I am Da Song

Chapter 315 Studying the Central Plains
Xixia, it seems that the Central Plains has always regarded him as a tiny country, a tiny place.

Only by comparing horizontally can we know how much background and strength this country has.

The Turks, known as "controlling strings and millions, strong Rongdi, unprecedented in ancient times", had a population of only 300 million at their peak.

The populations of Jurchen and Mongolia were only a few hundred thousand when they rose.Even at the end of the Jin Dynasty, Mongolia had entered the golden age, and the population of Mongolia under the rule of Genghis Khan was only 10 million.

Therefore, in terms of population, Xixia is not only not a small country, but has the potential to dominate the mainland.

In terms of territory, Xixia starts from Ningxia in the east and reaches Guazhou and Shazhou in the west, covering thousands of miles.

If you choose a similar country based on strength, it is more like Goguryeo in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

These two countries are entrenched on both sides of the Central Plains, one east and one west, but Goguryeo's advantage lies in its geographical location.The advantage of Xixia lies in trade.

This country that occupies Shaanxi and Liangzhou not only has the benefits of green salt, but also occupies the Silk Road.

After Song Dynasty incorporated him into the vassal clan system, he quickly accumulated considerable wealth relying on geographical advantages.

The population is 300 million, the territory is vast, and the wealth is substantial.

If the Jin army can defeat Xixia, the significance will not be weaker than that of Han's defeat of Loulan and Tang's defeat of Gaochang.Not only can you harvest vital military and economic centers, but you can also directly collect a lot of wealth and return it to the country.

Zhang Shuye solemnly analyzed to Zhao Huan: "Xixia is not only a vassal of our court, but also very good at using this relationship diplomatically."

"When the Liao Dynasty was still in existence, the Xixia Dynasty was between our dynasty and the Liao Dynasty. At that time, Xixia plundered the border of the Liao Kingdom, lured the party members in the Liao Kingdom to rebel, and fought against the Liao Kingdom three times. Thousands of people. At this time, Xixia will present a table to our court and proclaim our ministers."

"And if there is a quarrel with our dynasty, Xixia will rebel and submit to the Liao Dynasty. Our dynasty has attacked Xixia several times. At critical times, the Liao Kingdom has intervened to contain it."

"When the Liao Dynasty was still in existence, our dynasty had to station hundreds of thousands of troops in Hebei every year. The country was fighting against Xixia with one hand tied. This is the result of Xixia diplomacy."

Zhao Huan nodded. It is wise for this country to persist for nearly a hundred years under the repeated attacks of Song and Liao.

Especially on the battlefield, they also performed very well. After all, the cavalry of the Song Army is not good enough to fight the battle of annihilation, but the cavalry of the Liao Kingdom can always do it.

However, the Liao Kingdom's three offensives also resulted in more defeats than victories, and Liao Xingzong's underwear was almost stripped off in the battle of Liao Xingzong.The emperor's personal conquest, the 10,000+ army was wiped out, and Liao Xingzong only escaped.

Now that the Liao Dynasty has been destroyed, Xixia is still supporting it, and continues to talk and laugh with the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, between Song, Jin, and Xixia, Xixia will definitely use diplomatic means again.Involve Da Song in this war between Jin and Xixia.

After listening to Zhang Shuye's analysis, Zhao Huan asked: "The combat effectiveness of Xixia is remarkable. Can the Jin Kingdom defeat Xixia? If Xixia asks for help, should we send troops?"

The first premise of all this is how the Privy Council, as the highest authority in charge of military defense in the Song Dynasty, evaluates the direction of this war.

The Jurchens with internal and external troubles, and a party member who is brave and good at fighting, who will win?

And how should Song Dynasty respond in order to obtain the greatest benefit in this war involving the two major countries in East Asia?
Zhang Shuye immediately said: "Officials, the Privy Council can immediately make a judgment on the military strength of the army. Xixia will definitely not be able to stop the Jin army!"

"Huh?" This point of view is quite different from Zhao Huan's. Since Jingkang, the Jin Army's record has not been very good.

Because he met one of the four most outstanding military gods in the Central Plains since 5000 years ago, Jin Jun felt only despair when facing Yue Fei.

This kind of despair is even more gloomy and powerless than the opponents of Han Xin and Li Jing.

Because the opponents of Han Xin and Li Jing still have advantages in terms of military strength.In many cases, Han Xin and Li Jing had to attack the crowd with less and rely on military tactics and military strategy to win.

But Yue Fei is different, he is now more like an enhanced version of Bai Qi.Regardless of national strength, military size, and military equipment technology, Song Dynasty has an absolute advantage over the surrounding countries.

There is only one thing that limits Yue Fei's performance, and that is the logistics supply ability of this era.

Otherwise, Yue Fei could easily command the 30 well-trained and well-armored Song Army, fight thousands of miles, and wipe out everything.

When Wude in the Central Plains was the most prosperous, it was fine if the Jin army could not win, but the Jin army did not have a very good record in attacking Mongolia and Xiliao.Although they won a complete victory, but in the end when the team returned to the court and crossed thousands of miles of desert, less than one out of ten survived from the corvees, mules and horses.

I didn't expect the Privy Council to be so optimistic about Jin Jun.

Zhang Shuye explained: "Only in terms of military affairs, the gap between Xixia and Jin is huge. It's even like a battle between the armies of two eras."

It must be admitted that in the era of cold weapons, military tactics and military theory will also improve over time.

Zhao Huan also agreed with this point, but asked curiously: "Where is it reflected? Where did the Jurchen perform so that the Privy Council gave such a high evaluation?"

Zhang Shuye analyzed: "As we all know, the Jin people have four chiefs called cavalry, fortitude, heavy armor, and bows and arrows."

"But it is difficult for ordinary people to understand how effective these four advantages can be on the battlefield. Take bows and arrows as an example, the Jin army can completely do it like I am facing the army, marching forward, with strict military discipline, until fifty steps I just shot the arrow."

"Fifty-step volley, with the current military discipline of the armies of various countries, can instantly severely damage the armies of various countries and destroy their morale."

"If Xixia and the Kingdom of Jin fight in formation, the Jin army will be able to defeat the main force of Xixia by cross-shooting bows and arrows, and then the cavalry will cover up and kill them. It will definitely defeat the Xixia army and throw away their armor and armor."

Zhao Huan nodded approvingly. The modern army in the west lined up to shoot, and the competition is strict military discipline.Whichever side can line up and shoot at a closer distance will have a higher winning rate.

With the military discipline of the Jin army, advance to the front of the Xixia army formation and shoot a volley of fifty steps. The chaotic army formation of Xixia will definitely not be able to stop it.

Shooting on the spot does not have the advantage, and Xixia takes the initiative to attack, which is even more self-defeating.If their only cavalry advantage meets the tough golden army and powerful iron cavalry, it is very likely that the meat bun will beat the dog, and they will never return.

Zhao Huan asked: "Since Xixia's military is not superior, what does the Privy Council think are the variables in the war between Jin and Xia?"

Zhang Shuye said firmly: "Yu Xixia is using our dynasty as a teacher to learn from the Central Plains!"

"This is Xixia's most powerful weapon against the Kingdom of Jin."

"It's also Jin Guo's greatest confidence in launching this war!"

(End of this chapter)