In 1276, in Yangzhou, Li Tingzhi was captured and refused to surrender to the Yuan Dynasty. The Southern Song general Zhu Huan suggested that Ah Shu execute Li Tingzhi, saying that he had inflicted heavy casualties on the Mongol army. Ah Shu wanted to recruit Li Tingzhi and intercede with Kublai Khan for him, but Li Tingzhi stuck to his original intention and died unyieldingly.
Li Tingzhi, a native of Suizhou, Hubei Province, was a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty and had great military achievements. In the early years, Li Tingzhi followed the famous Southern Song Dynasty general Meng Jue in battle, responsible for training soldiers, rectifying government affairs, transporting grain and grass, and making many military achievements. In 1240, Li Tingzhi led an army into Sichuan and defeated the Mongol cavalry that had come to attack, which was deeply appreciated by Meng Jue.
In 1246, Meng Jue, who was known as a master of "mobile defense", died of illness, and Li Tingzhi was very sad and volunteered to serve him for 3 years to repay Meng Jue's kindness. Following Meng Jue, Li Tingzhi not only made many military achievements, but also learned Meng Jue's military methods, especially good at defensive operations, laying a foundation for holding Yangzhou in the future.
In 1259, Möngke Khan personally marched and led Mongol soldiers and "Han troops" to attack Sichuan. On the eastern front, Li Xuan, who surrendered to Mongolia, led 50,000 "Han troops" south to attack the Lianghuai region. Li Tingzhi was ordered to go out on a campaign and defeated the "Han army" by means of ambush tactics, killing more than 20,000 people. Soon, Möngke was killed by the Song army in Sichuan, and the Mongol army fought each other, and Kublai Khan, Wuliang Hetai, and Ah Shu led their troops back to Kaiping.
In 1267, the Southern Song dynasty general Liu Zhen proposed a battle plan that "if you want to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty, you must take Xiangyang", which was adopted by Kublai Khan, and the Mongols concentrated their forces to attack Xiangyang and Fancheng. If the Yangtze River is captured by the Mongol army, the Song army located in Sichuan and Lianghuai will be isolated, and the Southern Song Defense will collapse, and the result can only be broken by each.
Ah Shu, a famous Mongolian general, grandfather Su buttai, father Wuliang Hetai are all famous generals, and their combat effectiveness is very strong. The commander of the Battle of Xiangyang was Ah Shu, who was Kublai Khan's right-hand man. In order to capture Xiangyang, Ah Shu adopted the tactic of "encircling points and attacking aid" to fight a protracted war and a war of attrition, conquering Xiangyang and destroying the living forces of the Song army.
Xiangyang was in crisis, and the defenders Lü Wenhuan and Niu Fu successively sent people to the imperial court to ask for reinforcements. Whether it was cavalry or infantry, the Song army could not defeat the Mongol army unless Meng Jue came back to life. In this way, the task of rescuing Xiangyang could only be entrusted to the water division, Li Tingzhi, Fan Wenhu and others to lead the troops to go out.
Li Tingzhi was brave, but Fan Wenhu was afraid of the Mongol soldiers, and the rescue operation was difficult. Li Tingzhi established an all-out attack, cooperated with Zhang Gui in battle, destroyed the Mongol army's sailors, and sent soldiers, food, clothing, weapons, etc. into Xiangyang and Fancheng to break the encirclement of the Mongol army. Who knows, Fan Wenhu was at every turn, saying that the Mongol soldiers were in full swing, and it was not appropriate to be tough with them, and they were unwilling to attack.
Li Tingzhi went to the imperial court and impeached Fan Wenhu, saying that he would not save him when he saw death. In this way, Fan Wenhu agreed to send troops, but the enthusiasm for combat was not high, and he played all the way and had no fighting spirit. Shi Zai: "For pleasure in the army, the sun and the concubines bow and drink, do not attack." With a teammate like Fan Wenhu, Li Tingzhi also wants to cry without tears.
Fan Wenhu was not active in battle, and Zhang Gui fought alone with the Mongol soldiers and died in battle. At this time, Fan Wenhu was still thirty miles away from the battlefield, and he fled without fighting. In 1275, Fan Wenhu sacrificed Anqing and surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty, which was reused by Kublai Khan. In 1280, Fan Wenhu led an army of 100,000 to the East to conquer the Uighurs, encountered a typhoon, Fan Wenhu took the lead in fleeing, abandoning 100,000 troops, resulting in the collapse of the Yuan army and pitting Kublai Khan.
In 1273, Ah Shu captured Xiangyang and then marched east, and the Song army was defeated in successive battles. In 1275, the Battle of Dingjiazhou was defeated, the Song army lost more than 90,000 people, and more than 1,000 elite warships were destroyed. Next, Fan Wenhu sacrificed the city of Anqing, and the Mongol army marched all the way to annihilate more than 50,000 Song troops at the Battle of Jiaoshan. At this point, the elite strength of the Southern Song Dynasty was lost.
In 1276, Empress Xie and Emperor Gong of Song sacrificed Lin'an and surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty, and the Southern Song Dynasty fell. The country was gone, but Li Tingzhi insisted on Yangzhou and refused to surrender. Ah Shu sent Liu Zhen to lead the "Han army" to attack the city, And Li Tingzhi shot with a dense rain of arrows, and set up an ambush on the way of the "Han army" retreating, and Liu Quan returned with a crushing defeat. After that, Ah Shu sent troops to attack the city many times, but was defeated by Li Tingzhi.
As the war progressed, more than 20 Song generals, including the 80-year-old veteran Xia Gui, surrendered and served the Mongol army. Ah Shu sent Li Hu to persuade him to surrender, but Li Tingzhi was unmoved and directly executed Li Hu. Then, Ah Shu sent Zhang Jun and 6 other people into Yangzhou, carrying the "Letter of Surrender". Li Tingzhi executed all 6 people, threw the first rank under the city, and burned the "Letter of Surrender" in front of the battle.
Li Tingzhi refused to surrender and repeatedly defeated the Mongol army, and Ah Shu had to "request" Empress Xie and Emperor Gong of Song to send them the "Holy Will" and order Li Tingzhi to surrender his weapons. Li Tingzhi said bluntly: "I was commanded to defend the city, but I have not heard of any edicts to surrender." He also ordered the Song army to shoot the emissaries who came to convey the edict and continue to fight against the Mongols, which is worthy of admiration.
Empresses, emperors, ministers, and famous generals could all surrender to the Yuan Dynasty, but Li Tingzhi did not waver, and he was determined to coexist and die with the Song Dynasty. Ah Shu admired him very much, and sent emissaries with Kublai Khan's handwritten edicts to persuade him to surrender, but Li Tingzhi still executed the emissaries and burned the edicts as before. In this regard, Ah Shu once again played Kublai Khan and asked for forgiveness for Li Tingzhi's sins, "Ah Shu asked Ting Zhi to forgive Ting Zhi for burning the edict, so that it could be lowered, and there was an edict to obey." Kublai Khan agreed.
At the end of 1276, the fleeing Song dynasty was attacked by the Yuan army, and Li Tingzhi led 7,000 soldiers and horses out of Yangzhou to rescue the Zhao Song Emperor, which was guarded by Zhu Huan. Who knows, Zhu Huan surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty in the blink of an eye, and also arrested Li Tingzhi's wife and children and asked them to surrender Li Tingzhi. Even so, Li Tingzhi still did not agree and continued to fight.
Sun Gui and Hu Weixiao opened the city gates, Taizhou fell, li tingzhi committed suicide by throwing himself into the lake, but the water level was too shallow, and Li Tingzhi was captured and escorted to Yangzhou. At this time, Ah Shu still persuaded him to surrender, and played Kublai Khan, hoping to spare Li Tingzhi and slowly persuade him to surrender in the future.
Who knows, Zhu Huan is unwilling, he suggested that Li Tingzhi be executed. Shi Zai: "Since the use of soldiers, the accumulation of skeletons has been full of wilderness, all of which are the actions of Tingzhi and Cai, why not kill them?" Li Tingzhining did not surrender, was executed by the Yuan army, and the people of Yangzhou all wept.
Bibliography: History of the Song Dynasty