Chapter 63 Section 4 Boundary Fortification

The Song army divided into five groups and marched in a large scale to crusade against Xixia, but they were defeated and defeated.The Song army attributed the failure to the lack of food supply. Such an explanation was obviously a shirk, which annoyed Song Shenzong and ordered the courtiers to sum up the reasons for the failure.So, where did the Song Army lose in this five-way attack on Xia? At that time, the government and the opposition reached a consensus that the main reason for the defeat of the army this time was improper strategic deployment.The soldiers were divided into five groups, not subordinate to each other, and were defeated by the Xia army. The overall superiority in the number of troops turned into a disadvantage, while Xixia was just the opposite. The overall disadvantage was transformed into a local advantage, so the Song army was defeated.

Another point is that although the army is divided into five groups, if they are all commanded by capable generals, it will not be so miserable.However, it is not human to choose a general, two father-in-laws, a foreign relative, and a braggart, just one can fight, and there are many constraints, so that he was defeated. At the beginning, when Emperor Shenzong planned to appoint Grand Duke Wang and Grand Duke Li as commanders-in-chief, some ministers objected: "If eunuchs are sent to conquer the country, who are willing to use it?" If there is no commander in chief, success will be achieved, and the army will be in chaos." ("Continued Zizhi Tongjian Changbian" Volume 313) For such a major event as fighting an enemy country, if you let eunuchs lead the army, which one has the head and face, reads and recognizes Literally, are you willing to serve under the eunuch?This is really not authentic.Now there are five armies in the army, without a prestigious commander, even if we win this battle, the soldiers will still make trouble.For example, what if they want to argue about wages?No one can hold back, you count on two grand dukes and one uncle, can they hold the stage?The emperor didn't listen, so he used two father-in-laws and one uncle. As a result, this western expedition was superficially beautiful, and the five-way expedition against Xia, except for the serious battle between the uncle Guo and General Liu, the remaining three The road is basically all dragged down.Hundreds of thousands of troops fled back for a fraction, which was like a farce.

After the failure of the Five Routes to conquer Xia, Emperor Shenzong realized one thing: "I am too shallow to know people, and I can't try to be a general. When Tianxi can take advantage of it, I will wipe out a feud for my ancestors, and use my shamelessness." (Volume 323 of "Continued Zizhi Tongjian Changbian") My career is too shallow, I don't have much political experience, and I don't know people, especially I don't know which general can fight.Seeing that Xixia was so weak, I thought it was a god-given opportunity, and wanted to eliminate a feud for my ancestors, so I felt very shameless, and I was really embarrassed.The emperor admitting his mistakes is admitting his mistakes. After such a big defeat, according to common sense, it is best to rest and recuperate, and stop doing such things.Recruit the fleeing soldiers, comfort the bereaved relatives, provide pensions and blond hair to boost morale, repair the dilapidated fortresses, replenish the lost food and grass, and wait for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years before it is too late.But the emperor doesn't think so. I admit that I was wrong. Has there been such a wise monarch since ancient times?I must bring back this face. I must not say that if I lose this battle, I will lose. I have to win a battle and let my subjects see that it's not that I can't fight, it's just that I employ people improperly.

So Emperor Shenzong asked the generals on the front line, what do you think can win the battle?But the generals he asked for advice were basically the group of people who returned from the failure of the Western Expedition.This group of people want to please the emperor, choose what the emperor likes to hear, the most important thing is to choose themselves cleanly, I have to tell the emperor, it's not that we don't know how to fight.Eunuch Li first told the emperor that it wasn't that I, Li Xian, didn't know how to fight, it was because we had no base, and we would suffer losses if we penetrated into the Xixia border.Therefore, he suggested that the court send out another army.This time we sent troops, we learned our lesson, and went all the way, clenching our fists, concentrating our main force on the way, dispatching troops from Zhen Rong Army, and going straight to Mingsha City (now Zhongning County, Ningxia) as a base for the attack.In this way, Lingzhou can be captured and thieves can be destroyed, and the enemy will definitely be wiped out in one fell swoop.After hearing what Grandpa Li said, the emperor thought it made sense.

When Zhong Er saw that Eunuch Li had given the emperor a letter, the emperor thought it made sense, and thought, ouch, I can't be inferior to Eunuch Li.He told the court that I disagree with Li Xian's opinion, and I advocate the management of the Hengshan area.At that time, Shen Kuo, the magistrate of Yanzhou, was the author of "Mengxi Bi Tan", and he also went to the court to suggest building a city to cut off Hengshan and cut off the way for the Xia people to cross the desert to invade. The memorials of Zhong Er and Shen Kuo were similar in purpose, so the emperor did not accept Grand Duke Li’s proposition, but listened to the suggestions of Zhong Er and Shen Kuo, and decided to build a city in the border area, cut off Hengshan, and block the invasion of Xixia. Lu, fight Xixia again, and have a showdown.As soon as the Song army built the city, the Empress Dowager Liang led an army to seize the city, and the two sides launched a more tragic battle.