Chapter 16 Chapter 15 Expedition to the Desert

Zhu Yuanzhang drew up an almost perfect plan this time, and all the famous generals under him participated in this action plan.He summoned an army of 150,000, and ordered Xu Da to be the general who conquered the captives, Li Wenzhong to be the left deputy general, and Feng Sheng to be the right deputy general, each with 50,000 troops, and set out in three groups. Among them, Xu Da was used as the middle road, and he went out of Yanmen Pass to attack Helin, and along the way he announced that he would drive Wang Baobao and Beiyuan Emperor out of their hometown. The plan can explain two points. First, the strength of the Ming army at that time was already quite powerful, and it could fight a decisive battle with the Yuan army in the field. Second, Zhu Yuanzhang's military thinking had reached a very high level, that is, the main purpose was to annihilate the enemy's vital forces. Very rare.

In addition, Li Wenzhong was on the right, leaving Juyongguan via Yingchang and approaching Helin. When Xu Da's army was in a decisive battle with the Yuan army, he launched an attack by surprise, cutting off the Yuan army's retreat in one fell swoop.And joined forces with Xu Da to attack the Yuan army. Feng Sheng was on the west road and attacked Gansu. He had no fixed strategic purpose, but only acted as a suspicious soldier.It can be said that this road is basically to go sightseeing and grab loot by the way. Zhu Yuanzhang's strategic deployment includes main attack, auxiliary attack, and feint attack. He will attack in separate directions. When the time comes, he can attack in three ways.It can be called a perfect military plan.

But as we said earlier, the changes on the battlefield are so fast that no one can fully grasp them, not even outstanding military strategists like Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da. The time for the expedition has come. Among the three generals, Feng Sheng is the most depressed, because he thinks that his military ability is not bad, but he only plays a supporting role, while Xu Da and Li Wenzhong are quite arrogant. The protagonist, this battle must wipe out Bei Yuan! Feng Sheng, in fact, there is no need for you to be depressed, because in war, the protagonist and the supporting role are often exchanged.

On the twenty-second day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of Hongwu, the three armies attacked Beiyuan from different routes, and what awaited them would be different fates. Before the expedition, Zhu Yuanzhang asked the generals to choose their own vanguard. To the surprise of many people, Xu Da chose a general who was not yet experienced, because this person was Chang Yuchun's brother-in-law, and Chang Yuchun was his old man. As a partner, many people speculated that Xu Da went through the back door this time and deliberately let this person do meritorious deeds to comfort Chang Yuchun's regret that he could not go out.Due to the power of the Northern Yuan army this time, many people thought it was a battle that must be won. Everyone wanted to rush to make meritorious service, and they were very dissatisfied with Xu Da's appointment of a private person.

They underestimated Xu Da too much. He was the real number one general of the Ming Dynasty. He used soldiers like a god and was just. The reason why he chose this person to go to war was because he was indeed the most suitable candidate. This person is Sapphire! Depressed, Feng Sheng also picked his vanguard, Fu Youde, a true legend who never seemed to have lost a battle before, but because there were not many opportunities to perform, his reputation was far inferior to Guo Xing and others.Feng Sheng's selection of him as a pioneer seems to be a bit of a waste of time. The choice of these two people saved this unsuccessful expedition to a large extent, which can only be described as unintentional.

On February 29th in the fifth year of Hongwu (1372), Xu Da's army entered Shanxi. Lan Yu led the cavalry as the vanguard and went out of Yanmen Pass first. He was lucky and met Wang Baobao in Yemachuan (now Mongolian Kherlen River) Lan Yu took the lead and defeated Wang Baobao in one fell swoop.This was Wang Baobao's first retreat. On March 20th, Lanyu pursued overnight and attacked Wang Baobao again in Tula River (now Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia). Wang Baobao was defeated and fled northward. This was Wang Baobao's second retreat. Xu Da and Lan Yu are very excited, in their view, defeating Wang Baobao is only tomorrow!

But at this time, Wang Baobao finally waited for his chance, the chance of revenge.As early as a month ago, he had received the news of the Ming army's expedition. After carefully considering the strength of his army, he correctly realized that his military talent was not as good as Xu Da's, and his army's combat effectiveness was not as good as that of the Ming army's cavalry. The army fought head-on, and if it fought, it would lose. If you want to defeat the Ming army, you can only use ambushes. To achieve this goal, he negotiated with Yuan general He Zongzhe and set up a trap in Lingbei (now northern Inner Mongolia).So at the beginning of the battle, he kept sending troops to contact the Ming army and deliberately defeated. It should be said that Lan Yu was a calm general. He did not go deep alone, but waited for the arrival of Xu Da's army.At this time, Xu Da was already dazzled by the victory.He fell for it.

On May 6th, Wang Baobao suddenly appeared in Lingbei, and Xu Da immediately led the army to pursue him. When he entered the mountainous area of ​​Lingbei, He Zongzhe suddenly appeared and attacked the Ming army. Because he did not take precautions, the Ming army was defeated, killing and injuring more than 10,000 people. At that time, Wang Baobao and He Zongzhe joined forces, ready to annihilate Xu Da's army in one fell swoop. But Xu Da is Xu Da after all. The subjects he learned in the fourth grade saved him. Overwhelmed the fortress and blocked dozens of attacks by Wang Baobao.Sapphire was very brave in battle, covering the retreat of the army many times, showing his qualities as a famous general.

Wang Baobao watched the cooked duck fly away again, he could only look up to the sky and sigh, he couldn't beat Xu Da in this life! At the same time when Xu Dajun failed in the middle road, Li Wenzhong's military actions also fully demonstrated the accuracy of the saying that misfortunes never come singly. On June 29, Li Wenzhong led the army to Kouwen (now Chagan Nuoernan, Inner Mongolia), and the Yuan army retreated. Li Wenzhong seemed to have been infected by Xu Da, and he also began to underestimate the enemy. He left his luggage behind and personally led the army to pursue the Yuan army with light clothes.

Li Wenzhong is not without strategic considerations. His characteristic of using troops lies in the fast word. If Xu Da is compared to a long-distance runner with careful strategy, Li Wenzhong is an expert in the 100-meter race. This time, he recognized that the Yuan army was unprepared, so he pursued boldly in an attempt to annihilate the Yuan army in one fell swoop. When he pursued to the Aruhun River (northwest of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), he finally found the retreating Yuan army, but it seemed a little different from what he had imagined.This army did not appear to be in a state of embarrassment or exhaustion, on the contrary, everyone was eager to try.

It seems to be fooled. Commanding this army was Yuan general Ha Cizhang, a very talented general. He adopted the same strategy as Wang Baobao, attracting the main force of the Ming army to attack, and then looking for an opportunity for a decisive battle.At this time, Li Wenzhong's army had been chasing records for several days, and was very tired, while the Yuan army used a small force to lure, but the large force got a full rest.They have been waiting here for Li Wenzhong for a long time. At this point, don't say anything, let's fight. Li Wenzhong was really powerful. Under extremely unfavorable circumstances, he personally led his troops to confront the Yuan army. After fighting fiercely for several days, he actually defeated the Yuan army and wiped out tens of thousands of enemies, but the Ming army also suffered a lot of casualties.Ordinarily, after hitting this point, I have gained face, so I should go back.But Li Wenzhong is really not easy to mess with. He resisted all opinions and led his troops to Chenghai (now Halausi Lake, Mongolia) with amazing willpower and command ability. He must drive out the Yuan soldiers. This evil star, he has ordered the army to retreat to avoid Li Wenzhong, can't he fight or hide? Unexpectedly, Li Wenzhong was too deceitful and didn't give him any face. He chased him all the way, and vowed not to give up if he didn't want his old life.As the saying goes, a dog jumps over a wall in a hurry, let alone a human being!The Yuan army immediately set up a decisive battle posture, intending to fight the Ming army to the death.Although Li Wenzhong was brave, he was not stupid. Seeing that the Yuan army was about to fight for his life, he withdrew his troops and built a fortress to defend himself against the Yuan army. The Yuan army was very surprised and did not understand why this guy who had chased them for hundreds of miles They stopped fighting suddenly, but this man was too scary. They were afraid of the Ming army's tricks, so they didn't dare to act rashly.The two sides have come to a stalemate.Not long after, Li Wenzhong found that there was not enough food, so he swaggered to withdraw his troops like a parade. Seeing his arrogance, the Yuan army believed that there must be an ambush and did not dare to pursue them. Li Wenzhong returned with this squadron. Although Xu Da and Li Wenzhong achieved the goal of attacking the Yuan army to a certain extent, they could only be regarded as a draw at best, not a victory. However, the West Route Army, which was the least promising at the time, created a miracle. The creator of this miracle was Fu Youde. The direction of the West Route Army is Lanzhou. After arriving in Lanzhou, Feng Sheng made a decision to divide the troops! Since his mission this time is only to suspect soldiers, there is no combat mission, and 50,000 people are idle under his command, so it is better to let them do something.But Feng Sheng is a first-class military general after all, and he knows that it is taboo to disperse troops in the desert, so he only gave Fu Youde 5,000 people.What's even more surprising is that he didn't give Fu Youde a clear strategic mission. Feng Sheng couldn't be blamed for this, because he didn't have a specific strategic mission himself. From my point of view, Feng Sheng seemed to let the 50,000 people under him have nothing to do and let them go out for a stroll. Five thousand soldiers is indeed not many, but it depends on who owns them. Once these soldiers are in Fu Youde's hands, they will become famous. He didn't shrink back because of his lack of troops. After judging the current situation, he personally led 5,000 cavalry to attack Xiliang (now Wuwei, Gansu), and defeated Yuan general Shi Shihan.One win. After winning, Fu Youde attacked Yongchang (now part of Gansu Province) non-stop, defeated Yuan Taiwei Duo'erzhiba, and killed thousands of enemies.Two wins. At this time, Feng Sheng finally saw Fu Youde's strength clearly, and he boldly handed over the main force to Fu Youde. For Fu Youde, this was like adding wings to a tiger.He personally led the troops to attack the Yuan army again at Saolin Mountain (now north of Jiuquan, Gansu), captured Pingzhang of the Yuan Dynasty alive, and killed more than 500 people of the Yuan army, winning three times. At this time, the Yuan army in Gansu fell into extreme panic. They heard from various places that a lunatic named Fu Youde would fight the Yuan army when he saw it, and he was invincible, so they were very scared.I can only pray to God, this lunatic will not come to trouble himself. However, Fu Youde was like a wind-up alarm clock, and could not stop at all. On June 3, he continued to attack. This time, the unlucky general of the Yuan Dynasty, Shangdu Lu, met Fu Youde by chance. As a result, his entire army was wiped out, and he was also killed. captive surrender.Four wins. On June 11th, Fu Youde's army attacked Yiji Nai Road (now Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia). Yuan army guard Boyan Timur heard that Fu Youde was coming, and even lost the courage to resist, Kaesong surrendered immediately.Five wins. Fu Youde's army continued to advance, and encountered the main force of the Yuan army led by Yuanqi Wang Duo'er Zhiban at the Biedu Mountain Pass. Fu Youde fought without saying a word, defeated tens of thousands of Yuan troops, and captured more than 20 civil and military officials.Yuanqi Wang Duo'er escaped alone.Six wins. After that, he led his troops to chase to Guazhou (now Anxi, Gansu), defeated the local Yuan army, and seized a lot of spoils such as cattle and sheep.Seven wins. The battle lasted until October, because too many spoils were seized, which seriously affected the army's marching speed, and the Yuan army was already frightened. They fled when they saw the West Route Army, and there was no battle to fight. On the 24th, , The Ming army returned to the dynasty. During the five months from May to October, the Yuan army was in great pain. Fu Youde led an army of tens of thousands from Gansu to Mongolia and was invincible. I can't hide, and I live in fear all day long. With tens of thousands of troops, Fu Youde entered the territory of the Northern Yuan Dynasty as if he had entered an uninhabited territory. He ran across the north and south, and no one could stop him!It really amazed future generations, and his immortal legend of seven victories in seven battles was recorded in the annals of history. In November, Xu Da of the Central Route Army and Li Wenzhong of the Right Route Army also retreated successively due to unfavorable battle conditions.In this Northern Expedition, Zhu Yuanzhang did not achieve his goal of clearing Beiyuan, and Beiyuan also realized the strength of Ming, and the two sides entered into a stalemate. to the fate of the future. This deadlock was broken more than ten years later, and the person who broke it was Sapphire who grew up during the Northern Expedition.