Chapter 27 The Outbreak of War

Late February, the spring planting was roughly over, and war suddenly broke out.

After resting for more than half a month, the Imperial Guards Rear Army, which had not left the front lines, was the first to move.

Under the command of Wu Jie, the Imperial Guards Rear Army deployed at least 20,000 combat troops in the Bao'an Army and the northern part of Qingzhou, at the sensitive junction of the Hengshan front lines between the Jin, Western Xia, and Song dynasties, northwest of Yan'an. Once deployed, they split into two routes. One route advanced southeast along the Luo River towards Wanyan Huonv of Yan'an Prefecture, and the other advanced northwest towards the Dingbian Army area, which had been seized by Western Xia during the Jingkang Incident.

The scale of the war would have been considered a major battle before the Jingkang Incident, but at this time, it was neither large nor small. The form of combat was destined to be a typical struggle for fortresses and strongholds, mainly a contest for control of the castles along the Hengshan front lines between the Song and Western Xia that had existed for many years. It would not create any major waves in the short term, nor would there be any particularly earth-shattering results.

But it still shocked everyone.

The Great Song and Great Jin were warring enemy states, their hatred deeper than the sea and higher than the mountains, and war had never officially ceased between them for a single day. This goes without saying.

Although the Great Song and Western Xia frequently reached nominal, temporary peace, the hatred between them was also deeper than the sea and higher than the mountains due to a century of war. Even the most anti-war senior civil officials in the Song central government, with the exception of a very few who were willing to accept Western Xia out of weariness of war, mostly regarded Western Xia as "rebels" from the beginning, that is, "illegally self-independent." Everyone believed from the bottom of their hearts that the birth of this regime was illegal.

Therefore, whether it was 'parrot noodles' or 'a clear distinction', or 'I have tolerated you for a long time', and the fact that it was impossible to obtain warhorse reserves for crossing the river without attacking Western Xia… In short, this war with Western Xia was essentially something about which no one had anything to say.

Therefore, it was not the outbreak of war itself that shocked everyone.

So, what was the off-field significance of Wu Jie's offensive? The answer was an active offensive, targeting the regular troops of the Jurchens and Tanguts, attacking the regular armies of the two most powerful enemies of the Great Song.

This year was the sixth year of Jianyan, 1132 AD, and the war began seven years earlier in 1125.

In the first three years of the war, the Song army suffered defeat after defeat, finally leading to the Jingkang Incident that shocked the world, and the actual demise of the Song regime. Subsequently, in the first year of Jianyan (that is, the second year of Jingkang), the Zhao Song Emperor, as the only surviving orthodox member of the imperial family, ascended the throne in Nanjing (Shangqiu).

At that time, the Song Dynasty was a small exiled court. They dared not go to Hebei, dared not stay in the Central Plains. The prime ministers and important officials argued mostly about whether to go to Chang'an, Nanyang, or Yangzhou as a place to settle down.

At that time, the Song Dynasty's territory saw Hebei and Hedong basically fall, and the Central Plains, Guanzhong, and Jingdong were completely exposed to the Jin army's offensive. The common people flocked south, officials abandoned their posts upon hearing the news, and the area north of the Huai River basically entered a state of anarchy. From south to north, there were military bandits everywhere, and bandits were everywhere.

At that time, the Song army was a group of defeated soldiers, with only a few capable men. The highest-ranking military officer was actually someone like Liu Guangshi, and even the recognized "loyal and brave" Han Shizhong could not restrain his subordinates from mutinying and causing trouble near the temporary capital.

Everything at that time was still vivid in their minds.

But now, Zhao Song had actually launched an offensive, and it was against the regular troops of the Jurchens and Western Xia, launching attacks simultaneously.

Some things are like this... Although everyone was psychologically prepared, although most people knew that it might not have any obvious results, and even a considerable number of people knew that this matter might only be a feint or some kind of preparatory action, they still couldn't help but feel a little excited, a little emotional, and a little lost.

Because this was the main text of history, the process of history.

Above countless deaths, survivals, flames, iron currents, nature, and humanity, history would ultimately choose to record such events as nodes without emotion... After seven years of resistance and five years of hard work, Zhao Song finally took the first step of counterattack in the spring of the sixth year of Jianyan.

Then, as time passed, no one would remember all those once-living faces, nor would anyone remember all those swords and shadows that once shone in the era. Only a part of the people and a part of the events, like this counterattack, were recorded without emotion.

After Wu Jie took action, the rest of the Song army also moved constantly.

Han Shizhong's troops re-entered Tongzhou and sent a detachment into Danzhou, ensuring pressure on the other side of Yan'an while directly threatening the Jin army's channel for supporting Yan'an from the Daning area across the river. This made the Jin army in Yan'an truly feel the danger of being encircled and annihilated.

The pressure on the Western Xia side was significantly greater. Yue Fei's troops, Qu Duan's troops, and Wang De's troops, tens of thousands of Song elite soldiers, appeared in large numbers in Jingyuan Road, with both cavalry and infantry. They established a base at Zhenrong Army (later Guyuan) and launched fierce attacks on Huaide Army, also known as Pingxia City, which had been seized by Western Xia, and the northern section of the Xi'an Prefecture fortresses.

Pingxia City was a place of extreme strategic importance. During the reign of Emperor Zhezong, the manpower and resources of the entire Guanzhong region were concentrated to build it in a sudden, twenty-three-day blitz. As soon as it was built, it caused great shock in Western Xia... because this city and the surrounding supporting fortified villages directly controlled the upper reaches of the Hulu River, which crossed Mount Dou and led directly to the Yellow River.

At this river entrance, it was only a mere one hundred and twenty *li* away from the core Xingling area (Ningxia Plain) of Western Xia.

There was a reason why Emperor Li Ganshun's mother, the Little Liang Empress, chose this place for her second expedition in the past.

It should be said that Yue Fei, Wang De, and Qu Duan's three detachments were clearly drawn from the elite, and most of the generals and soldiers were actually locals, who were able to adapt to the battlefield as soon as they arrived. At the same time, the proportion of cavalry was also quite high, and they had an aggressive momentum as soon as they engaged in battle. Under the fierce attacks of these Song armies, the Hulu River basin, which the Western Xia people called the Weiru River, the surrounding defense lines quickly collapsed, and the fortresses were quickly divided and surrounded. It was conceivable that if a large-scale, organized reinforcement could not be dispatched quickly, then Li Ganshun's efforts after the Jingkang Incident would be completely in vain.

This made Li Ganshun, who was already in a difficult situation due to the sudden outbreak of war, even more difficult.

This man had been the ruler of Western Xia for nearly fifty years. Of course, he knew the importance of Pingxia City. Of course, he knew that once Pingxia City, which he had painstakingly seized during the Jingkang Rebellion, was recaptured by the Song army, Western Xia would never have peace. But he didn't dare to easily transfer troops to meet the enemy... because in early March, when the Song army launched a full-scale offensive and advanced, a confirmed message repeatedly obtained from captives and small border tribes was that the Zhao Song Emperor's Dragon Banner had moved north again, directly entering the northernmost Fangzhou city.

Fangzhou City was, of course, a strategic key point, as evidenced by Wu Jie's previous victories there. It was only natural for the Song army to deploy troops there. However, merely deploying reserves did not require the Zhao Song Emperor's Dragon Banner.

Obviously, the Zhao Song Emperor was going to directly supervise Han Shizhong and Wu Jie's two detachments in the eastern front of Yan'an-Hengshan.

The appearance of the Emperor of the Great Song less than a hundred *li* from the front line was already commonplace for the Jurchens, but for the people of Western Xia, for those small Tangut tribes in Hengshan, and for the gentry and commoners in the occupied areas of northern Shaanxi, it was still a great shock.

Many small Tangut tribes, repeatedly, although they still mostly considered themselves to be Western Xia people, had been immersed for a century and still knew what the Great Song Emperor was, and they had a kind of fear in their bones.

Therefore, the sentence "The Emperor of the Great Song is in Fangzhou" brought a shock and pressure that directly made the Hengshan area panic-stricken. Many small Tangut tribes inside and outside Hengshan showed signs of wavering, and there were frequent riots and defections by the gentry and commoners in the occupied areas of northern Shaanxi.

Whether it was Yue Fei or Wu Jie, their offensives had obviously become smoother.

In this situation, Li Ganshun really did not dare to transfer troops from the Hengshan defense line, and even more did not dare to transfer the troops he had placed in Lingzhou to meet the enemy, because once there was a mistake and a field battle was lost, even if it was only ten thousand troops, it was likely to lead to a chain reaction and end up in a complete defeat.

After only a few days of fighting, this experienced Western Xia ruler completely realized a reality, that the Song army of today was definitely not the Song army of the past, and the Great Song of today was definitely not the Great Song of the past.

Relying on Western Xia alone to form a strategic balance with the Song people was a pipe dream from the beginning.

In his torment, Li Ganshun's only hope was the Jurchens. Letters of request for help were sent one after another, at the fastest speed from Xingqing Prefecture, and delivered from the rear of Hengshan to the Jin army's occupied area, to Huonv, Wushu, and Eluoguan, so that everyone could see them.

Daning City was the main channel for the Jin army's hinterland east of the Yellow River to reach Yan'an.

This was because the Xin River flowing through this place was only a dozen *li* away from the Yellow River estuary of the Yan River on the opposite bank, and the Yan River estuary was downstream, making logistical transport from east to west very convenient.

Therefore, Wanyan Wushu, the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty, who was targeting Yan'an, had long regarded this place as his military camp and had almost successfully divided and disintegrated the Huonv group here.

Now, in early March, after the war broke out in full swing, after an unknown number of horses had been run to death, the first letter of request for help arrived here. This Great Jin Prince of Wei, who actually controlled the entire Western Route Army and the Western Theater, roughly read the letter and made a judgment in the main hall of the Daning City military camp:

"We must save Western Xia."

"Your Highness, let's save Huonv first!" Wanyan Balisu, the commander of the Western Route Army, who had rushed from Taiyuan City due to the sudden outbreak of the war, spoke directly from his seat to persuade him. "Although Huonv has grievances with me, we should not abandon those 10,000 veteran soldiers of the Western Route Army... Compared to that, what does it matter even if Western Xia is destroyed?"

The others in the hall nodded in agreement.

It should be said that in the past, nearly 20,000 soldiers were stationed in Yan'an Prefecture, but thanks to the Zhao Song Emperor's entry into Guanzhong and the gap in the ceasefire after entering Guanzhong, almost half of them had withdrawn to Hedong with Wanyan Salibu and Puchahu Zhan.

Therefore, Huonv now had only 10,000 men. And Wanyan Salibu and Puchahu Zhan were sitting in this hall.

"Huonv must also be saved." Wushu did not explain too much, but simply got up and paced back and forth in the hall for a moment, and then made a definite response.

"Then what does the Prince of Wei mean... to send a large army across the river to Yan'an?" Balisu stared at Wushu, his brow furrowed.

"Absolutely not!" Wushu shook his head decisively. "I've been here for a long time and I can see clearly. It's easy to go to Yan'an from Daning, but difficult to return. Moreover, Yan'an is mountainous and has two rivers that are gradually rising. It's not a good place for our Jurchen cavalry to operate... I even suspect that Han Shizhong may already have enough troops to cut off the Yan River, forcing Huonv to withdraw from the north. The reason why he is holding back in Danzhou is to set up a trap, waiting for us to send troops over and then take a big bite out of us."

Balisu was silent, and the other generals, Wanyan Salibu, Puchahu Zhan, and others, were also silent... They could very well understand Wushu's thoughts, because the greatest loss in the previous Battle of Yao Mountain was the two *wan* households led by Wanyan Wushu himself. And the reason why those two *wan* households suffered heavy losses was not because of their bloody battles, but because they were isolated on the other side of the battlefield, unable to return, and then annihilated on the banks of the Yellow River without supplies, unlike other troops that were able to withdraw in an orderly manner after the battle.

Once bitten by a snake, he is afraid of well ropes for ten years.

The Jurchens really did not want to fight on the other side of the river, nor did they want to jump into a trap.

"How many troops are there on the other side?" Wushu turned around in the hall a few times and suddenly asked.

"If you're talking about manpower, it's naturally boundless." Balisu spread his hands in response. "Without me saying it, the Fourth Prince should have seen and heard it... From Tongzhou to Danzhou, the laborers and auxiliary soldiers are endless, visible to the naked eye across the river, with dense flags. Everything you can think of is there."

Wushu sighed even more: "What about combat troops?"

"We can only estimate the combat troops." Balisu continued to answer seriously from his seat. "Han Shizhong's Imperial Guards Left Army has always been there, Wu Jie's Imperial Guards Rear Army has always been there, and Li Yanxian has never moved. It's nothing more than how many troops the Zhao Song Emperor brought in this time... They themselves say it's 50,000, saying it's Yue Fei's Imperial Guards Front Army, Wang De's Imperial Guards Central Army, and Qu Duan's Imperial Guards Cavalry Army. Naturally, these three can draw 50,000 over, but it's not certain. We can only say that according to the Western Xia people's letters, these three and their main subordinates have all shown their faces in Pingxia City, forcing the Western Xia people to ask us for help. And the Zhao Song Emperor is in Fangzhou, where there should also be some directly commanded reserves... So even if there is a bit of a bluff, it shouldn't be too far off."

Wushu nodded repeatedly, and finally gave a number: "Adding Li Yanxian, 150,000?"

Balisu thought for a moment, and Salibu next to him also thought for a moment, but neither of them spoke.

"The Song people came prepared." Wushu did not dwell on this question that was destined to have no specific answer, but everyone had a general idea in their minds. Instead, he continued to follow this inference and put forward a conclusion and a new question. "We can't cross the river, at least we can't cross the river from Yan'an to provide aid... Instead, we have to let Huonv prepare early and withdraw from the north through Suide Army and Linzhou... Is Zhe Keqiu of Linzhou reliable?"

"I don't know." Balisu shook his head repeatedly. "The entire northern Shaanxi on the other side of the river, Yan'an Prefecture, Suide Army, Jinning Army, Linzhou, Fengzhou, and Fuzhou, were all taken down by Lou Shi with Huonv, and then handed over to the Western Capital garrison for disposal. But before the Battle of Yao Mountain, the Khitans in the Western Capital rebelled, and the newly appointed Western Capital garrison was simply the newly appointed Sixth Prince..."

"Let's not talk about this." Wushu was also helpless, but he frowned even more. "I still feel that something is wrong. We have so many problems, how can the Song people be fine? Do they really have the food reserves to launch 150,000 troops in northern Shaanxi to delay, set up bait, and fight a decisive battle? It's one thing to spend money to keep the army in their garrisons, but it's another thing to spend money to move them. Once a fight breaks out, it's yet another matter... Why are we unprepared, but they are so calm?"

Balisu pondered: "Is the Prince of Wei saying that the Han people are bluffing, and their intention is still to intimidate us and take five counties of northern Shaanxi for nothing? Perhaps their logistics simply can't support a large-scale war for two or three months? Their military reserves are also unable to launch a 100,000-man great battle in Yan'an?"

Wushu was silent for a moment and shook his head with difficulty: "We can't gamble!"

Balisu sneered and finally stopped hiding his feelings: "Prince of Wei, you're saying both good and bad things. What should we do? It's still up to you to say!"

Wushu slowly replied: "It's been a long time, and it's no longer the situation in Nanyang. General Han has already died on the other side of the river, and I just want to avoid making mistakes as much as possible... Balisu, you've been in the Western Route Army for a long time, you tell me, if I want to save Western Xia, protect Huonv, don't want to risk crossing the river, and also want to delay the Song people, what should I do? Is there a proper response?"

"It's simple." Balisu heard the other party mention the story of Nanyang, but he became solemn and honest. "This is exactly what I came to see the Prince of Wei for... I want to ask the Prince of Wei to order the army to go to Hezhong Prefecture! Build pontoon bridges at Pujin and Longmenjin, put pressure on Tongzhou; cross the Zhongtiao Mountains to attack Pinglu, to put pressure on Shanzhou, forcing the Song army to draw troops from northern Shaanxi to confront us there! If we do that, I dare not say that everything can be solved easily, but it will be enough to relieve the overall situation!"

Wushu suddenly understood. This was the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao, or rather, pretending to besiege Wei to put pressure on Wei to rescue Zhao. It can only be said that for thousands of years, Pujin and Tongguan have always been the key to Guanzhong, and there is indeed a reason for it.

At this thought, the Great Jin Prince of Wei, as always, made a decision without hesitation: "We'll listen to the commander's words. I'll go to Pujin again myself!"