The Thunderbolt army was in a remote corner, and it was very difficult to get information from the outside world, and the only source of information was Jiading Mansion, and there was Pengshan City occupied by the Mongolian army in the middle. When the river is abundant, the Thunderbolts can also use the advantage of the water army to suppress the Pengshan City water army, so that messenger ships can travel between the two places, and even escort merchant ships to pass through. In winter, the water dried up, and the Min River near Pengshan City shrank by more than half, and the Thunderbolt gunboats could no longer move freely here. Without the suppression of gunboats, the Mongol navy, which was mostly light boats, took control of the river, disrupting water communication and trade between the Perak army and Jiading, and the transmission of information could only be done by other means.

It's the end of December, and as the Spring Festival approaches, the weather is getting colder and colder. On the day of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the Perak Army Staff Department received a flying pigeon transmission from the "Firefox" in Jiading Province, and the atmosphere suddenly became solemn. The carrier pigeon brought the recent statistics of the Sichuan Song Army on the battle situation, and the paper was full of bad news. Some time ago, the Mongolian army broke through the Kuzhu Pass, and after trapping the mountain city of Changning, it broke through the bamboo all the way. The Song army won the city of Langzhou, and the defender Yang Dayuan surrendered to the Mongol army, and as the vanguard, he persuaded Zhang Dayue, the Yunshan city of Pengzhou, and Pu Yuangui, the defender of Daliang City, also surrendered the city. The general of Qingju City in Shunqing Prefecture killed Duan Yuanjian, the capital commander, and also surrendered the city. For a time, the Song army was in dozens of mountain cities in northern Sichuan, either surrendered or fell, or besieged or besieged, and the situation was precarious for a while. At present, the only thing blocking the Mongol army from seizing Chongqing Mansion is Hezhou Diaoyu City. If the Diaoyu City is not guaranteed, Chongqing is not guaranteed, and if Chongqing is not guaranteed, Sichuan is in danger. Of course, Meng Ke Khan also understood the importance of Diaoyu City, and at present, he has led the main force and the kings of Mo Ge and Shi Tianze to Hezhou, preparing to capture Diaoyu City in one fell swoop.

In the eyes of the top brass of the Perak Army, although Diaoyu City is extremely steep, it is difficult to resist the attack of tens of thousands of Mongolian elites. If the Diaoyu City is lost, the Chongqing government will not be protected. If the Mongol army marched westward, with the current strength of the Thunderbolt army, it would be difficult to resist in any case, so everyone was worried. It's just that Ouyang Xuan knows that this situation is dangerous on the surface, but in fact it is a turning point, and it is also an opportunity for the further rise of the Thunderbolt Army, so he tried his best to comfort everyone, saying that Diaoyu City must be fine, and it will break the teeth of the Mongolian army. Although the people had great trust in him, they were still skeptical of this judgment. It's just that Ouyang Xuan didn't dare to say that Meng Ge would die in the Diaoyu City, for fear that this would change the direction of history, so that Meng Ge could escape. It's just that during the Chinese New Year, the top brass of the Perak Army are full of sadness, how can they boost the confidence of the military and the people? At that moment, he pretended to be angry and said, "When did I fool everyone? It's just that the heavens don't leak .....".

The first day of the Lunar New Year is a day worth looking forward to. For people in troubled times, being able to eat and dress warmly is the greatest happiness. For the soldiers and civilians under the rule of the Perak Army, the Chinese New Year means being able to eat meat. Ordinary people mostly get fish, birds, beasts, or pickled horse meat, while Perak fighters, craftsmen, and educational and scientific personnel get fat pork - not only wild boars, but even domestic fat pork. Under Li Shuang's arrangement, all the reclamation sites are vigorously developing the aquaculture industry. This aquaculture industry can not only provide meat, but also provide a large amount of fertilizer, which in turn can increase food production.

The swamp water will breed fish, ducks, and geese, while the barren grasslands and crop straw will support large livestock such as cattle, sheep, and pigs. Cattle and pigs, in particular, are an important source of meat for arable land and a source of meat. Meat not only boosts morale but also strengthens the fighting power of soldiers. The Mongol soldiers fought extremely hard, not only because of the harsh environment in which they were grown, but also because they were physically strong because of their staple diet of meat and milk. In his speech on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Ouyang Xuan promised the military and civilians that as long as everyone works hard, they will be fed and clothed, and they can taste meat during the New Year's holidays.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the soldiers and civilians under the rule of the Perak Army were in high spirits and threw themselves into work. On the one hand, it is because all undertakings are in a period of rapid expansion, and the tasks are heavy and there are many things; On the other hand, the Mongols did not celebrate the Spring Festival, and they took advantage of the Han Chinese New Year to start making trouble - a large number of Mongolian cavalry squads smuggled across the river to attack the Perak military area. In fact, during the flood season, there were also Mongolian cavalry who floated over with leather bags to reconnoitre, but the number was not large, and they did not go too deep, but retreated before the Perak cavalry battalion heard the news. However, the Mongol cavalry attacked on all fronts, and within a few days there were more than 10 cavalry squads floating across the Jinma and Nanhe rivers, and some cavalry squads even numbered as many as 50 people. This group of cavalry did not seem to have come to reconnoitre, but to plunder and burn, which made the chickens and dogs in the Perak army restless for a while.

Cao Ergou led the cavalry battalion to pursue the Mongol cavalry, but the effect was limited. The cavalry of the Thunderbolt army are all halfway monks, and their riding skills are far inferior to the Mongols, and the Mongolian cavalry has one person and two horses, and the mobility is stronger, where can the half-hung cavalry of the Thunderbolt army catch up. The tactics of the more than ten Mongol cavalry were also flexible, and they were erratic. Cao Ergou did not dare to divide the troops, for fear that the troops would be scattered and eaten by the Mongols, so he had to use the company as a unit as a firefighting unit. He was so angry that he scolded, not only scolding the Mongols, but also complaining that the garrison brigade and the naval army brigade did not tie up the fence tightly, allowing these Mongolian rats to get in.

In fact, Cao Ergou mistakenly blamed the brothers of the garrison brigade and the naval brigade. The area across the river between the Perak Army and the Mongol Army is more than 200 miles long, and it is really thin with the small strength of the Perak Army. If it is in the wet season, there are more than 100 sections that can float across the river, and it is not too difficult to hold on. However, during the dry winter season, the water level drops a lot, and in many places you can even wade across the river. Although the Thunderbolts dredged the river, they were only able to barely allow the gunboats to pass through. It was not difficult for a small group of Mongol cavalry to sneak across the river under the cover of darkness and fog as long as they did not carry their baggage. And light equipment and stealth were already good at the Mongolian cavalry.

In fact, although these Mongol cavalry squads disturbed the territory of the Perak army, they did not cause much damage. Not to mention the defense of the prefecture and county, even the various reclamation points also made the Mongolian cavalry sigh. The swamps, ditches, and earthen walls around the cantonment site caused the Mongols a lot of suffering, and if they got closer, they would be shelled. These reclamation points were not simply closed, but a large number of horse pits, iron nails, bamboo nails, etc. were set up in various transportation arteries, causing the Mongols to lose a lot of horses. The frightened Mongol cavalry did not dare to take the main road, so they had to go to the small road, but because of the unfamiliar road conditions, they repeatedly fell into the mud of the water. The worst was the Mongol cavalry who tried to sneak attack the Dayi Arsenal, they reached the fortress outside the arsenal at night, intending to break into the arsenal and set it on fire. Unexpectedly, when he was climbing the city wall with a rope, someone stepped on a series of mines, and in an instant, more than half of the 50-man Mongolian army was killed or wounded.

In just a few days, these Mongol cavalry, which were rebellious in the territory of the Perak army, lost more than 100 people. According to the previous situation, the Mongolian army reconnaissance cavalry was able to complete the intelligence gathering task in a few days. Even if it is not done, they will return in the event of such casualties. It's just that the goal of the Mongol cavalry this time does not seem to be military intelligence, and they don't care much about casualties, but in the form of guerrilla warfare, they try to destroy the normal production under the rule of the Thunderbolt army as much as possible. The Thunderbolt army had no better way to deal with it, so they had to send Cao Ergou to lead the cavalry to chase after them, and bite them hard when they caught them. Fortunately, the industrial and mining production of the Perak army was not greatly affected, and the population remained in the cities and fortresses, except for the crops in the field that were eaten by the horses of the Mongol cavalry. However, compared to the three million acres of land, the wheat seedlings eaten by hundreds of horses are nothing. And it's winter, and even if it's gnawed, it will re-germinate in spring.