Ping An Biography

The Suzaku army quickly reached a consensus, and marched southward to Gaodu County. At this time, Zhu Yong's main army occupied Yongding Weicheng in the upper reaches of the west; If you drag Shimen in Lizhou, you will definitely lose money because the main force of the Suzaku army is in Cili. Now no one wants to stick to the land of these three counties. There is no foundation and no way out; civil officials and military generals are in favor of going south, and the Miao envoys sent people to discuss the alliance twice. Everyone thinks that they can rely on the Miao people to resist the official army

The main resistance on the road to the south is not the defenders of Gaodu County, but the more than 2000 people stationed in Longtou Temple on the west side of it. This one alone has more troops than Zhang Ning, but in comparison, everyone is more willing Go deal with the people in Longtou Temple instead of fighting Zhu Yong directly

Zhang Ning considered that the soldiers and horses of Longtou Temple might receive Zhu Yong's order in the future, and if they moved eastward to Gaodu County, if the city could not be solved for a while, it would be very unfavorable to be harassed and dragged down; The incident of the Acropolis was vivid in his memory, so he decided to take with the army the eleven mortars that had been manufactured

A team of people rushed to demolish the houses around the workshop of the Weapons Bureau in the west of the city, and then set fire to the Weapons Bureau. Smoke rose from the west of the city as if a fire had broken out. At the same time, all the documents and tools that could not be taken away were burned.

A mortar weighs about [-] catties, which is very light compared to a long-barreled gun, but transportation is still not easy, and a horse-drawn cart must be used to pull it, so the heavy artillery can only take the post road. It extends in all directions, but there are only one or two roads that can take the army. Besides, all the troops gathered from all over the city, and the queues on the main road in the city passed with great fanfare; In a day or two, maybe Zhu Yong will know their movements from the scout report.

Zhang Ning asked his entourage to pack up his things, changed his clothes, and left the county office to join the army and the generals. He was also accompanied by Wang Yuliangyan and other local officials who were left by the civil servants. I still have luck, and I don't want to follow, and Zhang Ning doesn't force it.

Several civil servants and Zhang Ning all changed into the same color of rural gray clothes, with soap boots on the top and trousers. Perhaps Wang Yu and the others, as literati themselves, were reluctant to dress similarly to warriors, but since Zhang Ning dressed like this, they would Followed by example, in fact, this kind of loose clothes and trousers style is more convenient to ride on horseback Having allies instead of fighting alone is not a bad thing

More than 200 people of all the troops assembled on the Cross Street without any delay. Immediately, they swaggered and marched to the south of the city, beating drums and marching to the south of the city. Many people in the city were actually watching along the road, and some householders in that house were looking at the street with their heads up. This is a good thing. Cili County has been stationed for a long time, and its image has always improved. At least the people are not afraid of them anymore.

The people were watching the procession on the street, and Zhang Ning, who was riding a horse, was also looking around. Suddenly, he felt that the houses and streets in this place were very familiar. He had already stayed in Cili County for two months before he knew it. So what about a familiar place, it is also a passer-by in the end

The journey begins again

The marching route chose the most conventional and simple road, taking the avenue close to the tributaries of the Yuanshui River, and then taking the main road along the water. Although there is no shortage of water in the south, it is not a bad thing to march along the tributaries of the Yuanshui River. Not far, this road is less than a hundred miles

Originally, Zhang Ning's territory was only in the Lizhou area of ​​Cili Shimen, but now it has been abandoned. After going south for dozens of miles, it is the "enemy territory". Looking around, they are all cities controlled by the government and the army. , to the south is Gaodu County, and to the northwest is the Acropolis of Yongding. This situation naturally made Zhang Ning and others feel very insecure. Harassment and resistance; the people from the checkpoint inspection department of the government have already run away after hearing the news, and these people can't fight against the army

From Cili County to the boundary of Gaodu, the distance is more than one hundred miles, but the Suzaku Army still walked for three or four days, mainly because the artillery and luggage affected the speed. all kinds of trouble

On the morning of the first day of March, looking south from the road, the city towers of Gaodu County can be seen faintly in the light mist. This city was built on the north bank of the Yuanshui River, and like many cities, it was selected by the army sent by the water near the mountains. The location, and soon ordered to build a simple camp, mainly using ditches and wooden piles as fortifications. The military tent was set up first, and the officials and generals were convenient for discussing affairs. The busy and noisy outside the tent was like a construction site. Zhang Ning was used to such a situation. The general quickly found out the situation ahead, and reported

Sure enough, the more than [-] officers and troops in Longtou Temple have re-deployed, because the number of defenders in Gaodu County has increased significantly; soldiers and horses have been stationed at the ferry crossings in the Yuanshui River, and signs of official and army activities have been found on the south bank. The officers and soldiers could only come from Longtou Temple. Their reaction speed is not surprising, because from Gaodu County to Yongdingwei, it takes only one day for the courier to go back and forth; God

The hundreds of household officials and their deputy of the scouting brigade reported various situations in detail, and the officials and generals in the account were summarizing the information to make a judgment. At this time, the military "advisor" Zhou Mengxiong who followed along the way expressed his opinion very conscientiously: "The general situation can't be more clear. Zhu Yong's arrangement or the plan of the officers and generals in Gaodu County has two plans: one is to rely on the city on the north bank to defend the fortifications, and the other is to deploy troops on the south bank as a river defense to prevent our army from crossing the river. Its purpose is also easy to guess. We crossed the river and headed towards Longtou Temple and Chenzhou Prefecture, maybe Zhu Yong has already noticed our alliance with the Miao people."

Then Wei Bin also opened his mouth and said: "We have to try to break through the river defense as soon as possible and cross the Yuanshui River, otherwise Zhu Yong's army will come from the north and force us to defend here, and we will be blocked again. I'm afraid it's not good."

At this time Zhang Ning said: "If we don't take the city first, we will definitely be attacked by soldiers and horses in the city on the flanks and rear when we cross the river. Therefore, the method of combat should be to take Gaodu first, control the north bank of Yuanshui, and then try to cross the river to defeat the river defense army. What do you think? ?” The way he spoke was still fast and steady, without the slightest pretense

The generals discussed for a while, and most of them agreed to try to capture Gaodu first, because there are artillery in the army. According to Ma Dapeng of the Weapons Bureau, the shortcomings have been repaired and they can be used.

The short discussion ended quickly, and everyone agreed that after setting up the camp, they would take a short rest and then launch an attack on Gaodu County on the same day

By noon, the wooden piles of the arc-shaped trench around the camp had been constructed, and the soldiers of various ministries were busy setting up tents, just like usual training. This kind of routine work is no different from training. Everything is in order. Lunch, it was too early, because most of them only ate some dry food in the morning because they were busy logging and digging soil to build camps; now everyone eats a hot meal and takes a rest to replenish their energy

Zhang Ning rode around the camp and was quite satisfied with the state of the army. At least it was organized and orderly. The military discipline made this group of troops not armed with weapons and uniform uniforms and flags. He felt that order was the key.

The morning mist has dissipated, and the sun is in the eastern sky as expected. The spring sun shines warmly on people. Although Zhang Ning is still under a lot of pressure in his heart, the bright outdoor scenery makes him happy for a while, but he always feels that he is in the military camp. It seems that there is something missing... He thought about it for a while, and finally remembered that the flag has not been hung yet, at least a flagpole must be erected in front of the Chinese military tent to look decent

Zhang Ning was about to ask someone to raise the Suzaku flag in front of the tent, when he suddenly had a whim, why not do a simple flag-raising ceremony?All kinds of rituals are not just looking for something to do, they should all have a certain effect, not to mention that there were many pretentious etiquettes in ancient times, even in modern times, many rituals have been maintained[

The siege battle was imminent, and it was a good time to try to boost morale. Zhang Ning immediately decided to do this. He turned his head and glanced at the dozen or so guards who were on duty in front of the Chinese army tent. These people were Jiang Youde last time. The person brought here had practiced under Wei Bin for a period of time, and now he was in the Central Guard of the Suzaku Army, whose name was Wang Xian. mighty

He immediately called Wang Xian and others to come over and asked, "How is your team practicing?" After getting an affirmative answer, Zhang Ning ordered them to make some preparations first, and then take charge of the flag-raising ceremony

The original flagpole needs to be slightly modified. A wooden pulley is installed on the top. The square flag is tied with a rope first. When the flag is raised, it is not allowed to play, it must stand in awe

After everyone had lunch, more than a dozen guards under Wang Xian had changed into clean and tidy military uniforms, several musicians set up gongs, drums, zithers and flutes, and a team of 12 members of the firearms team also lined up to charge the gunpowder. As long as the gunpowder is set off and there is a sound, a temporary arrangement will be made, and the whole scene will look decent.

Just like in combat, the flag bearer of the firearms team laid down the small triangular flag, and the team just pulled out their sabers and held them up. Then, a group of soldiers slowly raised their muskets and pointed them at the sky, and then "bang bang..." There was a burst of gunfire, and the barracks Everyone's attention was attracted, even Miao envoy Bai Fengjiao and the others also came out of the tent and looked at the scene from a distance.

The musicians beat the leather drums, and the guards divided into two columns to protect the Zhuque flag that the king's team was facing. They marched neatly from the end of the barracks to the Chinese army's tent. When they reached the flagpole, the musicians stopped beating the drums. After a while of silence, Wang Xian tied the Suzaku flag silently under the eyes of everyone.

An old man among the musicians nodded to his son and apprentices beside him, and his son put the flute in front of his mouth, and a melodious sound of the flute sounded, and Wang Xian, who was the standard bearer, also raised his hand immediately, and the fluttering flute The Suzaku flag with a black background on a yellow background ripples in the air like the sound of a flute

The slightly sad sound of the piano, played in a slow rhythm, is very contagious. All the people present have serious expressions and "salute!" Wang Xian shouted, and more than a dozen guards The soldiers raised their left arms together, and the other soldiers near the slowly rising Suzaku flag were also moved by it, and many of them spontaneously performed special courtesy to the flag

Originally, it was just a trivial matter of the Chinese army displaying the flag in command, but suddenly it seemed to give it some meaning

I don't know if it's because the music is too touching or human beings are too fragile. At this time, this scene really moved many people. Zhang Ning was emotionally complicated, and his heart was sore. When he didn't pay attention, tears flashed in his eyes. He hurriedly endured the pain. He pretended to have a facial expression, but this detail was discovered by Bai Fengjiao, the Miao envoy who followed him, and she looked over in surprise

The Suzaku flag rose to the top, and the music was not synchronized. It took a while before the performance was over. Zhang Ning went to the bottom of the flagpole, looked back at the army and said loudly: "I believe that there is something in the dark that makes us brothers under this flag, that is, one body." , when several times the enemy army wants to put us to death, when the entire court regards us as sinners, we can only win our glory and survival with the baptism of iron and blood with the firm belief in justice in our hearts"