Ouyang Xuan quietly listened to the reports of the Thunderbolt Army's various undertakings during this period of time, and fell into deep thought. Although the current momentum of the Perak Army is still strong, and the management team such as Li Shuang and Huang Dagen have handled the affairs properly, the situation in the direction of Jazhou has clearly exceeded his expectations. He had always thought that as long as he maintained the superiority of the naval army and firmly held the Jinma River and the lower reaches of Pengshan, the Mongol army would not be able to invade the core area of the Perak army. However, this Yazhou incident exposed the misjudgment of the Perak Army in terms of strategy, that is, it underestimated the military strategic value of Yazhou and the states of Lai, Diao, and Yan.

Before that, the Thunderbolts were more of an economic value to the Jazhou direction. Although there was a high degree of overlap between the industries of the two states of Jali and the Peraks, the Caravans of the Perak were able to take advantage of their technological superiority to dump iron tools and salt in the two states. He also made a lot of profits by buying local tea and selling it to the Tibetan region, and bought horses and minerals such as copper and nitrate that were urgently needed by the Perak army. Although the population of Yazhou is not as large as that of the Perak Army, the population of the five counties under it and one county under the Lizhou region, plus the two prefectures of Diao and Yan and the nearby Fan District, is also nearly 100,000 according to the government. If the estimates of the General Staff are followed, the population of its jurisdiction may even double. This volume is a sales market for industrial products that cannot be ignored for the Perak Army. In comparison, the population of Weimao and Weimao, including the nearby Tibetan region, is less than 40,000.

Although he knew that Cao Zhizhou and the Mongols were in a hurry, the top brass of the Thunderbolt army did not care too much. In the eyes of everyone, including Ouyang Xuan, as long as Cao Zhizhou dares to openly surrender, it will inevitably be a dead end. In the general's exercise, as long as the naval brigade controlled the river, the Mongol cavalry would not be able to cross the river to support Yazhou. The field brigade and the special brigade could then advance out of Baizhang Pass and attack Yazhou with Yu Xing's Jiading army on both sides, and quell the rebel forces with a thunderous force. However, although the Mongol cavalry attacked Dajian Furnace and Lizhou this time, it made Ouyang Xuan feel that there were loopholes in the strategic layout of this direction - the Thunderbolt army only regarded the Yazhou army as an opponent, but ignored the Mongolian army, the most vicious enemy.

If the Mongol army occupies the two states of Dajian and Leya, it will greatly reduce the strategic material sources of the Perak army. Although war horses can still be obtained from the direction of Weimao and the two states, the number will inevitably be greatly reduced. What's even worse is the mines in and around Lizhou, which produce half of the total production capacity of the Perak Army. At present, the arsenal has insufficient production capacity of grenades, mines, guns and ammunition, and an important reason for this is the lack of raw materials for fire. If the fire in the direction of Lizhou is lost, it will inevitably lead to a further decline in ammunition production, which in turn will lead to a sharp decline in the combat power of the Thunderbolt army.

What's even worse is that after the Mongolian army takes control of Yazhou, it will make the situation in Sichuan's resistance to Mongolia even worse. The Mongol army could continuously transfer reinforcements from Dali and Longyou, so that the Perak army and the Jiading army would fall into a situation where they were attacked on their backs. The Thunderbolt army had the danger of a hundred zhang pass and the advantage of firearms, so it was naturally not a problem to block the attack of the Mongolian army. But Liu Heima, who is stationed in Chengdu, is not good at stubble, and obviously will not let go of the opportunity to attack from both sides, and will even send people to attack Weimao and Weimao. Tired of defending, the Thunderbolts naturally did not have the energy to manage the Banshu direction.

The Mongol army's control of Yazhou was far more of a threat to the Jiading army than the Thunderbolt army. Yazhou is located in the upper reaches of the Dadu River and the Tsing Yi River. The Mongol army could attack Jiading from Lizhou down the Dadu River, or from Yazhou down the Tsing Yi River to attack Jiadingfu. Although these two rivers were navigable, some sections of the river were relatively fast, and the Mongol army could prevent the Jiading naval army from moving north as long as they stuck these key sections. From the point of view of grain and grass transportation, it was not a big problem for these two rivers to go down the river, but it was very difficult to go upstream, which made the Jiading army lose three points before the battle.

In addition to attacking Jiading from the direction of Yazhou, the Mongolian army will also attack from the direction of Longzhou at the same time. Under the two-way attack, it is difficult to hold with Jiading's strength. Although Jiading City is very strong, Yu Xing is also experienced, and the Jiading army has more numbers, but its combat strength is not as good as that of the Thunderbolt army. In addition to the weapon factor, the main thing is the morale gap. The high-level officials, including Ouyang Xuan, insisted on "the unity of the government and the people, and the equality of officers and soldiers", and shared weal and woe with ordinary Perak soldiers. On the other hand, Yu Xing's father and son were greedy, and the officers also followed the same example, beating and scolding soldiers at every turn on weekdays, and arbitrarily deducting military salaries. "Why are you fighting?" "Fighting for whom?" It has always been an important problem for the Jiading army and even the rest of the Song army. The veterans of the Jiading army who have been on the battlefield for a long time, but they are extremely reluctant to fight in battle, compared with the disciplined and fierce Thunderbolt army, this is the biggest gap.

Ouyang Xuan told the possible consequences of the Mongolian army's occupation of Yazhou, which made all the high-ranking members of the Thunderbolt Army shudder. "Are there all the eggs under the nest?" The Perak army can resist the attack, but if Jiading is lost to the Mongol army, it will put the Perak army in a situation of being surrounded on all sides. Without the loss of external strategic resources, the industry of the Thunderbolts will fall into a withering and even a slow death. The competition of comprehensive strength in essence of the war, with the current Thunderbolt army of several states and a population of 300,000, it is obviously impossible to fight against the Sichuan Western Mongolian army alone, let alone the huge Mongol Empire behind it.

"It's not too late to make amends." In the face of the Mongol army's attack in the direction of Liya, the top brass of the Perak army proposed targeted remedial measures, which are known as the "three strategies of Liya" in history. The first strategy is to support the pro-Perak army tribes in the Tibetan region, and the first place is of course Zelang, followed by the Fan, Yi and Qingqiang tribes in the two prefectures of Yanjie. In addition to the previous decision of the Joint Military Council to train its military cadres through training camps, it was also decided to send advisory missions to friendly tribes. The advisory group is composed of military instructors, doctors, teachers, businessmen, and other personnel, and provides military training, medical and health services, and educational services, and at the same time gives priority to the sale of tea, salt, agricultural tools, cold weapons and other materials to various tribes. Those with strong alliances with the Thunderbolts may sell old firearms such as grenades, mines, and light artillery, as appropriate.

The second strategy is to strengthen defensive preparations along the route. In the hoe valley, the archery furnace and the mine caves in Lizhou, guard towers and fortresses were built at key points. These three places are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and will become the support points for the layout of the Thunderbolt army west of Yazhou. The joint meeting decided to give Zelang money, food and explosives support, so that he could build a new large watchtower fortress on the road from the river valley to the grassland, and the cottage halfway up the mountain was a horn of each other. There is no shortage of skilled craftsmen in the Tibetan area, as long as the money and food are sufficient, plus explosives to mine stones, you will soon be able to build a watchtower group of "one husband is a pass, ten thousand people are not open".

The third strategy is to adjust the troops. At present, the strength of the Perak army in Yazhou, in addition to the caravan guard, is only the militia of the mines and the hoe valley in Lizhou, with a total strength of nearly 800 people. The combat strength of these second-line troops is not inferior to the Yazhou army, and if they get the support of Zelang and the Qingqiang tribe, they can even capture Lizhou in one fell swoop and compete with the Yazhou army for a long time. However, after all, they are only second-line troops, and they are far inferior to the regular army of the Thunderbolt Army in terms of equipment, training, and combat experience, and they are unable to face the Mongolian army with strong combat strength head-on. Once the ammunition of the guns is exhausted, even if it occupies a geographical advantage, it will be difficult to resist the front and rear attacks of the Yazhou army and the Mongolian army. Therefore, the joint meeting decided to send a special company to the direction of Ho Gang Valley, Dajian Furnace and Lizhou respectively to strengthen the defense of the three places. At the same time, on the basis of the original guard company and a basic militia company, the Baizhangguan military strength added a basic militia battalion.