gnovel Chapter 135 9 Deaths and 1 Life
Chapter 135 9 Deaths and 1 Life
Would Lady Lü really dare to make a move right under everyone's noses?
Zhu Gaoxi also had this concern.
No matter how meticulously planned, it is inevitable that there will be oversights. How could Lady Lü ensure that she could do it without anyone noticing? You must know that at that time, the mistress of the Eastern Palace was Chang Lin, and many palace maids and eunuchs were brought from the Chang family and were absolutely loyal.
With so many eyes watching, how could the Lü family possibly have a chance to make a move?
Zhu Gaoxi had no intention of investigating the truth; in any case, many things were already irreversible.
Zhu Jingyi got married. Ever since the unpleasant incident in the vegetable garden, she has rarely entered the palace. It is said that she is pregnant and suffering from severe morning sickness, so she dares not go out.
Zhu Yunwen has also moved out of the Eastern Palace and is living in his own princely residence. Although he has no chance of becoming the crown prince, the old emperor has designated Zhu Biao's lineage to inherit the throne. When the new emperor ascends the throne, no matter who it is, Zhu Biao will be posthumously honored as emperor, and Zhu Yunwen will inevitably become a prince, second only to the emperor, with a prestigious and secure position.
The matter of Lady Lü was temporarily put aside, as the old emperor wanted to continue listening to the Jingnan Rebellion and sent someone to urge Zhu Gaoxi to go there quickly.
"How did your father fight next?" the old emperor asked, now fully recovered and full of energy.
Once you've come to terms with it, it's easier to accept. Zhu Gaoxi had no idea what kind of inner turmoil the old emperor had gone through last night, or what kind of logical consistency he had achieved.
In short, overthinking is pointless; let's focus on getting through this current challenge first.
Li Jinglong fled to Dezhou, preparing to fight again in the spring of the following year, but Zhu Di would not give him the opportunity to rest and prepare for war during the winter.
On the 19th day of the 12th month of the first year of the Jianwen reign, in the dead of winter, when the north was at its coldest, Zhu Di led his troops in a large-scale campaign, claiming that he was going to attack Datong.
Datong is an important town on the northern border and is the fiefdom of Prince Zhu Gui, who had been stripped of his title several months earlier.
Zhu Di had anticipated that Li Jinglong would have no choice but to come to his rescue.
His intention was to keep Li Jinglong constantly on the move, using the cold of the northern winter to wear down his morale and fighting strength, leaving him no time to reorganize his troops.
On December 24, Zhu Di led his troops to Guangchang, and the garrison commander Yang Zong surrendered.
On the first day of the first month of the second year of Jianwen's reign, Zhu Di arrived in Weizhou, where the garrison commanders Wang Zhong and Li Yuan surrendered.
Later, Li Yuan led 6,000 light soldiers, disguised as imperial soldiers, and rode swiftly through Jining and Shahe, burning down Li Jinglong's supply route between Xu and Pei.
Tens of thousands of grain ships were destroyed in an instant, and the fish and shrimp in the river were scalded to death and floated on the surface.
Li Yuan then defeated the pursuit of 30,000 enemy cavalry and successfully returned to the Yan army camp.
Zhu Di, mindful of his great contributions, bestowed upon him the title of Marquis of Anping after ascending the throne.
On the second day of the second lunar month, Zhu Di's army approached the city of Datong.
When Li Jinglong led his army out of Zijing Pass to come to the rescue, Zhu Di feigned an attack, withdrew from the siege, and returned to Beiping via Juyong Pass.
In the freezing cold and icy conditions, many soldiers from the south suffered frostbite.
They were led by the nose by the Yan soldiers, making a wasted trip, losing a lot of equipment, and most importantly, their morale was severely damaged.
Li Jinglong was completely fooled, yet there was nothing he could do.
There was nothing he could do; he was no match for Zhu Di.
Having spent many years fighting in the north, Zhu Di had mastered the art of strategy and tactics to an unparalleled degree, rarely encountering an adversary.
"Has your father never encountered a tough battle?"
Zhu Gaoxi admired his adoptive father immensely, but the old emperor thought he was boasting too much and was just a smooth talker.
Two months later, the war drums sounded once again in the Central Plains.
In early summer, a warm breeze blows and the Baigou River flows slowly, connecting with Xiongxian and Bazhou. This place is a strategic location fought over by military strategists from both the north and south. It is one of the three famous passes in history, and the famous Yang Liulang once guarded it.
The second fierce battle between Zhu Di and Li Jinglong broke out at the Baigou River.
On April 20, Zhu Di crossed the Juma River and set up camp at Sujiaqiao.
At night, a fierce storm raged, with torrential rain pouring down and flooding the ground to a depth of two feet.
Zhu Di, with his head resting on his pillow, was unable to sleep, constantly on guard.
Having fought on the battlefield for many years, I've become accustomed to bloodshed and sacrifice. A young, vibrant life that was grinning at you one second can fall into a pool of blood the next, leaving this world forever.
Every battle could be the last, and life and death were uncertain, so he dared not be careless.
Unable to sleep, he sat up, donned full armor, and awaited the coming battle.
The Yan army's advantage lay in its cavalry. Marquis Guo Ying of Wuding deployed a large number of firearms in front of the battle lines specifically to counter the cavalry's charge.
Zhu Di discovered that Guo Ying's front line was undefended, and as usual, he ordered his cavalry to charge forward.
As they charged to the front lines, a burst of shrapnel suddenly erupted, accompanied by deafening roars and flashes of fire.
A large number of elite Yan cavalry were hit by bullets, and Zhu Di suffered heavy losses.
The two sides fought until late at night, until it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe.
In the fierce battle, Zhu Di unknowingly became separated from the main force, leaving him with only three followers.
The night was dark and pitch black; they were lost and couldn't tell which way to go.
Zhu Di dismounted, lay down by the river, listened to the flow of the water, discerned the direction of the current, and hurried back to the camp in the dark.
The next day, the fighting continued. Although he was exhausted, he did not rest and summoned his generals overnight to plan the next day's battle and prepare for an even more brutal fight.
Qu Neng and his son, along with Ping An, were all brave and skilled generals. When they attacked Beiping, they almost broke through Zhangyi Gate if it weren't for Li Jinglong's misguided command.
In this battle, their offensive remained fierce, especially the valiant general Ping An, who successively wounded Yan generals Chen Heng and Xu Zhong.
The situation was critical. Zhu Di immediately mounted his horse on high ground and loudly encouraged his troops. He ordered Qiu Fu to charge the enemy's center, but this failed. He then sent several thousand of his elite troops to launch a fierce attack on the enemy's left flank.
Zhu Di surveyed the battlefield, directing the battle, with only a few attendants remaining by his side. Suddenly, dust billowed from behind, and a large force launched a surprise attack.
When a powerful enemy attacked, Zhu Di led his generals and soldiers to fight back with all their might, but due to the disparity in troop strength, they had no choice but to fight and retreat.
As the enemy forces swelled, his trusted advisor suggested, "The enemy outnumbers us, and it is difficult to sustain a stalemate. Please retreat and join forces with the main army to resist them."
If we retreat to the same place as the main force, we will be attacked from both sides, making the situation even more unfavorable.
With nowhere left to retreat, Zhu Di, though already exhausted, still led his troops back to charge into battle.
Enemy arrows rained down like a storm, hitting Zhu Di's horse. He changed horses and fought again, only to be hit again. He changed horses again, and so on, until his sword became dull and worn, yet the number of enemies still did not decrease.
Wave after wave of enemy troops surged in like a tide, filling people with despair.
Zhu Di and his cavalry escorts were forced to a riverbank, with no way to retreat.
Seeing that he was about to be trapped, Zhu Di had a sudden inspiration. He rode his horse to the riverbank, raised his whip and waved to the back, as if he were calling for an ambush.
Seeing this, the pursuers hesitated and did not dare to advance.
As fate would have it, at this most critical moment, Zhu Gaoxu appeared out of nowhere and came to the rescue. The pursuing troops became even more convinced that there were ambushes behind the dike and had no choice but to retreat.
It was a close call, but we escaped unharmed.
No one succeeds easily; Zhu Di's ultimate victory was earned through a life-or-death struggle.
Emperor Jianwen believed he held the power of life and death over the princes, and he would never understand the near-death experiences his soldiers went through on the battlefield.
He will never know how difficult it is for those soldiers at the bottom to survive.
Every time Zhu Gaoxi read this part of history, he couldn't help but sigh with relief. Fortunately, Zhu Di succeeded in the Jingnan Campaign. Otherwise, with Emperor Jianwen's weak fighting ability, who knows what kind of danger he would have dragged the Ming Dynasty into, and how many innocent people would have suffered as a result.