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The Song Dynasty’s high victory rate in foreign wars is true or false

This statement comes from an online article “Historical Truth That 99% of Chinese People Don’t Know”. This article mentioned that the Tang Dynasty won 55% of foreign countries, and the Song Dynasty had a 70% victory rate. Therefore, some people think that the Song Dynasty is stronger. Is this true?

If we take a closer look at the previous foreign wars of the Song Dynasty, we will find that the victories of the Song Dynasty are generally small-scale defeat battles, or defensive battles, not annihilation battles. It is easy to defeat and defend. If you repel the opponent, you win. Maybe the opponent has only killed dozens of people, and the price you pay is more than the opponent.

From a statistical point of view, the Song army won more foreign wars than it lost. The difference is that only a few thousand enemies were killed in a hundred victories, and a million people were killed in a loss. The Song Army did often win battles. According to statistics, the Song Army had more than 600 battles against foreign enemies, of which 600 were defensive battles. Song Jun reported a big victory. The other dozens of games were pure defeats, collapsing on their own, and losing tens of thousands of troops.

Due to the lessons learned by military generals in the late Tang Dynasty who disrupted the country, the Song Dynasty used civil to control military, developed the civil service system, and built an ultra-stable humanistic society. The Song Dynasty was outstanding in terms of science and technology, philosophy, education, literature, art, and history. Three of the “Four Great Inventions” appeared in the Song Dynasty, printing, the compass, and gunpowder.

The Song Dynasty was the only dynasty in Chinese history that did not suppress commerce. The earliest manufacturing and processing factories in the world appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. Shipbuilding, firearms, papermaking, printing, weaving, kiln and other factories abound.

In the Song Dynasty, the industry and commerce was developed, the economy was huge, and the people loved extravagant consumption, which gave birth to a splendid empire, shining on the whole of Asia. The hard power was mediocre, but the soft power was leveraged. When Song Taizu heard this, he must have burst into tears: The author of this article is also the one who knows me! So, was the Song Dynasty strong?

Of course not, the Song Dynasty had strong soft power, but it was a bit too soft. Throughout the dynasties, without martial arts, how can there be Wenzhi? Without weapons, no matter how prosperous the economy and culture are, they will be seized by others. Many of the civil servants who led the army in the Song Dynasty were well-informed soldiers. It is not that the civil servants mentioned in the textbooks are all soft-headed Ye Gong who do not understand war. They just can’t win battles.

The Forbidden Army in the Song Dynasty was equivalent to the fully trained field army in the 1970s and 1980s. It is an army that is well-equipped, performs martial arts, and is particularly eye-catching. Every Lantern Festival Lantern Festival, military parade and exercises of the Forbidden Army are perfect and impressive, so they are especially supported by the people. The military prefectures in various places in the Song Dynasty are roughly equivalent to our current prefecture-level cities. There are 2,000 forbidden troops.

The scale is equivalent to our current infantry regiment. During a war, 500 soldiers can stay behind, and 1,500 soldiers can be sent to battle, and then equipped with auxiliary soldiers and Xiang troops to participate in the battle. , the scale can be expanded to an infantry division.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Ping Japanese Army was equipped with heavy cavalry, one of the four main forces of the Forbidden Army, and was stationed in the capital. All the officers and soldiers were over 1.8 meters, well-equipped, gorgeous and handsome, and they were the pride of the Song people. Every time they appeared, they attracted countless people. Cheers, every time Jin Mingchi performs martial arts, he can win the first place bravely. Later, they went to the battlefield to reveal their secrets, and they were rubbed against the ground by wild men from Baishan Heishui and barbarians from Saibei Hetao.

The soldiers of the Forbidden Army in the Song Dynasty were equipped with the most luxurious weapons and equipment in the world. They had the best and strongest armor, the sharpest crossbow arrows, the sharpest horse-cutting knives, etc. The total price was more than 200 guan. What kind of concept is this? It is equal to 1,000 copper coins, and 200 guan is 200,000 copper coins. The Song Dynasty copper coins in Ximenqing’s time are no different from the current US dollars.

They are hard currency throughout Asia, and one penny can buy several biscuits. 200,000 copper coins, at least equivalent to the current 400,000 RMB, which may be much more valuable than the current individual weapons and equipment of the US army. The armed forces of the Song Dynasty seemed to be perfect. The only shortcoming was that they could not win battles.