Early the next morning, Zhao Pusheng led the army towards Caoxian County. Zuo Junbi removed 8,000 troops from the men and horses surrounding Chaohu Water Village and blocked them outside Caoxian County.
This is how the war began.
At Yuxikou, dozens of Jiangdu Army warships were docked on the shore. In the cabin of one of the large ships, Fang Yuan and Li Er were sitting and pacing back and forth, all waiting for news.
Near noon, Fu Youde came in from outside the cabin, looking a little pale.
Both of them asked: "What's wrong? The fight shouldn't be over so soon, right?"
Fu Youde said in a deep voice: "The news just came that Zhu Yuanzhang's men and horses have circled to the west of Wuwei City!"
Fang Yuan said in shock: "Zhu Yuanzhang dared to take the opportunity to attack Wuwei? Doesn't he want his reputation anymore?"
Fu Youde shook his head and said: "He didn't attack Wuwei, he just made a circle and returned to the military camp in the east of the city!"
Fang Yuan was stunned for a long time, then slapped his thigh: "No, he did it on purpose to show Zhao Pusheng!"
Fu Youde nodded and said: "Yes, after Zhao Pusheng learned about it, he thought Zhu Yuanzhang was going to attack him secretly. In anger, he sent the army back to Wuwei for rescue, but was defeated by Zuo Junbi."
Li Er said solemnly: "Zhu Yuanzhang is so ruthless!"
Fang Yuan said coldly: "He is digging his own grave. Will Xu Shouhui just let it go?"
Li Er knew the situation of Tianwan Army better and said: "Even if Xu Shouhui knew it, there was nothing he could do. As soon as Peng Yingyu died, Zuo Junbi stopped listening to orders. There are signs of civil strife within Tianwan Army."
Fu Youde said: "Yes, I heard that Ni Wenjun's reputation in the Tianwan Army has surpassed that of Xu Shouhui!"
Fang Yuan was silent for a while and said: "As I said before, we won't care about their intrigues, but we have to save the Yu family and his son as soon as possible. If we delay it for two more days, we won't be able to make it in time for the ceremony!"
A governor suddenly entered the cabin and said: "Two generals, the scouts just sent news that Zhao Pusheng retreated to the north, and Zhu Yuanzhang took over Wuwei City!"
Fang Yuan waved his hands and said: "Okay, let's not worry about Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhao Pusheng. Let the army be ready and set off in two hours to march towards Chaohu!"
While Jiangdu's navy was concentrating on preparing for war, Zhu Yuanzhang's envoy asked to see him.
Fang Yuan originally didn't want to meet, but only after Fu Youde's suggestion did he agree to meet.
It was Tang He who came. After he entered the cabin, he cupped his hands towards Fang Yuan and said: "General Fang, my marshal hopes that you can delay the march to Chaohu for three hours!"
Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? Why?"
Tang He said: "My marshal has sent an envoy to Zuo Junbi's army to persuade him to lead the army back to Luzhou! In three hours, this matter should be completed. Your army will go to Chaohu without any obstacles!"
Fang Yuan's heart trembled, and he exchanged a look with Li Er and said, "Okay, then I'll wait for another three hours."
Tang He smiled and said, "Goodbye." He turned and left.
Fang Yuan said in a deep voice: "Do you think Zhu Yuanzhang can convince Zuo Junbi?"
Li Er hesitated to answer, but Fu Youde said: "It must be possible."
Fang Yuandao: "Why?"
Fu Youde said: "Actually, after Zuo Junbi surrounded Chaohu, he was riding a tiger and was unable to dismount. He was just conceited by nature and refused to show weakness. Now that he has won one battle, it will be much easier for him to retreat!"
Li Er nodded and said: "That makes sense. In fact, I have always found it strange that Zuo Junbi faced three of our families at the same time, but still refused to retreat. I don't know why! When You De said this, it makes sense!" p>
Fang Yuandao: "Brother Fu, you seem to know Zuo Junbi very well?"
Fu Youde said: "When I followed Li Xixi to Liu Futong, I heard about Zuo Junbi's name. Almost everyone in Liu Futong's military camp did not know Zuo Junbi!"
Fang Yuan asked curiously: "Why is this?"
Li Er said thoughtfully: "I heard that when Liu Futong was defeated by Chahan Timur, he wanted to go south to develop, but was blocked by Luzhou, so he attacked Luzhou for three months, but could not defeat it!
”
Fu Youde said: "That's it. Zuo Junbi is not only good at leading troops, but also very skilled in martial arts. All ten of Liu Futong's tiger generals were defeated by Zuo Junbi!"
Fang Yuan was slightly startled and asked quickly: "How are the martial arts of the top ten tiger generals?"
Fu Youde said: "I once played against Bai Buxin, who was ranked fifth, and we didn't win or lose!"
Fang Yuan took a deep breath and said: "So, Zuo Junbi's martial arts is indeed amazing."
Li Er smiled and said: "In any case, it is always a good thing that Zhu Yuanzhang can convince Zuo Junbi, and we can return to Jiangdu quickly!"
So they waited for another three hours and sent out scouts to investigate.
The result was just as Tang He said, all the Hukou garrison who entered Chaohu retreated, and the Jiangdu navy passed through Hukou and headed towards the Chaohu water village.
……
On the third day of June, with only three days left before the King's Ceremony, the news that Zhu Yuanzhang had occupied the entire Wuwei reached Jiangdu.
Although Zhang Yangquan knew that Zhao Pusheng was not Zhu Yuanzhang's opponent, he still did not expect that he would lose so quickly, nor did he expect that Guo Zixing could not restrain Zhu Yuanzhang at all.
After half a day, another message came back.
Li Pusheng of Chaohu Water Village died. Chaohu Water Village was divided into two, and one half was led by the Yu family and his son. They defected to the Jiangdu Army and were following Fang Yuan and Li Er's navy back towards Jiangdu.
The other half followed the Liao brothers and joined Zhu Yuanzhang.
"How did Li Pusheng die?" Zhang Yangquan asked in the study room of the General Manager's Mansion.
The person who sent back the news was a Qianhu under Fang Yuan, who replied: "After Zuo Junbi withdrew his troops, our army entered Chaohu Lake, and the Chaohu navy followed our army to Yuxikou!"
"Li Pusheng, did the Liao brothers also go to Yuxikou together?" Zhang Yangquan asked curiously.
Qianhu said: "Yes, they were worried that Zuo Junbi would come back, so they all followed our army to Yuxikou. Generals Fang and Li tried to win over Li Pusheng and the Liao brothers, but unfortunately they had little success.
Later Zhu Yuanzhang came."
"How many people did he bring with him?"
Qianhu said: "I only brought a dozen followers with me and stayed in the cabin of the Liao brothers."
Zhang Yangquan nodded. Zhu Yuanzhang trusted the Liao brothers so much that the two parties must have contacted each other secretly many times.
Yu Yanyu definitely wants to belong to his side, and the Liao brothers want to join Zhu Yuanzhang. In this case, Li Pusheng's attitude is very important!"
"What's Li Pusheng's attitude?" he asked.
Qianhu said in a deep voice: "At that time, Li Pusheng did not clearly show which side he wanted to vote for, so the two generals, Fang and Li, tried their best to win over him. Who knew that this man was so bold and reckless that he actually wanted to annex us!" p>
Zhang Yangquan said blankly: "How to say?"
Qianhu said: "That night, he sent someone to invite the two generals and Zhu Yuanzhang to a banquet on his ship. He said that he would announce his decision at the banquet, so the two generals went."
"Unexpectedly, after three rounds of drinking, he suddenly threw his glass and a group of swordsmen poured out from the cabin, trying to kill us!"
Zhang Yangquan was stunned for a while and said: "What happened next?"
Qianhu said: "Although we have a small number, there are two generals and General Fu here, so we are not afraid of them at all. Zhu Yuanzhang's generals are also very brave. As a result, in a chaotic battle, all Li Pusheng's men were killed, and Li Pusheng was also killed by General Li
Kill with one arrow!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded and said: "So you will divide the men and horses of Chaohu Water Village equally, and each of you and Zhu Yuanzhang will get half?"
Qianhu Chi said: "It was Zhu Yuanzhang who proposed it. At that time, the two generals and Zhu Yuanzhang fought together against Li Pusheng. They were fighting side by side, so there is nothing much to say!"
Zhang Yangquan nodded and said: "Okay, I know about this. You can go down and rest."