Xu Da was born in a farming family and shaved food in the soil. He has a strong temperament and is not willing to be subservient. He has a clear face, slightly higher cheekbones, and a burly figure. He has practiced martial arts since he was a child and has practiced good kung fu. and Zhu Yuanzhang are good friends who grew up. [3]

Guo Zixing raised righteousness, and more than 10 strong men from Haozhou Tang He participated. Should be soup and

Xu Da joined the army

Xu Da joined the army

At the invitation, Zhu Yuanzhang also joined Guo Zixing's department. In the thirteenth year of Zhizheng (1353), Zhu Yuanzhang was ordered by Guo Zixing to return to his hometown to recruit soldiers, and Xu Da, who was only 22 years old, gladly responded to the call. Thus began his career as a horseman. [4] At the beginning of the pacification, Zhu Yuanzhang found that Xu Da's talent surpassed everyone else, so he entrusted him with an important task to fight in the Quartet instead of himself.

Guo Zixing did not agree with Sun Deya and others who were in the same incident. Zhao Junyong and Peng, who occupied Xuzhou (now part of Jiangsu), were defeated and defected to Haozhou. Soon, Zhao and Peng were proclaimed kings, and Guo Zixing was under the control of his subordinates and was almost killed. Zhu Yuanzhang saw that it was difficult to achieve great things in Haozhou, so in the autumn of the fourteenth year of Zhizheng (1354), he led Xu Da, Tang He and other 24 generals to leave Haozhou, enter Dingyuan in the south, and capture Chuzhou. Xu Da charged into battle, and his courage was revealed.

In February of the fifteenth year of Zheng (1355), Chuzhou grain and grass were not continued, and Xu Da and Zhu Yuanzhang captured Hezhou (now Hexian County, Anhui). After attacking Hezhou, Guo Zixing captured Sun Deya, Sun Deya's army also captured Zhu Yuanzhang, and Xu Da proposed to exchange himself for Zhu Yuanzhang, which resolved this contradiction. In June, Zhu Yuanzhang led Xu Da and others to cross the river, pull out quarries (northwest of present-day Dangtu, Anhui), go down to Taiping (present-day Dangtu, Anhui), and further plot to gather Qing (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu). In the battle of attacking Quarshiji and Taipingfu, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun charged into battle, bravely crowned the three armies, captured the Yuan general Chen Yexian, and subdued the Qiren Kang Maocai Righteous Army. In August, Xu Da and others divided their ways to attack Lishui, Liyang, Jurong, and Wuhu, all of which were defeated.

In February of the sixteenth year of Zheng (1356), he broke the barbarian Hague sailor. In March, Jiqing was captured and changed to Yingtianfu. In the east, Jingkou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) was conquered in one day, and the marshal of the Huaixing wing was awarded. In July, Zhu Yuanzhang called Wu Guogong and placed the Privy Council of Jiangnan Xing, with Xu Da as the same Privy Council. [3] besieged Biling (now Changzhou, Jiangsu), captured Zhang Shicheng's brother Zhang Shide, and captured his general Zhang De with Chang Yuchunsheng, and in February of the following year, conquered Biling and promoted to the Privy Council. He also conquered Ningguo and Xuancheng successively.

In October of the eighteenth year of Zhengzheng (1358), Yixing was conquered. In November, Zhu Yuanzhang personally conquered Wuzhou (now Jinhua, Zhejiang), and Xu Da stayed in Yingtianfu.

Showing talent

Zhu Yuanzhang occupied Yingtianhou, there were Yuan Jun in the north, Zhang Shicheng in the east, Chen Youliang and Xu Shouhui in the west, and Fang Guozhen and Chen Youding in the south. Although they share the same anti-Yuan banner, they have their own contradictions. Zhu Yuanzhang was surrounded on all sides. Among them, Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng are the strongest. Zhu Yuanzhang judged the situation and decided to kill Chen Youliang first, and then get rid of Zhang Shicheng.

To the nineteenth

Xu Da

Xu Da

In the year (1359), Xu Da and Yu Tonghai's sailors attacked Chizhou together with the court's judgement of Yu Tonghai, and broke its Zhajiang camp, and Zhao Pusheng, who was attacking Taiping, fled by land. Xu Dake Chizhou, captured his guard Hong Jun and others, and captured all his warships. Xu Da worshiped the general of Fengguo and knew the Privy Council. Then, Xu Da's troops took advantage of the victory to attack Anqing. In August, the attack on Anqing was thwarted and the attack on Jiangbei was turned to attack. Under Wuwei Prefecture, the night attack on the floating cottage, breaking Zhao Pusheng's troops will be in Qingshan, and take advantage of the victory to pursue, a drum to conquer the hidden mountain. After that, Xu Da returned to Zhenchizhou and formed a situation of waterway attack on Anqing. Zhao Pusheng is a general in Chen Youliang's army, wise and brave, based on Anqing, and the generals are unable to attack. So Xu Da used a discordant strategy to make Chen Youliang kill Zhao Pusheng. After Zhao Pusheng's death, no one could defend Zongyang Water Village, and Xu Da captured Zongyang Water Village. [3]

In the first month of the twentieth year of Yuan Zhizheng (1360), Chen Youliang led a large army to invade Chizhou. Zhu Yuanzhang sent Chang Yuchun to lead troops to reinforce him, and sent an envoy to tell Xu Da: Chen Youliang is coming. Xu Da will often lure the enemy into the army in the spring, and on the other hand, he will select more than 10,000 elite soldiers to ambush at the foot of Jiuhua Mountain and cut off his back road. When Chen Youliang's army went to the city, only to hear the sudden sound of drums in the city, and in an instant, the ambush outside the city was everywhere, and the elite soldiers in the city rushed out, and the internal and external attacks were attacked, Chen Youliang's army was in chaos, beheading more than 10,000 people, capturing 3,000 alive, and Xu Dajun's army won a big victory. [5]

In March of the twenty-first year (1361), he worshiped Jiangnan and other places in the province of Zhongshu. In August, Xu Da and Chen Youliang fought in Jiangzhou, captured 2,000 horses, ate hundreds of thousands of stones, and marched westward to Wuchang. [6]

In March of the 22nd year of Zhizheng (1362), the former generals Zhu Zong and Kang Tai, who were stationed in Hongdu (now Nanchang, Jiangxi), raised troops to rebel, and Xu Da led the army of Hanyang to attack them. In April, due to Xu Dachi's aid to Anfeng, Chen Youliang took advantage of the situation to invade, captured Ji'an (now Ji'an, Jiangxi), Wuwei and other places, and concentrated his forces to storm Hongdu. In June, Hongdu had been besieged for more than two months, and the situation was tense. Zhu Yuanzhang urgently summoned Xu Da from Luzhou to join the division, and used 200,000 boats to choke his way back, Chen Youliang heard that Zhu Yuanzhang's army was coming, so he withdrew from the east of Poyang Lake, and the two sides encountered Kanglang Mountain (now northwest of Yugan, Jiangxi, and the waters north of Poyang Lake). Xu Da took the lead and led his troops to fight, defeated the vanguard of Chen Youliang's army, killed more than 1,500 people, and captured a large war ship. During the fight, Xu Da's boat caught fire, but he was not afraid of danger, fighting the fire while directing the battle. The two sides fought fiercely for several months, and Chen Youliang moved to Bozhuji (now Xingzinan, Jiangxi, on the west bank of Poyang Lake) and did not dare to fight again.

To the twenty

Xu Da

Xu Da

In the third year (1363), Xu Da crossed the river with Zhu Yuanzhang and led his troops to Anfeng (now Shou County, Anhui) to the north to help Han Lin'er and Liu Futong, who were attacked by Zhang Shicheng. July. Zhu Yuanzhang personally led his troops to meet the attack, and the two sides launched a fierce battle at Poyang Lake. At the beginning of the battle, Chen Youliang had a clear advantage in terms of military strength and financial resources, he had 600,000 troops and dozens of huge ships, while Zhu Yuanzhang only had 200,000 people, and they all used small boats. The first day of fighting. Xu Da was ahead of the generals, commanded the soldiers to fight bravely, defeated Chen Youliang's forward troops in one fell swoop, annihilated 1,500 enemies, captured a huge ship, and greatly boosted the military prestige. Chen Youliang's army resisted desperately, and Xu Da's warship caught fire, and he desperately extinguished the raging fire and continued to fight. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang sent a boat to rescue, Xu Da stubbornly rushed to kill, and finally repelled the enemy army and got out of danger. After this day's battle, Zhu Yuanzhang saw that his troops were united and their morale was high, and they were completely sure of defeating Chen Youliang, but he was worried that Zhang Shicheng would take the opportunity to sneak attack his rear, so he ordered Xu Da to defend Yingtian. After Xu Datong arrived in Yingtian, he abstained from soldiers and strictly defended, so that Zhang Shicheng did not dare to act rashly, so Zhu Yuanzhang was able to relieve his worries and go all out to deal with Chen Youliang, and won the victory in the Battle of Poyang Lake, annihilating Chen Youliang's 600,000 army. [7]

In the first month of the twenty-fourth year (1364), he was promoted to the left Xiangguo. In February, Wuchang was pacified. In August, Xu Da joined Yang Qiong and others to take Jingxiang Zhulu, Lianke Jiangling, Yiling (now Yichang, Hubei), Tanzhou (now Changsha, Hunan), Guizhou (now Zigui, Hubei), Chenzhou (now Yuanling, Hunan), Hengzhou (now Hengyang, Hunan), Baoqing (now Shaoyang, Hunan), etc., and purged the remnants of Chen Youliang's forces. [3]

Led the army to the east

Zhang Shicheng since the thirteenth year of Zhizheng (1353) since the army of Gaoyou, with the Yuan government

Xu Da

Xu Da

The times depended on each other, and constantly harassed Zhu Yuanzhang's sphere of influence. In June of the sixteenth year of Zheng (1356), Zhang Shicheng occupied Changzhou (now Wujin, Jiangsu), and coerced the Jiangdong rebel general Chen Baoer to attack Zhenjiang with a naval division. Chen Baoer is a native of Benniu Town, Changzhou. He gathered in the township and wrapped his head with yellow papa, which was called the "Yellow Packet Army". When Xu Da conquered Zhenjiang, Chen Baoer surrendered, but was soon coerced by Zhang Shicheng and led his boat division to assist Zhenjiang. Xu Da defeated Chen Baoer in Longtan and entered the siege of Changzhou. In September, Zhang Shicheng sent reinforcements, and the momentum was unstoppable. Xu Danai set up an ambush and a cavalry 18 miles away from the city, and he personally led the army to confront Zhang Shicheng's army. Soon after the start of the battle, Xu Dabu's general Wang Junyong led the cavalry to rush into the enemy formation from the flank, Zhang Shicheng's army was in chaos, turned around and fled, and was intercepted by ambush soldiers, with countless casualties. In November, Zhang Shicheng was unwilling to fail, and lured Wu Xin's attached army of 7,000 people as internal responses, and surrounded Xu Da in Niutang. Xu Da immediately sent people to break through the siege, and ordered Deputy Marshal Chang Yuchun, Liao Yongan, Hu Dahai and others to rush to the aid of Niutang, attack inside and outside, and break Zhang Shicheng's army. [3]

In March of the seventeenth year of Zhizheng (1357), Lu Zhen, the defender of Changzhou, fled at night, and Changzhou was captured. Zhu Yuanzhang set up the Changchun Privy Council, with Xu Da as the Privy Council. Xu Da led the army to attack Yixing (now Yixing, Jiangsu), ordered the forward Zhao Desheng to attack Changshu (now Changshu, Jiangsu), and set up an ambush to capture Zhang Shicheng's brother Zhang Shide. Although the city of Yixing is small, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is connected to the mouth of Taihu Lake in the west, and the grain road is unimpeded, so Xu Dajiu can't take it. In October, Ding Dexing was sent to divide his troops to choke the mouth of Taihu Lake, and the Yixing grain road was cut off, and the hearts of the troops in the city were shaken. In November, Xu Da returned to Yingtian. [3]

In the spring of the twenty-third year of Zhizheng (1363), Liu Futong was defeated by the Yuan soldiers and supported Han Lin'er to retreat to Anfeng. At this time, Zhang Shicheng accepted the Yuan government's recruitment and sent his subordinates to besiege Anfeng. In March, Xu Da was ordered to rush to the rescue, defeated Lu Zhen, rescued Han Lin'er, and took advantage of the victory to attack Luzhou (now Hefei, Anhui), the Yuan general Zuo Junbi defended it, and did not conquer it for three months, so he withdrew from the siege. After Lü Zhen killed Liu Futong, Zhang Shicheng thought that he was due to the Yuan government, so he asked for the prince, but the Yuan government did not agree, and Zhang Shicheng called himself King Wu. [3]

Zhu Yuanzhang's military offensive against Zhang Shicheng was divided into three steps: first, first take Huaidong, remove its wings, conquer Tongzhou, Xinghua, Yancheng, Taizhou, Gaoyou, Huai'an, Suzhou, and Anfeng counties in the waters of the Huai River, and force Zhang Shicheng's forces to shrink to the south of the Yangtze River; the second is to sweep the western part of Zhejiang, cut off its elbows, form a situation of encircling Pingjiang (now Suzhou, Jiangsu), and conquer Huzhou, Jiaxing, Hangzhou and other towns; The third is to finally encircle Pingjiang and eliminate Zhang Shicheng. In order to solve Zhang Shicheng quickly and safely, Zhu Yuanzhang handed over this task to his most trusted general, Xu Da. [6]

In the first month of the spring of the twenty-fourth year of Zhizheng (1364), Li Shanchang, Xu Da and others worshiped Zhu Yuanzhang as the king of Wu, and worshiped Xu Da as the Zuo Xiangguo of Zhongshu Province. In July, he attacked Luzhou again, Zuo Junbi was defeated and sent to Jiankang by his wife and children. In August, Zhang Shicheng forced Yuan Zhejiang Prime Minister to meet Timur, and his power was great. Its sphere of influence stretched from Shaoxing (now Zhejiang) to the south, Tongzhou (now Nantong, Jiangsu), Taizhou (now Jiangsu), Gaoyou, Huai'an, Xuzhou, Suxian (now Suxian County, Anhui), Haozhou, Sizhou (now Sishui County, Shandong Province), Jining (now Jining City, Shandong) and other prefectures in the north, and Zhu Yuanzhang in the west on the line of Yixing, Changzhou and Jiangyin. [3]

In October of the twenty-fifth year of Yuan Zhizheng (1365), Xu Da was appointed as the chief military officer, and together with Chang Yuchun, he led his troops to capture Huaidong. Xu Da waved his troops north, and soon captured Taizhou, Gaoyou, Huai'an and other places, and repelled the attack of the main force of the Yuan army in Xuzhou, capturing and beheading more than 10,000 Yuan soldiers. In only half a year, the Huaidong regions were conquered, and Zhang Shicheng's forces had been pressed to the south of the Yangtze River and Zhejiang. Zhu Yuanzhang's first step in attacking Zhang Shicheng was basically realized. [8]

In the twenty-sixth year of Yuan Zhizheng (1366), Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Xu Da as the general and Chang Yuchun as the deputy general, leading an army of 200,000 to attack Zhang Shicheng. Zhang Shicheng took Pingjiang (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu) as the center, and Huzhou (present-day Huzhou, Zhejiang) and Hangzhou (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang) as his wings, resisting the attacks of Xu Da and Chang Yuchun. Xu Da believed that Hu and Hangzhou were Zhang Shicheng's left and right arms, and the left and right arms were cut off, and Pingjiang was within reach, so he suggested to Zhu Yuanzhang to attack Hu and Hangzhou first. The Huzhou defenders divided into three ways to resist Xu Da, and Xu Da also divided his troops into three ways to fight, and sent Xiao to determine the kingdom to cut off the enemy's way back. The enemy was unable to fight, and retreated into the city to hold on. At this time, Zhang Shicheng sent Lu Zhen and others to lead 60,000 troops to help, Bingtun Old Hall (now Wuxingdong, Zhejiang) to contain Xu Da. Xu Da believed that the enemy's wings were not removed and wings were born, and if the reinforcements were not removed, it would be difficult to conquer Hu and Hangzhou. Therefore, it was decided to suspend the siege of the city, and first send troops to attack the enemy's reinforcement camp at night to cut off the food route of Lu Zhen's army. The reinforcements of the old hall were not able to continue due to food and salary, and many people surrendered. The old museum was uprooted, and Hu and Hangzhou were soon conquered. Zhang Shicheng's left and right arms were cut off, and Pingjiang had become an isolated city. [9]

Xu Datong led the army to force Pingjiang. He stationed troops outside Fengmen, and the rest of the generals Chang Yuchun, Guo Xing, and Hua Yunlong were stationed in sections to build a long siege. A three-storey wooden tower was erected to monitor the movement in the city from a high position, called "Enemy Tower", and a bow and crossbow were set up on it. He also used the "Xiangyang cannon" to bombard the city day and night.

In September, the city of Pingjiang ran out of food, and the soldiers and civilians fed on withered grass and rats. Zhang Shicheng was in a desperate situation but still did not surrender. Xu Da ordered the whole army to storm the city, the war drums under the city were beating, the artillery was roaring, the 200,000 army was killing the sky, and the soldiers were fighting bravely. Xu Da's overseer army first broke through Fengmen, and Chang Yuchun broke through Lumen Water Village, approaching the city. Zhang Shicheng ordered the privy councillor Tang Jie to go to the city to supervise the battle and resist the enemy. Tang Jie couldn't resist it, and surrendered. Xie Jie and Pan Yuanshao, who participated in politics, camped at the city gate, and at this time saw that the general trend had gone, and they also surrendered one after another.