In October, 1257, Mangu set out for the Sung Empire, leaving government at home to Arik Buga, his brother, with Alemdar as an assistant. In May of the following year he marched to Shen si and fixed his camp near the Liu pan mountains, made famous by the death of his grandfather. In August, three months later, he advanced to Su chuan, his first field of action.
Mangu had adopted an elaborate plan by which Su chuan, Hu kuang and Kiang nan would be attacked simultaneously. He would march against Su chuan with an army in three divisions; a second army, under Kubilai, would lay siege to Wu chang, where Uriang Kadai was to join him after marching directly from Gan nan (Tung king) through the provinces of Kuang si and Kwei chiu. Togachar, son of the Utchugen, was to strike King shan in the province of Kiang nan with a third army.
Niuli with a strong force, preceding the Emperor, moved on Ching tu, where Adaku, a Mongol commander, was besieged by Liu ching, a Sung general, whom Niuli defeated, thus relieving the city. After that he marched forward, but no sooner had he gone than the place was attacked by Pu ko chi, the Su chuan governor. Adaku was killed in the action which followed, and the city was taken by the governor. Niuli turned back then and thrust in his forces between Ching tu and the Sung army outside it. Through lack of provisions the city surrendered a second time, but now to the Mongols, and the Sung army then retreated. Niuli received the submission of many places in that region and the rank of general-in-chief was conferred on him as reward.
Meanwhile the Grand Khan arrived at Han chung and wished greatly to capture Ku chu yai, a fortress twenty leagues west of Pao ning and commanding the road through the mountains. Niuli left at Ching tu a strong garrison and marched to take this mountain stronghold. Chang shi, a Sung general captured recently, was sent in advance to persuade the commandant of Ku chu yai to surrender. Chang shi entered the city, but, instead of persuading the commandant to surrender, or trying to persuade him and then returning to Niuli, he remained in the stronghold. [[329]]
Mangu himself now marched against the place and, overcoming all obstacles, brought his army up to it. After ten days of siege work one gate of the city was surrendered by Chao chung, a traitorous officer of the garrison. The Mongols entered in secret, but there was soon a fierce and keen struggle in the streets, during which Yang li, the commandant, was killed and the garrison scattered. The house of Chao chung, the traitor, was spared in the looting and destruction which followed; he himself was rewarded with a rich robe of honor, and the command of a city. Chang shi, the Sung general who did not, or would not persuade the city to surrender, was captured a second time, and next day the Grand Khan had him quartered, that is, his body was cut lengthwise and crosswise. After this, much of Western Su chuan was subjected. The struggle was stubborn and desperate in some parts; in others there was only indifference, or treason. On February 18, 1259, the Mongol New Year, a great feast was given by Mangu, near the mountain Chung kwe. At this feast Togan, a chief of the Jelairs, declared that South China was dangerous through its climate, and that the Grand Khan should go northward for safety. Baritchi of the Erlats called this advice cowardly, and advised the Grand Khan to remain with his army. These words pleased Mangu, who remained, wishing greatly to capture Ho chiu. Tsin ko pao was sent to the city with a summons, but Wang kian had him slain as a traitor immediately.
Now began the siege of Ho chiu, very famous for stubbornness on both sides. Yang ta yuan, the investing commander of the Mongols, began the action, but Mangu himself arrived soon with the bulk of his forces and took his position in front of this city, which stood between the Kia ling and Fiu Rivers. During March and April a number of assaults were delivered. In May there was a dreadful tempest and rain poured down for three weeks without ceasing. Each side tried to cut off supplies from the other and harass it. After desperate struggles a division of the Sung forces destroyed a bridge of boats built on the Fiu by the Emperor. Over this bridge the besiegers were bearing provisions. A Sung corps, ascending the Kia ling on a thousand barges, was attacked from both banks by the Mongols, a hundred barges were sunk and the rest driven back to Chung king, whence they started.
In June assaults were very frequent, but with no profit to either [[330]]side. One night in July a Mongol general scaled the ramparts with picked warriors and held his position till daybreak. Then, seeing Wang kian, the Sung commander, who was about to begin action again, he shouted: “Wang kian, life is granted to warriors, as well as to citizens; it is better to surrender in season.” Barely had he uttered the words when a stone from a catapult killed him. His men on the ramparts were now left unsupported and fled. This was the last attack made on Ho chiu by the Mongols at that time. Their assaults had been many and resolute, and they had lost thousands of men in them; dysentery was raging, Mangu himself had fallen ill of it, and he resolved now to defer all attacks and blockade the position. Leaving three thousand picked men, he led the rest of his troops to Chung king, which he intended to capture, but twelve days later he died (Aug., 1259) at Tiao yu, a mountain one league from Ho chiu, and to the east of it. The chiefs of the army decided to raise the siege and retire toward the north, taking with them the body of their sovereign. Mangu’s son Assutai conducted the corpse to Mongolia, where it was buried, near the graves of Jinghis and Tului.
Mangu was generous but stern by nature. He often distributed largess freely among his troops, but insisted that they should be held under severe discipline at all times. In the Su chuan campaign he strictly forbade his men to plunder. On learning that Assutai, while out hunting, had destroyed a wheatfield, he reproved him sternly and had several of his companions punished. He carried discipline so far that once, when a soldier disobeyed orders and forcibly took an onion from a peasant, he was put to death immediately. Though tolerant of all religions he was superstitious, and under the influence of shamans, an influence apparently baneful. A story is told of one of Mangu’s wives, who, having given birth to a son, summoned a shaman to read the boy’s horoscope. The man predicted long life, but the child died in a few days. Severely censured by the mother, the shaman for self-protection accused a nurse, recently executed for causing by sorcery the death of a princess. The mother, to avenge the death of her child, had the son and daughter of that nurse killed, the first by a man, the latter by a woman. This so angered Mangu that he imprisoned his wife for seven days, and banished her from his presence for a month. He commanded that the man who killed the boy of the nurse should [[331]]be decapitated and his head hung around the neck of the woman who had killed the girl, then that she should be beaten with blazing firebrands, and put to death.
When Mangu died so unexpectedly, his brothers were far apart. Hulagu was in Syria, Arik Buga was at Kara Kurum, the Mongol capital, and Kubilai, the successor according to the Mongol system, was in China.
Wu chang fu, built along the south bank of the Yang tse directly in front of the Han, must be taken by Kubilai, such was the order which Mangu had given him. In 1258 Kubilai set out for this work from Shang tu, a city which he had founded recently, and which was famed later on as his capital in summer. He advanced slowly, and only in August, 1259, did he halt at the Ju in Honan. He moved thence toward Wu chang fu, and captured strong places near the line of his marching. It was while on this march that he heard of the death of his brother. He made no delay for that reason, however, but crossed the Yang tse in the face of a numerous and active flotilla.