Chapter Thirty: Only One Step Away from Victory

  When the roof leaks, it encounters continuous rain at night. The broken drum will be beaten by thousands of people. At this time when the whole army is retreating, Zhu Di's another nemesis Ping An led his troops to arrive with Sheng Yong, chasing Zhu Di and running away. Zhu Di, who had almost never lost a battle in his life, was defeated at the hands of an unknown small soldier.

  The Battle of Dongchang established Sheng Yong's reputation, he was not afraid of strong enemies and dared to challenge Zhu Di, the best general at that time, with his own bravery and will. In a sense, it was he who broke the myth of Zhu Di's invincibility. And Zhu Di finally learned the lesson from this unknown soldier, in this battle, most of his carefully trained Northern Army elite were annihilated, and he suffered heavy losses.

  On the battlefield, swords and knives have no eyes, and no one is absolutely safe. Even the commander of the victorious side, Sheng Yong, has the danger of being hit by the Northern Army's arrows and crossbows. It's quite ironic that although Sheng Yong used a large number of firearms and crossbows in this battle and almost annihilated Zhu Di's Northern Army, the safest person was actually the defeated general Zhu Di. No matter how brave the Southern soldiers were, those firearms and crossbows did not dare to aim at Zhu Di, which is also the main reason why Zhu Di escaped safely in the chaos of the army.

  The creator of this rare phenomenon was none other than Zhu Yunwen, the archenemy of Zhu Di. It was his edict that could not harm Zhu Di's life that allowed Zhu Di to escape death multiple times. And those soldiers who fought were not fools, they understood the pros and cons of the situation very well.

  Zhu Di and Zhu Yunwen are uncle and nephew, although they are now enemies with swords drawn, belonging to the contradiction between us, but what if one day the two decide not to fight anymore, hold a recognition meeting, and then reconcile, transforming into an internal contradiction among the people, that would be very bad. Zhu Di might still be able to be a prince, and when he has nothing to do, write a memoir, recalling a certain year, month, and day, when someone cut him with a knife or shot him with an arrow in a certain battle, although at that time Zhu Di may not have been successful in his official career, but it would still be easy to defeat the small soldiers.

  It was precisely because of the consideration of the soldiers that Zhu Di was able to escape unscathed in the midst of the chaotic army. The most damaging part of Zhu Yunwen's order was not the command itself, which forbade harming Zhu Di, but rather that countless southern military leaders and soldiers saw from this command the possibility of reconciliation between the two men, and that the enemy before them might one day become their own master, so there were very few people who would take the trouble to kill Zhu Di.

  Zhu Yunwen is really an unqualified politician. Before the battle, he kindly put a thick bulletproof vest on his own enemy and encouraged them to attack him. Is there any reason why he wouldn't lose?

  Heaven will not take it, but instead suffers its blame.

  Zhu Di, wearing a bulletproof vest, returned to Beiping. Although he himself did not suffer much in the battle, his painstakingly trained Northern Army elite troops were almost completely annihilated, which was his greatest loss. At this time, the Northern Army finally realized that they were not invincible and that their opponents, the Southern Army, also had strong strength. The defeat of the Dongchang Battle had brought their morale to an all-time low.

  Depressed Zhu Dian went to find his strategist Dao Yan as usual to discuss countermeasures, but this time he was no longer calm and courteous. He looked at the monk in front of him, feeling out of breath. If it weren't for this monk, he wouldn't have resolutely taken this path of no return. Now it's too late to say anything, so he had to ask the monk what to do next?

  Dào Yǎn didn't have the same anxious mindset as Zhū Bì. For him, the game had just begun.

  He calmly told Zhu Di that it was now impossible to turn back, and the most important thing should be to immediately rectify the morale of the soldiers and make preparations for the next battle.

  The Northern Army had just suffered a great defeat, and it was not easy to restore morale. But Dao Yan seemed to always have a way out, he provided Zhu Di with someone who could be used as an emotional appeal - Zhang Yu.

  Zhang Yu was known as Zhu Di's number one general, with very high prestige. Zhu Di himself regretted his death and decided to hold a grand funeral for him, ordering all his subordinates to attend. Since Zhang Yu died in the chaos of war, it is estimated that there was no body, so the farewell ceremony could not be held either. However, Zhu Di still made an effort, writing a eulogy for Zhang Yu himself and burning his clothes in front of everyone to show his grief. Although according to his wealth, he had many clothes, this move moved many people present, who shed tears and expressed their willingness to continue fighting to avenge Zhang Yu.

  Zhu Di's brilliant performance told us a truth: dead people are often more useful than the living.

  No Way Out

  After completing his performance, Zhu Di sat wearily in the chair, looking at Dao Yan who was sitting across from him. Even though this strange monk had been following him for over a decade, he still thought of him as an odd person. This monk lived an uneasy life, always thinking about rebelling, and what's even stranger is that no matter what urgent situation he encountered, he would always remain calm and composed, seemingly carefree.

  What an eccentric person!

  Zhu Di took a deep breath, from the start of the war to now, he truly felt the difficulty of the path to the throne. To gain that unparalleled glory, one must pay an extremely high price. Even with his unmatched military and political talents, it was still incredibly difficult, and this failure once again heavily reminded him that the road ahead was fraught with danger.

  Zhu Di seems to be a bit tired of this life, every day is spent in fear and anxiety, when will it end?

  He took another look at Dao Yan sitting opposite him, and this mastermind suddenly seemed to have become a person who had nothing to do with the matter. He shook his head, smiled bitterly, and said to Dao Yan: "This time, the difficulty of pacifying the bandits was beyond expectation. If I were to leave home with the Master, it would not be a bad thing."

  Upon hearing Zhu Di's words, Dao Yan, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly stood up and walked towards Zhu Di. He did not salute Zhu Di as he usually did, but instead made an unexpected move.

  He grabbed Zhu Di's sleeve and shouted in a nearly bellowing tone: "Your Highness, there is no turning back now! We have committed the crime of treason and are rebellious ministers and treacherous sons. If we fail, there will only be one road to death!"

  Zhu Di was stunned, he knew what these words meant, and he also understood that after his failure, there was only one outcome - death. But he still didn't want to face this cruel reality. If he couldn't be the emperor, then he couldn't be a human being anymore.

  Under Doyan's terrifying gaze, Zhu Bi lowered his head with a hint of helplessness. After a while, he raised his head again, and the cold expression on his face had returned to its usual state.

  "Yes, you're right, we have no way out now."

  Reconquest of Shengyong

  The Battle of Dongchang brought fame to Sheng Yong, a general who grew up in defeat and finally achieved true success. Zhu Yunwen was overjoyed and decided to make an offering at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The content of the offering would be nothing more than telling his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang that his grandson Zhu Yunwen had defeated his son Zhu Di. It is unknown what thoughts Zhu Yuanzhang would have if he were still alive.

  Sheng Yong, on the other hand, solidified his position as commander-in-chief through this battle. Zhu Yunwen finally handed over the army to the right commander, but unfortunately, it was no longer the right time. The best opportunity to eliminate Zhu Di had been missed by Li Jinglong. Although Zhu Di's main force was damaged, he still had strength left and would eventually meet Sheng Yong on the battlefield again, but he would not underestimate him again.

  In the third year of Jianwen (1341), in March, Sheng Yong led a large army of 200,000 men to Jiahe River again to encounter Zhu Di's troops. He would challenge Zhu Di for the second time here.

  Zhu Dian no longer dared to underestimate this opponent. It was clear that Sheng Yong had thoroughly studied his own attacking characteristics and found an effective way to deal with him. In contrast, Zhu Dian did not understand Sheng Yong at all. He knew that only by knowing himself and the enemy could he win every battle, which required detailed reconnaissance of the enemy's formation and lineup, as well as finding their weaknesses.

  But the problem is that Sheng Yong is good at using firearms and crossbows. If cavalry is sent to scout, it's likely that they will be shot before they even get close. But if the enemy situation is not understood, the chances of winning this battle are even slimmer. Zhu Di had an idea, he decided to use a loophole in the rules of the battlefield to send out his own daredevil team to scout out the enemy situation.

  It should be said that the person who carried out this task was indeed daring, because the mortality rate was quite high. However, the dare-to-die squad sent by Zhu Di did not have to worry about this problem, because the leader of this team was himself, and he wore a bulletproof vest personally prepared for him by Zhu Yunwen.

  The next morning, Sheng Yongjun's army was fully armed and lined up in formation, with no difference from the previous time. They formed a shield wall at the front and on both sides of the troops to prevent sudden attacks by the Northern Army, and were equipped with a large number of firearms and crossbows, ready to strike at the Northern cavalry at any moment.

  Sheng Yong was observing the enemy's movements in the central army, and soon, as he had expected, the enemy's vanguard cavalry rushed over. But what he didn't expect was that the person who rushed over was actually Zhu Di!

  He had dreamed many times of capturing Zhu Di with his own hands to wash away the shame of past failures, and now this man had actually charged alone into his presence, a great achievement was about to be accomplished!

  However, Zhu Di did not approach the formation he had set up, but instead swept past it. It was clear that his goal was to scout out the enemy. However, at this time Xing Yong finally realized that he couldn't do anything to Zhu Di!

  The best way to deal with this scouting cavalryman was to give him a gun and shoot him off his horse, but the Emperor's teachings still lingered in his ears, and under no circumstances could he fire a shot or an arrow, for that would have made the benevolent Emperor bear the guilt of killing his uncle.

  Although Sheng Yong had more than once doubted the appropriateness and feasibility of His Majesty's almost foolishly benevolent heart, although he could hardly bear this visible yet inedible extreme pain and loss, he still did not dare to disobey orders. He could only dispatch his own cavalry to pursue the enemy, with the result being that nothing came of it.

  Wearing a bulletproof vest, Zhu Di inspected the army of Sheng Yong with great fanfare. Although everyone in the formation glared at him with anger and scolded loudly, he still completed this inspection task with ease. In this combat system, Zhu Di was a cheater who took advantage of the rules, and the first person he should thank was the creator of these stupid system rules, Zhu Yunwen.

  Zhu Di completed the reconnaissance mission, but did not find a better way to attack, as he discovered that this formation seemed to have no weaknesses, and there was no advantage to be gained from attacking from any side. Sheng Yong was indeed not a name in vain, for he had deeply grasped the subtleties of military strategy. Zhu Di appeared to be confidently circling around, but in reality, it was just a psychological victory. Sheng Yong remained waiting for him there.

  After careful consideration, Zhu Di still chose to attack the left wing of the enemy formation. In fact, Zhu Di's action was just to test the truth and falsehood, and there was no intention to launch a full-scale attack, but his subordinates did not think so, and something unexpected happened.

  At the same time that Zhu Di launched a probing attack, General Tan Yuan saw the fierce battle on the left wing and, due to his poor eyesight and over-excitement, mistakenly believed it was the start of the formal attack. Without saying another word, he led his troops into battle, but when he arrived at the enemy's formation, he found himself transformed from a mere extra into the main actor.

  Sheng Yong clearly understood the situation in the central army, and immediately ordered General Zhuang De to lead the troops to join forces with Tan Yuan. Zhuang De was known for his bravery in the Southern Army, and under Sheng Yong's command, he launched a surprise attack on Tan Yuan, who was caught off guard and killed by Zhuang De with one blow of his sword.

  Tan Yu was the second-in-command of the Northern Army, next to Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng. His death was a huge blow to the Northern Army. However, Zhu Di once again demonstrated his talent for utilizing the dead, quickly turning grief into strength, and taking advantage of the temporary chaos in the Southern Army caused by Tan Yu's death to launch a general attack!

  Sheng Yong was a very cautious general, his tactics were mainly defensive counterattacks, which happened to restrain Zhu Di's flash flank tactics. Before judging Zhu Di's accurate course of action, he would not launch an attack. However, the rough man Tan Yuan's misjudgment made him have to mobilize the central army to surround and annihilate, defeating the northern army, but also revealing a flaw. Although the flaw appeared for a very short time.

  If he were facing an ordinary general, it would be fine, but unfortunately his enemy was Zhu Di.

  Zhu Dian is a born war beast, his grasp of timing is as sensitive as sharks to blood. Tan Yuan's life-exchanged brief moment of opportunity was firmly grasped in Zhu Dian's hands!

  At this time, the sky had already turned dark, and the sudden attack in the darkness was one of Zhu Di's strong points. He immediately led Zhu Neng, Zhang Wu and others to launch a fierce attack on the exposed flank of the Southern Army. Under the sudden impact of the cavalry, the Southern Army's formation was breached, and General Zhuang De, who had just beheaded Tan Yuan, also died in the chaos. He probably did not expect that glory and death were so close together.

  But Sheng Yong was indeed formidable, he stabilized the formation in time and withstood Zhu Di's cavalry attack. Zhu Di keenly discovered the recovery of the Southern Army's formation, and immediately realized that this battle could not be fought again, so he decided to withdraw his troops.

  Social youth Zhu Di played another trick of cheating, relying on his bulletproof vest, he led a small number of cavalrymen to cover the rear and left with a flourish. This trick will be used by him repeatedly in the future and will become one of the important capitals of victory.

  The foolish Zhu Yunwen did not really understand his uncle Zhu Di, in a sense, Zhu Di was a rogue who could use any method he wanted as long as it achieved his goal. And Zhu Yunwen's biggest mistake was that he didn't know that to deal with a rogue, you have to use the rogue's methods.

  Zhu Di returned to the camp and convened a military meeting with his generals, but the atmosphere at the meeting was really depressing. These generals had all been through hundreds of battles and could see that it would be difficult to defeat their opponents. Sheng Yong, who was originally a defeated general and an unknown small soldier, was indeed very formidable. Thinking about the uncertain future ahead, perhaps tomorrow they would lose their heads, these military generals who had previously boasted of conquering the capital and sweeping away the southern army all became mute.

  No one spoke up because everyone knew that at this critical moment, the person who should speak was the one who had brought them onto this pirate ship - Zhu Di.

  Facing this unbearable silence, Zhu Di finally spoke up. With a smile on his face and in a relaxed tone, he said: "Tan Yu's attack failed because he didn't grasp the timing accurately. Now that our two armies are facing each other, our army has strong mobility. As long as we find the enemy's weak point and fight bravely, we will definitely be able to defeat them!"

  The generals heard this and slightly raised their spirits. Zhu Di took advantage of the situation, drew out his treasured sword, and shouted loudly: "In the past, Guangwu Liu Xiu dared to break through Wang Xun's tens of thousands of troops with just a thousand men. What do we have to fear? When two armies clash, the brave will surely win!"

  He ended his speech, looking at everyone with confident eyes, believing that he must be able to inspire the courage of these generals.

  He indeed did, and people who had lost hope for victory gathered around him again. They believed in the person in front of them just like three years ago, believing that this person was the true chosen one who could lead them to final victory.

  But does Zhu Di believe it himself?

  Fear

  The generals returned to their camps, preparing for the great battle tomorrow and enjoying what might be the last beautiful dream of this life. But Zhu Di found it hard to fall asleep, because he knew better than anyone else that he didn't have a sure win. It's easy to motivate others, exciting speeches, feudal superstition, and when necessary, you can squeeze out some tears, so these pawns will go all out for themselves.

  But he couldn't muster up the enthusiasm, absolutely not. He knew better than anyone what kind of person he was, and all that nonsense about heavenly mandate was just a load of crap. As long as Sheng You's sharp blade made a gentle rotating motion on his neck, he would end up with a big scar like everyone else, guaranteed to never grow a second head.

  Sheng Yong is really too scary, he knows himself too well. His formation is so perfect that the terrifying firearms and crossbows can shoot anyone who attacks them into a hedgehog, except for fighting to the death, charging and breaking through, there seems to be no better way to defeat the enemy.

  He himself was Liu Xiu, but Sheng Yong was by no means a foolish Wang Xun.

  It has been three years, and this is indeed a road that is too arduous. Not a single day can be spent in peace, not a single day without worries. Every day, I am expecting Fang Xiaoru's sharp-tongued denunciation documents, batch after batch of rebel troops, the contemptuous gaze of people all over the world, and the glorious title of "rebel" that is always on everyone's lips.

  But these are not what Zhu Di fears most, what he really fears is failure. Even if the whole world opposes him, as long as the rebellion succeeds, there will naturally be people who come to worship him. But can he really succeed? Defeating countless enemies, only to have even more formidable opponents emerge, victory seems elusive, elusive! Is this really the life he wants, spending every day in fear and then facing tomorrow's unknown fate?

  Sitting in the darkness, Zhu Di was quietly lost in thought, but thinking couldn't solve any problems. Things had come to this point, and fear was of no use either. What was destined to come would still come. He stood up, walked out of the camp, and gazed at the endless black night.

  "It's almost dawn."

  The second prize

  It's another fine day, the clear river water is accompanied by the sound of rushing water, and the green grass in early spring has begun to sprout, but people here don't have the mood to appreciate the beauty.

  They were clad in armor and held knives and swords, about to start their second fierce battle.

  Before the battle began, both sides deployed their own formations. The Northern Army was arrayed in a northeast direction, while the Southern Army was arrayed in a southwest direction. It would seem that this deployment direction should have been unintentional and without any particular significance, but it is likely that Zhu Di himself did not expect that the direction of the deployment would determine the outcome of this battle.

  This battle was still initiated by Zhu Di, who changed his previous strategy and led the cavalry to launch a simultaneous attack on both wings of Sheng Yong's army. The purpose was to make Sheng Yong distracted and then find an opportunity to attack. Zhu Di made a good calculation, but Sheng Yong, this clever businessman, made Zhu Di miscalculate.

  Sheng Yong had long expected Zhu Di's move, and his army's left and right wings were extremely powerful, leaving no opportunity for the Northern Army. Although the Northern Army fought hard to break through Sheng Yong's formation, they were unable to do so. The two sides clashed for a long time without a clear winner or loser. However, the mood of the commanders of the two armies was completely different.

  Sheng Yong was not in a hurry, as he originally intended to exhaust the northern army's morale through the method of solid array before launching an attack. The longer the stalemate lasted, the more advantageous it would be for him. However, Zhu Di was different, as he led a mechanized cavalry unit, but not a mechanized tank unit. The mobility of the cavalry unit depended on humans and horses, both of which needed to eat, graze, and rest sufficiently, and drinking gasoline could not solve the problem. If they were trapped in a protracted battle, they would inevitably be unable to hold out.

  Although Zhu Di understood this, he couldn't change the situation. Sheng Yong was like a turtle hiding in its shell, no matter how Zhu Di attacked, he wouldn't show his head, and from time to time would even bite back. When encountering such an enemy, Zhu Di also had no way out.

  Both sides were grinding away in a stalemate, with the battle completely bogged down. Zhu Di and Sheng Yong were both doing their best to hold on, because they both knew that no matter what kind of stalemate it was, there would always be a moment when it would be broken, and it just depended on who could hold out longer.

  They were all wrong, and the moment that broke the deadlock finally arrived, but in a way they could never have imagined.

  The strange thing happened again, and the plot is like this: "Originally a sunny sky with miles of blue sky, suddenly the sky and earth changed color, flying sand and rocks, and the evil wind rose!" This passage looks very familiar, no wonder, this description was used in the Battle of Baigou River, and it's reused here because I'm unable to explain why this evil wind always blows at critical moments and locations. It seems that neither side had weather forecasting capabilities back then, large fans hadn't been invented, and the battlefield wasn't chosen by either side, so human factors can be ruled out. Therefore, we can only sigh at the repeated appearance of this phenomenon: This is a mysterious world.

  The wind not only picked up, but it was also a northeast wind. It was as if the gods were against them. The soldiers of the Southern Army couldn't even open their eyes in the strong winds and sand, let alone fight. The Northern Army soldiers defeated them like they were driving ducks. Sheng Yong himself saw that things were not going well and immediately gathered his troops to retreat. He seemed to have realized that heaven was not on his side.

  Zhu Di seized the opportunity in time, launched a general attack on the Southern Army, and finally defeated Sheng Yong. This was his second lucky break, both times with strong winds to help him, I believe Zhu Di would also think that he really had a heavenly fate on his side.

  The defeated general does not need to feel ashamed of his defeat, for he has done his best and should have gained much experience from this campaign. He can cry out to the heavens: "Heaven wants me to perish, it is not my fault!" This is a fact. The frequent occurrence of sandstorms and their impact also tell us that environmental protection is a big problem, which sometimes may even evolve into serious political and military issues.

  The victory of the Battle of Jinghe greatly boosted the morale of Zhu Di's army, while Wu Jie and Ping An's troops, who were originally responding to Sheng Yong's army, fled upon hearing the news of their defeat and turned to defend Zhengding. The war situation once again developed in a direction favorable to Zhu Di.

  Zhu Di carried forward the spirit of continuous fighting and implemented his tactical idea of not using open strategies but only covert tactics. He lured the defenders of Zhending to come out and fight, and Wu Jie fell into the trap. Zhu Di and Wu Jie fought another battle at Hutuo River. In this battle, Zhu Di again made full use of the bulletproof vest and got help from a strong wind at the most critical moment, breaking through the enemy lines with the wind and defeating Wu Jie's army.

  The reason why I don't describe this war in more detail is that it has too many similarities with previous battles. The Jingnan campaign was very intense, and the military strategies and strategic thinking embodied in it are also worth our serious analysis. However, two factors that do not conform to the normal rules of war appeared in this war, which are even more interesting.

  The first factor is the invincible Zhu Di, it's really hard to believe that this brother has become an invincible superhero in American blockbusters, he has been through countless battles, charging forward, but never seriously injured. It's worth noting that on the battlefield, the probability of being killed by a head-on charge is not much different between generals and soldiers, and Zhu Di's invincibility is not because he has any superpowers, but because his enemy Zhu Yunwen gave stupid orders to his subordinates not to harm him. This unfair game really makes people feel uninterested.

  The second factor is the endless strong wind, it's normal for the north to have sandstorms, but the problem lies in when and where the wind blows. Every time, it doesn't blow in the morning or evening, but just starts blowing when the two armies are fiercely fighting. The northern territory is so vast, yet the sandstorm always seems to visit that small piece of battlefield. What's even more unbelievable is that every time the wind blows, it's always favorable to Zhu Di, either cutting off the enemy commander's flag or blowing strongly against the southern army, making it impossible for the soldiers to open their eyes.

  I once suspected that Zhu Di had already invented something like a blower at the time, otherwise how could this wind be as obedient as his family's dog, blowing whenever he wanted and however he wanted.

  If it weren't for these two inexplicable factors, Zhu Di's tomb might have already been able to harvest crops.

  The Jingnan Campaign was a peculiar war.

  Creative Thinking

  The victory of Zhu Di was not easy, as his territory was still small and his army was still few. After defeating Wu Jie, he repeatedly sent troops to gain some victories, and burned a large number of grain supplies in Xuzhou Pei County, cutting off the enemy's logistical supply. Zhu Di wanted to pursue the victory, but the Southern Army had long been prepared, and the generals from Hebei and Shanxi also launched a counterattack on Zhu Di's old nest, Beiping. To protect his main base, Zhu Di had no choice but to withdraw his troops back to the city.

  At this time, Zhu Di finally felt unprecedented pressure, which was not caused by the failure of a certain battle, but because he had vaguely felt that his adventure seemed impossible to succeed. Zhu Yunwen occupied most of the country, while his own territory was only three counties: Beiping, Baoding, and Yongping. In terms of human resources and material reserves, he was far inferior to Zhu Yunwen. Although he had won many battles, he could not thoroughly defeat his opponent.

  Zhu Dian had already begun to believe that if the war continued like this, one day he would lead his increasingly fewer subordinates to be captured by a few small soldiers of the enemy and taken away for rewards, living or dying in humiliation.

  Failure is nothing, loss of hope is the greatest pain.

  The hope that has been supporting Zhu Di seems to be extinguished soon, what else can be expected? At that time, there were not many people engaged in real estate, and there were not so many construction sites. It's impossible to expect Zhu Yunwen to be hit by a falling brick from the sky. Besides, even if Zhu Yunwen died, the throne would still not belong to himself. Alas, alas!

  At this time, a message changed Zhu Di's fate. The news was provided by the eunuchs who were secretly working for Zhu Di in the palace. They sent someone to deliver a letter to Zhu Di, indicating that the military strength of the capital was very weak and if he took advantage of the situation, he could win with one battle.

  This is a very important piece of information, but Zhu Di was furious after reading it. Why? Because his troops were not in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and it was not easy to fight from Beiping to the capital! He had been fighting for three years just to achieve this goal, but the problem was that Zhu Yunwen would never let him pass through to reach the capital.

  However, on the way to the capital, the biggest obstacle is Shandong. The local customs are fierce, the soldiers are brave in battle, and there are also famous generals guarding it, making it very difficult to break through no matter what.

  In Zhu Di's view, this was a very difficult obstacle to overcome. But did this obstacle really exist?

  Zhu Dian never thought that he had inadvertently fallen into a thinking trap: going to the capital must necessarily involve fighting Shandong?

  In our thinking, there are often some blind spots, and creative thinking is specifically designed to eliminate these blind spots. So-called creative thinking does not necessarily mean putting forward high-minded ideas. Many times, the solutions proposed by this kind of thinking are well-known and understood by many people, but the problem lies in that they have not realized these methods. We can use a historical example to illustrate this issue:

  This incident occurred in the United States. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration discovered that a component on the space shuttle always malfunctioned, either here or there, wasting a lot of manpower and resources without being able to solve it. Finally, an engineer suggested whether this component was necessary. In fact, the component proved to be redundant.

  This absurd event tells us that there are some blind spots in our thinking, and we often get stuck in the dilemma of being too focused on details. For Zhu Di, Shandong was his blind spot, as the failure he suffered in Jinan left a deep impression on him, making him think that he couldn't conquer the capital if he didn't take Jinan first.

  If Zhu Di continued like this, he would inevitably head towards failure, but at a critical moment, someone with this kind of thinking awakened him, and that person was Dao Yan.

  Daoyan was considered the best strategist of that era for a reason. He didn't read dead books, didn't acknowledge dead theories, and was good at adapting. He keenly discovered this blind spot in Zhu Di's thinking.

  Zhu Dian was like a skilled thief who wanted to sneak into the house, proficient in lock-picking techniques, but no matter what kind of master key he used or how much time he spent, he couldn't open this lock in Jinan. At this moment, old thief Dao Yan came to his side and told him that his purpose was not to open the lock, but to enter the door, and now in front of him was just a wooden door.

  Then Zhu Di gave up his attempt to pry open the lock and kicked the door open with his foot.

  The gate was opened and the road to the capital was opened. Zhu Di finally saw the end of the Emperor's Road - that shining throne.

  On the map, the name of that gate is Xuzhou.

  In the third year of Jianwen (1401), in December, Zhu Di once again put on his armor in his traveling palace, gathered his generals and prepared to set out. But this time's attack was different from before, because Zhu Di had made up his mind that this would be his final attack. He looked at his generals, who one by one had died in the long years of war - Zhang Yu, Tan Yuan, and many others. And he himself always returned to the same starting point. Rather than dragging it out and waiting for death, why not make a desperate gamble!

  "After fighting for so many years, when will it end! This time I go to war, it's the final decision, no turning back, only death or victory!"

  Victory is not certain, but to do right is!

  The Final Blow

  In the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), in January, Zhu Di began his final assault. His old enemies Sheng Yong, Ping An, Tie Xuan and others had already received news of this and repaired the city walls to await Zhu Di's attack. However, things developed in a way that was beyond their expectations: Zhu Di did not go to trouble them, but instead took the route via Guantao, crossing the river, and successively capturing Dong'e, Dongping, and Shang County, with his army advancing straight towards Xuzhou!

  Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan were flustered, they understood Zhu Di's intention, his target was no longer Dezhou, Jinan, but that ultimate destination - the capital city. If Zhu Di succeeded, everything would be over. So they reversed their defensive stance and began to pursue Zhu Di.

  The first to catch up was Ping An, who led an army of 40,000 men in pursuit. In his view, although Zhu Di had launched a surprise attack, the defenses of Xuzhou were solid enough to withstand the Northern Army, at least for a while, and by then they could launch a pincer movement and thoroughly defeat the Northern Army. However, he did not expect that Zhu Di would not attack Xuzhou!

  After Zhu Di defeated the garrison in the city, the garrison retreated and refused to come out, attempting to hold on.

  But Zhu Di played an even more desperate move, he bypassed Xuzhou and attacked Suzhou instead. Ping An was shocked when he received the news, Zhu Di had abandoned Xuzhou, it was clear that his target was only the capital!

  Zhu Dian was like a raging bull, disregarding everything and charging forward towards his own goal.

  This kind of enemy who gives up everything is the most terrifying.

  Catch up with him, must catch up with him!

  In March, Ping An received news that Zhu Di had left Xuzhou and was advancing on Suzhou. Seeing the rapid movement of the Northern Army, Ping An ordered his soldiers to march quickly and finally arrived at the Fei River near Suzhou. In his view, Zhu Di was eager to capture the capital and would not stay for long, as long as he could catch up with the Northern Army, it would be a victory.

  However, what Ping An did not expect was that Zhu Di, who was advancing in his running, had not forgotten himself. Zhu Di had already prepared a gift for Ping An at the Huai River, as a token of gratitude for Ping An's army to see him off.

  When Ping An ran to the Wei River without catching his breath, he was immediately ambushed by Zhu Di. It turned out that Zhu Di had been hiding here for two days in order to cut off this annoying tail, and as soon as Ping An's army arrived, he launched an attack. Ping An did not expect that Zhu Di, who had been chasing him for more than a month, was waiting for him here, and his entire army was caught off guard and easily defeated. Ping An reacted quickly, immediately pulling his war horse to continue fleeing, only in the opposite direction of before. And his remaining troops also followed suit, it seems that Ping An's main job for this month has been constantly running around.

  Zhu Di's attack, although it defeated Ping An, also slowed down the advance of his own army. The Southern Army took advantage of this time to complete its pursuit deployment and regrouped to catch up with Zhu Di again. Zhu Di finally realized that Sheng Yong and others would not let him go on his way peacefully, and only by eliminating these worries could he achieve ultimate victory.

  In May, the Southern Army and Northern Army finally met formally near a small river in Ying Water. The commander of the Southern Army was still Ping An. In fact, if they had fought openly and fairly, the Northern Army would not have had much advantage. After fierce fighting, although the Northern Army had a slight advantage, it could not defeat this road tiger for the time being. At this time, the Southern Army was running out of food and grass, Zhu Di judged that now was the weakest moment of the Southern Army, if he launched a general attack, he could solve the problem. But Zhu Di was never a person who played cards openly and fairly, he still used his usual method - sneak attack.

  He deployed his troops on the opposite bank of the river as usual, but withdrew his main force to thirty miles away at night and launched a surprise attack on the Southern Army across the river in the dead of night. Zhu Di did not sleep that night and came out in person to direct the sneak attack. He thought that this time he would be able to annihilate the Southern Army on the opposite bank, but he also did not expect that on the opposite bank, he would meet an old acquaintance who had brought him a lot of trouble.

  After Zhu Di's troops landed, they launched an attack on the Ping'an Army. The Ping'an Army was indeed unprepared and their formation was in great disorder. Just as the entire army was about to collapse, a reinforcement force appeared. This force was the vanguard of the Southern Army, led by Xu Hui, who was Zhu Di's uncle-in-law. He had led his troops day and night, and now he immediately ordered them to join the battle.

  Zhu Dian was not expecting that the mantis would catch the cicada, and the oriole would be behind. In the deep night, another army emerged, and after being beaten by Xu Hui's ancestor in a confused manner, he realized that something was wrong and immediately led his entire army to retreat. Xu Hui took advantage of the situation to defeat the Northern Army greatly and killed Li Bin, the great general of the Northern Army.

  Zhu Di's night raid can be described as "stealing a chicken without getting the rice", not only did he fail to complete his strategic mission, but he also lost many soldiers' lives. And even bigger troubles are waiting for him.

  After returning to the main camp, the generals' long-accumulated anger finally erupted. They had been carrying the name of rebels and risking their lives, although Zhu Di had brought them many victories, but as the battle situation developed, they also saw that victory seemed still far away. This expedition could be said to be a desperate gamble, directly attacking the capital city, but now they suffered a great defeat, without even seeing the suburbs of the capital city. Losing their heads was not something to be taken lightly, at least they had to make a statement. So they repeatedly petitioned Zhu Di, asking to cross the river and find another place to set up camp (in fact, it was a disguised retreat).

  Actually, Zhu Di's heart was also uneasy, the so-called direct march to Beijing was just a promise, how could it be true? Moreover, there were so many bandits and robbers on the road, wanting to sing and enter the city was even more difficult, but things had reached this point, if they retreated, the army would inevitably fall into chaos, no matter what, they had to persevere!

  He said in a resolute tone, "This battle will only advance and not retreat!" Then he ordered those who were willing to stay on the right side and those who were willing to cross the river on the left. Zhu Di was again making his own calculations, generally this kind of group activity similar to a roll-call vote was just for show, he believed that no one dared to openly oppose him, but this time, he was wrong.

  The generals all shifted to the left, and now Zhu Di really had no way out. He was very angry and said: "You are on your own!" Then he sat down alone, sulking. At this difficult time, Zhu Neng stood up, supporting Zhu Di, and loudly told those generals: "Please hold on! Didn't Han Gaozu Liu Bang win the world after losing nine out of ten battles? Now the enemy is exhausted and trapped in this place, our victory is in sight, how can we have any thoughts of retreat?"

  The generals all fell silent, not necessarily because they believed Zhu Neng's words, but because after Zhang Yu's death, Zhu Neng had become the number one general, with great prestige and many trusted followers in the army. Offending him would not have good consequences. After this commotion, the anger that needed to be vented was vented, and the words that needed to be said were said. Anyway, they had already boarded the pirate ship, so it was just a matter of going along with it.

  Zhu Duan looked at Zhu Neng with a gaze that was almost grateful, looking at the person who had stood up to support him in this difficult moment. He too had wavered before, but harsh reality told him he must persevere, just as he always had, no matter how difficult it was, as long as he persisted, there would definitely be hope.

  The outcome of war is often decided by that "one more effort".