Ping An Biography

Yongding Acropolis sits east to west, faces water in the north and mountains in the south. Its main function is to serve as a stronghold for defending the Huguang Plain from attacks by ethnic minorities in the west.

Not long after, I came to report that there was a team of horses in the woods on the south side near the Acropolis, and the number could not be seen clearly.Zhang Ning guessed that there might be at most one or two hundred cavalry, and it is impossible to have too many cavalry; because the south has either mountains or water networks, it is not suitable for cavalry|sports, and Yongdingwei, a remote place, cannot raise a large number of horses.

All the generals are waiting for his decision, are they going to fight?Perhaps most of the generals hoped that he would act decisively and order the whole army to prepare for war... This morning looks like the weather is clear and the breeze is blowing around. The enemy soldiers are out of the city for a duel, which looks like a good day for fighting.But he hesitated.

"Here's an order to assemble and train for half an hour, then continue with yesterday's arrangement and build the camp." Zhang Ning said bluntly.Wei Bin and the others couldn't hide their disappointment, but Zhou Mengxiong nodded slightly.

Hesitating means not being sure. When he is asked to make a decision immediately and cannot be vacillated, he can only give such an order with his character.Seeing the expressions of the generals, he said again: "The distance between the two armies is about ten miles. It is meaningless for a small number of cavalry to attack. It will take at least an hour for the infantry to arrive. We have enough time to gather and form the formation. Don't worry about them, just build the camp. Yes." Everyone had to take orders and leave.

It took Zhang Ning more than half a year to get together the hundreds of people in front of him, and under various favorable opportunities; they were hard-won, and they could not be buried casually.

In fact, he is very aware of his situation. Once he loses a battle at this time, he will never have the opportunity to raise troops again: people will not believe that he can do anything well for the second time, and it is difficult for anyone to be willing to follow him; , People would rather sit still than take courage.

Human failure is the mother of success, but sometimes you can only win but not lose, and you are extremely fragile.

Zhang Ning thought of the sad song composed by Yao Ji: understand the preciousness of victory, and desire for victory.

"Tell those people to come over and try the newly practiced military music "Motherland"." He turned his head and said to the guards standing in front of the Chinese army's tent.

After a while, a few people came over, except for a few apprentices behind, the main musicians were father and son.They were all wearing field gray military uniforms, but they carried no weapons. The old man carried a kite wrapped in oilcloth, and the young man held a flute in his hand.With Zhang Ning's approval, they set up musical instruments in front of the tent.

The sound of ding-dong was played at a slow pace at first, and then the sound of the flute sounded. Zhang Ning's mood changed, as if everything made sense.The mountains in the distance and the towering arrow towers seem to flow in the long river of time, just like the sparkling light on the surface of the Lishui River, desolate and beautiful.He looked across the river and imagined the farmers plowing deep in the fields and the weaving women in the village.

Gradually, he raised his head and saw the rising sun, like hope, like the blood and struggle in the clanging of iron swords.He pressed his hand tightly on the saber at his waist... It seemed that a gorgeous palace appeared before his eyes again, a lady as beautiful as a goddess...

The music gradually calmed down, and when Zhang Ning turned around, he saw Zhou Mengxiong and others looking at him.Zhang Ning thought: Maybe I am too hypocritical?

Zhou Mengxiong, who was nearly fifty years old, looked indifferent, and suddenly said: "Commander Liu Heju will take the initiative to attack. He is confident that he has many troops, so he is definitely eager to make contributions."

Zhang Ning nodded slightly, wondering if Zhou Mengxiong was supporting his wise decision?For some reason, he suddenly thought of Hu Ying again. Hu Ying taught him to be calm in the officialdom; he didn't know how this old "colleague" was doing now.

Zhou Mengxiong said again: "The cavalry will not attack first. Liu Heju arranged the cavalry in the flanking forest. The purpose should be to wait for our army to break up and chase after it. If the two armies are in a stalemate, the cavalry may also try to break through from the flanks or rear during the period. .”

"General Zhou is right."

"If you can defeat the official army head-on and pursue it to the bottom of the city, you must guard against the catapults in the city. These things are usually placed inside the city walls, and you can't find them before the battle; the catapults of the Ming army usually have a range of three hundred steps to four. Baibu. Ballistas and cannons are usually placed on the city walls, since Tan Ma didn't see them, there should be no one in Yongding Guard."

……

Two days later, in the early morning of the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Weicheng soldiers finally advanced westward.Before New Year's Eve, I don't know that Liu Heju deliberately wanted to make it difficult for many officers and soldiers to survive this year, but he still wanted to make a great contribution to celebrate the year before.

The camp here has basically been repaired. A deep trench was dug around it, eight arrow towers were built, and a defensive circle was built with wood and earth walls on all sides. Sharpened wood and bamboo were used to make horse-repelling posts outside the wall. It's like a temporary small town.A gate was built at the east gate, and the soldiers who were carpenters did not forget to carve five characters on the wooden board: "Yongding Camp Left Post", and also carved a picture of a red bird, which is very beautiful.

Zhang Ning ordered the miscellaneous soldiers to guard the camp, and the soldiers came out of the camp to gather and form a formation with their backs.

The bullhorn sounded continuously with three long and three short sounds. Under the leadership of the team leader, each team trotted out of the camp. The pace was in good order.The flag of the Chinese army was erected in the open space, and the teams lined up based on this coordinate.

There are three kinds of flags in the whole sentry, one is a large banner of the Chinese army, painted with black ink Suzaku;The flag of the Chinese army is yellow, and the others are red. For a while, the flags are flying in the crowd, which is very beautiful.

The camp is divided into five parts, arranged in a dense square array.The Chinese army is located in zhongyang; the third brigade is at the front, two rows of heavily armed infantry, 61 people in each row, holding a two-foot-long spear, carrying an iron-wooden square shield and two short spears, wearing a single sword at the waist, and Wearing bamboo armor, basically armed to the teeth; behind are the first and second brigades of musketeers, four rows deep, equipped with matchlock guns and single-handed round shields; the right wing is the fourth brigade, facing south, defending the flank; the fifth brigade is at the end With their backs to the camp, as a reserve.

Relying on the Lishui River as the left wing, the entire camp is backed by the barracks, with a defensive formation exposed on both sides, with the arquebus team as the core, waiting for the impatient officers and troops to attack.

After waiting for a long time, there was a loud sound of footsteps that were fairly orderly in the east, and there was a commotion of people and horses. A black crowd of people and horses rushed over from the horizon.Because the ground vegetation is better, there is no dusty scene.

As they got closer, Zhang Ning saw clearly that the army was still dominated by infantry, and a small group of cavalry on the southern flank followed the majority slowly.From a distance, the armor of the officers and soldiers is actually somewhat similar to that of Zhang Ningjun. The general is different from the armored helmet, and the soldiers are not fully armored. The clothes are also gray, and the pants are lighter in color. Hongying.The forest of weapons erected in the sky above the horses seems to be dominated by spears.

Estimating the marching speed of the officers and soldiers, they must not be able to carry heavy weapons.Of course, the officers and soldiers should also think that the "rebels" do not have heavy long-range weapons, because things that are too heavy cannot be moved from the western mountains.

So the officers and soldiers marched to a distance of more than two hundred steps before stopping. A few archers threw their bows and arrows to stabilize their positions, and the large groups of soldiers and horses behind them advanced one after another to form a formation.Flags were flying, and on a large flag was written: Commander Liu of Yongding Guard.According to visual estimates, the total strength of the government and army exceeds [-], and the area covered is almost twice that of this side.Zhang Ning rode his horse to the front of the battle, paying attention to the peasant sergeants who had just been trained from the village. The faces of the people showed nervousness unsurprisingly.

In fact, Zhang Ning feels that there is almost no sense of fear before the battle, because many people are together, and humans who live in groups of animals do not actually feel panic when they are in a group.He was a little excited at the moment.

At this time, Sanqi stepped out from the opposite side, waved the flag and walked dozens of steps, shouting: "Who is this person, come out and meet and recognize him."

Before the beating, he had to talk nonsense, but he had to accept the move and lose his momentum.Zhang Ning recalled the way the King of Han was doing in Xuzhou, he might start a fight when they met, so he ordered Wei Bin and Zhang Chengzong to go with him. Zhang Ning had seen these two people fighting in the school field, and they were very skilled.

The three riders here also carried a Suzaku flag out of battle, and stopped after walking seventy or eighty steps forward.Zhang Ning shouted loudly: "Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty and the third prince are here."

"Haha..." The three big men over there suddenly laughed.The fat man in the middle pointed his spear back, and shouted: "We can tell the difference between strength and weakness, what kind of third prince you are bluffing and deceiving, come to surrender now, this commander can save you from death."

Zhang Ning said: "Commander Liu is brainless. We led the army to attack the city. Did we come all the way to surrender? |The shameless villain who exploits the soldiers and the people begging for glory and wealth to surrender?"

"Rough!" The fat man cursed, "The rebels beat him up!"

Zhang Ning said with a smile: "It's useless to spend more words. Commander Liu, please come back. Wouldn't it be better for us to come on the battlefield with real swords and guns?" back.

Zhang Ning rode his horse and galloped across the front of the formation, shouting: "All of you dignified sons and daughters, loyal ministers and good generals, are you willing to bear injustice and infamy for the rest of your life and hide in the mountains to live?" All the soldiers shouted: "I don't want..." Zhang Ning said again: "Nanjing, Jiangnan, and the fertile land of the Central Plains, our homeland, take back everything! Kill the traitors and restore my Ming Dynasty!"

"Long live! Come back to me, Ming..." The camp shouted loudly.

"Drumming for battle!"

A moment later, the desolate whimper of the horn sounded in the morning sun, and the drums shook like thunder.The drum horn on the opposite side also sounded quickly, and the landscape was extremely lively for a while.

Soon the five rows of archers on the opposite side advanced forward.Wei Bin shouted at the top of his voice: "Prepare shields! Musketeers who shoot without authorization, behead!"

The archers marched 150 steps away and stood up. With the sound of shouting, they drew the bowstring, and the arrow slanted towards the sky.A white crane flying in the low sky was startled, flapping its wings and flying towards the Lishui River.