Yongding Acropolis faces east to west, facing water in the north and mountains in the south. Its main function is to serve as a stronghold to defend against attacks by ethnic minorities from the west on the Huguang Plain.
Soon after, the scout came to report that there were cavalry in the woods to the south near the Acropolis, but the number could not be clearly seen. Zhang Ning guessed that there might be one or two hundred cavalry at most, and there could not be too many cavalry; because there were either mountains or water nets in the south, and there were originally
It is not suitable for cavalry sports, and the Yongding Guard in a remote area cannot keep a large number of horses.
All the generals are waiting for his decision. Should they go to war? Maybe most of the generals hope that he will make a decisive decision and order the army to prepare for war... This morning it seems that the weather is sunny and the breeze is blowing. The enemy soldiers come out of the city to fight. It looks like a fight.
Good days. But he hesitated.
"Send the order, gather and train for half an hour, and then continue yesterday's arrangements to build the camp." Zhang Ning said simply. Wei Bin and others couldn't hide their disappointment on their faces, but Zhou Mengxiong nodded slightly.
Hesitation means uncertainty. When he was asked to make a decision immediately and could not waver, his character could only give such an order. Seeing the expressions of the generals, he added: "The two armies are about ten miles apart. A small number of
It's pointless for the cavalry to make a surprise attack. It will take at least an hour for the infantry to arrive. We have enough time to gather and set up a formation. Don't worry about them and just build the camp." Everyone had no choice but to follow the order and leave.
It took Zhang Ning more than half a year to gather the hundreds of people in front of him, and under various favorable opportunities; they were hard-earned and cannot be thrown away casually.
In fact, he is very aware of his situation. Once he is defeated at this time, he will never have the opportunity to raise troops in the future: people will not believe what he can do for the second time, and it is difficult for anyone to be willing to die; in a depressed situation
, people would rather sit back and wait for death than take courage easily.
Failure in human nature is the mother of success, but sometimes we can only win but not lose, and we are extremely fragile.
Zhang Ning thought of the sad song composed by Yao Ji: Understand the preciousness of victory and the desire for victory.
"Call those people over and try out the newly practiced military music "Motherland."" He turned around and said to the guards standing in front of the Chinese military tent.
After a while, several people came over. Except for a few apprentices at the back, the main musicians were a father and his son. They were all wearing field gray military uniforms, but did not carry weapons. The old man was carrying a zheng wrapped in oilcloth, and the young man was carrying a zheng.
He held a flute in his hand. With Zhang Ning's approval, they set up the instruments in front of the tent.
The tinkling piano played, at first with a slow rhythm, and then the flute sounded. Zhang Ning's mood changed, as if everything made sense. The mountains in the distance and the towering towers seemed to be moving in time.
The long river flowing through it was like the sparkling waves on the Lishui River, desolate and beautiful. He looked across the river, imagining the farmers cultivating deep in the wilderness and the women weaving in the villages.
Gradually, he raised his head and saw the rising sun, like hope, like the blood and struggle in the clang of iron swords. His hand was pressed tightly on the sword at his waist... It seemed that a gorgeous palace appeared in front of him again.
, a goddess-like beautiful lady...
The music gradually calmed down. When Zhang Ning turned around, he saw Zhou Mengxiong and others looking at him. Zhang Ning thought to himself: Maybe I am being too pretentious?
Zhou Mengxiong, who was nearly fifty years old, looked indifferent and suddenly said: "Liu Heju's command will take the initiative to attack. He relies on his large number of troops, so he must be eager to achieve success."
Zhang Ning nodded slightly, thinking that Zhou Mengxiong was supporting his wise decision? Somehow, he suddenly thought of Hu Ying again. Hu Ying taught him how to be calm in officialdom; he didn't know how this old "colleague" was doing now.
.
Zhou Mengxiong added: "The cavalry will not be the first to attack. Liu Heju placed the cavalry in the forest on the flanks. The purpose should be to wait for our army to break up and pursue them. If the two armies are in a stalemate, the cavalry may also try to break the formation from the flanks or the rear."
."
"General Zhou's words make sense."
"If we can defeat the army head-on and pursue it to the city, we must guard against catapults in the city. These things are usually placed inside the city walls and cannot be discovered before the battle begins. The catapults of the Ming army generally have a range of 300 to 400 paces.
Infantry, crossbows and artillery are usually placed on the city wall. Since Tanma didn't see them, there should be no Yongding Guards."
…
Two days later, in the early morning of the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, the soldiers of the city guards finally advanced westward. Before New Year's Eve, I don't know if Liu Heju wanted to prevent many officers and soldiers from surviving the new year, but he wanted to celebrate his great achievements before the year.
The camp here has basically been repaired. A deep trench has been dug around it, eight arrow towers have been built, and a defensive circle has been built with wood and earth walls on all sides. Outside the wall, sharpened wood and bamboo have been used to build Juma stakes. The whole thing is a complete structure.
It looks like a temporary small city. A gate was built at the east gate. Soldiers who were carpenters did not forget to carve five words on the wooden board above: Yongding Camp Left Post, and also carved a picture of a red bird, which is very beautiful.
Zhang Ning ordered various soldiers to guard the camp, and the soldiers went out of the camp to assemble and formed a formation behind the camp.
The horn of the horn was blown continuously in a rhythm of three long and three short blasts. Under the leadership of the team leader, each team trotted out of the camp, in good order. The Chinese army flag was erected in the open space, and each team used this as a coordinate
Form a formation.
There are three kinds of flags in the whole sentry, one is the large banner of the Chinese army, painted with a black ink red bird, the second is the square flag of each hundred household brigade, with numbers written on it, and the third is the red bird pennant of the small team inserted on the back of the team leader.
The Chinese military flag was yellow and the others were red. For a moment, the flags were flying in the crowd, which was very beautiful.
The camp was divided into five parts, arranged in a dense square formation. The Chinese army was in the center; at the front was the third brigade, two rows of fully armed infantry, with sixty-one people in each row, holding two-foot-long spears and carrying spears on their backs.
They have a square shield of ironwood and two short guns, a single sword on their waist, and bamboo armor, basically armed to the teeth; behind them are the first and second groups of musketeers, four rows deep, equipped with matchlock guns and single-blade round shields; on the right wing is the third group of musketeers.
The Fourth Brigade faces south and defends the flanks; the Fifth Brigade is at the rear with its back to the camp and serves as a reserve.
The entire camp relied on the Lishui River as the left wing, with the camp as its back, a defensive formation exposed on both sides, and the matchlock team as the core, waiting for the impatient officers and soldiers to attack.
After waiting for a long time, there were loud sounds of relatively orderly footsteps in the east, noisy people and horses, and a dark mass of people and horses surged over from the horizon. Because the vegetation on the ground was better, there was no dusty sky.
As they got closer and closer, Zhang Ning saw clearly that the army was still dominated by infantry. A small group of cavalry on the southern flank followed the majority of the troops and advanced slowly. From a distance, the armor of the officers and soldiers was actually somewhat similar to that of Zhang Ning's army. The general was wearing iron armor.
The helmets are different, the soldiers have incomplete armor, their clothes are also gray, and their trousers are lighter in color. They also wear wide-brimmed hats, but with some red tassels on the hats. There are a lot of weapons standing above the horses, and it seems that spears are the main ones.
Estimating the marching speed of the officers and soldiers, they must not be able to carry heavy weapons. Of course, the officers and soldiers should also think that the "rebels" do not have heavy long-range weapons, because coming down from the western mountains, things that are too heavy cannot be moved at all.
So the officers and soldiers marched to a distance of more than 200 steps before stopping. A few archers fired their bows and arrows to stabilize their position, and the large groups of soldiers and horses behind them advanced one after another to form formations. The flags were flying, and a large flag read: "Commander of Yongding Guards"
Liu. Visually estimated that the total strength of the army was more than a thousand, and the area occupied was almost twice that of this place. Zhang Ning rode his horse to the front of the formation and paid attention to the peasant sergeants who had just been trained in the village. Unsurprisingly, the faces of the people were revealed.
Got nervous.
In fact, Zhang Ning felt that there was almost no fear before the battle, because there were many people together, and humans who are social animals did not feel panic when they hugged together. He was actually a little excited at the moment.
At this time, three riders walked out from the opposite side, waved flags and walked dozens of steps, shouting: "Who is coming? Come out and meet and identify yourself."
Before the fight, he had to talk nonsense, but he had to accept the move and lose the momentum. Zhang Ning remembered the way the King of Han did it in Xuzhou, and he might start a fight when they met, so he immediately ordered Wei Bin and Zhang Chengzong to go with them.
Zhang Ning had seen him fighting in the school field, and he was very skilled.
The three cavalrymen here also came out of the battle carrying a Suzaku flag. They advanced seventy or eighty steps and stopped. Zhang Ning shouted loudly: "The third prince of Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty is here."
"Haha..." The three big men over there suddenly laughed. The fat man in the middle pointed back with a spear and shouted: "Strong and weak are clearly distinguished. What did you do with your bluff? The third prince has come to surrender now. I am in command.
It can save you from death."
Zhang Ning said: "Commander Liu is crazy. We led the army to attack the city. Did he come all the way to surrender? Emperor Jianwen is the orthodox Ming Dynasty. Everyone knows that our army fights injustice with justice. How can we surrender to those who are dependent on usurpers?"
The shameless villain who exploits soldiers and civilians to beg for glory and wealth surrenders?"
"Rough!" the fat man cursed, "the rebels actually beat him up!"
Zhang Ning smiled and said: "It's useless to waste words. Commander Liu, please come back. Wouldn't it be better for us to have real swords and guns on the battlefield?" After saying that, he cupped his hands, shouted and left, leading the two generals to adjust their horses.
return.
Zhang Ning rode his horse across the formation and galloped past the formation, shouting: "You noble men of seven feet, loyal ministers and good generals, are you willing to bear injustice and infamy all your life and hide in the mountains to survive?" All the troops roared: "No..."
Zhang Ning added: "Nanjing, Jiangnan, the blessed land of the Central Plains, our homeland, take back everything! Kill the traitors and restore our Ming Dynasty!"
"Long live! Restore our Ming Dynasty..." The camp suddenly shouted loudly.
"Beat the drums and prepare for battle!"
After a while, the desolate cry of the horns sounded in the morning sun, and the sound of drums was as loud as thunder. The drums and horns on the opposite side also soon sounded, and for a while the landscape was very lively.
Soon the five rows of archers on the opposite side advanced forward. Wei Bin shouted at the top of his lungs: "Prepare your shields! If the musketeers fire without permission, behead them!"
The archers marched to a distance of 150 steps and stood up. Amidst the shouts, they drew their bow strings and pointed their arrows toward the sky. A white crane flying low in the sky flew towards the Lishui River with flapping wings.