Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 58 The Sky Reappears, Zhu Di Personally Leads the Vanguard

Zhu Di's words made his determination clear to everyone.

Only Zhu Zhanji felt sad for his father who was far away in Jinling.

Over the years, his father, Zhu Gaochi, had diligently served as regent, only to be met with this decision.

Zhu Di didn't speak, he just looked at Zhu Gaoshuo.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoshuo is faced with two choices.

To fight or to retreat.

Zhu Gaoshuo was somewhat puzzled as to why the old man would suddenly entrust him with such a question.

He struggled for a moment.

If he were in Zhu Di's position, he would have chosen to go to war with the Oirat Mongols without hesitation.

But he wasn't; he was just Prince Qi.

Zhu Di's words put him under some pressure.

After all, this concerns the lives of many people.

Retreat, though humiliating, would at least bring temporary peace.

Despite their courage in fighting the Oirat Mongols at all costs, the war was fraught with danger and could have led to the downfall of the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoshuo also realized that the pressure was completely different depending on the position.

The emperor's position is far more complex than one might imagine.

Everything needs to be carefully considered.

"Your Highness, whatever your choice, I will follow you to the death!"

Seeing Zhu Gaoshuo's hesitation, Liu Jiang was the first to step forward.

At this moment, he simply laid his cards on the table and stopped pretending.

Zhu Di glared at him but didn't say anything. In fact, Zhu Di had already guessed that Liu Jiang was now working for the fourth prince when Liu Jiang and Zhu Gaoshuo went to the Tatars.

To Zhu Di's surprise, Zhu Zhanji also stepped forward and said with a firm look in his eyes, "Fourth Uncle, I also think this battle should be fought!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gaoshuo nodded.

"Father, this is my choice. The chaos in the northern desert must be quelled! Any further delay will be detrimental to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Good, he truly is my son!" Zhu Di's eyes were filled with satisfaction.

Since the fourth prince had said he was capable of fighting, Zhu Di had nothing to worry about.

"The whole army marches out!"

At Zhu Di's command, the Ming army set off from Datong and swept across the grasslands with unstoppable momentum. They encountered little resistance along the way and successfully reached the homeland of the Mongols.

This was actually the norm for Zhu Di's previous northern expeditions.

Whenever the Ming Dynasty sends troops, the nomadic tribes have no choice but to retreat.

But the more this was the case, the more uneasy Zhu Di felt. The Oirat people clearly wanted to prolong the battle lines, which was why they kept choosing to retreat. They wanted to wage a war of attrition against the Ming army.

They wanted to starve the hundreds of thousands of Ming soldiers to death here.

Mahmud's tactics were exactly the same as what Tianmu had said: to drag things out.

In the end, Mahmud led the Oirat army to retreat to the Three Gorges Pass.

The mountain, easy to defend but difficult to attack, is steep and covered in heavy snow; this is the place where the decisive battle will take place.

It was exactly the same scene as the one in the sky.

The Ming army remained encamped outside the Three Gorges.

The power of the artillery was greatly reduced.

This was actually Mahmud's conspiracy to force Zhu Di to retreat, and it was also a psychological tactic. The Ming army looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar Three Gorges Pass and felt extremely panicked.

After all, it was here that they lost to the Mongols in the sky.

But Zhu Di was not afraid at all. Even if he lost, he might become a disgraced emperor like Zhu Qizhen. But now, he would never back down.

Even if it means death, we will fight the Oirat here.

Inside the Ming army camp.

Prince Zhu Gaoxu of Han and Prince Zhu Gaosui of Zhao also arrived here to meet.

Both of them looked worried.

"Father, what should we do now?"

Zhu Gaoxu felt helpless and agitated, because everything happening now was just like what was happening in the sky. Hearing himself being burned to death in the sky, he felt no fear whatsoever, and even a sense of pride.

But now that things are developing in that direction, Zhu Gaoxu feels somewhat nervous.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di frowned.

That bastard, the second brother, just like in the movie "Sky Curtain," said those discouraging things before the battle.

Zhu Di was so angry that he wanted to send him to be the vanguard.

But I calmed down.

Zhu Di looked at the night view outside the tent and laughed:
"Since Mahmud wants to play psychological warfare, then I'll play along!"

"Bring that Mongol Khan up here and have him go to the Three Gorges entrance to knock on the door!"

It was impossible for the morale of the Ming army to recover.

Since morale is the most important factor in a battle between two armies, he wanted to lower the morale of the Mongols.

Soon, the shouts of the Oirat Khan rang out before the desolate Three Gorges.

Mahmud's face was extremely grim inside the Oirat camp.

“That bastard Daliba, he was captured alive even with three thousand cavalry.”

He never expected that Zhu Di would also learn this trick.

That's so humiliating.

"The morale of our people has also been affected. What should we do now?"

Toghon was Mahmud's eldest son and the most likely successor to the throne, but his voice trembled as he spoke.

He was actually scared too.

They currently have a maximum of 30,000 troops at their disposal.

Meanwhile, there were at least 200,000 Ming troops outside.

Esen now wished he could kill Daliba: "What a waste! He led three thousand cavalry and still lost to eight hundred men. That Zhu Gaoshuo is only a teenager. What's so great about him? He was captured alive by such a child."

"I just don't believe he's really that good!"

Tuohuan said helplessly, "But because of this Zhu Gaoshuo, the Tatars and Uriyangkhai have both chosen to surrender. I knew they were untrustworthy; they're just cowards. When they heard that Zhu Gaoshuo was personally leading the troops, they were terrified."

The biggest reason for the current difficulties of the Oirat Mongols is that the Tatars and Uriyangkhai have chosen to retreat. They dare not confront the Ming army head-on and would rather abandon their territory and leave the grasslands.

Because they knew that the Ming army could not remain on the grasslands forever.

Hearing Zhu Gaoshuo's name gave Mahamu a headache.

From the time of Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, the Mongols had an incredibly difficult life.

I don't know why, but Emperor Zhu Di especially liked to attack their grasslands, mainly because they were indeed very difficult to defeat.

They finally managed to outlive the Zhu Emperor until he grew old.

Now there's an even more formidable Zhu Gaoshuo.

However, with the natural barrier of the Three Gorges, Mahmud believed that the Ming Dynasty simply could not conquer it.

They are now holding out to buy time until the Ming Dynasty's supplies can't keep up and they start to consider retreating.

But Mahmud clearly underestimated Zhu Di's determination.

This battle must be decided quickly.

The current situation is indeed unfavorable for the Ming army. The artillery is completely useless, and the only way in and out is the Three Gorges Pass ahead, where Mahmud's main cavalry is lying in ambush.

Inside the tent, Zhu Di sneered, "Mahamut is too naive. Now that I'm here, there's no way I'm going to withdraw my troops!"

"Pass on my order: tonight, the army will attack the Three Gorges!"

Then Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said, "Second son, you will go with the Shenji Battalion to serve as the vanguard."

"what?"

Seeing Zhu Di's serious expression, Zhu Gaoxu panicked a little.

I don't understand what the old man meant.

Knowing that this would lead to death, why send him to his death?

But Zhu Di simply drew his long sword and said, "Don't worry, second son, I'll go with you this time."

"Just because Tianmu says the cannons aren't needed, does that mean we shouldn't use them? Order the Shenji Battalion to prepare the cannons and give the Oirat people a good beating."

(End of this chapter)