Dingxi Military History in Dingxi County

Dingxi city is located in the southeast of Lanzhou. Since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Dingxi City has been the main channel from the mainland to Lanzhou, and it is also a military strategic location.

Song Fanyu demanded the construction of Nuzha City (now called Xicheng), and said in his narrative: "The Western thieves (referring to Xixia) have nothing to do, or they plot to arise and drive tens of thousands of troops out of Shi Xia, cross Nuzha, and rush to Shantan, and then invade the mature sheep and Weiyuan, and the Xihe River is in danger. According to Toad Moushan, he attacked Tongwei and Sancha and divided his troops to plunder Yongning and Sancha.

Zhang Cai, a native of Yi Ming, said in "A Story of Building a City": "... the wheels are thousands of miles, the roads are running, there are four people in each post office, and there are six counties in Shaanxi. If you go to the county, content with the north, things blend together, the situation is linked, and Tianshui in west Gansu takes this as a barrier, while Jincheng takes this as its back ... "

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, he wrote the Preface to Rebuilding County Records, saying: "Dingxi County has two roads in the west, Qin Guan in the east, Ning and Ling in the north, and Min and Dang in the south. It is the first court of Jincheng and blocks several portals. ……"

From the theories of past dynasties, we can see the importance of Dingxi County's geographical location.

Surrounded by mountains with an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, Guanchuan River flows into Huining from Guanchuan Canyon in the northeast of the county seat. The rocks on both sides of the canyon are steep, and only one line can pass. The traffic in the past dynasties was difficult to develop, so the ancient traffic was inconvenient and it was not a battleground for military strategists. However, due to its important geographical location, traffic is also open with the development of economy. Since the Song and Jin Dynasties, it has gradually attracted the attention of military strategists. Xixia entered from Guanchuan Gorge with soldiers, and overnight, it was possible to capture the west city, or it was possible to capture Dingxi from Huining Jill's mouth via Qinglan Mountain. In the Ming Dynasty, Yuan exiles went south to harass Dingxi area, taking the same route. Qinghai is an important passage for Pingliang and Tianshui to enter Lanzhou westward. During the Republic of China, Dingxi County was often the first to bear the brunt of the warlord regime in Gansu.