Xu Da's assessment of the situation, knowing ourselves and ourselves, foreseeing the enemy's initiative and fighting bravely are important factors to win this war. When Kublai Khan led Bo Yan's 200,000 troops to perish the Southern Song Dynasty, only a hundred years later, Zhu Yuanzhang led Xu Da to drive him back to the desert, and he also led his own 200,000 troops. I wonder if it is a historical coincidence. The victory of this war overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty and established the rule of the Ming Dynasty over all China. This campaign broke the historical formula of reunification between the north and the south, which can be described as an eternal miracle.
War background
From October of the 27th year of Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty to December of the 2nd year of Hongwu, the Ming and Yuan armies fought a strategic decisive battle in the vast areas of Central Plains and Northwest China.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, started his army in the 12th year of Yuanzhang and conquered it in the 16th year. Later, he ascended the throne of Wu, established hundreds of officials, and initially established the Jiangnan regime. After that, Chen Youliang, which occupied Huguang Jiangxi, Zhang Shicheng, which occupied Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Fang Guozhen, which occupied eastern Zhejiang, destroyed Yuan one after another, creating favorable conditions for going north. Zhu Yuanzhang carefully planned the strategic deployment and marching route of the Northern Expedition. He first consulted the generals. Zhang Chang Yuchun put forward the idea of taking the capital of the Yuan Dynasty directly. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't agree with this plan of underestimating the enemy. According to the deployment of troops in the Central Plains and Northwest China at that time, the relationship between ministries, the political inclination and military strength within ministries, he believed that the capital of the Yuan Dynasty had been built for a hundred years, and the city would be firmly guarded. If the division is suspended, it can't be broken at once, trapped under the fortified city, passive, unpaid, and reinforced. To this end, he put forward the strategy of the Northern Expedition: "Take Shandong first and remove its shield;" Xuan Shi Henan, break its wings; If Tongguan is caught, according to the threshold of its households and the world situation, if it is under my control and then enters Du Yuan, we will be powerless and unable to fight. As long as the capital is conquered and the drums are drummed westward, the clouds, Jiuyuan and Guanlong can be swept down. "
Take Henan and Shandong as examples.
According to this strategic concept, Zhu Yuanzhang divided the whole strategic action into three stages. In the first stage, Shandong was attacked first, then Henan was attacked and Tongguan was occupied. In the second stage, Hebei and the capital of the Yuan Dynasty were captured and the Yuan Dynasty was destroyed. In the third stage, the main force occupied Shanxi from the south and made a slight decision to complete the reunification of the north. The Northern Expedition was basically carried out according to this strategy.
In the 27th year1October 2 1 day, Prime Minister Xu Da was appointed as General Lu, and Deputy General Chang Yuchun of Pingzhang led 250,000 troops from Huaihe River to Henan to explore the Central Plains. In order to reduce the resistance of the Northern Expedition and win the support of the people, Zhu Yuanzhang specially warned the soldiers not to kill and plunder wherever they went. He also sent a campaign to the people in the north and put forward the slogan of "expelling Land Rover and restoring China", which had a certain appeal to the people of all walks of life in the Han nationality, so the Northern Expedition went smoothly. In order to protect the Northern Expedition, the troops staying in Jianghuai should be vigilant to prevent the Yuan Army from attacking.
From October of the 27th year of Zheng Zheng to February of the first year of Hongwu, the main force of the Ming army moved from Huaibei to Shandong, and it took only over four months to capture Shandong.
At the beginning of June of the first year of Hongwu, Xu Da ordered all Yu Jun to assemble, and all grain-protecting ships set sail from Jining to ensure logistics supply. On July 29th, he followed Zhu Yuanzhang's orders and told the viceroy that Zhang Xingzu, Pingzhang Hanzheng, Sun Xingzu, deputy special envoy of the viceroy, Gao Xian and other divisions from Yidu, Xuzhou and Jining assembled in Dongchang, waiting to meet the Yu army and move northward.
According to the isolated military situation of the Yuan Dynasty at that time, Xu Da proposed that Linqing was in charge of Dadu, and Zhu Yuanzhang agreed. So it was decided that the right deputy general would guard the capital of song dynasty, Jiangxi would stay in Henan, the township general Guo Xing and others would guard Tongguan, and Xu Da led the army to take the majority.
Occupy the capital
On the first day of July, the main force of the Ming army crossed the Yellow River from the middle reaches of Luanhe River, along Yu He, through Linqing and Tongzhou, and pushed northward.
On the second day of July, the Ming army set out for the capital of song dynasty, sweeping all the way, including Keweihui, Zhangde, Cizhou, Handan and Guangping. From July 11th to Linqing, the teachers assembled in Dongchang were ordered to come to the meeting, Fu Youde, who was involved in politics, was ordered to open up wasteland, and the viceroy Gu Genhan talked nonsense. July 15, land and water go hand in hand. After the division arrived in Texas, Lu's deputy generals Chang Yuchun, Zhang Xingzu, Gao Xian, Mao Xiang, Cheng Hua and other divisions went north.
On July 20, the first year of Hongwu, he went to Luchang and Qingzhou, arrived in Zhigu on the 23rd, and defeated Yuan Army in Hexi on the 25th. All the way, almost down from Dadoucheng.
Seeing that the tide was gone, Yuan Shundi left Jiandemen on the 28th night with his prince and concubines, and fled from Juyongguan to Kaiping. On August 2nd, Xu Da led an army to invade most of the city, and arrived at Qihuamen, where soldiers filled trenches and entered the city. Xu Da personally boarded the Qihua gatehouse and killed Timur, the imperial clan of the Yuan Dynasty, and Zhang, the right prime minister. Six princes were captured alive, the doors of the library and the Forbidden City were sealed, and soldiers were ordered to guard them. Order foot soldiers not to invade and plunder, so that residents can live and work in peace and contentment. At the same time, he sent generals to inspect Gubei Tomb, appointed Hua Yunlong as the general manager of the metropolis, and built a new city wall.
After the conquest, Shandong, Henan, Hebei and other places in the north were in the hands of the Ming army, especially the Yuan Dynasty fled to the north, which made the whole battlefield of the Northern Expedition undergo fundamental changes. The trapped Yuan landlords' armed forces were completely leaderless. After getting the news that Xu Da army captured Dadu, Zhu Yuanzhang lost no time in ordering him to move to the next strategic stage.
Take Shanxi as an example.
On August 15th of the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Sun Xingzu and Hua Yunlong to stay in Beiping, and Xu Da and Chang Yuchun marched westward to capture Shanxi. At the same time, Tanghe and some generals were ordered to cross the river from Henan to Hebei to jointly attack the main force of 8 Jin Army. After nearly five months of hard fighting, the Ming army conquered Datong in the first month of the second year of Hongwu, and then pacified Shanxi. At this time, but so do dungans has a population of 654.38+million, including Li Siqi and Zhang Siwei. After pacifying Shanxi, Xu Da immediately turned to Shaanxi and Gansu in order to complete the strategic task of the Northern Expedition. In February, Xu Da sent Chang Yuchun and Shengfeng to cross the river to Shaanxi. 1February, the Ming army defeated Kukuo Timur to counterattack Lanzhou, which lasted for ten months. The Ming army successively conquered Fengyuan Road, Fengxiang, Lanzhou, Lintao, Q and other important towns.
In March of the second year of Wu, the Ming army entered Shaanxi, An and Fengxiang, forcing Yuan to lead troops to Lintao. Zhu Yuanzhang issued a letter to surrender. The right deputy general Sheng Feng attacked and Li Siqi surrendered. In May, Xu Da advanced into Pingliang and Yan 'an. The elite of Kukuo Timur, the main force of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, was wiped out in the east of Lanzhou. In June, Chang Yuchun returned to Peiping and entered Kedu, while Yuan Shundi fled to Yingchang in the north. In August, Zhang and other Yuan generals occupied Shaanxi.
In the second year of Wu, the Northern Yuan soldiers attacked Yuanzhou, Jingzhou and Datong, all of which were repelled by the Ming army.
In the third year of Hongwu, Yuan Shundi died, and the Crown Prince loved Li Da to seize the throne and renamed him Xuanguang. Zhu Yuanzhang disturbed the northwest by expanding Timur's image many times, and appointed Xu Da as the general, and Li Wenzhong, Shengfeng, Deng Yu and Tanghe as the lieutenant. He divided his forces and attacked Dingxi, Xinghe and Yingchang successively, and the defeat was like a mountain. He captured more than 86,000 soldiers under his command and liked Yan very much. Deng Yu led troops from Lintao to Zhou Ke to appease Tubo, so in the west of Hezhou, Duo Gan and Wu Zang joined the Ming Dynasty.
At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition ended, which fundamentally overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty and basically realized the strategic plan before the war. The Yuan army remaining in various places fell into a leaderless situation, and Zhu Yuanzhang finally unified China and gained absolute strategic advantage.