The 232nd chapter mountains and rivers inside and outside (1)
Yellow dust rose up from the ancient road, and Zhang Ning and a dozen other people set foot on the road back to Gaodu. The dry fields on the roadside were deserted, and there were only sparse weeds in the paddy fields besides water. Chenzhou had been hit by military disasters for several months.
, many fields are out of season; you can imagine what an ordinary farmer would face if there is no harvest in a year. This year's famine is already expected.
In the desolate wilderness, a song suddenly came faintly. Zhang Ning heard it clearly. It was the tune of a song called "Sheep on the Mountainside". "The peaks and mountains are like gatherings, the waves are like anger, the mountains and rivers are like Tongguan Road inside and outside. Looking at the Western Capital,
He hesitated and felt sad. Wherever the Qin and Han Dynasties traveled, thousands of palaces and palaces were turned into dirt. When they prospered, the people suffered; when they died, the people suffered..."
He felt melancholy and turned around to see who was singing, but the horses were galloping, and the vegetation and rocks on the roadside were like fast-forward movie images, making it difficult to see clearly. And the song gradually disappeared in the rush of the road.
While feeling melancholy, he inadvertently remembered the last time he met Bai Fengjiao and asked her why she did this. She seemed to have something to say but couldn't say it out. Zhang Ning occasionally couldn't help but think about what she would have said at that time.
?
...Neither melancholy nor nostalgia can stop the pace of war. As soon as Zhang Ning returned to Gaodu, he immediately started preparations for the war, because Zhu Yong's main force had already arrived at Longtou Temple.
Longtou Temple is between Chenzhou and Gaodu, on the upper reaches of the Yuan River relative to Gaodu County, on the south bank. Zhu Yong can use the Yuan River to transport grain and grass supplies downstream, and then the horse and infantry troops lightly attack Gaodu City. If he rushes in a hurry
, you can march to the gates of Gaodu in one day.
Zhang Ning is absolutely certain that Zhu Yong's troops and horses are inserted in the middle and will definitely deal with the Suzaku Army first; otherwise, he would not have given up the good situation in Luxi and moved the army to Yongding Acropolis. In the end, the Miao people rose up
The diversionary effect of Zhang Ning was really limited. There was no way to avoid the battle with the army, and in the end you had to rely on yourself. Fortunately, the Miao people finally did not turn against Zhang Ning.
All members of the Council of Ministers and advisor Zhou Mengxiong, as well as army generals Zuo Shao Qian Commander Wei Bin, You Shao Qian Commander Yao Erlang, and hundreds of officials from eight brigades, all came to the county government office to discuss matters.
Zhang Ning looked over the newly drawn mountain and river situation map of Gaodu County and Chenzhou. The location of the Suzaku Army was located in Yongdingwei and Cili counties in the north, Chenzhou and the main force of Zhu Yong's army were in the west, and Changde Prefecture was in the east.
Important town... And the southeast was completely blank and was not drawn. However, he knew that the blank space that had not been touched yet was the real important town of Huguang, Changsha. There was no point in running anymore. The Suzaku Army did not have a long-term territory, and the longer it dragged on.
The disparity in strength will become even greater. What is supposed to come will come sooner or later.
As the chief of the Consultative Department, Xu Guangfu read to the people present according to the things that came out from various places: "Our army has five brigades on the left and three brigades on the right, with about 1,200 soldiers and horses.
More than four hundred horses, iron armor, long and short weapons, plenty of bows, crossbows and arrows... There are also firearms, more than 480 muskets, and 11 cannons. Zhu Yong's army in Longtou Temple is said to be ten thousand, but according to the detective report, the actual number is about six
Thousands, including a large number of cavalry. Based on the speed of the army marching south from Yongding Guard, they should not be carrying artillery. They are mainly equipped with firearms, including "sharp guns" and "handguns"; there are more armored equipment, and the infantry and cavalry are equipped with long spears and bows.
The crossbow is the main weapon, and there are also waist knives, shields, hooks and sickles, sabers, halberds and other weapons..."
Similar to what Lao Xu said, Zhang Ning has actually learned a lot about the officers and soldiers through many battles with the officers and soldiers and long-term investigation of Zhu Yongjun. The fighting method of the guardsmen in Huguang is still mainly hand-to-hand combat.
The main long-range weapon of the Ming army is not a crossbow, but a bow. However, due to the lack of training in the mainland over the years, there are not many soldiers who can actually use bows and arrows well. As for the magic gun among firearms, it is a tubular weapon filled with gunpowder and arrows...
...The air tightness can be imagined, and the range and power are not difficult to judge; the hand gun is a tubular firearm that can be used by an individual soldier, and it belongs to the category of fire door guns; in short, the firearms used by the Ming army are similar to those made by Zhang Ning
Heavy matchlocks are not the same category at all.
Therefore, from comprehensive considerations, the numerical ratio is five to one, but the combat effectiveness gap is far less than five to one; however, Zhu Yong's army still has a huge advantage.
After Lao Xu finished speaking, Zhou Mengxiong stood up calmly, took out a roll of documents from his sleeve, bowed to Zhang Ning, and waited for Xu Wenjun next to him to come down and pick up the documents. Zhou Mengxiong said: "I've been
Heaven has prepared a way to fight, it is just a suggestion."
Zhang Ning said while reading: "General Zhou can tell you in front of everyone, so that everyone can refer to the details."
Although Zhou Mengxiong's facial features are correct, he has a beard and a muscular look; it's just that the years have worn away the toughness of a military general in him, and he has become a bit more sophisticated. This man was sent by Emperor Jianwen, but Zhang
Ning often allowed him to participate in military planes, because they were all secrets of fighting against the government and the army, and it was impossible for him to leak military planes to Zhu Yong.
"Under the current situation, we can only wait for the army to attack in Gaodu County... My abilities are very limited, and I cannot propose any clever ideas to His Highness. The only way to make a suggestion is to fight with your back to the city." Zhou Mengxiong said eloquently.
Talk, "We should consider ways to maximize our strengths and avoid weaknesses. The biggest advantages of the army are firstly the number of people, and secondly the cavalry. Zhu Yong is five times larger than me. If we deploy in an open area, it will be easy to outflank me and trap me in exhaustion."
; Therefore, I propose the method of forming a formation behind the city, forming an formation in the west city, with the back against the city wall and the left wing against the river. In this way, the only ones that can fight are the front and the right wing. Although Zhu Yong is five times stronger than me, he is not tactically capable.
Forming a situation of combined attacks with more attacks and less encirclement...
Speaking of cavalry, Zhu Di has been good at using cavalry since the "Battle of Nanjing", and his generals also believe in using cavalry to break formations. Although the water network and roads in the southwest are complicated, the imperial court still believes that deploying cavalry can deal with the few people in the southwest who lack horses.
Forming a combat advantage, we only attacked a few small counties and were able to capture more than 400 war horses. From this, we can judge that the number of cavalry in Zhu Yong's army will never be small. Zhu Yong, Zhu Neng's son, probably inherited his father's fighting methods
, relying on the cavalry to quickly detour and attack the formation from the flanks and rear; therefore, I suggest that the military formation should be a flat square formation. Reducing the depth will inevitably increase the frontal pressure, but it can reduce the striking surface of the flanks and reduce the flank threat."
Seeing Zhang Ning nodding humbly, Zhou Mengxiong paused and said, "The following is a list of the strengths of the officers and soldiers. It is by no means an ambition of the commander-in-chief. The art of war says that knowing oneself and the enemy will ensure victory in a hundred battles. Only by understanding the enemy's ferocity can one defeat the enemy. Look at me again.
The commander of an army does not depend on his skill in martial arts or training (an army that has only been formed for a few months will not be much better than the guardsmen no matter how much training), but on two things: first, bravery. Compared with the guardsmen, some people keep running away.
Almost no one in our army escaped. Most of the soldiers who came from Jianwen's old minister's family were eager to die. They knew their shame and then became brave. Those who dare to attack more with less and are not afraid of strong enemies will have the courage to fight. Second, there are many weapons.
Observed daily, although the musket fires slowly, the three-round attack method can make up for the shortcomings, and the musket has the ability to pierce armor sharply, and it will definitely defeat the crossbow within 80 steps; in addition, the long gun, the main weapon of close combat, our army is better than the official army
If you are three feet long, you should be more than two feet long. If you meet the enemy head-on, you should have a certain advantage."
At this time, Zhang Ning said: "Those eleven artillery can be mounted on the city. The mortar cannon is not very effective when used to attack the formation. Not to mention the accuracy is too low. Even if a stone bullet weighing dozens of kilograms hits the enemy camp, it will be destroyed."
Only a few people were killed; the Ordnance Bureau developed explosive bombs suitable for mortars, which were hollowed out with stones and filled with reed pipes. However, the power of the black powder explosion was also very limited. However, it was used to demoralize enemy troops at distant places.
It should still be useful."
Zhang Ning did not immediately obey the plan, but he already agreed with Zhou Mengxiong's strategy in his heart. It was difficult for any cunning plan to work, so the final strategy was to form a formation behind the city and fight to the death. A while ago, he tried to use strategies to attract the Miao people to join the army. What was the result?
Now Zhang Ning believes more and more that hard fists are the only way to go.