He was the strongest general in the Southern Song Dynasty, and he personally ended the shame of Jingkang, and the Southern Song Dynasty perished ten years after his death

In the Southern Song Dynasty, on this broken grass mat that leaked on all sides, there was a person who single-handedly stabbed Jin Guo through and could block the Mongols' knives for more than ten years.

His name is Meng Heng.

From killing Caizhou City, to defending the Yangtze River moat, to building a three-layer fence, he used an old sword to support half of the Southern Song Dynasty.

It's a pity that God is jealous of talent, he left too early.

Only a few decades after Meng Hui's death, the Southern Song Dynasty collapsed. Today, let's hold this old account of blood and fire and light a late lamp for Meng Heng.

The seeds of the Yue family army bloomed in the bloody rain

Meng Heng, born in 1195 in Zaoyang, Suizhou, is a native of Jiangzhou, Shanxi. This place was once an important town where Yue Fei's hometown was stationed in the south.

The Meng family has indeed served the Yuejia army for three generations, great-grandfather Meng An, grandfather Meng Lin, and father Meng Zongzheng, all of whom are famous generals in the army. Since he was a child, Meng Heng followed his father in the army, and the swords, guns, and armor became his enlightenment books, and the military camp horn was his lullaby.

In the second year of Kaixi (1206), Meng Zongzheng guarded Xiangyang, which was the Xiangyang in Jin Yong's martial arts. It was the most important gateway to western Beijing at that time, and it only took a few months to lose Xiangyang and go straight to Lin'an.

Meng Zongzheng made great achievements here. The young Meng Heng has developed the ability to see and listen to all directions in the smoke of gunfire. He is not a genius, but a boiled out.

At the beginning of the thirteenth century, Genghis Khan unified the Mongolian steppe, and the northern defense line of the Southern Song Dynasty was almost lost. When the Mongol army crossed the Yellow River, the north and south of the river became a purgatory on earth.

The people wailed, the countryside was barren, and the capital of the Jin Kingdom was forced to move south to Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan). The Southern Song Dynasty took the opportunity to cut off the annual coin of the absolute Jin Kingdom, intending to protect itself.

Meng Heng, in this stormy era, is exactly thirty years old. He does not rely on ancestral shade, does not rely on nepotism, relies on one vicious battle after another, and rises to the rank of generals step by step.

When Jin Guoqi was exhausted, and Song Meng joined forces to attack from the north and south, Meng Heng stood at the forefront. What he wants is not only victory, but also the long knife in his hand to completely overturn Jingkang's shame.

In this section, Meng Heng's growth is not a smooth legend, but an ordeal forged by blood and tears. Next, he will personally shatter the last hope of the Jin Kingdom.

Ten days of ancestor worship, a sword of gold

In the first year of Duanping (1234), in Caizhou, Jin Aizong hanged himself and died, and the Jin Kingdom perished. This city is the last burial place of decades of grievances between Song and Jin.

Meng Hui led the army to break through Caizhou and personally searched for Jin Aizong's body. When he collected the bones and escorted them to the south, thousands of troops lined up, and the white flags were displayed. This is not a simple victory, but a settlement of a blood debt.

This victory ended the historical cycle of Jingkang's shame. Since the first year of Jingkang (1126), the second emperor of Huiqin was exiled, and the national shame for a hundred years has only come to an end. Meng Hui, at the age of forty, used a war knife to regain face for the Song Dynasty.

In June of the first year of Duanping, Song Lizong personally summoned Meng Hui and gave him gold and silver to reward him for breaking gold. In Lin'an's palace, Meng Heng only said one sentence when facing the monarch.

“宗社威灵，陛下圣德，与三军将士之劳，臣何力之有？”字字铿锵。 不是推辞，是战将的骨气。

Just as the joy was still in place, a new crisis was coming. In the second year of Duanping (1235), the Mongol army, which was still a friendly army the year before, went south, and the front of the army pointed directly to the north and south of the river.

At that time, the Southern Song Dynasty was hesitant, some advocated peace, and some advocated sticking. Meng Hui stepped forward again: "Ministers and ministers, you should talk about war, not peace." The voice was loud and loud and resounded through the court.

Outside, the battle is becoming more and more dangerous. In the spring of the third year of Duanping (1236), the Mongol iron cavalry attacked the Jingxiang line in three ways. If Xiangyang is lost, Suizhou and Yingzhou will be lost, De'an Mansion will also fall, and the defense line of Jinghu in the Southern Song Dynasty will be full of holes and may collapse at any time.

At this time, Meng Heng was appointed as the governor of Huangzhou to control the soldiers and horses of Huang, Qi and Guangzhou. Huangzhou is the throat of the Yangtze River defense line, and if Huangzhou cannot be held, the south of the Yangtze River will open the door.

Meng Heng didn't say much, and immediately set about "increasing the number of people", strengthening the city defense, and settling the army and civilians. His actions did not rely on mobilization orders or calls, but on the determination to build brick by brick.

The victory in the Battle of Caizhou was only the beginning. The real big test is in Huangzhou and Jiangling, and in the face of the Mongolian iron cavalry sweep, not an inch is conceded.

Tachar admits it, he is the real macho man

In October of the third year of Duanping, the Mongol general Tachar led an army to besiege Qizhou. If Qizhou is lost, the south bank of the Yangtze River will be in no danger. The Southern Song Dynasty court panicked into a pot of porridge. Song Lizong urgently ordered Meng Heng to rush to help.

Meng Heng did not have a single soldier to adjust, he took his elite cavalry, marched day and night, and killed directly to Qizhou. As soon as Tachar saw Meng Heng's army arriving, he didn't say a word and retreated.

It's not that the Song army is too strong, it's that Meng Hui's prestige is deaf in the Northern Earthquake. Ten years ago, Caizhou's sword and blood, he personally exterminated the Jin State and shocked the Mongolian generals.

塔察儿转兵西向，进攻江陵。 江陵，长江中流咽喉，东控鄂渚，西拒蜀道，南守荆湖，北通襄阳。 若失江陵，长江防线就此断裂。

Meng Heng personally commanded and laid down the strange strategy of "using the city to bring water and using the embankment as an obstacle", and all the low-lying areas around Jiangling City were impounded, and the siege became a siege of water.

In November, the Mongol army attacked several times, but was repulsed by the hot oil of the rolling stone at the head of Gangneung City. Tachar was furious and mobilized tens of thousands of Mongolian elite horsemen to attack in turn. Meng Heng ordered that he was not allowed to go to war, and only responded by holding on until the Mongols ran out of food and soldiers.

The battle to defend Gangneung lasted for 40 days. For forty days, the city was exhausted with food, and the people were hungry on bark and weeds, but the gates of the city were never opened.

Until the Mongolian army retreated from exhaustion, Meng Heng led the army to counterattack, killing thousands of enemies and completely stabilizing the defense line in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The Battle of Jiangling made the Mongolian iron cavalry hit the nail in the south of the Yangtze River for the first time, and the Southern Song Dynasty felt the hope of holding it for the first time.

Such a loyal and brave general, the emperor should have reused, but he never thought that after all, it was the suspicion of the superior who prevailed. Song Lizong refused to surrender Meng Hui because he was worried about Meng Hui's strength, and Meng Hui was disheartened and took the initiative to ask for retirement.

In 1246, Meng Heng died of illness in Huangzhou at the age of fifty-two. The news came back to Lin'an, and the Manchu Dynasty was shaken. The Southern Song Dynasty was missing a pillar. Ten years later, in 1276, Lin'an fell to the Southern Song Dynasty, and in 1279, the Southern Song Dynasty fell.

The year of Meng Hui's death was the turning point of the Southern Song Dynasty from prosperity to decline. He is not a god, but in the midst of storms, he is the last person willing to stand on the tuyere to block the wind.

Resources:

The Lonely Famous General - The Biography of Meng Heng in the Southern Song Dynasty (I).Literature and History World.2019

The Lonely Famous General - The Biography of Meng Heng in the Southern Song Dynasty (II).Literature and History World.2019