Zhang Shicheng was a very powerful force in the late Yuan Dynasty, fighting side by side with Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang. At its peak, his territory started from Shaoxing in the south, Jining in the north, Ruzhou and Yingzhou in the west and Haiyu in the east. Moreover, the land under its rule is rich in grain, rice, fish, salt and sericulture, with rich products and strong strength. After Zhu Yuanzhang annexed Chen Youliang, he began to eradicate the threatening Zhang Shicheng.
A, zhu yuanzhang's battle plan.
After Zhu Yuanzhang destroyed Chen Youliang, he began to nibble at Zhang Shicheng's territory step by step. 1365 to 1366 April, Zhu Yuanzhang successively occupied Tongzhou, Xinghua, Yancheng, Taizhou, Gaoyou, Huai 'an, Xuzhou, Suzhou, Haozhou, Pizhou and Anfeng counties. Zhang Shicheng's territory in Huaidong has shrunk dramatically.
1366, Zhu Yuanzhang planned to completely annex the forces of Zhang Shicheng with the peace of the counties in eastern Huai. So he called the secretary of the Central Committee and the ministers of the provincial government to discuss the crusade against Wu.
Li Shanchang, the prime minister, believes that Zhang Shicheng has repeatedly violated our military territory and should have marched eastward; However, the area where Zhang Shicheng is located is rich in products and grain reserves. You should take the opportunity to enter, play it by ear, and don't worry.
General Xu Da thinks that the Zhang family is arrogant and overbearing, and the generals he appointed, such as Li Bosheng and Lu Zhen, are just rich and short-sighted. Strong, leading the elite, the land of the Three Kingdoms will be broken.
Zhu Yuanzhang very much agreed with Xu Da's point of view: "What everyone has seen and heard is limited, and only the general agrees with me." . In August of that year, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Xu Da as general and Chang Yuchun as deputy general, leading 20 generals. Wan, attack Zhang Shicheng.
Before he left, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Chang Yuchun what he was going to do. Chang Yuchun replied, "Lead troops to Suzhou. As soon as Suzhou entered, the rest of the counties fell. " Zhu Yuanzhang said, "No, Zhang Shicheng started as a salt merchant, and Zhang Tianqi and Pan Yuanming were both tough brothers. When the army attacked Suzhou, the apocalypse and others worried about being destroyed and tried their best to save it. If we attack Huzhou first, wait for Zhang Shicheng to be exhausted, chop its wings, and then move to Suzhou, we can succeed.
Second, Zhu Yuanzhang besieged the Suzhou city of Zhang Shicheng.
1 1 month, at the request of Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun successively occupied Huzhou, Jiaxing, Hangzhou and Shaoxing, and Suzhou gradually became an isolated city. Siege is given priority to, supplemented by siege. This is the siege strategy formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang. Xu Da led the troops to Suzhou at the gates and began training.
Chang Yuchun will keep Tiger Hill, Guo Zixing Loumen, Hua Yunlong Xu Men, Wang Bi, Tanghe Panmen, Zhang Wen West Gate, Kang Maocai North Gate, Geng Bingwen Northeast, Qiu Cheng Southwest, He Shou Northwest and Xu Da Nagato. Suzhou city is surrounded by earthen walls and surrounded by cities.
Xu Da ordered a wooden tower to be built in the camp, flush with the tallest temple in the city. Also built a watchtower, three stories high, which can have a bird's eye view of Suzhou. Enemy buildings are equipped with long-range crossbows. In addition, a kind of artillery called Xiangyang cannon was used. When the cannon rang, the city shook and the destructive power was amazing. Zhang Shicheng's army is particularly afraid of this.
It is also wrong to say that Zhang Shicheng has no connection with this city. Although Zhu Yuanzhang occupied most of the cities in Zhang Shicheng, there are still some counties that are difficult to break, and Wuxi controlled by Mo Tianyou is one of them.
Zhang Shicheng's wings were caught and his lair was besieged. The only thing he can count on is Mo Tianyou. I hope he can break through the defense line from the outside, or both sides can cooperate inside and outside. Once Zhang Shicheng is destroyed, Mo Tianyou can't be immune to it. Both sides can only watch and help each other.
Mo Tianyou had a general named Yang Mao who was good at diving. He often sends Yang Mao to contact Suzhou City from underwater. Unfortunately, such a secret thing was discovered by Xu Da. Yang Mao was finally persuaded to go back and forth between Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou, but he became a spy in Xu Da. Therefore, Xu Da is well aware of the plans of Zhang Shicheng and Mo Tianyou and the actual situation of both sides.
Third, unwilling to be trapped, Zhang Shicheng struggled to break through.
1February 367, Xu Dajiu attacked Suzhou City and returned to Nanjing to report to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang granted him the right to do things cheaply, so he didn't have to report everything. In addition, in order to capture Suzhou more quickly, Zhu Yuanzhang also sent a general to help Tonghai. After Yu Tonghai arrived in Suzhou, he first wiped out a large number of enemy soldiers at the crossing bridge, and then set out for Taohuawu to level the local military camp. However, he was killed by an arrow in the last battle.
In June of that year, Zhang Shicheng was unwilling to be trapped and could not get help from Mo Tianyou. Coupled with the shortage of food and grass in the city, he is ready to break through on his own. He first sent someone to investigate the surrounding defense situation. It's hard to break through when you find that the east of the city is heavily guarded. So take the door as a breakthrough.
Chang Yuchun heard the news, ready to fight. And separated a group of military forces to the North Trench, cutting off his back road. The two sides fought for a long time, regardless of the outcome. Subsequently, Zhang Shicheng added 65,438+10,000 soldiers and horses to participate in the war, and sent troops to Shantang as backup.
The battle of Panmunjom also alarmed defenders in other areas, and Xu Da sent Wang Bi to support them. Wang Bi met an army heading for the mountain pond, holding two knives and bravely moving forward. The foot soldiers were defeated and retreated slightly. To take this opportunity, Chang Yuchun led the army forward, and the foot soldiers were defeated. However, due to the narrow mountain pond, there are pools on both sides. The Terracotta Warriors retreated and crowded with each other, and countless people fell in and drowned.
In Zhang Shicheng, there is a personal bodyguard named Yongsheng Army, also known as Ten Dragons. They are all dressed in silver armor and commanding. All the brave winning troops were drowned in this battle. Zhang Shicheng himself was frightened by the horse and fell into the water. Fortunately, his men saved him in time and didn't die. I finally carried it back.
Li Bosheng was a general who joined the army with Zhang Shicheng, and later took refuge in Zhu Yuanzhang. Seeing that Zhang Shicheng was at the end of his rope, he sent someone to persuade him to resign and go to Kaesong. But Zhang Shicheng hesitated and never made up his mind.
Moments later, Zhang Shicheng tried to break through again. He led the troops out of the city gate, and the front line was sharp. Chang Yuchun resisted to the death, and when he did so, the sincere department retreated a little. At this time, his younger brother Zhang Shixin suddenly shouted at the gate: "The troops are tired, come back quickly." Mingcheng then retired. Chang Yuchun took advantage of the situation to retreat, pursued, and the soldiers suffered heavy losses. Since then, Zhang Shicheng had to retreat back to the city again.
Soon, Zhang Shixin and Xie Jie and others dined on the rostrum. His men just gave him a peach, and before he could taste it, a shell landed beside him, and Zhang Shixin died on the spot. This is another major blow to Zhang Shicheng. Since the founding of the army, his brothers have been his right-hand man, and Zhang Shixin is particularly important. He was even more panicked when he was suddenly killed this time.
In September, Xu Da finally captured Fengmen with his army, and Chang Yuchun also captured Nagato. People led by Xu Da crossed the bridge to the city gate, but Tang Jie, the special envoy of the Tang Dynasty, refused to stay in the city. Zhang Shicheng stationed at the military gate, ordered Xie Jie and Zhou Ren to build a fence to block Zhu Jun, and finally surrendered. Zhou Ren, Pan and others also disarmed.
At dusk, Shicheng's army was completely defeated, Xu Da approached the gate, and Suzhou City was truly shattered. Reluctant Zhang Shicheng personally led the 20,000-30,000 remnant troops, and fought hand-to-hand with Xu Da and others in Manjuji East Street, and was finally defeated. Zhang Shicheng fled, leaving only a few cavalry behind him.
Fourth, the protagonist's ending, a bleak ending.
Knowing that this time was a complete failure, Zhang Shicheng fled back to his palace. He said to his wife Liu, "I will die in the end. What would you do? " Liu Yue: "Don't worry, husband, I won't fail you." . After that, Liu went back to his bedroom and hanged himself. His concubine, maid-in-waiting and two young sons were all burned to death in Jiyun Building by his adopted son Chen Bao.
Zhang Shicheng was sitting alone in the palace, with no one around, just sitting there. Xu Da sent his veteran Li Bosheng to his residence to persuade him to surrender again. It's getting late and the palace door is closed. Zhang Shicheng finally chose to hang himself. Li Bosheng opened the door of the palace and saw that Zhang Shicheng was not completely dead. He quickly ordered his men to take him down and untie the lasso. After he came to his senses, he only said one sentence: "Hero 94, hearing loss."
94 is his nickname. Xu Da repeatedly urged his veteran Pan and others to surrender with a sense of honor, but Zhang Shicheng turned a blind eye. Xu Da was helpless, so he had to carry him out of the door with a worn shield, put him on the boat, and sent him back to Nanjing to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhang Shicheng doesn't eat or drink on the way to Nanjing. When he arrived in Nanjing, he was still lying there motionless. They carried him to Zhongshu Province and waited for Zhu Yuanzhang to summon him.
When Prime Minister Li Shanchang saw Zhang Shicheng, he told him to ask. I asked several times, but no one answered. Li Shanchang was very angry and scolded him. Zhang Shicheng was so ashamed and resentful that he hanged himself again when people were not paying attention. This time, he is hopeless. Perhaps for him, death is the best destination.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) conclusion
Zhang Shicheng was a hero at the end of Yuan Dynasty. Compared with Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang, his aggressiveness is slightly insufficient. But only in relative terms. When Zhang Shicheng led 18 men to attack Gaoyou City, the Yuan army with a million troops could do nothing. "Shicheng alone, crossing Huaihai in the north, walking over the mountain, accounting for western Zhejiang in the south, bordering Guofang Town. In the fertile fields. "
Judging from the field he mastered, the chronicles of the Ming Dynasty were not inferior to the two in its heyday. The region where he lives is rich in products and prosperous in economy, and its comprehensive strength can be compared with both. Of course, because of this, he may think that he has succeeded and will enjoy the powerful for the rest of his life.
His fighting spirit disappeared, and he even forgot that there was such a huge threat as Zhu Yuanzhang around him. If you don't always be vigilant, it will give Zhu Yuanzhang an opportunity, and the consequences will be unimaginable. It's a pity that Zhang Shicheng indulged.
After Zhang Shicheng attacked Suzhou, he would rather die than surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang. This may be the hero's last pride. You can beat me, but you cannot conquer me. This is the same idea as Xiang Yu and Chen Youliang who died first. I don't know what Zhang Shicheng thought when he was sitting alone in the palace. What are you thinking about?
References: History of Ming Dynasty, Records of Ming Taizu, History of Ming Dynasty.