Because there were no soldiers and horses in the north that were enough to contain Beiping, the imperial court, which had nothing to do, could not help but panic, and frequently ordered the local government to gather soldiers and horses to block the footsteps of the Yan army on the spot.

At this moment, Zhu Di led the army to continue to advance southward, and without waiting for the official document of the imperial court to be issued, he basically did not encounter any resistance, and he had already arrived in Sizhou on the seventh day of the fifth month.

Sizhou is located in the boundary of Fengyang Mansion in the middle capital, 210 miles north of the east, south of the Huai River, there is Bianshui flowing from the north of the city to the south.

Fengyang is the hometown of the Zhu family, the taxes and servitude in this area are very light, and there is a peaceful scene in the territory, it seems that there is no knowledge of the Lingbi war that is close at hand, and the people are rich and live as usual.

Returning to his hometown after many years of absence, this made Zhu Di have mixed feelings for a while, the gate of Sizhou City was wide open, and the guard commander Zhou Jingchu led the crowd to dedicate the city.

It turned out that Zhou Jingchu had already secretly taken refuge in the Yanwang Mansion, pretending to trust the temple in the city, and the Buddha dreamed that he said, "The soldiers are coming to the city, and if you descend quickly, you will be lucky, and if you don't surrender, you will be fierce." Therefore, for the sake of the lives of the people and the imperial tomb, he chose not to use the sword.

With an excuse to cover people's ears, Zhu Di promoted his official position on the spot and led the whole army to pay homage to the ancestral mausoleum in the north of the city.

Thinking that Zhu Yuanzhang was born poor, his grandfather's tomb was originally just a cup of loess, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, not only added the sealed soil, but also set up the ancestral sacrifice office, there is a dedicated official to manage the sacrifice, set up 293 mausoleum households, all the production is used for worship.

In the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the construction of the ancestral mausoleum temple, and the temple enshrined the gods of Dezu, Yizu and Xizu. In the nineteenth year of Hongwu, he ordered the crown prince Zhu Biao to go to Sizhou to repair the ancestral mausoleum. In the ancestral mausoleum, the three ancestors were ceremoniously buried and the crown clothes of the queen.

Zhu Di bathed and changed clothes, and lingered near the ancestral mausoleum for a few days, kowtowing to incense every day with a pious look. Receive the surrounding fathers and villagers to visit, and give gifts such as meat, wine, treasure money, etc.

The Huai River is the first barrier to enter the Beijing Division, the Yan army is near the Huai River, the government and the opposition are greatly shaken, and the military department urgently ordered the governor He Fu to gather tens of thousands of people and thousands of warships, and they are lined up on the south bank of the Huai River to stand by.

Zhang Fu, who came in a hurry, ordered the soldiers of the 8,000 Shenji Battalion to go and rest. He ran to attend a military meeting by himself, but Xu Hao, who was in Lingbi, did not return to Liaodong obediently, but dragged Zhu Gaochi to live in the county seat.

The 100 staff officers accompanying the army began to plan. In accordance with the requirements formulated by Xu Hao and the experience of these days, he repeatedly deduced various situations, so as to find countermeasures, and secretly dispatched hundreds of meticulous workers in disguise. Gather intelligence.

Collect civilian and merchant ships along the coast of Muhui. Appoint henchmen as captains, command fleets and infantry to fight together, and storm the county town one by one.

In the rear, Yao Guangxiao and Gu Cheng obeyed Zhu Gaochi's orders, and successively sent 20,000 Yan troops to the ports and cities of the canal. In this way, a steady stream of supplies was provided, and efforts were made to keep the waterways unimpeded.

On this day, the Dalian artisan battalion was sent. repair or replacement of broken firearms or guns,

At this time, Tie Xuan, the political envoy of Shandong, had already been urgently recalled to the capital to serve as the secretary of the military department. The resistance to the Yan army in Shandong was immediately greatly reduced, Mu Hui's fleet crisscrossed the canal without opponents, and Zhu Di was alone in the depths, and there was no transport convoy to the south, which made a small group of scattered officers and troops lose their attack targets, and they could only look at the river and sigh.

Zhang Yu is not good at urging the prince to return to Beiping, and the three of them chatted about the marching route of King Yan when they had nothing to do, and there were three routes to Beijing, one was to go to Fengyang, one was to go to Huai'an, and the other was to go straight to Yangzhou.

Zhang Yu said: "The old man's strategy is to take Fengyang first, cut off the reinforcements from the south, send a large army to attack Chuzhou, seize Hezhou, and then calmly assemble boats to cross the river." Well, you can send another army of troops and horses to attack Luzhou to the west and capture Anqing, so that you can control the Yangtze River. ”

Xu Hao said: "The general doesn't know, the Fengyang guard general is the governor of the East Palace and the governor of the same governor Sun Yue, and the prefect Xu An is also a subordinate official of the Zhan Mansion, both of them are loyal to the imperial court, and there is an elite stationed in the capital for a long time, although the number is not large, but the combat power is good, not to mention that Fengyang can be there."

According to the latest news obtained the day before yesterday, Sun Yue began to overhaul the battle defense equipment as early as last year, and even the temples built by the order of the first emperor were all demolished, and the warships were made of wood, and the Lou Lu Gejia Coordination Formation was practiced. The prefect Xu An led people to demolish several pontoon bridges and cut off the boat, so it will be difficult to capture Fengyang for a while, and Chitose may not choose this road. ”

"I see." Zhang Yu nodded and said: "Then take the root of Huai'an, and then attack Gaoyou, Tong, Taizhou, and Yangzhou all the way, and reach Yizhen Yangzhou, so that you can cross the river without worry." ”

Zhu Gaochi has been listening absentmindedly, and Xu Hao's suggestion not to leave immediately coincides with his thoughts. Thinking that he had come thousands of miles away, seeing that his father was about to go south to the Yangtze River and fight to the death with the imperial court, this battle was the critical moment of the final victory or defeat, how could he still be in the mood to run back to Beiping at this juncture?

Besides, Zhang Yu guarded 100,000 prisoners, and he could not be dismissed until the overall situation was decided, and the 20,000 Yan troops had to deal with the officers and troops around them, and they could not participate in the battle. Zhang Fu left with thousands of men left, plus 2,000 reinforcements from Liaodong, 10,000 musketeers were enough to help his father turn things around.

Hearing Huai'an, Zhu Gaochi fanned the wind and said: "It is the concubine Mei Yin who guards Huai'an, it is difficult and difficult!" However, most of the military horses collected by Mei Yin were sent to the front line, and the number of troops did not exceed 30,000 at most, but the soldiers and civilians who had a strong city and a heart for the imperial court were afraid that they would encounter resistance. ”

Zhang Yu sighed: "It seems that we have to fight hard again, Jiangnan is a heavy tax area, and the imperial court has always attached the most importance to it, I am worried that it will be difficult for Chitose to advance." It has been half a year since the troops were sent south a year ago, and I am afraid that it will be difficult for the soldiers to support it if it is delayed, unless the troops are repaired, or they will have to return to the north after all their efforts. ”

Xu Hao looked at Zhu Gaochi with a relaxed expression and smiled, and said with a smile: "The old general doesn't need to worry, you are fighting bloodily outside, how can I wait in the rear and do nothing?" ”

Zhu Gaochi also smiled: "If Shandong hadn't come out with an iron Xuan, it would have been occupied in accordance with the pre-planned plan, and the general has not seen any movement in the northwest?" Even the King of Jin and the King of Qin had long since lost command of the army. The same is true in the South.

Thinking that the enemy was strong and I was weak at that time, many people were skeptical and hesitant, but now it is completely different. Not to mention that the officials who have been installed and bought for many years will abide by their promises, and there will be even more defections in front of the wall, to put it bluntly, it is precisely because Jiangnan is the hinterland of Gyeonggi that the subjects have enjoyed peace and happiness for a long time, who would dare to compete with my Yanjing powerhouse? ”

In fact, as Xu Hao and Zhu Gaochi expected, Zhu Di was reluctant to attack his hometown, not to mention protracted. If you hurt a single grass or tree, you can't explain it to your ancestors and the subjects of the world.

He also didn't want to meet Mei Yin's family in arms, so he wrote a letter and sent someone to send it, saying that he would go to the capital to make incense to the first emperor. Asking Mei Yin to borrow the way can be regarded as a temptation to trust Zhu Yuanzhang and trust him.

Who knows Mei Yinyi's words: "Entering the incense, the imperial examination is forbidden, and those who do not comply are unfilial." ”

Zhu Di was furious. Write to Mei Yin again. faintly threatened: "The evil of the king's side is eliminated by the soldiers of Jinxing, and the destiny of heaven is returned, and no one can stop it." ”

Mei Yin never showed weakness, ordered the ears and eyes of the envoy to be cut off, and sneered: "Leave your mouth for Your Highness to speak of the righteousness of the monarch and ministers." ”

Zhu Di was furious and helpless, it took time to go north to Huai'an and Fengyang, since he came, he simply broke the kettle and sunk the boat, and went all out to choose to break through the Huai River and the Yangtze River guarded by He Fu from the middle road.

He Fujiu fought in Yunnan. Not at all familiar with the Southern Water War. Zhu Di put on a posture of crossing the river, and the whole army leaned the boat to the shore. Fabricating bamboo rafts made noise and deliberately bluffed. Secretly sent Zhu Neng and other fierce generals to quietly travel twenty miles west to smuggle across the Huai River.

Zhu Neng's surprise raid kicked the camp, the Yan army killed by boat, the chaotic officers and soldiers were at a loss, He Fu could not control the situation, so that tens of thousands of officers and soldiers were defeated without a fight, and they were put on a ship by their subordinates to get out of danger, and a large number of warships were captured by the Yan army, and Xuyi was conquered on the same day.

On 17 May, Zhu Di sent Wu Yu, the commander of the capital, to Yangzhou to solicit advice. The official army was heavily fortified in Yangzhou, but the Yangzhou defenders divided into two factions.

Wang Li, the commander of Yangzhou Wei, was one of the people who advocated the surrender of the city, and Wang Bin, the supervisor of the imperial history, and Chonggang, the commander of the town guard, resolutely resisted the war, and did not disarm the armor all day and night, and the infant city was firmly defended.

In order to prevent Wang Li from cooperating with the outside world, Chonggang preemptively threw his boss and his henchmen into prison.

Zhu Di was too skilled in dealing with this kind of thing, and ordered the archers to shoot the letter into the city, affirming that there was a person who could bind the guards and give them to the third-rank officials.

It is said that Yushi Wang Bin has a heroic man who can lift a thousand catties around him, and everyone is afraid of this person's bravery and does not dare to approach. Wang Li's younger brother sent a large number of expensive gifts to Haojie's old mother, coaxed his son out through her, and captured Wang Bin when he was unarming and bathing.

At the same time, Qianhu Xu Zheng led his subordinates Wu Lin and others to release Wang Li from the prison, and a group of people captured Chonggang, the commander who was inspecting the city wall, overnight.

On May 19, Wang Li, the commander of Yangzhou Wei, ordered the garrison generals to surrender to King Yan, so that Zhu Di did not spend a single soldier, and Yangzhou, Tongzhou, Taizhou and Jiangdu counties opened their city gates one after another.

On the 20th, the Yan army marched west to Liuhe and defeated the garrison army, and the Gaoyou garrison also surrendered. At this point, the gateway to Jiangnan has been completely opened.

Among them, Xu Hao and Zhu Gaochi were not idle, and after going to Sizhou to rest for a day, they immediately led 10,000 troops to march to the northwest, all the way through the state and through the palace to Suqian, the gateway of Huai'an Mansion that Zhu Di did not choose, and defeated the defenders who went out of the city to fight 5,000 people, and the officers and soldiers who were killed were frightened.

This made the people in the city flee in a hurry with their families, but they ran for a long time and did not see the pursuers coming, and then they turned around and returned to their homes in a mighty way, hindering the officers and soldiers who came to the rescue.

Siyang County is only a few hundred miles away from Huai'an City, forcing the anxious Mei Yin not to dare to rush to attack Yangzhou with all the defenders, and when he mobilized heavy troops to encircle and suppress 10,000 lonely troops, Xu Hao has already been received by Mu Hui's fleet and dived into the vast Hongze Lake.

Six days later, Xu Hao led the troops to storm Baoying County, the main waterway, and occupied the unguarded county seat in just half a day, and two days later the Baoying County where the troops were withdrawn bombardment, the people opened the north gate and fled frantically, Mu Yi took advantage of the situation to lead a thousand people to occupy the city gate, and conquered the county government that night, and the county set fire to death by self-immolation.

Being in the land of fish and rice is not worried about having no food to eat, so it not only opens up the road to Gaoyou and Yangzhou in one fell swoop, but also blocks the only way for King Mei Yinqin, whether it is by water or land, it is guarded by the Yan army with muskets, and if you go far away, I am afraid that the next war has already been out of reach. (To be continued......)