Lizhou, later known as Guangyuan, Sichuan, is located in the northern part of the Sichuan Basin and the upper reaches of the Jialing River.
It does not belong to Hanzhong at all, and is separated from Hanzhong by the entire Daba Mountains.
But Lizhou is to the north of Jianmen Pass, and the terrain is not as steep as Jianmen Pass.
In other words, if the Song army only defended Jianmen Pass, Lizhou would be isolated from Sichuan and Shu.
Although it is known as the "Gateway to Northern Sichuan", it is indeed more suitable as the "frontier" for the Mongolian army to attack Shu.
The last time the Song army came to Lizhou was ten years ago. Yu Jie led the Northern Expedition and won three battles and three victories. They fought all the way to Hanzhong along the Jinniu Road, and were later repelled by Wang Dechen.
After that, it was Wang Dechen who ran Lizhou.
When Kublai Khan entered Dali, he met Wang Dechen.
It was this meeting that allowed the Mongolian army in Lizhou to eradicate the brutal style they had when Kuoduan massacred Shu.
Kublai Khan allowed Wang Dechen to set up a household department and a bureau, exempt from corvee service, reduce taxes, make banknotes, distribute salt, conduct business, transport grain, and recruit exiled people to return home and farm.
As a result, Lizhou's water and land transportation was smooth, business travelers were able to pass through, farming was effective, military pay was abundant year by year, and reserves were sufficient.
For Wang Weizheng, Lizhou is his father's hard work, and it is also his home.
Must be guarded.
~~
Many of Li Xia's subordinates also fled to southern Sichuan from Hanzhong and Lizhou.
For example, Mao Yi'er is from Xingyuan Prefecture in Hanzhong, and Xu Kui is from Lizhou.
This time going north, Xu Kui felt very uneasy.
When he left home from Qingfu County, he did not tell his mother and wife that he wanted to attack Lizhou. At that time, he only thought that he wanted to defend Luzhou.
Later, they counterattacked Chengdu and started garrisoning for more than half a year.
Xu Kui also divided the fields in Chengdu. Seeing that one year was almost passing, he thought about bringing his wife and children to Chengdu next year... Unexpectedly, Li Xia came back from Diaoyu City and took them straight to Jianmen Pass.
Xu Kui was in a state of confusion at that time and could not say a word during the military meeting.
In the battle of Jianmen Pass, he, Liu Jinsuo and Mao Yi'er attacked from the front, but they couldn't attack despite all their efforts. In the end, Yang Ben led his men around and captured Guancheng.
Xu Kui held his breath in his heart and scolded himself for being a coward.
During the battle of Zhaohua City, he led his men to shout outside the city every day, urging the fellow villagers to surrender. Finally, Pifeng led his men to dig tunnels and capture the city.
Xu Kui felt even more uncomfortable. He always felt that he should do something, but fighting doesn't just involve excitement.
For example, Yang Ben is brave and resourceful in order to lead an army on his own, Pifeng has guarded Yunding City for many years and is very good at carving roads in the mountains... Xu Kui used to be a farmer, and after becoming a general, he can only follow orders.
He really wanted to stand up and talk about how to fight the war as soon as he opened his mouth.
~~
"The city of Lizhou is based on mountains and water. In the northeast of Lizhou, it is surrounded by Motian Ridge and Micang Mountain. There is Longmen Mountain to the west, Jianmen Mountain to the south, and Dalan Mountain to the southeast. It can be said that it is surrounded by mountains.
surround."
"Let's talk about water. Lizhou City is located in the upper reaches of the Jialing River, where it meets the Nanhe River. Our army cannot deploy its troops between the mountains and the water, so it will be difficult to attack the city."
"Finally, there is the military strength, including heavy baggage troops, slave troops, and sailors. Lizhou has at least 30,000 capable troops. Our army only has 8,000 people and more than 3,000 prisoners..."
Kong Xian pointed at the map and talked.
Xu Kui didn't understand how they knew these place names. As a Lizhou native, Xu Kui had never heard of the names of many mountains. He only knew some hills called Qingdingzi and Baiyanzi.
Li Xia asked: "Can we bypass Lizhou City?"
Kong Xiandao: "The soldiers and horses cannot get around it. Lizhou is the only way for the Golden Bull Road to pass. Even outside Lizhou City, Wang Dechen also built a large number of fortifications, cannons and rocks. Without attacking the city, our army cannot move forward." "
He took two steps forward and tapped his hand on the map.
"What's more, even after bypassing Lizhou, there are Chaotian Gorge, Jianjian Pass, Wuding Pass and other dangerous passes to the north..."
"Xu Kui, you are from Lizhou, what do you think?"
"this……"
Xu Kui was called by Li Xia. He was excited at first. He immediately clasped his fists and straightened his waist. However, he didn't know what to say for a long time.
"General, Lizhou City has changed a lot... I can't recognize it..."
Lin Zi reminded in a low voice: "Boards and ships, be careful of sneak attacks by the Mongolian army."
Xu Kui still didn't understand what it meant.
In the end, he still couldn't even break a piece of shit...
~~
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
After a military meeting, Xu Kui realized that he had no future and worked hard to build a camp. He held a big hammer in his hand and drove a wooden stake into the soil.
"A hundred generals." A soldier came forward and called.
"What do you call Baijiang? The general said that after the war, merit will be judged. Our Baijiang will be promoted to Qianjiang..."
Xu Kui didn't respond and knocked twice more before remembering to turn around and ask them what they were calling him for.
"What's the matter?"
"Mao Bai is here..."
Mao Yi'er stepped forward and asked the soldiers to get down.
He picked up a large wooden stake, stood it on the ground, held it with both hands, and asked Xu Kui to smash it.
"Be careful, don't hit my hand."
"Boom!"
Xu Kui smashed it and asked, "Are you ready to set up camp? Come to me."
"Let's discuss how to defeat Lizhou. Give the general an idea. Are you going to harm the people of this state?"
"You're from Hanzhong, where did you go when you were fleeing?"
"Forgot, not all mountains and rivers are the same." Mao Yi'er said with a bitter face, "You are so hungry that you still care about the road?"
"You said... why can't we understand the terrain?" Xu Kui gasped and said: "Before... I knew whether the land was fat or not... I never thought that it would be easy to fight or not. I would benefit from it. Man, I didn’t even know this was the only way to pass...the gateway to northern Sichuan."
"I said, Xu Dali, do you want to regain Lizhou?"
Xu Kui stared, and after a long time he said in a dumb voice: "Why don't you want to?"
He raised his hand and pointed hard at the mountains to the west.
"The ancestors...the ancestors are all here!"
With just a few words, Mao Yi'er could already feel that Xu Kui's heart was full of congestion.
"In front of your ancestors, you might as well come up with a solution! It would be good to point out a path that can be used to attack the city!"
"What a big change!" Xu Kui shouted, "It's been more than ten years! It's been more than ten years since I left home! It's all fields, bridges, and fortresses...none of them are what they used to be!"
He smashed the big hammer in his hand and took a step forward, his eyes already red.
"I can't think of a way to do it, so I just stab him with a spear!"
Sudden.
The sound of chirping begins!
"The Mongolian army is attacking! Stop setting up camp..."
~~
"Dong dong dong..."
As the war drums sounded, the Mongolian army's ships gathered on the Jialing River, weighed anchor, and sailed downstream.
Lizhou City is on the east bank of the Jialing River, and there is a cliff opposite the city.
Only at the river bend seven miles downstream was there a large open space on the west bank, where the Song army was stationed.
At this time, Wang Hanchen saw that the Song army's foothold was not stable, so he immediately brought water divisions to attack along the river.
"anchor!"
Large iron anchors were thrown into the river one by one, and the ships stopped.
"Fire the arrow!"
As soon as the flag was waved, the arrows attacked the Song army without mercy...
Wang Hanchen was appointed as the marshal of the Mongolian Orulu army. In simple terms, "Oulu" means family members and luggage. Wang Hanchen was responsible for Lizhou's logistics.
There are not many elite soldiers under his command, but more of them are strong people, but they have enough armor and weapons.
Relying on Li Tingwang's more than twenty days to resist the Song army in Zhaohua City, Wang Hanchen had simply organized these people.
Today, he led more than a thousand soldiers, three thousand people and sailors to fight, not only to give the Song army a head-on attack, but also to train troops.
Wang Hanchen is very clear about his combat power and his purpose is also very clear.
"Go down with the order! Fire arrows from the boat to repel the Song army on the shore!"
"The warship stabilized its hull and prepared to fire cannons to attack the Song army's flags!"
Most of these ships were used for transporting supplies, and only three warships carried artillery carriages.
The rattling sound of the gun barrel was heard, and the Mongolian army began to adjust the firing range.
A cannon stone hit not far in front of Li Xia's tent.
"Thunder!"
"ignition!"
Of course, the Mongolian army also had firearms, including thunderbolts and flying muskets.
It's just that when Meng Ge was conquering Shu, the Song army looked down on the wind along the way, and the cavalry moved very fast without bringing much. Coupled with the terrain of Diaoyu City, thunder from the sky could not be thrown up, so it had no effect.
The thunderbolt is similar to the Song Dynasty's porcelain caltrop fireball. After being ignited, the cannon is shot out, explodes, and hurts people with its iron pieces.
"Bang!"
A thunderbolt fell on the Song Army's formation, exploded, and pieces of iron flew everywhere...
Wang Hanchen squinted his eyes, still dissatisfied.
Because the warship was rocking in the river, it was difficult to accurately throw the thunderous thunder into the Song army's flag...
~~
Li Xia stood on a small hill and watched the situation on the battlefield.
He was not disturbed by the Mongolian army's firearms.
The sight tube in his hand slowly turned, and he locked onto Wang Hanchen's warship...
~~
Xu Kui heard the sound of war drums and quickly turned back to look at the big banner.
Soon, he saw the direction the flag was pointing.
"Shield Bearer!"
With a clanging sound, the Song army raised their shields high.
"Where's the awl?! Give me the awl...you know how to use water! Follow me and kill him!"
Xu Kui was already taking off his armor. He had more than 200 men under his command, most of whom were Qingfu river patrolmen in the past and had good water skills.
After taking off their armor, more than a hundred people rushed forward under the cover of shield bearers and jumped into the Jialing River.
"puff!"
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the river water is freezing cold.
Xu Kui was so frozen that he swam towards the main battleship of the Mongolian army with all his strength.
…
In these troubled times, it is difficult to survive. Xu Kui had seen too many officers and soldiers die defending the land before, and the court could not provide pensions. The family lived in misery, and even the young ones died of starvation, but they died clean.
Now Xu Kui is different. Even if he died in battle, his old mother, wife and children can still live comfortably.
In the words of the general, it means "let everyone have no worries."
With these thoughts in his mind, Xu Kui looked over the river and saw arrows from the warship in front of him had been fired again.
"Puff puff……"
Blood spilled on the river surface.
Xu Kui took a deep breath and dived again.
All the noise seemed to have stopped.
The bottom of the river is cold, but also quiet.
Xu Kui used all his strength to attack the Mongolian warship.
Once, twice...
This time he came to regain Lizhou, which was his hometown. He was in a complicated mood and couldn't figure out a way, so he could only fight with all his life.