In the second year of Hongwu, in September 1369, Xu Da, Tang He and others were ordered to lead the army back to Nanjing.

Who knew that the Ming army had just retreated, and led 18 horsemen from Taiyuan to flee to Wang Baobao in the northwest, after a period of recuperation, the power increased greatly, and the troops reached more than 100,000, making a comeback from Hexi. Spotting the gap of the main force of the Ming army returning south, he attacked Lanzhou from Gansu and Su.

In December, more than 100,000 troops blocked the water of Lanzhou, and Zhang Wen, the general of the Ming army guarding Lanzhou, felt pressure.

He brought his subordinates together to discuss countermeasures.

Zhu Qianhu said: "Wang Baobao is the first fierce general of the Yuan, and even the emperor praised him as a strange man. He is resourceful and able to fight well, we stick to a lonely city, I think there are many auspicious and less, it is better to take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold, and take it by surprise to fight out of the siege, waiting for reinforcements. ”

Xue Qianhu said; "No! I, the army of the tiger and wolf of the Ming Dynasty, captured the capital with the power of destroying the ancient and decaying, and defeated Wang Baobao, who wanted to recover the capital, and the morale was high. Just after the battle in Qingyang, he defeated Yuan Kou and killed Zhang Liangchen's father and son, and the vitality of the Yuan army was greatly damaged. Now that Wang Baobao is besieging Lanzhou, it is nothing more than the end of a strong crossbow, what a lot of worry! He has only tempted my army to fight me. If we don't hold out, wait for the general Xu Da to lead the crowd to come, encircle and annihilate it in one fell swoop, so as to sweep away the forces of Dayuan Gansu and lay the foundation for opening up Hexi and pacifying Mobei. ”

Tuhuan suggested: "What Zhu Qianhu said is reasonable, and what Xue Qianhu said is not bad. But we can't be passively defensive, I think that the Chengyuan army has not a stable foothold, take advantage of its unpreparedness, and be fully prepared to fight a counterattack. ”

Zhang Wen gestured approvingly: "Tell me your specific opinions." ”

"I think that when the Yuan army first arrived, although it was claimed to be a hundred thousand people, most of them were rabble, so there was nothing to worry about, but they could not underestimate the enemy. We should be prepared to stick to it for the long haul. At the same time, taking advantage of their arrogance and contempt for the enemy, we made careful preparations and selected two or three hundred elite key soldiers, led by a vigilant and brave general, to carry out a night raid, which was bound to win a great victory, destroy the enemy's prestige, and strengthen our morale. ”

Zhang Wen: "Okay! Just what the doctor ordered! ”

Therefore, Zhang Wen arranged for the generals to be responsible for defending the city one by one, and repeatedly warned everyone that the enemy was menacing, and they must not be careless, and they must fight with the spirit of 120 points, stick to the help, and annihilate the main force of the Yuan army in one fell swoop, so as to lay a good foundation for opening up Hexi and pacifying Mobei.

Arrange the defense of the city, and the generals will go to prepare for their respective tasks. Tuhuan was just about to withdraw from the big tent, Zhang Wen told him to wait, and there was something important to discuss.

After the other generals walked out of the big tent, Zhang Wen stepped forward and grabbed Tuhuan's hand and said, "Your opinion is very much in line with my opinion, and I also have such a plan." It's just that who will take me to the night raiders is undecided. After listening to your opinion just now, my heart lit up, so I asked you to lead the team to a surprise attack tonight - the Yuan army had just arrived, and they could not have dreamed of this. - When they set up camp and set up a village, they will come back to attack again, and the effect may not be good. I don't know what you think? ”

When Tuhuan heard this, he was very happy: "Thank you for your trust." I have not made an inch of merit in returning to the imperial court, and I am waiting for the opportunity to serve the imperial court. Now that the general has given me a chance, I will definitely cherish it, and I will definitely succeed in the surprise attack, kill him by surprise, and make a contribution! ”

"Good! Good! Good!" Zhang Wen happily patted Tuhuan's shoulder.

"It's just that I don't have enough men, please ask the general to allocate some more men and horses."

"I've made arrangements for this, I've selected two hundred battle-hardened soldiers to get ready, and I'll open the door tonight to kill the enemy! You go back and prepare, and don't let the news go. In the evening, the second watch quietly gathered at the north gate, and the third watch went out of the city to sneak attack, and I cheered for you at the city gate! ”

At the second watch in the evening, it was pitch black, suddenly the north gate of Lanzhou City was opened, the drums thundered for a while, the killing shouts shook the sky, more than 200 brave soldiers, the tide generally killed the Yuan army camp. Poor Yuan army soldiers, marching for days, people are sleepy and tired, defenseless, many people have already entered the dream, where did they think that the Ming army attacked and killed in the middle of the night, crying for a while, crying father and mother, ghosts crying wolves, before they had time to resist, they became ghosts under the knife. Some people panicked and took refuge in all directions, but behind them was the Yellow River, and some people fell into the Yellow River and became unjust souls in the water.

Tuhuan led more than 200 warriors who were red-eyed to rush left and right, and the sound of killing shook the sky, and after a while, the Yuan army camp was scattered, killing countless Yuan troops, and winning a complete victory. Wang Baobao was startled when he heard the shouting of killing, he couldn't figure out the reality of the Ming army, and wanted to transfer people from other places to come to encircle and suppress, but he was afraid that other places would be attacked by the Ming army again, and between hesitations, it was already the fifth watch. At this time, the Ming army had already sounded the horn and withdrawn its troops.

After a while, his subordinates reported that the Ming army had gone out of the north gate, and the camp outside the north gate was all burned down, and the Yuan army had thousands of casualties, and hundreds of people did not know their whereabouts. Wang Baobao's teeth rattled, this revenge will not be avenged, and he will not be a man!

Tuhuan led the night raid team to collect the troops and entered the city, and Zhang Wen personally came to greet him. "My lord is really clever and bold. This battle made the Yuan army tremble, and Wang Baobao no longer dared to underestimate us. As long as we work together and unite as one, we will be able to ensure that Lanzhou is impregnable! ”

The night attack was successful, and the morale of the Ming army soared, and they held on to the city.

Wang Baobao had no choice but to besiege and prepare to encircle the point for reinforcements. He arranged for his soldiers to build two castles - one on the slope of Dongguan to defend against the reinforcements of the Ming army from the east, and one to the east of Zhenyuan Bridge to control the crossing of the Yellow River, in order to show the determination to seize Lanzhou and fight to the death with the Ming army.

Sure enough, Wang Baobao's plan came true. Hearing that Lanzhou was besieged, Yu Guang, the commander of the Yingyangwei stationed in Longxi, was very anxious, and hurriedly led the army to rescue, marching to Malantan, not far from Lanzhou, where he encountered an ambush, and Yu Guang was defeated and captured. Wang Baobao didn't talk much nonsense, so he directly escorted Yu Guang to the city of Lanzhou, instructed the knife and axe hand to put the big knife holder in the back of Guang's head, and then announced to Guang: "Do you want to live?" Shout to the people in the city, your reinforcements have been wiped out, and surrendering the city is the only way out! Otherwise, the king will behead you under this city. ”

Yu Guang has been on the battlefield for a long time, and has cultivated a strong iron bone in the shadow of swords and swords. He looked up to the sky and laughed, and shouted to the Ming army at the head of the city: "Brothers, I have been captured by them, you must hold the city!" General Xu led the army to arrive soon. ”

Wang Baobao was furious and ordered the Yuan soldiers to whip Yu Guang in front of the defenders at the head of Lanzhou City. No matter how tortured he was, Yu Guang just ignored it and scolded him more than once.

As a last resort, Wang Baobao ordered him to be beheaded for public display!

Seeing Yu Guang's generous death, the soldiers and civilians in Lanzhou City were all filled with righteous indignation and indignation. Zhang Wen led his troops to pay tribute to the martyrs at the head of the city, drew a knife and stabbed the stock and swore a bloody oath: "Swear to live and die with Lanzhou!" ”

Zhang Wen asked the soldiers to be ready and prepare guns and crossbows to prevent the Yuan army from sneaking attacks.

Sure enough, that night, Wang Baobao selected more than 2,000 elite people in the army, used the cover of night, approached the city of Lanzhou, and prepared to sneak attack, but at this time, Zhu Qianhu, who was responsible for defending this section of the city wall, was drunk. Fortunately, the Ming army patrol found the night attacker in time, and hurriedly sounded the horn and beat the drum, and the defenders at the head of the city all took one as ten, bravely killing the enemy, and the Yuan army's sneak attack failed.

After the war, Zhang Wen was very angry and wanted to kill the drunk Zhu Qianhu, but after Tuhuan learned about it, he quickly ran to Zhang Wen's big tent and dissuaded: "General, Zhu Qianhu can't be killed!" ”

Zhang Wen was angry and asked, "Why?" ”

Tuhuan said: "General, please think twice, when the Yuan army sneaked up on our army, Zhu Qianhu was drunk, and almost let the Yuan army sneak attack succeed. Now, the danger has passed, and Zhu Qianhu has also realized the seriousness of the problem, knowing that he has corrected his mistakes, there is no reason to kill again. Zhang Wen heard this, and it was really reasonable, coupled with the fact that the Yuan army was victorious in the sneak attack on the Yuan army, which extinguished the spirit of the Yuan army and made the first contribution to the defense of Lanzhou, so Zhu Qianhu was exempted from the death penalty.

Zhu Qianhu is a rough man, straightforward, fast-talking, and arrogant. Knowing that Tuhuan interceded for himself, he saved himself from death, and was very moved, and when he came to Tuhuan's residence that afternoon, he bowed his head as soon as he entered the door: "Thank you, my lord, for interceding for me in front of General Zhang, so that I can avoid death." You are my reborn parents, and my life will be given by you in the future, and I will definitely stick a knife for you, and I will not give up! ”

"Where, where! Thousands of households, please get up. You and I are in the same account, and you should be single-minded, hateful, and kill the enemy together! ”

Since then, the two have become inseparable friends.

Zhang Wen made meritorious contributions to defending the city and was promoted to governor.

Lanzhou was in an emergency, and the news of Yu Guang's sacrifice reached Nanjing, and it was already the end of December, and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately convened a meeting in front of the emperor to discuss with the generals the strategy of urgently reinforcing Lanzhou.

Zhu Yuanzhang made the situation clear to the generals: "The Yuan court is now roughly divided into two parts, the Yuan Lord is outside the Saiwai, and Wang Baobao is in Lanzhou. Wang Baobao's ambition is nothing more than to get a little bit of size by luck, and if he does not send troops to eliminate Wang Baobao, this scourge will not dissolve by itself. Now that I have decided to send you out, you can speak freely, west and north, which side should come first? ”

All the generals thought that Wang Baobao was not a big trouble: "The reason why Wang Baobao entered the border pass is because the master is still there. If our army goes straight into the desert to take the master, what else can Wang Baobao expect? As long as the Tartar Emperor is killed, Wang Baobao may surrender without a fight. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and shook his head. He said: "Wang Baobao is approaching the west of us with a heavy army, and if he abandons him to attack the Yuan Lord, he has forgotten the geographical distance and does not understand the urgency of the war, which is not a good plan. I am going to divide the army into two parts: one part is led by the general Xu Da to lead the main force to the west, from Tongguan to Xi'an to the west, the goal is Wang Baobao! Part of the left deputy general Li Wenzhong led a strange army to the north, out of Juyongguan into the desert, the target is the master! This will make the Yuan court unable to save each other, and can they still help each other? Besides, at present, the Yuan Lord lives far away in the depths of the desert, and he will never think of the arrival of our Great Ming Xiongshi, this is like a lonely pig encountering a tiger, can he still save his life? Isn't it true that some things can be done with one fell swoop? This is the case. ”

After Zhu Yuanzhang's detailed analysis, the generals said in unison.

Xu Da was once again edicted to hang the seal of "General of the Expedition". The three armies were urgently mobilized, and the time was set, and on the third day of the first month of the third year of Hongwu (1370), the two armies set off at the same time.

Wang Baobao knew that the Ming army would soon march westward, so he secretly ordered his subordinates to go out everywhere to arrest people and grab grain, and step up preparations before the war. For a while, the surrounding villages and villages of Lanzhou were in flames, every household hoarded, people and animals became the trophies of the Yuan soldiers, and the people of Li who were originally preparing for the New Year were all complaining, full of anger, daring to be angry but not daring to speak, everyone stretched their necks and looked forward to the arrival of the Ming army.