A Study On The Military Value Of Zhending Prefecture In The Northern Song Dynasty

The Zhending Prefecture has a long history and splendid culture.Located in Zhengding County,Shijiazhuang City,Hebei Province.Because it is located at the junction of the eastern Taihang Avenue and Tumen Road,it has gradually developed into a regional central city in the eastern Taihang foothills and the western North China Plain.It connects Taiyuan in the west,Qishen in the east,Dingzhou in the north,and is famous in the south."It controls the danger of Taihang and is the most important part of Hebei." According to the traffic hub in North China,it has a unique geographical location advantage to prevent the Liao army from moving southward,Outstanding strategic position and significant military value.Due to its unique geographical advantages and excellent military role,Zhending prefecture became one of the most important military towns relied on by the Northern Song Dynasty in Hebei.In the early period of the Northern Song Dynasty,in the process of solving the problem of the northern Han Dynasty in the separatist Hedong region,Zhending Prefecture,as the military base for seizing the northern Han Dynasty and the pivot for attacking and retreating the northern Han Dynasty,sent troops to harass the northern Han Dynasty many times,and directly became the starting point of the attack in the key battle of eliminating the northern Han Dynasty,which has important military significance in the process of flattening the northern Han regime.In the subsequent wars between Song and Liao,facing the military pressure and offensive situation of Liao,Zhending Prefecture,as the strategic rear of Dingzhou and the second defense line to the south of Dingzhou,played an important role in the defense system of the Hebei Road.On the one hand,when the Liao army threatened the Dingzhou defense line,the Zhending Prefecture garrison went up to support Dingzhou to strengthen the defensive force of the Dingzhou defense line;On the other hand,Zhending Prefecture also undertakes the important mission of protecting the strategic lifeline of connecting Hebei Road and Tumen Road in Taiyuan,Hedong,to ensure that the Hedong reinforcements can quickly and smoothly run to the Hebei Road,so as to stabilize the battle line and fill the defense gap.Although the strategic position of Zhending Prefecture experienced a brief fluctuation after the alliance of the Yuan Dynasty,its military value is still significant.To pacify the rebellion of the Yunyi soldiers in Baozhou and ensure the stability of the interior of the Hebei defense line;In response to the cross-border land invasion of Liao,the Zhending government improved the border defense system by secretly adding military strongholds and outlets,and increased military forces and patrols to maintain border stability.At the same time,many spies were sent to spy on the relevant information of Liao.During the war between the Song and Jin Dynasties,the offensive and defensive value of Zhending Prefecture was fully demonstrated in the war.The garrison of Zhending Mansion and the civilian Ding Zhuang bravely and tenaciously resisted,eliminated the offensive edge of the Jin army,delayed the momentum of the Jin army’s southward movement,and demonstrated the protective role of the Great Palace and the capital.After defeating the Jin army,the Zhending government sent troops to relieve the siege of Taiyuan,which reflected the military function of the Zhending government in response to Hedong.However,with the fall of Zhending Mansion,it also announced that the Northern Song Dynasty worked hard to deal with the final collapse of the defense line of the Hebei Road,which had been dealt with vigorously for more than100 years,and lacked the barrier of the Hebei Road,which also made the Jin army under Kaifeng City and then attacked and directly caused the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty.