Ping An Biography

Yellow dust rose from the ancient road, Zhang Ning and a dozen people set foot on the road back to Gaodu.The dry fields on the side of the road are barren, and the paddy fields have only sparse weeds except for the water. Because of the military disasters in Chenzhou for several months, many lands have missed the farming season; it is conceivable that if an ordinary farmer does not have a harvest for a year No matter what kind of situation we are facing, this year's famine is already expected.

In the barren wilderness, a faint song suddenly came. Zhang Ning heard it clearly. It was the tune called "Hillside Sheep". Feeling hesitant and sad, where the Qin and Han Dynasties traveled, thousands of palaces and palaces were filled with soil. Prosperity, the people suffer; death, the people suffer..."

He was melancholy, and turned his head to see who was singing, but the horses were galloping, and the vegetation, soil and rocks beside the road were like fast-forwarded movie images, which were not very clear.And the song gradually disappeared in the hasty rush.

While melancholy, he inadvertently remembered the last time he met Bai Fengjiao and asked her why she did this. She seemed to have something to say, but she couldn't say it.Zhang Ning occasionally couldn't help thinking, what would she say at that time?

... Whether it is melancholy or nostalgia, nothing can stop the pace of war.As soon as Zhang Ning returned to Gaodu, he immediately started preparing for the war.Because Zhu Yong's main force has reached Longtou Temple.

Longtou Temple is between Chenzhou and Gaodu, relative to Gaodu County, on the upper reaches of the Yuanshui River, on the south bank.Zhu Yong can use the Yuanshui River to transport food and supplies downstream, and then the horse infantry army will attack Gaodu City lightly. If he is in a hurry, he can reach Gaodu City in one day.

Zhang Ning can be sure that Zhu Yong's troops are in the middle, and he will definitely deal with the Suzaku army first; otherwise, he would not have given up the good situation in Luxi and sent the army to Yongding Weicheng.In the end, the Miao people played a very limited role in restraining them. There was no way they could avoid the battle with the government and the army, and in the end they still had to rely on themselves; fortunately, the Miao people did not turn against Zhang Ning.

All the members of the Senate, the advisor Zhou Mengxiong, the generals of the army, Wei Bin, the chief of the left post, Yao Erlang, the chief of the right post, and the officials of the eight brigades, all went to the county government office to discuss matters.

Zhang Ning looked at the newly drawn map of the mountains and rivers of Gaodu County and Chenzhou. The location of the Suzaku Army is the three counties of Yongdingwei and Cili in the north, Chenzhou and the main force of Zhu Yong's army in the west, and Changde Mansion in the east. The important town... and the southeast is a blank area, which he didn't draw, but he knew that the blank area that he hadn't touched for the time being was the real important town of Huguang, Changsha.There is no point in running any longer, the Suzaku Army has no long-term territory, the longer the time drags on, the greater the disparity in strength will be.What should come will come sooner or later.

As the chief of the Senate Department, Xu Guangzhen was reading to the people present according to the things that came out from all over the place: "Our army has five brigades on the left and three brigades on the right. The number of soldiers is about 200. More than a hundred horses, iron armor, long and short weapons, bows and crossbows and arrows are sufficient... There are also firearms, more than 480 muskets, and eleven cannons. Zhu Yong's army at Longtou Temple claims to be [-], but according to reports, the actual number is about [-], of which there are A large number of cavalry. Based on the marching speed of the army from Yongdingwei to the south, they should not carry artillery. The firearms equipped are mainly "magic guns" and "hand guns"; there are more armored equipment, and the infantry mainly use long spears and crossbows. , as well as waist knives, rattan tablets, hooked sickle spears, horse-cutting swords, halberds and other weapons..."

Similar to what Lao Xu said, Zhang Ning has actually learned a lot about the officers and soldiers through many fights with the officers and soldiers, as well as long-term investigations of Zhu Yongjun.The guard soldiers on the Huguang side still mainly fight in hand-to-hand combat; the main long-range weapon of the Ming army is not a crossbow, but a bow. However, due to the lack of training in the interior these years, there are not many soldiers who can actually use bows and arrows well.As for the sharp gun in the firearm, it is a tubular weapon filled with gunpowder and arrows... The airtightness can be imagined, and the range and power are not difficult to judge; the handgun is a tubular firearm that can be used by an individual soldier. The firearm gun is a class; in short, the firearms used by the Ming army are not the same as the heavy matchlock guns made by Zhang Ning.

Therefore, from a comprehensive consideration, the ratio of the number of people is five to one, but the difference in combat power is far from five to one; but Zhu Yong's army still has a great advantage.

After Lao Xu finished speaking, Zhou Mengxiong stood up unhurriedly, took out a roll of documents from his sleeve, bowed to Zhang Ning, and waited for Xu Wenjun next to him to come down to pick up the documents.Zhou Mengxiong said: "I have drawn up a battle method these days, it's just a suggestion."

Zhang Ning looked at it and said: "General Zhou can say it in front of everyone, so that everyone can refer to it."

Although Zhou Mengxiong's facial features are correct, he has a beard and a hulking back; it's just that the years have smoothed out the toughness of a general in him, and he is a little more sophisticated.This person was sent by Emperor Jianwen, but Zhang Ning often allowed him to participate in the military aircraft, because it was all secrets to fight the official army, and it was impossible for him to leak the military aircraft to Zhu Yong.

"Under the current situation, the only way to wait in Gaodu County is to wait for the official army to attack... The ability of the subordinates is very limited, and I cannot offer my majesty any tricks. The strategy is nothing more than four words: fight against the city." Zhou Mengxiong spoke eloquently. Tan said, "The method of developing strengths and avoiding weaknesses should be considered. The biggest advantage of the officers and soldiers is the number of people first, and the cavalry second. Zhu Yong is five times larger than me. If we spread out in an open area, it will be easy to outflank from the flanks and trap me in exhaustion. Therefore, I propose the method of forming an formation with the back of the city, forming an formation in the west city, with the back against the city wall and the left wing against the river. In this way, only the front and the right wing can confront each other. Although Zhu Yong is five times stronger than me, he has not tactically Forming a situation of combining attacks with more attacks and less siege...

Let’s talk about cavalry, Zhu Di has been good at using cavalry since the "Battle of Nanjing", and his generals also believe in the method of using cavalry to break the formation; although the water network and roads in the southwest are complicated, the court still believes that deploying cavalry can deal with the few people in the southwest who lack horses. Formed an advantage in combat power, so we only captured a few small county towns and captured more than [-] horses. Judging from this, the number of cavalry in Zhu Yong's army will definitely not be small.Zhu Yong, the son of Zhu Neng, probably inherited his father's combat method, relying on the cavalry to quickly turn around and attack from the side and rear wings; therefore, I suggest that the army formation should be flat and square. Reducing the depth will inevitably increase the frontal pressure, but it can reduce the Flank strike surface, Flanker threat has been reduced. "

Seeing that Zhang Ning nodded humbly, Zhou Mengxiong paused and said, "The following list of the strengths of the officers and soldiers is definitely not the intention of the commander-in-chief. The art of war says that knowing yourself and the enemy will never end a hundred battles. Only by understanding the enemy's ferocity can you defeat the enemy. Look at me again. The strength of the army is not in martial arts and training (an army that has only been formed for a few months, no matter how much it is trained, it is not much better than the guards), but in two aspects: first, bravery, compared with the guards, people keep running away, Almost no one in our army fled. Most of the soldiers who came out of the old ministers' homes in Jianwen reported that they must die. Observed daily, although muskets are slow to launch, the three-round strike method can make up for the shortcomings, and muskets are sharp in piercing armor, and within [-] steps, they will definitely defeat bows and crossbows; Three feet long is more than two feet long, so you should have a certain advantage if you meet the enemy head-on."

At this time Zhang Ning said: "Those eleven cannons can be mounted on the city. The mortar guns are not very effective for striking the formation. Not to mention that the accuracy is too low. Even if the stone bullets weighing dozens of catties hit the enemy camp Few people were killed; the Bureau of Arms developed explosive bombs suitable for mortars, which were believed to be filled with stones and reed pipes. However, the power of black powder explosions is also very limited. However, it is used to attack the morale of the enemy at a farther place. It should still be useful."

Zhang Ning didn't obey immediately, but he already agreed with Zhou Mengxiong's strategy in his heart. It is really hard to work any tricks, and the final strategy is to fight against the city and fight to the death.A while ago, I tried to lure the Miao people into the group with a strategy, but what happened?Now Zhang Ning is more and more convinced that the fist is the truth.