After Zhang Wuji thought about it, he planned to get a thorough understanding of Lan Yu.

Zhang Wuji said: "Actually, I have already sent someone to ask for help. As long as we hold on to Suzhou City for a month or two, then the army that invaded the Central Plains will rush back. At that time, the person who will be surrounded will be Zhu Yuanzhang, not us. ”

Lan Yu thought for a moment and said, "But Xiao Chen thinks that we shouldn't take it lightly. In the future, Zhu Yuanzhang may spread rumors that His Majesty has died, or he may attack us with all his might at all costs. I once heard my brother-in-law say that now in Zhu Yuanzhang's army, the main battle faction has the upper hand, and the civil officials, led by Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong, all advocate betraying His Majesty. Among the generals, except for his brother-in-law, General Xu. The rest of them, such as Tang He, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, and others, were all in favor of starting a war. Especially Zhu Wenzheng's kid, he is always worried about the loss of Hongdu City. Before we set out, I had heard that he had led his troops to retake Hongdu and open the way to Wuchang. ”

In fact, it is.

Now, as Lan Yu said, Zhu Yuanzhang mobilized a large army to besiege Suzhou City, intending to eliminate Zhang Wuji as soon as possible.

On the other hand, he sent Liao Yongzhong and Zhu Wenzheng to Wuchang, Zhang Wuji's companion capital, in two ways.

Zhu Wenzheng led his troops to attack Hongdu City, intending to open the gateway to the east, while Liao Yongzhong and his deputy general Zhu Liangzu took the waterway up the river and rushed towards Wuchang City.

It's just that the attacks on these two roads are not very smooth, and most of Zhu Yuanzhang's troops are used to besiege Zhang Wuji, so there are not many soldiers and horses led by Zhu Wenzheng and Liao Yongzhong.

In terms of Hongdu City, Zhu Wenzheng's attack was not very smooth, although the defenders in Hongdu City are now only a few thousand, but thanks to Zhu Wenzheng's blessing, the garrison of Hongdu City is very perfect, not only the city is high and strong, but the materials and equipment he used to resist Chen Youliang before have also been reused on him.

Zhu Wenzheng attacked for several days in a row, but all of them were in vain. Even though their soldiers and horses were far more numerous than the defenders in the city, with the solidity of Hongdu City, it was difficult for Zhu Wenzheng to move an inch.

Although Zhu Wenzheng can also directly spare Hongdu City, and then sneak attack the hinterland of Jingzhou. But in this way, without the stronghold of Hongdu, their back road will be cut off by Zhang Wuji's army at any time. When the time comes, the supplies and grain and grass cannot be transported, and they will be the turtles in the urn.

Zhu Wen, who is angry now, jumps straight to his feet, only hating why he is so stupid and repairing Hongdu City as solid as a rock. Why do you need to prepare so many means of defending the city, these 600,000 troops that are not used on Chen Youliang are now all applied to themselves.

And Liao Yongzhong and Zhu Liangzu attacked Wuchang City, and there were some successes, and they fought until the bottom of Wuchang City.

However, it was quickly repelled by the Imperial Forest Army defending Hongdu. And Zhao Pusheng also suddenly thought of the possibility that Zhu Yuanzhang would sneak attack the capital, so he led a part of the naval army to rush back.

However, the Yangtze River is too long, and Zhao Pusheng's sailors have been lined up along the river, and the troops used are not very many. Although Liao Yongzhong and Zhu Liangzu were repulsed, they were not completely annihilated and were all fled.

This time, the first hero of the defense of the capital was Zhu Jiuzhen.

Zhu Jiuzhen lost the incident of Bianjing City that day, which has always made her angry, although Zhang Wuji did not blame her, but loved her. But this is more uncomfortable than scolding her and beating her.

Now that the enemy army is attacking again, Zhu Jiuzhen personally put on the battle, she put on Zhang Wuji's battle armor, and then she didn't care about the rule that the concubine was not allowed to leave the palace. Instead, he personally stood on the tower of Wuchang City, and rewarded everyone with some items in the palace, and personally stood for the soldiers guarding the city, beating drums and cheering. Boost everyone's morale.

After all, Zhou Zhiruo, Zhao Min and others are not there, and Zhu Jiuzhen has the highest position. Now that the arrow is on the line, she also has to shoulder this responsibility.

Although Liao Yongzhong first launched a "public opinion war" to spread rumors that Mingzun was dead, Zhu Jiuzhen clarified the matter as soon as possible, and posted a poster to publicize what Zhu Yuanzhang had done before. calmed the panicked hearts of the city.

Zhu Yuanzhang's two armies are now in retreat.

When Zhang Wuji heard Lan Yu's words, he shook his head and said: "Wuchang and Hongdu are all loyal ministers and good generals, and they can't be attacked by Zhu Yuanzhang's division of troops alone." But what you said is very right, it won't be long before Zhu Yuanzhang will launch an attack on us, and we must deal with it in advance. ”

But at this time, Zhang Wuji remembered something, and he asked, "That's right! General Lan is now back under my command. If there is a spy in the army, report it to Zhu Yuanzhang. You are Brother Chang's brother-in-law, so aren't Brother Chang, his sister-in-law, and his eldest niece affected? ”

Lan Yu waved his hand and said, "Please rest assured that Your Majesty is at this point." Even though Zhu Yuanzhang no longer trusts us, he still doesn't dare to attack his brother-in-law and sister. First, when Zhu Yuanzhang rebelled against Chan, his brother-in-law and General Xu interceded for him, and His Majesty spared his life. This is a life-saving grace for him, if he attacks his brother-in-law, I am afraid that it will chill the hearts of everyone. Second, his brother-in-law was the leader of Guo Dashuai's old department, and many of the soldiers of the Ming Department obeyed his brother-in-law. ”

"To be honest, not all Mingjiao disciples respect Your Majesty, at least I have had a lot of doubts about Your Majesty before, and there are many people who joined Mingjiao in order to survive in the troubled times and eat a full meal. These people are very open-minded, as long as whoever gives food, they will give their lives to whomever they eat. I don't agree with my identity as a disciple of Mingjiao. Now it is Zhu Yuanzhang's food and salary that supports them, and they naturally serve Zhu Yuanzhang. ”

If Zhu Yuanzhang attacks his brother-in-law, it will arouse the dissatisfaction of those Mingjiao soldiers who are loyal to him. I don't think he will make a big deal about my defection to His Majesty. Instead, the soldiers who pretended not to know, and even knew the news were executed. We're in the encirclement right now, anyway. Whether we are against it or not, it is not very important to him. ”

After listening to Lan Yu's analysis, Zhang Wuji nodded, and after the two discussed, they immediately set up camp, and then transferred Lan Yu's soldiers and horses to the vicinity of Hanshan Temple outside Suzhou City, and fought with Suzhou Daying and Suzhou City.

However, as Lan Yu expected, during the time when he was talking to Zhang Wuji in the tent, hundreds of his soldiers took the opportunity to escape.

The next part of the journey was not very far, but several hundred more people fled.

Lan Yu originally wanted to make an example of a hundred people and clean up military discipline. But was stopped by Zhang Wuji.

After all, people have their own ambitions, and they can't be forced, and these people are willing to give up the monstrous wealth that follows them, which is also their own choice.

When they arrived near Hanshan Temple, there were only more than 3,000 people left in the 5,000 forward battalion under Lan Yu's command. And before setting up camp, dozens more fled.

Although nearly half of the troops had escaped, Lan Yu's team had finally settled.

(End of chapter)