In the second year after the end of the Third Northern Expedition, that is, in the 14th year of Hongwu (1381 AD), Zhu Yuanzhang, as the emperor, launched a larger-scale Northern Expedition.

This is also the fourth Northern Expedition since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

If the target of the third Northern Expedition last year was the remnants of the Northern Yuan army, then this time his goal became the real main force of the Northern Yuan.

Because the object it is facing this time is Beiyuan Pingzhang Nai'er.

Pingzhang is an official name, and his full name is Pingzhang Zhengshi. He also held this position before Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor. Now he should be equivalent to the governor of several provinces. At that time, the Northern Yuan Dynasty was considered half a prime minister.

How to say the name Nai'er Buhua? It's simple but simple, and it's hard to remember it. We can roughly follow the previous memory method of memorizing English words, without any blurry eyes.

But I don't know what the name means.

I am very familiar with Mongolian language, so I can only say sorry to everyone.

Anyway, it was this guy named Nai'erbuhua who took advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's happiness in the first month of the New Year, and he took a group of people to conquer the northern border of the Ming Dynasty.

Actually, if I want to say this, I can't blame the Beiyuan.

Zhu Yuanzhang also had some reason here.

After all, their motivation is simple.

Because they need to eat.

They are also human beings. Although they are outsiders, they have to eat!

The rulers of the Northern Yuan Dynasty had no choice. They could not herd sheep or cattle in heavy snow, but they still had to eat food. They had not thought about buying food, but Boss Zhu only said one word and did not sell it.

He wanted to starve these savages to death!

If you want to pay for it, you won’t give it to me, but you can’t plant it yourself.

It won't work if you don't eat it.

What to do?

Then there is only one way left.

Rob.

Grab food from these unruly people.

Snatch these foods that were originally tributed to us through violent means!

Since you have decided to steal it, you must choose a good time. Take advantage of the weakest defense and the most distracted time, and then you will have everything.

But when is the best time?

Of course, it is the time when the enemy is most happy, and only at this time the enemy's defense is the weakest.

And the Chinese New Year is a good opportunity!

When everyone is busy celebrating the Spring Festival, who will have nothing to do to deal with a group of barbarians riding stubborn donkeys and drinking the northwest wind?

Nai'er Buhua just seized this opportunity.

When Zhu Yuanzhang was completely unprepared, he suddenly came like this.

And conquered the southern border in one fell swoop.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was not easy to mess with. Zhu Yuanzhang, who hated these Yuan soldiers, had never spared them.

You bunch of bastards are not dead yet?

The regime was already absolutely stable and he had no time to participate in the Spring Festival Gala, so he announced a military order to clear the invading enemies.

The Fourth Northern Expedition was the beginning.

This time, the power Zhu Yuanzhang used was huge.

He used more than 300,000 soldiers alone.

If Zhu Yuanzhang claimed that the number of troops and horses that Zhu Yuanzhang claimed was very rich before the founding of the country, then there is no need to fake the number of troops now. 300,000 is a real number.

For a huge state machine, it was no problem for the Ming Dynasty, which occupied a vast river and mountains, to draw 300,000 troops.

This is also the battle with the largest number of troops mobilized by Zhu Yuanzhang since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

It is obvious that this time he has the confidence to win.

If the failure of the second Northern Expedition was a shame, then this Northern Expedition had only one purpose.

Acquit shame.

Avenge your previous shame.

For the absolute victory of this war, he organized an absolutely huge leadership lineup.

In the first month of the 14th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang first appointed Duke Xu Da as the general of the capture of the enemy, sent his godson Mu Ying as his deputy, and led half of the troops to form the Western Route Army, attacking the enemy from the left.

At the same time, Duke of Xinguo Tang He was appointed as the left deputy general, and Fu Youde, the Marquis of Yingchuan, was appointed as the deputy, and led another part of the troops to form the Eastern Route Army, attacking the third army from the right.

The two armies went out to the frontier in two directions to fight north.

Before leaving the frontier, Zhu Yuanzhang, as the emperor, personally made a detailed combat plan.

The failure of the second Northern Expedition was largely due to inaccurate information and blind confidence, which led to the final defeat. Zhu Yuanzhang would never make the same mistake twice.

So he first sent reconnaissance troops to take the lead in the frontier, with only one purpose.

Psychological intelligence.

If the enemy is ambushed, choose the strategy of luring the enemy into depth and wait for the enemy to attack when they are tired after a long-distance attack.

If there is no ambush, select elite troops to attack the enemy's camp.

Not long after the reconnaissance troops returned, the combat plan was also determined.

Go straight to the enemy camp.

On April 15, 14th year of Hongwu, under the gaze of Zhu Yuanzhang, the two armies set out in two groups to fight the Northern Expedition.

This is a battle with total mismatch in troops.

Whether in terms of military deployment or the ability of generals, the Ming army, which had occupied large areas in the north and south, had an absolute advantage.

The first thing to confront the enemy head-on was the Donglu Army Tanghe troops.

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's military configuration, it should be said that he still took good care of Tang He's old subordinate. He knew that Tang He was inadequate in commanding troops and combat, so he sent Fu Youde as his deputy. Zhu Yuanzhang believed that as long as he fought according to his own strategy, there would be no big mistakes.

As long as he can win this battle, he can justify the promotion of Tang He.

This can be said to give Tang He a chance to make contributions in vain.

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's pre-war arrangement, the vanguard of General Fu Youde was still here. He fully demonstrated his spirit of winning every battle. He first met the enemy in Huishan (now southeast of Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia).

This is a not too strong, but definitely not weak.

Faced with this team, Fu Youde, who fully analyzed the enemy's forces, chose the most conservative and safest combat strategy in his opinion.

Night attack, assault.

In the evening of that day, Fu Youde, who had already finished the decoration, issued an order to attack.

The Battle of Ash Mountain broke out.

Fu Youde's troops penetrated into the enemy's heart like a sharp blade. After fighting, the Yuan army, who was completely unprepared, was defeated and captured a large number of Yuan army and cattle, horses and animals.

The first battle was won.

After winning the first battle, Fu Youde was not willing to win a small victory, so he turned his attention to another place.

The specific location is in the area of ​​the North Yellow River (now the West Liao River).

There is a real main force of the Northern Yuan Dynasty here, and they also have a magnificent boss. His name is Bilibuhua. His identity is comparable to that of Naier Buhua, and they are both Pingzhang political affairs.

There was also a deputy stationed with him, who was in the Grand Historian, named Wentong.

After dealing with the shrimp soldiers and crab generals in front, Fu Youde set his sights on them.

No one can be said to be a big fish. As long as you catch him, you can win and triumphantly.

However, when Fu Youde had just led his troops to march to the North Yellow River, he had heard that Fu Youde, who was famous for his evil star, gave up his resistance and ran away without saying a word. He led a large number of brothers to retreat wildly to the rear.

The enemy has retreated, and it is logical that this battle has been won.

But Fu Youde was not satisfied.

He didn't want to just let go of others so easily.

This time he went to the expedition, he needed a high-ranking official with enough weight to be his captive. If he didn't spend money, he would be the most suitable candidate.

So he led his troops and cavalry to pursue him lightly. The final result was that Pingzhang of Beiyuan was not a flower, and Taishi Wentong was both captured.

After capturing the two, Fu Youde and Tang He, whose purpose had been achieved, met, and then led their troops back.

Since then, the Eastern Route Army has taken the lead in winning.

On the other hand, the Western Route Army, led by Xu Da, had just walked out of the Gubeikou of the Great Wall (now northeast of Miyun, Beijing). Xu Da, who learned the lesson last time, did not blindly look for the main force of the enemy to fight directly.

Instead, choose a strategy of moving forward step by step.

He ordered Mu Yingxian to lead his troops to capture Gaozhou (Pingquan, Hebei), then cross Shanxi and go straight to Inner Mongolia.
To be continued...