Song Yi

Chapter 409 Depressed
Gao Taotao smiled and said, "Okay, let's continue. What is the criterion for judging the outcome of a war?"

"Well, let them get the border map first, and look at the map and talk about it better. I also recall it clearly." Du Wenhao said.

"Okay!" Gao Taotao got up and walked to the gazebo, called Mr. Jiao in, and asked him to go to Sanya to get the battle map of the Song-Liao and Song-Xia borders.

Du Wenhao said: "Before the map comes, let me continue with the topic just now. Actually, I agree with Sima Guang's criteria for judging the outcome of a war, that is, to judge whether a war is won or not. Whether the purpose of this battle is achieved. It should not be limited to the gains and losses of one city and one place, or a simple comparison of the casualties of the two sides. Of course, there are many purposes of war, such as expanding territory, regaining lost ground, punishing the other party, and eliminating the other party's vital forces , besieging Wei and saving Zhao, resisting aggression, etc.”

Du Wenhao stretched out his chopsticks to pick up a piece of vegetables, put them into his mouth and chewed them, and then said: "There must be a reference for judging the outcome of a war, just like sports. You are sitting on a boat on a small river. In motion, you are stationary against a ship. The same is true for judging the outcome of a war. If a country wages a war with the purpose of resisting aggression, the final result is that the enemy is driven out of the country. An inch of land can be said to be a victory (the most typical example is the War of Resistance Against Japan). If it is to expand the territory, even if the casualties are greater than that of the enemy, as long as the enemy's territory is continuously occupied, it is also a victory."

Gao Tao said: "Then how many enemies you kill and how many casualties you have, will it not affect the outcome?"

"Of course it has an impact!" Du Wenhao said, "In a punitive war, you have to punish the opponent. If the casualties are worse than the opponent, how can you prove that you have won? Of course, if you kill [-] enemies, you will automatically It is certain that if there is a war, there will be casualties. Therefore, in a punitive war, in judging whether to win, in addition to the fact that your own casualties cannot obviously exceed the enemy's, you should also include the damage to the opponent's city, economy, and people's psychology. etc. have caused huge damage. If you penetrate hundreds of miles deep into the enemy, conquer several cities, destroy the economy of the occupied area, and finally withdraw voluntarily, even if the casualties are equal to the opponent, you can still be said to have won, because the opponent suffered greater losses than yourself Much more, it can be regarded as punishing the opponent and achieving the goal of war. Punitive attacks often have other political intentions at the same time. For example, encircling Wei and saving Zhao (a typical example is the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam). In addition, the comparison of casualties between the two sides can affect the victory Although the goal of the war has been achieved, the casualties are heavy, surpassing the opponent, even if it is judged to be a victory, it can only be regarded as a tragic victory."

After Gao Taotao heard Du Wenhao talk about the criteria for judging the outcome of a war, he had a better understanding of the complexity of the war. He raised his glass and drank a glass of wine with Du Wenhao, and then said: "You said earlier that our Song Dynasty has far more troops. In Liao and Xixia, it is equivalent to the sum of their forces. But when we fought against Liao and Xixia, we lost more than we won, but I heard that the government and the opposition said that we defeated Xixia and Liao. We have occasional defeats and losses, but most of the battles we have won. Why is it different from what you said, what is going on here?"

Du Wenhao said: "The reason is very simple—report good news and not bad news. If you really have to sit in Sanya's battle report database and read it for a few days, you will know whether we have won more than we lost, or whether we have lost more than we won. .”

"You must have seen it, didn't you?"

"Well, after you asked me to serve as the commander of the Sanya capital, I took the time to conduct some research on the various battle reports, losses, and battle information of the battles between Sanyali and Daliao and Xixia. The purpose is to know ourselves and the enemy. The result I was greatly disappointed by the record of our Great Song Army, and it was not as great a victory as those people in the court claimed. Therefore, if you want to know the truth, you can only find it yourself from the huge and complicated materials, not hearsay."

"Well, then tell me, I also want to know our Da Song's true strength."

"That's what I mean too. You can't underestimate yourself, and of course you can't overestimate yourself. The latter is more dangerous and terrifying than the former."

Gao Taotao nodded and said: "That's right, the map will be delivered later, let's talk according to the map. Now drink and eat!"

The two listened to the sound of rain outside the pavilion while drinking and talking.After a while, Eunuch Jiao came back with two volumes of maps, namely the Song-Liao border map and the Song-Xia border map.Du Wenhao took it, spread out the border map of Song and Liao on the ground, pressed the four corners with a bowl, and asked Eunuch Jiao to break a willow branch from the willow tree outside the pavilion, and remove the branches and leaves as pointers.

Du Wenhao said: "The Song-Liao War lasted for 25 years, and there were hundreds of battles, big and small. Let's count the victory and defeat only by counting the number of large-scale battles——the earliest one is counted from the Battle of Gaoliang River."

Du Wenhao pointed at the map with a wicker whip: "This battle was initiated by our Song Dynasty. The overall purpose of the battle is to recapture the Sixteen States of Yanyun, and take Youzhou (now Beijing) first. In fact, we are not ready for this battle. He went into battle in a hurry. In the early stage, he triumphed all the way to the city of Youzhou, and surrounded the city of Youzhou. The Song army was defeated and defeated. The Daliao army chased and killed them all the way. The Song army was defeated for thousands of miles, and more than 1 people were killed or injured. Our emperor Taizong couldn't run anymore. He fled back to the territory of the Song Dynasty on a donkey. Early stage All the territories captured were taken back by the Liao Kingdom. The purpose of the Great Song War was not achieved, so this battle is considered a defeat."

Gao Tao said: "It is indeed too risky for us to go deep into the enemy's hinterland alone in this battle."

"Isn't it? The battle of Yongle City was also because of the deep abdominal pain, and the city was built in a dangerous place, and the result was a big defeat."

"Really? Let's continue talking about the battle between Song and Liao first."

"Okay, the second battle is the battle of the whole city. For our Song Dynasty, this is a defensive battle. The strategic purpose is to resist the enemy's attack. The Liao Kingdom wants to retaliate against our Song Dynasty for attacking Youzhou. The Liao army has tens of thousands of people. Attacking the border of the Song Dynasty, the two sides fought in Mancheng, Hebei. The Song army's tactics were properly arranged, using roundabouts to outflank the pocket formation, and defeated the Liao army. More than [-] Liao troops were killed and thousands of horses were captured. The Liao army was defeated and returned to Liao territory. This Although the Song army that went into battle in World War I was composed of several different armies, it won the victory because of a unified military commander and correct tactics.”

Gao Taotao said happily: "I have heard since I was a child that Emperor Taizong was very good at fighting."

"That's right. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Song army was a valiant army that went south and north, and their fighting power was indeed very strong. At least they won't lose to Daliao."

"Well, what about the next battle?"

Du Wenhao pointed with a willow stick and said: "The battle of Yanmen Pass in the future was a big victory for our Song Dynasty. After the Liao army failed to attack the city, in the spring of the second year, a large army was sent to attack Yanmen. General Yang Ye, that is, Yang Liulang's father, joined forces with Pan Mei to defeat the Liao army at Yanmen. This is the first battle of Yanmen."

Gao Tao said: "Although we won this battle, there are not many exciting things."

"The second battle was wonderful!" Du Wenhao said with joy, "In the second year, 10 Liao troops stormed Yanmen, while Yang Ye, the general defending Yanmen, had only a few thousand people. He asked Pan Mei for help, but Pan Mei did not move. .Yang Ye had no choice but to send out surprise soldiers. He led thousands of death squads to copy behind the Liao army, and made a surprise attack. Sure enough, the commander-in-chief of the Liao army was beheaded. The dragons had no leader, and the Liao army was in chaos. The Yanmen defenders took advantage of the situation to fight out, the Liao army was defeated, and fled back to the territory of Daliao. The Liao army can be regarded as a typical example of winning more with less!"

Gao Taotao applauded and laughed: "That's great! Come on! Let's have a drink!"

The two drank a cup, Gao Taotao looked at Du Wenhao and laughed in a low voice: "Yang Ye defeated the Liao army by thousands, better than you! Hee hee."

Du Wenhao said embarrassingly: "What am I, the Tubo army is not as powerful as the Liao army. Moreover, I was able to defeat them because I used tricks and tricks."

Gao Taotao was originally joking, but when he saw that he claimed to be inferior, he comforted him, pulled him to kiss him, and said: "Soldiers never tire of cheating, stealing and cheating is called strategy. Yang Ye is just repelling the Liao army, you are completely annihilating You are more powerful than the Fanjun of the Western Mountains of Tubo."

"Hehe, I dare not compare myself with General Yang. The Great Victory at Yanmen was one of the few great victories in our Great Song Dynasty, and it will not be so satisfactory in the future. Next is the Battle of Waqiaoguan. The Liao army gathers its forces and prepares for a large-scale attack. Going south to attack the Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizong learned that he led the capital to reinforce him and was preparing to fight the Liao army at Waqiaoguan. Unexpectedly, the Liao army marched so fast that they rushed to the front and surrounded the important town of Waqiaoguan. The nearby Song army reinforced and was repelled. Wait a long time The reinforcements from the capital did not arrive, and the Liao army crossed the river to attack. The Song army was defeated and retreated. The Liao army fought all the way to Mozhou before retreating. The Song army suffered heavy casualties in this battle. From the perspective of defensive warfare, it failed to withstand the enemy's invasion and retreated. If you lose troops and lose generals in the middle, it can only be a lost battle."

Gao Taotao sighed: "Oh, if Emperor Taizong's capital army arrived in time, they should not be defeated."

"The army of the capital is already traveling at the fastest speed day and night. It is a pity that we have too few horses. Without horses, we cannot maneuver quickly. In the battle against the Liao army, we suffered too much in this regard. The Gaoliang River The main reason for our failure was the enemy's elite cavalry rushing to help quickly. The same is true for the subsequent battle of Qigouguan. The main reason why the Western Han and Tang dynasties were able to gain the upper hand in fighting the Xiongnu was that they had an elite armor Cavalry! In the battle between the Western Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, we can mobilize 30 horses into battle at one time, which is simply unimaginable for us.”

"Well, I've heard the late emperor talk about this issue many times, lamenting our lack of horses. There are too few lands in the Song Dynasty that can raise horses. Most of the horses are bought from Daliao and Xixia. They not only raised the price, but also restricted the quantity. Once the relationship between the two sides is tense, even if it has not reached the point of war, the sale of horses to us will be banned immediately. It is really annoying. I have tried everything, but there is still a shortage of horses. Do you have any good solutions?"

The lack of horses in the Song Dynasty was something Du Wenhao felt when he crossed over. At that time, in the county town, he could only ride an ox cart or ride a donkey for medical treatment.There are only a few horses in the Yamen.

Du Wenhao also frowned and thought for a while, but he couldn't think of any good way to increase the number of horses.Shaking his head with a wry smile, he said, "I can't think of any good solution for now. I'll think about it when I go back."

"OK, all right!"

Du Wenhao said again: "After that, the Liao army organized a few more southward invasions, but we repelled them all. The casualties on both sides were not large, the scale of the battle was not large, and the outcome was negligible. Later, the emperor of the Liao Kingdom died of illness. , The Liao Kingdom was busy using troops against Goryeo and Jurchen, and had no time to look south. The two sides had a truce for several years. Later, when the little emperor of the Liao Kingdom succeeded to the throne, Emperor Taizong decided to take the opportunity to organize a second Northern Expedition. Unexpectedly, he suffered a big defeat."

Gao Taotao's face was a little ugly: "We lost again?"

"Yes, this Northern Expedition can be called the Battle of Qigouguan. The scale of this battle is very large. Both sides used more than [-] troops. The entire battle lasted for several months. At the beginning of the war, our Song army divided into three groups, and the east route pretended to attack Youzhou. , The middle and west roads stormed the states behind the mountains, and then joined forces in Youzhou. At the beginning of the war, our army also triumphed all the way, capturing many counties and counties in Liao. The main force of the Liao army had not yet arrived, so they made full use of the maneuverability of cavalry and used The open terrain in the plains harassed our army and successfully destroyed our strategic intention to encircle Youzhou. Afterwards, the main force of the Liao army arrived and defeated the Dasong East Army at Qigou Pass. During the battle, when we were defeated and crossed the river, many drowned. The Liao army chased and killed the Song army and wiped out tens of thousands of our Song army! The Liao army took advantage of the victory to counterattack in an all-round way. After the battle with the other two armies of the Song Dynasty, they were defeated , General Yang Ye was killed in battle. All the captured land was lost. My Great Song Dynasty was severely injured in this battle, and since then I have been unable to organize the Northern Expedition.”

Gao Taotao counted with his fingers, and said with a wry smile: "There were six big battles before, and we only won three of them. Alas, we only got a tie against Daliao with a master of all battles, which is not good."

Du Wenhao smiled wryly: "It's a smear of gold on our face to say that a tie is counted. - Among the six battles, the two battles of Yanmen should be counted as one. Because the second battle of Yanmen is just an individual battle, it is counted as one." If you don't go to battle, even though you killed the opponent's coach, you didn't kill too many enemy troops. The enemy troops retreated without knowing the situation, rather than being defeated. Especially in our last battle, the battle of Qigou Pass, we lost It was very miserable, with a total loss of tens of thousands of soldiers, which exceeded the total losses of the previous battles! The result of this defeat was far greater than that of the previous battles, and it took a long time. From the perspective of scale, it can be converted into at least two defeats. Therefore, In the previous stage, objectively speaking, the ratio of victory and defeat in our Song Dynasty war was [-]%, at most [-]%, and [-]%. It can be regarded as more defeats than victories."

Gao Taotao sighed faintly: "These failures sound really depressing. Come on! Let's stop talking, let's drink!"

The two drank a few glasses of wine, cuddled together and listened to the rain for a while. Gao Taotao was in a better mood. After all, he was still concerned about the war with Liao. Although it sounded depressed, he still wanted to know what happened next.Then he said: "You should continue talking, how can we lose more and win less?"

Du Wenhao said: "Okay then, the subsequent defeat sounds even more depressing, so let me keep it simple."

(End of this chapter)