It may be that the War of Attack on the Song Dynasty suffered an unprecedented setback in the Mongol war of conquest.

After 1231 AD, Ögedei abandoned the continued use of military means to force the Song Empire into submission.

After that, the Song Empire maintained a "peace" with Mongolia for about 27 years.

This peace was more due to the chaos of the Mongols themselves, and the Song Empire, which was not strong enough to attack, was given a temporary respite when the Mongols did not take the initiative to attack.

But in 1258 AD, Möngke again launched a war of conquest against the Southern Song Dynasty. This war is known as the Meng Ge Attack on the Song War.

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Before Meng Ge attacked the Song Empire, in order to weaken the geographical conditions of the Song army in Sichuan, Meng Ge first launched a war to destroy the Dali Kingdom.

In September 1252, Kublai Khan was ordered to lead his general Wuliang Hetai and others to lead an army of 100,000 people and set off on a journey.

In the summer of 1253 (the third year of the Mongol Xianzong and the second year of the Dali Tianding), Kublai Khan led the army out of Xiaoguan and assembled in Lintao through Liupan Mountain to train and prepare for war. At the same time, Meng Ge ordered Wang Dechen, the commander-in-chief of the capital, to lead the army into Shu and arrive in Jiading to cooperate with Kublai Khan's actions.

In September, Kublai Khan supervised the army to Tera, and divided his troops into three routes to the south: Wuliang Hetai led the west road along the Yandang Road; Zongwang copied the He, Yelie led the east road through Maozhou Chaohui River to contain it; since the middle road crossed the Dadu River through Mantuo City, along the ancient Qingxi Road south, through the valley for more than 1,000 kilometers, in early November to the Jinsha River, sent an envoy to Dali to surrender.

Duan Xingzhi, the king of Dali, refused to surrender, and led the army along the Jinsha River with Prime Minister Gao Taixiang, and sent the general Gao Tong to lead a unit to be stationed in Huichuan and arrive at the Mongolian army.

At the beginning of December 1253, the Dali army confronted the central and western Mongol armies. Wuliang Hetai crossed the Dandangling into the Dali realm, recruited some tribes, occupied Sanzhi, and attacked the main force of the Dali army from the flank.

Gao Taixiang saw that the situation was critical, and hurriedly retreated to the capital of Dali, and Feng Jianjian defended it. Dali City is close to Ershan in the east and west of Cangshan, and there are two passes of dragon head and dragon tail in the north and south as barriers. Gao Taixiang met the battle with heavy troops at the key point of Longshou Pass.

The Mongolian Central and Eastern Route Armies successively crossed the Jinsha River and joined forces with the Western Route Army and Longshou Pass, attacked together, completely annihilated the main force of the Dali Army, and occupied the capital on December 15. Duan Xingzhi and Gao Taixiang absconded.

Kublai Khan adopted the advice of his retainer Yao Shu, forbade wanton killing, pacified the people, stabilized order, and sent troops to capture the nearby fortress and capture Gao Taixiang in Yaozhou

After the Mongol army destroyed Dali, Kublai Khan ordered Wuliang Hetai to continue the eastward crusade against the unsurrendered tribes, and ordered Liu Shizhong to be the envoy of Dali to stabilize the rule of Dali. Kublai Khan himself led his army back north. The Wuliang Hetai army entered Keai Chicheng. Duan Xingzhi fled to Kunze and was captured by the Mongol army. After two years of fierce fighting, he conquered the country of the Red Bald Brother, the country of Rosros, and the country of the Barbarian Polly. The leader of the White Barbarians, Hossafu, was captured.

After Wuliang Hetai conquered the Dali tribes, he sent an envoy to report the victory to Meng Ke Khan, and presented Duan Xingzhi, the lord of Dali, and Xisaofu, the lord of Boli, as prisoners. Möngke adopted a policy of gentleness and let them go back to continue to rule over the original tribes. Duan Xingzhi was grateful to Meng Ke for presenting the map, and personally led the troops as the vanguard, guiding Wuliang Hetai to pacify the various troops that continued to resist, and proposed to Meng Ke the "method of governing the people and establishing endowments" to consolidate the Mongol rule over Yunnan.

In the spring of the sixth year of Meng Ke Khan, Wuliang Hetai and Duan Xingzhi presented Dali map to Meng Ke Khan. In June, Möngke Khan, seeing that the flank encirclement of the Song had been completed, decided to attack the Song on both flanks in the name of the Song prisoners.

On the right flank, Wuliang Hetai was ordered to attack Sichuan from the north and south, and on the left flank, King Ta Cha'er and Ti Li Yan of the horse were ordered to attack Song and Lianghuai. The right-wing North Route Army Tige Huo Luchi and Dai Ta'er moved south along the Jialing River and Qu Jiang, and arrived in the vicinity of Chongqing in November.

Wuliang Hetai of the right wing south road led the army to attack Wumeng in September, tending to Shimen, and in October, broke the bald and barbarian Sanzhai, defeated the Song army at the Mahu River, got 200 ships, and diverted to the east. Follow the south bank of the Great River, advance by land and water, turn to Chongqing and move northward, reach the vicinity of Hezhou (now Hechuan, Sichuan) in December, and join forces with the Tiege Huoluchi and Daitaer troops. In the first month of the following year, the three-way army returned one after another.

The left wing Ta Chaer led the army to Dongping, because of the lax military discipline, plundered the people, sheep and pigs, was sent by Meng Ge to ask for guilt, and the attack on the Song Dynasty was ineffective.

In the spring of the seventh year of Meng Ke Khan, in order to consume the strength of the Southern Song Dynasty, Meng Ke Khan once again ordered the kings and generals to attack the Song Dynasty. On the right flank, he ordered Marshal Niu Ling to attack Dongchuan, and ordered Wanhu Liu Heima and Jiagu Longgu to lead the attack on Xichuan. On the left flank, Tachar was ordered to attack Jingxiang. Right flank: Niu Xuan led the army from Lizhou through Da Shan Mountain, out of the Liangshan Army, until Kuimen, Liu Heima, Jiagu Longgu Belt captured Chengdu in one fell swoop.

In the spring of the following year, Song Sichuan made Pu Zezhi lead an army to besiege Chengdu. Niu Lin returned to Hezhou, approached Chengdu to help, crossed at Jiantan, defeated the Song army, and drove into Chengdu. Later, with the cooperation of Mongolian reinforcements, they defeated the Song army besieging Chengdu, captured Yunding Mountain City, the seat of Chengdu Prefecture, and surrendered Xichuan Prefecture County one after another.

The left wing Ta Chaer led 100,000 cavalry to attack Xiangyang and Fancheng, besieged Fancheng for seven days, and led the army back.

In February of the eighth year of Meng Ke Khan, Meng Ke Khan decided to personally lead a large army to attack the Song Dynasty in order to establish a meritorious career that surpassed that of his father and ancestors. He ordered Wuliang Hetai to lead an army from Dali to the north of Guangxi to respond; Kublai Khan led his army to attack Ezhou in the south; and led the main force to attack Sichuan, attempting to go east out of Kuimen, float down the river, and join forces to attack Lin'an after the three routes met Ezhou

。 In July, Meng Ge led an army of 40,000 troops from Longzhou (now Longxian, Shaanxi) to the south through Dasanguan. On the eighth day of October, to Lizhou. Wang Dechen, the commander of Gongchang, the commander of the Lizhou garrison, was the vanguard general of the expedition to Shu and led the army south. On the 24th, the guard Yang Li was killed in battle. On the eighth day of November, at the goose top fort of Kechangning Mountain, the guard general Wang Zuo was killed in battle. On the 11th, the city was captured, the Song general Yang Dayuan asked to surrender, and on the tenth day of December, Meng Ke Khan went to Yunshan City, and the guard general Zhang Dayue surrendered. The Mongolian army went to Qingju City, and Liu Yuan killed Duan Yuan to surrender to the city, and Xuan Daliang City and other places also surrendered to Mongolia. After Meng Ge conquered most of the prefectures and counties in northwest Sichuan, he led his army to Wusheng Mountain and prepared to attack Diaoyu City.

What Meng Ge didn't expect was that he would be defeated and die under a small fishing city.

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Diaoyu City is located on Diaoyu Mountain, 5 kilometers east of Hechuan District, Chongqing City, with a relative height of about 300 meters. The confluence of the three rivers of Jialing River, Qujiang River and Fujiang River under the mountain, surrounded by water on three sides in the south, north and west, the terrain is very dangerous. There is the danger of mountains and rivers, and there is also the convenience of transportation, through the waterway and land road, you can reach all parts of Sichuan. During Peng Daya's tenure as the deputy envoy of Sichuan, he ordered Gan Yan to build Diaoyu City at the beginning. In 1243, Yu Jue adopted the suggestion of the Banzhou sages Ran Jin and Ran Pu brothers, and sent the Ran brothers to rebuild Diaoyu City, and moved the state and Xingyuan to be under its control. Diaoyu City is divided into inner and outer cities, and the outer city is built on the cliffs, and the city walls are made of stones. The castle is home to large fields and abundant water throughout the season, as well as many arable fields in the surrounding foothills. All this makes Diaoyu City have the necessary geographical conditions for long-term perseverance and the characteristics of relying on natural dangers, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In 1254, Wang Jian, the defender of Hezhou, further improved the city construction. The people of the border areas of Sichuan mostly avoided the rebellion here, and the Diaoyu City became a strong fortress with enough food for the soldiers.

Before Meng Ge led his army to Diaoyu City, he sent Song to surrender Jin Guobao to Diaoyu City, and was killed by Wang Jian, the defender of Song Hezhou.

On February 2 of the first year of Song Kaiqing, Meng Ke Khan led his troops to cross the canal from Jijiao Beach and camp at Shizi Mountain. On the third day, Meng Ge personally supervised the army to fight under the Diaoyu City.

On the 7th, the Mongol army attacked the city wall. The word city wall is also called the horizontal city wall, its function is to hinder the movement of the enemy outside the city, and at the same time, the defenders in the city can move through the outer city wall to the word city wall to resist the enemy, and form an angle cross attack point with the outer city wall. There is a wall in the south and north of the Diaoyu City. On the 9th, the Mongolian army stormed the west gate of the town, but did not give up.

On this day, Shi Tianze, the Mongolian host army, led his troops to Diaoyu City to participate in the battle.

In March, the Mongol army attacked Dongxinmen, Qishengmen and Zhenximen Xiaobao, all of which failed. Heavy thunderstorms lasted for 20 days from April 3. After the rain stopped, the Mongolian army focused on attacking Huguomen on the 22nd of the western month. On the night of the 24th, the Mongol army landed in the outer city and engaged in a fierce battle with the Song army defending the city.

"Yuan History: Xianzong Ji" said that "many Song soldiers were killed", but the Mongol army's offensive was finally repelled by the Song army. In May, the Mongol army repeatedly attacked the Diaoyu City. Since Meng Ge led the army into Shu, most of the mountain cities and forts along the way were easily won because of the surrender of the Southern Song Dynasty defenders, and they had not yet encountered a real tough battle. Therefore, after arriving at Diaoyu Mountain, Meng Ge wanted to take advantage of the situation to attack the city, although he had been under the fortified city for a long time, he did not want to abandon it. Although the Mongol army was very well equipped with siege equipment, the terrain of Diaoyu City was too steep to make it work.

The defenders of Diaoyu City, under the joint command of the main general Wang Jian and the deputy general Zhang Jue, repelled the Mongol army's attacks again and again. Dong Wenwei of a thousand households was ordered by Meng Ke Khan, led the Han soldiers of Dengzhou to attack the city, Dong Wenwei inspired the soldiers, carried the cloud ladder, braved the flying stones, walked ruggedly to climb, and reached the city to fight hard with the Song army, but because of the heavy casualties of the department, he was forced to retreat.

His nephew Dong Shiyuan asked his uncle Dong Wenwei to attack the city, led his troops to the city, and fought with the Song army for a long time, but was finally forced to withdraw due to lack of support. However, the arrogant and conceited generals advocated a strong attack on the city, but instead took the words of speed and speed as a roundabout.

Möngke Khan did not heed the advice of Shusu Huli and was determined to continue the siege. However, in the face of the Diaoyu fortified city, the Mongol cavalry, known for its agility and ferocity, could not use its capabilities.

In June, the Mongol general Wang Dechen led his troops to attack the outer city of Ma Junzhai by night, but Wang Jian led his troops to resist the battle.

When the day was about to dawn, it began to rain, and the Mongolian army's siege ladder was broken again and forced to retreat. The Mongol army attacked the city for 5 months and could not get down, so Wang Dechen rode alone to the Diaoyu City, trying to recruit the defenders in the city, and was almost hit by the flying stones shot in the city, Wang Dechen fell ill and died soon in the temple of Jinyun Mountain.

When Meng Ge heard the news of his death, he sighed, as if he had lost his left and right hand. Wang Dechen's death dealt a great blow to Meng Ge's spirit, and the Diaoyu City could not be attacked for a long time, which made Meng Ge angry. After the Mongol army attacked Shu, the Southern Song Dynasty took a large-scale rescue operation against Sichuan, but the Song army that reinforced Diaoyu City was blocked by the Mongol army and never reached Diaoyu City.

Despite this, the Diaoyu Castle, which had been besieged for months, was well stocked and the defenders were in high spirits. One day, the defenders of the Southern Song Dynasty threw two fresh fish weighing 15 kilograms and more than 100 steamed noodles to the Mongolian army outside the city, and submitted a letter to the Mongolian army, saying that even if they held it for another 10 years, the Mongolian army would not be able to capture the Diaoyu City.

In contrast, the situation of the Mongolian army outside the city was very bad. The Mongolian army had been stationed under the fortified city for a long time, and it was also in the scorching summer season, and the Mongols were originally afraid of heat and dampness, and they were not accustomed to water and soil, resulting in the epidemic of heat stroke, malaria, cholera and other diseases in the army, and the situation was quite serious.

According to the Yuan History, Möngke Khan also fell ill in June, while Rasht's Collected Records more clearly stated that he had dysentery. In addition, books such as "Marco Polo's Travels" and Ming Wanli's "Hezhou Chronicles" claim that Meng Ke Khan was wounded. In any case, Möngke could no longer hold on to the siege.

In July, the Mongol army retreated from Diaoyu City and marched to Wentang Gorge in Jinjian Mountain, where Möngke Khan died.

According to the biography of the Yuan History and the inscriptions and deeds in the Yuan Humanities Collection, many generals who accompanied Möngke Khan died in the Diaoyu City, which can be imagined as the fierceness of the Battle of Diaoyu City and the serious losses of the Mongol army.

It is a pity that Wang Jian, who seriously injured Meng Ge and severely damaged the Mongol army, was not reused by the Song court:

In September, the imperial court named Wang Jianning Yuanjun Jiedu envoy, according to the former left leader of the army Wei General, Xingyuan Mansion stationed, the imperial army in front of the command and knowledge of Hezhou, control the soldiers and horses, into Qingshui County Founding Uncle.

In the first year of Jingding, Jia Rudao was jealous of Wang Jian's military exploits, so that Emperor Zhaojian returned to the capital Lin'an.

In the fifth year of Jingding, Wang Jian died and was awarded the title of "loyal and strong". The soldiers and civilians of Hezhou heard that they were strong, set up a temple to worship it, and built a monument to remember their merits, and "a pillar of the fish platform supports half of the wall" still exists so far. The Battle of the Diaoyu City of Song and Mongolia rewrote the history of Eurasia.

After Wang Jian left for Lin'an, Wang Li became the commander of Hezhou (and possibly others before that), and the final result was that in 1279 AD, the defender Wang Li chose to abandon resistance and surrender to Kaecheng.

The impact of Möngke Khan's defeat at Diaoyu City was enormous. First, it led to the complete collapse of the Mongol war to destroy the Song Dynasty, allowing the Song Zuo to continue for 20 years. The Mongol army attacking Sichuan was forced to withdraw and escort the coffin of Möngke Khan to the north. He led the Eastern Route Army to break through the Yangtze River and besiege Kublai Khan in Ezhou, and had to withdraw his troops and return north in order to compete for the throne with his brother Ali Buge. The Wuliang Hetai Army, which went from Yunnan to the northwest of Guangxi, has entered the city of Tanzhou all the way.

Due to Möngke's death, the army, with the help of a force sent by Kublai Khan, also crossed the Yangtze River and returned north. The Mongol armies of the north and south marched largely as planned, only to be devastated by the failure of the main offensive in the west. Second, it halted the Mongol army's third westward expedition and alleviated the threat of Mongol forces to Europe, Asia, Africa and other countries.

In 1252, Möngke Khan sent his brother Hulegu to launch a third expedition to the west, conquering large areas of the Arabian Peninsula in present-day Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Just as Hülegü was preparing to march to Egypt, he learned of Möngke's death, so Hülegü left a small army to continue the campaign, and led his army back east. As a result, the Mongol army was outnumbered and defeated by the Egyptian army, and the Mongol army never entered Africa.

The Mongols' massive expansion campaign was at a low ebb.

As a result, the impact of the Battle of Diaoyu City has gone far beyond China, and it also occupies an important page in world history.

Third, it provided an opportunity for Kublai Khan to take charge of the Mongol regime and had a significant impact on the development of Chinese history. Möngke Khan was a Mongol conservative who pursued traditional policies. This kind of policy, which has a strong Mongolian tribal and Western Regions color, is extremely incompatible with the needs of ruling the vast Han region in the Central Plains. Kublai Khan, on the other hand, was one of the few admirers of Han culture in the Mongol ruling group.

After Meng Ke became Khan, Kublai Khan was appointed to take charge of the Han land in southern China, and he vigorously recruited Han Confucian scholars and vigorously promoted the policy of sinicization, which achieved great results. However, it aroused the suspicion of Möngke Khan and his conservative ministers, and Kublai Khan was dismissed from office, and his policy of sinicization was forced to be canceled.

After Kublai Khan ascended the throne of the Great Khan, he continued to implement his policy of sinicization, gradually changing the policy of indiscriminate killing by the Mongol army, so as to prevent greater damage to the economy and culture of southern China.

(End of chapter)