Di Qing--bringing a sense of warmth in the coldness of the "War against Xia"

Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron 13: Di Qing of the Northern Song Dynasty (the first game of the War of Resistance against Xia)

Di Qing--bringing a sense of warmth in the coldness of the "War of Resistance against Xia"

Di Qing was born into a farming family, a hopeless class, and was prepared to face poverty and humility, but he was not worried about it. Not only does he look outstanding, his skills in the fields or on horseback and archery are not like ordinary people.

The most special thing is the connotation - being able to face hunger, cold, hard work and danger, and always having a diligent attitude, unwilling to exaggerate or take credit. If you draft before you speak, every word will be fulfilled; if you observe the environment before you start doing things, everything will be completed as planned.

Abandoning Farming and Joining the Army

It is impossible for such people to stay in a certain field. Di Qing decided to abandon farming and join the army when he was 18 years old. The Song Empire emphasized culture and suppressed military affairs, focusing on the central government but not on the local areas - the elite "Forbidden Army" did not guard the borders, but guarded the capital area (the emperor); the local troops "Xingbing" were far behind in quality and equipment.

After the examination, Di Qing joined the Gongsheng Camp, the grassroots force of the Forbidden Army; later, he was promoted to the cavalryman (cavalry) in the selection competition, and was selected to be the bottom class of Banzhi (the central elite unit, serving as the emperor's guard) Members dispersed. In that era when "civilians led everything and decided everything", even the names of military ranks were full of "old literary and youthful colors", and the writing was provocative, convoluted and profound.

After Di Qing spent 12 years at the bottom of the Forbidden Army and underwent harsh training, the Song Empire sounded the alarm. Some Xianbei Tuoba clan did not want to be Sinicized and became the Dangxiang Tuoba clan in the Tang and Song Dynasties, living in Longdong, Ningxia and northern Shaanxi. In view of the passive defense adopted by the Song Dynasty, leader Zhao Yuanhao established the Daxia Kingdom in 1038. Because of its location in northwest China, it was egocentrically called "Xi Xia" by the Song Dynasty.

During the Song-Xia War (six-year war of resistance and defense against Xixia), troops on the front line of the Song Dynasty (the border between northern Shaanxi and Gansu provinces) suffered regular defeats, and thus suffered from "Xiaphobia". Shaanxi was in an emergency, and the Henan Jingji area was just next door. The central government could not sit still and decided to select a group of outstanding members from the Ban Zhi to garrison on the Gansu-Ningxia border in northern Shaanxi (anti-Japanese war).

(1) Bao’an Army’s defeat vs. Di Qingzhai’s victory (1039) (Commander of the Theater: Fan Yong)

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Bao’an Army? Liu Huaizhong died in the line of duty

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Di Qing arrived at the Gansu-Ningxia border in northern Shaanxi. He was a low-ranking military officer named "Yanzhou Commander" (commander, equivalent to a battalion commander) and had jurisdiction over hundreds of people.

The border between Gansu and Ningxia in northern Shaanxi is divided into four roads. Among them, the Yanyan (pronounced "Fuyan") road is particularly perfunctory. The focus is on Yanzhou (Yan'an), where the government is located. The rest of the large area is untouched. Only some local soldiers were deployed. They were small in number and weak in constitution, and the territory was vast and the villages were sparse. Some sections of the border, which are 200 or 100 miles long, were abandoned fortification and left empty without any barracks (camps) built.

Therefore, Xixia set Yanyan Road as the first choice target. The envoys offered titles and bounties to recruit and surrender several camps in Yanzhou. Among them, Liu Huaizhong, the leader of the Security Army (Zhidan County, Shaanxi Province), was particularly tough and killed the envoy directly.

Yuan Hao angrily launched an attack. The security army only had 2,500 people and was unable to resist. Huaizhong died heroically in the line of duty; other border villages were more successful and had been bribed. Yuan Hao led the Xixia troops and happily concluded the "Sweeping Trip to the Suburbs of Yanzhou" and headed towards Yanzhou, preparing to take control of the city and then launch a general attack on the entire Yanzhou Road.

Di Qing Village? God’s messenger has arrived

On the way (80 miles southwest of the Security Army), a mini camp was discovered. Although the target was inconspicuous, Yuan Hao still approached very professionally and launched a siege in a disciplined manner. It was considered an unexpected overtime job!

At this time they encountered a variable - Di Qing let his hair down and put on a copper mask, leading the vanguard to rush towards them.

The mask provided perfect protection, and the power of Di Qing's bow and arrows was frightening; after closing the distance, he treated the Xixia troops as transparent people and kept waving his sword, causing the opponents around him to fall down.

The border troops of the Song Army are usually loose and passive during war. Hundreds of young people (the defenders) stationed in the small camp saw this madness for the first time and immediately reset it to the state of "caffeine boiling in the body" , and "failure emotion" is replaced by "life-or-death emotion".

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The Xixia troops were immersed in the joy of victory when a ferocious-looking "Commander of Yanzhou" suddenly appeared on the ground, followed by hundreds of roaring elite cavalry. .

What are the titles of "Commander Yanzhou" and "Commander Di"? They are confusing and unclear, so they were mistakenly called "Angel Di" between battle formations. The Emperor of Heaven sends a messenger of war, who can resist? Although Xia Jun had ten times the number of people, his eyesight turned black when faced with this momentum and he could no longer fight. "Before the battle, I wore a bronze mask and fought hard. The enemy looked at me like a god. Among the thieves who came and went, I was invincible and no one dared to stand up." ("History of the Song Dynasty")

Yuan Hao found that the atmosphere was too bad, so he ordered The Xia army lifted the siege and retreated at full speed. "Yuan Hao knew he was outmatched and retreated." The unknown place where the miracle was created has since been called "Di Qing Village".

(2) Defeat at Sanchuankou vs Victory at Anyuanzhai (1040) (Commander of the War Zone: Fan Yong)

Shaanxi’s border defenses were loose and 100,000 Hu soldiers (minority immigrants) were recruited locally ), with varying qualities and low combat effectiveness; the Xixia army has a lineup of hundreds of thousands, which is comparable to the Song Dynasty, but they have been pursuing survival in the desolate cold for many years, and their combat effectiveness is much better.

However, the Song Dynasty had a weak army and a strong country, with its national strength equivalent to dozens of times that of Daxia. Yuan Hao did not dare to be careless. He adopted a "showing weakness strategy" and sent a letter requesting peace talks. The theater commander Fan Yong was too naive. He reported the good news to the court and at the same time relaxed his guard a little.

The fall of Jinmingzhai

Yuan Hao is lying. The war has just begun and he does not want to negotiate a peace. Now that the suburbs of Yanzhou (Fuyan Road Administration) have been secured, the next target is Jinmingzhai, an important gateway to Yanzhou; secretly bribed part of the garrison, then launched a surprise attack at dawn, and easily completed the occupation.

Anyuan Village? Xia Jun was scared away

At this time, Di Qing had been transferred from the unknown suburban camp to Anyuan Village, another important gateway in Yanzhou. The Xia army pressed over from Jinming Village. Di Qing was seriously injured, but when he heard the news that day, he came back to life with full blood. He stood up, straddled his horse and galloped in the direction of Xia Jun. The soldiers were very moved and rushed to the line of fire.

The Xixia troops saw this natural enemy from a distance and couldn't play any more. They automatically turned around in a U-shape without receiving orders. Yuan Hao decided to skip Anyuan Village, mobilize an army of 100,000, take a detour to Yanzhou City, and directly encircle it. At this time, the top academic commander of the Song Army finally realized that it was imminent and mobilized several troops to rush for reinforcements.

The disastrous defeat at Sanchuankou

Yuan Hao was very dedicated and had already done sand table simulations. He set up an ambush at Sanchuankou and waited for reinforcements from the Song Dynasty. The Song army has been idle for many years, and now it is traveling long distances day and night. It is really exhausted, and its combat effectiveness has been reduced to the lowest. At this time, they were attacked by several times the number of opponents. Thousands of Song soldiers would rather die than surrender and died heroically.

The rescue team evaporated and Yanzhou became an isolated city. Fortunately, the Song Dynasty had a high level of industry and the city wall was essentially "impregnable." Commander Fan Yong (civilian) closed the city gate tightly, preparing to hold on until the day the city gate was breached and fight for the survival of Yanzhou City. In the end, "we can't rely on the motherland but rely on miracles." A rare heavy snowstorm blew up. Xia Jun did not bring any warm clothes and had to retreat.

To be continued

The next episode "Middle of the Anti-Japanese War against Xia": Fan Zhongyan's knight-errant friend Qi Zijing cleans up the aftermath of the "Haoshuichuan defeat" and allows the enemy troops to retreat and the border soldiers and civilians to retreat. The mood settled down, but he was falsely accused. Fan Zhongyan wrote "The Story of Yueyang Tower" to explain life for himself, Qian Zijing and the heroes of the world.