"Bell... Clang... Bell ......"

In the thirtieth year of Hongwu, when the north was full of ice and snow, the south of the Yangtze River was not much better.

The morning bell woke up all those who did not want to get out of the bedding, and the ministers of the early court still walked out of the house neatly dressed and headed for the morning court.

The people of each household also began to boil water to wash their faces and prepare for a new day.

For a while, the capital of the Ming Dynasty also had some fireworks.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang was wearing regular clothes under the service of the palace maids, and Zhu Yunwen, who came to greet him half an hour early, stood on the side.

Feeling the clothes worn by the palace maids, Zhu Yuanzhang also said: "You only watched the promotion and transfer of Jilin Wei at night, but it was a bit excessive." ”

His words made Zhu Yunwen's heart tighten, I don't know if this sentence is excessive, whether it is literally excessive, or there are other levels.

"Sun Er also wants these tempered military attaches to be promoted, and then train the negligent soldiers in various places."

"As for Gao Xu's side, Sun Er thinks he shouldn't care."

"If you care, your grandson can explain it to him in a letter."

Zhu Yunwen tried his best to create an appearance that he was doing things for the country, and even created a situation in which he had a close relationship with Zhu Gaoxu.

However, all this he did was seen by Lao Zhu, but he did not choose to expose it, but said lightly:

"Sometimes it's too direct, and it makes people think about it."

"You choose three thousand households from the Shandong Metropolitan Division, and after the beginning of spring, teach the Left Army Governor's Mansion to transfer to Jilin."

"In addition, the letter told Gao Xu's kid half a month in advance, asking him to prepare to pull horses and plough cattle, so as to provide for the tun army and tuntian of the three thousand households."

"Grandchildren are taught." Zhu Yunwen's eyes flickered, he knew that this was his grandfather teaching him to do things.

If you want to mix sand, you should not mix it directly, but give the other party a reason not to refuse.

Transferring three thousand-household offices with a complete system to Jilin City eliminated Zhu Gaoxu's idea of breaking up the military households, and these three thousand-households could be well stuffed into his own people.

This matter is a thing to be happy about, because once he encounters a special situation, Zhu Yunwen can transfer the remaining 1,000 soldiers and horses in Jilin City, leaving only these 3,000 people to control Jilin City.

However, Zhu Yunwen also knows what his grandfather's last words are for.

Tun Jun, this is his old man reminding himself, don't mix too much sand, so as not to make Gao Xu unhappy, so he will say that he is taught.

"With these three thousand households, it will be much easier to deal with Gao Xu in the future......"

Zhu Yunwen squinted his eyes when he bowed, and put away that expression when he got up.

After he got up, Zhu Yuanzhang also put on his regular clothes and put on the often worn Yishan crown.

He turned around and walked out, and Zhu Yunwen hurriedly followed.

It's just that when he walked to the door, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stopped, turned his head and asked deliberately: "By the way, how is the matter in Yunnan?" ”

"Yunnan ......" Zhu Yunwen's thoughts drifted away, and unlike Yingtian, which was cold and frozen, Yunnan at this moment was still like spring all year round.

It's just that such a four seasons are like spring, but a war is breaking out.

On the fifteenth day of the winter month, with Xu Huizu returning to Yunnan with Si Lunfa, Xiping Hou Muchun led his troops to escort Si Lunfa to Yun Jiemu.

However, they had only just walked out of Tengchongwei when they were ambushed by the native soldiers under Daogan Meng.

During the battle, Mu Chun personally led about 500 cavalry to fight, and with the 5,000 pikemen and 500 bronze gunners trained by him, he successfully broke through the siege and returned to Tengchongwei with Silunfa.

Upon learning the news, Xu Huizu, who was sitting in Yongchang, began to mobilize the soldiers and horses of the Sandu Division, who had been assembled in Kunming, to aid Yongchang.

He appointed Mu Chun to command the whole army, and the governors He Fu, Xu Kai, Qu Neng, Gu Cheng and others were all under his command, and the total number of soldiers and horses in Pingbur was 34,300.

On the seventh day of the lunar month, the army assembled in Tengchongwei, and with Mu Chun's order, the 30,000 Ping-Burmese army entered the Luchuan border.

Thick war clouds gathered in the sky over Yunnan......

In order to defeat the Ming army in one fell swoop, Daogan Meng can be said to have swept the border.

At the time of the ambush of Muchun, Daogan Meng launched a national mobilization, mobilizing 120,000 people, and more than 100 soldiers were stationed at Song Pass.

Although Luchuan has experienced civil strife, it is a country where all the people are soldiers, and the division between soldiers and auxiliaries is very strict.

A total of 120,000 people were mobilized this time, and 60,000 soldiers were mobilized.

For Luchuan, which experienced the fiasco of Dingbian and the separation of a large number of Tusi, a population of less than 2 million can mobilize 120,000 people, which can already be called a national army.

After leading what he thought was 60,000 elites to the front line, Daogan Meng and Mu Chun, who was leading his troops to arrive at the Song Pass, met squarely.

Standing on the Song Pass, Daogan Meng looked at the dazzling Ming army flag, and the hand holding the knife unconsciously clenched.

As early as the battle of Dingyuan, he felt that Mu Ying had defeated their Great Dai people just by tricks, so when he saw that Mu Chun's foothold was not stable, Daogan Meng immediately had a thought.

"Get out!"

"I want to use the blood of the Ming army to dye the Daying River red and sacrifice the brothers who died on the border!"

"Roar!!"

Dao Gan Meng ignited the dozens of generals beside him with the simplest sentence, just because all of them thought that the battle of Dingbian was a shame for their Great Dai people.

"Xipinghou, they're out of the customs."

On the road in the valley by the Daying River, when the 60,000 Luchuan army left the customs, Mu Chun and others, who got the news, immediately rode their horses to the front army, observing every move of the Luchuan army, and no one dared to underestimate them.

Although the southwest is outside the Central Plains, Luchuan is a Gu king raised under the Tusi Gu raising system of the Yuan Dynasty.

Even if the Ming army fought with it for the first time, it reaped a heavy price of 20,000 dead and wounded.

If it weren't for Mu Ying's extraordinary ability to take over the battlefield later, I am afraid that after the Battle of Dingbian, the Ming army would even lose Dali and Lijiang.

The battle of Dingbian is the pride of the soldiers of Yunnan Dusi, and it is also the shame in the hearts of the Dai people in Luchuan.

"Knock knock ......"

The drums above the river valley less than six miles wide were anxious, and between the two armies, everyone was in good spirits, especially Qu Neng and He Fu, who were following behind Mu Chun.

They are very aware of the strength of Luchuan, because Yunnan has many copper mines, and the climate of Luchuan is sultry, and the iron armor is easy to rust, so the armor of the Luchuan people is mainly made of copper and iron armor.

Although such armor is inferior to the iron armor of the Ming army, they are a team with armor in the whole army after all, and they cannot be taken lightly at will.

Moreover, although the infantry of Luchuan was inferior to the Ming army in phalanx combat skills, they were very good at guerrilla, ambush and mountain combat.

In terms of training, Luchuan also has elite samurai directly under the monarch, as well as servant armies from India, Burma, and Laos.

These servant armies can provide a considerable number of excellent archers on the battlefield, and cooperate with the elite javelinmen trained by Luchuan to form a strong medium and long-range firepower.

Even in the cavalry, Luchuan can be said to be very powerful.

Although the size of the Yunnan horse is small, so that the Luchuan cavalry can not wear heavy horse armor, making the cavalry defense, but the endurance of the Yunnan horse is tenacious, and it is good at crossing mountains and mountains, which is more suitable for jungle and mountain combat.

"Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo......"

Outside the Song Pass, the Luchuan Army was powerful and strong, and constantly used its own way to suppress the morale of the Ming army.

On horseback, Mu Chun understood that once his morale collapsed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Thinking of this, he seemed to lead five hundred cavalry out of the battle with a seemingly slow manner, forming a straight line in front of the formation, and slowly "pressing" towards the Luchuan army.

"Cavalry, only a few hundred." Dao Gan Meng turned his head to look at his younger brother: "Si Meng, you take three thousand people and thirty war elephants out of battle to frustrate the spirit of the Ming army." ”

"Yes!" A man in his forties, dressed in bronze and iron armor, rode out on a Dian horse, and then began to dispatch troops and horses to follow him.

In a short time, he led 3,000 foot soldiers and 30 war elephants.

Five hundred against three thousand, and the enemy army still has thirty war elephants, such a gap, just listening to it can feel the pressure.

But in the face of such pressure, Mu Chun went out with ease, leaving only Gu Cheng and He Fu to lead the three armies, in order to hit the morale of Luchuan.

"Dad, this war elephant is tall."

"Humph! Just a brute, see how I slaughter him! ”

Among the five hundred horsemen, the younger Qu Tao sighed to Qu Neng, but saw Qu Neng snort coldly and pulled out his arrows from the quiver.

The plum blossom arrow, which is three feet six inches long, is five inches longer than the ordinary arrow, and the longbow in Qu Neng's hand is also exaggerated.

Such a four-foot longbow should not be used on horseback, but Qu Neng's father and son are tall, and as long as they are skilled in equestrianism, they can stand up and shoot arrows.

Qu Neng's self-confidence was created on the western Sichuan Plateau, so he didn't take Luchuan in his eyes.

With a rebellious person like him in charge, the five hundred cavalry who went out with Mu Chun became confident.

Compared with their immobility, Simeng, the leading general of Luchuan, turned over from his horse and dismounted, and rode on the back of a war elephant.

When the 3,000 foot soldiers were ready to go, Si Meng began to let the two elephant soldiers next to him blow their horns.

"Woo woo woo ......"

Suddenly, three thousand foot soldiers and thirty war elephants began to advance, approaching the five hundred cavalry under Mu Chun's command step by step.

Looking at this scene, the bows and arrows and bronze guns in the front row of the Ming army were sweating in their palms, and they couldn't help but worry about Mu Chun.

Soon, the distance between the two sides was only a hundred steps, and Si Meng seemed to be leading the army straight to Mu Chun and the other five hundred cavalry array.

Seeing this scene, Mu Chun raised the longbow in his hand and shouted, "Sons and daughters of the Han family, follow me into the battle!" ”

"Roar!!"

His soldiers responded in an instant, and Qu Neng and his son even led more than 100 forward cavalry to rush straight into the enemy formation, rushing towards the most dangerous thirty war elephants.

"Look for death!"

On the back of the elephant, Si Meng, who was sitting upright, had a fierce face and waved the handsome flag in his hand: "Rush!" ”

"Knock knock ......"

The light sound of brass drums sounded on the elephant's back, and the two elephant soldiers on the left and right also held iron javelins of more than four feet on the left and right, and made full preparations.

When the distance between the two sides was less than fifty paces, the elephant soldiers began to charge in front, and the foot soldiers of Luchuan formed a formation, holding spears to cover the left and right of the elephant soldiers.

When the distance of thirty steps came, Qu Neng, Qu Yu and Qu Tao led more than 100 cavalry still charged unchanged, and Mu Chun divided the 400 cavalry in the rear into two, went around left and right, and at the same time opened his bow and arrows, and began to shoot the Luchuan soldiers.

"Roar!!"

The roar of the war elephant made Qu Neng's horses panic, but before the horses retreated, Qu Neng, Qu Yu, and Qu Tao stood on the stirrups one after another, and while the bow was set up with arrows, the two-hundred-pound riding bow shot four or five arrows in just a few breaths.

The strong bow and arrow hit the front leg and knee of the three war elephants at the head of the row, and the war elephant fell to the ground with a wail, and kept wailing, and the elephant soldiers above were thrown off by the war elephant before they could react.

Before they could react, a few more hard arrows were fired, and seven or eight elephant soldiers wearing copper and iron armor were shot and killed by Qu Neng's father and son.

Qu Neng was brave, his legs clamped the horse's belly, causing the war horse to go crazy and charge forward.

Without waiting for the left and right Luchuan foot soldiers to step forward to stop him, he rode to the fallen war elephant, pulled out his heavy iron spear and pierced the war elephant's eye socket.

"Roar!!"

The terrible howl of the war elephant before it died made the surrounding Luchuan infantry all frightened.

Taking advantage of their attention being attracted by Qu Neng, Mu Chun had already led four hundred cavalry to the left and right flanks of Luchuan soldiers and horses, taking advantage of the situation to launch an assault.

"Kill!!"

"Bid guns, block them!"

Si Meng was on the back of the war elephant, seeing that Qu Neng ended the life of a war elephant with a gun in his hand, and saw Mu Chun preparing to break through without waiting for a reaction, he was actually a little hurried for a while.

Hundreds of javelins were thrown, and Mu Chun held a shield in one hand and a spear in the other.

He swung his gun and fired some javelins, but more javelins flew at him.

When he raised his shield, his arm ached, but when he looked closely, the shield had been pierced through two holes, and the javelin was blocked by his gauntlets.

"Kill!!"

"Don't be afraid, the horse won't dare to bump into you!"

After carrying the first wave of javelins, Mu Chun knew that he had passed the most difficult moment.

He threw down his shield, grabbed the reins in one hand, and rushed away with a spear in the other, and there were also generals in the Luchuan army to appease the army, and clenched the spear in his hand against the soil.

"Shoot!"

Around Muchuan, some of the more than 200 cavalry were armed with bows and arrows, and some were armed with spears.

When the charge reached the front of the formation, the cavalry with bows and arrows began to shoot arrows in front of him, opening up a flaw for Mu Chun, who was rushing in front.

With the help of the flaw, Mu Chun personally rushed into battle, opened the spear that stabbed at him under the cover of the left and right, and chiseled into the Luchuan army formation in one go.

At this moment, Mu Chun seemed to have come to the battle of Dingbian a few years ago.

At that time, his father also sent this to break through the left and right flanks of Luchuan, and then the Luchuan soldiers began to rout.

The kind of scene that was there at that time, it should be now!

"Kill!!"

Mu Chun had strength out of thin air in his chest, stabbing the enemy back and forth with a spear, and letting the arrows beckon him, and he was not afraid.

At the same time, Qu Neng, who stabbed the war elephant to death, was attacked by two war elephants sent by Si Meng.

His horse was knocked to the ground by the war elephant, but he rolled over and escaped just in time, and when he turned around, he threw his spear and stabbed it into the folds of the war elephant's skin.

The war elephant wailed bitterly and trampled his beloved horse to death.

Listening to the neighing of the war horse, Qu Neng took the strong bow and arrow on his waist, and wanted to shoot the elephant soldier on the back of the war elephant.

Before he could make a move, the war elephant fell with arrows in both knees, but it was the two brothers Qu Yu and Qu Tao who shot the arrow in time, creating an opportunity for Qu Neng.

Qu Neng dropped his strong bow and arrows, drew his sword and jumped onto the back of the war elephant, grabbing the spear that was stabbing at him.

He grasped the spear with one hand, pulled the elephant soldier down, and raised his hand as he slashed it, and the big head flew down.

The other two elephant soldiers were horrified when they saw this, and drew their knives to try to fight Qu Neng, but Qu Neng slashed away from the short soldier in his hand, and his throat was cut in the next second.

The three of them are unstoppable, and there is a battlefield like death.

At this time, the cavalry of the Ming army who followed Qu Neng's father and son began to take out clay pots from their horses, and at the same time took out the torches prepared in advance and threw them at the same time as they fell to the war elephants.

In just an instant, several war elephants that were about to attack were on fire and began to roar and collide, and the army formation of 3,000 people was smashed to pieces.

In the face of such a chaotic internal elephant soldier formation, as well as the situation of the Ming army's elite cavalry repeatedly breaking through the formation, Si Meng could not stabilize the position of the army, and a large number of foot soldiers began to fight and retreat because they could not resist.

On the way of the different retreats of the various departments, Mu Chun and Qu Neng, who withdrew from the elephant herd, converged, and after the war, the Ming army, which still had more than 400 cavalry, began to break back and forth under the command of Mu Chun.

Relying on the tall and fast Qin horse under his crotch, he divided the various parts on the retreat road and used cavalry to kill the enemy in a sudden formation.

Such a scene made the morale of the Luchuan army fall, and Dao Ganmeng's face was also extremely ugly.

When Si Meng was defeated and retreated, although Dao Gan Meng did not punish him, everyone knew that Si Meng had lost his trust in Dao Gan Meng's heart.

"Build a camp outside the city, build a ram's horn wall, a moat, and ......"

Seeing that his morale fell, Daogan Meng didn't want to scold the generals in front of the battle to hit morale again, but chose to build a camp outside the city and rely on the city wall to fight a war of attrition and protracted war with Mu Chun.

Soon, the Luchuan army began to cut down the trees outside the pass to build a camp, and Mu Chun led people to cut off the heads of the Luchuan soldiers who died in battle, so as to build a capital view to further reduce the morale of Luchuan.

"Happy!"

"Four hundred and twenty-seven enemies were killed, and only twenty-nine were killed or wounded on our side, which is really happy!"

Three hours after the war, with the help of the greatly rising morale, Mu Chun commanded the army to build a barracks.

In the tent, many generals in the army also shouted with joy after learning of the casualties of the enemy and us.

The Ming army won the victory and beheaded more than 400 ranks, which greatly damaged the morale of Luchuan.

However, with the strength of Dao Gan Meng, the loss of hundreds of people is completely insignificant.

Therefore, Mu Chun was very calm, he sat in the main seat and looked at the casualty book sent by his generals, frowned slightly and said: "This Dao Gan Meng is more appropriate than Si Lunfa to lead the troops, two or three adults died, and the soldiers of all departments can still retreat back to the camp with a fight, which is much longer than the battle of Dingbian back then." ”

"Indeed!" As a general who has fought against Luchuan many times, the fifty-eight-year-old veteran He Fu calmly echoed Mu Chun, and then said: "This Dao Gan Meng is obviously prepared this time. ”

"He has a large number of soldiers and horses, a great momentum, and the support of many chieftains, so that grain and grass can be collected on the spot."

"If we don't do a quick fix, but drag it out, the situation will be unimaginable."

He Fu and Mu Ying have been guarding Yunnan for more than ten years, and his words are still very convincing, even if Qu Neng's father and son, who killed four war elephants together today, did not put forward any rebuttal opinions.

Luchuan was a city-state after all, and its sphere of influence included eleven jurisdictions such as Mengpeng, Mengyang, and Mengding, and its sphere of influence included the central, northern, and northeastern regions of later Myanmar, as well as about one-third of Yunnan.

Under the rule of a local chieftain, nearly 2 million people provided supplies and manpower for Daogan Meng.

The grain from the central Burma Plain and the Longchuan River valley can be continuously transported to the Song Pass, while the Ming army, on the other hand, the road from Kunming to the Song Pass can only be regarded as wide as Yongchang.

Once you get out of Yongchang, the next 150 miles of road will be a rugged and difficult five-foot road.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty had only been vigorously carrying out Tuntian in northwest Yunnan for less than five years, and it was obviously unrealistic to rely on Yongchang, Dali, Lijiang, Menghua and other prefectures and counties to supply grain and grass for the 30,000 army.

Faced with such a situation, Mu Chun also said calmly: "Wei Guogong has dispatched 270,000 stone grain and grass in Yunnan, and it is currently being transported from Kunming. ”

"In addition, Dali, Yongchang and other guards also transported more than 36,000 stone military rations, and the two together are enough to support the army for seven months."

"The current difficulty lies in the fact that our army is not familiar with the terrain of Gaoligong Mountain and Ailao Mountain, and it is easy for Daoganmeng to attack the rear grain road, so it must be resolved quickly."

Mu Chun gave his opinion, but Gu Cheng, who was old, also said: "I'm afraid Dao Gan Meng won't give us a chance to fight quickly." ”

"Indeed......" He Fu frowned and worried: "This battle is different from the battle of Dingbian, this time our main attack, the enemy army is mainly defending, and it is also stationed away, so you can collect food on the spot." ”

"In addition, the Song Pass is leaning on Gaoligong Mountain, and it is close to the Daying River, so it can be said that one man is the pass, and if he wants to attack it, I am afraid that many brothers will be killed and injured."

The terrain of Yunnan is mountainous, and it is a lot of high mountains, many miasma and dense forests, and the Song Pass can be defended with the help of the terrain of Ailao Mountain and Gaoligong Mountain, it can be said that the time and place are favorable, and the people are on the side of Daoganmeng.

Although the Mongols had swept north and south, they still hit their heads and bled in front of Ailao Mountain.

Although they have also swept the world, once the iron cavalry chased away to the north of the desert, beating the Mongols who swept the world into panic like a lost dog, far away from the desert, but in the face of Ailao Mountain and Gaoligong Mountain, they are still a little apprehensive.

It's just that in the face of such a situation where all the generals have concerns, Mu Chun stood up and said loudly: "Today, go deep into the Kou realm, hold on to it, win will live, defeat will die, my generation will receive the deep favor of the Lord, and the success of repaying virtue is today, if I wait for the contract, those who have merit will be rewarded, and those who retreat will be beheaded!" ”

His words were like iron, and his righteousness was awe-inspiring, which cheered up many commanders who were still worried about the remarks of He Fu, Gu Cheng and others.

At this moment, a figure stood up and attracted everyone's attention.

"The last general, the Golden Tooth Guard, commanded Wang Zhao to have something to do!"

A five-foot-three-four-inch general stood up, followed by two commanders who were also in charge.

One of them, although his skin is much darker, if Zhu Gaoxu is here, he should be able to recognize his identity.

"Say it." Mu Chun opened his mouth to allow, he remembered Wang Zhao, when Daogan Meng sent people to hunt down Si Lunfa, it was this person who led the troops to block the Shuiyan Pass, and sent people to escort Si Lunfa to find himself.

"The last general has been in the Golden Tooth for a long time, and he knows a path that can climb the Gaoligong Mountain, and he can walk thousands of steps!"

"Really?" Wang Zhao's words made Mu Chun's eyes light up, and then questioned.

"The last general is willing to make a military order!" Wang Zhao's unthinking answer convinced people that what he said was true.

When Qu Neng heard this, he immediately said to Mu Chun: "Marquis Xiping, the last general is willing to send the dog and the king commander to go to that trail to find out the facts!" ”

"Good!" Hearing Qu Neng's words, Mu Chun also set his eyes on Qu Yu: "Commander Qu, dare to take three hundred people to explore the road with Commander Wang?" ”

"Why don't you dare!" Qu Yu came out to take over the military order, and Mu Chun, who saw this, also ordered Qu Yu and Wang Zhao to lead 300 people each to Gaoligong Mountain to explore the way.

In the past two days, the swelling of the hand has begun to subside, and when the swelling is almost gone, it should be able to recover the two watches

(End of chapter)