Chapter 17 8. Bahe Prefecture, the empty city plan to guard Chuzhou

Zhu Yuanzhang broke the siege of Liuhe and saved Chuzhou.Guo Zixing was overjoyed when he saw that Liuhe Yuan soldiers had retreated and did not come to attack Chuzhou, and planned to become king in Chuzhou.Zhu Yuanzhang was unwilling to give up the achievements he had made through life and death. How could he be willing? Moreover, once Guo Zixing became king, he would inevitably hinder his own development and attract the attention of Yuan soldiers and other rebels. Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Shanchang tried their best to persuade Guo Zixing not to become king first. Li Shanchang said: "Compared with Haozhou, Chuzhou is just a small mountain city. I'm afraid there will be an attack, and Yuan soldiers will move when they hear the wind."

Seeing that Guo Zixing had doubts and wavered slightly, Zhu Yuanzhang said again: "Chuzhou now has 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers recruited and captured in various places. There is insufficient food and grass, and the army's morale is uneasy. In Yuanzhang's view, it is necessary to take advantage of the current succession of victories. Taking advantage of the trend, taking Hezhou in the south, expanding our forces, and moving soldiers to Hezhou for development, we can not only solve the current problems in Chuzhou, but also obtain land and grain.” Guo Zixing felt that what they said was reasonable, so he gave up being king and agreed to Zhu Yuanzhang's acquisition of Hezhou in the south.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who has experienced several battles, has become more and more aware of how to use troops to fight. It is not impossible to attack Hezhou by force, but it is not the best policy.In his opinion, the best way to fight a war to close a city is not to hurt others or yourself, and to win by outsmarting. Zhu Yuanzhang had a strategy in mind. He first told Feng Guoyong to know how feasible it was. Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy is this. He wants to select brave men from the 3,000 men and horses he obtained in Xingyi Village in Luzhou to enter Hezhou, and let these people wear Tsing Yi, dress up as Tsing Yi soldiers, and then use a few camels to dress up as soldiers. If these items are said to be rewards sent by Luzhou, the soldiers of Hezhou will definitely not be suspicious.After the city gate was opened, let the following army rush into the city and occupy Hezhou in one fell swoop.

After hearing this, Feng Guoyong felt that this plan was feasible, but the vanguard must send brave people, and Guo Zixing must not let it decide. Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly came to his senses. At this time, Guo Zixing was in control of the military power. If he wanted to be loyal and righteous, he must not give any advice on the use of troops.In order to prevent Guo Zixing from ordering troops randomly, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to preemptively strike, and Tang and Xu Da had to be the forwards. When Zhu Yuanzhang talked about his plan to Guo Zixing, Guo Zixing praised the plan again and again, but soon he said that Zhang Tianyou would be the striker and Zhu Yuanzhang would send someone to respond.Because Guo Zixing had his own plan, he could no longer hand over full power to Zhu Yuanzhang for this siege. This would only encourage Zhu Yuanzhang's momentum and send his soldiers to the battlefield. No matter what, success has his own share of credit.Zhu Yuanzhang tried his best to refute, but Guo Zixing had already made up his mind, and he might make everyone unhappy if he refuted again, so he gave up, knowing that the attack on Hezhou might not succeed.

Zhang Tianyou is Guo Zixing's brother-in-law, so he is naturally on the same side as Guo Zixing, and he is also a brave general.But relying on his kinship with the Generalissimo, this person is usually aloof and has no affinity. If he wants him to cooperate with Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy, he feels disdainful, and it is difficult to communicate and cooperate with Zhu Yuanzhang's cronies.However, Tang He and Xu Da were usually dissatisfied with Zhang Tianyou, if they were allowed to march and fight together, it would be impossible to successfully complete the task.But Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer control the overall situation at this time, so he had to send Geng Zaicheng to lead the Red Scarf Army and several people as backing.

Zhang Tianyou and the others led 10,000 soldiers out of Chuzhou, and first arrived at a place called Douyang Pass.This place is not far from Hezhou City, the army was stationed here first, and the village master of Xingyi led about 20 soldiers in green clothes to Hezhou to present gifts.Sure enough, when they arrived in Hezhou, the soldiers guarding the city heard that they were volunteer soldiers from Luzhou, and they happily opened the gate to welcome them.At this time, soldiers in green clothes were already hiding outside the city wall, waving flags to signal the troops behind to rush in.

On the other side, Zhang Tianyou stopped at Douyang Pass, although Geng Zaicheng was the backup, he was sent by Zhang Tianyou to ambush around the city.Over there, Geng Zaicheng saw someone waving a flag, and immediately ordered the whole army to surround the city gate and wait for the opportunity to rush into the city.Geng Zaicheng and 2,000 soldiers charged into battle in the city, but they couldn't wait for Zhang Tianyou's reinforcements. The 2,000 soldiers were quickly repelled, and Geng Zaicheng had to lead the troops to flee. Yuan soldiers continued to pursue them for a long time.It turned out that Zhang Tianyou didn't adapt to the situation. He only thought that he was the leader of the striker and wanted to wait for Geng Zaicheng and the people from Xingyi Village to give back information before setting off.

Knowing that Hezhou was defeated, Zhu Yuanzhang felt sad, so he had to discuss with Guo Zixing to send troops to help.This time Zhu Yuanzhang sent Xu Da, Tang He and thousands of elite soldiers out of the city to meet Zhang Tianyou.However, before hearing the news from Hezhou, the soldiers reported that there were a large number of yuan soldiers not far from the city, and that they would send envoys to persuade them to surrender. It seemed that they might be besieging Chuzhou. Hearing this, Guo Zixing was a little panicked. Now that the elite soldiers have left the city, it is difficult to communicate information, and the other elite soldiers are all in Dingyuan.

Zhu Yuanzhang said to Guo Zixing: "Back then, Mr. Zhuge played an empty city plan, and now we have to wait calmly, so that the empty city will show that there are strong troops guarding each other." Guo Zixing had no choice but to follow Zhu Yuanzhang's arrangement. Sure enough, two days later, an envoy from the Yuan soldiers came, saying that it was not for attacking the city, but the Yuan generals were here to recruit and surrender, hoping to enter the city and have a detailed discussion with the city commander. Zhu Yuanzhang had been prepared for a long time and asked Guo Zixing to come to the city gate to greet him in his battle robe.From the city gate to the city, there are several brave soldiers standing neatly, all wearing battle robes and holding knives and guns, and there are also several soldiers guarding the city wall, all holding bows and arrows, majestic and capable.Inside the city walls, boulders, limestone, rolling logs, and various weapons were piled up, and the streets were also filled with soldiers in advance.Looking around, there are soldiers in the city.The messenger saw that the commander and the soldiers around him were all brave and mighty, he couldn't help feeling a little flustered.

Zhu Yuanzhang has been carefully observing the envoy. Judging from his expression, eyes, and behavior when he entered the city, Zhu Yuanzhang believes that the envoy's persuasion to surrender is false, and it is true to inquire about the situation in the city.Zhu Yuanzhang is very good at observing people and guessing people, which is also the key to his ability to make good use of general talents to achieve great things. Zhu Yuanzhang told Guo Zixing before that when he saw the envoy, he just put on airs and didn't have to respond. He used his eyes to signal himself, and he negotiated with the visitor to show the ability of ordinary soldiers in the city, so as to give the other party a disarm.Seeing that the envoy's aura was so weak, Guo Zixing didn't even bother to speak. Guo Zixing didn't need to show his arrogance at all.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Thanks to the wrong love of the general, Chuzhou is a tiny place, but an envoy was sent here. Please take a break and have a meal while traveling all the way." The envoy saw Zhu Yuanzhang's imposing manner, his strange appearance, but his politeness, so he couldn't help but feel a little suspicious. Zhu Yuanzhang saw what the envoy was thinking, so he said to Guo Zixing: "Commander, please go back to the mansion first. Please rest assured that we will accompany the envoy to dinner. Our commander is most particular about etiquette and restraint, and will never make things difficult for the envoy." Zhu Yuanzhang invited Li Shanchang and the Feng brothers to accompany him and entertain the envoys.During the banquet, Li Shanchang and the Feng brothers intentionally or unintentionally showed how many soldiers there were in Chuzhou, while Zhu Yuanzhang revealed that he had no intention of surrendering.After the banquet, Zhu Yuanzhang and the others took the envoys around the city again, trying to tell the visitors in this way, look, we are not afraid of you, we have soldiers, so we are not afraid of you to see, and we are not afraid of you going back to report information.It turned out that while they were eating, Feng Guo ordered people to close the doors of the citizens in the city, put up military flags and place weapons in front of the doors.When leading the envoys to visit, Li Shanchang did not forget to remind the visitors from time to time that the soldiers in our city are hidden in the depths, and there are countless soldiers hidden. In the evening, Zhu Yuanzhang personally sent the envoy out of the city, and prepared a generous gift, only saying that he would not send him off, and nothing else.The messenger left anxiously. In the early morning of the next day, Zhu Yuanzhang heard from soldiers that the nearby Yuan soldiers had retreated.He climbed up the city wall and looked from a distance, but he did not see the Yuan army camp. Chuzhou defended, and he had to clean up the mess in Hezhou as soon as possible.Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Hezhou must not give up, otherwise his situation in Chuzhou would be very difficult, and it would be very unfavorable for his future development.Zhu Yuanzhang personally led more than 1,000 soldiers to Hezhou with the Feng brothers, Li Shanchang, Hua Yun, Zhou Dexing and others, and gathered more than 1,000 soldiers who were scattered due to defeat on the way.Traveling to Douyang Pass, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Hua Yun to Hezhou to inquire about information.Feng Guoyong said: "There has been no news these days. Maybe Zhang Tianyou, Tang He and the others learned the news that Chuzhou was besieged and waited and watched. And there is no Yuan barracks along the way. Maybe they have already taken Hezhou. " Soon, Hua Yun returned with Tang He.From Tang He's unconcealable excitement, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that they had broken Hezhou City, and he let go of a stone in his heart.It turned out that Zhang Tianyou had waited for a long time and no one came to report. Finally, he realized when he saw the scattered soldiers, and hurriedly led his troops to rescue.When he approached the city, he saw many yuan soldiers around the city. They seemed to be reinforcements who had just arrived. They sent troops to investigate, and all the gates of the city were closed, and Geng Zaicheng was not seen.Zhang Tianyou had no choice but to temporarily retreat to Douyang Pass. Not long after arriving at Douyang Pass, he saw Tang He and Xu Da leading troops to rescue them.Tang He and Xu Da only said that the commander-in-chief ordered to attack Hezhou. In fact, this was Zhu Yuanzhang's words. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to use this to motivate Zhang Tianyou and put some pressure on him.The situation is already like this, it is difficult to advance and retreat, it is better to fight with Yuan Bing.Zhang Tianyou himself also felt that it would be embarrassing to return to Chuzhou, so he joined forces with Tang and them, re-arranged, and decided to fight Yuan Bing desperately.Seeing that the rebels were fleeing and attacking suddenly, Yuan soldiers didn't know what strategy to use. Before they could figure out a strategy, more than 10,000 elite soldiers and several strong generals came to attack.Yuan soldiers saw that the situation was not good, and it was difficult for thousands of people to deal with the elite of more than 10,000 people. During the melee, the officers and soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty scattered and fled.Zhang Tianyou and Tang He took advantage of the situation to attack Hezhou City and subdue Yuan soldiers in the city. After capturing Hezhou, Zhu Yuanzhang asked to take over.Guo Zixing thought that he would leave Haozhou alone, but went to the small county town of Hezhou. He was very happy and sent Zhu Yuanzhang to guard Hezhou. The empty city plan to defend Chuzhou fully demonstrated the current calmness of Zhu Yuanzhang's enemy.Occupying Hezhou was the start of his career for Zhu Yuanzhang.He didn't want to give up Chuzhou, but he couldn't get rid of his father-in-law Guo Zixing, so he had to seek another development, move his troops to the city, and pursue a great cause.Hezhou is such a move for Zhu Yuanzhang.