The liberation of a glass of wine opened the armed policy of the Song Dynasty, which was different from that of the previous generation.
In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the army could not defeat Liao, or it was impossible to defeat Liao after Zhao Kuangyin's death. This is mainly because the Northern Song Dynasty and Liao State are fundamentally two different systems. The difference in system determines the strength of their army.
The military organization of Liao Army or Qidan did not fight the Central Plains Army until the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty. Not to mention the tribal ambush in the early Tang Dynasty, there were several records of Qidan troops conquering the Central Plains in the Five Dynasties. In the confrontation with the five dynasties warlords at that time, both sides won and lost. However, the Liao army never occupied an absolute advantage, or achieved great advantages in a certain aspect. There is even an embarrassing record, that is, after being surrounded by warlord troops for five generations, they were rushed out of the position by their opponents and were completely annihilated.
During the Five Dynasties, the Khitans fought against the Central Plains army.
However, it was also in the Five Dynasties that warlords or local military groups of our time posed a great threat to centralization. Therefore, the political development of the Five Dynasties gradually developed from the initial late Tang model to the Northern Song model. Militarily, this development path is concentrated in deploying local elite soldiers to serve in the imperial army in the capital. The weakness of the border guards after the Northern Song Dynasty is the final result of this evolutionary route.
Zhao Kuangyin himself was the last great warlord in the Five Dynasties.
Of course, when Zhao Kuangyin was still alive, the Northern Song army could still eat the last capital left by the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties. Although Zhao Kuangyin was the first emperor of the Song Dynasty, he was actually the last great warlord of the Five Dynasties. His imperial army still retains many elite troops from the late Han Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty. Driven by their recognized leader Zhao Kuangyin, the fighting capacity will not be low. This is also the reason why Zhao Kuangyin was able to quickly destroy the surrounding forces after mastering the imperial army. Except for the Northern Han Dynasty, which is a remnant of the late Tang Dynasty and supported by the Liao State, other forces have basically degenerated or been beaten.
Relying on the imperial army, the Song Dynasty successfully eliminated the surrounding forces.
But after Zhao Kuangyin's death, Zhao Guangyi, the superior, did not have his brother's military qualification. People who have experienced five generations of changes will be very afraid of such things. Therefore, Zhao Guangyi set out to further weaken the military strength of the generals. Finally, it was developed to use letters to remotely command the decision-making of frontline generals in the rear.
The area that traditionally produced high-quality soldiers was not in the actual control area of the Song Dynasty.
On the other hand, as several border areas with relatively strong fighting capacity in the Tang Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty basically didn't touch any of them. You Zhou occupies part of Hedong area, and the whole Hetao is not under their actual control. These places are precisely the places where high-quality soldiers are most likely to be produced from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. Because the local people have lived in the border of nomadic and farming culture for a long time, they are good at fighting martial arts and the folk customs are extremely tough. A large number of defectors from Central Asia and grasslands will also be stationed in the area. These conditions are beyond the reach of mainland military sources.
The class of military commanders was suppressed very low in the Song Dynasty.
Since the military foundation is not good, the general's military power and position can not be guaranteed, and the army naturally cannot have good combat effectiveness. Even if he inherited the imperial army and the remaining Shatuo cavalry left by Zhao Kuangyin at that time, he would soon take the initiative to fall under this repressive system.
These problems basically did not exist in Liao country. Although the court of Yelu Baoji also established centralization, it implemented a relatively loose and free system in grass-roots organizations. All localities will retain their original customary autonomy on the basis of recognizing the rule of the Liao royal family. This also made some frontier forces originally in the Tang Dynasty join the Liao country more calmly after comparing the situation in the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao country. Because in their view, Liao country is more like the successor of the previous Tang Dynasty system and culture. The Northern Song Dynasty was a traitor who would use his position and customs.
Liao is also centralized, but it is more like a federation.
On this basis, the Central Army of Liao State was established, including a large number of cavalry units and corresponding light cavalry units. There are also many former Qidan aristocratic armies in the local area, which exist in the form of similar private armies. However, these private armies have never become subversive forces to overthrow the Legalists, which is the advantage of the Liao federal system. Ordinary local soldiers were also feudal cavalry who lived on land. People with a certain status will have a small number of vassals. In battle, they will form cavalry units with the smallest units.
Local autonomy provided a powerful local army for Liao.
As for the local armies composed of other ethnic groups, including Han, Xi, Bohai, Mongolian and some Shatuo people, they all have their own infantry and cavalry organizations. The former may be based on cities and villages, while the latter may be based on cavalry or feudal leaders. When they face it, they are often willing to fight for Liao. In fact, it is also protecting its way of life from being eroded by the Northern Song Dynasty further north.
These are the reasons why the Northern Song Dynasty could not defeat the Liao army when the People's Republic of China was founded. This reason is also accompanied by all the coexistence periods of the two dynasties, even when the Liao Dynasty was wiped out by the Jin Nuzhen.