Chapter 1 The Only Changning Army

"South of the Yangtze River in Shu, there is only the Changning Army."

Fang Yankai's finger traced the map, heading east along the Yangtze River.

"The nearest military fortress is Shenbi Mountain Luzhou City."

Li Xia narrowed his eyes, holding the candlelight closer, and said, "It's also north of the Yangtze River."

"Yes." Fang Yankai sighed, "Whenever we discuss the strategy of Sichuan, we cannot avoid Commander Yu. Since he 'relied on the mountains as fortresses, setting up defenses to guard Shu,' the defenses north of the Shu River are as solid as iron, and the Mongol army cannot easily conquer them. It is a pity that Yu Hui is incompetent, and the strategic layout south of Shu is at least three years behind the Mongol army."

"I understand." Li Xia pointed to Shenbi City, then to Xuzhou and Jiading, and said, "This is a complete line of defense west of Chongqing, using points to connect lines, blocking the Mongol army's possible attack on Chongqing from Jiangbei."

"That's right. If the Mongol army attacks from the north, the cities along the Yangtze River will support each other, and the Changning Army can provide support from the south of the river, allowing us to respond calmly."

"But when Uliangqatai attacks from the south, the Changning Army's forces are stretched thin."

Fang Yankai sighed, looking somewhat tired, and said, "Southern Sichuan is such a large area that the Changning Army cannot defend it all. Moreover, they must send troops to coordinate with Shenbi City, so they won't have much force to support us."

"Mm."

"Feiyu, withdraw the river patrolmen into the county seat. We must at least hold the county seat."

Li Xia shook his head and looked at another map of Qingfu County.

Fang Yankai continued, "This matter must be done as soon as possible... It's time to close the city gates. There's no time to move the remaining people and supplies into the city."

"No, continue the relocation," Li Xia said.

"The Mongol army is arriving soon."

"I'll fight the Mongol army along the river and hold them back."

"You! The river patrolmen are not well-trained. How can they fight the Mongol army?"

"We have to fight," Li Xia said. "Qingfu County's rammed earth walls, less than two *zhang* high, are enough to defend against mountain bandits, but not against the Mongol army. Moreover, the terrain outside the county seat is open, which is not conducive to fighting cavalry. It's too passive."

Fang Yankai said, "You're simply being absurd..."

Li Xia interrupted rather forcefully, saying, "Listen to me on the war. I'll resist the enemy. Secretary Fang, you seize the time to move the people into the city."

"Have you thought about it? If we take the initiative to attack, food and arrows cannot be supplied. Once the new recruits are blocked by the Mongol army on the mountains or in the valleys, there will be no reinforcements from the county, and they will collapse instantly. Zhang Dutong's failure is a lesson..."

"Secretary Fang, there's no need to waste words. Seize the time."

Li Xia had already folded the map and put it in his arms, walking down from the city tower.

Fang Yankai looked at his back, shook his head, and sighed. Thinking of Li Xia's identical approach to Zhang Shi, he felt deeply worried...

Li Xia walked to the city wall and frowned when he saw a ball of fire in the distance.

"County Lieutenant, don't be alarmed." Wu Ang stepped forward with his saber and said, "There was a conflict when the people were being relocated. Someone in Tianjing Village set fire to his own house. The fire-fighting soldiers have already gone there."

Li Xia took a long breath and murmured, "War."

The flames of war spread, and setting aside the few who could make contributions through killing enemies, the peaceful lives of the vast majority were completely destroyed... This was the true face of war.

~

Nige rode along the small road west of the Fu River, with captured trackers in front of the team.

Three ships went upstream.

"Once we rob the grain and load it onto the ships, we can go downstream and won't need these trackers," Centurion Xiri stepped forward and said. "We're almost at Qingfu County. Should we kill all these trackers first when we get there?"

"First break the city, then rob," Nige said.

The Mongol army's military rules could be summarized in the simplest eight characters: "Those who disobey orders will be beheaded; loot after conquering the city." As soon as the word "rob" was uttered, the surrounding Mongol soldiers laughed.

"Southern Shu doesn't have cities built on mountains like Northern Shu. The city walls are short, so it's easy to attack."

Nige's face was very stern, and he said, "Have you noticed? Two villages along the way are empty."

Xiri said, "It seems that Qingfu County has received the news. That's fast..."

The Fu River meandered south, and the river suddenly narrowed ten *li* north of Qingfu County.

Nige looked up and saw high mountains on each side of the riverbank, sandwiching the Fu River and making the water turbulent.

The road along the river also became a narrow path.

Nige frowned at this terrain. He beckoned a captured tracker and asked, "What are the names of these two mountains?"

"The mountain on the west is called Balou Mountain, and the one on the east is called Zaizhu Peak..."

~

On the top of Balou Mountain, Li Xia was watching the Mongol army's formation.

"Why did they stop?" Xiong Shan asked.

"The Mongol army values reconnaissance. With this kind of terrain, they will definitely send people up the mountain to scout first," Li Xia said.

He watched for a while and saw a team of Mongol soldiers detour to the foot of the mountain on the north side and begin to climb.

Li Xia had planned well, intending to wait for the Mongol army to walk along the path between Balou Mountain and the Fu River, then drop rocks to cut off their head and tail, hitting them hard.

Later, he realized that ambushes were not so easy to set up.

In this kind of terrain, anyone who came here would suspect an ambush and would scout in advance.

Therefore, to set up an ambush, he needed to lure the enemy, to send someone to feign defeat and lure the Mongol army over.

But Li Xia's soldiers could not lure the enemy.

There were many reasons. The new recruits simply could not feign defeat. If they were attacked by the Mongol army's arrows and retreated, it would likely become a real rout. Their horsemanship was also too poor. It wouldn't take long for the Mongol army to catch up, so how could they lure the enemy?

Tricks couldn't be used just because you wanted to. You needed sufficient strength.

This was also why Fang Yankai opposed Li Xia's plan to go out of the city to intercept the Mongol army.

Just like Zhang Shi's battle at Mahu River...

~

Zhana was climbing up Balou Mountain step by step.

A few days ago, Zhana led people to collect grain and eight people died. Therefore, his squad only had three Mongol soldiers and more than ten Dali auxiliary soldiers.

Climbing to the middle of the mountain, he looked back and saw that the Mongol army had stopped in front of Balou Mountain and did not easily enter the narrow path by the river.

Climbing up another section and reaching the mountainside, he could already see Qingfu County to the south.

The small county town between the Fu River and the Erjia River had low walls and the city gates were wide open, with teams of people pouring into the city.

From a distance, he could only see black dots. But Zhana seemed to see the women, grain, and money in that team...

"The city gates haven't been closed yet! They're still moving people! Go and tell the general."

"Squad leader, we have to climb to the top of that mountain to see if there's an ambush."

Zhana stood on the mountainside, looked east, and saw that the top of the mountain was lush. He spat and said, "Let's go, get your bows and arrows ready."

The group continued to climb up. When they were about to reach the top of the mountain, Zhana raised his hand and sent the Dali auxiliary soldiers ahead.

He and the three Mongol soldiers remained at the back.

Looking through the trees, he seemed to see a wooden frame.

"Could that be a trebuchet?"

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the canopy of a tree.

"Look here."

Zhana didn't understand, but instinctively looked up.

"Swish!"

An arrow shot straight down, piercing Zhana's eye!

"Ah!"

A scream arose. Xiong Shan jumped down from the canopy and stabbed Zhana's neck with a knife.

"Kill..."

~

As the sounds of fighting rose, Li Xia turned to look at the mountains below and decisively ordered, "Launch the stones!"

It was a bit of a pity that the Mongol army had not entered the narrow path by the river.

"Launch the stones!"

On the trebuchet, the stones had already been loaded. More than a hundred river patrolmen shouted in unison, pulling the trebuchet lever with all their strength. The boulder suddenly sprang up, falling towards the Mongol army's formation to the north...

~

Xiri looked up, watching the black dot flying out from the top of the mountain, breaking through the sky, getting bigger and bigger.

"Falling stones... An ambush!"

"Quick! Scatter!"

Horses neighed, and the Mongol army's formation quickly dispersed.

"Boom!"

"Whinny..."

The boulder fell, and a Mongol soldier and the horse beneath him were smashed into a bloody pulp.

Nige was furious and roared, "Xiri, take your hundred-man team and press two hundred auxiliary soldiers to attack the mountain."

"Charge!"

The situation was not too bad for the Mongol army. Although the terrain was not as advantageous as their opponent's, they had not entered the narrow path and could still spread out on the north side of Balou Mountain.

Soon, Xiri led his men to attack Balou Mountain...

~

"Smash them!" Li Xia ordered.

More than a hundred river patrolmen began to load small stones, pulling the trebuchet to smash down the mountain.

In an instant, flying stones rained down, smashing the Mongol army's formation attacking the mountain.

~

Nige rode his horse, watching the offensive on the mountain, then turned to observe the terrain.

Balou Mountain was not an isolated mountain, but a section of a mountain range running east-west.

He immediately ordered, "Ga'erdi, take your hundred-man team and go over the west side to attack this Song army from both sides."

"Yes."

"Tumenbaoyin, take your hundred-man team and follow Ga'erdi to cross over and seize the gates of Qingfu City."

"Yes..."

~

On the Qingfu city tower, Fang Yankai looked at the mountains to the north, his worries growing.

What he was most worried about was that Li Xia was too self-confident, trying to use the terrain to ambush the Mongol army, but underestimated the Mongol army's experience and underestimated the Mongol army's ability to march.

According to Fang Yankai's strategy, they should have stopped relocating the people and closed the city gates as soon as possible.

But at this time, the city gate at his feet was still filled with people bringing their families. If Li Xia could not stop the Mongol army, the consequences would be too terrible...