If Zhu Yuanzhang goes to Henan, there are many paths for him to choose from.

Go north through Xuzhou, and then turn to the west to enter Henan; Go west through Luzhou, then turn north, or enter Henan. Or directly from Jiqing (i.e. Nanjing) to the northwest, through Anfeng, you can also enter Henan.

But there is one thing: Xuzhou and Luzhou are now in the hands of the enemy. The former was based on Zhang Shicheng, and the latter was occupied by Zuo Junbi, a fierce general under Chen Youliang. In other words, in other words, there is actually only one feasible path choice, which is to go northwest, pass through Anfeng, and then enter Henan.

Overall, this road is relatively safe, and most of it is under the control of Jinling.

Mengyuan divided the country into ten provinces, and Jiqing Road belonged to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces; From Jiqing to the west, it is the province of Henan and Jiangbei, including most of the current Henan, Anhui and other places.

If you start from Jiqing to the northwest, you only need to pass through a Yangzhou Road, through Chuzhou, you can enter the Anfeng Road of Henan Jiangbei Province. After entering Anfeng Road, then go all the way to the northwest through Dingyuan, Haozhou and other places, and travel hundreds of miles to enter today's Henan. And Chuzhou and Dingyuan are places where Zhu Yuanzhang made his fortune, and they have a strong foundation, which is naturally very beneficial to the march. However, there is also a problem, that is, "Haozhou". Not long ago, this place was captured and occupied by Zhang Shicheng.

Haozhou is Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown. Zhang Shicheng's capture of this place was more politically motivated than military. Although it is said that soon after, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Xu Da to capture Gaoyou,—— Gaoyou was where Zhang Shicheng made his career, but Haozhou was still based on Shicheng. For this reason, he also sighed and said: "Haozhou is my hometown, Zhang Shicheng is based on it, although I have a country but no home." ”

Although he hated this, there were not only Zhang Shicheng's guards in Haozhou City, but there was also a person named Sun Deya, who was the veteran who raised troops in Haozhou at the same time as Guo Zixing.

When Zhang Shicheng sent troops to take Haozhou, he surrendered. Zhang Shicheng's personality may be indecisive, or there is no ambition, and even more vassal, elegant, vain and good name, but in the end, there is still a set of heroes in troubled times, in employing people and encircling places, "use people without suspicion, and don't use suspicious people." Seeing that he was willing to surrender, he did not kill him, nor did he recall Songjiang, so he used it to stay in Haozhou.

Just imagine, since the day he and Guo Zixing started fighting one after another, how many years has Sun Deya been operating in Haozhou! is not only familiar with the terrain, but also has the hearts of the army and the people, and is older than Zhu Yuanzhang, and then has the support of Zhang Shicheng on the one hand, and echoes with the Henan Yuan army from afar, it is indeed not easy to attack.

It is no wonder that Zhang Shicheng has recaptured Gaoyou, and Jinling has not even set out to recover Haozhou.

In the past, you could just sigh and put the overall situation first, and don't seek to seize Haozhou, but now it's not possible. Among the several roads leading to Henan, only Anfeng is the most suitable. In this way, the obstacle of Haozhou must be pulled out in advance.

When Deng She leisurely asked "where is the Duke Army of Wu", there were 3,000 Wu troops who had just passed through Chuzhou and were about to reach Dingyuan.

This military horse is not the main force of the Wu army, but only the vanguard. There are two main generals who lead the army, one Miao Tycoon and one Zhu Ying. One of these two people is the old man of Wu Jun who followed Zhu Yuanzhang earlier, and the other is Zhu Yuanzhang's righteous son, although the age difference is not small, they have one thing in common, that is, they are both Dingyuan people.

Miao Tycoon was supposed to be a big family, and after the Red Turban Uprising, he entangled the "Green Army" and attacked Haozhou with the Yuan Army. At that time, the city of Haozhou was guarded by Guo Zixing, Sun Deya and others. No, the Yuan army was defeated. He led 20,000 people to retreat to Hengjian Mountain in the northwest of Dingyuan, so he set up a village to defend himself and held it for more than a month. That year was the fourteenth year of the Solstice.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was still under Guo Zixing, and he had just been promoted to the chief manager, with only more than 3,000 subordinates. And among these more than 3,000 people, only 700 can barely be regarded as old soldiers, which were allocated to him by Guo Zixing in June of the previous year, and the rest are all soldiers of the other two "green army" that have just been recruited. To what extent is "just now"? On the second day of the seventh month, Zhu Yuanzhang took over and surrendered, and on the ninth day of the seventh month, he sent Hua Yun to attack Hengjian Mountain at night, and this Hua Yun also defected to Zhu Yuanzhang after the second day of the seventh month.

However, it was such a night attack army that easily broke through the Miao tycoon's department, which had been "stuck for more than a month". Miao Daheng surrendered with his whole army, surrendered 70,000 men and women, and obtained 20,000 elite soldiers. Zhu Yuanzhang was "greatly invigorated" because of this. It can be said that it was the 20,000 people from Miao Tycoon who laid the foundation for Zhu Yuanzhang's development. Miao Tycoon's status in the army can be imagined, and he is a relatively important general. Zhu Yuanzhang's use of him as the vanguard commander this time also shows the importance he attaches to this attack on Henan.

In fact, Miao Tycoon was originally in Yangzhou. In the seventeenth year of Zheng, he conquered Yangzhou, surrendered to the local "Green Army" Zhang Mingjian, and was awarded the "Privy Council of the Fellows", and the general system of Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. A while ago, Zhu Yuanzhang issued a military order, summoned all the generals, gathered in Jinling, and summoned him as well, so he was the first to go forward.

Zhu Ying, whose surname is Mu. My father died early, and I avoided the chaos with my mother, and my mother died again. At the age of eight, he was accepted by Zhu Yuanzhang as a righteous son, changed his surname to "Zhu", joined the army since he was a child, and served in the army. Although he is younger than Zhu Wenzhong, only 16 years old this year, he is "young and sensitive".

Sending Yizi to fight with the army, or using Yizi to defend the city, as a monitoring commander and local use, has long been Zhu Yuanzhang's usual method. As a result, Zhu Yingneng was able to become the deputy general of this vanguard force.

Under the command of Wu Guogong, it can be said that the stars are shining. The reason why other people didn't choose him, and he singled out two of them to lead the forwards, which was considered by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Miao Tycoon and Zhu Ying are both from Dingyuan, especially Miao Tycoon, whose family is a Dingyuan tycoon, is extremely familiar with the terrain around Dingyuan, which is conducive to marching, which is one of them. Dingyuan is not far from Haozhou, and Miao Tycoon has also attacked Haozhou, and he is also very familiar with Haozhou; And Zhu Ying has been by Zhu Yuanzhang's side since he was a child, and he has also lived in Haozhou for a long time, so he is of course very familiar with the internal structure of Haozhou, which is the second. Third, Miao Tycoon has been in battle for a long time, and he has a strategy, and his ability is enough to attack the city; And Zhu Ying has a noble status, although he has no friendship with Sun Deya, but at least he knows with some generals of the Haozhou Army that if he can't attack strongly, or before the offensive, he can come forward to surrender.

Whether the troops can fight well is certainly a factor in victory, but the qualifications, identity and ability of the commander in chief are also a very important condition. Even, in some cases, this condition is more important than whether the army is good at fighting or not.

Coming out of Chuzhou, crossing the Chi River, marching to the twilight, I saw the Dingyuan city wall from afar.

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's order, Miao Daheng did not plan to settle in Dingyuan, but chose a plain near the water, stopped the march, and ordered the three armies to camp. Although Zhu Ying is not very old, he is very aware of it, and he is not in a hurry to rest, but dutifully calls all departments and hundreds of households, and first passes down the military orders of Miao Tycoon one by one.

Some are responsible for building barracks, some are full-time people who fetch water for cooking, some are cleaning and sanitation grounds, and some are released to patrol and guard.

He was very capable, and in a short time, he had thoroughly carried out the general's order, and the three thousand soldiers were in good order, and walked around the selected camp again, until the sun was sinking in the west, and the night was gradually coming, and seeing that there was indeed no problem, then he turned away and returned to the Chinese army.

The first to be built was the big tent of the Chinese army.

When he came to the tent, he dismounted, threw the reins to his entourage, straightened his armor, and said to the soldiers guarding the tent with a smile: "Please inform me on your behalf, and say that Zhu Ying wants to see the general." "Although you are the righteous son of Wu Guo and the deputy general of the forward, he does not take Qiao with his identity at all, and his words and deeds are very polite.

The soldier had nothing to say, hurriedly saluted, walked in quickly, and then walked out, and said solemnly: "The general is invited." ”

Zhu Ying raised her head and strode into the account.

The tent was lit with a light.

There were few people, most of them were staff, and the stars were also surrounding one person, and they were leaning over to look at the map placed on the desk with the help of the light. But seeing that the man around them was tall and tall, with a black face and a long beard, it was Miao Tycoon, but perhaps because of the fatigue of the journey, he seemed to be a little mentally exhausted.

Zhu Ying bowed and clenched his fists, saluted and said, "The last general, Zhu Ying, has seen the general." ”

The voice is clear and vibrant.

Miao Tycoon raised his head, showed a smiling face, and said, "Zhou She, why be polite!" Those red tapes, just don't bother. ......, come quickly, we're talking about military affairs here! I want to hear your opinion. "——, Zhoushe is Zhu Ying's nickname; There are also those in the army who call him "Mu She".

For the sake of Zhu Yuanzhang's face, Miao Tycoon can be very easy-going. But Zhu Ying couldn't, she was still meticulous, gave a military salute, stood up straight, and said, "General, the military orders have been issued." The last general also looked around the camp, and after two hours at the latest, the camp could be erected; It has also been decided, and the meal will be served in two hours. "Because it is still under the control of Jinling, and Dingyuan is not far away, so the overnight camp does not have to be too strong, one or two hours is enough.

Miao Tycoon nodded slightly, looked forward to the staff, and said with a smile: "Don't look at Zhou She's youth, he is really handsome and promising!" As the saying goes: 'The back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and a new generation replaces the old.' 'We're all getting old!' Invited Zhu Ying again, and said, "Please come to the case before the meeting, and the military will be held before the meal." ”

"Yes."

When he came to the case, the staff gave way to take a seat, and Zhu Ying stood beside Miao Tycoon and watched intently. The map of the accompanying army is very large, drawing the entire territory of Henan Jiangbei Province, and only the area of Dingyuan is unfolded at this time.

Miao Daheng pointed his finger and said, "This is Dingyuan, and Haozhou is one hundred and ten miles to the north; To the west, two or three hundred miles away is Anfeng; To the south, almost two or three hundred miles, is Luzhou. Haozhou is now in the hands of Zhang Shicheng, Anfeng is where the capital of our emperor Song is located, and Luzhou has long been occupied by Zuo Junbi. Within a radius of less than 500 miles, various forces, including our Emperor Song, are intertwined.

"In accordance with the Lord's order, our department, as a vanguard, has the responsibility of opening the way for the follow-up troops. The first task is to take Haozhou. Why? Although Luzhou Zuo Junbi is fierce, but it is far away three hundred miles to the south, for the time being, there is no threat to our army to take Bianliang in the north, but Haozhou is a well-deserved roadblock! Sun Deya is deeply rooted, if this city is not defeated, it may cut off the back road of our army at any time! ”

As he said, in this piece of land less than 500 miles away, there are enough forces from An Feng, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhang Shicheng, and Chen Youliang to gather, which is not chaotic. And not only that, if you go northwest from here, it is at most a hundred miles, which can be regarded as entering the territory of Henan, and there are also elite military horses of Chahan. If you go north, that is, hundreds of miles, after Xuzhou, it is Jining Road.

In total, there are not only four forces, but even two heroes in the north: Chakhan Timur and Deng She, a total of six parties compete.

"Although there are forces on all sides, it seems to be chaotic, but in fact there is order in chaos. When Ben Jiang came out of Jiqing, the lord had a special explanation, saying, 'If you want to take Henan, you must first fight for Bianliang; And if you want to fight for Bianliang, you must first go down to Haozhou'. If this place is compared to a chaotic net, then Haozhou is where the mesh is located. ”

Zhu Ying asked, "Mesh? ”

"Whoever gets the mesh can control the net."

"Oh!"

Zhu Ying was sensitive, and quickly understood the meaning of Miao Daheng's words, his eyes crossed the map, stopped at a city two or three hundred miles east of Haozhou, nodded a little heavily, and then said: "The general's meaning, the last general understands!" For example, 'outline and collar'. Haozhou is the 'program' before the war, as long as this place is laid, it will not only ensure the safety of our main march, but also straighten out the territory that our army has occupied in the surrounding area, stabilize the rear, and at the same time facilitate the delivery of materials and reinforcements to the front line. ”

Miao Tycoon and his staff looked at each other, all smiling, and said, "Zhou She's analysis is exact!" ”

Zhu Ying said that the capture of Haozhou could ensure the safety of the main march of the Wu army, which is easy to understand; However, why did he say that he could "stabilize the rear" and "facilitate the delivery of materials and reinforcements to the front line"? But there is another reason for this, and the key lies in the city where he focuses on it.

Two or three hundred miles east of Haozhou City, there is a city called Sizhou.

From this city to the southeast, another 300 miles up and down, is Gaoyou. From Gaoyou to the south, hundreds of miles away, is Yangzhou. A few months ago, Gaoyou was captured by Xu Da, and then recovered by Zhang Shicheng, and it is still in the hands of Songjiang Mansion. And Yangzhou, as early as a few years ago, was captured by Miao Tycoon, and is now in the hands of Jinling.

Gaoyou is Zhang Shicheng's starting place, and after he recaptured it a while ago, he sent heavy troops to garrison it.

If Haozhou is a roadblock that threatens the main force of the Wu army to go north to Henan, then Gaoyou is the other tiger that threatens the rear of the Wu army, and this tiger is especially fierce over Haozhou. The threat of breaking Haozhou may be easy, just need to pull out this city; However, it is difficult to defeat the threat of Gaoyou.

Because Gaoyou is different from Haozhou, it is not an isolated city, and most of its surroundings and rear are Zhang Shicheng's territory, which has extremely strong support.

So, how can this threat be defeated? The only way is to open up the connection between Yangzhou, Sizhou, Haozhou, Dingyuan and other cities. Yangzhou is in the south of Gaoyou, Sizhou is in the northwest of Gaoyou, Haozhou and Dingyuan are facing Gaoyou, and an acute triangle is formed between the three.

To use an image analogy, Yangzhou is in the hands of Jinling, and Gaoyou's left arm can be broken; If Sizhou is in the hands of Jinling, he can cut off Gaoyou's right arm. If Haozhou and Dingyuan are in the hands of Jinling, echoing each other and working together, it will be like someone in the distance with a bow and arrow, which happens to be aimed at Gaoyou's front door.

As long as you look at Gaoyou, you will see the "gate" for Zhang Shicheng to go out of the army.

Even if Zhang Shicheng has more troops and soldiers in the periphery and rear of Gaoyou, as long as he can't get out of this "door" and "can't get out of the door", it will be completely useless.

So, Yangzhou, Sizhou, Haozhou, and Dingyuan, which one is in Zhu Yuanzhang's hands now?

Needless to say, Yangzhou and Dingyuan have already been made like iron buckets for their gains. Just say Sizhou, it's really like God's help, and it's a coincidence that it was only in March that Jinling was lowered. The only one who is worse is Haozhou.

Therefore, Zhu Ying was thorough at one point, and immediately said that as long as Haozhou was captured, it would not only ensure the safety of the main march, but also "stabilize the rear".

"And Haozhou is the hometown of the lord, and it is a shame for the thieves and the courtiers! Therefore, attacking Haozhou, whether from public or private, is of great importance. Zhou She, now that you have understood this layer, I will come to ask you, is there a good way to take the city? ”

——

1, Zhu Yuanzhang's career path.

In the twelfth year of Zheng, in leap March, Zhu Yuanzhang entered Haozhou and was the ninth commander of Guo Zixing's personal soldiers. In the same year, he joined Guo Zixing's righteous daughter Ma.

In the thirteenth month, in May, he returned to his hometown to recruit soldiers, and he had more than 700 people.

Among the 700 people, there are 24 people, including Xu Da, Tang He, Wu Liang, Wu Zhen, Gu Shi, and Fei Ju, who are known as talents and have achievements, and are known as the "Twenty-four Constellations". However, some of these 24 people were not recruited, but defected later.

In June, he returned to Haozhou and dedicated the pawn to Guo Zixing, and Guo Zixing ordered it.

In the fourteenth year of Zheng, on the second day of the seventh month, more than 3,000 people were surrendered to the Qing army.

"Summer, the last disease is not cured. Wang Wenyuan righteous soldiers want to return, will say, left and right, there is nothing to do, especially through the dormitory, signaling to stumble, because please help the sick to go, the pawn said to surrender, get its elite 3,000.

"Shi Pengda and Zhao Jun used their strength to control the public, and their subordinates were all insulting. For fear of disaster, he used 700 people to belong to his generals, and he and Xu Da and other 24 people went south a little far, and returned from illness halfway. Half Moon is awake. On the third day of the party, the king of Chuyang passed through the door with a sigh.

"When I heard this, I asked the neighbors: 'Wang Shi passed by, and he hated it, Hu Weiruo?' He replied: 'There are soldiers in the distance, and they are hesitant to surrender. Wang Zhi's friends are among them, and people say that there is no one at home, so he feels sorry for him. 'The upper is the bedchamber of the sick king. The king said, 'What are you coming for?' He said: "I heard that there were people who wanted to return to the other side, and I didn't decide on pedestrians, and I wanted to help the sick and look at them." The king said, "You are sick and sick, and it is not feasible." 'Knowing the king's will, he will not give up, and the king will allow it. ”

"I heard that there is a militia number in Zhangjiabao in Dingyuan, and the people who are alone and lack food, and they want to come and surrender undecided, so they said: This opportunity must not be lost!

"Nai Qiangqi, Bai Zixing, choose the knight Fei Ju and others to follow, to the Baogong River, his battalion sent two generals out, shouting: What is the coming? Gather fear, please benefit people, and say: Many people are not beneficial, and they are suspicious.

"He dismounted straight forward and crossed the water. When his marshal came out, he said: Marshal Guo has an old relationship with his feet, and he smells that the army is short of food, and his enemy wants to attack, so he will send me to reciprocate, and he can obey each other, that is, he will go with him, otherwise he will move his troops to avoid it. Shuai promised, please keep a letter, untie the bag with it, and offer the cow breast in the village, so that the army is loaded and declared. Also, stay and gather for three days, and return the gathering to report: Things are not harmonious, and he wants him to go.

That is, he led 300 troops to the camp and lured his commander. So the battalion burned the old base and surrendered, and got 3,000 strong men, and recruited more than 800 Qin generals. ”

Dehuayun, Hua Yunlong, Feng Guoyong, Feng Guosheng.

On the ninth day of the seventh month, he descended to a tycoon and got 20,000 soldiers.

Got Li Shanchang.

July 18, Kechu Prefecture.

In the fifteenth year of Zheng, the first month, ten thousand people were attracted to Heyang.

You have to meet spring often.

In March, Guo Zixing died.

In April, "Guo Tianxu, the eldest son of Zhongfeng Zixing, was the marshal of the capital, followed by Zhang Tianyou, and Taizu was second." ”

In June, cross the river to take peace. Guo Tianxu and Zhang Tianyou died in battle, and Zhu Yuanzhang was the marshal of the capital.

"Guo and Zhang Ershuai are not there, and they are the only marshals in the palace."

In the sixteenth year of Zheng, take Jiangling, Jiqing (Nanjing) and Zhenjiang.