Was the Song Dynasty really that weak?
The Tang Dynasty is naturally a dynasty that China people are very proud of. It is magnificent, rich in resources and developing rapidly, and it is one of the best countries. There was also a poor and weak dynasty in history, that is, the Northern Song Dynasty.
Song dynasty was not very prosperous in our impression, but it was not a poor dynasty either. Entertainment facilities are very developed, and local people also like to recite poems and paint pictures. Poetry and songs have become a way of cultural exchange.
In fact, we all don't know that the population of the Northern Song Dynasty reached more than 654.38 billion, more than 30 million more than that of the Tang Dynasty. The economy is developing well, the commodities are abundant, and the cultivated land area is also large. The income of the whole country is much higher than that of the Tang Dynasty. But why do some people say that the Northern Song Dynasty was a poor country?
Throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, the population income in Bitang, Ming and Qing was many times stronger, so the Song Dynasty was not? Poverty? .
In addition to poverty, many people also say that the Northern Song Dynasty was a? Accumulate weaknesses? This country. The war between the Northern Song Dynasty and foreign countries often ended in failure. They couldn't beat Liao or Xixia, and they were chased by Jin people. They had no choice but to go, which was very embarrassing. The final outcome can be imagined, so that the neighboring powers gradually consumed their strength and were annihilated by Mongolia in one fell swoop.
The song dynasty was not in harmony with the right place and the right time, and was surrounded by strong enemies. Even in such an environment, the Tang dynasty may not be in full swing, so we can't criticize it blindly, but look at it in combination with the historical environment at that time.
But what many people don't know is that the Song Dynasty had a strong army, and its military strength was not lost to that of the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, those outstanding military generals used various tactics flexibly, playing the backbone of the Han people and playing a superb fighting capacity.
At that time, the strength of Qidan was comparable to that of the Northern Song Dynasty, but the military strength of the Northern Song Dynasty was inferior to that of Qidan. After a long time, Qidan had the idea of attacking the Northern Song Dynasty, and also let the Northern Song Dynasty cede land to him. The most unacceptable thing in the Northern Song Dynasty was that the Khitan captured sixteen states. Sixteen States is a good terrain that is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it is also a treasure trove of geomantic omen in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, after this treasure trove of geomantic omen was taken away by the Khitan, the defense ability of the Northern Song Dynasty was even weaker, and it was greatly retrogressed militarily, but this did not affect Song Jun's combat ability.
Looking back at the early Northern Song Dynasty, there were many very powerful generals and people with very strong ability to unify the army. They think that the Northern Song Dynasty has the strength to unify the Central Plains, so many people have very high expectations for the Northern Song Dynasty. Moreover, in the process of two northern expeditions, the Northern Song Dynasty won, and it was more with less, which made people sit up and take notice of the Northern Song Dynasty.
There are two very famous battles in history, the Baimaling Battle and the Invalides Lien Chan Lien Jie.
The Battle of Baimaling was the first large-scale victory in the struggle between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty. At that time, the Northern Song Dynasty was very clever. When fighting Liao, it used the strategy of asking for help around the point and beat Liao out of the water.
At that time, Liao army wanted to cross the river to attack Song Jun, because Liao army was good at riding horses. Riding can only be done in a relatively flat place. If there is a steep slope, it is easy to fall off the horse, and the speed is not balanced, so the advantage cannot be exerted. For Song Jun, they have no excellent cavalry, only powerful infantry.
Due to the fatal defect of lack of war horses in Song Dynasty, the cavalry strength in Song Dynasty was inferior to that of nomadic people, but this did not affect Song Jun's bravery and the excellent strategic and tactical command ability of the generals in Song Dynasty.
In the Song Dynasty, the infantry surrounded the cavalry, and then attacked the enemy's flank, making them unable to fight back and caught off guard. In fact, at this point, the Song Dynasty was very clever, and they also knew that if they confronted the Liao army head-on, they would inevitably suffer.
Because cavalry still has certain advantages over infantry, after all, it can surpass infantry in speed. At that time, the cavalry was crossing the river, which was very chaotic, which just left a breakthrough for Song Jun. At that time, General Song Jun directly ordered the raid. Without any precautions, the Liao army did not fight more than 65,438+0,000 people in Song Jun, resulting in heavy casualties and the sacrifice of five generals. This battle weakened the Liao army.
In the early Song Dynasty, there were people with strong ability to command the army, and their combat skills were also superb and they played beautifully.
The Battle of Mancheng and the Battle of Yanmenguan were also very beautiful battles in the Song Dynasty. The battle didn't go well at first. Song Taizong set up a Eight Diagrams Array with a distance of 100 step, which not only dispersed the troops, but also allowed the enemy to attack from the side. This method will naturally be overthrown. Because people in the imperial court think that the feasibility is very poor and it is easy to be annihilated. Therefore, it introduces a way to adapt to changes and becomes a very flexible array. The main purpose is to make the Liao army negligent and passive.
Liao army thought it could defeat Song Jun's front array, but the rear array was stronger. They came forward to attack them, but they created panic among them. The fiercest battle was in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it took only 65,438+10,000 cavalry to confront the 65,438+10,000 army of Liao Army. However, more than 1 000 cavalry actually broke through, which shows the strength of Song Jun.
The victory of this war has a lot to do with excellent generals. Without a good operational strategy, this war is doomed to failure. After all, there is not enough strength to win more with less, so we can only rely on circuitous ways and improvise, so as to take advantage of the situation and defeat the enemy's elite troops. This battle also greatly weakened the strength of the Liao army, but enhanced the military strength of the Song Dynasty.
In Song Dynasty, due to the shortage of war horses, the cavalry was underdeveloped, at least not as strong as Mongolian cavalry, so it was at a disadvantage in the war, but Song Jun's fighting capacity was absolutely strong.
To sum up, the Song Dynasty was neither? Poverty? , no? Accumulate weaknesses? .
Later, the Northern Song Dynasty stopped attacking other countries and tended to be conservative. They are always on the defensive when mediating with other countries. It is precisely because of this state that countries think that the Northern Song Dynasty is a country with very weak military strength.
At that time, the northern song dynasty was also lax in military defense, and sometimes it was at a disadvantage to fight Xiongnu. But it is in this environment that the Song Dynasty still exists hundreds of years ago. There are indications that the Song Dynasty was not a poor and weak dynasty.