Chapter 33 5. Take the initiative and outsmart powerful enemies

While Zhu Yuanzhang was busy attacking cities in eastern Zhejiang, Tianwan Kingdom near him was undergoing a coup. As a result of the coup, Chen Youliang planned to kill Ni Wenjun, seize military power, and invade Anqing, Chizhou, Nanchang and other places to the east. In the 20th year of Yuan Zhizheng (1360), Xu Shouhui attacked Zhu Yuanzhang under the auspices of Chen Youliang, and captured Zhu Yuanzhang's quarry in June. After that, Chen Youliang murdered Xu Shouhui, and Chen Youliang started anew and became the new king. After Caishi was captured by Chen Youliang, Zhu Yuanzhang knew it was time to face a strong enemy, and his actions to expand the territory had attracted the attention of surrounding forces.A series of events made Zhu Yuanzhang understand that at this time, Chen Youliang was not only the strongest in the army, but also had the largest territory and the greatest ambition among the heroes.

Zhu Yuanzhang said to Liu Bowen very worriedly: "Chen Youliang is an unscrupulous person. Attacking quarry is a prelude to his desire to attack Yingtian, and he also captured Chizhou while we were not paying attention." Liu Bowen said: "This person is the most unreasonable. Judging from the current situation, if Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng join forces, it will be difficult for Yingtian to defend." Zhu Yuanzhang knew that this was the most critical time for him, the winner would be the king, and the loser would be the bandit.Whether you can win or not depends on how you plan to deal with the current war situation and what kind of military strategy you use to defeat a powerful enemy.

Facing the two neighbors, the strongest Chen Youliang and the richest Zhang Shicheng, which one should attack first, Zhu Yuanzhang is seeking the opinions of civil and military soldiers. Some people advocate attacking the weak first, take down Fang Guozhen, and then deal with Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng when they are strong. Some soldiers also believed that Zhang Shicheng should be attacked first, because although Zhang Shicheng was rich, his military strength was not strong, and if he captured Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youliang would be easy to take. Zhu Yuanzhang believed that these were not the best strategies, and did not take into account the entire situation in the south of the Yangtze River.

Liu Bowen and Zhu Yuanzhang had a secret discussion for a long time, and they believed that at present we must take the initiative to attack. The question is what kind of attack to use. In the end, he hesitated between the two strategies, unable to choose for a long time.In fact, both are methods of fighting on two fronts, but in different ways.One is to fight against Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng at the same time, to defeat these two powerful enemies, and divide the troops into two groups, mainly attacking Chen Youliang, while Zhang Shicheng uses offense as defense; the other method is to concentrate the main force and target the two first. Whose weakness is the most obvious, attack hard, and after victory, immediately turn around to deal with the other side.In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was more inclined to deal with Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang at the same time, but he also knew that his own strength was somewhat dangerous, and he was even more worried that if Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang joined forces to deal with him at the same time, it would be even more dangerous.

While hesitating, Liu Bowen suggested: "I have always had disputes with my neighbors, but only Chen Youliang's ambition is the most terrifying. Although Zhang Shicheng is the richest, he has no ambitions. People without ambitions should not be afraid of him. Bowen thinks , until now, the only option is to gain the military initiative and concentrate on dealing with the strongest enemy, Chen Youliang. Because Chen Youliang is already eyeing the sky, defeating Chen Youliang will not only protect himself, but also be the key to gaining the world." Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Liu Bowen's analysis made sense. He nodded and said, "I am afraid that if we fight on two fronts, we will have fewer chances of winning. The war with Chen Youliang will be a long-term war, and it will not end so quickly or easily. Therefore, in order to ensure this Once the protracted war is won, we must make peace with the neighbors around us, so that they will not attack suddenly when we send troops, and if there is nothing wrong with the upstream, Zhang Shicheng will be alone and easy to attack."

Liu Bowen said: "The most worrying thing about the forces around here is Zhang Shicheng. Fang Guozhen is a guy who adapts to the wind, and he came here to fix it a few days ago. It is not difficult to deal with. At the same time, there is another powerful force that needs to be guarded against. .” Everyone focused their attention on Liu Bowen, and Liu Bowen said frankly, "Yuan Dynasty." Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt his scalp go numb.Yes, ever since Liu Futong and King Xiao Ming were driven back and forth by the Yuan Dynasty, he has lost the natural barrier in the north. If he tries his best to deal with Chen Youliang at this time, the Yuan soldiers may take the opportunity to attack Yingtian. This way, they will make more enemies and disperse their forces. , Chen Youliang's war will only get longer and longer.

After the crowd dispersed, Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes and lay down on the commander-in-chief's seat.Zhu Yuanzhang, who was only 33 years old, had early hair growth and fine wrinkles accumulated at the corners of his eyes. Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes. For a long time, he leaned quietly on the back of the chair, seemingly peaceful and peaceful. He felt that he was too tired, and even a quarter of an hour of rest with his eyes closed would be a great enjoyment for him. When he opened his tired eyes, he saw Liu Bowen still standing at the door.He hurriedly said: "Why didn't you call us, sir, we didn't fall asleep, we just closed our eyes and calmed down to adjust our emotions."

Liu Bowen said: "How can I fall asleep at this time. Bowen has something to say that is inconvenient to say in class, and wants to talk to the commander in private." Zhu Yuanzhang said: "You mean dealing with Chen Youliang?" Liu Bowen nodded: "There are too many forces around that need to be repaired. Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng should not be difficult to communicate with. The problem is dealing with the Yuan Dynasty. The commander may be very troublesome." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile: "Hehe, sir is really our confidant. We are not only fighting wars with the Yuan army, but this repair really makes us feel ashamed. Yuanzhang would rather die in battle than show weakness to the Yuan Dynasty."

Liu Bowen said: "That's the way of integrity, but the commander-in-chief must focus on the overall situation now. It is a last resort to use some skills in extraordinary times. Bowen thought that he could send a letter of begging and surrender to the Yuan Dynasty, so that the Yuan soldiers would not come to attack first. Do your best to deal with Chen Youliang." Zhu Yuanzhang's face suddenly changed: "How can I beg to surrender to the Yuan Dynasty!" Liu Bowen said: "As I said just now, this is just a skill. Among the heroes, which one is not friendly with you today, and will fight with you tomorrow! Yuan soldiers are also suddenly like this, suddenly like that, the military masters surrender, just for tricks."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "This is the only way to go now. The question is, won't Yuan soldiers suspect that we surrendered falsely?" Liu Bowen said: "Please rest assured, the commander-in-chief. Bowen wrote this begging letter to ensure that the Yuan Dynasty will not have any doubts." It was only then that Zhu Yuanzhang remembered that Liu Bowen was a Jinshi in the Yuan Dynasty and had also been an official. It was indeed a complete strategy for him to come forward. While making a false surrender to the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang also sent people to woo and appease Fang Guozhen who was far away, and tried his best to show Zhang Shicheng his heart of repair, and he was willing to hand over any small place that had disputes with Zhang Shicheng.In this way, the neighbors around Zhu Yuanzhang have a temporary intention of repairing.

The forces around them calmed down, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bowen discussed secretly in the room to discuss a strategy to attack Chen Youliang.The two carefully studied the terrain and military strength, and thought that Chen Youliang had more sailors and was more energetic. It is best not to attack first now. If Chen Youliang can attack first, it will create a favorable opportunity for combat. Zhu Yuanzhang also said: "Our old generals Kang Maocai and Chen Youliang are old friends, and Maocai's old concierge once served Chen Youliang." Liu Bowen said: "This is a beneficial resource. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you control the initiative in the war." Zhu Yuanzhang asked Kang Maocai to perform a fake surrender of stealing information. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Kang Maocai's old concierge to bring Kang Maocai's handwritten begging letter and secretly went to see Chen Youliang.Soon Kang Maocai got a reply from Chen Youliang. Chen Youliang really believed in Kang Maocai's surrender, because after all, he had an old friendship and exchanged many letters.Now, Zhu Yuanzhang made Chen Youliang's strategy of marching and the way of distributing military power clear. Knowing Chen Youliang's military secrets and sending a lot of false information to Chen Youliang, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to divide his troops against Chen Youliang.Zhu Yuanzhang decided to go straight to Chen Youliang's retreat first, and asked Hu Dahai to lead the army to attack Xinzhou (now Shangrao, Jiangxi).On the other hand, Zhu Yuanzhang also deliberately modified the secret code agreed between Chen Youliang and Kang Maocai. Originally, Kang Maocai and Chen Youliang agreed to meet at the stone bridge near Yingtian, but Zhu Yuanzhang changed the name of a bridge in Jiangdong to Shiqiao overnight.After deploying all this, Zhu Yuanzhang personally commanded at the top of Longlu Mountain. When Chen Youliang led a heavy army to a large bridge in Jiangdong, seeing it was a stone bridge, he felt suspicious, and shouted for Kang Maocai. Seeing no one answered, he knew he had been fooled, and he was flustered and angry.Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang's plan had fallen into the trap, the soldiers lost their spirits greatly.While Chen Youliang was thinking about how to deal with the scam, the yellow flag was flying on Longlu Mountain, which was Zhu Yuanzhang's signal to the soldiers to dispatch.And the soldiers who had ambushed nearby, beat the drums, and marched out from the mountains, waterways, and land, and surrounded Chen Youliang's soldiers.The passive Chen Youliang had no power to fight back. The main force was completely wiped out, with many casualties, and more than 20,000 people were captured.What is even more unfortunate is that at this time, the tide was low, and all of Chen Youliang's navy ships ran aground, unable to move, and were all captured by Zhu Yuanzhang. Chen Youliang's defeat in Taiping was very miserable. Not only did he lose his elite troops, he also lost half of his sailors. You can imagine the anger in his heart.Chen Youliang, who had just become emperor, was so ambitious like a lion, but this time he was defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang, whom he had always looked down upon. He was also defeated by a scam, and he was very unconvinced. He expected a bigger attack ——Taking Yingtian.For this revenge and for his own ambition, Chen Youliang also had to use his brain. Angrily, he went to Zhang Shicheng and wanted to join forces with the richest Zhang Shicheng to deal with Zhu Yuanzhang.However, Zhang Shicheng only wanted to protect himself, and he didn't want to attack, and he knew that Chen Youliang had suffered a terrible defeat in Taiping, so he didn't want to join forces with this dishonest person. Chen Youliang's defeat in Taiping provided a chance for Zhu Yuanzhang to further develop. First, the weak defeated the strong. Zhu Yuanzhang's soldiers were all excited by the joy of victory. Materials, the most important thing is that Chen Youliang's defeat interfered with the possibility of joining Zhang Shicheng.In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't have to worry about multi-line battles and scattered troops, which laid the foundation for his next development.