Ping An Biography

After a busy day, Zhu Heng returned home and asked his servant to draw cold water from the well to wash his face. The well water in autumn was very cool, with a hint of chill, which made him feel a lot more awake.From the reflection in the water, he suddenly felt that there seemed to be a little more gray hair on his temples.

The official in Changde is indeed powerful, but it is really not easy to be an official.According to intelligence estimates from all parties, the official army has about 8 regular troops in this large-scale encirclement and suppression campaign, with sufficient ordnance including a large number of firearms, most of which are old equipment made during the Yongle Dynasty; Thousands and three thousand".The strength is extremely disparate. Under normal circumstances, the troops in such a situation would suffer from morale problems before they start fighting. Unexpectedly, the Suzaku army is actively preparing for the battle and wants to compete with the official army.After several days of observation, Zhu Heng was indeed right.

Perhaps it is the impact of the previous few battles that won more with less.However, Zhu Heng was not affected by the previous events, and for some reason, he really didn't feel optimistic in his heart.

In the past few days, the government office has internally discussed how to deal with the army's offensive, but Zhu Heng has not shown any propositions for the time being.He is busy understanding the situation. It will take time to figure out the army's decrees, organization, equipment and supply rules and other files in detail;

Fortunately, he was trusted and reused by the king of Xiang. The status of the chairman of the Senate saved Zhu Heng a lot of trouble. As the highest level of military and political bureaucracy, he has the authority to touch almost all military aircraft and secret files.This allows Zhu Heng to find out the details of the Suzaku Army, especially the specific firearms that are only rumored; only when he sees the descriptions of the manufacture, performance, and tactical records of those weapons from the confidential files, can Zhu Heng first "know his friends" before "Know the enemy".

He does not need to know how the firearm is made, but only how it is used and maintained, so that he can use it as a basis for formulating tactical plans.There is a thing called "gun rules" that has aroused Zhu Heng's great interest. As a scholar who has traveled abroad, Zhu Heng feels that it contains a kind of academics, and he really wants to study and understand this kind of thing, but unfortunately he has no time and energy for the time being. bother.

At this moment, Chang Sui came and asked Zhu Heng to go to the dining room for dinner.When eating at home, only the father and son sit at the same table, because the servants cannot sit on an equal footing with them, so the meal looks a little deserted.

The eldest son, Zhu Sheng, sat on the seat next to his father, a little absent-minded.Zhu Heng knew his son well in his heart, because he had heard Zhu Sheng mention Nanjing's mother several times, and he might be concerned about the safety of his relatives.In this state of mind, Zhu Sheng probably doesn't pay much attention to his studies on weekdays; Zhu Heng really doesn't want to ask, let's talk about it later.

He was simply too busy to interfere with matters of vital importance for his family affairs.

However, Zhu Heng was very optimistic about the King of Xiang who had defected to him. The King of Xiang's big fanfare to accept Xu Guangchen's granddaughter as his second concubine was indeed a good move.That's why Xu Guangchen got along very well with Zhu Heng in the official office; Zhu Heng didn't want to offend the local elders when he first came, otherwise it would be difficult to maintain even if the prince alone reused him. Jia Yi of the Han Dynasty was a good example.Xu Guangchen doesn't have to be controlled by Zhu Heng in terms of etiquette, and Zhu Heng doesn't care about such things. He himself intends to be in a high position and show off his might; but if he wants to do practical things, as long as he has real power, he doesn't need to care about his status.

Zhu Heng ate dinner and went straight into the study.Although he was busy all day during the day, it was not the end of the day when he returned home. At night, he just continued to plan tactics based on what he learned at the government office.

Chang Sui brought up the ground ink, paper and pen, and Zhu Heng picked up the brush and dipped it in the inkstone, but did not write.He lowered his head and pondered for a while, then looked up at the moonlight outside, and habitually twirled|moved the beard of his chin with the other hand.

In the moonlight, Zhu Heng's thoughts began to fly. He seemed to see the vast river of history, the twists and turns of civilization, and the skills of military and agricultural workers.This will surely be an important battle that can be described in green history.

...In the official office of the Suzaku Army's Senate Headquarters, several civil servants put down their work one after another, and walked along the corridor to the study at the back in order.On the other side of the courtyard, a group of generals in gray military uniforms and iron armor came one after another from the eaves corridor. When they reached a door, they consciously took off their swords, knives and other ice blades and handed them to the guards for storage.

Everyone walked into an unremarkable study room, which was just an old house, but it was the place where Zhang Ning met his subordinates in his daily work, and there were many confidential files of the Suzaku Army stored here, so it could be regarded as an important place for military secrets.The people who can come here to discuss matters this time are all important figures with real power in the Suzaku Army.

Literati such as Zhu Heng and Wang Yu still folded their fists and bent down to salute according to the habit of many years, and called: "See the prince." The generals all straightened their waists, raised their left arms and stomped their feet to salute solemnly.Zhang Ning also raised his arms in return, walked a few steps in front of everyone, and then went back to the chair to the north and sat down.

He patted the file paper on the table and said: "During this period, many people talked about things with paperwork, and we also got together for a few small discussions. Now that the situation is urgent and time is running out, it is time to come up with a solution."

Seeing that everyone nodded in agreement, Zhang Ning continued his opening remarks: "Mr. Zhu is the chairman of the Senate of our Suzaku Army, and he will lead all the officials to coordinate the strategy. I invite him to talk about the strategic layout to you."

After hearing this, Zhu Heng first bowed to Zhang Ning, and then turned around to bow to the others. During this time, he specially bowed to Old Xu to show his greetings, and then said slowly: "Thanks to the trust of the King of Xiang, I am the chairman of the Senate. It’s been a while since I’ve been in office. The most important thing right now is how to deal with the Huguang Governor’s dispatch of troops from the north to the south to attack us. I have some humble opinions, and I’ve also drafted a plan. This is not done by me alone. And this dossier is not the final plan, if you think there is something inappropriate, you can bring it up for discussion..."

He is worthy of being a minister of the Ministry of War in the palace of the King of Han, and he is very accurate in his manner and tone in front of the officials. For a while, Zhang Ning, a simple ruling organization, seems to be quite dignified and well-mannered.

Zhu Heng paused and then got down to the topic: "In my opinion, the Suzaku Army has strict military discipline, prudent ranks, and sharp firearms. It is really an elite army. Colonel, I thought that the [-] troops of the Suzaku Army could majestically defeat the [-] to [-] camp of the Guards Army, or even more. Maybe some people will talk about the Battle of Gaodu; as far as I know, the Battle of Gaodu The result of the victory is not only due to the combat power, but also because Cheng Guogong was caught off guard and caused obvious tactical mistakes..."

"We can't place our hope on the enemy's mistakes. After Yu Qian, the right servant of the Ministry of War, took office as the governor of Huguang, he has made a comprehensive investigation of our army; some files of the Senate have this record, and there is even news that the court has imitated such as" Matchlock guns, musketeers and other firearms. However, judging from the time, the officers and soldiers will not be able to use weapons on the upcoming battlefield, and it is too late to manufacture equipment in large quantities, and it is impossible to formulate corresponding tactics for training.”

"So the officers and soldiers will still use the usual weapons and formations in this battle, but they should make adjustments to our artillery and firecrackers in tactics. At present, the firearms used by the officers and soldiers in various places are mainly supervised by Yongle 20 years later; The weapons and equipment of the main army in a major town are usually one tenth to three tenths. Based on this situation, I made the judgment that the [-] Suzaku Army can defeat the [-] Guards Army. If the gap is too large on a certain battlefield, our soldiers will be brave It is difficult to win without fear of death; when the scale of troops increases, coordination becomes complicated and difficult, and it is very easy to fall into the dilemma of being encircled, losing important areas, and being cut off food routes."

"I made the first point of planning based on this. We should try our best to avoid falling into a situation where one-to-three or more are forced to fight decisively; the strategy of concentrating our troops on the enemy and using each to defeat the enemy should be the key."

Zhu Heng wanted to explain his thoughts clearly as much as possible, but seeing a few generals with blank faces, they probably couldn't understand.He saw Zhang Ning beckoning to him again, so he continued to discuss.

"The information reported by the scouts from all over the country generally has the following situation: the officers and troops attacked in two routes, the north and the south. 5 people will march towards the northwest of Changde Mansion; the South Road will gather from Changsha Mansion, there may be more than 2 people, and we should wait for an opportunity to attack Chenzhou Mansion."

"We are in a situation where we are facing the enemy from the front and rear. If we divide our forces to resist the enemy and fight for strength, I am afraid that we will fall into the hands of the officers and soldiers; but if we want to abandon a place and concentrate our forces against the enemy, the situation of facing the enemy from the front and back will not change. On the contrary, the strategic depth will be compressed, and we will fall into trapped consumption. To break this plan, the only way is to take the initiative and seize the opportunity accurately. Timing is the key to victory or defeat.”

"Changde Mansion is a place with rich grains and Changshu. The topography and location are also important. We'd better focus on Changde. The officers and soldiers should also have this judgment. They must think that we will deploy heavy troops in Changde, so we use the North Route Army to push here. If our army does not divide our troops to stop the enemy, we will definitely gather heavy troops near Changde Mansion; the officers and soldiers will use heavy troops from the north to advance to Changde Mansion to contain our main force, and then the soldiers from Changsha on the south route will go straight to Chenzhou like a bag."

Zhu Heng pondered for a moment before saying: "If our army strikes first and eliminates the weaker Southern Army, the situation will be very different."

"However, there is a very important timing here. If the attack is too early, the South Route Army may avoid the battle and it will be difficult to wipe out the enemy; if the timing of the attack is too late, if the main force is transferred, the North Route Army takes advantage of Changde behind the scenes. No loss. The colleagues of the Weapons Bureau present must know that a large number of firearms of our army need to be repaired every time. Without the Weapons Bureau, the workshop built in Changde is difficult to maintain; firearms are also very dependent on medicine. Therefore, we must keep Changde Mansion as the foundation place."