My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 55: Leaving the Fortress
Upon receiving the military order, Li Wenzhong, who was in Fujian at the time, dared not delay and immediately boarded a boat to Beiping.

I was also thinking about how to deal with this battle along the way.

However, he was only a deputy general this time; the real decision-maker was Chang Yuchun.

This forced him to consider what choice Chang Yuchun would make.

Ultimately, he devised three strategies: superior, middle, and inferior. It remains to be seen which one Chang Yuchun will choose.

They arrived in Beiping and met Chang Yuchun in the central military tent.

Upon meeting, Chang Yuchun laughed loudly, "Haha, Siben, you've finally arrived."

Si Ben was Li Wenzhong's courtesy name, and elders and close relatives often addressed him by this name.

Li Wenzhong bowed and said, "It is my fault for keeping the general waiting for so long."

“You’re just too polite,” Chang Yuchun said, pulling him toward the military map.

"You have always been resourceful; do you have any good ideas for the current situation?"

Li Wenzhong paused for a moment and then said, "I have three strategies, superior, middle and inferior, for the general's consideration."

Chang Yuchun said, "Oh, tell me what it is."

Li Wenzhong replied, "The best strategy is to defend the city..."

Chang Yuchun interrupted him before he could finish, asking, "What about the middle strategy?"

Li Wenzhong was not surprised at all and continued, "The middle strategy is to lure the enemy deep into our territory, then surround and annihilate them."

"The Yuan Dynasty suffered repeated defeats and desperately needed a great victory to boost morale."

“If we reveal any weakness, they will definitely pursue us relentlessly. We can set up an ambush and annihilate them in a dangerous place.”

But if the enemy doesn't fall for it, then all the effort will be for nothing, and we might even become a laughing stock.

Chang Yuchun stroked his chin and said, "Interesting, but a poor choice."

Li Wenzhong's expression hardened, and he said in a deep voice, "The worst option... is to leave the border."

"Bang..." Chang Yuchun slammed his hand on the table and shouted:
"Haha, great minds think alike. I also believe we should take the initiative."

"Why is it always the Mongols who invade our territory and attack us? Today, let them know that we, the sons of the Han Dynasty, can also go beyond the Great Wall and fight them."

Li Wenzhong thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

Before I arrived, he had already decided to take the initiative; what happened just now was merely a test of my attitude.

Chang Yuchun's military strategy can be summed up in four words: simple and brutal.

Two years ago, when the Northern Expedition plan was being discussed, he was criticized by the emperor for this.

The reason he sent me to assist him in defending Beiping is most likely because he fears I might underestimate the enemy and act rashly.

But what Li Wenzhong wanted to say was, "Uncle, I also want to be Huo Qubing!"

The reason for coming up with the three strategies—superior, middle, and inferior—was simply to avoid overshadowing the head coach, and also to test Chang Yuchun's attitude.

What if he doesn't have any rash ideas?

As it turns out, Chang Yuchun is indeed Chang Yuchun.

Both the head coach and the vice-head coach want to leave the border, so there's only one thing left to do: how to leave the border.

Their goal was simple: to capture Shangdu, the capital of the Yuan dynasty.

The Yuan Dynasty implemented a dual-capital system, with Shangdu and Dadu as its capitals.

After fleeing from Dadu, Emperor Shun of Yuan went to Shangdu, where he commanded the Yuan army in battle against the Ming army.

Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong unanimously decided that the strategic goal of this trip was to capture Shangdu.

The two capitals are more than 200 li apart as the crow flies.

However, the Yanshan Mountains lie between them, presenting numerous natural barriers.

The Yuan Dynasty built four passages in the middle of the Yanshan Mountains, namely Gubeikou, with the three western passages converging at Chahannaoer on the outer side of the Yanshan Mountains.

In other words, the grassland tribes outside the Yanshan Mountains only need to guard two passes.

If the Central Plains dynasties wanted to establish defenses on the inner side of the Yanshan Mountains, they would need to defend four passes simultaneously.

The troops were thus dispersed.

In the original history, the Manchus bypassed Gubeikou to attack the Ming Dynasty and were ultimately successful, which was due to this reason.

This shows that the four passages were carefully designed when the Mongol Yuan dynasty built them.

Emperor Yuan Shundi was also aware of this, and sent Yesu, the prime minister of the Northern Yuan, to lead a large army to guard the important town of Daning outside Gubeikou.

Quanning, located behind Daning, was a transit point for the Northern Yuan's grain supplies.

In other words, Da Ning can receive aid from the rear at any time.

It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the Ming army to break through this place head-on.

Although Li Wenzhong had decided to venture beyond the Great Wall, he did not have a good plan on how to conquer Daming.

To everyone's surprise, Chang Yuchun laughed loudly and said, "Why fight Da Ning head-on? Why not just go around it?"

Li Wenzhong was shocked: "No, Da Ning can easily cut off our retreat. At that time, we will become rootless duckweed."

Chang Yuchun said, "Let me explain the whole plan first..."

"This time when we send troops, we will only carry ten days' worth of rations and will not require any logistical support."

"First, launch a feigned attack on Daming to draw the attention of the Northern Yuan."

"Then you lead the infantry to continue the feigned attack, while I lead the cavalry to raid Jinzhou and catch them off guard."

"Jiang Wenqing, the garrison commander of Jinzhou, is an incompetent man and cannot stop me. We can take him in one battle."

"Then you will lead your army eastward and make it appear as if you are joining forces with me to attack Liaodong."

“The Yuan army must have thought that our target this time was Nahachu in Liaodong.”

"The defenses in the Daning and Quanning directions will loosen up."

"Then I will lead my cavalry to raid Quanning and capture this granary of the Northern Yuan."

"But you led the infantry halfway and then changed course to head north to Quanning to meet me."

"Once we receive our supplies, we won't have to worry about our supply lines being cut off."

"On the contrary, Da Ning became an isolated city after losing its rear supply lines."

"We'll go back and take them down from behind..."

"In this way, the Northern Yuan forces surrounding Yanshan can be wiped out."

"Then we'll send troops to attack Shangdu..."

The word "radical" is insufficient to describe this plan; it is a radical alternative version of "burning one's boats."

Any mistake would mean the entire army would be wiped out outside the pass.

Even though Li Wenzhong was prepared to take the risk, he was still shocked and broke out in a cold sweat after hearing the whole plan.

After explaining his plan, Chang Yuchun stared at Li Wenzhong and asked in a provocative tone:
"Siben, do you dare to fight me?"

Li Wenzhong naturally knew he was deliberately provoking him, but...

Go to the brewery.

You, Chang Yuchun, are you saying I, Li Wenzhong, am a coward?

"Alright, I'll take the gamble with the General."

"If I win, I'll be like Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Li Jing of the Ming Dynasty; if I lose, we'll be infamous for eternity."

Chang Yuchun laughed loudly, "Haha, Siben is still the most refreshing."

If it were Xu Da, he would absolutely not agree to this strategy.

The two then began to deploy their troops and prepare for the battle.

This battle is absolutely crucial and cannot be lost; otherwise, tens of thousands of troops will be lost beyond the Great Wall, leaving Beiping vulnerable and inevitably falling into the hands of the Northern Yuan.

At that time, the morale of the Northern Yuan and other separatist forces will be high.

The entire unified situation could be reversed.

Therefore, while the two were strategically aggressive, they were tactically very cautious.

Make every preparation as thorough as possible.

Finally, 10,000 elite cavalry and 80,000 infantry were selected, each carrying ten days' worth of rations, and they left Gubeikou and entered the Yanshan Mountains.

Yesu, who was guarding Daming, was extremely disdainful upon learning the news.

With only ten days' worth of rations, you dare to confront my Da Ning defense line head-on?

Watch how I teach you a lesson.

He had even made a meticulous plan to first defend and deplete the Ming army's food supplies.

He would pursue the Ming army relentlessly when they ran out of food and withdrew.

With good luck, they could not only defeat Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong, but also have the opportunity to attack Beiping from Gubeikou.

At that time, Wang Baobao, Nahachu, Jiang Wenqing, and so on will all have to act according to my whims.

Then he specially sent messengers to deliver messages to the generals.

Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong are attacking; be careful and on guard.

Ostensibly, it was a warning to be careful, but in reality, it was a way of telling everyone to watch his performance. In fact, there were spies everywhere in Beiping, and even if he hadn't done this, other armies would have quickly gotten the news.

Is the Ming army going to attack Daming?

Nahachu in Liaodong and Jiang Wenqing in Jinzhou both breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that they weren't being attacked.

Then go about your business.

However, they did not let their guard down and strengthened the frontal defense line of the Liaoxi Corridor.

As long as this corridor is defended, the Ming army will not be able to break in.

However, on the fourth day after the Ming army attacked Daming.

Chang Yuchun led 8,000 cavalrymen, bypassed the Daling River, and appeared on Jiang Wenqing's side, launching an attack on him.

Jiang Wenqing was caught off guard and suffered a crushing defeat, and could only retreat with his remaining troops to defend Jinzhou City.

In fact, after a four-day, five-hundred-mile march, even with one man and three horses, the Ming army was already exhausted and unable to fight any longer.

Chang Yuchun did not continue the pursuit, but instead captured a small town to rest and regroup.

News of the Ming army's appearance in Jinzhou was spread at top speed.

Naha was greatly alarmed and immediately mobilized troops to prepare for battle.

Meanwhile, Yesu was still dreaming of becoming a famous general.

However, on the third day he suddenly discovered that the Ming army had disappeared.

They immediately sent people to investigate and discovered that the main force of the Ming army was heading east.

This puzzled him greatly. What did it mean?
Why are you running eastward instead of retreating to Gubeikou?
He attempted to send men to pursue them, but Li Wenzhong ambushed them using a tactic of luring the enemy, resulting in the annihilation of all three thousand pursuing cavalry.

This time he became completely obedient and dared not move around recklessly anymore.

But he was still very puzzled and couldn't understand why the Ming army was heading east.

Whatever your plans are, aren't you afraid I'll block your retreat if you leave Da Ning unattacked?

Just as he was wondering, two days later, an urgent military report came from Jinzhou.

Chang Yuchun launched a surprise attack on Jinzhou, catching Jiang Wenqing off guard and defeating him. Now, Jiang Wenqing is retreating to Jinzhou and barely clinging to life.

Yesu was greatly surprised. Wasn't Chang Yuchun with me? How did he end up in Jinzhou?

But he quickly realized that the person he had been facing off against these past few days was Li Wenzhong, while Chang Yuchun had led his cavalry in a surprise attack on Jinzhou.

By this time, he had guessed why the Ming army had suddenly headed east.

They must have gone to join forces with Chang Yuchun.

What a brilliant feint attack!

And then... naturally, they'll just watch the show. Do they expect me to go and rescue Nahachu?
This gives a glimpse into the depth of internal conflicts within the Yuan army.

It wasn't just Yesu who wanted to see Naha make a fool of himself; the garrison commander of Quanning shared the same thought.

Then they were ambushed by Chang Yuchun.

Chang Yuchun rested in Jinzhou for two days, then launched attacks in all directions, forcing the Yuan army to keep their heads down.

Afterwards, he left a thousand cavalrymen to roam around and intimidate Jiang Wenqing.

He himself led 7,000 main force, men gagged and horses with hooves wrapped in cloth, and in five days they marched 700 li and appeared in Quanning.

After a day of hiding and resting in the shadows, they launched a surprise attack under the cover of night.

The defenders of Quanning were caught off guard and were easily defeated.

The Northern Yuan's supply depot thus fell into the hands of the Ming army.

Because Chang Yuchun's attack was too swift and the Yuan army was defeated too quickly, they didn't even have time to burn the grain and supplies here.

Two days later, Li Wenzhong also led his infantry to join the attack.

Li Wenzhong was overjoyed to see the mountains of grain and various military supplies piled up.

The plan was successful.

To say that he felt no pressure with such a risky plan would be a lie.

As a commander, he was good at concealing his emotions and always appeared confident and composed in public.

Now that the most crucial step has been completed, he can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Even if the battle doesn't go smoothly, with these supplies, they can fight a protracted war.

But Chang Yuchun would not be so passive as to wait for others to attack them.

After entrusting the defense of Quanning to Li Wenzhong, he once again led his troops to attack Daning.

Once this place is captured, the road to Gubeikou will be opened, allowing the Ming army to advance and retreat at will.

Yesu was also greatly alarmed when he learned of the fall of Quanning.

If another Ming army were to launch an attack from Gubeikou, he would become a piece of meat caught in the middle.

The key issue is that, as the front line, Daning did not have much grain stockpiled.

Grain is usually transported from Quanning regularly.

Now that Quanning has been lost, he has lost his food and supplies, and even if he wanted to hold out and wait for reinforcements, he could not.

He naturally wouldn't sit idly by and wait to die. He decided to take advantage of the current abundance of food and supplies and relatively high morale to launch a proactive attack and attempt to retake Quanning.

Then they encountered the army led by Chang Yuchun.

Chang Yuchun was overjoyed and immediately ordered the entire army to charge.

Yesu had not expected to encounter the Ming army here, and had no choice but to hastily engage in battle.

After half a day of fighting, the Japanese army suffered a major defeat, and Yesu fled to Liaodong surrounded by his personal guards.

Chang Yuchun left a group of men to clean up the battlefield, while he led his men to raid Daning.

When the defenders of Da Ning learned of Yesu's defeat, their morale collapsed and they surrendered.

Thus, Chang Yuchun, through a strategy of feinting to the east and attacking the west before striking the east again, captured the two key fortresses of Daning and Quanning in one fell swoop.

From then on, the Ming army gained the initiative in its campaign beyond the Great Wall.

But that wasn't the end of it; Chang Yuchun left a contingent of troops to defend Da Ning.

He once again led his cavalry, covering 500 li in three days, and arrived at Daxing Prefecture.

Li Wenzhong made a suggestion: "When the Yuan army in Daxing Prefecture learns of the fall of Daning and Quanning, they will surely flee to Shangdu to join the Yuan Emperor. We can ambush them on their retreat route."

Chang Yuchun naturally had no objections, so he ordered Li Wenzhong to lead men to ambush the Yuan army, while he himself would frighten the Yuan army from the front.

The Yuan general Tuohuoqi, who was guarding Daxingzhou, did not expect that the Ming army, after a round trip of nearly two thousand miles, would still have the strength to ambush them.

There was absolutely no preparation.

Moreover, he was an alcoholic and didn't forget to drink even while on the run.

In a drunken stupor, he led his men headlong into an encirclement, resulting not only in the annihilation of his entire army but also in his own demise.

After capturing Daxingzhou, there were no more organized Yuan army units in the Yanshan Mountains.

This also means that 461 years after Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitan, the Han people regained control of the Yanshan Mountains.

However, Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong still had no intention of ceasing hostilities.

Their purpose in this trip was not only to reclaim the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, but also to capture Shangdu and completely shatter the Mongol Yuan dynasty's dream of restoration.

At this time, they were only three hundred li away from the Yuan capital, separated only by a pass, Xinkai Ridge.

After a brief rest, the two led their troops straight to the Yuan capital, Shangdu.

Huang Huo Temur, the garrison commander of Xinkailing, refused to surrender. Chang Yuchun was furious and personally went into battle, killing him on the spot.

Xinkailing was captured.

There were no more obstacles on the road to Yuan Dadu.

Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong did not stop and led their troops in another surprise attack.

In fact, this could no longer be considered a surprise attack, as the Yuan army already knew their purpose.

However, Emperor Yuan Shundi, already terrified, once again abandoned his court officials and fled the city.

With their morale low, the Yuan army had no will to defend the city, and Shangdu was captured on the same day.

Chang Yuchun then ordered a city-wide search, and all the Mongol nobles were executed as a sacrifice to the flag. Only more than 10,000 ordinary people survived.

After news of the fall of Shangdu spread, the already low morale of the Yuan army plummeted even further.

Wang Baobao, who was still holding on in Shanxi, finally breathed his last.

Faced with Xu Da's attack, he chose to retreat.

Shanxi was recovered.

However, Wang Baobao's retreat was too hasty, and he didn't even have time to take his own younger sister, Guanyinnu, with him, as she was captured by Xu Da.

It was then sent to Yingtian along with other spoils of war.
-
Let's rewind the timeline.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was undertaking a major construction project in Yingtian, heard that Chang Yuchun and Li Wenzhong had only brought ten days' worth of rations before leaving Gubeikou.

His expression changed drastically.

(End of this chapter)