In the early days of his rule, Judy fought in the north. When Wen Jian heard the news, he sent Geng Bingwen, a 65-year-old veteran, into Judy's base camp, Beiping.
Geng Bingwen, the founding military commander of the Ming Dynasty, made great achievements in the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, laying the foundation for Guangde in Anhui and Changxing, the gateway of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Daming led troops to the desert in the north and Yunnan in the south, all of which lived up to expectations and returned home in triumph. It can be said that he has rich combat experience and was named Changxing Hou.
He is also one of the few military commanders left by Zhu Yuanzhang after he repeatedly killed heroes. Of course, as a veteran of the army, it is also reasonable for him to choose the Northern Expedition. However, he is not young after all, and it is really hard to say whether he can continue his brave past.
Geng Bingwen set out from Nanjing at the end of July in the first year of Wen Jian and arrived in Hebei on August 20th. At this time, Judy's Yan army was stationed on the Baigou River.
In the face of Geng Bingwen's army going north, Judy certainly dare not neglect. After some deliberation, he confidently said: "Geng Bingwen will take care of everything, not for equipment. I went from infernal affairs to an unexpected encounter, and I want to break it. " Judy wants to sneak up on Geng Bingwen from a remote path.
However, some soldiers believe that with Geng Bingwen's 300,000 troops outnumbered, something will happen. However, Judy's general Zhang Yu said, "Today, this road has become real. Although there are many people, the new harvest is not neat. Our army can be broken. " When he felt that it made sense, he said, "(Zhang) Yu said it to my liking, and I can do it myself." Having made up her mind, Judy decided to be straightforward.
Just then, one of Geng Bingwen's generals came to take refuge in Judy. This man named Zhang Bao expressed his willingness to play for Judy, and Judy took this opportunity to learn about the actual situation of Geng Bing's army. Zhang Bao told Judy that although Geng Bingwen's army claimed to be 300,000, it was actually only 1.3 million, half of which was stationed in the south of Hutuo River and the other half was stationed in the north of Hutuo River.
Hearing this, Emperor Chu came up with a plan. He rewarded Zhang Bao with a horse, and let Zhang Bao return to Geng Bing Wenjun. Judy admitted to Zhang Bao that she was defeated and captured. While the guards were not looking, he stole the horse and fled back, pretending that the Yan army was going to attack. The generals were puzzled by Judy's plan, so they asked, "If people don't know it now, how can they prepare it?"
Judy explained, "Otherwise, if you don't know whether he is true or not, you just want to cover it up. Now we know that his troops are half in Henan and half in Hebei, so that he can know that our troops are coming, and then the troops on the south bank will move north, and even though I am thousands of miles away, I can crush them in one fell swoop. I also want the thief to know the defeat of Xiongxian in order to seize its anger. "
"The so-called" art of war "is that this is" easy ". If we don't let them know, although we can defeat the army on the north bank under the thin city, the people on the south bank will cross the river when I am tired of fighting. It is because I take the teacher as my strength that the outcome is inseparable. And people are committed to me, so there is no doubt. It won't do me any harm to borrow a piece of insurance from the other party! Everything you do is done by one person. "
It turned out that Judy wanted to wipe out all the troops of Geng Bingwen in one fell swoop. With this plan, first, Zhang Bao told Geng Bingwen that Xiongxian had fallen and seized the morale; The second is to let Geng Bingwen know that the prince is going to attack, and then he transferred Henan's army to Hebei, so that he could wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop. Hearing this, the generals suddenly realized.
On August 25, Judy led the army to calm down. Twenty miles away from Zhending, the prince's men captured one of Geng Bing's literary troops alive and learned that the main force of the imperial army was deployed in the northwest of Zhending, and the southeast was unguarded. Judy took three cavalry to the east gate, then rushed into the imperial grain convoy and caught two soldiers to spy on the enemy. Knowing from the two populations, Geng Bingwen did move the officers and men from the south bank of the river to the north bank of Hebei, and camped from Ximen to Xishan.
At this time, Judy, with dozens of cavalry, bypassed the west of the city and washed away two camps of the imperial army. Just then, Geng Bingwen came out to send envoys to North Korea. When he found out, he quickly ordered his men to pull up the suspension bridge and wanted to throw the Yanjun down. I didn't expect the suspension bridge to be cut off by the Yanjun. Thanks to Geng Bingwen's desperate resistance, Geng Bing was able to get away. The Imperial Army and the Yan Army are only 200 meters away. At this time, Geng Bingwen will go to town to curse Judy. Judy listened sincerely. At that time, he was very angry and shot out with a bow. The upper part of the city will fall to the ground, and the soldiers in the city will be in a mess at that time.
Geng Bingwen is a veteran after all. After returning to the city, he quickly organized troops to fight out of the city. And Judy's generals, such as Changyu, Yuan Tan, Zhu Neng and Ma Yun, fought hard. At this time, Judy took another team around the enemy's back, attacked from front to back and crossed the enemy's array. Geng Bingwen flinched.
At this point, in the east of Hutuo River, tens of thousands of Geng Bingwen troops lined up, and Zhu Neng led more than 30 soldiers who dared to die to ride into the array. The imperial army was suddenly in chaos, and more than 3,000 people abandoned their armor and surrendered. The left lieutenant of the imperial army was chased by the cavalry of the Yan army and had to shout: "I am Li, don't kill me!" " Li Jian was captured alive. At this time, other soldiers of the imperial army, Ning Zhong, Gu Cheng and Liu Sui, were all commanded and captured alive.
When Lv Xue tied Li Jian to see Judy, Judy scolded him, "What are you complaining about?" Still fierce? Can Anke escape today's crime? "Li Jian was then sent to Peiping. After a while, Gu Cheng was tied up to see him. He is the commander-in-chief of the imperial army in Zuo Jun, and also a veteran of Zhu Yuanzhang's, who has made many military achievements.
When Judy saw Gu Cheng, she not only untied him, but also dressed him. He said, "You can help me this day!" Gu Cheng was quite moved and said to him, "Today, the old minister was persecuted by treacherous officials and violated the law, born to die! Nice to meet your highness. If I see Mao, if I don't die, I will try my best to repay you. " Thus, Judy got another Iliad.
After settling down the soldiers and horses, Judy saw the captured imperial army whispering in groups and asked the generals, "Who is that?" A: "The surrenders conspired." Judy said to the captured sergeant, "Anyone who lets me go and stay sincerely thinks that he has parents and a wife. If you want to go, you should tell me clearly and give me money to help me leave the country. If you flee, you will ride a lot, and you will get it. I was born, but I want to die. "
This means that anyone who surrenders to me will go and stay voluntarily and miss his parents, wife and children, which is understandable. If any of you want to leave, just let me know, give you money and send you back. If you sneak away, you will never forgive if you are caught.
Judy's words really touched many people, and many soldiers were willing to follow him. Even those who went back praised Judy's kindness. Judy's preferential treatment to prisoners won the hearts of the people.
Judy's record in this battle can be described as brilliant: Wen Jian's army was beheaded by more than 30,000 soldiers, and the bodies were filled with moats. Not counting those who drowned the Hutuo River, they won more than 20,000 horses and surrendered tens of thousands of prisoners.
Although Geng Bingwen was defeated in this battle, he still has the strength to stick to the truth. However, Wen Jian recalled Geng Bingwen and replaced him with Li Jinglong, the black sheep of the Northern Expedition, which was self-destructive.