At the end of February, when spring ploughing was almost over, war suddenly broke out.

The rear troops of the imperial camp, which had rested for more than half a month but had not left the front line, were the first to move.

Under Wu Jie's command, the Imperial Camp rear army deployed at least 20,000 soldiers in the intersection of the An'an Army and the northern part of Qingzhou, which is the northwest side of Yan'an, the most sensitive Hengshan front line of the Jin Kingdom, the Western Xia, and the Song Dynasty. Once deployed, the troops were divided into two groups, one along the Luo River to the southeast, that is, to the place where Wanyan Huonu in Yan'an Prefecture was; the other to the northwest, that is, the Dingbian Army area that was captured by the Western Xia during the Jingkang period.

The scale of the war was definitely a major war before the Jingkang Incident, but at this time, it was neither big nor small. The battle was destined to be a typical battle for castles, mainly for the control of the castles on the Hengshan front line between the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty. It would not cause any major waves in a short period of time, nor would it produce any particularly shocking results.

But it still shocked everyone.

It goes without saying that the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty were warring hostile countries. The hatred between the two sides was deeper than the sea and higher than the mountains, and the war had never officially stopped for a day.

Although the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia often reached nominal peace, their hatred was deeper than the sea and higher than the mountains because of the Hundred Years' War. Even the most anti-war senior civil servants in the Song Dynasty, except for a very small number of people who were tired of the war and were willing to accept the Western Xia, most people regarded the Western Xia as "rebellious" from the beginning, that is, "illegal self-independence". Everyone believed from the bottom of their hearts that the birth of this regime was illegal.

Therefore, regardless of whether it was the parrot noodles or the clear distinction, or "I have tolerated you for a long time", and the fact that it would be impossible to obtain the reserve of war horses to cross the river and fight without fighting Xixia... In short, this war with Xixia was essentially the kind that no one could say anything about.

So, it wasn't the outbreak of war itself that shocked everyone.

So what was the off-field significance of Wu Jie's offensive? The answer was to take the initiative to attack the regular troops of the Jurchens and the Tanguts, the regular armies of the two most powerful enemies of the Song Dynasty.

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 repeated defeats, which finally led to the Jingkang Incident that shocked the world and the actual demise of the Song regime. Then, in the first year of Jianyan (also known as the second year of Jingkang), the Zhao Song emperor, as the only legitimate royal family that escaped the net, ascended the throne in Nanjing (Shangqiu).

The Song Dynasty court at that time was a small court in exile. It did not dare to go to Hebei, nor did it dare to stay in the Central Plains. The most debated issue among the prime ministers and important officials was whether to go to Chang'an, Nanyang, or Yangzhou as a place to stay.

At that time, the Song Dynasty was in a state where Hebei and Hedong were basically occupied, and the Central Plains, Guanzhong, and Jingdong were completely exposed to the Jin army. The common people flocked to the south, and the officials abandoned their lands upon hearing the news. The area north of the Huai River was basically in a state of anarchy, and from south to north, there were soldiers and bandits everywhere.

The Song army at that time was a group of defeated soldiers, a few big and small cats and dogs, and the highest-ranking soldier was actually a person like Liu Guangshi. Even Han Shizhong, who was recognized as "loyal and brave", could not restrain his subordinates from mutinying and rioting.

Everything that happened at that time is still vivid in my mind.

And now, Zhao Song actually launched an attack, and launched an attack on the regular troops of the Jurchens and Western Xia at the same time.

Some things are like this... Even though everyone is mentally prepared, even though most people know that it may not necessarily produce any obvious results, and even quite a few people know that such a thing may just be a feint or some kind of preparatory action, they still can't help but feel excited, emotional, and disappointed.

Because this is the main text of history and the process of history.

On top of countless deaths, survivals, flames, iron currents, nature, and human nature, history will eventually ironically choose to use such events as nodes to record them without emotion... After seven years of resistance and five years of hard work, the Zhao Song Dynasty finally took the step of counterattack in the spring of the sixth year of Jianyan.

Then, as time passes, no one will remember all those once lively faces, and no one will remember all the swordplay that once shone in the era. Only some people and some things, like this counterattack, are recorded without emotion.

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

Han Shizhong's troops re-entered Tongzhou, and a part of them advanced into Danzhou, ensuring pressure on the other side of Yan'an. At the same time, they directly threatened the passage of the Jin army from Daning area across the river to support Yan'an. This made the Jin army in Yan'an truly feel the danger of being surrounded and annihilated.

The pressure from the Western Xia side was obviously greater. Yue Fei's troops, Qu Duan's troops, Wang De's troops, tens of thousands of elite Song troops appeared in large numbers on Jingyuan Road, with both cavalry and infantry. Then, with Zhenrong Army (later Guyuan) as their base camp, they began to launch a fierce attack on Huaide Army, commonly known as Pingxia City, and the northern section of Xi'an Prefecture, which had been captured by the Western Xia before.

Pingxia City is located in a very prominent strategic position. It was built during the reign of Emperor Zhezong by concentrating the manpower and material resources of the entire Guanzhong area. It took 23 days to build it. As soon as it was completed, it caused a great shock to Western Xia... because this city and the surrounding supporting forts directly controlled the upper reaches of Hulu River, and Hulu River crossed Douling Mountain and went directly to the Yellow River.

When you reach the river mouth, it is actually only 120 miles away from the core Xingling area of ​​Western Xia (Ningxia Plain).

There was a reason why Li Ganshun’s mother Xiao Liang chose this place for her second expedition.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!