From the sixth year of the Southern Song Dynasty to the first year of Kaiqing (8th to 9th year of the Mongol Möngke Khan, 1258-1259), during the Battle of Möngke against the Song Dynasty, the Song general Wang Jian and his deputy General Zhang Jue defended diaoyu city (in present-day Diaoyu Mountain, hechuan, Sichuan) against the famous fortress defense of the Mongol army. In 1242, Emperor Lizong of Song sent Yu Jiu, who had achieved great success in the Two Huai Wars against The Mongols, into the Shu government to reverse the decline of Sichuan and consolidate the upper class. Yu Jie took a series of political, economic and military measures in Sichuan, the most important of which was the creation of a mountain castle defense system.
That is, along the main rivers and main roads of Sichuan, steep mountain passes are selected to build cities and villages, which are scattered and support each other, forming a complete strategic defense system. Diaoyu City is the core of this mountain city defense system and the strongest fortress.
Diaoyu City is located on Diaoyu Mountain, 5 kilometers east of the county seat of Hechuan County, Sichuan Province, and its mountain stands abruptly and has a relative height of about 300 meters. The Jialing River, Qu River and Fu River under the mountain converge, and the south, north and west are surrounded by water, and the terrain is very dangerous. There are mountains and rivers, but also traffic convenience, through the waterway and land road, you can reach all parts of Sichuan. During Peng Daya's tenure as deputy envoy to Sichuan (1239-1240), he ordered Ganyan to build Diaoyu City. In 1243, Yu Jiu adopted the suggestion of the sages Ran Jiu and Ran Pu of Bozhou (present-day Zunyi) and sent the Ran brothers to rebuild Diaoyu City and move the governors of Hezhou and Xingyuan to it. Diaoyu City is divided into inner and outer cities, and the outer city is built on the cliffs, and the city walls are made of stone. The city has large fields and abundant water sources throughout the year, and there are many arable fields in the surrounding foothills. All this has given Diaoyu City the necessary geographical conditions for long-term adherence and the characteristics of relying on natural dangers and being easy to defend and difficult to attack. In 1254, wang Jian, the defender of Hezhou, further improved the city. The people of the Sichuan border area avoided military chaos here, and Diaoyu City became a strong fortress for soldiers to eat.
In 1251, Möngke ascended to the throne of the Great Khan, stabilized the Political Situation in Mongolia, and actively planned the War against the Song Dynasty. Möngke was the eldest son of Genghis Khan's younger son, Tuolei, who led expeditions with Battu and others to many countries in Europe and Asia, and was known for his bravery and good war. In 1252, Möngke Khan ordered his brother Kublai Khan to lead a division to pacify Dali and form a siege against the Southern Song Dynasty. In 1257, Möngke Khan decided to launch a large-scale war against the Song Dynasty. Möngke ordered Kublai Khan to lead an army to attack Ezhou (present-day Wuchang), Tacha'er, Li Xuan, and others to attack lianghuai and divide the Song forces; he also ordered Wuliang Hetai to send troops from Yunnan to the north of Guangxi; Möngke led the main Mongolian army to attack Sichuan. With Sichuan as the main strategic direction of attack, Meng Ge intended to give full play to the characteristics of the Mongol cavalry being longer than land field warfare and shorter than water warfare, capturing Sichuan with the main force, and then going down the east side of the river, meeting with the various roads, and directly attacking the Song capital Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou).
In the autumn of 1258, Meng Ge led an army of 40,000 into Shu, and with the addition of the Mongol army in Shu and the troops recruited from all over the world, the total number of Mongolian troops greatly exceeded 40,000. The Mongol army successively occupied Jianmen Kuzhu Pass, Changning Mountain City, Pengzhou Yunshan City, Langzhou Dayu City, Guang'an Daliang City, etc., and forced it to approach Hezhou. Möngke Khan sent the Song dynasty jin guobao to Diaoyu City to surrender, and was killed by Wang Jian, the defender of Song Hezhou.
On February 2 of the first year of the Song Dynasty (1259), Möngke Khan led his armies from Ji'an Beach across the canal and into Shizi Mountain to encamp. On the third day, Möngke personally supervised the army to fight under the Diaoyu City. On the seventh day, the Mongolian army attacked the city wall. The one-word city wall is also called the horizontal city wall, and its role is to hinder the movement of the enemy outside the city, and at the same time, the defenders inside the city can move through the outer city wall to resist the enemy, and form an angled cross attack point with the outer city wall. Diaoyu City has a one-character wall to the south and north of the city. On the ninth day, the Mongolian army stormed the west gate of the town, Buke. On this day, shi Tianze, the Mongolian host army, also arrived at Diaoyu City to participate in the battle.
In March, the Mongol army attacked Dongxinmen, Qishengmen and Zhenximen Xiaobao, all of which were defeated. From April 3, the heavy thunderstorm lasted for twenty days. After the rain stopped, the Mongolian army focused on attacking the gate on the 22nd of the western month. On the night of the twenty-fourth day, the Mongol army ascended to the outer city and engaged in a fierce battle with the Song army defending the city. The Yuan Shi Xian Zong Ji said that "there were many Song soldiers killed", but the Mongolian army's offensive was eventually repelled by the Song army. In May, the Mongolian army repeatedly attacked the Diaoyu City of Buke. Since Möngke Khan led his army into Shu, the mountain cities and fortresses along the way have been easily successful, and they have not yet encountered a real hard battle. Therefore, after reaching the Diaoyu Mountain, Möngke wanted to take advantage of the pulling of the hammer to attack its city, and although it had been under the fortified city for a long time, he was unwilling to abandon it. Although the Mongol army's siege equipment was very sophisticated, the diaoyu City was on a precarious terrain, making it impossible to play a role. The defenders of Diaoyu City, under the joint command of the main general Wang Jian and the deputy general Zhang Jue, repelled one attack after another by the Mongol army. At the behest of Möngke Khan, Dong Wenwei led his troops to attack the city of Dengzhou Han, and Dong Wenwei encouraged his generals to carry out ladders, flying stones, and walking ruggedly to climb the mountain, and went straight to his city to fight with the Song army, but because of the heavy casualties of his troops, he was forced to retreat. His nephew Dong Shiyuan asked his uncle Dong Wenwei to attack the city, led his troops to the city, and fought with the Song army for a long time, but was finally forced to withdraw due to lack of support.
Diaoyu City could not be attacked for a long time, and Möngke Khan ordered the generals to "discuss the strategy of making progress". Shu Su Kuri believed that it was unfavorable for the Dun army to strengthen the city, and it was better to leave a small number of troops to plague it, and instead used the main force to go east along the Yangtze River and land, and meet with Kublai Khan and other military divisions to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty in one fell swoop. However, the arrogant and conceited generals advocated a strong attack on the city, and instead used the words of speed and speed as a detour. Möngke Khan did not take the advice of Shusukuri and decided to continue the siege. However, in the face of the fishing fortress, the Mongol cavalry, which was known for its mobility and ferocity, could not exert its ability.
In June, the Mongol general Wang Dechen (formerly a subordinate of Jin Chen) led an army to attack the outer city of Majunzhai at night, and Wang Jian led his troops to resist the battle. When the sky was about to dawn, it began to rain, and the Ladder of the Mongol army's siege was broken again and forced to retreat. The Mongol army besieged the city for 5 months and could not get down, Wang Dechen rode to Diaoyu City alone, trying to recruit the defenders in the city, almost hit by the flying stones shot out of the city, Wang Dechen fell ill and died soon after in the Jinyun Mountain Temple. When Möngke heard the news of the death, he sighed as if he had lost his left and right hands. Wang Dechen's death dealt a great mental blow to Möngke Khan, and diaoyu City could not be attacked for a long time, making Möngke Khan overwhelmed.
After the Mongol army attacked Shu on a large scale, the Southern Song Dynasty took a large-scale rescue operation against Sichuan, but the Song army that reinforced Diaoyu City was blocked by the Mongolian army and never reached diaoyu City. Despite this, diaoyu city, which had been besieged for several months, was still well stocked with supplies and the defenders were scrappy. One day, the Southern Song Defenders threw 15 kilograms of fresh fish and more than 100 pieces of steamed noodle cakes to the Mongolian army outside the city, and threw a letter to the Mongolian army, saying that even if they held for another 10 years, the Mongolian army would not be able to capture the Diaoyu City. In contrast, the situation of the Mongolian army outside the city was very bad. The Mongol army had been under the fortified city for a long time, and it was the hot summer season, and the Mongols were originally afraid of the heat and humidity, and they were not satisfied with the water and soil, resulting in the epidemic of heat stroke fever, malaria, cholera and other diseases in the army, and the situation was quite serious. According to the "History of the Yuan", Möngke Khan also fell ill in June, and Rasht's "History" is more explicitly said to have dysentery. Books such as the Travels of Marco Polo and the Ming Wanli Chronicle of Hezhou claim that Möngke Khan was injured. In any case, Möngke Khan could no longer insist on the siege. In July, the Mongol army retreated from Diaoyu City and marched to Wentang Gorge (now North Hot Spring, Chongqing) on Jinjian Mountain, where Möngke Khan died. According to the "History of the Yuan" and the epitaphs and deeds of the Yuan Dynasty, many generals who accompanied Möngke Khan died under Diaoyu City, which can be imagined of the fierceness of the Battle of Diaoyu City and the serious losses of the Mongolian army.
The impact of Möngke Khan's defeat under the Diaoyu City was enormous. First of all, it led to the total collapse of the Mongol war against the Song Dynasty, allowing the Song Zuo to continue for 20 years. The Mongol army attacking Sichuan was forced to withdraw and escort the coffin of Möngke Khan to the north. He led the Eastern Route Army to break through the natural dangers of the Yangtze River and besieged Kublai Khan in Ezhou, and in order to compete with his brother Ali Bu brother for the Khan's position, he did not have to withdraw his army and return to the north. From Yunnan to the north of Guangxi, the Wuliang Hetai Army, all the way to Kejie, has entered the city of Tanzhou (present-day Changsha). Due to Möngke's death, the army, received by a detachment sent by Kublai Khan, also crossed the Yangtze River and returned north. The Mongol armies, the north and the south, basically marched according to the predetermined plan, but were only defeated by the failure of the main offensive battlefield in the west.
Second, it brought the Mongolian army's third western expedition to a standstill and alleviated the threat of Mongol forces to Europe, Asia, Africa and other countries. In 1252, Möngke Khan sent his brother Hulagu to launch the Third Western Expedition, which successively conquered large areas of the Arabian Peninsula such as present-day Iran, Iraq and Syria. Just as Hulagu was preparing to march to Egypt, upon learning of Möngke's death, Hulagu left a small number of troops to continue the campaign, and led a large army to the east. As a result, the Mongol army was defeated by the Egyptian army because it was outnumbered, and the Mongolian army never penetrated into Africa. Mongolia's massive expansion has since gone into a downturn. Therefore, the impact of the Battle of Diaoyu city has far exceeded the scope of China, and it also occupies an important page in the history of the world.
Third, it provided an opportunity for Kublai Khan to take power in Mongolia and had a major impact on the development of Chinese history. Möngke Khan was a Mongolian conservative who continued to pursue traditional policies. This policy, which has a strong Mongolian tribal and western color, is extremely unsuitable for the need to rule the vast Central Plains Han Dynasty. Kublai Khan, on the other hand, was one of the few enlightened men in the Mongol ruling clique who admired Han culture. After Möngke became the Khan, Kublai Khan was put in charge of the Southern Han Dynasty, and he vigorously recruited Han Confucians and vigorously promoted the policy of Sinicization, achieving great results. However, it aroused the suspicion of Möngke Khan and his conservative ministers, and Kublai Khan was deposed and his sinicization policy was forced to be abolished. After Kublai Khan ascended to the throne of the Great Khan, he continued to implement his policy of Sinicization and gradually changed the policy of indiscriminate killing by the Mongolian army, so as to save the economy and culture of Southern China from greater damage. Möngke Khan left his last words, and later captured Diaoyu City and slaughtered the people in the city. Later, Diaoyu City surrendered, but Kublai Khan pardoned his soldiers and civilians. It was precisely because of Kublai Khan's reign that the Mongol Khanate, a frontier power, was transformed into a feudal dynasty that unified China, the Yuan Dynasty, and wrote a heavy mark in Chinese history.
As a typical representative of the mountain city defense system, Diaoyu City fully demonstrated its defensive role in the era of cold weapons, and it became a fortress that was difficult for the Mongol army to conquer. After the defeat of Möngke Khan, Diaoyu City withstood countless attacks by the Mongol army, until the surrender of the defender Wang Likaicheng in 1279, and Diaoyu City fell into the hands of the Mongols. The Ancient Warfare Hall of the Military Museum of the Chinese Revolution specially produced a sand table model of the ancient battlefield of Diaoyu City to show its important position in the history of ancient Chinese warfare.