Chapter 635: The decisive battle in the Central Plains (Part 1)
Although both the Yuanmeng and Manchu dynasties were successfully established, there were too many potential obstacles, so they were not internally stable.
And if you want to completely consolidate the internal situation, this will not be achieved overnight.
Temujin and Nurhaci obviously knew this, and all the queens who became emperors tacitly chose to recuperate.
Whether it is Yuan Meng or Manchu Qing, their strength has expanded too fast, and it is impossible to completely digest it without several years of repair.
Therefore, both sides are preparing to carry out a major overhaul that will last for several years. They will first twist themselves into a single rope, work hard to tap their internal potential, and then continue to fight in all directions. This is the safest way.
Yuanmeng chose to suspend his troops for training, which gave the Jin army valuable breathing time, and took advantage of this gap to build Zhenbeiguan in one fell swoop.
Zhenbeiguan and Yanmenguan have since become the two pillars of northern Xinjiang. If Yuanmeng wants to go south to the Central Plains, he must capture one of them, and neither one is so easy to capture.
The Qing Dynasty's cultivation also allowed the Youzhou Army to move south with confidence until Huang Chao was completely annihilated.
In the fourth year of Zhongping (187), July 10th.
Just over a month after the establishment of Yuanmeng and ten days after the establishment of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Xiang Yu and Zhu Yuanzhang finally completely defeated Fang La's rebels under a two-pronged attack.
Fang La failed to break out and was captured alive by Xiang Yu. Except for a few who died in battle, most of his troops expressed their willingness to surrender, and were immediately assigned to the front line to resist the Han Dynasty.
As for Fang La himself, on the way to Chenliu, the Ming capital, he bit his tongue and committed suicide after leaving a thousand-word confession.
The princes who once dominated the Jianghuai River ended up regretting and committing suicide, which is really embarrassing.
At this time, Liu Yao's Yangzhou coalition forces had already invaded Jianghuai, and Sun Jian had even taken the lead in capturing the important town of Hefei. If they were allowed to continue their advance, the Ming Dynasty's southern defense line would be completely defeated.
In order to block the enemy forces in the south, Zhu Yuanzhang and Xiang Yu divided their troops into two groups. Zhu Yuanzhang went to resist Liu Yao's Yangzhou coalition forces, while Xiang Yu led the main force to support Ming Emperor Zhang Sheng.
The momentum of the Sizhou Allied Forces is really too strong. In addition to Li Yuanba, 'the most powerful general in the world', there are also top ten generals such as Yuwen Chengdu and Wu Yunzhao. In addition, there are also elites like the Xiliang Iron Cavalry.
Although Zhang Sheng was not weaker than the Sizhou coalition in terms of military strength, the generals and soldiers of both sides were very different in combat power. Therefore, Zhang Sheng could only defend passively, and it was extremely difficult to defend.
Therefore, Xiang Yu must also go to support, because if he doesn't go, the East Route Army led by Zhang Sheng will really be unable to hold on.
On July 28, the fourth year of Zhongping, Xiang Yu and Zhang Sheng met up.
When the Ming army saw Xiang Yu's return, their morale was greatly boosted, and they were no longer afraid to avoid fighting.
Early the next morning, Xiang Yu went out to fight, and faced Wu Tianci in the first battle, and was able to kill him in three rounds and fled. When he joined forces with his brother Wu Yunzhao to fight against the enemy, he still lost to Xiang Yu in fifteen rounds.
Lu Zhi originally wanted Yu Wencheng to cooperate with the Wu brothers and the three of them to join forces to defeat Xiang Yu, but Yu Wencheng refused directly.
After the defeat of the Wu brothers, Yuwen Chengdu went out to challenge Xiang Yu and fought with him for more than 200 rounds alone. Unfortunately, he was defeated in the end.
After Yuwen Chengdu was defeated, the Han army could only send Li Yuanba.
On August 1, under the spotlight, Xiang Yu and Li Yuanba fought again, and this battle was so dark that the sky was dark and the earth was dark.
The two sides fought for a day and a night, and finally ended in a draw.
More than a year later, Xiang Yu climbed to the top again with his own strength after being shot down by Li Yuanba, and almost single-handedly reversed the situation of the Ming Army's east road. He truly deserves the title of God of War.
On the night of August 7, Xiang Yu once again led a hundred cavalry to rob the camp.
Although this operation was discovered by Li Shimin, Xiang Yu still used his excellent cavalry command ability to disrupt the Han camp and kill Han general Yuwen Zhiji. In the end, only Xiang Yu broke out.
After a series of setbacks, the Han army general Lu Zhi finally fell ill due to overwork.
At this moment, Dong Zhuo, who was far away in Liangzhou, saw the opportunity and directly bypassed the court and appointed Li Shimin as the coach.
At such a critical juncture, the imperial court did not dare to quarrel with the Liangzhou Army, so it could only acquiesce that Li Shimin would be the commander-in-chief and prepare to wait until the Yellow Turbans were eliminated.
But the court never expected that Li Shimin would actually completely control the Sizhou coalition forces, and then Sizhou would also be completely controlled by the Liang army.
After Li Shimin took over as the coach, he not only changed Lu Zhi's previous tactics, but also adopted a conservative strategy of switching to offense and defense.
Li Shimin, who was obsessed with stability, wanted to hold back the main force of the Ming army and wait for the fighter planes to appear.
Now the Ming army seems to have the advantage, but in reality it is like walking on a tightrope. As long as one front makes a mistake, the whole front will collapse.
August 20th.
Dou Jiande, who was defending the two counties and two kingdoms in southern Jizhou, was lured out by Han Xin's plan, and was forced to engage in a small decisive battle with the Jizhou coalition forces.
In this battle, 30,000 Ming troops faced off against 40,000 Han troops, and the result naturally ended with the victory of the Han army.
Dou Jiande's subordinate Liu Heitai fought several Han generals in this battle, and was finally stabbed under his horse by Zhang He when he was exhausted.
Even Dou Jiande himself was seriously injured by Yan Liang and almost died in the battle.
Of course, the Han army's victory was not easy. Chen Yougui, Chen Youliang's younger brother, was killed by Liu Heitai. So far, among Chen Youliang's three younger brothers, only one Chen Youren remained.
Dou Jiande, who escaped with his life, finally gave up Anping County and came down to defend it.
However, due to the previous defeat, the morale of the Ming army in Jizhou was greatly affected. Even if Dou Jiande defended it wholeheartedly, it would be difficult to prevent the fall of a large area of the country.
Seeing that the situation was getting more difficult day by day, Dou Jiande became so anxious that his already seriously injured body eventually worsened and he fell ill and fell into a coma.
Dou Jiande's life hung on a thread, and the Ming army in Jizhou lost its commander, so he could only ask for help from the Ming court.
After Zhang Sheng discussed with his advisers, considering that Jizhou was related to the safety of the northern front, he decided to order Xiang Yu to stay in Yanzhou, and sent Fan Zeng to assist him in resisting Li Shimin, while he personally led the army to stabilize the war situation in Jizhou.
With the arrival of Zhang Sheng and Zhang Liang, the Jizhou Ming Army finally had a backbone. With the addition of Yanzhou reinforcements and fierce generals, the situation in Jizhou once again reached a deadlock.
In order to break the deadlock, Han Xin once again devised schemes against the Ming army, but Zhang Liang saw them through.
August 28th.
Huang Chao personally led the army, set up an ambush during Kong Rong's march, and defeated Beihai's 20,000-strong army.
The only flaw in this battle was that Beihai generals Taishi Ci and Wu Anguo arrived in time and rescued Kong Rong at the critical moment, otherwise Beihai governor Kong Rong would die.
