In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

During the Song, Liao, Xixia, Jin, and Mongolian periods, the main cavalry on the battlefield was still heavy cavalry.

For example, the Song people's Jingsai Army, the Liao's Tielin Army, the Xixia's Tieyaozi, the Jin's Tiefutu, and the Mongolian heavy armored cavalry.

However, heavy cavalry is very expensive, and the cost of personnel training and armor equipment is very expensive. Therefore, the number of heavy cavalry deployed between countries is relatively small, and the number of light cavalry is the largest.

So if Liao and Song go to war, facing the powerful number of Liao's light cavalry, the Song army's infantry phalanx can only be a live target.

The problem is that the Song army will not be stupid enough to fight you in the wild.

There are more than 30 important cities on the border of Hebei, and hundreds of other fortresses, military camps, and bunkers, which are densely packed and countless.

The garrisons of more than ten military states on the border, including Zhending Prefecture, Dingzhou, Baozhou, Guangxin Army, Ansu Army, Shun'an Army, Xiongzhou, Mozhou, Baoding Army, Xin'an Army, Yongning Army, Cangzhou, and Baoding Prefecture, have increased from more than 100,000 in the period of Emperor Zhenzong of Song to more than 200,000 now.

The Liao cavalry marched south in large numbers, and encountered the enemy's cities, military camps, fortresses, and bunkers, all of which were tough.

In the past, we could still hold the enemy's city and see if we could attack it by force. Now, people have crossbows for super long distances and crossbows for medium and long distances. We finally rushed to the city and were blown to pieces by grenades.

Therefore, when Liao Xingzong Yelu Zongzhen listened to the analysis of the ministers, he felt very difficult.

The Song Dynasty was like a turtle. Although its counterattack ability was not strong, its defense was too hard. The mouse had no way to pull the turtle. If it was not good, the turtle shell would have thorns and bite back, which would be troublesome.

But no matter what, although the new firearms of the Song Dynasty posed no threat to the active attack on the Liao Dynasty, it also gave the Song Dynasty the confidence to dare to reject the Liao Dynasty. After the easy defeat of Xixia, the emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Zhen, became confident and fearless.

Yelu Zongzhen believed that even if he could not invade the Song Dynasty in the south, he could not let the Song Dynasty continue to increase its confidence, and the necessary military deterrence was still necessary. Therefore, after hesitating again and again, he finally decided to gather troops in Nanjing first and see how the situation would develop.

So in the second half of the second year of Baoyuan, the Liao Dynasty began to gather troops frequently. The spies on the border of the Song Dynasty also obviously noticed this. After inquiring about the movements of the Liao army's gathering, they immediately reported the situation to the court.

The Political System Institute had actually analyzed this situation a long time ago, and Zhao Zhen and his men had already made arrangements and preparations in advance. A large number of food and weapons and equipment began to be transported to Hebei. At the same time, a part of the imperial guards in the capital were transferred with more than 100,000 grenades to prepare for the border defense.

Historically, the Song Dynasty had been fighting in the northwest for several years, with huge expenses and an increasingly empty treasury. At this time, the Liao Kingdom led troops to deter, and Zhao Zhen and his people thought that the national strength could not sustain the two-front war, so they chose the "Qingli Increased Currency" in exchange for the Liao Kingdom to withdraw its troops.

But now, in history, the Song Kingdom had fought with the Western Xia for several years, and the national strength was seriously depleted, so it could not go to war with the Liao Kingdom again. Now it's over at the beginning, and the Song Kingdom has not consumed much at all, so it is naturally fearless.

Secondly, after Zhao Jun came to the Song Dynasty, the national strength has increased, and with the increasingly prosperous industry and commerce, the treasury is now full through the tax revenue, which is more than enough to maintain the two-front war temporarily.

The third and most important point is that Zhao Zhen and his people already knew the history in advance. This means that for the Song-Xia War and the possible Song-Liao War in the future, they have been preparing for more than three years from the third year of Jingyou to the second year of Baoyuan.

The Western Xia also prepared for a long time to attack the Song, but the Song knew that they had prepared for a long time to attack the Song, so they prepared for a long time to counterattack. They calculated without intention and directly beat the Western Xia attack into a rout.

The Liao Kingdom needed temporary preparations, but the Song Kingdom had already been on guard against the Liao Kingdom. In this case, the war preparations of the two sides were completely different.

September.

The Liao Kingdom was still raising food and soldiers, while the northwest side had entered a white-hot stage.

The north wind was howling on the Loess Plateau. It was approaching early winter and everything was silent.

The originally green hills turned yellow, and after the green grass withered, the high slopes full of yellow sand were exposed.

Zhang Kang led thousands of knights and slowly appeared on the hills north of Long'an Sai.

Di Qing, Zhe Jimin, Zhou Mei and other middle-level officers followed behind. All the soldiers had two horses, one horse led the people, and the other horse led the beans.

Because of their excellent performance in the battle of Taoluo Village, almost all the original junior officers became middle-level officers.

Among them, Zhang Kang was promoted to the highest rank. He was praised by Zhao Jun and recommended by Fan Zhongyan. He was promoted to the deputy pacification envoy and the commander of the capital of Fuyan Road. He was already the first general of Fuyan Road.

His previous official position was not low. He was the governor of Yanzhou from the fifth rank, and he was also a Jinshi. It was natural for him to be promoted to the fourth rank now.

At this moment, Zhang Kang looked deep, looked to the north and said: "Everyone, at this time, Qingzhou, Huanzhou, Huaide Army, Zhenrong Army, Deshun Army and Qingtang's Zuo Silu have all been dispatched to create an opportunity for us to attack the rear. In this battle, we must win but not lose. Do you hear me!"

"Yes!"

Everyone shouted.

"Go!"

At a command, Zhang Kang took the lead in galloping on his horse. Tens of thousands of cavalrymen galloped behind him, creating countless dust.

Fan Zhongyan planned a counterattack against Western Xia. He not only mobilized more than 100,000 troops from Fuyan, Huanqing and Jingyuan routes, but also invited the Tibetan leader Zuo Silu to join the expedition.

Zuosiluo was a pro-Song regime and had always had close relations with the Song Dynasty. After Zhao Jun came to power, he proposed a plan to ally with Tubo to contain Xixia. Zhao Zhen specially sent an envoy to Qingtang, not only rewarding Zuosiluo, but also giving him many gifts.

The two sides conducted in-depth exchanges in trade, economy, culture and military at the border. In particular, the Song Dynasty previously prohibited the export of ironware, and sold a lot of ironware to help the development of the Zuosiluo regime.

In this case, Zuosiluo was very grateful for the generosity of the Song Dynasty, so he gave back a lot of horses. And he gladly accepted the proposal to use the currency of the Song Dynasty and include the language and writing of the Song Dynasty in the official language and writing.

The Song Dynasty lacked horses, and the ethnic minorities lacked iron, so both sides took what they needed. In addition, the Song Dynasty began to increase the proportion of trade with Zuosiluo, and for a time the two sides fell into a honeymoon period of relationship.

In fact, Zuosiluo was not unaware that this might cause the Qingtang regime to rely heavily on the Song Dynasty.

But he had no choice.

The Qingtang Zuosiluo regime was actually just a small tribal regime on the border of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It was not strong during the Zuosiluo period, with a total population of only more than 200,000. With all the people serving as soldiers, it had an army of 60,000 to 70,000.

Although there were many people and horses, they were far inferior to the Western Xia in terms of equipment and combat power. Therefore, the Western Xia often wanted to annex them at that time. For example, Li Yuanhao occupied Qingtang in the second year of Jingyou.

If it were not for the resistance of Zuosiluo, coupled with the favorable time, place and people, and the defeat of the Western Xia army in the Battle of Zongge River, I am afraid that Li Yuanhao would have annexed the Qingtang Zuosiluo regime long ago.

Therefore, the weak country and poor people were obviously the problems that Zuosiluo had to face.

After the Song Dynasty united with the Zuosiluo regime, the trade of the Song Dynasty could go to the Western Regions through the Hehuang area, so that the Silk Road trade blocked by the Western Xia could be reopened, and the economic ties between the Song Dynasty and the Jiaosiluo regime could be strengthened.

According to historical records, the Hexi Corridor was cut off by the Western Xia. Zuo Siluo took on the responsibility of restoring and protecting the Sino-Western trade route, reopened the "Ancient Tuyuhun Road" from the Western Regions through Hehuang to the Central Plains, and established international trade markets in Qingtang, Miaochuan, Lingu and other cities, and sent troops to escort caravans from various countries to the border of the Song Dynasty.

In this way, the Sino-Western land transportation that was cut off by the Western Xia was unimpeded in the Hehuang area ruled by Zuo Siluo. Tribute envoys and merchants from various countries in the Western Regions traveled thousands of miles, bypassed Hehuang, and went straight to the capital of the Song Dynasty-Bianjing.

Western wealth entered China in an endless stream, and Chinese culture was continuously imported into the West.

In the process of continuous economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West, Qingtang became an international city at that time, with Hu merchants crowded in the city and treasures piled up. According to the "Qingtang Records", there were hundreds of merchants from various countries settled in the east of the city.

Therefore, strengthening ties with the Song Dynasty would only benefit Qingtang's economic development and strength. Even though Zuo Silu knew that he might become more dependent on Song in the future, he had to maintain a good relationship with Song for the future of Qingtang.

Regardless of whether the Song Dynasty promoted language, culture and currency in Qingtang, Qingtang used Tibetan language, Tibetan script, Chinese and Chinese characters to communicate. Needless to say, Qingtang did not have its own currency, so it was more convenient to use Song Dynasty currency.

At this time, after two years of support from Song, Qingtang had absorbed a lot of other tribes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and its weapons and equipment had also been improved. At the call of Fan Zhongyan, Zuo Silu personally led 30,000 troops and marched towards Xixia.

In early September, Xixia was in flames. Fan Zhongyan launched the Northern Expedition on the grounds that Li Yuanhao was not sincere in his surrender.

Li Yuanhao was shocked and could only send envoys to Liao again for help, while sending General Qi Yuwangrong to lead 20,000 troops to Xiliang Prefecture to resist Zuo Silu, and he led the main force to fight the Song army.

The two sides fought in Weizhou, Yanzhou, Youzhou, Xiazhou, Shizhou, Yinzhou, Longzhou and other places on the border of Western Xia.

By mid-September, Zhong Shiheng, the commander of Huanzhou, took advantage of the fact that Zhao Zhen, the deputy governor of Huanqing Road, surrounded the Jingsai Army of Western Xia and led his troops to bypass Jingsai Fort and raid near Xiping Prefecture.

This was something that had never happened since the Song-Xia War. Li Yuanhao was frightened and hurriedly led his troops to resist, and finally defeated Zhong Shiheng.

There was no way.

The capital of Western Xia was too close to the border of the Song Dynasty.

The nearest place was Douling, which was under the jurisdiction of Huaide Army, which was Tongxin County, Ningxia in the later generations, and was only 200 kilometers away from Xingqing Prefecture, which was Yinchuan City in the later generations.

Fan Zhongyan prepared for this battle for more than two years. With the overwhelming number of troops and the selection of reliable generals, even if the Song army went out of the border to attack the enemy's hinterland, it was still well fought, and the two sides were in a stalemate.

In the midst of the war in Western Xia, a light cavalry unit quietly bypassed Longzhou where the two sides were fighting, went north through Sanchakou and Wanjingkou, and entered the Ningxia Plain.

On the vast grassland, you can see Dangxiang tribes everywhere. They drive cattle and sheep to grow fat before winter. When winter comes, cattle and sheep will have no fresh grass to eat, and can only eat hay harvested and dried in summer.

These Dangxiang tribes saw the dense cavalry from a distance. At first, everyone thought it was the troops of Dangxiang Emperor Li Yuanhao. After all, they had never seen the Song army on the Ningxia Plain.

However, when they got closer, the Dangxiang people with good eyesight discovered that it was a group of Song cavalry.

For a while, the grassland became chaotic in an instant. Many Dangxiang herdsmen did not even have time to drive their cattle and sheep, and rode their horses in a scattered manner, heading west towards Xingqing Prefecture.

Some Song soldiers proposed to chase them, but were rejected by Zhang Kang.

His purpose was very clear. He continued to go deeper northward for more than 300 kilometers. The soldiers carried nothing but beans and a ring-headed straight knife to ensure the physical strength of the horses, and only a few grenades.

They did not even wear leather armor, just to ensure the mobility of the light cavalry.

Four days later, the Song cavalry reached Shengwei City, more than 300 kilometers away from the border of the Song Dynasty, at a speed of more than 70 kilometers a day.

"Xixia Shushi" records: In the second year of Tiansheng in the Song Dynasty, Deming built Shengwei City in Dingzhou to control the tribes.

Shengwei City is located north of Dingzhou and north of the Yinchuan Plain. It is probably in the area of ​​Shizuishan City, Ningxia in later generations. Because it is located in the most fertile Yinchuan Plain area, it has also become an important gathering area for the Dangxiang tribe.

Li Yuanhao summoned many Dangxiang tribes and established himself as emperor. All the small and medium-sized tribes below were gathered together by him to open up the Yinchuan Plain, not only animal husbandry, but also agriculture.

On the vast plains, some tribal tents can be seen from time to time. Some farmlands have been reclaimed near the tents, and water has been diverted from the Yellow River, just like the villages of the Song Dynasty.

The sudden arrival of the Song army obviously scared the scattered Dangxiang people on the periphery, and they blew the horns to warn.

The noise spread quickly.

Zhang Kang still hurried on his way, ignoring the Dangxiang herdsmen and farmers near the Yellow River.

But the sound is faster than the horse after all. With the continuous horns, the Chaoshun Army of the Western Xia stationed near Shengwei City was alarmed.

Li Yuanhao reformed the military system and also deployed a large number of troops on the border between Song and Liao. However, after the Song-Xia War broke out, he moved most of the troops on the border of Liao to the border of Song.

The Chaoshun Army was one of the very few troops that did not move to the south, because they were responsible for only one task - to protect the safety of Li Yuanhao and his main tribes!

Yes!

The area from Shengwei City to Dingzhou, as the richest land in Western Xia, naturally all belonged to Li Yuanhao's own Weiming tribe.

After he proclaimed himself emperor, he summoned many Tangut generals and moved their tribes here.

It was called protection, but it actually implied the control of the families of each tribe.

More than 10,000 Chaoshun troops gathered hastily.

When Zhang Kang climbed over a small hill, he saw a scene that surprised him.

To the west of the hill was the majestic Helan Mountain, which was towering into the clouds and shrouded in mist.

From the foot of the mountain to this hill, it was unknown how many miles away, the endless grassland was full of dense tents.

On the horizon, a small city could be vaguely seen.

Outside the city, the army gathered.

Continuous trumpet sounds rang out between the tents, and countless Tangut people, carrying the elderly and children, fled towards the city.

"Kill!"

Zhang Kang looked at this scene expressionlessly and uttered a word lightly.

On the hill behind him, groups of Song cavalry appeared, rushing towards Li Yuanhao's hinterland like a tide.