The Southern Song Dynasty dilemma: Mongol iron hooves and insurmountable resistance
During the Southern Song Dynasty, it fell into an unprecedented predicament. The Battle of Duanping into Luo in 1234 was the ambition of the Southern Song Dynasty to regain the lost territory in the north, however, in the face of the onslaught of the Mongol iron hoof, the Southern Song Dynasty's attempt suffered a painful defeat.
Lost ambition and painful lessons
The Battle of Duanping into Luozhou meant that the Southern Song Dynasty tried to recover the three northern capitals, including Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo, Henan Prefecture in Xijing, and Yingtianfu in Nanjing. However, this ambition was met by a crushing defeat in 1234, when the Mongol countermeasures made it impossible for the Southern Song to hold on to the recaptured Sanjing, and the border was once again forced to retreat to the Qinling-Huai River line.
Hopeless Northern Reconquest Mission
The defeat in 1234 revealed a brutal truth: the Southern Song army was powerless against the Mongol cavalry in a field battle, similar to what they had done against the Liaojin. Therefore, if the Southern Song Dynasty was to avoid extinction, the best strategy was not to try to regain the northern territories, but to strategically rely on an impregnable defensive line.
The Southern Song Dynasty's defensive line challenged
The Southern Song Dynasty faced two important defensive tasks, namely the Yanyun Sixteen Prefecture Defense Line and the Tongguan-Yellow River Defense Line. However, the difficulty of these two lines of defense is extremely high, the difficulty of the Yanyun Sixteen Prefecture Defense Line has reached 9 stars, and the Tongguan-Yellow River Defense Line is as high as 5 stars. In fact, these two lines of defense were not effective in holding back the Mongol onslaught.
The impassable defense line of the sixteen states of Yanyun
The Southern Song Dynasty faced great difficulties in recovering the sixteen states of Yanyun. The national policy of "using literature to control the military" made the combat effectiveness of its army relatively weak, and it lacked strong cavalry. In the face of the strong strength and flexible tactics of the Mongols, it was almost impossible for the Southern Song Dynasty to successfully take the sixteen states of Yanyun.
The fragility of the Tongguan-Yellow River defense line
Although the Tongguan-Yellow River defense line was once recaptured and maintained by the Southern Song Dynasty, the Mongol army's powerful offensive caused it to quickly rout. The nature of the Yellow River meant that the Southern Song Dynasty needed a large number of troops to garrison it, and the defense line was weakened by the formation of the Yellow Floodplain. The freezing of the Yellow River in winter made the defensive line even worse, unable to withstand the onslaught of the Mongol cavalry.
The strength of the Mongol army
The reason why the Mongol army was so strong was not only their excellent equipment and Mongolian horses, but also the simple and efficient command system and the logistical supply that fed the war with war. The roundabout tactics of the Mongol cavalry were very effective against the relatively stiff formations of the Southern Song Dynasty and other armies.
epilogue
The Southern Song faced the Mongol challenge not because they were incompetent, but because the Mongols were too powerful. In such a predicament, it seemed hopeless to recover the lost territory in the north, and the Southern Song Dynasty should pay more attention to holding the defensive line and find a more secure strategy to prevent the threat of national destruction.