Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Liang Jiaqi, the general of the pacification and suppression, was urgently transferred from Chengdu to Chongqing by Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi. Gao Minzhan, the timid governor of Sichuan, was determined not to let him go, but he had to agree after Li Guoying's repeated urging. Liang Jiaqi was a brave general. After receiving the military order, he led 20,000 troops drawn from Chengdu, Songfan and Long'an to Chongqing day and night with Zhang Fengzhu, the commander of the Songfan Guard, and Yang Fuding, the guerrilla of Jiangyou. Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in Hezhou, he received the news that Chongqing's capital Ba County had fallen, so he immediately decided to garrison Hezhou to stop the guards from going north.

The guards were indeed preparing to march north. In theory, the capture of Chongqing would be the completion of the task assigned by the Great Khan Lianhua to cut off the traffic of the Qing army in Shaanxi, but Xi Rimo was known as the "Wolf of Oirat" and was greedy by nature. How could he be satisfied with just occupying Chongqing? Although he had sent people to report the situation in Sichuan to the Great Khan Lianhua, the mountains were high and the roads were long. Before the Great Khan's reply arrived, he had already led the guards to Hezhou. Because 20,000 soldiers of Na Risong's army were left to garrison Chongqing, Xi Rimo's army was reduced to 54,000, but in terms of number, it was still far more than the 20,000 soldiers under Liang Jiaqi.

The Bayu region has always been a battleground for military strategists, and Hezhou is known as a strong city. In the third year of Chunyou in the Southern Song Dynasty (1243), Diaoyu City was built on Diaoyu Mountain to the east of the city to resist the Mongolian soldiers. In February of the first year of Kaiqing (1259), the Mongolian army attacked Diaoyu City. In July, Mengge, the Emperor Xianzong of the Yuan Dynasty, who was known as the "God's Whip", was killed by a stray bullet. The defense of Diaoyu City lasted for more than 2 years and was not occupied until the first month of the second year of Xiangxing (7). Therefore, it was praised by Europeans as the "Eastern Mecca" and "the place where God broke the whip". During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, Hezhou moved back to its original site from Diaoyu City. There were dozens of castles of various sizes, which were very difficult to conquer.

"General, you can use the strategy of Black Tiger digging out the heart. Ignore the outer castles and first capture the forts in the south of the city and then capture Hezhou. Once Hezhou is captured, the rest of the forts will collapse without a fight," Fang Yuxuan offered advice to Xi Rimo.

Xi Rimo nodded and ordered Sichuan Admiral Jiancun Jiangqu and Usizang Admiral Batu Mengke to lead the army to attack the forts in the south of Hezhou City, capture them all and march straight to the city. But the city was built by the mountains and rivers, and it was a solid stone city. It reached the Jialing River in the northeast and the Fu River in the southwest. There were eleven city gates in total. The east was Yinghui Gate, Guangji Gate, and Wangjiang Gate; the west was Luoyang Gate, Yanwu Gate, and Guande Gate; the south was Fumin Gate, Wenming Gate, and Huijiang Gate; the north was Yingen Gate and Ruiying Gate.

"It's not easy to fight, it's not easy to fight~" Xi Rimo, who had fought in wars all his life, could tell at a glance that the terrain of this city was not conducive to a large army's attack.

"I have been to Hezhou. Although the terrain of this city is conducive to defense, it has experienced many wars and the city has fallen into disrepair. The commander can focus on attacking the Ying'en and Ruiying gates in the north, and then order the navy warships to go up the Fu River to bombard the city walls. As long as it takes more time, the city walls will be able to be demolished," suggested Du Zixiang, the general of Xuzhou.

Xi Rimo was overjoyed when he heard this, and ordered Du Zixiang to lead the navy to fire cannons on the Fu River to attract the main force of the enemy, and then concentrated the artillery fire to bombard the Ying'en and Ruiying gates in the north of Hezhou. The guards began to bombard the city on December 1665, the nd year of Qianyuan (), and ten days later, many gaps were blown out of the city wall.

"Brothers, follow me to kill the enemy!" Li Gongqiang, the general of the guard army, roared and rushed into the city through the gap first. He was originally a surrendered general of the Ming Dynasty, and when he surrendered, he wanted to make military achievements. However, he was targeted by the cold arrow of Zhang Fengzhu, the commander of the Songfan Guard. Songfan was close to Kang area, with high mountains and dense forests and many wild beasts. Zhang Fengzhu, who liked hunting, had practiced archery well.

"Swoosh~" the arrow was like a meteor and hit the throat.

Although a general was killed, it had no impact on the overall situation. A large number of guards rushed in through the gap. The troops in Chengdu, Songfan and Long'an, led by Liang Jiaqi, the general of the Qing Dynasty, often fought with the local chieftains or the rebels nearby. They were very brave and continued to fight in the streets after the city was broken. In the end, they were outnumbered. Zhang Fengzhu, the commander of the Songfan Guard, and Yang Fuding, the guerrilla of Jiangyou, died in the chaos. After Liang Jiaqi broke through the siege, he was chased by the guards to the Fu River. He wanted to jump into the river to escape, but he was swept away by the river and disappeared.

In the battle of Hezhou, the Wei army suffered another 4,000 casualties, and Xi Rimo was distressed. Fortunately, this battle showed the prestige of the Wei army. Wang Shilu, Zhang Xing, and Cui Shen, the thousand-man commanders of the Qing army, surrendered Yuechi, Guang'anzhou, and Suining counties. Seeing that his subordinates had suffered heavy losses, Xi Rimo simply sent two thousand surrendered soldiers from Wang Shilu, Zhang Xing, Cui Shen and other troops to the north as the vanguard. When they arrived at Nanchong, the capital of Shunqing Prefecture, they were preparing to attack the city when suddenly a letter was shot down from the top of the city. Wang Shilu opened the letter and found that it was a letter of surrender from Gao Panlong, the garrison commander of Nanchong. It was a strange thing that a garrison commander actually surrendered to a thousand-man commander. What was even more strange was that Wang Minlu actually accepted it and sent someone to contact Gao Panlong to surrender the city at night.

As the night deepened, Shunqing Dusi Zhang Kui returned to the camp to rest after inspecting the city wall. The Wei army was approaching, and the people in the city were in panic. How could he feel at ease without inspecting the city? Unexpectedly, just after he fell asleep, he heard shouts and screams. He learned that the garrison Gao Panlong had opened the city gate and surrendered to the Wei. Zhang Kui was shocked and hurriedly got off his yellow horse to open the city gate and escape. In his haste, he suddenly lost his footing and was captured by Gao Panlong's men. "You are too disloyal!" Zhang Kui pointed at Gao Panlong and cursed, meaning that you are too unkind to surrender without taking me with you.

Seeing that he was angry, Gao Panlong felt ashamed and guilty, so he simply went to Zhang Kui and cut off his head with a knife.

Seeing that he had captured another prefecture without much trouble, Xi Rimo was very proud and led his army to continue to Tongchuan Prefecture. At this time, the reputation of the Oirat wolf had spread throughout Shu. Tongchuan Lieutenant General Yu Xiangui did not dare to fight against the strong with the weak, so he led his army to flee to Long'an Prefecture.

After taking Tongchuan, Xi Rimo set his sights on Chengdu, an important city in Sichuan. After the troops of Liang Jiaqi, the general of the suppression army, were transferred away, the only garrison troops left in Chengdu were the Fu Biao of Sichuan Governor Gao Minzhan and some local garrison troops. Upon hearing that the Wei army was approaching, Gao Minzhan summoned his confidant, Fu Biao Lieutenant General Ma Yingzhi, to discuss the matter.

"Ma Canrong, how does the governor treat you?" Gao Minzhan asked seriously.

Upon hearing this, Ma Yingzhi immediately understood that the governor was asking him to express his position, and hurriedly answered loudly: "The governor has treated me with great kindness. If you have any orders, I will obey your orders!" The words "I will obey your orders" clearly showed his attitude of standing together with Gao Minzhan.

"Do you think we can defend Chengdu with our strength?" Gao Minzhan continued to ask, his eyes fixed on Ma Yingzhi.

"As long as our army is united, we should be able to hold on!" Ma Yingzhi's words clearly lacked confidence.

"Alas! The state has come to such a state that it is beyond human power to save it." Gao Minzhan stopped beating around the bush and simply said, "For the sake of the lives of the people in the city, why not surrender to the Wei?"

"I will obey the orders of the Fuyuan," Ma Yingzhi breathed a sigh of relief.

On January 1666, , Sichuan Governor Gao Minzhan and Lieutenant General Ma Yingzhi led the army and civilians of the prefecture to surrender to the Wei army. Chengdu, an important city in Sichuan, fell into the hands of the Wei army without a fight. (End of this chapter)