Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1069: Le Loi's Disloyalty

It is well known that the Ming army is good at using firearms. It is well known that the Ming army has large ships and heavy artillery.

It is well known that the Ming army has all kinds of strange new weapons and is good at using all kinds of unheard-of new tactics. They can always catch the enemy by surprise and win one battle after another.

It seems that the Ming army has always been able to be successful because of its superior weapons and new tactics.

People all over the world seem to have gradually forgotten that, not long ago, the Ming army fought hard in the sea of ​​blood and corpses to gain the upper hand. The Yuan Empire, which was once invincible and well-equipped, and made all the countries in the world tremble in fear, was driven back to the northern desert by the flesh and blood of the Ming army soldiers, swords and knives, and finally destroyed.

Since the fall of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, it seems that no one has ever witnessed the tenacity of the Ming army again.

And today, the people of Annan once again experienced the horror of the Yuan soldiers being crushed head-on by the Ming Dynasty.

"Come on! Come on! Stop him!" Hu Jinyi shouted at the top of his lungs, even forgetting to say "I". He just kept shouting, wishing he could mobilize all the troops to block him.

The momentum of the Ming army was too terrifying, too terrifying... That overwhelming momentum gave Hu Jinyi a feeling that even if he had millions of people on his side, the main general of the Ming army would be able to kill their way through and take him down.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty... The Ming army is coming with great force, please retreat." A close minister grabbed Hu Jin'er's sleeve, who was in a panic, and urged him.

"As long as there is green, there is no need to worry about running out of firewood... Your Majesty, you must not die here, Your Majesty!"

Hu Jinlei shuddered, as if he suddenly remembered that there was an option of "retreat".

If the commander retreated, the command system would inevitably be paralyzed, which was basically equivalent to the defeat of the battle. For example, Sun Shiwan, the god of war in Xiaoyaojin, Zhao Laoer, the god of chariots in Gaoliang River, and Zhu Qizhen, the first god of war in the Ming Dynasty in history, all had superior forces, but because of the retreat of the commander, they lost the advantage on the battlefield, and the battle that was sure to be won became a battle that was sure to be lost.

Hu Jin's military skills were better than those mentioned above. He knew that if he retreated, he would lose the battle.

So he hesitated for a moment, and then made up his mind resolutely: run!

You may be able to afford to lose, but you only have one life.

If you don't run away now, will you still be able to escape when Duke Cao of the Ming Dynasty comes to kill you?
So Annan's number one general and god of war Hu Jinyi immediately abandoned his magnificent carriage, got on the warhorse that his generals had given him, and began to flee. On the way, he felt that the gorgeous and heavy Annan royal robe on his body really affected his whipping, so he raised his knife and cut the robe open and threw it on the ground.

Then he fled the battlefield at a high speed, wearing only his inner clothes and shivering.

In fact, at this time, Li Wenzhong, who was leading the way with his personal soldiers, had already seen Hu Ji's escape. But he did not choose to chase him, but still followed the original route and led the Ming army's cavalry to rush to the high ground where Hu Ji's carriage was. He drew out the sword made of Damascus steel, chopped off the "Yu" flag representing Hu Ji's person, and then raised his arms and shouted: "The traitor Hu is dead! The Ming Dynasty will live forever!"

"Hu is dead! The power of the Ming Dynasty will last forever!" The morale of the Ming army burst out again, and countless people cheered.

When the Hu army heard the voice, they were all startled and instinctively looked towards the direction of the high ground where the central army was located. When they saw that the big flag with "Duke Cao, Li" was flying on the high ground where the central army was located, the big flag with the word "Yu" had been cut off, and the conspicuous golden imperial carriage was also chopped into pieces by the Ming army, the morale that was already low in an instant dropped to the bottom.

Someone shouted, and the Annan army began to retreat. All the soldiers dropped their weapons and armor in a panic, throwing them on the ground, and started a thrilling battle royale with their comrades. They fled, and the Ming army killed them, without any sign of resistance.

"Come on, sound the horn." Li Wenzhong sat high on his horse, the heroic look he had when he charged into the battle array just now had disappeared from his face. He calmly broke off an arrow stuck on his breastplate, and returned to being a calm commander who was planning a strategy.

"Duke, the Annanese are disintegrating. If we pursue them now, we will surely reap rich rewards... Do we really have to call off the troops?" Deputy General Li Rong said reluctantly as he looked at the armor and supplies scattered all over the ground by the Annanese.

"A small victory is insignificant. The overall situation is more important." Li Wenzhong said. His boiling blood seemed to have completely calmed down at this moment. "Pass the order down. Withdraw to the north, recuperate... wait for the final decisive battle."

"...Yes." Li Rong glanced at the retreating Annan army with reluctance and nodded with difficulty.

……

The battle report soon reached Wuqu Port.

"Brother Bao'er's sword is still sharp. He actually killed more than 10,000 elite soldiers of Hu Jin'er in one battle. Hu Jin'er threw away his armor and helmet. If Brother Bao'er hadn't shown mercy, he would have lost his head!"

In the back house of the government office, Zhu Su looked at the battle report sent by Li Wenzhong and couldn't help but applaud.

He knew that Li Wenzhong could defeat Hu Jilin. But he didn't expect that Li Wenzhong could do it so perfectly. In just one battle, he slapped the Annan army and killed half of their lives.

Next, Hu Jinyi and Ruan Duofang's strength reached the same level again, and these two sworn brothers, who were friendly and respectful to each other, could happily fight each other again.

"Duke Cao is so old, yet he is still so brave and invincible... He is truly a role model for our generation." Di Meng also praised. The battle report did not contain much description of how Li Wenzhong defeated Hu Jinyi. However, Zhu Su's merchants and Jinyiwei intelligence network reported the situation in great detail.

"Duke Cao charged into the battle and personally cut down the flag of the Yu bandits. The enemy was horrified and defeated, and their baggage filled the fields." There were only a few numbers on the document, but Di Meng and others were already veterans on the battlefield and knew the danger. It took a brave general to charge into the battle, and who would have thought that the seemingly amiable Duke Cao could be so brave?
"Father is really...sigh." Li Jinglong, on the other hand, was very worried about Li Wenzhong's charge. Although he knew that Li Wenzhong was fine in the end, he still sighed and expressed his concern. "Father's health is not very good to begin with. It's fine for him to lead the troops to the battle. But why is he so careless about his health?"

"He should go back to Beijing to recuperate properly! I will make sure to ask my mother to have a good talk with him later!" Li Jinglong said.

Zhu Su was silent. Li Wenzhong was indeed in poor health. In fact, according to the original historical trajectory, Li Wenzhong should have died of illness long ago.

Historically, after the Northern Yuan Dynasty was no longer a threat, Zhu Yuanzhang turned his attention from the outside to the inside. Li Wenzhong, the famous general of the Ming Dynasty, could only return to the country to rest.

As Zhu's nephew, Li Wenzhong's loyalty to the Zhu family was unquestionable. He helped the Ming Dynasty quell the barbarian rebellions several times despite being ill, and even went to the palace to persuade Zhu not to kill people. His illness became more and more serious, and he finally died of illness in his mansion, depressed, at the age of 46.

Although Li Wenzhong is not as seriously ill as he was in history, his health is still not good. He is indeed not suitable for charging into battle.

Everyone was silent, and Sanbao said quietly: "Perhaps, for Lord Cao, being able to lead troops to fight is the greatest joy in life. Even if he is ill, being able to charge into battle and achieve great things is the greatest joy in life."

Zhu Su was silent, but nodded in his heart. Among the first generation of generals of the Ming Dynasty, Chang Yuchun died young, Xu Da retreated to the second line, Feng Sheng, Deng Yu and others were stationed in the capital, and some of them seemed to have been corrupted by wealth. Only Li Wenzhong still insisted on commanding troops on the front line. Perhaps for this general, dying on the battlefield to expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty was more meaningful than dying on a sickbed.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's discuss other matters first." Zhu Su changed the subject. "Hu Jinyi has been seriously injured. It will take a long time to clean up the remaining troops."

"The Duke of Liang has led a small army to plunder the south. He is deep behind enemy lines, and we must ensure that this friendly army is not surrounded by the Hu family. Are the warships for the Duke of Liang ready?" Zhu Su asked.

"In reply to Uncle Wu, everything is ready." Li Jinglong, the commander of the Nanyang Fleet of Wuqu City, stood up and replied. "Our army has already requisitioned several ships and successfully joined the army of the Duke of Liang who came south. I believe the Duke of Liang is now on his way south by boat."

"Yes." Zhu Su nodded. "What about Cao Yuan? Has any letter arrived? What is Le Loi's recent movements?"

"Your Highness, everything went smoothly." Di Meng replied.

"Cao Yuan and Le Loi have already captured twelve cities in the south of Annan and destroyed forty-two noble families. Moreover, they have successfully set off a wave of opposition to the noble families among the people of Annan."

"Le Loi used the Ming Dynasty as an example to promote how wonderful Annan would be without the nobility, and thus gained support from many poor families in Annan and funding from merchants."

"With their help, Le Loi was invincible and had an army of tens of thousands of people under his command."

"But..." Di Meng hesitated.

"Just what?" Zhu Su raised his eyebrows.

"It's just... according to Cao Yuan, Li Li seems to have developed other ideas." Di Meng said.

"He seems to no longer want to bring Annan under the control of the Ming Dynasty. Instead, he wants to bring these people with him and create a new Annan."

"Cao Yuan also said that Le Loi has become increasingly dissatisfied with him being around and is trying to exclude Cao Yuan from his core circle."

"...The big thing hasn't even been accomplished yet, but Le Loi has already become like this?" Zhu Su's expression slowly turned cold.

In his opinion, Le Loi was a promising talent. If Annan was successfully recovered in the future, he even thought of employing Le Loi, a local, so that the Ming Dynasty could better govern Annan.

"Le Loi...what a pity." Zhu Su murmured.

……

Today, Thanh Hoa Province has become the base of Le Loi's uprising. It is home to poor people and merchants from Annan who have heard the news. They rely on Le Loi and want to overthrow the rule of the Hu family and the gentry.

Qinghua Mansion, originally the residence of the Deng family.

"Bang", the door was kicked open, and Le Loi and his generals, who were discussing matters in the room, couldn't help but look up. When they saw that it was the tall and strong Cao Yuan who came in, Le Loi's eyes flashed with displeasure, and then he immediately greeted him with a smile on his face.

"Isn't this General Cao? Why are you so angry so early in the morning... Sit down, sit down! General Cao, let's talk nicely."

"Le Loi." Cao Yuan ignored his warmth and walked directly to Le Loi with a fierce look. "You want to attack Jianxing to the north, why didn't you tell me?"

During this period, he was sent by Le Loi to the south to lead the battle in the south. After returning, he heard that Le Loi was planning to organize troops to go north, and he was immediately frightened and came to question him.

"Are you planning to attack Shenglong Prefecture while the Hu family is seriously injured?" Cao Yuan asked coldly. "Although the Hu family has been defeated, they still have vitality. Going north at this time is a gamble."

"Besides, His Royal Highness King Zhou has never done that."

"General Cao, please be patient." Li Li interrupted Cao Yuan with a smile. Although he was still polite, his face showed no sign of disagreement.

"Now, the center of the world is in Thang Long City. As long as our army takes Thang Long City, the overall situation will be settled."

"With such a good opportunity, why don't you take action? As long as I take Thang Long City, Annan will be in control."

"When the time comes, I will lead Annan to submit to the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't that save a lot of energy?"

"As the saying goes, plans cannot keep up with changes, and good opportunities are fleeting. Your Highness, Prince Zhou, has a far-sighted vision and will surely understand my intentions."

Cao Yuan still sneered and said, "Do you think my Ming Dynasty can't take Thang Long Prefecture? If we wanted to take Thang Long Prefecture, my Ming Dynasty would have taken it long ago."

"Even if it was Hu Jin's dog head, if he wanted to take it before, Lord Cao would have taken it long ago."

"Why did you spare his life? It was to let the Hu family and the Ruan family fight each other, leaving room for you, Li Li, to operate in secret."

"But now you, Li Li, don't know your place. You are actively trying to provoke him and gather these rabble under his command. Do you really think you are invincible?"

The veins on Li Li's forehead jumped a few times, revealing an impatient expression. He simply sent the guest away and said, "General Cao must have drunk too much and is talking nonsense. Why don't you help General Cao go back to the mansion to rest?"

A group of soldiers loyal to Le Loi immediately came forward. Cao Yuan held the hilt of his sword with one hand and stared at the soldiers.

"Oh, I'm not drinking, so I don't need you to help me."

"Le Loi, I have said all I can. You do not know how terrifying His Majesty the King of Zhou is. If you do not listen to what I say today, if you die under His Majesty's iron hoof one day, do not say that I did not tell you enough."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Le Loi's face turned pale, and behind him, a group of Annan people recruited by Le Loi surrounded him.

"Sir, this Ming person is so arrogant. You are clearly our leader, but this Ming person humiliates you so much."

"My lord, the King of Zhou clearly regards you as his servant and wants to use you to swallow up Annan. His evil ambitions have been revealed today."

"Of course I know." Li Li said, looking deeply in the direction where Cao Yuan left.

(End of this chapter)