Ping An Biography

() Captain Qiu, who was in charge of observing the military situation on the left wing, finally came back. He reported: "The enemy soldiers are setting up artillery on the mountain! The mountainside behind is full of people, and they are coming up!"

Needless to say, Zhang Ning saw a figure appearing on the hillside with his own eyes.There is a hillside with shrubs over there, and the situation is flat and not important. It is more than one mile away from the marching avenue, but if the artillery fires on a place with high terrain, it is possible that the Suzaku army's camp will be within range.At this time, Wei Bin, who was the commander of the Yongding Battalion, couldn't help cursing the scout general for dereliction of duty, but Zhang Ning temporarily stopped him.

He didn't want to shirk his responsibility. The ambush this time was mainly affected by the decision: the Suzaku army was eager to pursue the South Road officials and troops, and rushed forward for hundreds of miles.Sun Tzu's law of war said, "Those who seek profit from a hundred miles away will be defeated by generals." It is a taboo for military strategists to underestimate the enemy and rush forward, but Zhang Ning did not expect that the weaker South Route Army would quickly organize a counterattack.

At this time, it was not time to regret, Zhang Ning immediately said: "We must take down the enemy's artillery formation as soon as possible, otherwise this battle will not end in a short time."

People on the left and right echoed and agreed. In the current situation, only the infantry positions of the officers who cannot maneuver are the breakthrough point, and the enemy cavalry on the right wing will not be easily caught up if they want to retreat. ..

According to Qiu Duzheng's dictation, "the mountainside behind is full of people", but Zhang Ning believes that the scale of the left-wing ambushes will not be too large, because there are also many officers and soldiers in the camp to lure them into the depths; the South Route Army has a total of more than 2 people , the information is relatively accurate, and it is impossible for Changsha to suddenly conjure up a large army.

Zhang Chengzong, who has always been steady and low-key, rode his horse and took two steps forward, clasped his fists and said: "The general is willing to go."

"That's very good. Commander Zhang immediately led the left and right posts of Yongding Battalion to advance to the left flank and capture the artillery formation." Zhang Ning said decisively.But Feng Youxian's cavalry regiment hadn't returned yet, and the infantry's flanks were weak when attacking. Zhang Ning had to dispatch Chen Gai and other two generals to lead two formations of soldiers and horses to Zhang Chengzong's left and right directions, and arranged three groups of troops to attack.

A group of people in the "Changde Camp" in the distance had been killed by the cavalry into a mess, and many people scattered and fled.But the cavalry could not expand the results of the battle. Some scattered cavalry rushed to other phalanxes by mistake in the chaos, and were immediately beaten into a hornet's nest by matchlock guns.

Zhang Ning's Chinese army was in full formation, and the three phalanxes at the front and back were covered to change formations.He hoped that the soldiers and horses led by Zhang Chengzong would be able to display their due combat effectiveness. The foundation of the two outposts on the left and right of the Yongding Camp was the veterans who raised the troops at the beginning, and they were the most elite troops of the Suzaku Army.

Not long after, white smoke billowed from the top of the mountain. After a short while, the cannonballs roared like thunder, and the naked eyes could clearly see the cannonballs roaring in mid-air.The heavy weapons used by the government and the army, the Yongle-made Tianzihao General Cannon, are actually regarded as mortars, with large calibers and thick/short barrels, because the Ming army could not manufacture qualified long-barreled field cannons. The shells of the cannon can only be thrown |she, so the speed is slow so that people can see it when they look up.

Cannonballs one mile away can only use solid bullets. In the rumbling "thunder", artillery pellets hit the formation of Suzaku army officers and soldiers one after another. Usually, people who are not dead scream very miserably.

A shell even fell on the position of the central army, and several people fell down in the dense crowd. The shell jumped up on the hard soil, and everyone nearby bent down and bowed their heads in shock.Wang Xian of the Guards stood in front of Zhang Ning, but Zhang Ning still sat on the horse without changing his expression... The solid bullets could be seen with the eyes, and the scene was terrifying, but their power was limited. He didn't feel that his Luck can be so bad that it happens to be hit; if the army is not in a dense formation, but arranged in skirmishes, such long-range bombardment will hardly cause any damage.

Gradually, the cavalry forwards who directly attacked the Suzaku Army from the left flank retreated one after another, and another group of cavalry was moving eastward. Maybe they discovered the movement of several phalanxes of the Suzaku Army and wanted to attack the flank from the east.Zhang Ning had to admit that the command and dispatch of the South Route Army he encountered was very fast.

The terrain on the official road is flat, and the actions of people and the sound of drums and horns are clear at a glance.The ox horn was blown in the Yongding camp, and the drums also sounded rhythmically. The three square formations formed a hollow rectangle and slowly moved northward; the commander Zhang Chengzong gave the command in the middle, and there were dense formations on all sides. The only danger is from the shells overhead.

A round of shelling failed to break through the Suzaku army's camp at all, and it was impossible to talk about breaking up. Then the artillery suddenly stopped.It is estimated that the officers and soldiers on the hillside are busy loading, and it will take a while.

Zhang Chengzong observed the cavalry in the east, and seemed to have regrouped there, but he had no intention of rushing over.Maybe the cavalry is waiting for the second round of shelling. If the square formation happens to be opened during the shelling, the cavalry will have a certain chance to break the formation, but it seems that this situation can only happen by chance.Taking advantage of the low pressure, Zhang Chengzong ordered the teams to move forward, and took the opportunity to advance more than 200 steps.

After a long time, as expected, the artillery roared again, this time the artillery shells no longer attacked the troops on the road, but mainly dealt with Zhang Chengzong's marching army.There were cavalry soldiers on the flanks, Zhang Chengzong could only use a dense phalanx, and the soldiers could not avoid being hit by shells.Suddenly a cannonball fell into the queue, and the faces of the people around were splattered with blood in the dust. Someone vomited out with a "vomit". It turned out that a soldier not far away was hit on the head, and the brain Flesh flew out.Someone behind pushed the back of the vomiting soldier, and he reacted and continued to move forward.Not far away, there was a person lying on the ground, curled up covering his stomach with hands that had been washed by blood. His intestines flowed out, and he didn't know if he was dead or not.

At the same time the cavalry in the east finally began to move.Zhang Chengzong needs to immediately order the army to stop and prepare to resist the cavalry's impact. As a middle-level commander, he must make correct judgments at the right time, otherwise it may lead to catastrophic consequences.

That's exactly what he ordered.A large group of cavalry in the distance is jogging, and the direction of attack is Chen Gai's troops on Zhang Chengzong's rear flank.Chen Gai shouted loudly: "Because soldiers are not afraid of death, as warriors and warriors, we are waiting for the day when the horse leather shrouds the body. It is good to die!"

All the troops shouted and cheered one after another, and each took up their weapons and prepared to meet the enemy. "Pikemen in the front line squat down, and musketeers are ready..." Before the generals of each team finished shouting, the soldiers had already made their moves. The standing soldiers of Yongding Battalion had already fought a few times in actual combat and had more training time, so most of them They are all very skilled, and everyone knows what to do under what circumstances.But the captains still yelled tirelessly: "If you don't see the order, no one can fire, and those who disobey the order will be killed!"

The shadow of the cavalry in the sun was getting closer and closer. The drums in the army stopped and the gong sounded twice. The whole row of musketeers calmly raised their long matchlock guns; , so that the soldiers under him can see his movements.The sound of horseshoes sounded nearby, the ground seemed to be trembling|shaking, and the iron hooves were very intimidating; while the Suzaku Army was as motionless as a mountain, as if everyone had stopped breathing and waited, but shells still fell on their heads from time to time , someone was screaming, but the camp remained motionless.

The flag bearer on the side slowly laid down a golden Suzaku square flag, then raised it up again immediately, and the sound of the gong suddenly sounded.Almost at the same time, everyone shouted: "Let go!" Thick smoke billowed everywhere, and the sound of gunfire was deafening.

It was almost impossible to see anything ahead, but soon there were people who were not afraid of death roaring out of the gunpowder smoke.The herd of horses coming from the smog was no longer so powerful. Some people died and the corpses of the horses and horses that fell halfway blocked the way, which would cause a certain amount of chaos.

The anti-cavalry tactics formulated by the Suzaku Army usually mean that the musketeers only fight for one round, and then the spearmen have to prepare to meet the enemy, and it is too late to change teams for the second round of shooting.But on the rear flank of Zhang Chengzong was Chen Gai's department. Chen Gai was impulsive and greedy for merit.On the battlefield, the commander's orders must be obeyed, and the people below are not allowed to have their own ideas, even if they are wrong, they must copy them. The generals of each team immediately shouted: "Change!"

The musketeers in the back row walked to the front and raised their guns again after listening to the password, ready to fire.After some preparations, some of the cavalry rushing to the front had already approached twenty paces, and they were about to rush forward in an instant. The musketeers widened their eyes, expecting the order to be issued.

Suddenly a lance flew over amidst the roar, and hit the chest of a standing musketeer, with a "bang", the musketeer fired a shot when the muzzle was raised, and immediately the officer yelled " put"!Immediately there was a burst of firecrackers, and a knight on horseback trembled as if in a state of epilepsy, smoke was coming from his body, blood was flying, and the long knife in his hand flew out.

After the sound of the gunshots, the screams and groans of pain were quickly covered up by shouts of fear and passion, and more people rushed over, but their speed was not as good as before when they were blocked by a large number of corpses and dead horses. At that time, he no longer wanted to continue attacking, but it was not easy for the cavalry to stop when they charged, and even if they stopped, they would collide with the galloping horses behind.

Amid the yelling and shouting of the generals, the spearmen in the two rows in front stood up. One row fixed the spears on the ground and stomped on them with their feet, crossing to form a dense forest of spears. Arrange it so that the phalanx looks like a giant hedgehog.The cavalry who rushed to the front had to rein in their horses, and a few of them unfortunately bumped into their spears and were stabbed off their horses.

The momentum of the cavalry, which was surging like a tide, was blocked and unable to progress. Some cavalry began to light their three-eyed guns and beat the phalanx, or hovered in front of the formation and shot with bows and arrows, causing a small amount of damage but not enough to open the gap.Soon the matchlock guns at the back were loaded, and after the spearman squatted down, he fired at the rangers in front, and the knights fell off their horses in the flash.

The first wave of attacks by the officers and soldiers obviously failed, and they fled back after suffering heavy casualties.Zhang Chengzong quickly ordered to continue to advance north, "Turn left, walk together..." The sound of slogans and drums followed one after another.