20XX, early autumn.
Several SUVs were lined up in a row, speeding on the wide national highway. Above the vehicles, there were two drones with high-definition cameras, filming and recording the entire progress of the convoy. Only these were seen. When the cars entered the next fork in the road, they all turned off the flat road and headed straight towards the narrow and rugged village road.
At this time, the host's magnetic voice sounded in the car in the front row: "Dear viewers, welcome to this episode of "Tracing the Ancients" program. I am the host Xiao Cai. Today we are going to the ancient city that once changed The archaeological site of a certain battle that marked the entire history of the Chinese nation - the post-war site of the ancient Baigou River. The guest we invited today is Mei Cirenmei, who is extremely familiar with the history of the Song and Liao dynasties and has authored dozens of related monographs. professor."
What followed the camera was first a spirited young man, and then an old man in his fifties with half-thinning hair and gold-rimmed glasses. At this moment, he nodded to the camera with a smile, and said smoothly: "Hello friends on the Internet, I am Mei Ciren. I wonder how much you know about the recently unearthed history of the Song and Liao Baigou River War. But in my opinion, every Chinese son and daughter who loves our country and our nation should have a certain understanding of the causes and consequences of this war. Although the scale of this war is not as huge as imagined, it is important But it is not under any large-scale battle that we are familiar with. In a sense, it did change the entire historical process of the Chinese nation."
Later, the host Xiao Cai popularized the relevant background of the war between Song and Liao that took place thousands of years ago for the viewers and netizens who watched the program. After these introductions were finished, the vehicle finally stopped near a large pit in front.
After everyone got off the bus, the host quickly introduced the topic and began to interview Mei Ciren. Mei Ciren was also full of energy. While checking the nearby geographical terrain, he responded patiently and further explained his previous statement: "...many historians have mentioned that although the Song Dynasty In various aspects such as culture and economy, there are performances that shine through the past and present, but there is also the biggest problem, which is the lack of military preparedness, so it has been passive in the face of the invasion of Liao and Xixia.
"And the Battle of Baigouhe here magnified this problem to the extreme. According to my understanding of the history at that time, this battle could actually be said to be related to the life and death of the Song Dynasty. If this battle was really defeated, then The Song Dynasty, which had been founded for a hundred years, would completely collapse. Even if the Liao Kingdom did not take the opportunity to invade south, the Jurchen Jin Kingdom, which looked extremely powerful at the time, would definitely go south after destroying the Liao Kingdom. By then, the Song Dynasty after the defeat would be absolutely unable to resist them of."
"In that case, why didn't later history develop as you said, professor?" Xiao Cai fulfilled his duties as a host and asked questions quickly like an admiring actor.
Mei Ciren smiled and circled the ancient battlefield ruins in front of him with his hand: "The reason is that the Song Dynasty was not defeated in this battle."
"Didn't you say that based on your inference, the Song Dynasty was already in a very bad situation during this war?"
"Yeah, but sometimes history is written by heroes.
. Because the sudden rise of one person changed the trend of this battle, Xiao Cai, do you know who this person is? "
Xiao Cai laughed: "Professor Mei is still pretending, but it doesn't bother me who has already made preparations. It's Sun Tu, right?"
"Yes, it's Sun Tu. A military attache from the Song Dynasty who was not very impressive at the beginning, and even the military power in his hands had been stripped away." Professor Mei nodded with satisfaction: "It was he who suddenly stood up and cheered when he was in danger. , so that the main force of the Song Army, which had already chosen to sit back and watch, was thrown into the battle, and the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, which had been fighting with the Liao Army for a whole day, joined forces to withstand the inevitable wave of offensive of the Liao Army! "
The voice-over started immediately and began to introduce the origin of the name Western Army and the various situations of the Western Army at that time. By the time these background information was introduced, several people had already appeared at the edge of the newly excavated battlefield ruins. There was still a lot of silt accumulated underneath. In addition to some rusty weapons, there were also a large number of The corpses of men and horses are telling future generations about the tragedy of this battle.
"Hey, there are still a lot of traces of food here..." Xiao Cai's eyes were very poisonous, and he quickly distinguished some different things in the mud below.
This cheered up Mei Ciren: "It seems that the course of this war recorded in the history books is completely correct. Judging from our current position, this should be the rear of the Song Army's central army's stronghold. , to our left is the ancient Baigou River..." After pointing to the wasteland ahead, he continued: "And the several meters thick mud here is affected by the water of the Baigou River. It is also true that Because of this river, this ancient battlefield site has been completely preserved."
"Ah? Is it because the river changed its course?"
"It can be said that it is, or it can be said that it is not. To be more precise, it is an artificial diversion of the river water, which is to divert water for irrigation. This is a common trick used to defeat the enemy on the ancient battlefield." Professor Mei explained with a smile.
"So, this flood was initiated by the Liao Kingdom? After all, we are now standing in the Song Army's camp."
"That's it, because this place belonged to the Liao Kingdom at that time, they were more familiar with the local topography and water features, and it was easier to plan relevant strategies. And according to historical records, the deputy commander of the Liao Kingdom Yelu Dashi was also very good at using strategies to win. Awesome person."
The host imagined the scene of a flood and exclaimed: "It seems like the Song Army is really dangerous. It can make a comeback under such circumstances with what is said to be the weakest army in history. , Sun Tu is really amazing!"
"Sun Tu is indeed amazing, but sometimes, a person's success or failure is really related to luck. If he hadn't raised his arms at that time, and then led countless people in the military camp to fight forward, I am afraid that when the flood comes, Song The army was really about to collapse completely. After all, the Western Army was already in absolute danger at that time, and they were already the most powerful existence in the Song Army! If the Chinese army camp was washed away by a flood again, it would be even worse. It’s the result of adding insult to injury. I guess I don’t need to say more about the final consequences, right?” Mei Ciren said with emotion: “But it was Sun Tu who led the troops to rush forward, which not only saved the Western Army in front, but also saved Song in the camp. The army was saved. When the flood came, what could be done was
The damage is not as great as before. "
"You are so lucky. There is always a saying on the Internet that Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was a son of some dimension. Now it seems that Sun Tu is no less generous." Xiao Cai said with emotion.
"Haha, this statement is indeed interesting. I have also seen it said like this on the Internet. However, I always believe that everything cannot be attributed to external factors of luck. In the end, their success lies in their unremitting efforts. Isn't there a saying that can be said? Well, success is reserved for those who are prepared. Whether it is Sun Tu or Liu Xiu, they can do things that others seem to be unable to do, just like cheating, because of them I've made enough preparations before this.
"I won't say much about Liu Xiu, but I will talk about today's protagonist Sun Tu. It was through his years of working quietly in the lower-level army that he had such a powerful influence that he was able to respond to a hundred responses at that time, and then he turned around like Baigouhe. A battle."
"Professor Mei said it well, so we should also have this kind of energy in our daily study and work, and make more preparations so that we can succeed when fate favors us." At this point, Xiao Cai felt that it would be too preachy to continue. He quickly changed the subject: "But even so, Professor Mei, I still don't understand something, and that is why the Song Army, which has always been known to be weak and timid, suddenly burst out with such strong fighting spirit? Also, why would a Song Dynasty official army with a commander be incited by Sun Tu to kill them against orders with just a few words?"
"You have two questions, but to sum it up, they are a similar question." Professor Mei said with a smile: "But this is a long story. We have to look at the system of the Song Dynasty, especially for Let’s talk about the various systems of the military…”
This column is meant to popularize historical knowledge. It just allows the host and guests to go to some archaeological sites to make it more interesting. So when Professor Mei wanted to go into more depth, Xiao Cai, as the host, did not mean to dissuade him. Interested in becoming an actor again.
Therefore, with the cooperation of the two of them, various policies of the Song Dynasty since the founding of the country were introduced in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Finally, Mei Ciren said with a serious look: "Everything can be linked with cause and effect. The cause and effect in this battle , in fact, as early as the founding of the Song Dynasty, the national policy of emphasizing culture over military affairs and constantly suppressing military generals and armies had already been laid down.
"Over the past hundred years, generals and soldiers have suffered too much and suffered too much, and their dissatisfaction has accumulated to a critical point, just waiting for a vent to appear. Just like water control, you always block it, Something will definitely happen in the end, and it's like a spring. If you press it too hard, once it rebounds, the force will be extremely amazing!
"In the past, no one dared to stand up, or in other words, no one could have such a high reputation. But the appearance of Sun Tu changed everything, so there were hundreds of thousands of Song troops who were ready to fight. It can be called a miracle in the thousands of years of Chinese war history! But this time it was a mistake. After all, it saved countless Song troops and turned the entire war situation... "
Having said this, the old professor's eyes sparkled and he suddenly looked forward, as if he could penetrate thousands of years and see the battle that changed the course of the entire Chinese nation...