Before sending troops, in addition to the joint efforts of several armies, Gao Yue, Tan Zhizhong, Ximen Can, Gao Gu, Zhang Jingze and other military supervisors also repeatedly deduced the plan.

Gao Yue found that everyone was most worried about the terrain of Baiyu Mountain. It stretched for four or five hundred miles (about more than 200 kilometers now), and most of the mountains were three thousand feet high, while the main peaks were as high as four or five thousand feet high. The terrain was steep and steep. The three passes in the west, middle and east were crucial, and it was difficult to transfer. According to Tan Zhizhong, it was okay for all the imperial camps to defend the defense boundary, but once it moved, it would be good that the ten stones of food and fodder could reach the front line with one stone. What's more, even if you break through the dangerous obstacles of Baiyu Mountain and go to Xiazhou, if Dangxiang defended the city to the ten thousand cities and cleared the fields, our army would have no food, and he would have to retreat in the end, and even lose troops and generals.

In fact, Gao Yue knew Tan Zhizhong’s worries.

Later, the Song Dynasty also fought against Xia in the Shenzong Dynasty, but it was a heavy defeat. In addition, the defeat in Yongle City was shortly thereafter, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians killed. Emperor Shenzong was even more depressed and was tired of talking about military affairs, so he was frustrated.

But after a detailed comparison (they just touched the stones of their predecessors across the river, so Gao Yue was different. He could touched the stones of their descendants across the river), Gao Yue felt that this large-scale conquest and suppression of the Dangxiang still had a great chance of winning.

Based on the three benefits and three disadvantages mentioned by Ye Shi Liangbi, Gao Yue further strengthened his conquest plan and compared it with the later Song Dynasty's battle against Xixia:

1. At this time, most of the Dangxiang Qiang tribes were tribal. Although the rebel Tuoba Chaohui called himself the Qing emperor, it was actually the six prefectures, but it was different during the Song Dynasty. The Tang and Dangxiang were confrontations between the state and the foreign lands; but the Song Dynasty was different. After the double failure of military and political Dangxiang against Dangxiang in the early Song Dynasty, the Western Xia had transformed into a relatively mature regime system, and the Song and Xixia had evolved into a confrontation between the state and the state.

2. Which five routes did the Song army attack Xia in the fifth route? Wang Zhongzheng (the eunuch of the army supervisor) was Hedong Road, and Zhong Yan took the Fuyan Road. The goal of these two routes was to seize Yinzhou, Xiazhou and Youzhou in the north of Baiyushan; then Gao Zunyu (coincidentally, this person also had a surname Gao, and his military route was the same as Gao Yue) left Huanqing Road (Huanzhou and Qingzhou), Liu Changzuo left Jingyuan Road (controlled by Gao Zunyu), and then Li Xian (the eunuch of the army supervisor) controlled Xihe, Qin Feng Road and horses advanced northeast along the Xihe River. The goal of these three routes was to capture Yanzhou and Lingzhou areas. Finally, the five routes of the army and horses were in Lingzhou, and then besieged Xingqing Prefecture, the king's capital that captured the Xixia.

Then the most critical difference is:

My strategic goals now are completely different from those of Song Shenzong!

Song Shenzong's goal was to completely destroy Xixia, and his strategy was to capture Xingqing Prefecture (Lingwu Zone);

As for my goal, it is also to completely destroy Dangxiang, but my strategy is to capture Tongwancheng, Xiazhou.

Why is this difference? It is very simple, because Lingwu is still firmly in the hands of the Tang Dynasty (the Tang Dynasty was not lost even if it perished), Hetao is also controlled by Tiande, and Zhenwu's army. Dangxiang of the Pingxia army could only initiate a rebellion in Youzhou and Xiazhou areas, occupying Tongwancheng as a pseudo-capital.

Therefore, the difference in strategic situation and goals often determine whether a war is a victory or a loss.

In fact, the Five Song Army had successfully broken through the defense line of the Western Xia in Baiyu Mountain, which is the Hengshan area in the first half of the battle. Zhong Yan captured Mizhizhai, beheaded 8,000 yuan, and restored Suizhou, Yinzhou and Shizhou. Wang Zhongzheng also successfully detoured from Hedong to the west and occupied Wuding River. The most successful one was Liu Changzuo from Jingyuan Road, who captured Mogong Pass, which was only more than 100 miles north from Lingzhou. Li Xian also defeated the ancient city of Lanzhou and advanced to the Tiandu Shantun Camp, which was not far from Liu Changzuo.

But why did the second half of the stage collapse? Gao Yue knew that because the strategic goal set by Emperor Shenzong of Song was not to seize Hengshan, but to be very happy with the merits, he had to fight directly to Xingqing Prefecture and liberate Empress Dowager Liang.

This is fatal.

At that time, Empress Dowager Liang of Xixia listened to the suggestion of his subordinates, shrank all the elite troops in Xingqing Prefecture, and sent light cavalry outside to plunder the food and food road of the Song army, fighting the standard "strengthening walls and clearing the fields" and then implementing counterattack tactics.

For the Song army, they demanded a breakthrough behind Baiyushan. The initial meeting place of the Five Route Army was Huanzhou. However, from Huanzhou to Xingqing Prefecture, it was 700 miles away, and it was mostly desert! What was even more terrible is that Huanzhou is indeed located at the intersection of Qinfeng Road, Huanqing Road and Jingyuan Road. Li Xian, Gao Zunyu and Liu Changzuo came here without any trouble (Huanzhou is roughly the same as Anlezhou where Gao Yue had fought with Xifan Ma Chongying before), but Zhong Yan and Wang Zhongzheng were in trouble. Their two 100,000 troops, plus 100,000 civilians, finally reached the north of Baiyushan. They had to slowly walk west for hundreds of miles before they could reach Huanzhou...

Zhong Yan marched to Suojiaping, Xiazhou. Heavy snow fell and the military rations were exhausted. Ten thousand soldiers collapsed without fighting. Wang Zhongzheng's 60,000 soldiers, plus an almost-numbered number of civilians walked north along the Wuding River and plunged into the sand wetland. The troops sank and the dead were numerous. Finally, he walked to Naiwangjing, Yuzhou. The military rations were finished and the war broke out.

After the two groups were defeated, Gao Zunyu and Liu Changzuo were no longer able to do so. Although they reached Lingzhou, their troops did not have an advantage over the Xixia in Xingqing Prefecture. The food route was cut off, and the military camp was dug up and the Yellow River was flooded by Xixia. They were defeated and fled.

Li Xian didn't join in the fun. After seeing the disadvantages of the situation, he withdrew his troops directly.

"If Emperor Shenzong set a down-to-earth strategic goal, such as Zhong Yan, Wang Zhongzheng seized Hengshan, and then built a base on the mountain range, recruited Qiang Luo to be the Yicong, eroded Xiazhou, Youzhou and Yinzhou, and cultivated farms in Wudinghe to solve the problem of military and food, Gao Zunyu and Liu Changzuo were also satisfied with capturing Tiandu Mountain, and built a base here, step by step, slowly shortened the attack distance on Xixia Xingqing Prefecture. After the right time comes, we will advance together in the east and west. With the national strength of the Song Dynasty, we will definitely be able to crush Xixia."

Now Gao Yue's strategy is very feasible - he dispelled everyone's concerns and came up with a plan: "We must first occupy Baiyushan, cut the Pingxia Dangxiang in the north of the mountain and the six governments in Shannan, and then all the troops will fight, destroy the six governments in Shannan and Weibei, Lishi Dangxiang, and then advance together to siege Tongwancheng and wipe out the Pingxia Dangxiang." Then Gao Yue pointed to the map, "The military food problem is not big. Lingyan uses Feng'an water transportation to station grains in Lingwu and Yanzhou City; Qingzhou Road, the grains in Mubobao; Fuyan Road, the grains in Diaoyin City; and Hedong, Zelu Road, the grains in newly built Qingjian City. Half of the transfer personnel are responsible by the Sheshou soldiers in each town and the poor households, and half are undertaken by the caravan."

Now Gao Yue concentrated light goods, such as cotton cloth, silk and the most precious salt in the north, in the Yingzhongjun City. He then opened goods to induce patrols from various places to organize and mobilize merchants from Lingwu, Biningqing, Fengxiang, Xingyuan, Hedong and even the capital to transport grain and grass to gather everywhere, and then lowered the price of light goods and sold them to the caravans. The price difference was used as the foot-strength money borne by the caravans, so that they would not cause additional burdens to the people.

However, for the Dangxiang in the encirclement, Gao Yue, as the chief of the Imperial Camp, issued the most severe ban on business orders to the Five Routes!
Chapter completed!