At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, There were three major grassroots leaders in China, and in the east was Zhang Shicheng, a farmer who made a revolution by relying on a flat shoulder, who was firmly located in the richest land of Jiangnan in China; in the west was Chen Youyi, who started as a fisherman, who occupied the largest area and had the greatest momentum; and in the middle of the gap between them was the originally the softest persimmon, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in the beggar gang.
However, the Battle of Poyang Lake completely changed the balance of forces between the three parties, reversed Zhu Yuanzhang's passive situation, laid the foundation for Zhu Yuanzhang's hegemonic position, and allowed Zhu Yuanzhang to take a key step towards the imperial throne.
This war is comparable to the Chibi War of the Three Kingdoms.
More than a thousand years ago, the raging fire lit by Eastern Wu, using the east wind rolling on the Yangtze River, burned out Cao Bing's Baili Company Camp and buried Boss Cao's dream of reunification.
Today, more than a thousand years later, the Battle of Poyang Lake, in which Zhu and Chen are fighting each other, is also a classic battle in China's military history. On the choppy Poyang Lake, the soaring fire ignited by Zhu Qi'er, with the roaring northeast wind, devoured Mr. Chen's huge ship of tens of miles. Chen Youyi looked up at the sky and sighed, after Waterloo, the hegemony became empty; Zhu Qi'er smiled wildly to the sky, and the unification of the country and mountains was no longer a dream.
However, when Zhu Yuanzhang lay down and went to bed after returning to the camp in triumph and drinking bitterly, he recalled the fierce battle at Poyang Lake that had just ended, and he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat and take a breath of cool air.
Why?
First, the disparity in strength.
The contest between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youyu is like China's boxing star Zhang Junlong going head-to-head with world boxing kings Lewis and Tyson, and they are not a level opponent at all.
First of all, as far as Zhu Yuanzhang was concerned, the pre-war ratio of troop strength was that the enemy was outnumbered.
Some people say that the total strength of Chen Youyu's water army is ten times that of Zhu Yuanzhang's water army, and some people say fifteen times, all of which are exaggerated, just like the Three Kingdoms Speech said that Cao Cao had an army of 830,000, unreliable, not a realistic attitude, history is not a deduction, can not be open-mouthed, exaggerated.
According to the most reliable theory, Chen Youyu's military strength is three times that of Lao Zhu, Chen Youyu's army is 600,000, and Zhu Yuanzhang's is only 200,000, but this is enough for Lao Zhu to drink a pot.
Secondly, the weapons and equipment of both sides are strong and we are weak.
Chen Youyi ruled over a vast territory, and his own strength was very strong, that is to say, he was not short of money, military expenditure was huge, and his equipment was also excellent. For example, Chen Youyi's warships are all dinosaur-like giants, the level of aircraft carriers, and Zhu Yuanzhang's warships, like the size of elephants, belong to the battleship and destroyer levels at most. In a word, the equipment of the two is disproportionate, and the weapons are different.
Moreover, Chen Youyu's water army has been tested for a long time, experienced in hundreds of battles, and has rich experience.
Zhu Yuanzhang's water army was formed temporarily, lacking actual combat experience, and its combat effectiveness could be imagined.
The last point is that Chen Youyu's water army is upstream, and Zhu Yuanzhang's army is downstream.
Four or two boats along the water can dial a thousand pounds, and a boat against the current can only use a thousand pounds of strength to make four or two efforts.
If the two armies met, Chen Youyu did not have to use his hands at all, but just crashed into it with full horsepower, and Zhu Yuanzhang's small boat would also be killed in a second and shattered.
All in all, this great war is like the Eastern Wu of the Chibi War, Zhu Yuanzhang is a battle of less against more, weak against strong. If this is the case, why does Zhu Yuanzhang still have to fight? This led to the second reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid.
Second, forced to the cliff.
As the saying goes, don't fight a battle without preparation, don't fight a battle of uncertainty. Zhu Yuanzhang was not sure of victory and was forced to do so without full preparation.
On the eve of the great war, Zhang Shicheng first attacked and launched an attack on Zhu Yuanzhang's base area of Anfeng, where the troops were too small to be stopped, and they were in danger, so they asked Lao Zhu for help. The situation was critical, and Zhu Yuanzhang was forced to send troops to help.
However, the disaster was not alone, and Chen Youyu seemed to intend to cooperate with Zhang Shicheng and launch a fierce attack on Nanchang, which was controlled by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was caught between two sides, and he was unable to take care of it head-to-tail. Compared with Anfeng, Nanchang is more important, and Zhu Yuanzhang, in a hurry, was forced to abandon the eastern front and return to Nanchang.
But what he did not expect was that at this moment, Chen Youyu gave up nanchang, which had been beaten to a pulp, and with high morale, gathered hundreds of thousands of troops to wait for Zhu Yuanzhang at Poyang Lake.
You say, can Zhu Yuanzhang not be afraid?
Third, the rear is empty.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was his scalp and Chen Youyu's death, Zhu Yuanzhang's base camp, Yingtian, that is, Nanjing, was very empty at this time, and there were very few defenders, because almost all of Zhu Yuanzhang's belongings were taken out to duel with Chen Youyu.
If Zhang Shicheng took advantage of the Battle of Zhu Chen and sent tens of thousands of troops to sneak attack Nanjing, then the Ying Tian's defenders would not be able to resist, and Zhu Yuanzhang's army would float in the mood and chaos without a fight. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang will be attacked by the enemy on his stomach and back, stabbed in the back, unable to enter, unable to retreat, and fleeing five ways, nine deaths, and can only wait to be slaughtered.
If there had been no northeast wind, if Zhang Shicheng had sent troops to Nanjing, let alone become an emperor, or if he had no chance to become a beggar or a monk, Zhu Yuanzhang, a general named Huazi, would have been in a different place and would have been crushed into thousands of pieces. Can you think about it without being afraid?
But history is already history, there are not so many assumptions, and there are not so many ifs.
But one thing is certain, all historical accidents are in between necessity. Zhu Yuanzhang's victory at that time was inevitable, and Chen Youyi's defeat was also inevitable.
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a humble background, a corporal of Li Xian, a good person, who would win people's hearts, and his talents were abundant, and he had Liu Bowen and Wu Youxu Da Chang Yuchun. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang was not in danger in that big battle, calm and calm.
Chen Youyu, on the other hand, has a short temperament, has courage and few strategies, takes the enemy lightly, cannot listen to different opinions, lacks foresight, has no plan for possible situations on the battlefield, and has no right-hand strategists around.
Everything seems to prove that it was history that chose Zhu Yuanzhang, and the god of fate took care of him, so that in this great war, the danger was turned into a disaster, and the victory of less was more.