Mongol Campaigns in Sichuan

Timeline

1. 1240–1241northern edge of the Sichuan Basin · SichuanThe Mongols saw Sichuan as the key breakthrough for striking south against the Song, able to descend the river to threaten Jingxiang and the middle and lower Yangtze. Around 1240 Mongol armies repeatedly invaded Sichuan via Qinlong and Hanzhong, placing heavy pressure on the Song defensive line at Lizhou, Langzhou, and elsewhere.
2. 1241–1246Diaoyu Fortress, Fuzhou · ChongqingAfter Yu Jie became Pacification Commissioner of Sichuan in 1241, he built mountain fortresses at strategic points along the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, using scorched-earth tactics and strongholds to offset Mongol cavalry mobility. Though the Mongols repeatedly broke Song prefectural armies, they could not fully conquer the fortresses scattered in the mountains.
3. 1246–1249Sichuan Circuit · SichuanBy the late 1240s the Mongols controlled some Sichuan prefectures and counties but had failed to destroy the Southern Song's core defensive network in Sichuan. The Sichuan front, the Central Plains, and the Jing-Hu theater constrained one another, making Sichuan the most attritional wing of the Song-Mongol War.