Ping An Biography

() According to reports, more than 1 people from Qin Yousheng's army have given up their garrison in Lizhou and went south to Changde Mansion; another group of troops was urgently transferred to Changde; together with the defenders deployed by the prefect Zhao Min in Fucheng and other places, the local area is now More than [-] officers and troops have been assembled.Judging from this, it is possible that Wuchang has already smelled the smell of the battle of Changde, and Zhang Ning's raid plan failed; but he still intends to attack and seize this place.

Maybe he has a vision for planning this battle, but he lacks imagination, because the nearest big city to Chenzhou is Changde Mansion, and it is not difficult for anyone to think of it.

I didn't have time to describe my parting feelings with Mrs. Yao and my younger sister in detail, and even parting feelings seemed to be a luxury for poets.Throughout the ages, many literati have written war poems, but for those who have experienced the battle, it is actually very boring and stressful, whether it is victory or defeat, life or death, that's all.Zhang Ning dispatched most of the soldiers and horses of the Yongding Camp, determined to take the Changde Mansion; he seemed to be doing his best in every big battle.

Changde Mansion is an important town in the central part of Huguang. Not only is the wall high and the city strong, but some nearby towns also play a supporting role.There are Wuling and Taoyuan cities in the southwest of the main city, and Longyang city in the southeast. To attack the main city, it is actually best to attack from the north, so Changde is in the salient part, and the surrounding fortifications are difficult to effectively threaten the siege troops.But Zhang Ning's troops came from Chenzhou, so they could only attack from the southwest with Gaodu as the starting point.

He decided to bypass the two cities of Wuling and Taoyuan and attack the main city directly.This is indeed risky, but if you spend your time in constant siege consumption, you may wait for more reinforcements from the army, which is also a risk.

They left Gaodu a few days ago and traveled to Wuling County. Before dawn, the main force pulled out their battalion and marched eastward from the north of Wuling City, while the city not far from the flank was still in the hands of the officials.The forwards of the Suzaku Army went ahead earlier.

In the early morning of late summer and early autumn, a thick fog fell on the field. There are many rice fields beside the road, and the air is very humid.But things should get better once the sun comes up and the fog clears away.

Zhang Ning was accompanying the army on horseback. His vision was blurred in the fog, and he could only see countless figures walking through the rice fields.Amidst the slow sound of hooves and footsteps, the neighing of horses and coughing of people were heard occasionally, and few people spoke.The earth seems to be in chaos at the beginning of Pangu's creation.People are in a better mood and a little nervous, because everyone knows that not far away is a city controlled by the government and army, and there is a risk of being raided by soldiers and horses in the city.However, after walking for a long time, it has been very quiet, and no officers and soldiers have come.

Walking in the fog is like a groping life that makes people think wildly. No matter how hard you try, you can't see the way ahead.

When the sun rose, Zhang Chengzong, who served as the forward sentry officer Qianzong, sent someone back to report the situation.The official army has two camps in the west of Changde City, with a large number of soldiers and horses stationed, and an unknown number of cavalry in the south of the mountain bordering the Yuezhou territory in the north; Zhang Ning estimates that there will also be a considerable number of official troops in Wuling County. It is impossible for their general to fail to see the threat Wuling County poses to the flank of the Suzaku army.

Guessing from what we know, the officers and soldiers don't seem to intend to rely on the fortified city to defend to the death, but to deploy active defense and try to counterattack.There is nothing magical about such a layout, but it should be correct; the strength of the defenders is not obviously weak, and there is no need to stick to a city that has no room to play.It is unclear whether Xue Lu, the general of Huguang, participated in the battle in Changde.

Since they are here to attack the city, they should show momentum in the first battle, not shrink back.Zhang Ning ordered to continue marching and take the initiative to enter the "encirclement" situation of the official army: the official army has two camps in the south, north and south of the city, and cavalry is deployed in the north, and the soldiers and horses in Wuling County in the southwest can rely on the city to attack at any time. In fact, it is a pocket. Array.

However, the strength of the two sides was equal, and Zhang Ning entered the middle of the encirclement, but he had an advantage, joining forces in one place.Therefore, where the strength lies, if you gain some advantages, you will lose something.

Approaching from the north of Wuling County to Changde City, the distance was very short, but the Suzaku Army carried dozens of mortars and luggage, and marched slowly, and did not reach the place five miles away from the city until the afternoon.The officers and soldiers stood still for more than half a day, and the two camps in the north and south remained silent.

Regardless of the officers and soldiers, Zhang Ning continued to approach the Ximen of Changde, first drained the water from a few rice fields, and then chose a higher dry land to set up camp and build waist walls and fences.The next day, he ordered trenches to be dug outside the city to lay traps and stakes to prevent the defenders in the city from finding opportunities to come out to attack; other soldiers built mortar positions one mile outside the city gate.We are going to block the army defending the city first, and bombard it with artillery for a few days.

There are some copper cannons and bowl-mouth guns deployed in Changde City, but the range is very short. If they just stay on the city wall, they can only watch the Suzaku army bombard them and have nothing to do.

……

At this time, Xue Lu, who was in Changde City, was very angry. He was not angry with anything else, because the arrogance of the rebels was so arrogant that they ignored the threat of heavy soldiers on both sides and went straight to the city; His great contempt.Due to the successive reinforcements from the Changde Mansion, the total strength of the troops has surpassed that of the attacking Suzaku Army. At this time, many generals suggested that the officers and troops attack from the flanks and flanks, and take the initiative to attack.

But even though Xue Lu was angry, he still calmed down, and he planned to wait.Changde City is stronger than other cities in the area, and it will not be captured after a few days of bombardment... Xue Lu only waits for one thing: rain.

It is the turn of summer and autumn, and there is a lot of rain in the southwest region. Looking at the weather, it may rain soon.As long as it rains, firearms cannot be used, avoiding the enemy's strengths, then is the best time to attack.Xue Lu has already sent a letter to Yu Qian, and Yu Qian also agrees with his idea, so there is no need to act rashly for the time being.

Bows and crossbows are almost unusable in rainy days. Bows and crossbows made of silk and tendon are easily damaged and scrapped when it rains. Bows and crossbows are not cheap to build. Ming is not so rich as to be so wasteful; let alone bow strings when it rains Chaos dampened the elastic properties, and the arrow feathers were also affected by the Chaos. The lethality itself was greatly weakened, and it was of little significance to deal with armored troops.Generally speaking, when it rains, the two sides seem to be equal in terms of weapons, but the firearms of the Suzaku Army have an advantage, so it is in Xue Lu's favor.

Within two days, the cannon began to roar outside the city.The loud noise like thunder started early in the morning and didn't stop until late at night.

In just one day, almost all the military bronze cannons and other firearms placed on the city walls were destroyed, the wall stacks were severely damaged, some walls collapsed, and large pieces of outer bricks fell off.The defenders on the wall suffered a lot of casualties, Xue Lu had no choice but to order the main force to be transferred inside the city wall, but some stone bullets still hit the camp indiscriminately and caused casualties.Some shells even fell into the city, causing many houses to collapse and civilian casualties. Changde Mansion has been in the interior for many years and has a dense population. Almost as long as shells fall in, they will always cause casualties.For a while, people in the city were panicked and turbulent.

During Xue Lu's military career, he had the experience of leading troops to suppress the rebellion of the minorities. In this kind of counter-insurgency war, the officers and soldiers possessed excellent armor and long-range advantages, and their equipment and technology were superior to those of the minorities.But this time it made Xue Lu feel very uncomfortable, and it turned out to be the other way around.

He actually personally felt the suffocation of being hit by superior firearms, and he must write to the emperor in the future, insisting on the idea of ​​manufacturing superior firearms.

In fact, not only Xue Lu was puzzled, but Lu Qian of Jinyiwei had always been puzzled. How did a group of rebels have superior firearms?