In the Yamen Hall of Yanshi County, after Zhang Cheng had discussed military affairs with his generals, he was discussing the rise and demise of the Yellow Turban Thieves with others when he continued to say:
"Take Zhang Mancheng, a band of yellow turban thieves in Nanyang, for example. Initially, Zhang Man became the commander and defended Nanyang City. After Mancheng died in the battle, the thieves elected Zhao Hong as commander, but he still defended Nanyang City.
Zhao Hong died in battle again, and he elected Han Zhong as commander. Han Zhong failed to lead the bandits to break out and was killed immediately. The people again elected Sun Xia as commander, returned the army and continued to defend Nanyang until the Yellow Turban bandits were completely defeated and were defeated by Zhu. Jun was completely wiped out.
This is a huge mistake in military warfare!
Another example is that after the uprising, Zhang Jiao and his brother Zhang Liang also stayed in a Guangzong city. They were first besieged by Lu Zhi and then continued to be besieged by Huangfu Song. Until they were destroyed, they did not achieve much.
As the saying goes, the sky is vast and the earth is vast. It is up to us to advance or retreat, not by the enemy. Only in this way can we control the enemy without being controlled by the enemy.
Why bother defending an isolated city with a lone army?
In the absence of strong and reliable foreign aid, there is no way to remain invincible if you still defend a city and just wait to be beaten! "
Wei Zhice and others were greatly surprised, and he even said: "Since ancient times, no one has talked about the reason why the Yellow Turbans were suddenly defeated from the perspective of military affairs.
What the commander-in-chief talked about today about the mistakes of the Yellow Turban Thieves in using their troops is based on experience gained from actual military combat. It really made full use of ancient military tactics and strategies, so it was possible to discover secrets that no one before had discovered.
He knows a lot about strategies, but he usually boasts that he can pay attention to the reasons for victory and defeat in ancient and modern military affairs, and he can talk about it eloquently. In fact, they are just commonplaces and are just the leftovers of the predecessors.
Today I had to listen to the commander-in-chief talk about military affairs. I felt like I had a sudden enlightenment, and I felt deeply ashamed that I knew the strategy. "
Wang Yuanjing then said: "The commander's words are indeed insightful and wise. Last year I read "Three Kingdoms" and saw that Wei Wu's military talks were often unexpected. I don't want to see him again today!"
"Hahaha……"
There was a burst of laughter in the county government hall, and all the generals praised him. Zhang Guangda and Zhang Guodong also praised Zhang Cheng's "conquering the enemy by walking" and the sixteen-character movement tactics, which are extremely exquisite. .
Zhang Cheng said with a smile: "You praise me too much. I happened to read the content about the Yellow Turban Thief in "Tongjian" yesterday, and that's why I have these thoughts today. I want to discuss it with you.
I often have some partial opinions, but what I say may not be completely correct. I need you to point out any mistakes for me at any time so that I can make corrections. "
Zhang Guangda smiled and said: "With the ability of the commander, I am better than ten or a hundred Zhang Guangda! After listening to the commander's teachings today, I realized that my army abandoned Yanshi just to gain freedom from being controlled by others and to prevent the thieves from knowing where I was. Please, but I can attack at any time and hit the thieves where they don't expect them. This is my strategy to defeat the enemy!"
Zhang Guodong also said: "There is also the commander-in-chief's saying of 'conquering the enemy by walking'. I think that since the uprising in the early years of Chongzhen, the rogue bandits have been following the principle of 'the enemy advances and we retreat, the enemy is stationed and we harass, the enemy is tired and we attack, the enemy is tired and we attack, and the enemy The meaning of the sixteen characters "Tui Wo Chai" has been spread among several provinces.
Our country's army defeated them many times, but they were able to recover every time. This is the beauty of not sticking to one place. Even if they are defeated, they will not be destroyed. As long as the core main force is still there, they can regroup in a short time. Rebellion. "
Zhang Cheng looked at everyone in the hall and felt greatly relieved. He was most happy to see everyone's growth. At the same time, he also knew that he had talked a little too much today and it was time to end it now.
He said: "Now everyone knows why I don't stick to Yanshi!"
Wang Yuanjing said with a smile: "The commander-in-chief is far-sighted and far-sighted, beyond what we can expect. According to the students, there must be another layer of meaning behind not leaving troops to garrison Yanshi."
After hearing his words, Wei Zhice, Zhang Guangda, Zhang Guodong and others looked at Zhang Cheng eagerly, hoping that he could clear up their doubts.
Gu Ke and Zhang Cheng just smiled slightly and said easily: "Let the men have a good rest in the past two days, and the army will set off on the 16th."
"Here!"
…………
On December 14th, the north wind was howling, and the ground was completely white. Snowflakes were still falling sparsely. Although it had been snowing for several hours, it only covered the frozen ground with a thin layer. Silver frost.
The Mang Mountain to the north of Yanshi City is also covered in silver. Occasionally, some solitary rocks, rock walls and dead trees are exposed, making the silver even more beautiful.
Yangjialou is located at the western foot of Mang Mountain, thirty-five miles away from Yanshi in the east, thirty miles away from Mengjin in the west, fifty miles away from Luoyang in the south, and faces Mengxian County across the Yellow River in the north, only forty miles away.
Dozens of horsemen galloped forward, and the remaining snow and mud splashed by the horses' hooves flew behind the horse team. The pale ground immediately left a muddy and mixed mark of their trampling.
The head of the family in Yangjialou Village is Yang Shibin. He is thirty-three years old this year and is still a civil servant. Unfortunately, he does not like the official career and has not continued the imperial examination. Instead, he manages the family business at home.
In the past few years, when the bandit rebellion broke out, the Yang family, as a wealthy local squire, had long built a thick wall along the mountainside at the ancestral home of the Yang family building, and stockpiled a large amount of grain to prepare for family members to take refuge in disasters. place.
Things have been going smoothly for many years, but this year the intruders attacked dozens of villages in Xiong'er Mountain and Funiu Mountain. They dug deep trenches and built high walls. Among them were hundreds or even thousands of strong soldiers. There is a strong stronghold, but no part of it can withstand the attack of the intruders.
This cruel fact made Yang Shibin deeply frightened. He tossed and turned and had no sleep all night. He had to send one of his sons and two nephews to Kaifeng Fucheng to avoid disasters.
He did this so that once the Yang family building was attacked by bandits, he could at least leave a line of heirs to the Yang family and leave some capital to revive the family business in the future.
But on the ninth day of December, he met a noble man, Chen Zhong, the Qian Commander of the Cavalry Department under Zhang Cheng. This encounter also affected Yang Shibin's life.
That day, about five or six hundred bandits came to the gate of Yangjia Louzhai. They politely handed over a letter and wanted to collect food. They said that the food they got was very good and they would buy it with money.
It's just that they are buying at the usual price of one tael of silver and one stone of grain, and it's not enough if you don't sell it. If you dare not sell it, then you are an evil gentry. If you sell it for too much, you are a profiteer and evil gentry, and they will attack you. The village will slaughter your family and steal your grain.
Although the Yang Shibin family has worked hard for several years, their food reserves are not much, and they have to deal with the adults in the government. How can they sell it to the bandits? fear.
Just when he didn't know what to do, the cavalry from the official army rushed in. Without saying a word, they slashed and killed the band of thieves until they were defeated and fled in all directions.
The most incredible thing to him was that this army of officers and soldiers only had about a hundred men and horses, but they were extremely ferocious, especially when they rushed in front of the rebels, there was a loud "crackling" sound, and as the smoke rose, the rebels were already there. They all went to the ground and howled.
"Fire gun? What kind of gun is this? It's short and has no match rope!"
After the war, the team of officers and soldiers only came to the stronghold to remind him to strengthen the defense of the stronghold. The thieves were rampant and not to be careless, lest the stronghold be breached by the thieves and the gentry and the people suffer.
He was originally worried that this group of officers and soldiers would extort money and food from him after defeating the bandits. But when he saw that the officers and soldiers had no intention of doing so, he was a little disappointed, so he started chatting with this group of officers and soldiers.
When he learned that it was the frontier army under the command of Zhang Cheng, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Xuanzhen, he even warmly invited Chen Zhong and others to come to the stronghold for a banquet. During the dinner, he kept asking about this Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Xuanzhen. But Zhang Cheng was the one who killed Yue Tuo in the eleventh year of Chongzhen!
