Zhao Kuangyin didn't destroy the Northern Han Dynasty. Isn't he good? Or what is the reason?

Song Dynasty is a unified dynasty with a relatively small territory in history. Of course, at this time, there were also many national regimes such as Qidan, Xixia and Jin. However, quite different from history, their degree of sinicization is relatively high, which also caused great pressure on the Song Dynasty militarily. Although it doesn't seem to be completely unified, Zhao Kuangyin, the pioneer of the Song Dynasty, ended the chaotic war since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and gave the world relative peace.

In particular, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi played the most important role in ending the persistent division in this war. Of course, as Song Taizu, at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it formulated the strategic policy of "South first, then North, and easy first, then difficult". Although the Northern Song Dynasty was unified according to his strategic sketch, it is a pity that Song Taizu died, especially at this time when the Northern Han Dynasty threatened the peace of the Northern Song Dynasty by relying on the powerful Khitan.

As a pioneer in the Northern Han Dynasty, Liu Min was Liu Zhiyuan's younger brother. When Guo Wei replaced the later Han Dynasty, Liu Min proclaimed himself emperor in Taiyuan, which was the famous Northern Han Dynasty in history. This is why the policy of "easy before difficult" was formulated in the early Song Dynasty, because the area where the Northern Han Dynasty was located was very important, with fierce folk customs, and it was easy to defend but difficult to attack geographically. Due to the lack of horses, it was difficult for Song Jun to capture it. So I chose to pacify the south first, so that when attacking the Northern Han Dynasty, the rear area could rest easy.

In August 968, the emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty died suddenly, but the heir to the throne was not clearly pointed out, so the Northern Han Dynasty fell into civil strife. Seeing this, Song Taizu thought it was a good opportunity to intervene, and thus began to completely solve the Northern Han problem. Although it was said that three armies were sent to attack the Northern Han Dynasty, with the help of the Khitan, Dasong's army was forced back.

In the second year, after observing the battlefield situation, Song Taizu decided to go to the front in person. On the one hand, we will deploy heavy troops to occupy the only place where the Khitan army will rescue, and at the same time actively dispatch rations to the front of Hedong battlefield, and another war is about to break out. Because the loyal opposition in the Northern Han Dynasty vowed not to surrender, and Song Jun chose to irrigate the city with water in order to reduce casualties, although the residents guarding the city suffered great losses, they still insisted on antibodies. Because the time together is really hard, and the rear of Song Jun is constantly harassed by the Khitan cavalry, it has entered a rainy May. At this time, many soldiers became ill because of acclimatization, so they ordered to retreat.

After the downfall of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Song Taizu's sight shifted to the Northern Han Dynasty. This year, in order to consider the complete destruction of the Northern Han Dynasty, Song Taizu ordered the soldiers to divide into five roads and launched a plan to attack the Northern Han Dynasty for the third time. However, it is a pity that Song Taizu suddenly died in the palace at this time, and the important task of destroying the Northern Han Dynasty fell to Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi.

Personally, Song Taizu didn't destroy Pan Beihan, but after many blows, the overall strength has declined seriously. At the same time, it can be seen that the strength of the Khitan is already very strong. Of course, we can also see that the social situation after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms turmoil is quite complicated, and the process of reunification is also full of difficulties.