History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1033: Preview of the Chanyuan Alliance (Part )

When they learned that the Liao Kingdom was going to invade the south, the obedient Jurchens requested to serve the country and were willing to send troops to accompany the country, and Empress Dowager Xiao approved her request.

Yelu Xiuguo was appointed as the vanguard commander to open the way for the Liao army. During this period, Empress Xiao reviewed the Liao army's logistics troops (baggage and armor), and also sent Liao troops to destroy mulberry trees in Song territory (all the troops left in the southern border mulberry fruit). This shows that the Liao army at this time had long since broken away from the inherent impression of the Han people on them, and also attached great importance to the logistics of the troops. While ensuring their own logistics, they also had to attack the enemy's endurance.

At the beginning of the war, the Liao army lost in Taizhou because the main general fled in the battle. Then the Liao army turned the tables in Wangdu and defeated a vanguard of the Song army. These were just appetizers. Judging from the casualties of both sides, it was most likely an encounter between patrol troops.

The decisive battle between the main forces of both sides took place in a place called Junzi Pavilion. It was the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, and the weather was freezing on the day of the decisive battle. The Song army soldiers were too cold to pull the bowstrings. The mainstream view was that the main weapon that the Song army could use to fight against the Liao cavalry with infantry was the strong bow and crossbow. The tactic was to surround the baggage wagons in a circle as a cover to block the cavalry charge, and then the infantry would shoot with bows and crossbows in the circle.

In addition to the failure of the only effective weapon against cavalry, the Liao Kingdom's intelligence war also put the Song army into a very passive position. For example, the main general of the Song army, He Lingtu, was deceived to Myanmar...northern Liao because he did not install anti-fraud software.

Even so, the Song army soldiers who were defending their country still fought fiercely with the invaders regardless of their own safety. While paying a heavy price themselves, they also killed two senior generals of the Liao army - the king's brother-in-law Xiangyin Taliege and the palace envoy Xiao Dali.

The Liao army collected the remains of the Song army soldiers and built a Jingguan, and then continued to advance.

Under the fierce attack of the Liao army, Yang Tuancheng opened the city and surrendered, and Empress Dowager Xiao ordered a ban on looting and did not harm the "obedient people"; Fengmu Town insisted on resistance, and after it was conquered, Empress Dowager Xiao "allowed large numbers of prisoners to be looted"; Xingzhou surrendered; Shenzhou resisted, so after it was conquered, Empress Dowager Xiao ordered "the execution of the defending generals and below", and at the same time allowed the soldiers to loot.

The following month, that is, the first month of 987, the Liao army captured Shucheng County and allowed its soldiers to plunder; they sent envoys to persuade Wen'an County to surrender, but Wen'an County refused to surrender. So after the county was conquered, Empress Dowager Xiao ordered "to kill all the able-bodied men and capture the old and young."

The Liao army also launched two attacks in the south, but the western front was not as good as the eastern front, so I didn't mention it. Of course, the people of the Central Plains have to help them add:
The Liao army attacked Daizhou on the western front, and the Song army was defeated and held its ground. The then governor Zhang Qixian volunteered to select a 2,000-strong death squad, risking their lives to fight one against a hundred, forcing the Liao army to retreat slightly. However, the Liao army accidentally captured a messenger from the Song army on the way back and learned a piece of news: Zhang Qixian asked Pan Mei for help, and Pan Mei agreed to send troops to support him.

However, it was still the same recipe, and the same familiar taste. Pan Mei had just led the reinforcements 40 miles when he received an urgent order from Zhao Guangyi, which said that the king's army had suffered a "defeat at Junzi Pavilion" on the battlefield in Hebei, and ordered Pan Mei to withdraw his troops and not to fight. The messenger informed Zhang Qixian of the news, and Daizhou could only rely on himself.

The generals looked solemn, but Zhang Qixian smiled and said, "The enemy only knows that Pan Mei is coming, but they don't know that Pan Mei is not coming. It's just the right time to use the strategy of confusing the enemy and repel the enemy." To prevent the news from leaking out, Zhang Qixian temporarily placed the messenger in a secret room, and then selected 200 death squads to leave the city at night.

Two hundred brave warriors, with their mouths sealed and their horses' hooves wrapped, quietly detoured into the dense forest thirty miles southwest of the city under the cover of night, planted flags and lit firewood.

The Liao army saw fireworks in the forest and vaguely saw flags fluttering. They were horrified and thought that Pan Mei's reinforcements had arrived, so they retreated urgently. However, Zhang Qixian had already prepared 2,000 ambushes for them. The ambushes were set off everywhere, and the Liao army was immediately defeated. The Song army captured and killed countless people and seized a large amount of spoils.

The Liao army was able to run rampant in Hebei, smashing, looting and burning, because the Song army was weak. The Song people themselves concluded that "there were less than 10,000 wounded soldiers along the border" at that time, and the regular army could not be effectively supplemented, so they had to recruit ordinary people to fill the number. These temporary militias had never received systematic military training and had no actual combat experience, so the Liao army was able to advance straight into Hebei.

But why were there less than 10,000 "wounded soldiers along the border"? Of course, all this can be attributed to the "Yongxi Northern Expedition" half a year ago.

Seeing the reports coming in one after another from Hebei, Zhao Guangyi became furious and prepared for a large-scale Northern Expedition. He sent people to Henan and Hebei provinces to recruit civilians into the army. Among them, the policy of more than 40 counties in Henan was to provide one soldier for every eight men.

Li Weiqing, the transport envoy of Jingdong, exclaimed that this was a move that would lead to the destruction of the country, and he submitted three memorials to strongly advise against it; Prime Minister Li Fang and others also successively advised against it, saying that the people in the interior were different from those in the border areas, and they were "accustomed to farming and mulberry, and had no idea of ​​fighting". Once the court "Khan recruited soldiers", it would inevitably cause violent social unrest. Many people would become refugees to avoid military service, and then become bandits. In this way, not only would it not add troops to the court, but it would require soldiers to suppress it; the prince Zhao Yuanxi also submitted a memorial to express his opposition to recruiting civilians as soldiers. Other senior officials also submitted memorials to advise against it, and the core idea was to oppose the national mobilization order.

Zhao Guangyi was past the age of impulsiveness, so he listened to everyone's advice and gave up the wrong idea of ​​gamble everything. Pan Mei, Tian Chongjin and others were summoned to the court to listen to the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Zhao Guangyi gave them a military lesson. The textbook was "The Complete Battle Plan for the Suppression of the Rong Army" written by the Emperor. Zhao Guangyi personally served as the lecturer and told Pan Mei, Tian Chongjin, Cui Han and others the essence of the "Five Talents and Ten Mistakes" of being a general. The generals liked, collected and forwarded it.

In fact, whenever the word "perfect" appears, you know how unreliable it is. Warfare is a tricky business. Not to mention the impact of non-military factors such as politics, diplomacy, economy and even weather on the battlefield, from a military perspective, any local battlefield is full of countless variables. No military strategist dares to say that he has a panacea for all diseases or a perfect battle plan that will win every battle. The most important thing in the military is to be flexible and the most taboo is to follow the rules.

Starting from Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, the practice of "personally imparting strategies" became popular in the Song Dynasty. Before the army went out to war, the emperor gave the highest instructions and the generals acted accordingly.

Zhao Kuangyin spent his whole life in the military, and his views were quite experienced, and Zhao Guangyi barely met the passing line, but the later emperors of the Song Dynasty almost all grew up in the deep palace, and rarely witnessed wars with their own eyes. Even if they did, they just followed Zhao Guangyi to gain experience. In the spirit of "you haven't eaten pork, but you haven't seen pigs run", it is outrageous to let them sit in the Bianzhou Palace and remotely command the battlefield thousands of miles away. Therefore, later generations believe that this is also one of the reasons for the decline of the combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty army.

At the end of the year, news spread along the Hebei border that the Liao army was about to invade further south, and local governments urgently repaired their city defenses and entered a state of war readiness, causing panic among the people. It is said that the border guards captured more than 80 Liao spies in one day, all of which confirmed that the Liao army was about to make a big move.

Zhao Guangyi put the issue of personal expedition on the agenda, which was just what he wanted. However, Liu Kai, the general of the frontier defense, wrote a memorial to the emperor, saying that the Liao army would not come; Wang Sizong, the transport commissioner of the eastern route of Hebei, also wrote a memorial to the emperor, saying that the Liao army would not come.

Liu Kai had a deep understanding of the Liao Kingdom and almost instigated a general of the Liao Kingdom to rebel. There was a Liao general named Bai Wande. The history books only said that he was "a noble general of the Liao Kingdom" with more than 700 accounts under his command. His ancestral home was Zhenzhou. There was a local hero in the Song Dynasty who was his relative. This hero often visited Bai Wande's army. Liu Kai used this as a breakthrough point to persuade Bai Wande to take Youzhou back to the Song Dynasty and promised to give him a land and a title of nobility after the matter was accomplished. Bai Wande was moved and agreed to the conditions. He sent people to discuss the specific time of the rebellion. At this critical moment, Liu Kai was ordered to move to Quanzhou, and the matter was left unresolved.

After interrogation, it turned out to be another war rumor spread by the Liao army.

At the same time, Li Jiqian of Xiazhou, who had recently surrendered to Liao, continued to stir up trouble in the west, tying up the energy of the Song Dynasty. If the Song Dynasty focused on defending against Liao, the western front would be passive, and Xiazhou would become stronger; if it focused on the westward expedition, it would leave an opportunity for Liao to take advantage of.

The international situation was extremely unfavorable to the Song Dynasty after the "Yongxi Northern Expedition". What was the internal situation of the Song Dynasty like?
At that time, Zhao Pu entered the court again. At the suggestion of the prince Zhao Yuanxi, Zhao Guangyi re-employed Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu helped Zhao Guangyi formulate the western line policy - to control the barbarians with the barbarians. In simple terms, it was to release Li Jiqian's brother, Li Jibang, back to Xiazhou and let them fight against each other.

Affected by the power struggle in Xiazhou, Li Jibang was actually a political refugee under the protection of the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty sent him back to Xiazhou, which was an old routine. Whether it was the Later Tang court taking in Yelu Bei or the Liao Kingdom taking in Liu Jiwen of the Northern Han Dynasty, it was the same routine. However, the times were different, and Zhao Pu's method was questioned, and many people in the court raised objections.

Zhao Pu can be called a legendary figure. He has the reputation of "ruling the world with half of the Analects of Confucius". He was the behind-the-scenes director of major productions such as "The Chenqiao Mutiny" and "Releasing Military Power with a Cup of Wine". He made great contributions to the founding and development of the Song Dynasty. He gave many good ideas to Taizu and Taizong in his life and rarely made mistakes. It is generally believed that he only made one mistake in his life - this time.

Zhao Guangyi finally adopted Zhao Pu's suggestion and granted Li Jibang the title of "Xiazhou Dingnan Army Jiedushi" and gave him the surname of the country, "Baozhong". Li Jibang changed his name to "Zhao Baozhong". The emperor and his ministers of the Song Dynasty hoped that the Xiazhou Dangxiang people would fall into a situation of fratricide and brotherly conflict, or that Comrade Zhao Baozhong would serve as the regional agent. However, such a beautiful dream soon turned into a nightmare. This is a later story.

After the demise of the Northern Han Dynasty, which served as a buffer zone, an all-round conflict was bound to break out between the Liao Dynasty, which represented nomadic civilization, and the Song Dynasty, which represented agricultural civilization, in order to confirm international discourse power and divide their respective living spaces.

The "Yongxi Northern Expedition" started off well but ended badly. Neither side tried their best and neither side was convinced by the other. So after that, there was a tug-of-war that lasted for more than a decade, such as the "Battle of Junzi Pavilion" mentioned above. For more than a decade, this scale of probing and friction never stopped until the two countries reached the "Chanyuan Alliance" in 1005, which completely ended the 25-year-long Song-Liao War and won a century of peace for the two countries.

The "Chanyuan Alliance" took place during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song.

In the last few years of Taizong's reign, in addition to the fact that Xiazhou made him extremely proud, he also encountered an unprecedented peasant uprising, which was much larger than the "Heroes of Liangshan" we are familiar with, and even Fang La had to give way to it.

(End of this chapter)