It is said that in 1038 AD, the fifth year of Renzong Jingyou in the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Yuanhao, the leader of the vassal party in the Northern Song Dynasty, left the Song Dynasty and established himself. He went to the Song Dynasty to get the title, changed it to "Yanzuo of Heavenly Rites" of the Yuan Dynasty, and founded the country as "Daxia", which was called "Xixia" in history. After creating Xixia characters and establishing the system of Xixia Dynasty, after all matters were settled, in 1039 AD, he wrote to the Northern Song Dynasty court, requesting Song Dynasty to recognize the national status of "Great Xia Kingdom".
Since ancient times, dynasties based in the Central Plains have been regarded as orthodox in the world, and all parties have submitted to them. The Northern Song Dynasty dynasty based in the Central Plains is no exception. There was a Liao Kingdom in the north that was on equal footing. The Northern Song Dynasty had already lost all its power, so how could it tolerate another Xixia Kingdom dividing the world.
Li Yuanhao's letter was sent to the Northern Song Dynasty court, and most officials advocated immediately sending troops to attack Xixia and launching an army to prosecute Li Yuanhao. Song Renzong was not stupid. How could he lose his position as the orthodox leader of the Central Plains Dynasty in his hands? In June of that year, he issued an edict to remove Li Yuanhao from his official title and offered a reward for his arrest.
Li Yuanhao, Jingzong of Western Xia Dynasty, could not swallow his breath when he saw that the Song Dynasty court not only refused to accept him as emperor, but also wanted him as a bandit. For the dignity of the party members and for their own eternal achievements, in March 1040 AD, they launched an all-out attack on the Northern Song Dynasty. While leading his army to pretend to attack Jinming Village in the Northern Song Dynasty, he sent a letter to Fan Yong, the magistrate of Yanzhou in the Song Dynasty, expressing his willingness to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty, and even professing tribulation to the Northern Song Dynasty. This was just to create an illusion to paralyze Fan Yong.
Fan Yong was a Jinshi, and he should have dabbled in the classics and history. He must have made a mistake. He actually believed the words of Li Yuanhao, a fox. Not only did he happily write to the court to state the matter, but he also boldly relaxed the defense of Yanzhou.
Li Yuanhao was naturally happy and sent back the intelligence on the secret agents lurking in the Song Dynasty. In July of the same year, he sent a large army to surround Yanzhou. While beating gongs and drums, he attacked Yanzhou City while using the method of "encircling points to attack reinforcements" to ambush all around. Good soldiers and horses, just waiting for the Song army to come to rescue.
When the Xia army came to the city, Fan Yong, the magistrate of Yanzhou, was completely confused. Without thinking, he wrote to the court and sent scouts to ask for help from the surrounding Song army. Following the imperial court's order, generals Liu Ping and Shi Yuansun were quickly ordered to go for reinforcements, but they didn't know that Li Yuanhao was well aware of the military and horse defenses in various villages on the border of the Song Dynasty, and had already laid out pockets for the Song army to exploit. As soon as the Song army arrived at a place called "Sanchuankou", the Xixia army, which had been waiting for a long time, was heavily surrounded. Liu and Shi led their troops to fight hard with the Xia army. Although the Xixia army suffered heavy losses, the Song army was outnumbered and had to retreat to three positions. A hillside near Kawaguchi. Li Yuanhao was not afraid of sacrifice. While increasing his troops, he wrote letters to persuade Liu Ping to surrender. In the end, Liu Ping and Shi Yuanning refused to give in and persisted in persuading them. They were defeated and captured, and the Battle of Sanchuankou came to an end.
Before the Battle of Sanchuankou, the Song and Xia armies fought frequently. Although the Xia army won more and lost less, it was only a small fight. It did not affect the morale and did not hurt the bones. At most, the losses were caused by the residents of the border areas of the Song Dynasty. Some cattle and sheep were lost, and several people were lost.
But in the Battle of Sanchuankou, Li Yuanhao killed tens of thousands of Song troops in one bite. Song Renzong was not only shocked, but also woke up from his sleep. Xixia Li Yuanhao was no longer a straggler, and his military strength was very strong. He quickly issued an edict, appointing Xia Song as the Shaanxi Road Economic and Strategic Envoy, and Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan as the deputy economic and strategic appeasement envoys, jointly responsible for the war against Xixia. With such a luxurious lineup, you can now sit back and relax! Song Renzong Zhao Zhen should have thought so.
Not to mention, after Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan arrived in the northwest, through a series of measures, they not only reversed the defeat, but also laid the foundation for victory. With a small victory, using the east wind to expand the results and win unparalleled achievements, who wouldn't want to!
Han Qi could not sit still and wrote to the court to launch a comprehensive crusade against Xixia Li Yuanhao and destroy the Xixia Kingdom in one fell swoop.
This is a good thing! The old master, who was accustomed to shouting slogans in the court hall, suddenly had an idea and fully supported Han Qi's strategy of exterminating Xia. Only Fan Zhongyan felt that the end of Xixia was too big to be cut off. If you want to completely cut it off, it will not be achieved overnight. You should gradually and slowly plan it, and write to the court to state your opinions.
Although Song Renzong and Zhao Zhen also wanted to end the war between the Song Dynasty and Xixia as soon as possible, he thought that Fan Zhongyan had only done practical things since he became an official and never shouted slogans, so he also retained Fan Zhongyan's proposal and allowed Fan Zhongyan to guard the border fortress. , Han Qi's full-scale attack on Xixia would not be possible without going through the muddy waters.
An emperor who doesn't understand military affairs would be fine if he lived in a peaceful age, but if he catches up with an unstable age, he will be in trouble if he is not careful.
It was agreed at the beginning that the four armies of Yongxing Road, Huanqing Road, Jingyuan Road, and Qinfeng Road would attack Xixia at the same time. Since Song Renzong and Zhao Zhen did not understand military affairs, after the attack began, the four armies became Jingyuan Road and Han Qi. , Yongxing Road and Fan Zhongyan had two soldiers and horses. And because Fan Zhongyan did not advocate a full-scale attack, Zhao Zhen gave Fan Zhongyan an advantage, and in the end Han Qi took the lead. Han Qi's fate was not good, so he ignored the advice and appointed Ren Fu as a frontline general. Ren Fu, greedy for merit, deviated from the marching route and got into the pocket arranged by Li Yuanhao. The entire army was wiped out at Haoshuichuan, with several losses. Thousands of soldiers and horses.
The defeat at Mikawaguchi was a lack of preparation, which is excusable. Haoshuichuan left well prepared, and his defeat was even worse than that of Mikawaguchi, which is a bit unjustifiable. The Song Dynasty was shocked, the emperor was angry, and the morale of the border soldiers was also low. In order to give an explanation to the world, commanders and generals were changed, Xia Song returned to the dynasty, Han Qi packed up and left, and Fan Zhongyan was demoted to the magistrate of Qingzhou.
It is not a good thing to change the commander before the battle. The Song Dynasty court was happy with it, and Li Yuanhao of Xixia celebrated it with his forehead and hands, but he was almost in tears of gratitude. Once he inquired about the personnel changes in the northwest frontier of the Song Dynasty, Zhang Yuan immediately suggested that Li Yuanhao reorganize his armaments and go south to attack Guanzhong and seize Chang'an. They had just won the Battle of Haoshuichuan. Although the Xixia soldiers and horses suffered some minor injuries, this would not affect their good mood of taking advantage of the victory to strike while the iron was hot.
Thinking that Fan Zhongyan, "Little Fan Laozi", knew military strategy and was good at defense, and was transferred to Qingzhou by Song Renzong, which would hinder the Xixia army's plan to capture Guanzhong, Li Yuanhao and his subordinate Zhang Yuan naturally wanted to kill Fan Zhongyan for their own achievements. get rid of. But Fan Zhongyan never showed up on the battlefield, and it was impossible to kill him head-on. Zhang Yuan thought that if he couldn't do it openly, he would do it secretly, and he immediately thought of the White Lotus Sect.
Fan Zhongyan was a feudal official of the Song Dynasty. Assassinating him was tantamount to declaring war on the Song Dynasty court. Dong Xiaowan is not a fool. If she doesn't want to move the White Lotus Sect's disciples into the Xixia territory and be bullied and manipulated by them all her life, she will have to let the White Lotus Sect be destroyed from now on, which she won't be happy about. In order to force Dong Xiaowan to submit, Zhang Yuan moved his good friend Zhao Mingxiu out. Since they are good friends and like-minded, Zhao Mingxiu is willing to oblige and forces Dong Xiaowan to do the hard work of Xixia Li Yuanhao.
