When he had ruined Su chuan in the west Prince Kutan went back to Shen si, and the Chinese returned to their ruins. In 1237 Ching tu was reoccupied by the Chinese, but in 1239 Tagai, Kutan’s assistant, reëntered Su chuan, captured many places, took Ching tu and sacked it a second time. He wished now to enter Hu kuang, the next province, by Kwei chiu, a city on the north bank of the river Yang tse, but Meng kong, the Sung general, had put western Hu kuang into such a good state of defence, that this plan was a failure; he even took Kwei chiu from the Mongols. Meanwhile Prince Kutchu, whose chief camp was at Teng chu in Honan, entered Hu kuang in 1236. To him the commandants of Siang yang fu surrendered the city with immense stores in it. Kutchu took Tsao yang, he took also Li ngan, but died shortly after. Prince Kutchu was beloved greatly by Ogotai, and to him he had destined the Empire. Temutai laid siege now to King chiu, but Meng kong, who was sent by the governor of the province, defeated him at the walls of the city and freed twenty thousand Chinese who were captives. At the end of 1237 Khon Buga, the Mongol prince, captured three cities abandoned by their commandants, and advanced to Hoang chiu on the river Yang tse and besieged the place, but was forced later on to withdraw from it. He laid siege to another large city the year following but failed to take it. In 1238 the Mongol general, Chagan, invested Liu chiu, a city of Kiang nan; a sudden and vigorous sortie forced his withdrawal, and he lost some part of his force while retreating. In 1239 Meng kong gained three victories over the Mongols and captured four cities. In February, 1240, Wang tsie, the Mongol envoy, appeared at the Sung court for the fifth time, with offers of peace which were rejected. Wang tsie died before his mission was ended, and the Sung governor delivered his body to the Mongols. In the beginning of 1240 also a number of Mongol army corps marched by various roads into China. No further mention, however, of fighting is made till after Ogotai’s death the year following.