lu wenhuan sent a messenger to emperor duzong, to request immediate reinforcements to defend xiangyang. the messenger successfully got by the yuan forts and reached the emperor but upon hearing the effectiveness of these new trebuchets, the emperor considered xiangyang lost and did not send reinforcements. the decisive battle of xiangyang was fought in 1274 when the mongols succeeded in capturing and destroying the last song stronghold. the loss of xiangyang sealed the fate of the song dynasty and the news of its capture was deliberately hidden from emperor duzong by jia sidao.