Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 31 Battle of Mikawaguchi, Battle of Haoshui River
Mid to late October.

In order to continue to strengthen his voice, Zhao Xin also began to "participate in politics and discuss government affairs", although he only discussed with his teacher, Yan Shu, in the attic of the Purple Palace.

Zhao Xin asked, "Teacher, have the Western bandits been pacified now?"

Yan Shu also replied, "Not yet. In fact, we lost Fengzhou last month."

Zhao Xin asked, "Where is Fengzhou?"

Yan Shu didn't know what to say to him, so he could only say, "Duke Shou can ask the emperor to take my map of the Song Dynasty. Your teacher doesn't have it."

Zhao Xin nodded, added a new keyword 'map', and said: "Teacher, what do you think is the reason why the Song Dynasty lost? Why can't we win?"

Yan Shu then asked, "Duke Shou, don't you already have the answer?"

Zhao Xin was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Yan Shu behind him and said, "When did I say I have the answer?"

Yan Shu said, "Didn't you say that your teacher, as a Privy Councilor, doesn't know how to fight a war, so it's no wonder that I can't win."

Zhao Xin said, "That's right! Then why didn't Dad fire you?"

"If we replace him with someone who knows how to fight, maybe we can win."

Yan Shu: "..."

Traitor!
How can you say that about your teacher? And you really want the teacher to be dismissed. Your teacher has several people at home, and you have visited him before.

Tell me, if I, your teacher, am dismissed from my position, how will I support my family in the future?
He said intermittently: "Even if it were someone else, he might not be able to win."

Zhao Xin asked, "Why?"

Yan Shu said, "In our Song Dynasty, there has been no war for many years. Many elderly people who have fought in wars are now mostly dead."

"So... it's hard to find someone who can fight these days. And... forget it, let's not talk about it!"

Zhao Xin shook his hand and said, "Go on, what?"

Yan Shu then said, "Besides... this may not be a question of whether or not there will be a war. Lord Shou, do you really want to hear more?"

Zhao Xin said, "Go on."

Yan Shu said: "Even if there is a man who knows military affairs now, he cannot play his role."

Zhao Xin asked: "Why is that?"

Yan Shu: "Because this is not something that can be decided by one person. The strategic policy has already been discussed in the court, and the people sent out to fight can only fight according to the arrangements of the court. Even if the court has really issued a method of fighting, let alone whether this method is right or not, what about the people below?"

“Often they don’t listen.”

Zhao Xin asked, "Why don't they listen?"

Yan Shu replied: "I don't know about your teacher either. You have to ask them, but... it seems that it is impossible to ask them."

Zhao Xin: “Why?”

Yan Shu replied: "Because they have all died in battle, they can no longer speak."

Zhao Xin said, "Teacher, please tell me from beginning to end how this war started! Why did Li Yuanhao want to fight my father?"

These words sound as if Li Yuanhao walked up to them and slapped their official in the face, and then their official wanted to fight back, but was slapped again.

Yan Shu said, "Really? This is probably as long as a piece of cloth."

Zhao Xin also moved his butt and found a comfortable position, then said, "I'll just treat it as a story."

Yan Shu said: "This matter has to start with Li Yuanhao's father Li Deming."

……

It took the entire afternoon, and Yan Shu kept saving and re-saving, before he finally finished telling the story of Li Yuanhao up to now.

In fact, the matter was not very complicated. It was nothing more than that Li Yuanhao's father Li Deming died, and Li Yuanhao himself was an extremely ambitious man. Therefore, Li Yuanhao felt that he could attack the Song Dynasty, and if he was lucky, he might be able to replace it.

But, you know, every time he said something, Shou Guogong would ask why, what, where?
Therefore, every time he had to stop at the critical moment and make additional explanations.

This means that one afternoon is just enough.

As for Zhao Xin, after listening for an afternoon, he finally understood the general idea.

It turns out that the Song Dynasty has already lost two battles.

The first was the Battle of Mikawaguchi, which took place the previous year.

Then the second one was the Battle of Haoshuichuan, which took place this year.

That was about the same time when Zhao Xin had just traveled through time.

As for the entire process of the war... Just listening to it, Zhao Xin felt like, why are all the people in the Song Dynasty fighting this war like fools?

Or……

In fact, he knows nothing about fighting a war. The reason why the Song Dynasty lost the war was not as simple as the generals underestimated the enemy.

Logically speaking, when you hear that an enemy has appeared outside and you want to kill him, you should at least investigate how many soldiers your enemy has, how powerful he is, and what kind of people he has under his command.

Just listening to his teacher's words, I felt like, I don't care how strong the enemy is, and what kind of people are under the enemy's command, it's none of my business. I just clicked the mouse and attacked directly.

After all, we shouldn't overestimate the intelligence of these ancient people.

Or maybe the role I was putting myself in was not quite right, and I didn't really put myself into the shoes of an ancient general who led troops.

For example...

The government has said that you have to a-up. If you don’t a-up, you will die faster!

Could it be because of this reason?
His teacher Yan Shu also specifically mentioned that in fact, the Song army fought very bravely. At least there were only deaths in battle, and no, or very few, surrendered.

That is to say...

There is nothing wrong with the courage of the soldiers, so where is the problem?!
of course!

It cannot be said that all the soldiers of the Song Dynasty became brave and fearless warriors, or that they all became Yue Army soldiers who dared to fight against cavalry.

Those who should have run away certainly did run away a lot.

only……

Alas~ Zhao Xin didn’t know what to say.

Anyway...

After listening to it, I felt that the Song Dynasty was full of loopholes.

From top to bottom, there is a sense of disharmony.

From his father giving orders, to the generals leading the troops to attack, to the military supervisors, to the soldiers, it seemed that there were more or less some problems.

Even his teacher, the Privy Councilor Zhao Xin, might have doubts about his performance.

But now, Zhao Xin also understood that, in fact, his teacher's Privy Councilor, to put it bluntly, is just in charge of personnel transfers, and leading troops to fight is really none of his business.

but……

Even so, as a military institution, the Privy Council will still be responsible for formulating relevant strategies, deploying troops, and issuing military orders when it decides to send troops.

If you yourself don't know how to fight a war, and yet you lead a group of people who are specialized in fighting, wouldn't that be like an amateur leading professionals?
It would be strange if we don’t lose!
That's why Zhao Xin guessed that the Privy Council didn't know how powerful Li Yuanhao was, and the generals leading the troops didn't know how powerful Li Yuanhao was either.

The Privy Council did not conduct any investigation, nor did it tell the generals leading the troops. The generals leading the troops simply arrived at the agreed place at the agreed time according to the Privy Council's selection and the arrangements of the Privy Council and his father, and then fought a decisive battle with the enemy.

As for what you said about how to carry out the specific combat?
He may have a certain amount of freedom to play around, for example, moving the artillery forward twenty centimeters, but this kind of thing can't be taught by the Privy Council or his father, right?
but……

This space for free play seems to be limited to this.

of course!

This is just a simple statement. When it comes to the local level, there will be other officials, such as the General Manager, the Pacifier, the Recruiting Envoy, and so on.

For example, Xia Song, Han Qi, and Fan Zhongyan.

This is the kind of people.

This kind of people made up for the weakness of his teacher Yan Shu, who could not fight.

But the problem is...

Do Xia Song, Han Qi, and Fan Zhongyan know how to fight a war?

Zhao Xin has never studied this. He only knows that Fan Zhongyan wrote "Worry about the world before you worry about yourself, and be happy about the world after you are happy about yourself". Since this poem was widely praised in later generations, Zhao Xin is also quite interested in Fan Zhongyan.

But who knows whether he can fight well or not.

But if he was really capable, he would have been like Yue Fei long ago.

That definitely wouldn't work.

of course!

From his teacher, Zhao Xin at least learned that Fan Zhongyan did not lose as badly as Han Qi.

Then his teacher said that Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi were not on good terms.

hi~
(End of this chapter)