now.
"I am not trying to persuade the Great Khan to give up attacking Diaoyu City. Summer has passed and there is plenty of time to break the city."
After seeing the army being tortured by the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes, Shi Tianze was fortunate to have spent the summer before attacking the city.
Otherwise, if the siege of the city fails for a long time and then the scorching heat comes, the battle will be difficult to win.
Now, he is full of confidence in taking over Diaoyu City.
"I plan to ask the Great Khan for orders to divide our forces and attack Chongqing."
Shi Shu was stunned and asked: "Uncle, are you sure? Chongqing is an important town in Zhao and Song Dynasties. Diaoyu City has not been broken, so uncle cannot take away too many troops."
"I guess Chongqing doesn't have many soldiers and horses." Shi Tianze thought slightly in his eyes.
Shi Shu said: "My nephew heard that Pu Zezhi is Li Zengbo's old relative."
Shi Tianze waved his hand and said: "Your news has been delayed. Zhao Song has moved Li Zengbo as an envoy to Guangnan to know Jingjiang Mansion and defend A'shu. Now the commander-in-chief of Zhao Song in Jinghu is Jia Sidao."
"Uncle is saying... there are no reinforcements in Chongqing?"
"Use your brain. Tacha'er was defeated so quickly. How many troops should the Song army have deployed in Jinghu? How could reinforcements be sent to Shu? If Pu Zezhi really had the troops, why didn't he support Diaoyu City?"
As he spoke, Shi Tianze became more and more calm.
"Now, Yang Dayuan has gained the old city of Hezhou, and Chongqing has lost another barrier. Who can stop me from going down the river? If I don't take the things in my bag now, when will I wait?"
Meng Ge is going to conquer Shu this time. If he wants to name the two people he relies on most among his generals, they must be Wang Dechen and Shi Tianze.
Among the two, Wang Dechen is good at fighting fiercely, while Shi Tianze is good at fighting steadily.
If Chongqing had troops, Shi Tianze would never take the risk.
But he has a good eye for fire and has captured the fighter opportunities from various news and signs. He is sure that this time he will be able to securely capture Chongqing, the defense core of Sichuan and Sichuan...
A few days later, Wang Jian climbed onto the gate tower of the Protectorate Gate again. Looking around, he saw hundreds of warships setting sail on the Jialing River, and sergeants on the shore, like long snakes, were slowly going down the river.
"Shi Tianze went to attack Chongqing."
"Yes, he doesn't mind letting us see it." Zhang Jue said with a stern face, "He even sent someone to send a letter to the mountain, asking the general if he dared to go out of the city to support Chongqing."
Wang Jian walked a few steps, put his hands on the battlements, and stuck his head out, as if he wanted to see more clearly.
He did not let his soldiers see his face.
Defending Diaoyu City has exhausted all his energy.
He could not bear the consequences of the fall of Chongqing, but he could not lead his troops to support it.
This made him feel even more stressed, which was much more difficult than going to the battlefield.
Where his eyes fell, under the mountain city, there was a vast area, with the confluence of three rivers rushing southward...
Fujiang River, Jialing River and Qujiang River converge here, hence the name "Hezhou".
Therefore, it is an important military town today.
The old city of Hezhou was originally located between the Fujiang River and the Jialing River, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with unique scenery.
Since Yu Jie moved the state city to Diaoyu City, the population in the old city has been sparse, but there are still soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty guarding it, and it is the horn of each other with Diaoyu City.
After Yang Dayuan broke the city, he received Wang Dechen's order to burn the city to deter the soldiers and civilians of Diaoyu City.
As a result, the fire started, and the smoke reached into the sky.
Not to mention how angry the soldiers and civilians in Diaoyu City were, angry curses also sounded from a high mountain south of Hezhou.
"Yang Dayuan! I, oh your mother!"
The Song Dynasty also used a lot of curse words in Lin'an Prefecture, but the most foul words often seemed elegant.
After scolding Lin Zi, he still felt unsatisfied. He held the knife and glared towards the north, wanting to kill Yang Dayuan before he could be reconciled.
But Nie Zhongyou shook his head and said: "The man named Yang kept his hand, otherwise our brothers will die in the battle in Hezhou."
"Keep your hand?"
Lin Zi was quite surprised. He glanced at the soldiers who had narrowly escaped death in the mountains. He didn't want to believe it, but he could only believe it.
They were Suizhou Wu Xin's army, originally defending Suining. After Pu Zezhi failed to recapture Chengdu, he was transferred to Qingju Mountain.
After that, Yang Dayuan went to Qingju City to persuade Liu Yuan to surrender and killed Duan Yuan to show the city.
In the chaos, Nie Zhongyou saw that the city had been lost before the battle began, so he had to lead hundreds of remaining soldiers to flee south.
They were infantry, hiding in the hilly areas of Fangshan Mountain, and they had to be careful of Mongolian army sentries and horses on the road.
Hurry up and hurry up, but it's not as fast as the Mongolian army breaking through the city all the way down.
Compared with the soldiers and horses who were able to return to Diaoyu City by other routes, they were not lucky; but compared with the remaining soldiers who were overtaken by the Mongolian army, they were lucky.
By the time they arrived in Hezhou, Diaoyu City had been surrounded by the Mongolian army.
Nie Zhongyou finally entered the old city of Hezhou and only had some supplies, when Yang Dayuan led his troops to kill him again.
In this battle, he determined that Yang Dayuan deliberately let go of the south gate and did not immediately destroy the Song Army's pontoon bridge or arrange an ambush to cover up the attack.
"I heard that before Yang Dayuan surrendered, he also killed Wang Zhong, who was sent by the Mongolian army to persuade him to surrender. This shows that this man was indeed loyal... This time, it seems that the reason why he surrendered was really to gain a lot of money from the people in the city.
Bar."
"Bah!" Lin Zi spat and cursed: "That is also rebellion. He has forgotten his ancestors and deserves to be killed."
Nie Zhongyou smiled bitterly.
Yang Dayuan's behavior made him feel that the situation was difficult.
This shows that those who surrendered to Mongolia were not only those who were greedy for life, fearful of death, and betrayed their country for glory.
During this Meng Ge's personal expedition, many Song generals with military exploits and understanding of the situation, starting from Yang Dayuan and below, had surrendered.
"Feiyu once told me that those with soft bones and those with hard bones are only a minority. Most people belong to...the group in the middle. The tendency of these people is often the general trend."
"Brother." Lin Zi said, "I don't understand what you are talking about."
Nie Zhongyou was helpless. When Li Xia said this, he had many difficult words, and it was difficult for him to repeat them.
What he wanted to say was that he was worried about people like Yang Dayuan surrendering, but he couldn't make Lin Zi understand.
"Let's go."
Nie Zhongyou didn't bother to say anything anymore. He stood up and led the remaining troops to continue climbing over the mountains and ridges.
Recalling that when he fought with Li Xia in Chengdu, Wu Xin's army still had more than a thousand men.
Today, there are only more than 300 people left.
No matter how many soldiers there were, Nie Zhongyou could no longer bring them out.
They trekked hard, and after three days, they reached the territory of Bizhou, Chongqing Prefecture, and entered Jinyun Mountain.
Jinyun Mountain is surrounded by white clouds, like fog and smoke, and the weather is majestic, so it is called "Jinyun".
The mountain range is cut in the middle by the Jialing River, which merges three rivers into one, forming a canyon.
Previously, in order to avoid the Mongolian army, Wu Xin's army had been hiding in the mountains and forests. Only after reaching such a high mountain did they dare to approach the river and wait and see on the official road.
"Go to the top of the mountain, hide your tracks, and be careful not to encounter the Mongolian army." Nie Zhongyou ordered while chewing the bark of the tree.
Nowadays, when the Mongolian army besieges Diaoyu City, generally no sentry horses come here, but they are used to being cautious.
Unexpectedly, as I was walking, I suddenly heard a shout from ahead.
"There is a Mongolian military sentry!"
"Kill them!"
Nie Zhongyou quickly spat out the bark in his mouth and gave the order immediately.
"Ma Jiu, surround us from the east! Qiu Shou, take the people to disperse, no one can escape..."
There were only a dozen Mongolian soldiers on the mountain. They only paid attention to the southeast direction and did not notice that the Song army was coming from behind.
More than 300 people surrounded and killed more than ten people, and soon they were all shot to death. The Song soldiers immediately took out the water bags and divided the dried meat.
Nie Zhongyou had no intention of eating and quickly climbed to the top of the mountain.
Soon, he heard Ma Jiu shouting.
"General, come and see!"
After reaching the top of the mountain, Nie Zhongyou lay down on the boulder and looked around, and was surprised.
In the canyon, I saw Mongolian ships, soldiers and horses heading south, with no end in sight.
"There are at least 20,000 people, right? Are they going to attack Chongqing?" Nie Zhongyou said: "We have to hurry up."
"But the brothers have no strength..."
In the middle of speaking, Ma Jiu suddenly froze for a moment, raised his hand and pointed to the southeast.
"what is that?"
Nie Zhongyou turned his head and narrowed his eyes.
He faintly saw a faint light flashing in the woods at the exit of the canyon in front of the Mongolian army.