From New Year's Eve to two days before the Lantern Festival, Zhu Gaoxu and the vanguard soldiers were floating on the water during the entire New Year period.
Zhu Gaoxu sat on a pavilion on a large ship, with a large banner on the ship fluttering in the wind. He looked at the south bank of the river on the right, knowing that the land belonged to Zhili.
The bulging sails were hung high in the air; below the deck, the wheels of the two waterwheels were turning in the river, and white waves were spinning around the wheels. The soldiers pedaling the waterwheels sang "Yo Hey" in a rhythmic manner. The ship was rising and falling in the waves, sailing very fast along the eastward river.
At this moment, the general on the deck shouted, "Taipingzhou City!"
Zhu Gaoxu immediately stood up from his chair, walked to the side of the boat, leaned on the wooden railing and looked south. His eyes penetrated the hazy and humid fog of early spring, and he saw a city to
The east bank of the Yangtze River is a flat plain, with fields and magnificent manors everywhere. The royal family, nobles, bureaucrats and wealthy businessmen of the Ming Dynasty had many industries in Zhili.The imperial army's infantry and cavalry were dressed in bright armor and were numerous, marching on several parallel roads from north to south. The scene was extremely spectacular. The sound of horses' hooves, footsteps, and the "jiggle" of vehicles was very loud, and the noise seemed to cover the entire land.The main force of the government troops transferred from the capital had a total strength of 120,000! After the government troops were deployed in the capital, Zhenjiang Prefecture, and Taiping Prefecture (which had surrendered), they still had more than 100,000 people, which was the last main force.The general flag with the Chinese character "Xu" written on it fluttered in the wind. Xu Huizu finally put on his armor, rode on his warhorse, and
On the morning of the 18th day of the first lunar month in the second year of the Hongxi reign, the riverside plains several miles wide west of Hongmu Mountain were covered with damp white fog. In the fog, drums and trumpets sounded, and the horses and men made noises, so it was unclear how many troops the King of Han had."Today's fog came so suddenly!" a general's voice said in the distance. Zhu Gaoxu heard the voice but could not see the man's face clearly.Zhu Gaoxu waited for a while under the central army flag, and then a scout came to report, "Your Majesty, the enemy has broken camp and is marching south!""Message to the entire army, advance slowly and in an orderly manner, advance one and a half miles, and enter the designated battlefield!" Zhu Gaoxu ordered."Yes, sir!"The two camps were five miles apart last night. Because both armies had heavy artillery, it was a more reasonable arrangement to set up their formations about two miles
"Report! Longping Hou (Zhang Xin) defeated the rebels at Hongmu Mountain on the left wing. According to military orders, he attacked from the south of Hongmu Mountain in a roundabout way!" A knight rushed to report with a flag.The knight stepped forward and continued, "The rebels in Hongmu Mountain were defeated. Except for some of the defeated soldiers, they fled into the mountains and forests of Hongmu Mountain. The rest ran into the manor in the south and resisted. Longping Hou has divided his troops to attack to wipe out the rebel Hongmu Mountain. The remnants of Makuyama.”The generals immediately praised Xu Huizu. Xu Huizu, who was extremely burly, sat on the horse, but he seemed very calm. He looked around and said, "The breakthrough on the left wing was just expected. The rebels are so few in number. How many troops can be mobilized in Hongmu Mountain?"Xu Huizu's confident words and calm expression gave his subordinates more confidence."Beat
Suddenly, a flame flashed in the white mist!A moment later, a huge roar was heard, and at the same time, an iron ball had smashed into the dense formation of the government troops! In the center of the front and back battle formations, as if swept by a strong wind, the whistling shells bounced through the crowd.No one saw how the shell bounced, and by the time the people around came to their senses, the dust raised by the shell had already risen violently, and many people had already fallen to the ground. A sergeant's helmet exploded, blood splattered, and he fell to the side.After a while, the frightened crowd began to riot. However, the overall situation of the government army was not affected too much, and they continued to advance in formation!The rebels fired only one shot first, apparently to determine the location of the bombardment.There were tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry in the large formation, but no generals responded
Galloping horses were charging in the middle of the battlefield, and some cavalry were charging in circles. The rising dust mixed with the mist, and the ground was turbid, like a swirling stream or whirlpool.The battlefield was also filled with infantry formations on both the north and south sides. There seemed to be no empty space between the two armies. It was all filled with cavalry, and countless troops and horses rushed together.In the infantry formation of the King of Han's army, the front row of infantrymen held a shield in one hand and a spear in the other, and walked in formation with their brothers on the left and right. The King of Han is our king! We will win... The shouts from everywhere almost never stopped, and the soldiers seemed very enthusiastic. However, not all the soldiers walking in front were enthusiastic, and some of them were still very afraid.Although most of the Han army's vanguard soldiers had experienced more than one brutal b
The Battle of Zhili actually ended on the 20th day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Yongle (the second year of Hongxi). It only took one morning for the Han army to defeat the main force of the official army from the front, but it was even more time-consuming to pursue the army northward and accept the defeat.At noon on the 21st of the first lunar month, Zhu Gaoxu led the front army with tens of thousands of cavalry and arrived outside the Fengtai Gate of the capital. The Chinese army divided its troops and went to various city gates of the capital. Except for the south city gate, only two hundred households teams were mobilized at each other gate; the purpose was to control the entry and exit of people in the outer city of the capital.The capital has long been under martial law and the city gates are closed. However, Xu Huizu lost more than 100,000 troops in the north of Taiping Prefecture, leaving the capital with few defenders at this time. In
Countless horseshoes trampled on the brick and stone streets of the Thousand-Step Corridor, making a loud noise that immediately broke the quiet and solemn atmosphere here.There are many government offices here; almost all the central institutions of the Ming Dynasty are near this Imperial Street. In addition to hundreds of civil and military officials, there are also countless clerks and runners. At this time, people stood on both sides of the Imperial Street and bowed to Zhu Gaoxu.Many people, especially civil officials and scholars, must not like Zhu Gaoxu's power; but Zhu Gaoxu is a member of the royal family after all, and people's resistance is not strong. Now that the army has entered the imperial city, everyone can only face reality temporarily, after all, the arm cannot twist the thigh.In the distance, the Chengtian Gate Tower stood deep in the large building complex. Zhu Gaoxu walked north while instructing his subordinates to do some things.
"The most important thing for you now is to ascend the throne as soon as possible!"It is not strange for anyone to say this sentence, but it was precisely the current Ming Emperor Gao Chi who said it first. There was an indescribable weirdness at once!Zhu Gaoxu never dreamed that Gao Chi would sit here and think for a while, and the first sentence he said would be this.He looked at Gao Chi carefully with a curious look. After a short while, he understood that his elder brother must have something to ask for!No wonder Gao Chi remained relatively calm after the palace was breached. That was because there was still something unfinished in his mind, but he still had some hope; Gao Chi wanted to do his best to complete this matter.Therefore, Gao Chi's expression was very pale, but his eyes were very forbearing; he temporarily controlled all the emotions that were about to get out of control. The reason must be that it was something that was diffi