Chapter 31 Section 1 Zhang Shicheng or Chen Youliang

On another important issue, that is, the more well-known issue of order in the wrestling with Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, Zhu Yuanzhang also made very clever decisions. In 1360, Zhu Yuanzhang's power centered in Nanjing developed to a certain extent, bordering on the two major regimes Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng on both sides, and divided the general trend of Jiangnan into three.Chen Youliang, who dominates the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, "straddles the vast land between the Yangtze River and the Han River, with a vast territory and a strong military force, which is unparalleled in the southeast. It is powerful, and it is found between spears and arrowheads."Zhang Shicheng in the downstream, "covers Hangzhou and Shaoxing in the south, passes through Tongtong and Thailand in the north", and has considerable strength.Zhu Yuanzhang lives in the Nanjing area, between the two powerful enemies of the east and the west, and the situation of life and death has become apparent.At this time, Chen Youliang was strong and ready to attack Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang conducted careful investigation and research on this serious situation.Whether to fight Zhang Shicheng first or Chen Youliang first, Zhu Yuanzhang's decision-making group is very divided.Most people think that Zhang Shicheng should be beaten first: "Zhang Shicheng, rich and weak, should be the first." Zhang Shicheng's army has poor combat effectiveness. Based on the principle of first being weak and then being strong, it is logical to attack Zhang Shicheng first.Only Liu Ji thought: "Youliang is in the upper reaches, and his name is not correct, so it is better to attack him first. After the Chen family is destroyed, the Zhang family is in the bag."

Zhu Yuanzhang's analysis angle is different.In addition to strength, he mainly considered psychological factors.He has dealt with Chen and Zhang for many years, and he fully understands their temperament and character.Chen Youliang is a hot-blooded man, arrogant and impulsive.But Zhang Shicheng is introverted and not aggressive.This difference should be the key to the order of selection.He said to the generals: "Youliang is aggressive and reckless, and his ambition is arrogant; Shicheng is cunning and cowardly, and his weapons are small. If you are arrogant, you are good at making troubles, but if you are small, you have no long-term plans. If we attack Zhang Shicheng first, Chen Youliang will be empty. Come on, attack us on a large scale, and make me tired of dealing with the enemy, and things will be difficult. If we attack Chen Youliang first, Zhang Shicheng will be timid and fearful, and he will not be able to go out of Gusu to help him. That is to say, we have no worries about the future when we attack Chen Youliang. And Chen Tushi Bravery can be obtained by wisdom." So he adopted Liu Ji's opinion and "determined to attack the Chen family first".

Zhu Yuanzhang's strategic decision not only showed his military ability to control the overall situation of the war in an extremely complicated situation, but also showed his outstanding ability to analyze people and figure out people, and at the same time showed his courage to defeat the strong with the weak.At that time, Chen Youliang was in an absolute advantage no matter in terms of military strength or strategic position.However, many of Zhu Yuanzhang's soldiers were frightened by the strength of Chen's army and were afraid to fight against Chen's troops. Even Li Shanchang, the chief adviser, when he heard that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to lure Chen Youliang to come quickly, asked in panic, "Fang is worried about the bandits coming, why lure them? "

Zhu Yuanzhang has a plan in mind.He seized Chen Youliang's weakness of arrogance and underestimation of the enemy and his eagerness to win, and decided to adopt the method of luring the enemy deep, concentrating his forces, setting up an ambush, and taking advantage of the favorable conditions of Yingtian's strong city and complex terrain, to lure Chen Youliang's giant ship from the vast river to go deep. In the narrow river, she landed in a boat and fought with herself. He instructed Kang Maocai, Chen Youliang's former friend, to write a letter of false surrender to Chen Youliang himself: "As an internal response, send an envoy to surrender Youliang as an internal response, and the recruiting will be quick." The inside should cooperate with the outside to attack Nanjing.

In the sixth year of Dragon and Phoenix (1360 A.D.), on the tenth day of the fifth lunar month, Chen Youliang, who was eager to fight, took the risk and led the boat to the east, heading straight to Yingtian, and entered the ambush circle set up by Zhu Yuanzhang.When the tide was low, the warship ran aground, and Zhu Yuanzhang's troops attacked Chen Youliang's army from inside and outside.Chen Youliang escaped in a small boat, and Zhu Yuanzhang's troops took advantage of the victory to pursue, occupied a large area of ​​Chen Youliang's territory, and captured more than a hundred giant ships and hundreds of warships.

This battle was a key battle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang's troops. Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the terrain to avoid the advantages of the Han army's water battles and give full play to his advantages in land battles, and finally won more with less. After Chen Youliang's defeat in Longwan, he was "annoyed that his battlefield was becoming increasingly tense", and couldn't wait to put all his eggs in one basket, and decided to launch a large-scale attack on Zhu Yuanzhang.He ordered hundreds of large warships specially built.The ship is several feet high, painted red on the outside, and has three upper and lower floors. Each floor has a horse shed. The large one can carry 3,000 people, the middle one can carry 2,500 people, and the small one can carry 2,000 people.In April of the Ninth Year of Dragon and Phoenix (1363 A.D.), Chen Youliang personally led a land and water army of 600,000, and brought hundreds of officials and family members with them.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly led his generals Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to lead 200,000 boat divisions to Hukou in Poyang Hubei.He first sent Dade to lead some troops to guard Jingjiangkou (now south of Susong, Anhui), and then sent some troops to Nanhuzui (northwest of Hukou, Jiangxi today) to cut off Chen Youliang's way back. At the same time, he sent people to transfer Xinzhou defenders to station in Wuyang. Du (now east of Nanchang County, Jiangxi Province), to prevent Chen Youliang from escaping westward, determined to besiege Chen Youliang in Poyang Lake and eliminate him.

On July 20, the two armies of Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang met in the waters of Kanglang Mountain (now Kangshan in Poyang Lake, Jiangxi), and an unprecedented water battle began.Chen Youliang's troops were numerous and powerful, and the ships were huge. "Looking at the giant boats chained together, with flags and oars, you can see them like mountains", and had the advantage of going downstream. Therefore, in the first two days, Zhu Yuanzhang fought very hard. Unable to withstand Chen Jun's offensive for a time, the right army was forced to retreat.Invincible, can only outsmart.Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Chang Yuchun and others to recruit seven fishing boats, loaded with reeds, gunpowder and other inflammable materials, and launched a fire attack at dusk when the northeast wind was blowing.Heaven obeys man's wishes, the northeast wind blows harder and harder, and seven fishing boats soon arrive at Chen Youliang's water village. The ambitious Chen Youliang has no defense against the fire attack, and the raging fire kills hundreds of boats in the water village at once. The ship was on fire, "the smoke rose to the sky, the lake was completely red, and most of the dead." Chen Youliang's younger brothers Chen Youren, Chen Yougui, Pingzhang Chen Pulue, etc. were all burned to death.Chen Youliang tried to retreat to Xieshan (Dagu Mountain in Poyang Lake), but Zhu Yuanzhang had sent troops to guard the exit first. He had to lead more than a hundred ships to break through on August 26. Guo Ying shot an arrow in the breakout He was shot and killed instantly.More than 50,000 people from Chen Youliang disarmed and surrendered. The original territory of Chen's tribe, from the south of Hanshui to the north of Shaozhou, and from the east of Chenzhou to the west of Ganzhou, belonged to Zhu Yuanzhang.