宋遼唐河、徐河之戰新考

Reappraisal of the Battle of Tang唐 River (988) and the Battle of Xu徐 River (989) between Song宋 and Liao遼

何冠環(Koon-wan Ho)

《中國文化研究所學報》 43期 (2003/01) Pp. 107-120

https://doi.org/10.29708/JCS.CUHK.200301_(43).0004

並列摘要

In the middle of 987, Song Taizong宋太宗 (r. 976-997) launched his second Northern campaign aimed at recovering the Yan Yun燕雲 Territories from the Liao Empire. However, the Song troops were defeated in three decisive battles in the same year. Since 988 the Liao army stormed its counter-attack probably for revenge. Most of the Song prefectures on the Song-Liao border were attacked. The Song troops who had been weakened by the previous defeats could do the best by locking themselves in their wall-cities. According to Song accounts, the turning point of the war was the Battle of Tang River (988) and the Battle of Xu River (989) at which the Song troops, under the command of General Li Jilong李繼隆( 950-1005), the brother-in-law of Song Taizong, had managed to defeat the Liao army and successfully restored the morale. However, when we cross-examine the validity of the Song records with the Liao sources, nothing has been mentioned about the two battles which the Song claimed victory. In this article, the author attempts to re-examine the truth of the Song accounts on the two battles by comparing the Liao sources. It is found that the Song people had purposely exaggerated their victory at the Battle of Tang River. The Liao troops who had been defeated by the Song army stationed at Dingzhou定州 was only a minor force numbered around one to two thousands. On the contrary, the Liao major force led by Liao Shengzong遼聖宗 (r. 982-1031) was successful in recapturing the two strategic prefectures Yizhou易州 and Zhuozhou涿州 from the Song. As a matter of fact, Song suffered from great loss in 988 it is highly possible that Song Taizong deliberately exaggerated the minor victory at Tang River to cover up the grave defeat of Song army at Yizhou and Zhuozhou. It is also found that at the Battle of Xu River, the Liao army commanded by the military genius Yelü Xiuge耶律休哥 (?-998) was defeated by the Song troops led by a junior military official Yin Jilun尹繼倫 (947-996) in an unexpected circumstance, partly due to Yelü's own misjudgment and excessive confidence. The author believes that for the sake of Yelü Xiuge, nothing was mentioned about the Battle of Xu River in the Liao official records, although it had been recorded that the Liao troops had evidently marched southward in the ame period of time. In terms of importance and significance of the Song-Liao War, the Battle of Xu River is much greater than that of the Tang River. In the Battle of Xu River, the Song army was able to defeat Yelü Xiuge, the Ever Victorious General of Liao. And, to a large extent, this unexpected victory had greatly enhanced the morale of the Song troops. In addition, it was highly possible that due to his serious wound left at the Battle of Xu, Yelü did not appear at the battlefield ever since. Regarding the merits of Li Jilong in the victories of the two battles, it is found that his contributions had also been exaggerated, although his skill of command in battlefield was evidently better than many Song field commanders who only strictly followed the emperor's instructions.