Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 634: Fight to the Death

"We remember this Cao Youwen. Although he was from Gongchang Prefecture, he was praised by the people of Shu as a Shu general and a good man."

Zhu Yuanzhang became more and more satisfied as he looked at the clear marching map on the screen.

If it weren't for the fact that this was not appropriate in Kunning Palace, he would have definitely called someone over to make a detailed copy and send it to Xu Da for his review.

But if he looks at it a few more times now, he should be able to remember it. After all, he had discussed the battle of the Hu Yuan attack on the Song Dynasty with several brothers many times as a reference, and the response of the two sides' armies has already been firmly memorized in his mind.

A look of sorrow appeared on Queen Ma's face:

"Shuzhong was massacred by the Hu Yuan. Chengdu was almost completely destroyed. No one was spared. Yuan Ju, the Yuan official, recorded that 1.4 million people died in Chengdu. It was a horrific disaster."

Emperor Ming was silent for a moment at this number. He wanted to say that the number of 1.4 million was probably a bit distorted, but at least there should be hundreds of thousands. In this case, there is no point in calculating a number, so he turned to talking about the general:

"No wonder the people of Shu still admire Cao Youwen. We in the Ming Dynasty should also praise his loyalty and righteousness."

"What a pity for a good man. If he were born at this time, he would be able to go to Beiping to participate in the Northern Expedition and get the help of our brave generals and military officials of the Ming Dynasty, so that Hu Yuan would know the advantages and disadvantages of us men!"

Queen Ma knew that what her husband said was true. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there had been constant military operations in the northern border.

Three years later, they launched an expedition and won both routes; five years later, they launched an expedition and lost in the north of the Ling Mountains;

This year we launched three campaigns, crossed the Yellow River and climbed the Helan Mountains and returned victoriously.

In view of this, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty seems to be planning to launch a fourth expedition next year, plowing their yards and sweeping their streets. Under such circumstances, he would naturally cherish such brave men who are ambitious enough to fight against the Hu Yuan.

"If we want to praise his loyalty and righteousness, the best thing would be to build a shrine to commemorate him at Jiguanai, the place where he died. When the people of Shu go out of Sichuan, they can see the shrine and will not forget the disaster caused by the Hu Yuan Dynasty." Queen Ma suggested.

Ming Tianzi nodded in approval:

"Let the prefect of Hanzhong handle this matter."

Then he thought of the other two people:
"On the contrary, Zhao Yanna is a person who talks too much and is not up to the task. He should be dismissed!"

"Shi Songzhi deserves to be killed! Emperor Lizong of Song did not listen to him and threatened to return home in the court. How can an official be like this?"

"The Southern Song Dynasty was defeated in the Duanping invasion of Luoyang, but he got all the fame for nothing. What a wicked minister!"

Empress Ma stared at Zhu Yuanzhang until he was completely bewildered. Finally, she chuckled:
"Baba's behavior reminds me of the time when I shouted 'The sun and the moon will shine again in the sky of the Song Dynasty'."

So Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about the title and began to sigh.

The voice said that Song Lizong was worried about the issue of legal legitimacy. He pondered the word and could vaguely understand its meaning, and then he remembered that he had been worried about the same thing in the past.

"The sun and the moon will reopen the sky of the Song Dynasty" is not a new saying. It was originally one of the slogans of the patriots in the former Song Dynasty.

It was normal for Liu Futong and Han Shantong to use it as the slogan of the rebel army later. Zhu Yuanzhang also shouted it at that time. But with the death of Han Lin'er, the issue became a lot more complicated, so he had to avoid it a lot. Every time he thought about it, he felt a headache.

What eased his annoyance was a pair of hands covering his forehead. With his eyes closed, Emperor Ming listened to the Queen's slightly apologetic voice:
"I won't mention this... Besides, my husband's achievements today were not due to Zhao Song's appointment of the throne."

Zhu Yuanzhang perked up a bit, asked the queen to sit back down, and then said calmly:
"With our achievements today, I think even if we go to hell, Zhao Kuangyin won't be able to say anything to blame us."

"That's true." Queen Ma smiled slightly mischievously:
"If the afterlife knew, Song Taizu and Song Taizong would probably still be at loggerheads." "However, your husband may have a chance to ask Song Taizu about his attitude towards this matter."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't understand.

[During the Dinghai Rebellion in 1226, upon hearing the news of the Mongols' arrival, the Sichuan governor abandoned the five states and fled in panic.

Cao Youwen, who had just passed the imperial examination in the same year, was appointed as a professor of the Tianshui Army. He faced difficulties with courage and went into the city alone to organize the defense.

In 1230, the Mongol general Tolui forced his way through Hanzhong for the first time and destroyed it badly.

After watching helplessly as if the Sichuan governor had once again abandoned the five passes like a worn-out shoe.

Cao Youwen, the twelfth-generation grandson of Cao Bin, a founding hero of the Song Dynasty, was heartbroken. He decided to spend all his family wealth to recruit 5,000 volunteers, and tenaciously defended Tianshui again.

By the time the Mongols marched south in 1235, the Lizhou Imperial Guards led by Cao Youwen had become one of the four main forces in Sichuan.

Facing the Mongol attack, the literati of the Southern Song Dynasty continued to perform stably as always.

The governor Zhao Yanna advocated abandoning Mianzhou and retreating to Da'an. After being dissuaded by Mianzhou's prefect Gao Jia, he fled from the battlefield, resulting in the fall of Mianzhou and Gao Jia's death.

The next step was basically Cao Youwen's performance time. He first led his troops in a field battle and defeated the Mongolian army that was pursuing Zhao Yanna, winning the battle of Qingyeyuan.

He then divided his troops into two groups, ordering them to guard Jiguanai and Yangpingguan respectively, while his main force climbed Xiling to command the battle.

He first led his elite cavalry and archery to crush the Mongolian army's morale at Yangping Pass, and then accurately judged that the Mongolian army would definitely turn to attack Jiguanai, so he led his troops to fight, and together with the generals who had stayed in Jiguanai before, they attacked the Mongolian army from both sides, defeated the Mongolian army, pursued them and recaptured Xianren Pass, successfully forcing the Mongols back to outside Shukou.

After suffering a setback in his attack on Sichuan, Kuoduan rested and made a comeback in the autumn of the following year. He took three routes to attack Mianzhou, Xingqing Prefecture and Yinping Pass respectively, focusing on attacking Mianzhou where Cao Youwen was located.

Although the Mongolian army was powerful, Cao Youwen had a clear plan:
The terrain in Sichuan and Shaanxi is complex, and it is difficult for Mongolia to take advantage of its military strength. They can just defend Mianyang Prefecture to the death, cooperate with the Song army in Shukou, and slowly fight with Mongolia. There will definitely be a chance of winning.

However, Shu commander Zhao Yanna did not think so. In one day, he sent seven envoys holding small red cards to urge Cao Youwen to abandon Mianyang Prefecture and go to Shukou for defense.

From today's perspective, Cao Youwen's plan is the best solution given the disparity in troop strength.

Mianyang Prefecture was the location of Wudu during the Three Kingdoms period. It is easy to defend with two passes guarding one plain but difficult to attack. However, Jiguanai at the mouth of Shu is located on the Jinniu Road from Guangyuan to Hanzhong. The terrain is open and the only way to defend here is to get beaten. If you defend for too long, you will lose.

But even so, Cao Youwen still had a way. He ordered his younger brothers Cao Youwan and Cao Youliang to lead the troops to Jiguanai with great fanfare.

Cao Youwen heard that he led 10,000 people to cross the Jialing River at night. When the Mongolian army was fighting fiercely at Jiguanai, he rushed out in the rain and attacked the Mongolian army together with his brother, capturing dozens of Mongolian camps.

The fighting spirit of both sides in this battle was quite amazing. Although the Mongolian army was trapped in both directions and the corpses were ambushed for 20 miles, they still fought to the death with Cao Youwen relying on their large number of soldiers.

The two sides fought to the death for a day and a night, and finally the Mongolian reinforcement Wang Shixian arrived first.

Cao Youwen lamented:
"Is this God's will? I am doomed to die."

After pointing his finger at the sky and cursing, he led his troops in a bloody battle, and he and his brothers Cao Youwan and Cao Youliang all died for their country.

(End of this chapter)