Zhu Di was a person who followed Chang Yuchun to fight when he was young. When he was middle-aged, he competed with his brothers and nephews for the world. When you are old, you want to leave your name to future generations.

It is said that his body knows best, and so does Zhu Di.

He knew that he didn't have much time, and if he couldn't beat Wolf Juxu Mountain this time, he would never have the next chance.

When Jianwen cut the domain, in order to paralyze Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Di once pretended to be crazy and stupid in the pigsty. The experiences of that period greatly affected his personality.

His character is stubbornness, and once he decides to do it, he will do it to the end.

After nearly a month of transportation preparations, before the first snow fell, the Ming army finally crossed the Trouble River and marched towards the mouth of the Three Gorges.

The mouth of the Three Gorges is a narrow passage between two high mountains.

The high mountains on both sides are at least 1,000 meters above sea level, and the mountains are extremely steep.

Wang Xiao, who was riding a horse, saw the terrain here and immediately smiled helplessly.

Xu Bin on the side asked curiously, "Why is the grandson laughing?" ”

"I thought of Shangganling."

Xu Bin thought about it carefully, and didn't remember which book he had seen the place name Shangganling, "Where is this?" ”

"Nothing, I'm talking nonsense."

There is no point in directly attacking the valley, people occupy the peaks on both sides, and anyone who dares to enter the valley can be killed by just throwing stones.

Even if you don't throw stones and send people to fort in the valley to defend it, it is still a terrain that cannot be opened.

If you want to conquer this place, you must capture the peaks on both sides.

But the dense figures on the peaks on both sides swayed, not to mention tens of thousands of people guarding the mountain. It is impossible to attack from the bottom of the mountain.

The tactics of the Ming army in fighting were simple, and it could even be said that they were dull.

Because when they fight, they push and crush and crush their opponents with great strength.

Therefore, looking at the historical records, in the early Ming Dynasty, large-scale battles were 200,000, 300,000, and 500,000 horses. At the time of the Tumu Fort, 700,000 troops were even mobilized.

There is certainly some moisture in these figures, and if you add in the empty pay, it is roughly a little more than half. But even so, this scale is already completely crushed.

After the battle began, the Ming army attacked the mountain under the cover of muskets and artillery.

The right time, place and people correspond to meteorological changes, geographical environment and morale.

In these three aspects, the Ming army was all at a disadvantage.

It was the rainy season, and as the temperature dropped, it seemed that it would snowfall heavily in winter.

The mountain here at the mouth of the Three Gorges is steep, and it is attacked from the bottom to the top, and people can be tired and lying down just by climbing the mountain. Not to mention the rain of arrows and rocks flying on the mountain.

In the past, when the Mongols could not win, they would sue for peace, saying that we should be brothers. But this time, Zhu Di was determined to fight to Wolf Juxu Mountain, and he had already hit someone's house. The Mongols, who were cornered, could only fight to the death.

Zhu Gaosui, the king of Zhao, who was in charge of intelligence secrets, said that all the men in the Wara and Tatar tribes who were taller than the wheels went to war. This is full mobilization in the true sense of the word.

Launching a fierce attack in such an all-round unfavorable situation, the Ming army reaped round after round of defeats.

In half a month, the Ming army launched countless attacks on the mouth of the Three Gorges. The losses are so great that it is impossible to count them in detail.

The corpses of the Ming army spread all the way from the bottom of the mountain to the halfway slope, and many wounded could not be evacuated, and the wails in the night resounded throughout the four fields, which greatly hit the morale of the Ming army.

It is conservatively estimated that the Ming army lost at least tens of thousands of soldiers, and their battle loss ratio with the Mongols was not even ten to one.

All the generals of the Ming army were resigned, but no one could persuade the stubborn Zhu Di.

In order to push the tide of the battle, the Ming army pushed the artillery of the Shenji battalion to the foot of the mountain. The muzzle of the cannon slammed into the mountain.

The range of these guns was very close, about only in the mileage. However, even so, it was enough to support the Ming army to continue to attack on the back and occupy half of the mountain.

But that's the end of it.

If you want to continue to fight upward, you can only fight to the death with flesh and blood against the Mongols on the top of the mountain.

Wang Xiao also felt sorry for the loss of the Ming army, because these were the forces that belonged to him in the future.

It's just that Wang Xiao knows Zhu Di's character very well, so he didn't say anything. Just silently waiting.

At the end of October, there was a heavy snow in the sky.

On the first night of the heavy snowfall, Zhu Di covered his head and fainted.

The first thing Zhu Di did when he came to his senses was to block the news, but it was inevitable that it would spread among the generals in the army.

Zhu Di's stubbornness is worrying, and he firmly believes that he will definitely win. The brutal and bloody battles continued.

As time passed, the morale of the Ming army became more and more low.

The supply lines were too long, and the weather was bad. Supplies from the rear are getting less and less, and they can't arrive on time.

The Ming army lacked medical care and medicine, and many wounded could not be treated in time and died. Rations for the sergeants and forage for the horses began to run short.

Even the artillery of the Shenji Battalion couldn't hold it anymore.

There was still gunpowder, but the barrel of the cannon had already reached the verge of scrapping after a long period of firing.

Limited to the technical level of the Ming Dynasty, artillery production was made of molds. There are a lot of bubbles inside, and the texture is also uneven.

After a long period of firing use, the barrel is about to be scrapped, and if it is used again, it will be blown up.

And the replacement barrel is too heavy, and it is transported thousands of miles from Shanhaiguan, which is simply fatal in this weather condition.

Zhu Di's health is getting worse, but he is still persevering. Every day he would ride to the battlefield and look north.

To the north, that's Wolf Juxu Mountain.

In the face of the impregnable Mongols who built the defensive line, the Ming army could only pounce on it again and again with flesh and blood.

Zhu Gaoxu, the king of the Han Dynasty, betrayed the intelligence, which led to the attack on two batches of baggage teams of the Ming army, and the loss of a large number of materials, the remaining materials were only enough for the army to use for less than a month.

Then at this time, Wang Xiao received a letter from home.

Several things were written on the family letter, which made Wang Xiao fall into silence for a long time after reading it.

The first thing is that the crown prince Zhu Gaochi's physical condition is not good, and he is even almost to the point where the medicine stone is useless.

The second thing is that the cabinet Sanyang moved frequently, sending troops to block various passes along the Great Wall.

And the last thing is to say that Sun Ruowei has been born, is a boy, and according to the explanation set before the expedition, he was named Zhu Qizhen.

Wang Xiao solved the poisoned eunuchs around Zhu Gaochi early, but Zhu Gaochu's power was so great that the prince still couldn't avoid being hit.

As for the cabinet sanyang, they are hardcore princelings. The mobilization of reserve soldiers to block the pass of the Great Wall should have been their response after learning of the prince's physical condition.

They were not guarding against Zhu Di or Wang Xiao, but the King of Han and King Zhao with heavy troops.

When King Han and King Zhao were in trouble, he was Zhu Di's right-hand man, and he had been in the army for many years and had strong strength. Once they wave their troops into the customs, the princelings will definitely end up dead.

Wang Xiao sat in his tent, holding the family letter in his hand and looking at the goose feathers and heavy snow outside, and was silent for a long time.

His various plans and arrangements still seem to have loopholes.

Others are not NPCs, and it is impossible to act according to Wang Xiao's plan. I have to admit that he underestimated the two princes who have been in the army all the year round.

At this moment, there are two choices in front of Wang Xiao, one is to promote the original plot like the original book. The other is to give it a go!

If he took the first road, Wang Xiao would now have a powerful Shenji Battalion in his hands to rely on. If Zhu Di wanted to pass the throne to the King of Han before the battle, it was absolutely impossible to leave the Shenji Battalion behind.

Moreover, the King of Han was thoughtful and wanted to hide the news of Zhu Di's death from him for a long time, which was almost impossible.

This is no longer just Wang Xiao's business, but includes women and children, as well as the heads of countless people in the entire prince's party.

Yu Qian and Xu Bin walked into the camp together, wanting to report to Wang Xiao on today's military affairs. But I saw Wang Xiao sitting there watching the heavy snow outside.

"Taisun, what's wrong?"

Wang Xiao smiled and casually threw the family letter into the brazier in front of him, "You say, what do people live in the world for?" ”

The two were stunned for a moment, and after glancing at each other, Yu Qian said, "The eldest husband stands up to the sky and the earth, and he is the ruler of the country and the world as a family." ”

Xu Bin thought for a while, and said, "People live for their families." ”

Wang Xiao, who was smiling, got up, put on an iron helmet, and walked towards the outside of the tent, "Follow me to see the emperor." ”

"What did you say?"

Zhu Di, who was sitting on the chair, looked straight at Wang Xiao, "Say it again." ”

"Your Majesty, please lead the Shenji battalion around the mouth of the Three Gorges and go straight to the Mongol camp. Destroy their tribes and burn their baggage. Cut off the back road of the defenders at the mouth of the Three Gorges. ”

It's not a battle flag game, it's that big map. This is a real battlefield, boundless.

The Mongols still had troops, but they could never cover the surrounding hundreds of miles. Don't talk about them, the Ming army, which is outnumbered, can't do it.

Wang Xiao's plan was to take the musketeers to bypass the defense line of the Three Gorges Pass from afar, and climb the mountains and mountains from a distance to raid the Mongol camp behind the Three Gorges Pass.

The Mongols also needed to carry a heavy load to fight.

Their tribesmen, cattle, sheep, horses, weapons, arrows, salt, forage, and even the witch doctor of the dancing god were all in the camp in the rear.

Once the large battalion was destroyed, the Mongols, having lost their baggage, had no choice but to rout.

This plan is not new in later generations, and everyone will smile when they see it.

But at this moment, this is indeed the best option to break the current impasse.

This plan has long existed in Wang Xiao's mind. The reason why he never brought it up was because he kept waiting.

After seeing the letter from home, Wang Xiao knew that he couldn't wait any longer.

"Good!"

Zhu Di slapped the chair hard and stood up, "What do you want?" ”

Wang Xiao held the sword in his hand, and his gaze swept over Zhu Gaoxu, who was expressionless not far away.

"Your Majesty, Weichen asked the emperor to give an order, after the Shenji Battalion sent troops. No man, horse, or pigeon were allowed in or out of the battalion. Violators will be killed. ”

Zhu Di frowned, "Why is this?" ”

Wang Xiao bowed and said, "Because there are people in the army who colluded with the Mongols to betray our intelligence. ”