<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >01 Tent Temple night raid on Möngke Khan</h1>
Many years later, when the Mongol Khan Möngke returned to the grasslands and talked with his descendants about the night of the diaoyu city, he almost died under the "decapitation operation" of the Song army. He must not have imagined that in the future, there would be a Jin Yong Jin Hero who "arranged" to go to Xiangyang by himself and die at the hands of Yang Guo, the "Divine Eagle Hero".
However, Möngke did not leave alive after all, and only a few months after the night attack, he still died "abnormally", and the impregnable Diaoyu City could not be conquered after all.
How could the "weak" Song people in the impression fight back and kill the Great Khan's tooth tent? The only sneak attack secret road that can be found today is the "cornice hole" under the racecourse about 100 meters away on the east side of the ancient Diaoyu City Gate.
Cornice cave status
This secret passage is embedded in the city wall, up the aisle at the top of the wall, down on the cliff halfway up the mountainside, half a meter wide, enough to pass people, and then throw a rope from the cliff to climb down. At the exit, the mountains are steep and lush, and it is difficult to spot. In order to facilitate the tour, stone steps have been chiseled out of the cave today, and fences and handrails have been built, which is no longer the danger of the past.
In 1259, when the Mongol army besieged Diaoyu City on all sides, and the fierce battle was in full swing, the Song army defender Wang Jian passed through this secret passage and attacked the Mongolian army outside the gate (as shown in the following figure) before and after, saving this dangerous situation. Soon after, Wang Jian came out again at night and raided the Mongol Khan Tooth Tent on the Stone Mountain outside the city, although he did not succeed, he must have been startled by Meng Ge's cold sweat.
The general location of the secret passage of the Guardian Gate
However, although the secret passage is dangerous, it is only a small component in the tight and exquisite defense system of Diaoyu City.
And Diaoyu City is only one of the fulcrums of the Southern Song Dynasty in the strict and exquisite defense system of Sichuan and Shu...
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >02 From "Sichuan Eight Pillars" to "Fishing alone in the Central Plains"</h1>
The Mongol conquests of the world in the 13th century were unstoppable like a storm. In northern China alone, the Mongols destroyed the Western Liao in 1218, the Western Xia in 1227, and the Jin Dynasty in 1234... All the way up. When in the spring of 1235, when the then Great Mongol Khan Wokoutai launched a campaign against the Song, almost everyone believed that Jiangnan was "weak Song" and could be leveled.
The situation of the Mongol-Song War
As shown in the figure above, the Offensive Route of the Mongolian Army was concentrated in the Huai River Valley on the East Road, the Jingxiang Area on the Middle Road, and the Sichuan Basin on the West Road, which were also known as the "Three Sides" at that time. Judging from the initial situation, the Mongolian army made the most smooth progress in the Sichuan-Shu area, capturing Chengdu in 1236, and then breaking more than 20 cities in a row, taking all the area around northern Sichuan and western Sichuan into its pockets, and the forward once arrived at today's Fengjie in Chongqing, seeing that it was about to break through the gate and go down the river to attack Jianghan.
At the critical moment, Emperor Lizong of Song sent the general Meng Jue into Sichuan to stabilize his position, and then appointed a generation of famous generals Yu Jiu as an envoy to pacify Sichuan, and to serve as a military attendant and governor of Chongqing Prefecture, to oversee Sichuan's civil affairs and military affairs, and also issued an edict:
Yu Ren was responsible for the whole Shu, should be dispatched by the army, and the power was implemented cheaply.
To put it bluntly, the whole of Sichuan I will entrust to Lao Yu you, don't ask for instructions for everything, how to do it, you just look at it...
The famous anti-Mongolian general Yu Jie
The first thing Yu Jie did when he came up was to change the "provincial capital", that is, his Sichuan Pacification Department, from Chengdu in Pingchuan to the mountain city of Chongqing. Moreover, according to the instructions of local masters: "Shukou shaped victory land, Moruo Diaoyu Mountain", Yu Jiu began to vigorously build the diaoyu city fortifications, and at the same time, the walls were cleared, and the nearby prefectures and counties of Hezhou and Shizhao were moved to the diaoyu city.
Yu Jiu also used diaoyu city as a template to vigorously promote the "fortress project" throughout Sichuan, building a strong city with the help of water-shaped mountains, and relocating the administrative offices of various prefectures and counties into it, "building high walls and accumulating grain", forming a complete set of mountain defense systems of mutual solidarity.
For a time, from The Gate of The Gate in the east to Jiading in the west, from the Yangtze River, throughout the Tuojiang, Minjiang, Fujiang, Jialing, Qujiang and other five north-south tributaries, uprooting more than 20 mountain cities.
"Sichuan Eight Pillars" Defense System
Among them, especially Cangxi Dayu City, Tongjiang Dehan City, Jintang Genting City, Guozhou Qingju City, Peng'an Yunshan City, Luzhou Shen arm city, Hezhou Diaoyu City, And Fuzhou White Emperor City, etc. are the most important, which is the famous "Sichuan Eight Pillars" defense system.
Under favorable geographical conditions and reasonable defensive measures, the Song army effectively blocked the strategic intention of the Mongols to quickly seize Sichuan and flank Jingxiang to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty.
If the Mongol army began with a surprise attack on Chengdu in 1236 and was forced to surrender in 1279, the "protracted war" against Mongolia in Sichuan lasted for 43 years. Even from the first time it was besieged by the Mongols in 1243, the anti-Mongolian struggle in Diaoyu City lasted for 36 years, until the fall of Lin'an, three years after the fall of Emperor Gong of Song, the "Song" character banner on Diaoyu City still stood and was known as "Fishing alone in the Central Plains".
What is the secret of a lonely city so strong?
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >03 Diaoyu City Defense Code</h1>
At the beginning of 1259, Möngke traveled from the Mongolian steppe to the Diaoyu City in eastern Sichuan.
In the previous months, the Great Khan had personally marched, and the army had been smooth sailing, successively breaking through the passes of Kuzhu, Changning, Dayu, Yunshan, Qingju, and Daliang, and the "Eight Pillars of Sichuan" had collapsed more than halfway, and the Diaoyu City had been directly exposed to the Mongol front.
At this time, Meng Ge must be satisfied, perhaps he thinks that as long as the tip of his boots is lightly kicked, the defense line of Diaoyu City is about to collapse, and then he can cross Chongqing, out of the Three Gorges, and go down the river to seize the land of Jingxiang and Wuyue, and the destruction of the Song Dynasty is just around the corner.
However, if there had been a satellite map at that time, the Mongols would have taken a breath of cool air —
Schematic diagram of the confluence of the three rivers in Diaoyu City
The Hechuan District of Chongqing City, where the Diaoyu City is located, can be called the key to the east of Sichuan, where the three major rivers of Jialing River, Fu River and Qu River converge, and its rugged and majestic nature is rare in the world.
It is true that the "confluence of the three rivers" is not a miracle, like the confluence of the three rivers of Fujiang, Anchang and Furongxi in Mianyang, Sichuan (as shown in the figure below), and ningbo in Zhejiang province has the confluence of the Fenghua River, the Yuyao River, the Yongjiang River, and so on, but these so-called "three rivers estuary" are in the plain area, the water flow is gentle, the scenery is beautiful, but there is no danger.
Sanjiangkou, Mianyang, Sichuan: the mountains are gentle and the scenery is beautiful
On the other hand, the confluence of the three rivers under the Diaoyu City, the mountains and rivers, the cliffs and high waves, the Diaoyu City stands on the Diaoyu Mountain between the three rivers, and the other side is backed by heavy mountains, which is definitely a natural danger that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The Local Chronicle of Hezhou says this:
The mountain is high... Impressive.
Its southeast, north and south sides are surrounded by rivers, all of which are cliffs and cliffs, which are steeply blocked.
Rao was so, in 1254, Yu Jiu's general Wang Jian, or requisitioned five counties in the Hezhou region, a total of more than 170,000 people, took several months, and continued to build on the basis of the predecessors, by the time of the arrival of Meng Ge's army, diaoyu City was already a copper wall, Xiongguan was in charge.
After the addition of the Diaoyu City, it is divided into two parts: inside and outside. The outer city is connected with the cliffs of Diaoyu Mountain, the city wall is made of strips of stone, the upper part is cleverly concave and convex, the concave part is used for observation, and there is a square shooting hole in the middle of the convex part, and the fort can also be placed. In the city wall, there is also a special structure: pillar holes, with horizontal holes and diagonal holes, used to insert wooden columns. Wood is more resilient than stone, inserted in the stone wall, played the role of steel in concrete, is conducive to strengthening the city wall, and after the long wooden column is inserted, it can also be 1-2 meters higher than the city wall, which can slow down the enemy's arrows and stone cannons.
Cliffs outside fishing city
What is more advantageous is that the eastern Sichuan region has abundant water, there are many natural springs and ponds on the Diaoyu Mountain, and there are as many as 14 large and small "Tianchi" in the ancient fishing city. Like the Qisheng Gate, which is the west gate of the ancient city, inside the door is a "Tianchi" of more than 20,000 square meters (as shown in the following figure). Until the Republic of China period, there was still "spring water, drought is not dry, the pond fish turtles can be raised in the net." "Coupled with the more than 90 wells in the city, there is no problem in drinking irrigation." It is no wonder that when the city was besieged for a long time, the defenders had to throw out two dozen pounds of fresh fish and dozens of noodle cakes to show that the military supplies were sufficient and to fight a psychological war with the Mongolian army.
Perspective view of Diaoyu City
But the question is, you can hold on, but after all, the sneak attack failed, how did Möngke Khan die?
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >04 God Whip Fishing City</h1>
Liu Cixin said categorically in "The Three-Body Problem":
Don't be arrogant, weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival, arrogance is.
In the same way, ignorance of the situation inside and outside diaoyu city is not the cause of Möngke's death, but arrogance.
As early as the beginning of 1259, more than 200,000 Mongol troops surrounded diaoyu city and launched a fierce attack on 7 city gates, but with little success.
Ruins of the Diaoyu City Wall
Siege warfare is not a tug-of-war, the number of people may not be large, the attack surface is so wide, no matter how many people can not be unfolded, the rear row can only dry eyes. The Mongols are best at riding and shooting tactics, divided into combined attacks, luring the enemy to go deeper, and large roundabouts, here it becomes a foot attack under the cliffs, thousands of troops and horses, but also in vain.
When the attack could not be carried out for a long time, the general Shu Suoli proposed that only a small number of troops should be left behind, and that the main force should quickly advance along the Yangtze River by land and water, take Chongqing, attack Chuzhou, go out of the Three Gorges to meet Kublai Khan's division, encircle Xiangyang, and then capture Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Strategically, Diaoyu City is a node in the defense system of Sichuan Mountain City, although it is probably the most important point, but it was already an isolated city at that time, like the last "nail household" in the demolition project, which can be completely bypassed. Whether Diaoyu City falls or not, the symbolic significance is actually far greater than the actual significance.
Today, it seems that the advice of the magic speed is correct.
Möngke, then The Great Khan of Mongolia
However, as a "whip of God" who had participated in the "Firstborn West Expedition", the Battle of Jin, and swept through Europe and Asia, Möngke arrogantly rejected this proposal and continued to organize sieges "one by one".
In April of that year, more than 20 days of torrential rain fell in the Hezhou area, allowing the defenders of Diaoyu City to recuperate, but the Mongolian army was suffering in flash floods and mud. By the beginning of May, the weather was clearer and warmer, and the humid and hot climate of the basin began to show its claws, teasing this northern army, and Wang Jian came out of the secret passage at night and sneaked into the Khan camp, which was during this period. By the scorching summer season of the year, the siege had been fought for more than half a year, and no progress had been made at all, and the epidemic in the Mongol army was serious, the non-war attrition was serious, and the morale had fallen to the bottom early.
On August 11 of that year, the Great Khan Möngke had to personally go into battle, ascending a high ground in the forward position and directing the final offensive battle. On this day, an unknown pawn at the head of the city fired a shot at him. According to History, when the Mongol Khan was "shaken by the gun wind and became ill", the Mongol army quickly retreated, and Möngke died soon after.
Ruins of the ancient Diaoyu City in present-day Hechuan District, Chongqing
Of course, there are also different records of this in the history books, there are also theories of dysentery and death of middle strata, but in any case, Möngke is an unnatural death that is unexpected, which is beyond doubt. Judging from the fact that he did not have time to appoint an heir before his death, It is more likely that Möngke was seriously injured and unconscious under the Diaoyu City, and it is more likely that he will die a few days later.
The nameless small city of Diaoyu City, after this battle, became the world-famous "Mecca City of the East" and "God's Whip".
The nobody didn't know that if he shot down, the entire Eurasian continent, the ancient history of the whole world, would be turned around...
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" >05 Projectile Land changes the world</h1>
In March 1259, just as the Diaoyu City was under siege by Möngke, the famous City of Damascus in West Asia was also besieged by Möngke's brother Hulagu. After 16 days, the diaoyu city was alive, Damascus, which was known as impregnable, had fallen, and the Syrian Ayyubid dynasty, with more than 100,000 troops, was destroyed. Together with the previous Murray states and the Arab Abbasid dynasty, Hulagu had conquered all of Western Asia.
By 1260, from the Indus To the Mediterranean, all the Islamic caliphs and sultans had disappeared from the human world, and the World's Islamic civilization only retained a corner of Egypt and North Africa.
The Mongol Expedition led by three generations of Great Khans
In Europe, Pope Gregory IX exclaimed that the Mongols were God's "whip of punishment", and later Innocent IV sent a mission to the Mongol world, eager to show the goodwill of Christendom... Everyone trembled, waiting for the Mongols' "second boot" to land.
At this moment, the news of Möngke's death came, and Hulagu quickly led a large army to retreat eastward, preparing to participate in the Kuritai Assembly to elect a new Khan, leaving only the general timidly without spending a mixed army of less than 20,000 people, and ordering him to march west into Africa and destroy the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt. The cowardly division was defeated by the Mamluk cavalry at the ensuing Battle of Ainjaru, and the Mongols, far from setting foot on the African continent, lost Syria forever.
Hulagu Khan of the Ilkhanate
After that, the Mongol Empire fell into division and infighting.
The Mamluk dynasty of Egypt united with the Khanate of Chincha in Eastern Europe and attacked hulagu's Ilkhanate from north to south;
Möngke's two younger brothers, Kublai Khan and Ali Buge, fought fiercely for more than four years for the Mongol mainland and the Han chinese in the Central Plains;
The descendants of Wokoutai, Haidu, rebelled against Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty for 33 years;
Haidu united with Chincha Khan and attacked the Chagatai Khanate from east to west;
Chagatai Khan Bala expedition to the Ilkhanate...
It's all messed up.
The four great Mongol khanates were mired in division and infighting
Möngke Khan was the last leader within the Mongol Empire to be generally recognized by all branches and could give orders throughout the empire, he died suddenly, and there was no successor, the Mongol Empire was leaderless, and returned to the situation of infighting and war before Genghis Khan, and the Mongol conquest of the world came to an abrupt end.
The Europeans seized the opportunity and took the lead in eating the dividends brought by Mongolia's "globalization", and more than a hundred years later, the far-reaching "Renaissance" broke out and sailed away. For more information here, please refer to humble works:
After the wild ride faded: the brutal "Mongol Expedition to the West" vigorously promoted the process of European civilization
And all this may be the result of the cannon of the nameless pawn on the Diaoyu Mountain.
【End】
If you read history, you will know: how many things have happened in ancient and modern times? There is no big deal with a wide heart.
The author of this article [Qi Wendao] is a signed author of toutiao number.
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