Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 287 The First Battle is the Decisive Battle!
On the city wall of Chongqing, in that instant, Zhu Yuanzhang became the most dazzling sun of the Ming Dynasty.

After delivering an inspiring speech, accompanied by his entourage and the cheers of the people, Old Zhu walked into the mountain city.

Since the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, Chongqing has suffered from wars. In particular, at the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols attacked Sichuan and fought in Diaoyu City in Hezhou for more than 30 years, leaving the city old and dilapidated.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Dai Ding, the commander of Chongqing Garrison, rebuilt the city on the main body of the old city. Basically, the current nine open and eight closed seventeen gates are what was built at that time.

More than two hundred years have passed, and the city walls of Chongqing are now mottled and gray, bearing the marks of time, with many places covered in ivy.

At this time, Chongqing had been completely emptied by the Manchus, and there was almost no commerce left. Many houses had collapsed, and there were ruins everywhere. Only at the foot of the southern city mountain could there be some houses.

These houses were temporary structures built after the thirteen families from Kuidong migrated here; otherwise, Chongqing, and even Chengdu at that time, would have been a lifeless place.

It can be said that the Qing army's indiscriminate killing of innocent people, coupled with the Southern Ming, Zhang Xianzhong, the Yaohuangtu Army, and various bandits and robbers, as well as natural and man-made disasters such as famine, plague, tiger attacks, cannibalism, and refugees, had left the entire Sichuan region in ruins.

of course.

Perhaps they were also a little angry.

In those towering mountains, the roars of tigers were incessant, and tigers appeared in packs. When Old Zhu set off from Yibin, he was even attacked by a tiger pack.

Don't be fooled by the fact that tigers in later generations fight alone; in ancient times, there were tiger packs. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were even instances in Hunan where hundreds of tigers surrounded a village.

It is evident that at this time, Sichuan's population had dwindled to the point that wild animals roamed freely.

Currently, the largest group in Sichuan is the military, including the forces of Wu Sangui and Li Guoying in northern and western Sichuan.

Eastern Sichuan and the Aobai region north of Chongqing.

The Thirteen Families of Kuidong in Nanchuan and Chongqing, as well as the Hongwu Ming Army and other forces.

All things considered, the population reached one million.

In contrast, the local people of Sichuan live scattered in the deep mountains and forests of various parts of Sichuan, struggling to survive. They have to be careful at all times to guard against war, banditry, and tiger attacks. Their total population does not exceed 500,000.

After entering the mountain town, we continued upwards. The higher we went, the less human habitation there was. What we saw didn't resemble a city at all, but rather a desolate mountain forest with some remaining buildings.

We continued until we reached the summit of Nanshan, where the iron mast stands. At an altitude of over 600 meters, it is the highest point in the main urban area. The beacon tower set up by Dai Ding, the commander of the Chongqing Garrison, is still preserved there. It overlooks the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers and serves as a navigation mark, lookout tower, and fire warning.

Looking down from such a high place, even the vast Yangtze River appears very small. Moreover, the mountaintop is sometimes shrouded in thick fog, making it impossible to see the situation below and only some hazy scenery can be seen.

However, the weather was quite nice today, and there was no fog.

The accompanying guards brought binoculars, and through them, Zhu observed a large number of troops stationed along the banks of the Jialing River in the distance, which is now Chongqing's Jiangbei District.

Moreover, people were continuously arriving from behind; judging from a cursory glance through the binoculars, there were at least tens of thousands of them.

"Get the drone."

Old Zhu put down his binoculars.

Although this is a military-grade telescope, the Nanshan iron mast is about two kilometers away from the north bank, and it is located at an altitude of more than 600 meters, so the view is naturally not very clear.

Soon, dozens of drones took off. The wind on the mountaintop was still very strong, but the domestically produced drones were not affected at all and flew into the distance.

This military-grade drone represents the industrial capabilities of the world's number one industrial power by 2032.

It can not only withstand strong winds of level 7-8, but can even fly very far.

From the drone's overhead view, the mountains and rivers of Chongqing are laid out in full view. In the distance, the north bank of the Yangtze River is a low hilly area, with small hills averaging one to two hundred meters high undulating. Groups of troops surge in, cutting down trees and building camps.

"His Majesty."

Liu Mingyi said, “We have conducted reconnaissance in Hongjiang, Mudong and other places a few days ago, and there are still a large number of Jurchens coming. These are just the vanguard, and most of them are Green Standard Army, with only a very small number of Jurchens supervising the battle. I think that while the Jurchens are setting off in full force, if we send someone to raid them along the east bank of the river and catch them off guard, we will surely defeat them.”

"hehe."

Old Zhu said with a smile, "It's good that you have such tactical ideas. It seems that the instructors over there have not taught us in vain."

Liu Mingyi smiled sheepishly.

Due to the purpose of military training, there were naturally different requirements for Hongwu soldiers and officers.

The first thing the soldiers had to learn was how to use weapons, and the second was how to read and write.

The officers had much higher requirements.

The use of weapons is secondary; the most important thing is tactics.

Although teaching these things in the Hongwu world may seem meaningless, the huge technological gap in weapons has allowed them to dominate any era.

But regardless of whether it's necessary or not, it still needs to be taught.

Therefore, the upper-level generals during the Hongwu reign often already possessed a certain level of tactical skills and had made some progress.

However, compared to Lao Zhu, his vision and perspective are still far inferior.

Then Old Zhu pointed to the northwest and said, "If we follow your method, we can indeed inflict massive casualties on the Tartars. Just like in the Battle of Yiling, when Liu Bei retreated to Baidi City, his army was less than one-tenth of its original strength. By using the narrow terrain to attack the Tartars, their troops would be exhausted and unable to cross, inevitably resulting in the destruction of their ships, chaos among their ranks, and countless people even jumping into the river. But have you considered that at most, we would only kill tens of thousands of people?"

"what?"

Liu Mingyi asked in bewilderment, "Are these the only people we can kill?"

"good."

Old Zhu nodded and looked at Zhu Di, saying, "Fourth Prince, can you see where the problem lies?"

Zhu Di gazed at the towering mountains to the northeast and said, "The narrow terrain of the mountains and rivers restricts the Jurchens, and it also restricts us. All we can do is kill and wound their vanguard, forcing them to retreat and creating chaos. As we advance, the narrow roads will surely be blocked by their piles of supplies. It's impossible to easily annihilate their entire army. In this way, we only need to abandon the vanguard, and their rear troops can still retreat at their leisure."

"Hahahahahaha."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "That's right."

After saying that, he glanced at Liu Mingyi and said, "You still have to learn."

"I see. Thank you, Your Majesty. I understand now. Your Majesty's foresight is truly remarkable; otherwise, I would have made a grave mistake."

Liu Mingyi hurriedly said.

Li Laiheng, Yuan Zongdi, and others around him listened as if they were hearing a myth.

Keep in mind that the enemy was hundreds of thousands of Manchu Tartars, yet they acted as if they were discussing whether to eat the chicken leg or the chicken wing first when slaughtering a chicken.

But they dared not question it at all.

This is the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, a legendary and mythical figure. Perhaps only someone like him would say such a thing.

"Let them in and fight them."

After looking at it, Zhu Di said, "Fourth Prince."

"exist."

"Later, have Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan lead men to the riverbank to form ranks and bolster their morale."

"Yes."

Zhu Di understood his meaning and agreed.

Old Zhu then looked at Li Laiheng and the others and said, "You all go too, and take everyone with you, try to pack as many people as possible."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

No one dared to ask, so they all bowed and agreed.

Old Zhu continued to observe the situation and asked, "Is that all? The Qing court's main force is dragging such a long line, what about Wu Sangui and Li Guoying?" "Your Majesty, Li Guoying's troops, Wang Yizheng's troops, and Zhang Changgeng's troops have already advanced into Zizhou, Tongchuan, Shunqing and other places."

"Where is Wu Sangui? I intend to capture him alive and execute him by slow slicing."

"He is now holed up in the Mianzhou and Tongchuan area."

Liu Mingyi replied.

Wu Sangui was terrified.

Zhu Di said.

"Hehe, then let's just ignore him."

Old Zhu smiled and said, "That's all for today. Fourth brother, you go ahead and do it."

"Yes."

Zhu Di agreed and immediately descended the mountain.

When they arrived at the foot of the mountain and issued the order, Li Dingguo and the others were quite surprised.

They had witnessed the might of the Hongwu army and couldn't understand why they weren't sent there, but instead had to be dragged along.

Isn't this sending them to their deaths?
"Father's meaning is very simple: show weakness to the enemy. Remember, prepare plenty of arrows when the time comes."

Faced with Li Dingguo and the others' questions, Zhu Di simply smiled and said...

"To feign weakness?"

Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, Li Laiheng, and others were completely baffled.

Seeing how foolish they were, even Zhu Yunfeng couldn't help but say, "It's very simple. What the Great Ancestor wanted was to annihilate the Tartars completely, leaving no one alive. If we directly show too much strength, the Tartars will run away, making it difficult to kill them. If we show weakness and let them think they can defeat us, they will besiege Chongqing with heavy troops. Chongqing is only a small place, and if we pile up our forces, we can directly bombard the area with artillery, killing a large number of Tartars, and then launch a counterattack to settle scores. Only then is there a possibility of annihilation. So the key is whether we can lure all the Tartars to Chongqing, get them to gather together so we can kill them all at once. The more we pretend to be numerous and powerful, the more they will think we are bluffing, and thus feel more at ease deploying troops."

"This"

They thought it made a lot of sense, but Li Dingguo was still surprised and said, "Your Highness, I heard that Emperor Taizong easily captured Kunming. Wu Sangui, Zhao Tingchen, Lin Tianqing and others saw it all. They were in the Tartar army, so they couldn't have not warned us, could they?"

"You know a bit about fighting, but you don't understand politics."

Zhu Yunfeng laughed.

"Um, please explain in detail, Your Highness."

Li Dingguo was extremely curious.

"This has destabilized the Tartars' foundation. The Taizu's propaganda offensive has taken effect, the south is eager for a Ming rebellion, and undercurrents are stirring throughout the land. A slight misstep could trigger a large-scale uprising. Therefore, the Tartars must deal with us as soon as possible to stabilize the region."

Zhu Yunfeng held up one finger and said, "In terms of time, this is disadvantageous to them. The Tartar court will definitely urge them to take us down as soon as possible."

"Well"

The group looked at each other and agreed that it was indeed true.

After all, Lao Zhu's propaganda war is too exaggerated. What kind of good person can distribute millions or even tens of millions of flyers overnight?
These sheets of paper, white as jade and smooth and glossy, must be priceless.

As a result, under the onslaught of so many leaflets, rumors spread throughout Jiangnan, and the Tartar government was unable to suppress them at all.

Many of the Tartar officials were former Ming officials who had surrendered to the enemy. Some of these people regretted their defection and secretly fueled the flames, causing the rumors to spread rapidly throughout the south and gain widespread momentum.

If it weren't for the fact that the Qing Dynasty still had a large number of troops deployed in the southeast to guard against Zheng Chenggong, uprisings would probably have already broken out in various parts of Jiangnan by now, with rebel armies everywhere.

"The second reason is even simpler. The brilliance of the Emperor Taizu's move lies in its combination of deception and reality. Even if Wu Sangui and the others warned Ao Bai, since we have the ability to easily defeat Wu Sangui, why would we make such a big show of it? Wouldn't that show our insecurity?"

Zhu Yunfeng raised his second finger and said, "In this way, the enemy will think of this problem and will inevitably think that we are still the weaker party. Although there will definitely be some probing, as long as we disguise ourselves well, we will not have to worry about not being able to deceive the Tartars."

This is the most crucial point.

It wouldn't be easy to deceive the Tartars, after all, Wu Sangui and others had witnessed the power of mortars firsthand.

However, it's also possible to deceive.

They were tricked into thinking that such an offensive would not last long, for example, due to insufficient artillery shells.

Once you successfully deceive them, everything will be much easier.

As for how to deceive.

This is the brilliance of Old Zhu's arrangement.

A large number of Southern Ming troops were deployed on the riverbank, including the thirteen families of Kuidong, Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, and the followers of local chieftains from various parts of the southwest, totaling more than 100,000 men, so that the Tartars could see them.

When the Tartars saw that the Ming army had so many troops and seemed to have a great momentum, they would definitely wonder why the Ming army was not defending the city but fighting them in the open field.

Is this a scam?
Perhaps the other side is just bluffing, preparing artillery fire like they did when they attacked Kunming, to lure the Tartars into a large-scale attack.

From another perspective, if the Ming army really had the same overwhelming offensive as in Kunming, why would they need to set up such a trap to lure them in?
Therefore, the Tartars might consider that the Ming army's artillery firepower might be insufficient, making it impossible to launch a significant offensive.

It's like when you're playing a game, the boss is invincible because he doesn't have a health bar, and you can't kill him at all. He then turns around and wipes you out. That feeling is despairing.

But once the BOSS suddenly shows up his health bar and he gets scared, dodging your skills and attacks, then what do you have to worry about?

Old Zhu deliberately showed his health bar to make the Tartars think they had a chance of winning, so they concentrated their forces to attack.

But the Jurchen Tartars could never have imagined that while the health bar was indeed lit up, it actually had unlimited health and an instant-death ultimate move, making it virtually invincible.

of course.

Given the nature of the Jurchens, they certainly wouldn't be easily fooled.

They will inevitably send Green Standard Army troops to launch a probing attack, since it will be Han Chinese who die, so they don't care.

Old Zhu naturally played along with their act.

They fired mortars to make a commotion, but the scale and speed of the firing gradually decreased, giving the Tartars the illusion that their ammunition was becoming increasingly scarce.

Once Ao Bai has gathered all the troops from Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hunan, and Hubei, including those of Wu Sangui, Li Guoying, Zhang Changgeng, and Wang Yizheng, plus the army he brought from Beijing, more than 400,000 soldiers will surround the small city of Chongqing, and then there will be a good show to watch.

have to say.

Old Zhu does have a very big appetite.

He wanted to kill all 400,000 people.

They killed them, not took them prisoner.

No wonder he was able to write about slaughtering a million soldiers in Jiangnan.

Basically, if this battle really goes as Zhu Yuanzhang expected, the Manchu Qing dynasty would fall apart in an instant.

After all, the Manchu army had less than a million troops in the whole country. Adding the troops in Yunnan and Guizhou that had been defeated by Zhu Di, and excluding the troops currently gathered in Sichuan, the Manchu army had only more than 300,000 troops left.

Of these, more than 100,000 were stationed along the southeast coast to defend against Zheng Chenggong, and half of the remaining 200,000 were stationed throughout the country. The reserve force left in the hands of the Qing court was only about 100,000.

If Zhu Yuanzhang succeeds in this battle, uprisings will inevitably break out in the southeastern coastal areas, and Zheng Chenggong and the anti-Qing forces in Jiangnan will rise up to resist the Qing in an instant.

It might even ignite a nationwide resistance against the Qing, and the remaining manpower of the Qing government would soon be overwhelmed.

It can be said.

This battle will determine the fate of the world.

The first battle is the decisive battle!
(End of this chapter)