On the sixth day of July, Zhu Yuanzhang personally led 200,000 naval troops to rescue Hongdu. Arriving at Hukou, Jiangxi Province on the 16th.
First, troops were sent to guard the mouth of the Jingjiang River (now south of Susong, Anhui), and another army was stationed at Nanhuzui (now northwest of Hukou, Jiangxi) to cut off Chen Youliang's return route; he also sent troops to guard Wuyang Ferry (now east of Nanchang County, Jiangxi) to prevent Chen Youliang's army. Escape; Zhu Yuanzhang personally led the navy from Songmen (today's Duchangnan, Jiangxi) into Poyang Lake, forming a closed-door and dog-fighting trend.
When Chen Youliang heard that Zhu Yuanzhang's army was coming to help, he withdrew from the siege of Hongdu and went east to Poyang Lake to fight. A life-and-death battle of unprecedented scale and intensity began on Poyang Lake.
On the 20th, the two armies encountered each other on the lake surface of Kanglang Mountain (now Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province). At that time, Chen Jun's giant ships were united in formation, spread out for dozens of miles, "looking like a mountain", and their momentum was breathtaking. In view of the fact that his giant ships were connected end-to-end, making it difficult to advance or retreat, Zhu Yuanzhang divided his own ships into 20 teams. Each team was equipped with large and small artillery, firecrackers, rockets, fire caltrops, large and small muskets, magic arrows and crossbows, and ordered each team to approach the enemy. When approaching an enemy ship, fire firearms first, then bows and crossbows. When approaching an enemy ship, use short weapons for combat.
The next day, the two sides started a fierce battle. Xu Da, the general of the Zhu army, took the lead and led a fleet to attack bravely, defeating the Chen army's vanguard, killing 1,500 enemy soldiers and capturing a giant ship.
Yu Tonghai took advantage of the wind and fired artillery, burning more than 20 ships of Chen Jun. Many Chen Jun were killed and drowned.
However, Zhu Jun also suffered many casualties, especially Zhu Yuanzhang's ship, which ran aground and was surrounded, narrowly escaping the unexpected.
The battle was stalemate. From morning to dusk, both sides called for gold and retreated their troops. The battle came to an end. Both sides suffered casualties, and there was no winner or loser.
On the 22nd, Zhu Yuanzhang personally led the navy to fight. However, Chen's ship was huge and Zhu's ship was too small to attack from above, and suffered setbacks one after another. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang promptly adopted the suggestion of his general Guo Xing and decided to use fire to defeat the enemy.
At dusk, a northeasterly wind blew on the lake. Zhu Yuanzhang chose brave soldiers to drive seven fishing boats filled with gunpowder and firewood. They approached the enemy ships and set fire to the wind. The wind was strong and the fire spread quickly.
For a moment, the flames soared and the lake turned red, burning hundreds of Chen Jun's giant ships in an instant. Chen Jun suffered more than half of his casualties. Chen Youliang's two brothers and general Chen Pulue were both burned to death.
Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the momentum and launched a fierce attack, killing more than 2,000 enemies.
On the 23rd, there was another confrontation between the two sides. Chen Youliang targeted Zhu Yuanzhang's flagship and launched a fierce attack. As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang moved to his ship, the original ship was destroyed by Chen Jun.
On the 24th, Yu Tonghai and others led 6 ships to break into Chen Jun's fleet, galloping bravely, with momentum like a dragon, as if they were entering an uninhabited land. Zhu Jun's morale was greatly boosted and he launched a fierce attack.
In the end, Chen's army was defeated and the abandoned flags, drums and weapons were floating on the lake. Chen Youliang had no choice but to gather the remaining troops and turn to defense, not daring to fight anymore. That night, Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of his victory and captured Zuoli (now northwest of Duchang, Jiangxi) and controlled the upper reaches of the river. Chen Youliang also retreated to Zhuji (now south of Xingzi, Jiangxi).
The two armies were in a stalemate for three days. Chen's army was defeated repeatedly, and the situation became increasingly unfavorable. Seeing that the situation was over, the two generals Chen Youliang surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang. The morale within Chen's army was shaken and their strength was further weakened.
Chen Youliang was angry and annoyed, and ordered all the prisoners captured to be killed to vent his anger. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did the opposite, returning all the prisoners, mourning the dead and treating the wounded, which undermined the morale of Chen's army, thus gaining popularity.
Chen's army fell apart internally and its morale became even lower. Zhu Yuanzhang judged that Chen's army might break through and retreat into the Yangtze River, so he moved his army to Hukou, set up wooden palisades on both sides of the Yangtze River, and set up large boats and fire rafts in the river. He also sent troops to capture Qizhou and Xingguo, control the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and block the enemy's return route. Standby to annihilate the enemy.
After more than a month of confrontation, Chen Youliang was trapped in the lake, his army supplies were exhausted, and his plans were exhausted. So he made a desperate move and risked his life to break out.
On August 26, they broke through from Nanhuzui and attempted to enter the Yangtze River and return to Wuchang.
When they arrived at the mouth of Hukou in Jiangxi, Zhu Jun attacked with boat divisions and fire rafts from all sides. Chen Jun was unable to advance. He returned to the Jingjiang River and was blocked by Fu Youde's ambush. Defeated, more than 50,000 people surrendered.
This water battle lasted for 37 days from July 20 to August 26. Its length, scale, number of troops and ships, and the intensity of the battle were all unprecedented.
The decisive battle ended with Zhu Yuanzhang's complete victory. This battle is considered the largest water battle in the medieval world.
It created a famous example in the history of Chinese water warfare in which a small number defeated a large number, which laid the foundation for the unification of the south of the Yangtze River, and created extremely favorable conditions for the subsequent Northern Expedition, the attack on the Yuan Dynasty, and the unification of the whole country.
