Chapter 10 Chapter 9: The Decisive Battle Is Inevitable

After Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Zhang Shicheng, he focused his energy on dealing with Xu Shouhui, but he understood that his real opponent was not the ostentatious Xu Shouhui, but the huge shadow behind him——Chen Youliang. During this period of time, Zhu Yuanzhang made two decisions that made him the ultimate war victor. The first decision was to build high walls, accumulate food widely, and proclaim the king slowly. It was this decision that made him avoid the world It is worth noting that when other peasant uprising leaders and emperors were inflated in their thinking, pulling tiger skins as banners, and daring to cook thousands of people's meals without a few meters in the pot, Zhu Yuanzhang made full use of the time and continued to develop his own strength.

Another decision was to choose between Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng. At that time, everyone generally believed that Zhang Shicheng was weaker, and hoped to deal with him first, and use the occupied land in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to expand their power, so as to fight Chen Youliang decisively.It should be said that this decision was correct no matter from which point of view, but Zhu Yuanzhang showed his genius strategic vision at this time. In actual decision-making, it is very difficult not to be influenced by others, especially the opinions of the majority. When many people speak with one voice, many people will follow the trend and even change their original opinions. Zhu Yuanzhang used his Wisdom tells people that the truth is often on the side of the few.

Zhu Yuanzhang told his counselors that your views are reasonable, but you have not seen the crux of the problem. Zhang Shicheng is characterized by a small mind, and Chen Youliang is characterized by arrogance.If I attack Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng will definitely not save him, but if I attack Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youliang will definitely mobilize the whole country to rescue him. I will fight on two fronts, and then it will be hard to say. Wonderful!how exciting! With such knowledge, if this person does not take the world, who should take it! No matter how you avoid it, the day of the decisive battle will eventually come. This is the consensus of Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang.

In the nineteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1359), Chen Youliang had completely controlled the Tianwan Kingdom. He had more soldiers than Zhu Yuanzhang, and his training level was higher than Zhu Yuanzhang's soldiers. What's more, his strengths were exactly Zhu Yuanzhang's weaknesses— — Navy. Chen Youliang occupied Hubei and Jiangxi, that is to say, he occupied the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, while Zhu Yuanzhang occupied the lower reaches of Yingtian. They had to fight with their heads up. Since they happened to be on the same waterway, water warfare became an inevitable way of war. .This is why Zhu Yuanzhang has repeatedly avoided decisive battles.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang didn't understand physics, he also knew that taking a fishing boat to a decisive battle with a warship on the water was tantamount to suicide. Just at this moment, something happened that caused the decisive battle to break out in advance.This was something Zhu Yuanzhang never expected. In November of the 19th year of Zhiyuan (1359), Chang Yuchun led his troops to conquer Chizhou. Chen Youliang was surprised and planned to arrange troops to take it back. , Chang Yuchun and Xu Da set up an ambush at the foot of Jiuhua Mountain, defeated Chen Youliang's army, and captured 3,000 people.

At this time, Chang Yuchun's old problem was committed. He said to Xu Da, I want to kill these three thousand people, Xu Da firmly disagreed, and said he would report to Zhu Yuanzhang, but he did not expect that Chang Yuchun was so courageous. How dare they bury three thousand people alive overnight without asking for instructions! Chang Yuchun had a purpose in killing and surrendering. He left a few people alive and asked them to go back and bring a sentence to Chen Youliang: I am Chang Yuchun, I defeated you! Big trouble. Chen Youliang was really angry. Since he joined the army, no one dared to bully him anymore. He was always cowering in front of him. How could Chang Yuchun dare to provoke him!

He finally made a move, this time it was no longer a petty fight, he hit Yingtian and drove Zhu Yuanzhang back to farming! Of course, this is what Zhu Yuanzhang does not want to see. This time Chang Yuchun really attracted the wolf. In the 20th year of Zhengzheng, Chen Youliang led the most powerful fleet in China to march towards Yingtian. The names of his warships are very prestigious. I want to talk about them in detail here. They are Hunjianglong, Saiduanjiang, Knockdown Mountain, Jiang Haibie and others were just short of being named Jingpotian. The name of the ship is majestic. As for the warship, it should be said that the warship is also very powerful. Most of these warships are three stories high and equipped with various artillery. It is not necessary to use such a boat to fight Zhu Yuanzhang's fishing boat. OK.

Before the attack, Chen Youliang informed Zhang Shicheng to attack Zhu Yuanzhang, and then he ordered his Armada to set off against Yingtian with lightning speed. Chen Youliang's command of operations has a great characteristic. This person seems to never study the battle plan carefully, but act rashly, and he will count as far as he can. This characteristic has always made him dirty by military experts, but objectively speaking , This is exactly the characteristic of his combat, and also the essence of his command art. Even he himself doesn't know where to attack, how can the enemy know?Who can stand up to such a person who doesn't play cards according to common sense?Zhu Yuanzhang suffered from him.

When Zhu Yuanzhang learned that Chen Youliang led the army to attack, Chen Youliang's fleet had already captured the important military quarry. The speed was so fast that Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned, and Yingtian's most important barrier, Taiping, stood alone in front of Chen Youliang's 100,000 troops. In front of him, because Chen's Han army attacked so quickly, there were only 3,000 soldiers in the city, and Hua Yun was the commander. Chen Youliang fully demonstrated the terrifying strength of his fleet in the battle against Taiping. He didn't let the soldiers go to attack the city, but just let the soldiers drive the boats to the city wall of Taiping City by the river, climb up to the top of the city calmly with short ladders, and wiped out three thousand defenders in one fell swoop. When they climbed down, many defenders hadn't reacted yet, and stared blankly at the Han army. They couldn't figure it out anyway. With such a high city wall and the natural danger of the Yangtze River, could it be that these people flew over? ! !

Taiping has been breached, Ying Tian is like a naked child, exposed to Chen Youliang's sharp sword, Chen Youliang has killed Xu Shouhui and become the emperor, now his target is only Zhu Yuanzhang, with only 10,000 sailors, it seems unbearable Zhu Yuanzhang attacked. The world is already in my hands! It seems that God is about to abandon Zhu Yuanzhang. No matter from which angle he looks at it, he has no hope of winning. Every time he goes to Xuanwu Lake and sees those dilapidated fishing boats, he always has the urge to burn the rubbish with a fire. But things always turn around. Not long before Chen Youliang's army went south, God sent him a big gift, and this big gift was for one person.

In April of the 20th year of Zhizheng (1360), Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinate Hu Dahai captured Chuzhou. Hu Dahai was a general who cherished talents. He heard that there were some talented hermits nearby, so he sent someone to invite them. A hermit refers to the kind of person who can't see the end of the dragon, and others have finished lunch, and he is still washing his face. He may not really have the ability, but no matter what, it is always good to pull a person into the water. The names of these hermits are Ye Chen, Zhang Yi, and Liu Ji. The first two people came immediately after receiving the invitation, but the last Liu Ji refused to come no matter what. Hu Dahai felt that this person was too airy, so he didn't want to invite him anymore, but someone told him that it didn't matter if Ye Chen and Zhang Yi invited him or not, but Liu Ji must be invited, because this person knows astronomy. People today have limited interest in astronomy, but at that time, it was a great skill, not everyone could learn it, and it was a kind of study of emperors. The kings on the earth felt that the vast land could no longer satisfy their needs. Lust and vanity link their destiny with the stars in the sky. When they are born, the stars come down to earth (usually it will be windy and rainy). It's time for a meteor to land. All in all, it is all related to the stars, and those who understand this knowledge are not only talents, they are simply geniuses. So Hu Dahai reported it to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was very interested, so he sent a man named Sun Yan to call Liu Ji, but Liu Ji didn't give up face, and gave Sun Yan a sword in return when he was in a hurry. Seeing that the mission could not be completed, Sun Yan became anxious, tore off the mask of warmth, and said a meaningful sentence to Liu Ji: Your sword should be dedicated to the emperor, and the emperor uses the sword to kill Those who are disobedient (the sword should be offered to the emperor, and those who disobey will be beheaded). Liu Ji understood that this was a loss right now, so he obediently went to work under Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates.But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know his true ability at that time, and regarded him as a fortune teller or something. Gold always shines. When the news of the fall of Taiping reached Yingtian, Zhu Yuanzhang called his counselors to discuss countermeasures. Different opinions emerged at the meeting. They are unanimous on one issue, and that is to give up Yingtian. These strategists who usually boasted of their ingenious calculations showed their true colors at this time. Apart from scolding Chang Yuchun, all they did was brag about the strength of the Han army, how Taiping fell, how poor their own army was, and so on. All in all, all in all, you must never fight, and you will die if you fight. Zhu Yuanzhang looked at these people in disappointment. He believed that most of them had packed their packages, prepared escape vehicles for their wives and children, and were ready to take refuge in a new boss at any time, and then stepped on a new boss when he fell to the ground. foot.Adding insult to injury and taking advantage of the fire have always been the specialty of these people. At this time, he saw Liu Ji with an uncertain expression, and seemed to have something to say, so he asked, "Liu Ji, do you have something to say? Say it." Liu Ji's colleagues stopped discussing and looked at Liu Ji. Since this man became Zhu Yuanzhang's adviser, he has been taciturn and has not given any advice. Everyone doesn't think highly of him, just because he has a good temper and never Get angry, but popularity is not bad. Liu Ji got up. The long waiting and listening had worn away all his patience. He showed his true colors. He was no longer a good man. He was Liu Bowen who knew astronomy from the top and geography from the bottom. He looked down at these so-called talented scholars who usually thought highly of themselves with disdainful eyes, and said loudly in an almost hysterical tone: "Those who say they want to surrender and run away should be killed immediately! Are you so cowardly! Although the enemy is powerful now, they are arrogant. As long as we lure the enemy deep and use ambushes to attack, it will be easy to defeat Chen Youliang! Just thinking about it Do those who run away have the face to call themselves ministers?!" He reprimanded those cowardly people, analyzed the situation in detail, and told everyone that Chen Youliang was not invincible. The people around were stunned by him and looked at him blankly. "If we lose Yingtian, where else can we go? Although I am weak, I can still work hard! If you want to go, go, I will never go!" "I'm not going anywhere, I swear to live and die with Yingtian!" His voice was like a storm, sweeping every corner of the hall. Zhu Yuanzhang had mixed feelings. Seeing so many so-called ministers from the dragon who only planned for himself, but this man who just came to work under him could say the words of living and dying with the city with his own courage, he was not without a sense of fear, He knew very well that if Chen Youliang captured Yingtian, his years of hard work would be ruined. Like Xu Shouhui, he would also become a stepping stone for Chen Youliang's throne. He couldn't be a monk or a farmer. The only thing waiting for him was death. Of course he wanted to annihilate Chen Youliang in a single battle, and let this annoying person disappear from the world, but Chen Youliang was too powerful, so powerful that he seemed invincible. Army engulfed. Then hide, but where can you hide, Chuzhou?Haozhou?Being chased like a dog and finally killed like a dog? Liu Ji's words gave him courage, a weak scholar still has such determination, so what am I afraid of!I originally had nothing, and I have gone through many hardships and obstacles to get to where I am today, so why can't I give it a go! He stood up, scanned everyone with majestic eyes, and said four words firmly: Here is the decisive battle! After determining the strategic direction, he summoned his advisers to discuss how to deal with the enemy. Usually at this time, the dog-headed military advisers will come up with a lot of suggestions, both good and bad. It depends on whether the person making the decision knows the goods. For work, if the suggestion is correct and used, you will become a great contributor. If you are not used, you can prove that you have the foresight afterwards. It's easy to find, just change it. Some counselors said that Taiping should be captured first, and then use Taiping as a barrier to fight Chen Youliang decisively. Another counselor said that while Chen Youliang's foothold is not stable, he should attack and fight him immediately, and if he hits the enemy halfway, he can receive all his achievements. From an objective point of view, both of these ideas seem to be good, and the person who proposed the strategy is also very knowledgeable, but will it really work? Zhu Yuanzhang once again showed his military genius, which will continue to help him in his future military career. He analyzed that it is impossible to attack Taiping first, because Taiping City is strong, and there is no guarantee that it will be captured. Even if it is captured, it will not be able to hold it in a short time. The troops were already extremely tired and couldn't defend Yingtian at all.It is also not advisable to take the initiative to attack the decisive battle, because if you abandon the fortified city and attack rashly, once you fail to engage in a decisive battle with the enemy or lose the battle, the entire battle situation will fall into a passive state. Finally, he expressed his opinion and pointed to Longwan outside Yingtian City: "right here." Zhu Yuanzhang's plan was as follows. Considering that his navy was not as good as Chen Youliang's, he decided to lure Chen Youliang ashore, lure him into the predetermined location, and set up an ambush to beat him.He analyzed the attacking direction of Chen Youliang's navy, and believed that Chen Youliang's navy would pass through the Yangtze River, enter the Qinhuai River and reach directly under the city wall of Nanjing. A wooden bridge, the name of this bridge is Jiangdong Bridge. If Chen Youliang takes this path, Zhu Yuanzhang's army will directly face the terrifying fleet of the Han army, so Chen Youliang cannot be allowed to take this path. Zhu Yuanzhang chose Longwan as the cemetery for Chen Youliang's Han army.There is a large open land in Longwan, where the Han army can only go ashore, and our own army can use the local lime hills as a shield, and can surprise the Han army from behind at any time.This is the best place to ambush. Zhu Yuanzhang summoned his senior generals. These people fought with him from Haozhou to Yingtian. All of them had experienced many battles. Zhu Yuanzhang fully trusted them. With a confident expression, he announced his plan. First of all, he instructed Shao Rong, who was stationed in the north of the city, to give up his position, because he was guarding the key place - Longwan. Secondly, he ordered Yang Jing, Zhao Desheng, Chang Yuchun, and Xu Da to lead the troops to ambush in Longwan and Nancheng, and attack as soon as the Han army entered the ambush circle. In the end, he himself took a reserve team and stationed at Lion Mountain in the northwest as the last decisive force. "I am the commander-in-chief of this attack. When I wave the red flag, it means that the enemy has arrived. When I wave the yellow flag, you must attack with all your strength. The decisive battle is only at this time!" However, Xu Da raised doubts: If Chen Youliang's army did not capture Longwan, but directly attacked Yingtian from the Qinhuai River, this plan would not be implemented. Yes, it makes sense, Chen Youliang is leading a navy, and he will definitely go by water, so why should he give up his advantage to fight Zhu Yuanzhang on land? A sly smile appeared on Zhu Yuanzhang's face. He pointed to one of the generals and said, "It depends on you." This man is called Kang Maocai. This is a conspiracy in a strategic sense. Kang Maocai was originally a general under Chen Youliang, and later defected to Zhu Yuanzhang, but he still had secret contact with Chen Youliang under Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions. In today's words, he is a double-faced spy. Zhu Yuanzhang buried Chen Youliang A pawn beside him. Kang Maocai had already sent someone to send a letter to Chen Youliang, saying that he would turn against him and suggested that Chen Youliang take a water attack. He would meet Chen Youliang at the Jiangdong Bridge and move away the only bridge that blocked the advance of the navy, allowing Chen Youliang's navy to pass through the Qinhuai River. The river reaches directly under the city walls of Nanking.Chen Youliang was overjoyed, and said that he would reward Kang Maocai after the victory. After receiving Chen Youliang's reply, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Li Shanchang to rebuild a stone bridge overnight. This stone bridge will give Chen Youliang the heaviest mental blow. Zhu Yuanzhang announced his entire battle plan and looked at his generals with firm eyes: "Since we set off from Haozhou, we have experienced countless hardships and defeated countless enemies before we can get the land we have today. Although Chen Youliang is stronger than us , but as long as we dare to fight, victory will definitely belong to us!" "I believe I'm right" Zhu Yuanzhang is an amazing person. On the way to the door of victory, you will pick up many keys, some of these keys are antique, some are shining with gold, but only one can open that door. When making a decision, many people will put forward their own opinions in your ears, hand over the keys in their hands to you, and let you choose, but the cruelest part of this game is: You only have one chance to try. If you fail, you will lose everything. In that complicated environment, Zhu Yuanzhang persisted in his views amidst countless suggestions, and firmly grasped the key that opened the door to victory. His success was not a fluke and he deserved it. He is waiting for Chen Youliang's arrival. Chen Youliang was immersed in great joy at this time. He had become the emperor. Now all the civil and military officials bowed their heads in front of them, listening to his instructions. Disappearing forever in the world, the people on this land will become his subjects under his management. I am not descended from fishermen, never have been! One after another, the good news is that Kang Maocai, who was placed in Zhu Yuanzhang's army, has become my insider. He will open the way to Yingtian for me tomorrow. My fleet will go forward indomitably and conquer this rich place. Then there is Zhang Shicheng, he He is just a weak guy, he will never be my opponent, I will be the final winner! On June 23, the 20th year of Zhizheng (1360), which was the seventh day after Xu Shouhui was killed, Chen Youliang led his fleet to attack along the Qinhuai River and arrived at Jiangdong Bridge. Shore, softly called out the contact code in the night: Old Kang! No one answered. Second tone: Old Kang! Still no answer. Chen Youliang carefully observed the Jiangdong Bridge under the bright moonlight, and he was surprised to find that it was not the wooden bridge that Kang Maocai said, but a stone bridge! Chen Youliang felt his blood coagulate, and he yelled out the famous words that countless people have yelled before, and will be yelled by countless people in the future: In the trap! According to his estimation, at this time it should be "torch clusters, killing sounds all over the place, and ambush soldiers coming out", but after he panicked for a while, he found that nothing happened. What's going on? I can't figure it out, is it possible that Kang Maocai has something to come? In any case, it's too dangerous to stay here for long. At this time, he got the news that his younger brother Chen Youren had led 10,000 troops to land in Longwan, north of Xinhekou, and defeated the army stationed here, waiting for the arrival of the army. Then go to Longwan to land. Chen Youliang ordered the fleet to speed up and arrived at Longwan in the afternoon of the same day. After that, he organized the soldiers to go ashore. Everything went smoothly, but what he didn't know was that a pair of eyes were watching him from the Lion Mountain not far away. Those are Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes. His prediction was not wrong, Chen Youliang really gave up his attempt to attack at Jiangdong Bridge, he is a suspicious person, he must choose a safe method of attack. After confirming that all the soldiers had entered the ambush circle, Zhu Yuanzhang waved the red flag. At this time, the five-way army hidden behind Shihui Mountain, Yingtiannan City, and Dashengguan appeared from different places, but they did not wave their flags and shouted, but watched the Han army quietly. They did not receive an order to attack. The soldiers of the Han army finally found themselves falling into a big sack, the enemy was right in front of them, and they could even see the reflection on their armor, and these enemies were motionless, looking at them with strange eyes, that kind of eyes It's like the butcher watching the pigs and sheep in the pen during the Chinese New Year in his hometown. There was an eerie silence on the battlefield. A stillness more terrible than death. It's a creepy scene. They did not wait long in this terrible silence, and Zhu Yuanzhang on Lion Mountain waved the yellow flag. Under the leadership of Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Feng Sheng, the Fifth Route Army launched a round of attacks on the Han army. The cavalry came and went, invincible!The already panicked Han army could not resist, and they rushed to their ships one after another. However, at this time it was the time of low tide, the ship ran aground, and most of the Han army had to jump into the Yangtze River to escape.Chen Youliang squeezed into a small boat that could move and fled for his life all the way to Jiujiang, where his dream of victory was shattered. In this battle, the Han army left 20,000 corpses and 7,000 prisoners on the battlefield, but Zhu Yuanzhang's army suffered almost no losses, and captured 100 large ships and hundreds of small boats. The decisive battle is ready. Chen Youliang was defeated and fled back to Jiangxi, but Zhang Shicheng, as Zhu Yuanzhang said, was "little" and watched Chen Youliang being beaten up. After a while, he went back home. This person was indeed as Chen Youliang said, he would only be anxious if he had a knife resting on his neck. One day after the victory in the Battle of Longwan, the Zen temple on Zijin Mountain welcomed a pilgrim.Although Yingtian was under the jurisdiction of Zhu Yuanzhang at that time, the public security situation was still not good, so the monks in the temple would close the temple gate at night. At dusk that day, this pilgrim walked into the gate of the temple, saying that Tianwan could not He was on his way, hoping to stay overnight, but the young monk who guarded the gate saw that this man was handsome (very ugly) and very vicious, so he dared not stop him and let him enter the inner temple. Hearing this, the abbot of the Zen temple hurried out to have a look. When he saw this person for the first time, he couldn't help being surprised, but after all, he was used to seeing big scenes, and after a closer look, he suddenly felt that there was something strange about this person. With a heroic spirit, and with a sword in his body, he secretly speculated that this person was most likely a robber who went out to rob, and such a person must not be offended. If he was angered, he would set fire to the temple, and he, his wife and children would be killed. What should I do, so I decided to keep him for one night. This person is Zhu Yuanzhang, the guardian of Yingtian. After the victory in Longwan, he was also quite proud. Zen temple, recalling the scene when I was a monk in the past, I went to the temple for a visit. That night, the abbot couldn't sleep because he thought about it. He was afraid that the person who was suspected of being a robber would come out to make trouble at night, but he couldn't say it directly. After thinking for a long time, he finally came up with a good idea.He decided to invite this person to give Zen lectures in the main hall. The so-called talk about Zen is similar to the talk in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. A group of people sat down to brag when they were full, and they didn’t pay taxes anyway. Zhu Yuanzhang was woken up in the middle of the night and found out that he was asked to give a lecture on Zen. He couldn't laugh or cry. He is such a shrewd person. He naturally understood what the abbot meant. He lived in his place. To be polite, he followed the abbot to the main hall. At this time, there were only the two of them in the empty hall. After sitting down, the abbot began to look at Zhu Yuanzhang carefully. This man is greatly despised. To be a robber has reached this point, and he doesn't even have a better dress. Calling him a robber is flattering him, at most he is a country bumpkin. But since it was about Zen, I still wanted to say something, so the abbot asked, "Where is the benefactor?" Zhu Yuanzhang replied: "If you dare to trouble the Zen master to ask, my ancestral home is Huaiyou." "What business do you hold?" "Currently I have no job, only wandering around as a knight-errant." As soon as the abbot heard this, he felt that his judgment was right, and he was going to teach the country bumpkin a lesson. "When I look at the face of the benefactor, it seems to be murderous. The world is in chaos. I hope that the benefactor will choose a good career early, keep his own place, and study Buddhism in his spare time. He can understand the principles of life." Zhu Yuanzhang asked calmly: "I don't know what is the principle of life." "The principle of life is the two words of state of mind. I will send two words of truth to the benefactor, hoping to figure it out for myself." "Dare to enlighten me." "Ancestors have a saying: If you forget the state, your mind will perish by itself. When the mind is destroyed, there will be no invasion. Life is nothing but illusion. Once you attain this state, you will be able to enjoy peace." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the contemptuous monk in front of him, was silent for a long time, and suddenly laughed! Laughter echoed in the empty hall, not going away for a long time. The abbot was shocked, Zhu Yuanzhang stood up, walked slowly towards the abbot, suddenly drew the sword from his waist, and put the sword on his neck! The abbot couldn't hide it anymore, panicked, and said in a trembling voice: "What do you want to do, if you want money, I can give it to you." Zhu Yuanzhang said sharply: "The Zen master's state of mind is so good, why is he afraid! The world is in chaos today, but because the people are in dire straits, and the soldiers are in chaos, they just watch the fire from the other side! If the world is peaceful, who would want to be a knight-errant, like you and others, eat all day long and marry a wife?" To have a child is just to talk about your state of mind, and to live in an ignoble way, shameful!!" After speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang put his sword back into its sheath and walked towards his meditation room. Only then did the abbot realize that the plainly dressed man in front of him was really unfathomable. He yelled at Zhu Yuanzhang's back: "The poor monk has eyes but can't recognize Mount Tai, dare to ask the benefactor Gao's name?!" Zhu Yuanzhang's back did not stop, and he walked further and further away. The abbot returned to his room without sleep all night, and his intuition told him that this person was a great person, so he decided to ask for clarification the next day. The next day, after he got up, he ran to Zhu Yuanzhang's meditation room, but the room was empty. On the wall of the main hall, there were a few lines written in cinnabar: