It's the end of February, the temperature is getting warmer day by day, and the peach blossoms in Jiading Province, the southernmost part of the Perak Military District, have been sporadic with flower bones, which means that spring is coming. At present, the Thunderbolt army and the Mongolian army are still facing each other across the river from Mianzhu in the north to Jingyan in the south. The Mongol army could not break through the defensive line but was unwilling to leave, while the Thunderbolt army was attacking with defense, and used artillery to beat the Mongol army that came to attack to the ground, but it had no intention of taking the initiative to attack. The Thunderbolts are not incapable of fighting back, but are planning a big game of chess. Therefore, after Xia Xiaogen relayed Zhang Jue's apology for not being able to come to help, Ouyang Xuan just smiled in return. He understood Zhang Jue's situation very well, on the one hand, because of Yu Xing's obscenity, and on the other hand, because Diaoyu City was more than enough to defend and not enough to attack. Although Kublai Khan sent the main Mongol army north to fight Ali Buge, there were still thousands of elite cavalry remaining in Sichuan, and these cavalry, who were good at attacking, still maintained an advantage over the Song army in Sichuan with the support of the new annex army, which was longer than defensive.

In the Sichuan battlefield, the only thing that the Mongolian army did not have an advantage was western Sichuan. Liu Heima originally wanted to take advantage of the cold weather and dry season to break through the defenses of the Thunderbolt army in one fell swoop, and at least take the land of Peng and Han, but there was no progress. With the arrival of spring, he slowly withdrew his infantry in the direction of Jintang City and Genting City, and transferred most of his cavalry to the other side of the river in Deyang County and Mianzhu County in Hanzhou. On the one hand, with the arrival of spring, the land requires a lot of labor. The Mongol cavalry did not farm, but the new annexed army had to be cultivated, and the accompanying army and tens of thousands of people were the main force of farming; On the other hand, after a period of trial and probe, Liu Heima understood that it was impossible to win Chengdu and Genting City. Therefore, he gave up the idea of breaking through in this direction, and instead learned the method of the Thunderbolt army to build a strong fortress, constantly digging ditches and fortifying the fortress.

As a result, Mianzhu became the main location for both sides to attack and defend, and the new annexed army led by Yang Wenan was like a rat in a bellows. Kudu led 2,000 cavalry to garrison the rear of the new annex army, and in addition to reconnoitring and harassing the Thunderbolt army, he did not attack on a large scale, but served as a supervising team, and from time to time he killed some small colonels and deserters to deter the new annex army, which was becoming more and more demoralized. However, it was so difficult to break through the Thunderbolts' defensive line along the river, and the soldiers of the new annexed army were often killed and wounded by a rain of bullets as soon as they approached the riverbank, and had to retreat back into the civil fortifications. The new annex army dug a large number of trenches near the river bank and built a large number of low walls, which greatly weakened the damage of artillery. Yang Wen'an tried to order the civil fortifications to be extended into the riverbed, but failed. On the one hand, the dry riverbed was covered with hard stones, which was really difficult to excavate, and on the other hand, because the Thunderbolt artillery was so heavy that it was impossible to dig under fire.

The Perak army was firmly on the west bank of the river, and carried out artillery bombardment according to the principle set by Huang Dagen, who was under the command of Mianzhu: the Mongol army hid in the distance and did whatever it liked, but as long as it approached or showed its head, it would be shelled; When the soldiers of the new annex army are full, they will dig ditches and build walls, and they will also go, as long as they do not erect siege weapons; As for wanting to extend the civil fortifications to the river beach, it is absolutely not allowed. After suffering countless hardships, the newly attached army on the east bank of the river understood that the closer they got to the riverbank, the more fierce the shelling became, and the riverbed of the river beach was a death zone covered by firepower, and they must not go. If you want to survive, don't stay near siege weapons, because you will be shot at by concentrated fire. Those that flew towards the siege weapons were not soybean-sized shotguns, but solid iron bullets that weighed one or two pounds or nearly ten pounds. Iron-clad siege weapons will also be shattered when encountered, and flesh and blood will turn into powder when hit.

After two months of fighting, Yang Wen'an's new annex army brought to Mianzhu lost 1,000 men, while the Mongol cavalry that assisted in the battle lost less than 100 men. Forced by Kublai Khan's order, Yang Dayuan transferred soldiers and horses and people from Qingju City, making up Yang Wen'an's 3,000 soldiers and horses and 5,000 people. In order to appease Yang Dayuan, Kublai Khan ordered Liu Heima to ensure the supply of military supplies, and grain and grass were raised in Mianzhou, Longzhou and the prefectures and counties of Tongchuanfu Road occupied by the Mongol army. This latter order not only brought disaster to the local people, but also made the pseudo-officials involved miserable. Where can we get food in this spring famine? But if you can't collect food, it's a trivial matter that the black yarn hat is not guaranteed, and you will even be charged with delaying the military plane and go to prison.

The Mongolian army's forced food and torture caused many people's families to die. With no way out, they had no choice but to take risks, some of them fled deeper into the mountains and forests, some of them became bandits, and some fled in all directions - many of them fled to the Perak military area on the west bank of the water. Of course, the Mongolian army would not tolerate the escape, and sent a large number of soldiers to intercept it, and many of the fleeing civilians were even killed near the river bank, which made the Perak soldiers indignant and wrote bloody letters to fight the Mongolian army to the death. Huang Dagen understands the anger of the soldiers very well, and as a veteran of the Perak Army, he also vigorously promotes the concept of "military and civilian fish and water" advocated by Ouyang Xuan in the army, and always reminds the officers and soldiers that "the people are the parents of food and clothing". In the face of the brutality of the Mongolian army, how could he not be angry? It's just that "if you can't bear it, you will make a big plan", and those who become big things must not be kidnapped by their own emotions. The Mongol army will inevitably be retaliated against for its many crimes, but not now.

The Thunderbolts are waiting for the spring river to be warmed. Among the generals of the Perak Army, Cao Ergou should be brave and fierce, Zeng Yong was slightly better in terms of strategy, and Dong Hu should be pushed in terms of tactical command. Although Huang Dagen is in the middle of the rules in all aspects, his experience is the richest. He not only stood alone, but also served as the chief of staff who coordinated the whole army, and was also the founder and first commander of the navy. At present, the Perak Army has 25,000 regular troops, more than 60,000 basic militiamen, 10,000 regular troops and 20,000 basic militia on the Hanzhou front line alone. Although it did not form a complete combat effectiveness due to training and weapons, its combat strength was by no means comparable to that of the Mongolian army on the other side of the river. The order of the General Staff was to hold the defense, and in Wong's view, this was waiting for the newly formed troops to be trained and equipped with weapons, especially horses and weapons, to minimize the casualties of the Perak soldiers.

In Huang Dagen's view, it is currently dormant because the water level of the river is too low. As long as the spring water rises, the Perak ships can move freely, not only can give full play to the power of the warships, but can also maneuver and transport by water, offsetting the mobility advantage of the Mongolian cavalry. In March in western Sichuan, it is the time when the peach blossoms are in full bloom in spring, and it is also the rainy season, and the snow-capped mountains of Weimao and Weimao are also melting at this time, and after the confluence of rain and snow water, the river water will rise, which is also called "peach blossom spring flood". After the peach blossom spring flood, the water level of the rivers in western Sichuan gradually rises until October, when the water level gradually decreases and even dries up. Huang Dagen had received a secret order from Ouyang Xuan, asking him to prepare for a counteroffensive, and for this reason, he had ordered people to urge the shipyards in Penghan and Han Prefectures to increase their efforts to build boats and ships to prepare for the next military operation.

In fact, the Thunderbolt Army was in strategic dormancy, in addition to the reason that Huang Dagen saw, it was also because Ouyang Xuan was planning a bigger military operation, and it was not just as simple as counterattacking Liu Heima. "It is better to cut off one of his fingers than to hurt his ten fingers." The purpose of accumulating strength at the moment is to give the Mongolian army a thunderous blow, to beat the Mongolian army in Sichuan, to beat Kublai Khan's lackeys to death, and to lay the foundation for expelling the Mongol forces from Sichuan.