Ghosts were crying and wolves were howling in the field. Zhang Ning rode up and led the reserve team behind him to follow. When he looked around, he saw a crowd of people in front of him and chaos. Even his own men and horses lost their queue. Fortunately, he still maintained the basic organization under the banner and pursued with swords and guns.
The crowds of people were dancing like a sudden disaster. Amidst the noise and running, someone could be heard yelling: "You guys didn't stab us like humans..." Zhang Ning stretched out his hand and wiped it on his face, only to feel that his palm was a little bit...
Sticky, I spread it out and took a look, it looked like it was stained with blood and turned red.
Among the chaotic men and horses, Wei Bin's figure was vaguely seen. He was riding a horse, wielding a thin and long saber, slashing left and right... The officers and soldiers were scattered and had no power to parry. Everyone was running, who could
He didn't want to stop and fight, for fear of running behind.
The victory came so suddenly that Zhang Ning was almost not mentally prepared, but a burst of ecstasy emerged instinctively in his heart. The crazy scenes on the battlefield were like people's emotions venting.
Zhang Ning suddenly looked back and saw that the grass behind him was in a mess, with corpses scattered everywhere, and some still alive crawling on the ground; the sound of fighting continued in his ears, and his mind was filled with confusion.
blank.
Many people surrendered along the way. The surrendered soldiers threw away their long weapons, spread their hands on their foreheads, and crowded into the crowd in panic. I saw a sergeant with a matchlock gun raised his gun and fired a shot.
One of the surrendering soldiers covered his chest with his hands and knelt down on the ground. The others were even more panicked and knelt down on the ground. A general next to him cursed something, pointed and shouted back and forth, and called some soldiers to go over and watch the surrendering soldiers.
After chasing for a while, the enemy soldiers had completely run away and were scattered in large areas in the field. It was not so easy to kill those behind. Except for the dozens of people on horseback who could catch up, the infantry behind gradually fell behind; because most of the defeated soldiers were lost.
They carried heavy weapons, and some threw away their armor and other belongings and ran very fast. The previous cavalry of more than a hundred people and the generals on horseback had long since disappeared.
After chasing for ten miles along the road, when the Yongding Acropolis appeared in sight, it took only two moments to look back and forth, which was faster than the speed of a rapid march. When Zhang Ning approached the city, he saw that the suspension bridge had been pulled up and the city gate was closed.
The officers and soldiers have already gone to the city to guard the city. There are still a lot of rebels shouting by the moat, probably wanting the city to lower the drawbridge to let them enter the city.
Qianzong Wei Bin was told that there might be a catapult in the city and asked him to stop approaching the city wall. But for a while, he could not restrain the soldiers at all. The drummers, trumpeters and others did not know where they had gone, so they could only rely on the four soldiers to send orders.
Give orders to the soldiers.
A group of officers and soldiers were chased to the river. Several people jumped into the river in panic. The cold water immediately made them scream. The parts of the armor they had not taken off in time made them unable to float as if they were holding a stone. They risked their lives.
After a few seconds, no one could be seen anymore. The remaining people had no choice but to kneel down and beg for surrender. The military generals and the messengers rode back and forth together, giving orders to the sergeants everywhere. After a long time, they gradually returned to Wengcheng.
About five hundred steps away, the queue was organized.
Zhou Mengxiong rode up to catch up with Zhang Ning from behind, clasped his fists and said, "His Royal Highness Congratulations, he defeated the army with a small victory and defeated a large number of troops. He won a great victory. I admire you very much."
Zhang Ning pretended to be calm and returned the salute. Zhou Mengxiong said again: "I have noticed that His Highness, the Third Highness, uses a method of warfare centered on the firearms team. The firearms in the army are very useful. Your Highness must have an expert in his hands."
"How to capture this city?" Zhang Ning asked, changing the topic.
Zhou Mengxiong looked back at the surrendered soldiers who were being driven into a pile and said: "Now that we have surrendered the soldiers, we can build some bamboo rafts and go to the other side of the river to capture some military households and civilians, and drive them to the wall to dig corners... But this is not easy to do."
It is effective, but there is no method; the serious method of attacking the city is still ant attack, but we have too few people. Sun Bin said, if ten are to encircle the enemy, if five are to attack, if the number is doubled then fight, and if the enemy is divided, this method
It is still practical today... Why did His Highness the Third Prince have to capture this city?"
Zhang Ning said: "The established strategy is to capture the Yongding Guard."
Zhou Mengxiong pointed to the front and advised: "Although the acropolis is small and short, it is well-built and very strong. Attacking by force is definitely the next best option."
Zhang Ning asked humbly: "What is ant possession?"
Zhou Mengxiong said: "Just use superior troops to attack the city wall with ladders. Although the casualties will be heavy, it will also consume the strength of the defenders and finally capture the city. Defending the city already has all the advantages, so attacking the city will have to pay a price."
"This method is too stupid." Zhang Ning said casually. He really didn't have that many soldiers to use.
Zhou Mengxiong said disapprovingly: "Usually in battle, we win with the right, with the more we defeat the less, and with the strong we defeat the weak."
Zhang Ning turned to look at the Lishui River to the north of the Acropolis. Although the river was right on the edge of the city, it seemed unrealistic to intercept the water and attack it. This kind of large-scale water conservancy project required a lot of effort. He only had a few hundred people, so there was nothing he could do.
It would be easy to seize too many strong men to dig and build water conservancy unless there are tens of thousands of men and horses.
"Let's discuss it with the generals first. If it doesn't work, we'll poach someone," he said.
After a while, Wei Bin and other generals gathered their troops and came over. Several people discussed together for a while and decided that it would be a waste of energy to attack the city from the camp ten miles away, so they decided to move the camp to a place one mile away from the Acropolis.
.
Now Zhang Ning's army didn't even have a ladder or any siege equipment, and they weren't ready, so they called a truce for the time being. The officers and soldiers were greatly damaged, and it was unlikely that they would go out to fight in the city again. So everyone began to make new arrangements.
Some people managed the prisoners, and more than 400 of them surrendered. All their weapons were taken away, and their armor was forced to be taken off. They became the trophies of the "Suzaku Army". Then the prisoners were taken to the camp to carry wood.
, the wood from the camp was transported directly, which was more troublesome than cutting down trees for processing. There were also some people who went to clean the battlefield, mainly picking up weapons and other items, and then pulling out iron armor. The iron armor of the official army was obviously better than the bamboo armor worn by the Suzaku Army soldiers.
Good; in addition, it is to treat the wounded soldiers, most of whom are the wounded of the army. Because they resisted very little after their collapse, the damage to the Suzaku Army was really limited.
Iron armor became a popular commodity among the soldiers, and it was quickly divided up. After experiencing the rain of arrows flying above their heads, everyone still did not dislike the armor being too heavy.
On the road, a general flag officer was cursing and educating the soldiers: "You have seen what happened to the officers and soldiers. During the war, you die faster if you run away, and you are like an animal when you are slaughtered. Whoever runs away from the battle just wants to be killed."
Everyone..."
Everyone was busy carrying things and building a new camp. They didn't make any food at noon. Most of them ate some soaked rice and cold water in water bags for nothing. The soldiers' belongings were completely thrown away, and there was nothing.
You have to eat, you can only drink river water.
In the afternoon, dozens of wounded soldiers were brought over from along the way and placed in a temporary open space. Those with broken arms and legs, their heads stained with blood, and those who had been stabbed without any vital injuries were all lying on stretchers and screaming in pain.
The suffering was unspeakable. Naturally, our wounded soldiers received better treatment and care. Most of them came from several villages in Fengxia Mountain, and there were more or less relatives in the army.
The big head Chen Gai suggested killing all the wounded enemy soldiers, "Firstly, it will save us from wasting food, and secondly, it will also let the brothers know that there will be no good consequences if they lose the battle."
Zhang Ning felt that this was a bit inhumane. After thinking about it, he said: "Carry them over and put them next to the Acropolis. After leaving, let the officers and soldiers in the city come out to rescue them. These people have lost their combat effectiveness. If you bring them into the city, you can still give them something."
Adding to the burden.”
Most of the generals agreed with Zhang Ning's idea. Although they were fighting each other on the battlefield, they were all Han after all, and they had no personal grudges against each other. Everyone just felt that people should not do too much. When it was almost night, a group of troops escorted them.
He took the wounded soldiers to the Acropolis to see them off.
The surrendered soldiers were tied to bamboo poles behind their backs in rows and driven into a field. A deep trench was dug around it and many sharpened bamboos were inserted into it. People were then assigned to guard them. They could only stay in the field.
Sleeping in the open, lighting some bonfires to keep out the cold, naturally there are no tents and quilts... and it is impossible for the city to send out the belongings of the surrendered soldiers.
The next morning, some of the surrendered soldiers were selected and told to go to the city to persuade them to surrender. Chen Gai cursed in front of him: "Please give me a good advice. If you don't know what to do and talk nonsense about us, you will be beaten when you come back."
Whip!" But Zhang Chengzong shouted: "Everyone do as General Chen said, and if you do a good job in persuading him to surrender, you will have bacon to eat when you come back."
There was a slight commotion in the crowd, and many people turned to look at the camp. Sure enough, there were some bacon and sausages... The military households were already very poor, even worse than the common people. In addition, since the Yongle period, the country had consumed a lot of money, and the lower-level sergeants
I'm afraid it's rare that they can eat meat during the month. Their expressions seemed to have forgotten that they were surrendering soldiers.
Wei Bin gathered three groups of troops and drove the surrendering troops westward. Along the way, the generals tried their best to teach them how to speak.
When they arrived at the bottom of the city, drums and trumpets were blaring on the acropolis, and the officers and soldiers picked up their bows and crossbows and lined up on the city wall to prepare. However, the soldiers and horses below the city did not carry ladders or other items, and they could not fly up to the top of the city. It seemed that they were not here to attack the city.
The matchlock soldiers loaded their ammunition in a rustling manner, and then shouted for a group of surrendered soldiers to come to the edge of the moat. They approached cautiously in a chaotic manner. When the officers and soldiers on the top of the city saw clearly that the people coming over were surrendered soldiers, they did not fire arrows.
A military general at the top of the city was the first to yell: "You shameless thing, you are just trying to survive, but you have to persuade the rebels to surrender?" Then another person shouted: "Go back!"
Zhang Chengzong from behind shouted: "Hurry up and shout, there will be meat and white rice to eat soon."
Finally, one of the surrendered soldiers had the courage to shout to the top: "Brothers, His Highness the Third Prince of Emperor Jianwen said that as long as Kaicheng surrenders, there will be no fear of life. He will treat the brothers more favorably than the generals at the guard station."
good……"
"The guardsmen treat their brothers as slaves. They have to farm and work hard. Most of the income from farming is exploited. Even if you die in a war, you will die in vain. Don't be stupid..."