Old Fan easily guessed Li Yuanhao's strategy, but it was not because Old Fan was wise enough.
But Li Yuanhao had no choice but to do this.
First, Zhao Jun had already told Fan Zhongyan that this is what Li Yuanhao did in history.
Secondly, through analysis and observation, we will find that Li Yuanhao actually had no extra choices at all.
During the Song-Xia War, the Song State clearly adopted a defensive strategy, which consumed its national strength.
If it were the Liao Kingdom, they would definitely advance step by step, with a large army advancing to encroach on the borders of the Song Dynasty. They would also build city walls and have the two armies confront each other.
This is to use force to suppress the enemy, and it is a test of the strength of both sides, and then the combat effectiveness of the army can be compared.
By then, the Liao Kingdom would have cities and garrisons on the border, making it convenient to transport food and supplies. They could then continuously dispatch cavalry to fight behind enemy lines, destroy the Song army's logistical supplies, and achieve a national victory.
However, Xixia couldn't do it.
At its peak, the population of Western Xia was only three million. Now, even though it hasn't reached its peak yet, the population is only one or two million at most. How can Western Xia build cities, how can they advance strategically, and how can they maintain food and fodder supplies?
Therefore, the only thing Li Yuanhao could do was to attack from a different angle, shoot and move to another place, look for the weak points of the Song army, launch a sneak attack, and retreat immediately after a successful attack.
Knowing Li Yuanhao's fighting style makes things much simpler. Looking at the map, it's like a God's perspective. You can clearly see that first of all, there is Qinfeng Road, which is a place that Li Yuanhao can't even reach with his toes.
The Qinfeng Road territory extended from Xining in the future to Lanzhou in the east, which was the Tianshui area of Gansu in the future. The mountains here were high and the forests were dense, the road was long, and logistical supplies were difficult, making long-distance raids impossible.
The next choice was Yan'an Prefecture on the Fuyan Road. At that time, the Suide Army had not yet been established, so the entire border area was Yanzhou. But this place had been built into an iron barrel by Lao Fan, with a beacon tower every ten miles and a fortress every twenty miles, making Yanzhou City as solid as a rock.
The same was true for Huanqing Road. Fan Zhongyan appointed his good friend Teng Zongliang as the commander-in-chief of Huanqing Road, Cao Cong as the chief of the cavalry and infantry of Huanqing Road, Zhao Zhen as the deputy chief-in-chief of Huanqing Road, and Zhong Shiheng as the commander-in-chief of Huanzhou.
These people strictly followed his orders and took precautions.
Therefore, in Lao Fan's eyes, the only option available to Li Yuanhao was the Jingyuan Road.
But the Jingyuan Road was actually a trap. The periphery seemed empty, with almost no bunkers and beacon towers. However, Lao Fan insidiously built a large number of fortresses in the areas of Zhenrong Army, Deshun Army, and Weizhou, which was almost the Liupanshan area of Guyuan City in later generations.
In this way, the Xixia army area will be immediately pinned down by countless fortresses. At this time, the reinforcements from Huanqing Road will arrive and immediately surround the Xixia army.
Yuan Hao was obviously aware of this, so he made a feint to the east and attacked in the west, hoping to launch a surprise attack on the empty Huanqing Road after the reinforcements were sent. However, Fan Zhongyan had predicted Yuan Hao's prediction and had already seen through his intentions, so he naturally had no worries.
Now the situation of catching a turtle in a jar has emerged, Huanqing Road has become the jar, so who is the one who catches the turtle?
Fan Zhongyan's eyes moved among the many generals under his command.
He currently has the Privy Councilor Wang Deyong under his command. Wang Deyong is a veteran, so there will be no problem sending him over.
But firstly, Wang Deyong is really old, he is already 60 years old this year, and is only suitable for rear-line command. It is not a good idea for him to go to the front line in person.
Secondly, Lao Wang had a high prestige in the army. According to the Song Dynasty's system of suppressing generals, he could no longer lead the troops in battle personally.
Apart from Wang Deyong, there were only a few generals, including Liu Ping, deputy general manager of Fuyan Road, Ren Fu, deputy general manager of the cavalry and infantry of Fuyan Road, Shi Yuansun, deputy general manager of Fuyan, Wang Zhongbao, military commander of Linfu Road, and Xu Huaide, military commander of Fuyan Road.
The others, including Di Qing, Guo Zun, Zhou Mei, Zhe Jimin, Zhang Ke, Wang Xin, Fan Ke and others, were actually still low-ranking officers at that time, such as inspectors and chief military officers, and did not have the ability to lead an army alone.
In addition, Li Shibin, the chief military officer of Jinming Village, Sang Yi, the chief military officer of Fuyan Road, Ma Huaide, the chief military officer of Yanzhou, and Miao Jing, the chief military officer of Yanzhou, are all mid-level military generals.
The ranks of generals in the Song Dynasty were chaotic, and the command hierarchy was unclear, but in general, there was a hierarchy of commanders such as the chief commander (chief general), deputy chief commander (deputy general), commander, deputy commander, seal, supervisor, and chief supervisor.
This time, it was important to lead troops to Huanqing Road to attack Yuan Hao, so a general must be sent. Liu Ping, as the transport envoy and deputy general manager of Fuyan Road, held the highest position, so he was the most suitable person to go.
But Fan Zhongyan gave up the idea because Zhao Jun had once told him about Liu Ping's poor command.
If Liu Ping had not been a Jinshi and had not fought to the death in the Battle of Sanchuankou, saving Yanzhou and not surrendering to the enemy, Old Fan would have wanted to transfer him away.
Liu Ping is not suitable, and Ren Fu and Shi Yuansun are not very good either. They both failed in history.
Wang Zhongbao and Xu Huaide are good friends.
But Huanqing Road needs to be protected, and Yanzhou also needs a general. The two of them are now responsible for the defense of the north of Yanzhou. If they are withdrawn, Anlong Village and Yongping Village in the north of Yanzhou will be empty.
So Fan Zhongyan thought about it and suddenly remembered a person, Zhang Kang, the current governor of Yanzhou and commander of the army.
In history, this person was the military commander of Jingyuan Road.
Zhao Jun later mentioned him when talking to Lao Fan about the Song-Xia War, saying that this man was quite brave and had attacked Western Xia many times, forcing Western Xia to not dare to enter the pass.
Most importantly, apart from the factor mentioned by Zhao Jun, Zhang Kang’s own resume is also quite impressive.
He was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianxi. Although he was a Jinshi, he liked military affairs. During the Tiansheng period, he took the initiative to request to be the Tongpan of Zhenrong Army.
When Li Deming died, he also made a report to the emperor and made early warning suggestions, telling the court that Li Yuanhao was likely to rebel and suddenly attack the Song Dynasty, and hoped that the court would make preparations early.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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