Ping An Biography

() Chenzhou, rain, heavy rain pouring down.On the school field outside the city, there was a vast crowd of soldiers.Zhang Ning on the city wall was also drenched all over, and the rain on his face continued to flow like a shower.

He picked up a bowl of wine, most of which was rainwater from the sky, and shouted: "Sacrifice to the dead brothers of Changde!"

All the troops stood upright, looking towards the top of the city.

Zhang Ning drank half of the bowl under the eyes of everyone, poured the remaining half bowl on the ground below the city, and said in a choked voice, "All the soldiers of the Standing Army died in the battle under the deputy commander of the Senate Department, Xu Guangzhi. My spy saw it with my own eyes. After the officers and soldiers finished killing people, they couldn’t relieve their anger and ordered them to ride horses and trample on the corpses. The internal organs, brains, blood and flesh of the heroes were all over the place; some officials who surrendered were forced to kneel down, humiliated and called lords, and if they didn’t, they were punished in public Slaughter, is this something that the Han people can do? After they captured the city, they yan|yin|captive|looted like barbarians, which is evident in the tyranny of the puppet dynasty; they also threw our respected military flags on the ground for humiliation. It's a shame!"

After finishing speaking, he threw the bowl on the brick wall, drew out his sword and pointed it at the rainy sky, and shouted: "Fight to the death, annihilate the bandits, take back Changde, and collect the corpses of the brothers who died in battle!" . .

"Take back Changde, take back Changde, Changde, Chang..." All the troops were excited, shouting loudly, and the angry roar of thousands of people echoed in the mountains outside the city.

……

After the cavalry army, the North Route Army camp still hadn't arrived in Changde, and at this time the people at the decision-making level had repeatedly discussed the new strategy for many days.

Yu Qian sat on the chair in the middle of the Changde Senate Office, the chair that Zhang Ning used to sit on, looked around at the generals present and said: "The best time to fight the rebels is when they retreat from Xiangshui to Chenzhou. It's a pity that the war opportunity has passed. At that time, the rebel army was not prepared to fight for a long time outside Changde. The food supplies were exhausted, the military equipment was in disrepair, the ammunition was insufficient, and the manpower was exhausted. If they could stop the decisive battle, they could win. Force a decisive battle in the capital city of Chenzhou."

Xue Lu, who was sitting on the side, said: "Futai, forgive me. I think the main force of the rebel army suffered a small loss on the South Road. They are still exhausted after walking so many roads. Changde's old nest was taken away by us again, and many died. Don’t tell me, they’ve lost everything they need to make firearms. We’re approaching Chenzhou immediately, isn’t this a war opportunity? Dare we have an army of [-], armed with the power of Changde’s great victory, if we beat him with [-], can we still be defeated?”

Yu Qian said in a strong tone: "Immediately approaching Chenzhou, how long will it take... The rebel army is naturally weak at this moment. I can't say that I will definitely not win, but it is not certain that I will win. From what I see, there are risks here. This war The key to the rise and fall of the world must be foolproof, and you must not be impatient and spoil the big event!

The rebels are in a bad situation at the moment, but there will be times when they will be even worse, and the more time goes by, the better for us.Chenzhou has a poor harvest, how can they feed more than 1 people and more than 2000 horses looted from various places under the threat of our army?Of course, if we stand still hundreds of miles away, we must be careful not to send troops to plunder other places, so we must have a plan. "

At this time, someone said: "If the rebels simply abandon Changde, abandon Chenzhou, and recapture other places, such as the nearest Baoqing Mansion, won't we be left behind?"

Yu Qian said coldly: "If Zhang Ning really does this, it will be easy to deal with. How is it different from a bandit? He has no place to operate for a long time. With the current situation in the world, what will happen at all? Attacking Baoqing Mansion in the south? Then It is farther away from threatening Wuchang... This is fine, we in Huguang will stay with a small illness for a while, and when the main force of our Beijing camp captures Nanjing and settles the southeast, the general situation will stabilize. Earth, where can all the rogues go?"

Xue Lu sighed: "This thief is dead but not stiff, how long will the disaster last?"

Yu Qian said: "Don't be greedy for merit, seek medical treatment if you have the opportunity; if the opportunity is not good, prevent it from penetrating into the internal organs and becoming a confidant's disease. We have also fulfilled our duty."

After hearing this, Xue Lu finally made a concession, and asked: "How should we arrange the troops that Futai just said?"

Yu Qian said: "Speaking of it, there are only four words'like awns on their backs', which means that the rebels are on their backs like awns. I observed the Battle of Yuelu Mountain in the South Route Army. Under the predicament of food and grass, you can still persist for many days, continue to kill and injure the bandit soldiers, until the rebels retreat on their own, and sum up the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy and ourselves. Here, it is reasonable to listen to the generals who came to the battle. The strength of the enemy is not in the cavalry, but in the horsemen. As long as the cavalry is used properly by the officers and soldiers, the actual combat power is not inferior to that of the rebel cavalry, and our cavalry is much larger than them; the enemy's strength lies in its infantry and artillery.

Against the enemy in infantry, the rebel firearms have a long range, strong armor-piercing, and more prestige, and our infantry will be defeated head-on.Moreover, its infantry can resist the charge of cavalry, and it seems indestructible.In fact, there are two ways to defeat the enemy: one is to have better heavy artillery, or more dense general artillery, and the terrain is favorable to bombard the enemy, and then to attack the enemy with cavalry, there is a chance to break it.Second, occupying a relatively steep and deep highland, and relying on fortifications, can use heavy arrows to shoot at the enemy's firearms. This is also the reason why the South Route Army was able to hold on to Yuelu Mountain. The battle situation can be even better; I am condescending, and I use the heavy arrows with better armor-piercing ability to cover the shots. Because of the height of the terrain, I can make up for the disadvantage that the heavy arrows have a range far behind the enemy's firecrackers. The high and low terrain has little effect; and the shooting speed of bows and arrows is faster than that of firecrackers, so it is not very disadvantageous to use heavy arrows against firecrackers from a high position.Don't forget that we still have a military advantage far greater than that of the rebels. "

Speaking of the use of weapons and tactics, the generals not only understood but also were very interested. Yu Qian continued: "So I have an idea of ​​deploying troops. The main force of the army will advance along the Yuanshui River to Chenzhou, and divide them into positions on the pre-selected terrain. The three battalions are stationed; the division of troops is because our strength is much larger than that of the rebels, and the second is to reduce the risk. In case a battalion ahead is accidentally defeated, we still have three battalions, so that we will not be defeated.

Terrain selection is particularly important, and there are several key points: first, high ground; second, the width and depth of the place, so as to prevent the supply on the mountain from being blocked by main roads; third, there must be a water source, preferably close to Yuanshui to facilitate water and grain roads; Fourth, the distance between the three places should not be too far, so as to facilitate back and forth support.

In this way, we will not attack; they will not even think about attacking and defeating us, but they will always be under the threat of my army.There is also famine and poverty, which is a dilemma.However, our army can take Changde as the foundation, and can continuously obtain supplies of military equipment, food and grass from the Yuanshui River or by land, and it is safe to rely on; when Changde goes out, it is Dongting Lake, which is connected to the great river, and the entire Huguang military supplies can be transported here.

Our army battalion can also fight flexibly, and rotate at the right time. The [-] troops take turns to go into battle, and the cavalry is flexible and mobile, looking for its weak points to attack.In this way, Zhang Ning couldn't even control the local area of ​​Chenzhou. In just a few months, the rebels would definitely die, and there was no chance at all. "

A fat man clapped his hands and said happily, "It's really non-toxic and not a husband." After a while, he realized that he had said something wrong, and the words he used were not very good, so he slapped his mouth with his hand, "Sometimes a slip of the tongue, a moment of slippage."

Yu Qian looked at him coldly and said: "If the general can think of how many people will be displaced under the turmoil of the country, how many people will starve and freeze to death on the roadside; Then you will know whether someone is poisonous or not!"

The fat general's face was full of embarrassment, his neck was flushed, he bowed his head and said, "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed."

Yu Qian didn't have any polite words at all, he got up and left his seat with a flick of his sleeves, saying: "If you want to discuss again, you can sit down for a while, or leave if you don't want to."

After saying that, he picked up a file, left the hall, and walked into the dilapidated courtyard inside.At the end of the corridor, there is a study room on the side of the upper room. According to the officials, Zhang Ning usually handles official documents there, and he has to sit there for a long time almost every day.

Yu Qian paced over, couldn't help pushing the door and walking into the study.In fact, he admired Zhang Ning from a certain angle. Zhang Ning left a deep impression on him when they cooperated in planning from Nanjing to Beijing; It can be seen that one is in the sky and the other is underground.

It's a pity... If you can be officials in the same dynasty, share the same goals, cooperate tacitly in daily life, enjoy flowers, drink wine and write words in your spare time, it would be a good story for scholars.

The small study room is very simple, and it can be seen that Zhang Ning is not a vulgar person with extravagance. "Self-cultivation is used for self-cultivation, and frugality is used to cultivate virtue." Yu Qian looked at a picture on the wall and read it.However, it was cleaned up here, almost spotless, and someone must have cleaned it up before the officers and soldiers broke through the city.

The owner here won't survive this year, Yu Qian thought confidently.But why does he really want to know about a dying person?

Yu Qian's hand flicked across the books on the bookshelf, looking at the books Zhang Ning usually likes to read.There were also a few sheets of paper beside the bookshelf, and Yu Qian was a little surprised when he picked it up and saw that it was a few drafts of articles written by Zhang Ning himself.

On the pros and cons of sea strategy?Shu means to play the emperor, this article is probably some time ago.After reading it carefully, Yu Qian only felt that it was farsighted and reasonable.The wording can make the emperor happy, but there is no lack of substantive insights.

After reading it again, Yu Qian broke through many of Zhang Ning's thoughts at that time.At the time of writing this article, he should still be an official: he entered the official position with the honor of raising people, and he did not want to report to the extreme ministers, but also did not want to be mediocre, so he began to draw a blueprint for his official career shortly after entering the official position; Trying to make achievements in ocean-going maritime trade is not only a beneficial cause, but also creates opportunities for oneself to be promoted and reused.

Yu Qian said in his heart: It would be great if Zhang Ning really went on like that. This person's rebellion is probably due to his background in the Jianwen family... When he knew his background, was he more helpless or aroused A little more ambitious?

Perhaps the person who understands Zhang Ning best is also his opponent and enemy.