After Xia Lord Li Qianshun heard the news, he was furious.

The people of the Great Xia Kingdom suddenly became valuable in the eyes of the upper echelons of the Great Xia Kingdom.

Without the knowledge of the Song Dynasty, Xixia unilaterally launched the Song-Xia War.

This was the sixth war between Song and Xia.

In the first five battles between Song and Xia, both sides had their own victories and defeats.

The basic context is also very clear.

During the Renzong period, Xixia became more powerful, and the Battle of Shanchuankou, the Battle of Haoshuichuan, and the Battle of Dingbianzhai broke out.

This was the first battle between Song and Xia. Song and Xia each had their own victory or defeat, but this was the founding battle of Xixia.

The second battle between Song and Xia was the Battle of Dashun City. Xixia failed to attack the Song Dynasty, and both sides gradually went on the defensive.

The third time was the era of Song Shenzong.

At this time, a famous general who was not well-known in history but had great military achievements appeared. His name was Wang Shao.

He was promoted by Wang Anshi. In order to kill Xixia, this passionate scholar traveled around the northwest for several years at his own expense. Based on the actual local conditions, he gave Song Shenzong a "Pingrong Policy".

The core content of "Pingrong Policy" is very simple: expand the Qingtang region in the northwest, cut off the right arm of the connection between Xixia and Qingtang and Tubo, lengthen the front, and use the "cannibalization strategy" implemented in the northwest in the past few decades to accumulate The power formed a long-term suppression trend against Xixia.

This is exactly the same strategic idea used by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to cut off the right arm of the Xiongnu and open up the Hexi Corridor.

The prelude to the third Song-Xia war was the opening of the Xihe River, which was personally presided over by Wang Shao and fully supported by Wang Anshi.

As a result, the Song army was powerful in the northwest, captured all the land of Huangshui, appeased the Tibetan tribes, and formed a fatal suppression on the right wing of Xixia.

Then came Song Shenzong’s five-pronged expedition against Xia.

The Fourth Song-Xia War, the Battle of Hongde City, and the Battle of Pingxia City, were already in the era of Song Zhezong.

At this time, Wang Shao had passed away, and Wang Anshi and others were also gone.

But another master of strategy and tactics appeared in the Song Dynasty. He was Zhang Kai (zi), who was scolded as a treacherous official by the civil servants. He served as the military envoy on Jingyuan Road and almost destroyed the Xixia Kingdom.

At this time, the situation in Song and Xia was as if the Song Dynasty was overlooking Xixia.

The fifth time was the Battle of Hengshan, which dealt a fatal blow to Xixia.

Hengshan is the barrier for the left wing of Xixia. During the third battle between Song and Xia, the right wing was cut off by Wang Shao, and the entire southern Xixia line was exposed to the power of the Song Dynasty.

In the fifth battle between Song and Xia, Hengshan, the richest city, fell, and the fall of Xixia was imminent.

As a result, the Jin people went south and Xixia was able to survive.

In Zhao Ning's timeline, Xixia took a few years to recover and its national strength recovered.

The Huizhou military rebellion in the fifth year of Jingkang was not an isolated incident. It was a counterattack after Xixia became stronger again. It was the inevitable result of the dispute between Song and Xia. It was only a matter of time.

On the 19th day of the first lunar month, the second day after the Huizhou Military Incident, 50,000 Xixia troops appeared in Xi'an Prefecture like ghosts and launched a lightning-fast siege on Xi'an Prefecture.

In just one day, this important place in the northwest was captured by the Xixia army.

All the guardsmen of Xi'an Prefecture died for their country, and the snow outside the city was dyed red.

Xi'an Prefecture is not a majestic city, and there was no such place before, but its strategic position is extremely special. It emerged because of one person.

who?

Zhang Shuye.

The Xixia people came to attack Lanzhou every winter when the Yellow River froze. The Song troops in Lanzhou wore armor in winter, which was very hard. It would not be a problem if this continued for a long time.

Zhang Shuye, who was serving as a clerk in Lanzhou and joining the army, found that when the Xixia people came to attack Lanzhou, they would definitely stop in Tiandu Mountain to supply food, so he proposed to build a city in Tiandu Mountain.

This city is Xi'an Prefecture.

After the establishment of Xi'an Prefecture, the pressure on Lanzhou dropped sharply.

The reason why the Xixia people attacked Lanzhou was a legacy of the Third Song-Xia War.

Lanzhou is the northern gate of the Longyou Protectorate. If Lanzhou is conquered, the states bordering the Xihe River that Wang Shao opened will return to the hands of the Xixia people.

In other words, Xixia's right arm, which was cut off by Wang Shao, was reattached.

So Lanzhou is a strategically important place.

This time, the Xixia people, who had already planned for a long time, suddenly launched an attack on Xi'an Prefecture, but their own target was Lanzhou, as well as Xizhou, Tao (tao) Prefecture, Hezhou and other places south of Lanzhou.

Once these places were captured by Xixia, the Song Dynasty's Longyou Protectorate, also known as Huangzhou and Xiningzhou, would be cut off from all roads in Shaanxi. At that time, they would be in the pocket of the Xixia people.

If the Longyou Protectorate is lost, Xixia's strategic pressure on the right wing will all disappear, and more resources will be invested in Hengshan on the left wing to fight a large-scale battle with the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, Zhao Ning also hoped that Zhe Yanzhi in the Huangzhou area could trade war horses with the Uighurs in the northwest.

Therefore, on the 19th day of the first lunar month of the fifth year of Jingkang, Xi'an Prefecture fell, marking the arrival of a strategic crisis in the northwest of the Song Dynasty.

This time the Xixia general was called Li Liangfu. This man was sent to support the Liao Kingdom in the Battle of Jin and Liao. However, he was beaten by Wanyan Loushi and Wanyan Oru and returned in defeat.

It was precisely because he used his actual actions to explain to the upper echelons of Xixia that Xixia should kneel down in front of Jin Guo’s father.

But this time, he led an army of 50,000 people southward and attacked Xi'an Prefecture by surprise.

"Li Shuai, this place is only a hundred miles away from Huizhou. Please give me 7,000 troops and I will capture Huizhou within one day!" Li Liangfu's deputy general Li Atuhan said arrogantly.

This guy also participated in the battle to aid the Liao Dynasty and conquer the Jin Dynasty, and was beaten until he came back alone and embarrassed.

This time, the main war factions in Xixia were already excited about the sudden march south to attack the Song Dynasty. Now that the attack on Xi'an Prefecture was so successful, Atuhan's self-confidence that had been crushed by the Jin people was back.

It is often easy for people to attribute success to themselves and failure to the environment.

Atuhan did not think that the attack on Xi'an was so successful this time because Ren Dejing, the general magistrate of Xi'an, revealed a lot of the internal situation of the Song Dynasty.

He thinks that he is so awesome that he is so awesome!

Li Liangfu said: "Huizhou is not afraid. Our important mission this time is to capture Lanzhou and seize the land of Xizhou and Taozhou before the Song army reacts!"

Atuhan said: "If the Song people gather a group of troops in Huizhou and take back Xi'an while we are advancing westward, won't our way back be blocked?"

Li Liangfu laughed and said: "The situation in Huizhou has been mentioned above. The Song garrison only has 5,000 soldiers, and an unknown junior named Li Yanxian is nothing to worry about!"

"Why don't we divide a group of troops and take the general state?"

"No need!" Li Liangfu was full of confidence.

Since the coach said so, the deputy general who felt so awesome about himself didn't say anything.

Xixia: The face that was rubbed away from the Jin Kingdom must be regained in the Song Dynasty!

That day, Li Liangfu left five thousand soldiers and horses in Xi'an Prefecture, and then rushed to Lanzhou in the southwest overnight.

The main force of Xixia was concentrated in the south to defend Xingqing Mansion and resist the Song Dynasty's military front.

This is also the fundamental reason why Xixia was able to quickly mobilize its army to attack like lightning this time.

On the twenty-first day of the first lunar month, it snowed heavily in Huizhou.

Li Yanxian, the magistrate of Huizhou, was having barbecue at home.

Li Yanxian, a famous general who fought against the Jin Dynasty in the Song Dynasty, was originally named Li Xiaozhong. In the first year of Jingkang's reign, he impeached Li Gang, the envoy of the General Assembly of Hebei Province, and was wanted by people under Li Gang, so he changed his name to Li Yanxian.

Li Yanxian has a carefree personality and is a forthright northwest man.

But this man is not only knowledgeable about military affairs, but he and Wang Zhen, who defended Taiyuan City back then, are also strong-willed.
Chapter completed!