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Xu Da was born into a poor peasant family. The hard life made him understand the sufferings of the people earlier and cultivated his strong, calm, brave and courageous character.

Xu Da practiced martial arts since he was young, and grew up to be tall and strong.

In the 12th year of Zhizheng, Guo Zixing of Dingyuan gathered people to revolt and captured Haozhou. Tang He, a native of Haozhou, led more than ten warriors to participate.

At the invitation of Tang He, Zhu Yuanzhang also joined Guo Zixing's army.

In the 13th year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to his hometown on the orders of Guo Zixing to recruit soldiers. The 22-year-old Xu Da resolutely joined the army. When he first met Zhu Yuanzhang, the two got along well. Xu Da then joined Zhu Yuanzhang's army and began his military career.

At that time, there were five marshals in the Red Turban Army in Haozhou City.

"Guo Zixing's faction, Sun Deya and the other three marshals' faction, there are many conflicts between the two factions."

"Zhu Yuanzhang saw that the generals in Haozhou City were fighting for power and could not accomplish anything great, so in the 14th year of Zhizheng, he led Xu Da, Tang He and 24 others to leave Haozhou and march south to Dingyuan. On the way, he successively captured Dingyuan Zhangjiabao and Hengjianshan, recruited and persuaded about 23,000 people to surrender, and then captured Chuzhou in one fell swoop."

"During this process, Xu Da charged into battle bravely and gained a certain prestige in the army."

"In February of the fifteenth year of Zhizheng, Xu Da and Zhu Yuanzhang captured Hezhou in one fell swoop."

"Because Guo Zixing captured Sun Deya, Sun Deya's army also captured Zhu Yuanzhang."

"Xu Da proposed to replace Zhu Yuanzhang with himself, and Zhu Yuanzhang was able to return, and soon Xu Da also escaped and returned."

"After capturing Hezhou, Xu Da was promoted to Zhenfu, a position higher than other generals, and became a capable general under Zhu Yuanzhang."

"In March, Guo Zixing died, and Zhu Yuanzhang gradually took control of the Red Turban Army led by Guo Zixing, and Xu Da was also more valued by Zhu Yuanzhang."

"In June, Zhu Yuanzhang led Xu Da and others to cross the river and head south to capture the important military locations of Caishi and Taiping. When they captured Taiping, they were surrounded by Yuan soldiers on all sides. Yuan Zhongcheng Manzi Hague and Youcheng Aluhui blocked Caishi and Gusukou with huge ships. Yuan general Chen Yesen and his general Kang Maocai were surrounded by water. Xu Da and Deng Yu led their troops out of the city and attacked him from behind with a surprise attack. They set up an ambush at Xiangcheng Bridge, captured Yuan general Chen Yesen, and subdued Kang Maocai and his men."

"In August, Xu Da, under Zhu Yuanzhang's order, captured Lishui, Liyang, Jurong, Wuhu and other places. He was invincible wherever he went."

"In February of the 16th year of Zhizheng, Xu Da returned and joined forces with Chang Yuchun to attack the Yuan Zhongcheng Barbarian Hague, ensuring that Zhu Yuanzhang entered Taiping."

"In March, Xu Da and Zhu Yuanzhang captured Jiqing and used it as their base, changing its name to Yingtian."

"Zhu Yuanzhang was stationed in Yingtian and ordered Xu Da to attack Zhenjiang in the east. They captured Zhenjiang in one day. After capturing Zhenjiang, Xu Da strictly ordered his soldiers not to burn, plunder or kill. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed him as the marshal of the Huaixing Wing Army."

"In July, Zhu Yuanzhang was named Duke of Wu and Xu Da was appointed Assistant Privy Councilor."

"In the 18th year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang personally led an expedition to Wuzhou, and Xu Da was ordered to stay in Yingtian."

"In February of the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Xu Da to march westwards by sea and land to attack the city of Wan, which was occupied by Chen Youliang."

"In the 19th year of Zhizheng, Xu Da and the navy of Yu Tonghai, the judge of the court, captured Chizhou, captured its garrison commander Hong Jun and others, and seized all its warships."

"In May of the 20th year of the reign of Emperor Zhizheng, Chen Youliang sent a large army to attack Chizhou. Xu Da and Chang Yuchun set up an ambush and defeated Chen Youliang's army at the foot of Jiuhua Mountain, beheading 10,000 people and capturing 3,000 alive."

"Chang Yuchun advocated killing 3,000 prisoners to avoid future troubles, but Xu Da disagreed. The two were deadlocked, so Chang reported the situation to Zhu Yuanzhang and asked him to make a decision."

"Zhu Yuanzhang also disagreed with killing the prisoners, but before Zhu Yuanzhang could come back with his decision, Chang Yuchun arbitrarily ordered the killing of nearly half of the prisoners one night. Although Zhu Yuanzhang was displeased, he had no choice but to order the release of the remaining prisoners."

"From now on, whenever Xu Da goes to war, he will be the only one in charge and in command of the generals."

"In August of the 21st year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang led Xu Da and other generals to attack Chen Youliang. They fought a fierce battle in Jiangzhou. Chen Youliang was defeated and retreated to Wuchang. Xu Da took advantage of the victory to pursue him. Because of his military merits, he was promoted to the right chancellor of the Jiangnan Executive Secretariat."

"After Zhu Yuanzhang established Yingtian as his base, he gradually formed a situation where he coexisted with Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang through several years of expeditions to the east and west."

"Because Chen Youliang is proud by nature, and Zhang Shicheng is narrow-minded, if we attack Chen Youliang first, Zhang Shicheng may not come to our aid."

Su Shi: Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to attack Chen Youliang first and then eliminate Zhang Shicheng.

In the 22nd year of Zhizheng's reign, Zhu Zong and Kang Tai, two former surrendered generals of Chen Youliang stationed in Hongdu, rebelled. Xu Da led the army in Hanyang to attack them.

In the 23rd year of Zhizheng, Xu Da followed Zhu Yuanzhang and led his troops across the river, heading north to Anfeng to rescue Han Lin'er and Liu Futong who were attacked by Zhang Shicheng. Chen Youliang gathered an army of 600,000 and concentrated his forces to attack Hongdu.

Zhu Yuanzhang personally led his troops to fight back, and the two sides fought fiercely in Poyang Lake.

During this period, Xu Da led his troops in a fierce battle, defeated the vanguard of Chen Youliang's army, killed more than 1,500 people, and seized a giant ship.

After this battle, the army's morale was high. Although they were confident of defeating Chen Youliang, they were still worried about Zhang Shicheng's sneak attack from the rear, so Xu Da returned to defend Yingtian at Zhu Yuanzhang's order.

After Xu Da returned to Yingtian, he strictly defended, trained soldiers, and strengthened the defense on the eastern front, so that Zhang Shicheng did not dare to act rashly. Zhu Yuanzhang was thus relieved of his worries and focused on dealing with Chen Youliang. Chen Youliang was killed in the battle and the army was defeated, marking the victory of the Battle of Poyang Lake.

In the first month of the 24th year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang was named King of Wu and Xu Da was promoted to the position of Left Prime Minister.

In February, Wuchang was pacified. In August, he joined forces with Yang Qiong and others to seize Jingxiang and other routes, captured Jiangling, Yiling, etc., and eliminated the remaining forces of Chen Youliang.

In his early years, Zhang Shicheng made a living by selling private salt. In the late Yuan Dynasty, he launched the Salt Traders' Uprising. In the 14th year of Zhizheng, he proclaimed himself King Cheng in Gaoyou, named his country Zhou, and established the reign title Tianyou.

After the Battle of Gaoyou, Zhang Shicheng took the opportunity to expand his territory and became an important separatist force in the country.

In July of the 16th year of Zhizheng, Zhang Shicheng sent his navy to attack Zhenjiang. Xu Da sent troops to resist. After defeating Zhang Shicheng's navy in Longtan, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Xu Da to lead troops to attack Changzhou where Zhang Shicheng was. Zhang Shicheng sent his brother Zhang Shide to assist Changzhou. Xu Da knew that Zhang Shide was cunning, so he decided to outsmart him and personally supervise the battle.

Xu Da ordered his men to set up an ambush outside the city and ordered General Wang Jun to lead the cavalry to charge into the enemy from the side. After the battle started, Zhang Shide's army was disrupted by the cavalry and killed by the ambushes. Many people were killed and wounded, and Zhang Shide was also captured alive. The siege of Changzhou lasted for many months.

In March of the 17th year of Zhizheng, the defender of Changzhou, Lu Zhen, fled at night, and Xu Da led his army to finally occupy Changzhou.

Afterwards, Xu Da was ordered to lead troops to conquer Ningguo, Yixing, Changshu and other places. At this point, he was less than a hundred miles away from Pingjiang, the ruling center of Zhang Shicheng.

Zhu Yuanzhang's military offensive against Zhang Shicheng was divided into three steps: first, he took Huaidong, cut off his wings, and forced Zhang Shicheng's forces to retreat to the south of the Yangtze River;
The second is to sweep western Zhejiang, cut off its arms and legs, and form a siege of Pingjiang; the third is to finally encircle Pingjiang and eliminate Zhang Shicheng.

In the 25th year of Zhizheng, Xu Da led his troops to capture Huaidong, and soon captured Taizhou, Gaoyou, Huai'an and other places. He also repelled the attack of the main force of the Yuan army in Xuzhou, and captured and killed more than 10,000 Yuan soldiers.

In just half a year, all the areas east of the Huai River were conquered, and Zhang Shicheng's power was pressed to the Jiangnan region, completing the first phase of Zhu Yuanzhang's plan.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's expedition against Zhang Shicheng, the right prime minister Li Shanchang believed that the conditions for sending troops were not yet ripe and that victory would be difficult. However, Xu Da made a brilliant analysis and came to a conclusion that even Li Shanchang could not argue with.

"In September of the 3th year of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Xu Da as the general and Chang Yuchun as the deputy general, and led elite troops to attack Huzhou and Hangzhou, intending to first cut off Zhang Shicheng's left and right arms." "After three months of fighting, Zhu's army occupied Huzhou and Hangzhou, forming a three-sided encirclement of Pingjiang. "

"In November of the 26th year of the reign of Emperor Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang laid siege to Pingjiang City."

"In this battle, all the famous generals under Zhu Yuanzhang went out. Xu Da's army was located at Fengmen, Chang Yuchun's army was located at Junhuqiu, Guo Zixing's army was located at Loumen, Hua Yunlong's army was located at Xumen, Tang He's army was located at Changmen, Wang Bi's army was located at Panmen, Zhang Wen's army was located at Ximen, Kang Maocai's army was located at Beimen, Geng Bingwen's army was located in the northeast of the city, Qiu Cheng's army was located in the southwest of the city, and He Wenhui's army was located in the northwest of the city."

"The tactics adopted by Zhu's army were to lock the city: first, they built a long siege on all four sides to completely trap Pingjiang;"

"Then a three-story wooden tower was erected, called the Watchtower, which could monitor the movements in the city and be equipped with bows, crossbows, and muskets for attacking the city;"

"In addition, we set up siege weapons such as the Xiangyang Cannon and attacked day and night."

"Someone in the army analyzed the terrain of Pingjiang and gave advice to Xu Da. It is difficult to break the city by attacking all six gates at the same time. It is suggested to focus on one place and attack continuously."

"Xu Da adopted the suggestion and personally led his soldiers to launch a general attack from the Qinmen Gate, and eventually broke into the city."

"Soon after, Chang Yuchun also led his army to break through the Changmen Gate."

"Zhang Shicheng ordered his deputy privy councilor Liu Yi to gather the remaining 20,000 to 30,000 troops and personally led them to engage in street fighting with Zhu's army. After seeing that he was doomed to defeat, he attempted to hang himself, but was rescued by Li Bosheng, a general who surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and handed over to Xu Da."

"Xu Da escorted Zhang Shicheng to Yingtian, waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang to deal with him. Xu Da was therefore awarded the title of Duke of Wei. The battle of Pingjiang lasted for 10 months."

"During this period, Zhang Shicheng launched several counterattacks and broke through the siege. The battles went on for many times. Finally, all the food and equipment in the city were used up, and civilian houses and temples were used for military purposes."

"In November of the 27th year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Xu Da as the general who conquered the enemy and Chang Yuchun as the deputy general, and led an army of 250,000 from the Huai River into Henan to march north to the Central Plains."

"In order to gain the support of the Han people, we issued a manifesto to the people in the north to expel the barbarians, restore China, establish rules and regulations, and save the people."

"At the beginning of the month, Xu Da sent envoys to Yizhou, Shandong to persuade the Yuan Dynasty local armed forces led by Wang Xuan and Wang Xin, father and son, who were influential in Shandong, to surrender."

"But he surrendered and then rebelled again, being fickle. Xu Da gave up trying to persuade him to surrender, marched into Yizhou, and quickly put down the rebellion in Yizhou."

"Xu Da stayed in Yizhou for a while, ordered Han Zheng to guard the Yellow River, Zhang Xingzu to attack Dongping and Jining, and he led his army to capture Yidu, captured the defending general Pu Yanbuhua alive, and then captured Shouguang, Linzi, Changle, Gaoyuan and other places."

"In December, Xu Da's army arrived in Jinan, and the Yuan generals defending the city opened the city and surrendered."

"Xu Da returned to Yidu and attacked Dengzhou. Three months after the Northern Expedition, Shandong was basically pacified."

"In the first year of Hongwu, after Xu Da had basically occupied Shandong, he attacked Bianliang from Jining. At the same time, he sent part of his army to Xuchang via Yongcheng and Guide in Henan, and ordered Deng Yu to lead troops from Xiangyang, Anlu, and Jiangling to attack Nanyang in Henan in the north to support the main force of the northern expedition."

"At the end of March, Xu Da reached Chenqiao. Li Keyi, the Yuan general defending Bianliang, drove his army and civilians to flee westward at night. Yuan general Zuo Junbi led his troops to surrender."

"In early April, Xu Da's army advanced from Hulao Pass to Taerwan in Luoyang, and fought a fierce battle with Yuan general Toyin Timur north of Luoshui. The Yuan general Toyin Timur retreated to Shanzhou."

"The Yuanliang King Aluwen stationed in Luoyang saw that the situation was hopeless and led his officials and people to surrender."

Li Bai: Xu Da continued to lead his troops to capture Songzhou and other states, and ordered his men to attack Tongguan.

Li Siqi and Zhang Sidao, the Yuan generals who retreated to Tongguan in Bianliang, heard that the Ming army was approaching Tongguan and led their troops to flee westward.

In May, Zhu Yuanzhang went to Bianliang to comfort the soldiers and discuss the next march plan.

Xu Da suggested that troops should be sent immediately to capture Dadu. Zhu Yuanzhang accepted Xu Da's suggestion and ordered Xu Da to lead the army to attack Dadu.

In July, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Yingtian. Xu Da and Chang Yuchun led the generals to Heyin, and then divided the troops to enter Hebei.

Xu Da summoned all the generals in Linqing and deployed specific strategies for the march.

Afterwards, Chang Yuchun first captured Dezhou, and then successively captured Changlu and Tianjin.

Prime Minister Yuan, who was guarding Tianjin, fled from Haikou at the sight of the storm, shocking the city and causing great chaos among the people.

The Ming army advanced to Hexiwu and defeated the Yuan army. They took advantage of the victory to capture Tongzhou, and the Yuan army's defending general was defeated and killed in the battle.

When the news of the fall of Tongzhou reached Dadu, Emperor Shun of Yuan was panicked and fled north with his concubines and the crown prince one night.

On August 2, the first year of Hongwu, Xu Da surrounded Dadu. Dadu was unguarded, so the soldiers filled the moat under the city and broke into the city, thus marking the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

The Regent Huai Prince Temur Buhua, the Left Prime Minister Qing Tong, the Pingzhang Dierbisi and Pu Saiyin Buhua, the Right Prime Minister Zhang Kangbo, the Chief Censor Manchuan and others refused to surrender and would rather die than surrender, so Xu Da ordered them to be beheaded.

None of the others who were willing to surrender were killed indiscriminately.

Xu Da ordered the treasury in the city to be sealed off, and the books and maps collected from the Yuan Dynasty were confiscated and transported to Yingtian.

At the same time, soldiers were sent to guard the imperial palace, and were strictly prohibited from harassing or bullying palace maids, concubines, princesses, etc.

Since the rise of the rebel army at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Kuyuk Timur had his own troops and formed his own armed force. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, Wang Baobao had an army of 100,000 and guarded Taiyuan, Shanxi.

On the third day of November in the first year of Hongwu, Xu Da personally led his troops from Beiping to attack Shanxi, and the Western Expedition officially began.

In the subsequent operations, Xu Da captured cities and seized territories while rebuilding the ruling order in the newly occupied areas.

On the tenth day of the eleventh month of the first year of Hongwu, Xu Da's army arrived in Zhending.

After learning that Wang Baobao had led his troops out of Yanmen Pass and was preparing to attack Peking via Bao'an Prefecture.

Therefore, the pace of advancing into Taiyuan was accelerated.

When Wang Baobao arrived in Bao'an Prefecture, he learned that Xu Da was leading his troops to approach Taiyuan. Fearing that his nest would be lost, he ordered his troops to return to fight.

Deputy General Chang Yuchun suggested that they should take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and send elite troops to attack the enemy camp at night, and Xu Da adopted his suggestion.

On November 29th, Xu Da selected elite soldiers and attacked Wang Baobao's camp under the cover of night.

Wang Baobao was at a loss and fled with only 18 riders, and Taiyuan was defeated. (End of this chapter)