Ping An Biography

The streams are dry, the rivers are narrow, and the earth is clean.The staple food crops in the Chenzhou wilderness have been harvested long ago at this season, and with the destruction of war and man-made disasters, it is barren at the moment, and even many paddy fields have dried up due to human irrigation and management. In the vegetable field in winter, the people are not seen, and the people and farmers have long been hiding.

It was the 29th year of Jianwen, the second year of Xuande, and the ninth day of October. The two armies encountered each other more than ten miles away from the east bank of Yuanshui River, and the war was imminent.Two days ago, the Zhuque army turned back from the southeast of Chenzhou City and marched for more than a hundred miles, heading straight for the Yuanshui line; Xue Lu heard the movement, and immediately led the main force to track and intercept it from Chenzhou. That is to say, the direction of the Suzaku army was stopped.

The water line outlined by the Yuanshui River here is like a convex character inverted to the right, and the river protrudes toward the east; the place where the two armies meet is more than ten miles east of the protruding apex of the Yuanshui River.The surrounding terrain is a wilderness, with undulating low mountains; the two main stations have higher terrain from east to west, but the terrain is relatively flat, with a valley formed by the impact of a tributary of the river in the middle, and the low-lying areas have dried up.The two armies were about four or five miles apart, facing each other from a distance.

"It's a battlefield here, and no one will suffer." Zhang Ning stood on the high ground and looked at the wind, looking back to the left and right.

The barren land is full of weeds. The yellow weeds and luse bushes paint the land a bit of color, and green vegetation can still be seen in winter in the south.Zhang Ning looked at the sunset on the opposite side, and said again: "It is estimated that the battle will start tomorrow at the earliest. Let's find a place to station and stand guard here to guard the terrain. I haven't seen the enemy cavalry brigade, so I found out that it is on the left and right flanks?" [

A general reported: "Return to the prince, the enemy horse army is in the northeast, and part of it is in the west of Chenzhou."

After hearing this, Zhang Ning said: "This is a bit risky... The main force of the enemy's camp is much larger than ours, and the horizontal spread is wide. We cannot prevent the flanks from being outflanked; the cavalry is on the east and west sides. If one part is to my stomach, wouldn’t it be necessary to take over the baggage we built in the camp in the lowlands to the east?”

Zhou Mengxiong said: "The only way is to try to dig a well to get water from this highland now. If you find a water source, you can transfer the baggage to a high place and defend it with the Chinese army."

Zhang Ning then ordered the ministries to dig wells on the spot.Sure enough, well water was found before dark. In this humid and humid place, there are many water networks, and the groundwater is quite abundant.Right now, the Chinese army is busy moving the vehicles and luggage up to the high place. Although the terrain here is relatively high, it is not considered to be a mountain.

The ministries dug trenches to form simple camps.The Suzaku Army dispatched most of its armed forces. Except for the cavalry regiment, the total number of the infantry army was about 2000 after several battle losses, and it was divided into eight "departments"; The leading team consists of two sentries, a total of about 500 people.The largest formations of the Suzaku Army are the battalions, the Yongding Camp and the Changde Camp. Below them are the sentries, with a total of about 750 people in five brigades. The two sentries form one unit, which can be commanded by a general, which can form a large offensive force. It can also form a complete phalanx defense when necessary.

It is very busy in the mountains and fields, but it is very orderly when viewed closely, it seems that everyone knows what to do and has work to do.

It seems that there is a kind of divine power manipulating all these rules, but it can also be called organization.To some extent, Zhang Ning believes that the Han people are born fighters.Of course, it is different from the nomadic herdsmen who are proficient in bow horse riding and archery, and the natural warriors who disperse the grazing and concentrate on horse warfare; Craftsmen or farmers, as long as they are told what to do, they can spontaneously coordinate and cooperate.War is the rule of a large group of people, which requires organization and order, not fighting alone, so Zhang Ning believes that people are born fighters.

Although the Suzaku army is surrounded by superior forces at the moment, it can be seen that the soldiers are very motivated. They desperately need to "recover" Changde, take back their homes and land; They are confident.

At night, the wilderness was lit with fires all over the land, and there was a burst of booing from time to time. It was the warriors playing some rough games after dinner.In the rural wild forests of agricultural civilization, it is usually extremely quiet, but tonight this place is as lively as a metropolis.

In the main camp of the Suzaku Army, the chiefs and generals of various ministries also gathered together, eating and talking around a bonfire.The grilled meat is mainly bacon, with a small amount of hare and wild birds.But to be honest, Zhang Ning thinks that the taste of Huguang's bacon roasted on fire is not very good, it is too salty.

When the generals went to battle, they usually carried knives, flints and other things with them. After roasting the meat, they took out the knives to cut it, and their hands and mouths were full of black oil.Seeing this, Zhang Ning found a piece of wood and sharpened a fork, then put the piece of meat on a wooden board, and began to eat skillfully with the wooden fork in his left hand and the knife in his right.

Seeing this, Chen Gai, the big head, had an exaggerated expression than anyone else, stared straight at his eyes, and muttered: "My lord still has such skills." A general laughed and said, "Your lord is a sage who has read scriptures, and his bearing is naturally elegant. " Zhang Ning said with a smile: "You can also try to cut a piece of wood." Chen Gai drew a ladle in the same way, but it was very unwieldy to use, and finally got angry and threw the wooden fork away and said: "I might as well use a gnawed one. !” Everyone burst into laughter.

At this time, Zhu Heng said solemnly: "The enemy has heavy artillery. If they rely on their superior strength to take the initiative to attack, we will wait to avoid being hit by heavy artillery wexe; Take the initiative to attack."

Zhang Ning put down the knife in his hand, and said: "What Zhu Butang said is very true. We abandoned Chenzhou. After several games, the purpose is to form a decisive battle with the enemy in the open. This battle is about life and death. The price is also to win this battle. I hope you will encourage each other."

After hearing this, all the generals clasped their fists and said, "I will obey the military orders."

Everyone talked together for a while, and Zhang Ning asked them to go back to the camp to rest and recover their spirits before going to war tomorrow.

Zhang Ning didn't go to the big tent of the Chinese army, but went to a big tent at the back, where Yao Ji and his family settled down, surrounded by people from the evil cult.On the last night before the battle, he still wanted to get along with Yao Ji for a short time. Maybe after tonight, he would not have a chance to talk. Who knows what the outcome will be when there is a war?

A pile of charcoal fire was lit in the tent, Yao Ji and the others were all here, and grass could still be seen on the ground, only an oilcloth and a futon were covered on the sitting place.After performing the ceremony, Zhang Ning took off his helmet and found a futon to sit on.In front of Yao Ji, even the concubine, Zhou Niang, behaved very well-behaved and said very little, so Yao Ji became the hostess.She looked very relaxed and indifferent, perhaps in order not to increase the psychological burden on Zhang Ning.

She even joked: "You come out to fight and drag your family with you. We are like herdsmen in the north. I heard that the Mongols migrated with their families when they went to war?" [

"The herdsmen can produce and operate on a mobile basis. If we don't win this battle, we will lose all our foundations. In the best case, we will be rogues." Zhang Ning didn't think the joke was funny, but just sighed.

Yao Ji persuaded, "During the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei was also chased and often changed places. Don't lose your ambition."

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There were people everywhere in this barracks, and there were several family members living in a big tent. Yao Ji and Zhang Ning had different ways of speaking in front of people, and they could only speak in such an open manner.

However, Zhang Ning could laugh in front of the generals, and when he returned to his "home", his spirit was relaxed, his mood was not high, and he also showed a tired look.Speaking of Liu Bei, Zhang Ning thought of the story about Liu Bei's two wives being captured by Cao Cao. Cao Mengde seemed to like arresting other people's wives; Later, he was unwilling to take two women with him to escape.

But Zhang Ning was very concerned. He murmured wearily: "I once lost precious things because of my cowardice and mistakes, and then I became 'sensible'. It turned out that what I lost was worth paying any price to cherish... I ..."

After several days of tossing and fatigue, coupled with the long-term mental pressure, he was in a trance at the moment. It was like seeing the summer in his dream when he relaxed for a while, the small river in the afternoon, the noisy bamboo forest, and the beautiful and lovely but forgotten. What kind of little girl, he felt a twinge of pain and remorse.

"I shouldn't be selfish, let alone be afraid..." Zhang Ning's vision blurred.The women present were surprised to see him shed tears inexplicably. At this time, his appearance was so fragile, he was not at all like the usual warlord who held the power of life and death.In front of so many people, in addition to family members, there are also guardians and attendants of the evil spirit sect.

He choked up and said: "Why should I be afraid? A man should be afraid. But I am very afraid. Every time I wake up in the morning, I don't know where I am, whether I have something to rely on, and I panic..."

"Ning'er." Yao Ji called out movingly, her voice was extremely gentle, "Sit over here."

Zhang Ning sat beside her like an obedient child, and Yao Ji held onto his shoulders and hugged him into her arms.The fragrance of weak bones and strong muscles made him feel as if he had fallen into a gentle village, and he was extremely comfortable physically and mentally.

After being silent in the tent for a long time, Zhang Ning gradually came back to his senses. He realized that there were many people around him. He hurriedly wiped away his tears on Yao Ji's chest, then stood up and said: "My lord, forgive me, my son just now excuse me."

Yao Ji said: "It's getting late, you can rest here tonight, you can let Er Niang take care of your daily life."

Zhang Ning felt a little ashamed for the gaffe just now, and hurriedly said: "Thank you, concubine mother and madam, for your kindness. I have to go back to the Chinese army tent and say goodbye."