The sun goes down every day, and the scenery is usually very beautiful on a clear day. But the scenery that attracted Zhang Ning tonight was not the natural scenery on the banks of the Lishui River, but the scenery of the prisoner camp. He, several generals and guards were riding horses around the camp.
While patrolling, they suddenly stopped next to a prisoner camp.
Everyone followed Zhang Ning's gaze and saw that the surrendered soldiers were eating. The soldiers in the camp had already eaten, and then they borrowed pots, pots, bowls and chopsticks and allocated military rations.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen food that tastes so delicious. Many people have finished eating the rice in their bowls and are holding their hands in front of their faces and licking it. Zhang Ning was very surprised when he saw it. He had seen this before when he was an official.
Some officials wrote in response to the poor military households. For example, Yang Shiqi wrote in a memorial that "the soldiers in various military stations are hungry and thin"... A short line written by a court official did not expect it to be so weighty. Zhang Ning saw it with his own eyes and immediately understood
Got it.
When he turned his head, he met the eyes of personal guard Xu Wenjun, and he had nothing to say to her; then he looked at Zhou Mengxiong, hesitated, and finally did not speak. He kicked the horse in the belly, left the prison camp, and continued to patrol.
Around the camp.
Ever since Wu Yong was killed and silenced, Zhang Ning felt that his thoughts were constantly changing. He originally thought that he had become cold-blooded and ruthless, but today he found that some deep-rooted ideas were not easy to change. He thought of driving these prisoners to die tomorrow.
, suddenly felt a little unbearable.
Forcing the soldiers to dig the wall, Liu Heju, who was guarding the city, could not just sit back and watch. He would definitely order an attack and massacre of these people. In fact, any competent general would give such an order; if the soldiers ran back, Zhang Ning would also order the massacre.
You must be a warning, otherwise you will definitely not be able to force others to pass... It is so inhumane. The status of these military households is similar to that of serfs, and they are originally poor poor people.
But he also thought, if he is always so soft-hearted, how can he win? Capturing Yongding Guard is of great strategic significance, regardless of the cost!
He kept convincing himself: Although man claimed to be the spirit of all things, he still followed the law of the jungle and preyed on the strong, and those who preyed on the masses were greedy. What can losers do, feel sorry for themselves... He really didn't like the feeling of feeling sorry for himself. For victory,
The desire, the hatred of shame... He felt that he was indeed a person who couldn't afford to lose, brittle and easily broken.
Zhang Ning's face was uncertain. The last rays of the sun reflected on his face, and his skin color seemed to have turned orange.
"What's the chance of winning the wall-digging method proposed by General Zhou?" Zhang Ning turned around again and asked pretending to be indifferent.
Zhou Mengxiong pondered for a moment and said: "It's hard to tell. Since Your Highness is determined to attack the city, this is the only way. You can't build a ladder to ant attack. Six or seven hundred people will definitely not be enough to lose... Yesterday's battle, after watching from the sidelines, I felt that the army
The range of firearms should be more than 100 steps, and should be well-trained, and be able to adopt the shooting method proposed by King Mu of Yunnan. We can use this tactic, first drive down the soldiers to fill the river, and then go to dig walls under the city and top the city.
We decided to use rolling wood and kerosene arrows to resist the enemy; at this time, our army used firearms to cover the fire at a hundred paces, with the purpose of killing and wounding the enemy. In this way, the loss of the soldiers could be exchanged for the defenders' strength and supplies. The soldiers who were to be surrendered would be killed or wounded.
When all are exhausted, build bamboo and wooden rafts to cross the river, round up and forcibly capture the civilians from nearby military households, and continue this method. Over time, the defenders will be unable to sustain the casualties and losses, and may surrender."
Zhang Ning asked: "Can you estimate the exchange ratio? How many dead soldiers can be exchanged for the life of one defender?"
"This..." Zhou Mengxiong thought for a while, "Our army shoots from the rear, and there are walls blocking it. It depends on the marksmanship of the soldiers. It is estimated that ten people can kill one or two enemy soldiers. Do we have enough ammunition?"
"There is enough gunpowder." Zhang Ning said. He plundered a lot of sulfur from Shimen County. With the raw materials, he made enough gunpowder, because the muskets did not consume much. "If there is not enough lead bullets, it will not take too much time to make them now."
."
Zhang Ning asked again: "If the soldiers are all dead and we cross the river to capture Ding, will the military households and people hide in the mountains?"
Zhou Mengxiong replied cautiously: "It's very possible, maybe it's not easy to catch him."
Zhang Ning suddenly found that Zhou Mengxiong was looking at him with strange eyes. Such eyes made him feel a little uncomfortable, as if he had been seen through. For some reason, Zhang Ning was very reluctant to let others see through him, and habitually tried to disguise himself.
But when he asked the question just now, wasn't he just looking for excuses for himself?
Maybe he already had the answer in his heart. He just needed a reason, or an excuse. He thought of his "father", and maybe he regretted his original decision after the failure? Maybe one day when he was fished by a mermaid,
I will hate myself for being so indecisive when I have the opportunity to prey on others!
Zhang Ning's left hand was holding the sword at his waist. He felt that his palms were soaked with sweat and were slippery. It would be much easier to make decisions if he did not personally go to the battlefield to command the battle. The fate of more than 400 surrendered soldiers was just a matter of time.
Numbers, not a group of people choking on their food.
"You can't do anything, and you can't force it. Take a detour to get Cili and Shimen County first, and then make a long-term plan after getting supplies. What do you think?" He finally said.
Zhou Mengxiong first agreed: "It should be so. It is reported that Zhu Yong has mobilized the main force of the government and army to deal with the Miao people in Luxi. The troops to the east of Yongding Guard are empty, and the defenses of the counties are weak, so it is very easy to attack. First take the places along the Lishui River, and then take the big ones.
Yongsuo, Jiuxi Guard and other cities, Yongding Guard’s troops are too damaged to fight in the field, and they have become isolated cities, so don’t worry too much..."
Zhang Ning turned to look at the generals with a questioning look. Wei Bin and others all acted dull... At a larger strategic level, these generals seemed to have little knowledge, which was really helpless.
However, Zhou Mengxiong became more and more excited as he talked: "If the Miao people can hold off Zhu Yong in Chenzhou, the situation will be great; we rely on the territory in the northwest of Dongting to expand our army and prepare for war. In a few months, if our troops and horses reach a certain size, we will have the capital to challenge Changde Mansion."
If Changde Mansion is captured, the strength of Dongting, a land of fish and rice and a prosperous place, will be incomparable... At that time, not only Wuchang will be shocked, but the capital and even the world will be moved."
Zhang Ning nodded and acted relatively calmly. Seeing the red light on Zhou Mengxiong's face, he couldn't help but wonder about this person's position... Did Zhou Mengxiong be sent down from above for other purposes? Although Zhang Ning found no evidence to prove it, it was just
It was speculation, but he did not doubt this; but in his intuition, Zhou Mengxiong's position was not that simple. If this person really ran away from Nanjing following Emperor Jianwen, he would miss the glory of the past?
"How to deal with the surrendered soldiers?" Wei Bin asked.
When Zhou Mengxiong heard this, he looked at Zhang Ning with interest. Zhang Ning actually hated such a look. His tone also became less friendly: "What can I do? Kill more than 400 people together?"
Wei Bin said: "I'm afraid that once we leave, these surrendered soldiers will become pawns of the official army again. After being armed, they will become our enemies again in the future."
Zhang Ning was more decisive this time and said: "You have also seen that those people have different accents. They were forced from other places to work as military households. They are satisfied with having enough food to eat. First, register their names and tell them,
Those who are willing to join us will have food and military pay; those who are unwilling will be given travel expenses and told to get out, and they will be killed next time they are captured."
His tone was stiff and there was no intention of discussion. Wei Bin didn't say much, just cupped his fists and said, "Yes."
The next morning, after the surrender soldiers figured out the situation, as expected, half of them were willing to "join the gang"; the others had married wives and children in the Yongding Guard field, and most of them said they wanted to flee here. Even if the Yongding Guard did not encounter them,
In such a catastrophe, many people had to flee before, otherwise the five or six thousand troops in the guard city would not be able to have only such a small number of troops. The military households also had a relatively simple idea, because they had seen how powerful the rebels were, and they had rice and meat to eat. In addition,
Not knowing where to find shelter, I simply joined the gang.
The soldiers cut down trees and bamboos to make many rafts, and sent the surrendered soldiers who were unwilling to rebel across the river. Each of them was given a small amount of food and clothing, and then sent them away. The remaining two hundred people were reorganized and organized into the right group.
The first sentry and the second brigade; generals above the rank of the brigade selected personnel from the Suzaku Army. The newly added soldiers did not have weapons and flags for the time being. As for the registration of Zhang Ning's order, it was not implemented, and many generals could not even read a word.
I know, this is a bit time-consuming to do.
Zhang Ning's men and horses expanded to about a thousand people. They rowed rafts to cross the river one by one, and gradually transported the baggage and a dozen wounded soldiers to the other side. Due to the rudimentary tools, it took until the afternoon for them all to cross the river. The officers and soldiers in the acropolis
I was just watching the excitement, and had no intention of leaving the city to fight again.
The army marched from the north bank to the east for two days, and again cut wood to build boats and rafts to cross the river, because the mountain road on the north bank was getting more and more difficult. If the Yongding Acropolis hadn't been stuck in the middle, people wouldn't have had to cross the river twice.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the army arrived outside Cili County. The magistrate of Cili County committed suicide two months ago, and there seemed to be no chief. The officials figured out that it was Zhang Ning's men who had returned, so they simply marched into the city.
Surrender.
Zhang Ning did not disappoint the officials and people of Cili County. After leading his army into the city, he strictly ordered the soldiers not to disturb the people. However, the officials had to find a way to supply military supplies. After a day's rest, Yao Erlang's fifth brigade of Zuo Shao was captured.
He stayed to garrison and urged local officials and gentry to raise military supplies; the main force continued to march eastward along the river.
When they arrived at Shimen County, Wang Dianshi, an old acquaintance, saw that Zhang Ning had brought so many soldiers, so he opened the door to greet him. With Wang Zhixian taking the blame, the old guy was still an official without any changes. He fought without blood all the way, and Zhou Mengxiong
He was dumbfounded. Zhang Ning proudly told the generals about the benefits of military discipline, and it slowly began to bear fruit... These counties knew that they could not defeat resistance, and they would not be killed if they opened the door and surrendered. Even fools knew how to choose.
; As for taking the risk of being punished by the court later, there is nothing you can do. It is better for a good man not to suffer immediate losses than to be killed right now.