In what era did the Battle of Junziguan take place?

The Battle of Junziguan was an important battle in the Song-Liao War. Together with the Battle of Qigou Pass, it became the watershed in the Northern Song Dynasty's shift from strategic attack to strategic defense against Liao. The disastrous defeat of Junziguan caused the loss of all the elite imperial guards trained at the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty. Song Taizong, who was bent on clearing up the troubles in the north, almost lost all his capital. From then on, he no longer dared to hope to regain Yanyun, and instead built a fortress in Hebei. Zhou, Zhending, and Hejian were important towns, and the forward defense system with Xiongzhou, Bazhou, and Baozhou as strongholds took a defensive position against Liao. Cangzhou also transitioned from a border city in the Later Zhou Dynasty to a rear base with the nature of a military station, which was relatively stable. Due to its proximity to the canal, convenient waterway transportation, and the need for military supplies, it gradually became a city where merchants gathered. Seeing the victory of the Liao army, Li Jiqian, the leader of the party who had rebelled against the Song Dynasty, brought five hundred cavalry to pay the money and was willing to marry the Liao. The Liao agreed and had close contact with them since then. The pressure on the northwest border of the Song Dynasty suddenly increased.

Associate Professor Zeng Ruilong of the Chinese University of Hong Kong believes that the reasons for the failure of the Song Army are generally other than the obvious reasons that the Liao Army chose to invade when the Song Army was newly defeated, had superior cavalry, had high mobility to gather in the main direction, and cold weather. Except for reasons. There are two other points worth noting. One is whether the battle should be fought and whether the timing of the battle is correct; second, whether using Li Jilong as a reserve is the correct way to fight against the Liao cavalry. In the former, Zeng Ruilong believed that the Song Army did not form a unified command system and only focused on isolated counterattacks at various points, failing to take advantage of defensive warfare. In the latter, Zeng Ruilong believed that the Liao army had the advantage of cavalry and could use its superior mobility to quickly assemble to attack the opponent's weak points, and even bypass the infantry phalanx to cut off and surround them, thus having a huge strategic advantage. In order to avoid being surrounded by enemies on all sides, infantry must use crossbows. But at this time, the weather was very cold, and the soldiers were frozen and unable to use crossbows. Therefore, Li Jilong's move of not sending reinforcements to rescue Liu Tingrang was correct and avoided more casualties. Li Jilong later said to himself during the Battle of Tanghe: "In the past, the river "If you don't die in time, you will definitely repay the country." It also confirms that he was not afraid to fight in the battle of Junziguan, but to preserve his strength.